For ESPN standard leagues. Hopefully by now you have alread sent these guys packing to the waiver wire. But if you've held on to these fantasy anchors, stashing them on your bench as you wait for them to start producing, it's time to let them go or convince a trade partner that he's buying low.
C Alex Avila (.250/.338/.429)
It's not easy saying goodbye to a 25 year old receiver who posted an .895 OPS, made the All-Star team and was deemed more valuable than CC Sabathia and Josh Hamilton last year, but I've lost all faith in Avila. For starters, his .366 BABiP last year was unsustainable, and it's dropped a full 60 points so far in 2012. He's also hitting more ground balls and fewer fly balls, trends that do not bode well for a slow-footed catcher who has yet to leg out an infield hit this season. His increased pop-up rate is also a cause for concern. It doesn't help that, aside from Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson, Detroit just isn't hitting this year. Hopefully he's had plenty of time to fine-tune his swing as he works his way back from a hamstring injury, but I have a bad feeling that he's going to struggle with his timing when he returns and/or gets hurt again (hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky) Avila is a solid backstop, just probably not as good as his 2011 season suggests. Best case scenario, I say he'll split the difference between his stellar(but fluky) 2011 and subpar 2010. I think this is going to be a rough couple months for him.
Replacement Options-Jarrod Saltalamacchia, A.J. Ellis, Wilin Rosario,
1B Gaby Sanchez (.192/.237/.281)
If you waited until the middle rounds to fill out your first base slot, you may have wound up with Sanchez, a first time All-Star in 201. With the addition of Jose Reyes, a bounceback from Hanley Ramirez and continued growth from Giancarlo Stanton it seemed reasonable to project Sanchez for a typical Adam LaRoche 20-90-.270 campaign, or at least match his figures from the previous two years. But those final Eric Hosmer-like numbers (35 doubles, 19 bombs, 78 RBI) were largely inflated by a big first third of the season. What you probably didn't know is that beginning on June 6th last year, he batted a lowly .231/.326/.368 over his final 102 games. That lengthy slump has persisted into this year as well. His plate discipline has taken a major step backwards, as he's being less selective and making more weak contact. His walk and K rates have both gone in the wrong direction, and despite hitting the ball in the air half the time, he has just one home run to show for it. The Marlins sent him down to AAA for three weeks to try to get him back on track, but since his return to the Show he's been even worse, with only four hits and two RBI in 24 at-bats. Luckily for him, Miami doesn't have any other proven first baseman on the roster at the moment, so he'll continue to see regular playing time.
Replacement Options-Mitch Moreland, Kendrys Morales, Carlos Pena
2B Jemile Weeks (.222/.307/.321)
I could just as easily have put his older brother here, but I'm holding on to Rickie, who has a more established track record and has raised his batting average 20 points over the past eight games. The younger Weeks helped many a fantasy team over the final four months with his .303 batting average and 22 steals last season. This year he's battled the dreaded sophomore slump as a .252 BABiP, nearly 100 points lower than it was last year, is weighing the speedster down. It's good to see him walking more than twice as frequently while striking out less, but unfortunately neither trend helps his fantasy owners. He was drafted for steals (40 over the course of a full season seemed possible) but is on pace for around 25, not nearly enough to compensate for his lack of power (just ten RBI!) and low batting average. He's been caught in one-third of his career attempts, so he'll need to be more successful in order for the A's to let him run more.
Replacement Options-Gordon Beckham, Daniel Murphy, Rickie Weeks (buy at rock bottom and hope he turns it around)
3B Kevin Youkilis (.215/.301/.341)
As a Red Sox fan it really hurts me to say this, but it's time to let Youk go. Following a down 2011 his power has fallen off and even his typically strong batting eye has abandoned him. To make matters worse, he's 33 now and can't be counted on to stay healthy. The Greek God of Walks was in a rut before he landed on the DL at the end of April, and since coming back in late May he has just four RBI. Rookie call-up Will Middlebrooks, Boston's 23 year-old third baseman of the future, has outplayed his predecessor since arriving at the beginning of May. The Sox will likely look to deal their struggling third baseman at the deadline, so until then Bobby Valentine have to keep playing him and hope he boosts his trade value with a timely hot streak. I wouldn't count on it, though, because over his past 159 games the oft-injured Youkilis is a .247/.357/.431 hitter. He hasn't been an elite hitter in two years, and at this point in his career he appears to be past his prime.
Replacement Options-Chipper Jones, Mark Reynolds, Pedro Alvarez
SS Erick Aybar (.225/.261/.308)
Mike Scoscia keeps trotting him out there everyday for his Gold Glove defense, but he's been nothing short of atrocious at the dish. Aybar enjoyed a nice breakout in 2011, his age-27 season, when he set personal bests in just about every category except batting average; he stroked 33 doubles, swiped 30 bases and doubled his previous career high in home runs by launching ten out of the park. This season has been another story, though. He's always been a free-swinger who chases way too many pitches off the plate, but now he's making too much weak contact as a result; one in every five balls he puts in play is an infield pop up and his line drave rate is down to 13.9 percent In retrospect, expecting him to repeat the power was probably a bit of a stretch given his career .379 slugging percentage, but at the very least he should be counted on to be a steady source of steals. Unfortunately, it's hard to get too many of those when three quarters of your at-bats end with you headed back to the dugout. Scoscia bats him near the bottom of the order to minimize the damage he inflicts, so that only further limits his opportunities to score/knock in runs. His second half splits are nearly identical to his first half numbers, so don't wait around for him to pay you back with a post-All-Star break surge.
Replacement options; Zack Cozart, Yunel Escobar, Alexei Ramirez
OF Ichiro Suzuki (.259/.286/.369)
Eric Wedge had Ichiro batting third every game for the first two months, but since the calendar flipped to June he's been hitting from his traditional leadoff slot. This attempt to jumpstart his bat has failed, While he's on pace to finish with at least ten dingers for just the fourth time in his career, age and his low OBP are suppressing his steal totals. It's nice that he's a perfect nine-for-nine in attempts, but at the rate he's going he will set a new career low in that department. He'll never be a threat to score and drive in lots of runs in that lineup, either. In his prime Ichiro was a three category stud; you overlooked his meager home run/RBI totals because of his awesome ability to carry a team in batting average, runs scored and stolen bases. Last year all he was good for were steals, and this year he can't even provide many of those.
OF Jason Bay (.187/.253/.373)
Chronically injured, and borderline useless when he does play. I'm sure there were some optimistic owners out there who took a flier on him late in their drafts, but it's time to move on. He did provide double digit home runs (12) and steals (11) last season despite missing 39 games, and it was reasonable to assume that he might receive a small power boost after the Mets moved the fences in. Instead, he's continued to struggle with injuries and ineffectiveness. After spending six weeks on the shelf with a cracked rib he's currently on the seven-day Disabled List with a concussion, but the Mets expect him to miss more time than that and will likely move him to the 15-day DL. It's probably for the best because in the 22 games he has played, Bay's done more harm than good; he's struck out more than three times for every walk, knocked in just six runs and has only one multi-hit game. He's never been the same since his final season with the Red Sox, and as with Fred Lynn and Mo Vaughn before him, leaving the friendly confines of Fenway Park has to be considered biggest mistake of his career.
OF Brennan Boesch (.240/.273/.358)
Boesch, a third year-player entering his age 27 season, was a popular preseason breakout, especially after the Tigers announced he'd bat second, in front of the vaunted Cabrera-Fielder combo not seen since David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. Even though he was nothing special in his first two major league campaigns, he looked like a solid fourth or fifth outfielder with some upside to fill out a team late in the draft. Instead, a slow start has derailed what was supposed to be a potential 20 home run campaign with lots of runs scored and a solid batting average. Jim Lelyland's shifted him around the lineup recently, but nothing seems to be working. Same goes for teammates Ryan Raburn and Jhonny Peralta.
Replacements-Juan Pierre, Raul Ibanez, Denard Span
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