Fantasy Baseball: Revisiting Selling David Wright

It’s been over two weeks since we first looked at David Wright (click here for the article). In that article, I expressed concerns about him moving forward.  My conclusion was that it wasn’t time to panic, but if another owner in your league was willing to trade a top player for him, it would be worth listening to.

That article was published on May 13.  Since then, things have not really improved. These are his statistics from May 13th to May 31st: 64 AB, .203 AVG, 13 H, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB, .250 OBP, .344 SLG, .286 BABIP. 

It's important to note that Wright went 3-4 with one HR and two RBI yesterday, but that does not change my opinions in the rest of this article. 

The BABIP may be on the lower side, but it really is not unrealistic.  The real problem is that he has not been able to reduce the number of strikeouts.  At the time of the first article he had a strikeout rate of 37.1%.  In the time since, he’s at 32.8%.

In fact, there have only been four games in the interim where he hasn’t struck out, and two of them came on May 30 & May 31.  If I had opted to write this follow-up a few days earlier, things would’ve looked much worse.

At this point, with two months of the season behind us, can we honestly say that we can expect him to turn things around?  The struggles have lasted long enough that I just can’t say it’s a given.  We’re closing in on a year and a half of strikeout troubles.

The power, which I expressed concern about, has also disappeared.  If you remember, of his 7 HR, six were hit at Coors Field, Great American Ballpark and Citizen’s Bank Park—all hitters parks.  Without those parks at his disposal, he’s hit just one long ball (in Florida).

The more concerning trend has been the disappearance of his runs/stolen bases.  Yes, overall the numbers are good (24 R and nine SB), but where have they gone lately?  Those were the things that were buoying his fantasy value and without them, he’s just a run of the mill third basemen.

Again, I’m not going to say that it is time to fully give up on him, but the statistics are telling. He continues to strikeout at an alarming rate, and the power hasn't been there. 

If you can get a top of the line (top two rounds) player for him, I’d certainly be willing to listen.  Otherwise, giving up on him now would be a waste.  You’ve endured this type of cold streak from him, you have to hope that he turns things around so that you can reap the benefits.

Unfortunately, I’m not holding my breath for that.

What about you?  What are your thoughts on Wright?  If you have sold him, what were you able to get?

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