Fantasy Baseball Projections Have Carl Crawford in Top Five, But is This Right?
The Boston Red Sox made a huge move in Carl Crawford, and fantasy owners know entirely why they wanted to pick up a player like this. He is easily ranked as one of the top outfielders due to a nice enough home run and RBI count, as well as great marks in stolen bases and batting average.
Is he, however, a no-brainer in the top five? since many leagues use the roto format, having a guy that can rack up the triples and stolen bases is in fact very valuable, especially since the players who knock a good number of home runs will still be available in later rounds.
On top of that, Crawford had a career year for Tampa Bay last year, finishing the year with a career high .OPS. While I would expect that to sink a bit, since he won’t hit as many home runs in Fenway, but his triples should remain high.
ESPN’s Fantasy Projections have him ranked third: “You know what you’re getting with him, and you know it will be business as usual. His legs are as good as ever, and he’s as safe a bet as speedsters come.”
The key with Crawford is that even if his other stats take a dip, Boston’s lineup is so powerful that he’ll still have a great RBI total to do along with whatever he’s putting up, so having him as your selection is you’re picking around fifth really is not a bad move.