RADIO
Andy Schmidt analyzes why Mike Moustakas is a 2014 fantasy baseball draft sleeper. If you miss out on an elite third basemen (3B), plug Moustakas into your lineup.
Who is Mike Moustakas?
The career of Mike Moustakas hasn’t exactly gone the way that he would have liked. The third baseman burst onto the scene in 2011 and was supposed to be the Kansas City Royals’ future at the position. After two full seasons that weren’t great, Moustakas came into spring training this season looking to make a statement. He has come in with a much better approach at the plate and has been hitting the ball all over the place in Arizona. That leads to his chances for fantasy baseball this season, and makes him is a sleeper candidate for owners out there.
2014 Season Outlook
He has been hitting around .500 during the opening weeks of spring training and while he won’t be able to do that on a regular basis when the regular season begins, he just needs to improve on his batting average from where he has been. He hit just .233 in 2013 after hitting .242 in 2012. He is hitting the ball for power this spring and isn’t striking out as much as he has in the past. This could lead to Moustakas actually having a season that helps fantasy owners instead of irritating them on a daily basis. There are owners that have taken Moustakas as their starting third baseman over the last two years thinking that it would finally be the year Moustakas would take the next step. It simply hasn’t happened.
Where To Draft Him
Moustakas is a player that shouldn’t be taken too early in the draft obviously since there are so many great third basemen to select from, but he is someone that owners must be considering with one of their later picks. This could finally be the season where he makes a move towards top ten status at third base. Moustakas is being drafted as the No. 26 third basemen right now in mock drafts as he is being picked between pick 241 and 283. In a very deep league, he can be held late in the draft but there is some thought that he could be better than some of players being picked around him late Matt Dominguez, Chris Johnson and Anthony Rendon.
He should hit in a good place in a loaded Kansas City lineup as well, likely seventh behind Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez. This will be RBI opportunities there with the players ahead of him in the order. He has been projected to hit 14 home runs and knock 54 runs. I have to believe that those projections are lower than what he could actually do this year. A more solid prediction would be 20 home runs and 75 RBIs. Those would both be career-highs but if Moustakas continues to hit the ball when the regular season begins like he has in spring training, there is no reason to believe that he can’t reach those lofty numbers. He is someone that fantasy owners need to be watching very carefully over the next week or so as their drafts come up. It may be worth taking a chance on the Moose in 2014. He could finally surprise everyone with a great season.
