Ed Carroll Talks Fantasy Baseball

Sep 12, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Cleveland Indians designated hitter Carlos Santana hits a RBI single against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Which Indians Will Have Biggest Fantasy Impact?

A few weeks ago, Razzball.com reached out to Wahoo’s on First looking for an expert to talk about the Cleveland Indians and fantasy baseball. Naturally, I did what anyone would do in that situation. We ignored the part about looking for an “expert” and provided the contact info for Wahoo’s on First’s staff writer, podcast co-host, and resident Adam Dunn Lover, Ed Carroll.

Admittedly, it was a gamble. There was a real chance that every answer Ed provided would somehow circle back to Andy Marte, but that was a worth taking. If nothing else, Ed is strong in his convictions when it comes to the Indians so it would at least sound like he knew what he was talking about.

In all seriousness, Ed was probably the perfect choice for this project. As anyone who ever has been in a fantasy league, it’s all about sounding like you know what you’re talking about. Ed has that down to a science and backs up his statements with a plethora of facts and stats that would make any sabermetrician proud.

A few of the highlights include:

On Corey Kluber: “Unfortunately, this isn’t that sexy for fantasy owners, as most of the Kluber-love comes from advanced metrics not used in a lot of leagues. Still, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to look at his 2013 numbers and expect similar results (and assuming good health, even a slight improvement).”

On Carlos Santana: “I didn’t need for Carlos Santana to post a (so-far) career-high .377 OBP to convince me that is an offensive monster already, and hands down the best offensive player on the Indians.”

On Danny Salazar: “My main worries with Salazar in 2014 will be his health (TJ surgery isn’t a kiss of death anymore, but another elbow injury could relegate him to the pen) and if his slider, a relatively new pitch for him, can remain as effective going forward as it was in 2013.”

On Francisco Lindor: “He’s a true shortstop, and is expected to be able to be an elite defender at the Major League level, and should be well above-average offensively. All this being said, I’m not sure Lindor makes the jump to the big-league level at any point in 2014.”

You can read the short five question interview by following this link.

And oh yeah, “small ball sucks.”