Well the news of Goerge Springer’s call up to the Houston Astros came down last night like a lightning bolt from Mount Olympus.  Twitter went wild and fantasy owners everywhere went scrambling for their phones to see if Springer was on the waiver wire.  I think the analogy holds water as most owners who drafted Springer in redraft and keeper leagues view him as a Greek God who will come and save their team.

George Springer a god?

Everyone Loves A Rookie

Projecting rookies is a funny thing.  Trying to weigh the minor league numbers against what we can expect at the big league level is almost a futile past time.  It’s like trying to figure out why the Diamonbacks are keeping Archie Bradley in the minor leagues.  Your guess is as good as mine.  (If you leave a comment about Super 2 rules and arbitration eligibility I will hunt you down. Joking…not joking.)

Even with all those questions hanging in the air most fantasy baseball owners are guilty of overvaluing rookies.  It’s a sickness that seems to plague almost every league I join.  8 out of 12 owners going into this year thought they were drafting Jose Reyes when they took Billy Hamilton over players like Alex Gordon and Jayson Werth.  They ended up with Michael Bourn.  I’ll never understand it fully, but you’re damn well sure I will try and take advantage of it every chance I get.

Even in redraft leagues the value of Springer is almost off the charts as of this very moment.  People believe they drafted Carlos Gonzalez or Andrew McCutchen in the 15th round and if you want to trade for him now that he’s making his debut tonight, you will have to pay close to that amount.  It’s madness!  Yes, I’m excited about Springer, but if he has anywhere near the value Puig had during his torrid start to last year, you better believe I will trade him.

If Springer gets off to a fast start it will be like watching the teenage Amish run around Pennsylvania during Rumspringa.  That’s right I went there.  The GM’s in your leagues that drafted Springer will be having their very own version of Rum-Springer as they run around patting themselves on the back with every stolen base or extra-base hit. You’ll get trade offers of  Springer and Gray for Cargo and Darvish.  Don’t laugh…just wait, you’ll see that these Springer crazed individuals will only get bolder and bolder as Springer plays well.

My R.O.S. projections are probably going to end up on the low side of everyone else’s.  I have Springer hitting .288 with 17 homers, 24 steals, 58 runs and 60 RBIs.  Don’t get me wrong those are really solid numbers, but I wouldn’t be trading Chris Davis or Edwin Encarnacion (two underperforming sluggers) to acquire Springer in redraft leagues.  In keeper leagues his price tag will be even more, but you better be willing to eat a ton of strikeouts to get him.

Let me know what you would give up to get Springer, sight unseen, in keeper and redraft leagues in the comment section.  Maybe we’ll discuss it when I make an appearance on The Fantasy Black Book -fantasy sports show-on SiriusXM Satellite radio with hosts Dan Strafford and Joe Pisapia.

P.S. Here’s Springer’s first Major League hit courtesy of Drew Silva