2005 American League Sleepers

Written December 1, 2004

Let me give you an example. What was the nature of your relationship with Wily Mo Pena during the 2004 season? Let me guess. He wasn’t drafted, but then he started to hit a bit. You noticed him, but instead of adding him to your roster, you were put off by his NAME. Wily Mo Pena – what a silly name. Finally, some other owner rostered him about two weeks later than he would have been if his name were Jack Armstrong. That's what happened to me anyway. Dumb, huh?

We’re all now familiar with the Byung-Hyun Kims, Hee Seop Chois, and Shigetoshi Hasegawas of the baseball world. But the question is – are we put off by the names of certain players, or are we ever vigilant and prepared to swoop down and grab the Akinori Otsukas of the world as soon as they can begin to help our teams? And by “put off”, I mean intimidated by hard to pronounce names or, as in the case of Wily Mo Pena, seemingly silly names from an Anglo perspective, so that we lose our objectivity regarding that player.

Do you know who Yhency Brazoban is? Well, you should. Yhency is a skinny, but highly effective right-handed relief pitcher from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In fact, Wily Mo Pena is from Laguna Salada, Dominican Republic, and promising Mets outfielder Ambiorix Concepcion is a hometown bud of Brazoban. Anyway, Yhency now toils for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and you need to know that. Keep an eye on him. There’s another Dominican kid from Santiago who will probably be the new Cleveland shortstop, and his name is Jhonny Peralta, the Most Valuable Player in the International League in 2004.

Venezuela is producing its fair share of prospects nowadays, too, including Anaheim Angels shortstop Maicer Izturis of Barquisimeto (brother of Cesar Izturis of the Dodgers), Toronto catcher Guillermo Quiroz of Maracaibo, and Detroit pitcher Wilfredo Ledezma of Guarico. And Mexico refuses to be left out by offering Alfredo Amezaga, Anaheim infielder from Obregon.

Of course, more and more good players are coming over from Southeast Asia to play in the major leagues. Chin-hui Tsao of Hua-lien, Taiwan, could be the Rockies’ closer in 2005. Cha Seung Baek of Pusan, South Korea, is a promising starter with the Seattle Mariners, and his hometown teammate Shin-Soo Chin is an upcoming outfielder and still his teammate with the Mariners.

And, finally, don’t forget the good ole US of A. Foreign players don’t have a monopoly on hard-to-pronounce names, you know. Among the names to watch out for are pitchers Justin Duchscherer of Aberdeen, SD (Oakland), Wes Obermueller of Cedar Rapids, IA (Milwaukee), and John Van Benschoten of San Diego, CA (Pittsburgh).

So whatever you do, try not to have any name bias. We all know that bias in any form is bad, and name bias can actually hurt you in these crazy games we play. Try to look at the names just as objectively as the numbers.

2005 American League Sleepers

Ross Gload, Chicago - Gload gave a hint of things to come with his 2004 rookie stats line of 7-44-.321-.375-.479 in 234 at bats.

David DeJesus, Kansas City - DeJesus is supposed to be a big base stealer, but in 2004, he was successful on only 8 out of 19 attempts. The Royals are supposedly getting him some special instruction, so he should break out in that department in 2005.

Jerry Hairston, Baltimore - This speedster lost more than half of the last two seasons to injuries. If he can remain healthy this year (or any year), pencil him in for 30 steals.

Justin Morneau, Minnesota
Michael Cuddyer, Minnesota
Morneau: 19-58-.271-.340-.536 in 280 at bats. Cuddyer: 12-45-5-.263-.339-.440 in 339 at bats. The Twins like to work their young guys in slowly, but it's just about time for these two players to move up from half-time status to full-time sluggers.

Robb Quinlan, Anaheim
Casey Kotchman, Anaheim
Dallas McPherson, Anaheim
How about these numbers for part-time impact: 5-23-.344-.401-.525 in 160 at bats? These are the 2004 big league numbers for Robb Quinlan, who had equal success in AAA. Matching him blow for blow in AAA were Kotchman: 5-38-.372-.423-.558 in 199 at bats, and McPherson: 20-57-6-.313-.370-.680 in 259 at bats. These guys are right behind the Rangers as the best young wrecking crew in the AL.

Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland
Brandon Phillips, Cleveland
Grady Sizemore, Cleveland
Another up-and-coming young team is the Indians, led by these three youngsters. As mentioned above, Peralta showed out in the International League to the tune of 15-86-8-.326-.384-.493, and so impressed management that they allowed fixture Omar Vizquel to escape to the Giants. Phillips failed in his first shot with the big club, but he'll probably stick this time, based upon his 8-50-14-.303-.363-.430 AAA season. Sizemore almost exactly matched his teammate with his line of 8-51-15-.287-.360-.438. Combined with some excellent young pitchers, the Indians are a team on the rise for a couple or three years.

Jose Lopez, Seattle
Justin Leone, Seattle
Jeremy Reed, Seattle
Bucky Jacobsen, Seattle
The Mariners have begun a youth movement which should deliver them back to top of the standings within a few years as well. Reed had a 58 at bat cup of coffee, during which time he went an attention grabbing .397-.470-.466. Can you imagine him teamed with Ichiro at the top of the Mariners' rebuilt lineup? Jacobsen used his 160 at bats to equal effect by going 9-28-.275-.335-.500. Lopez and Leone were not as impressive during their call-ups, but consider what they did in the minors: Lopez went 13-39-5-.295-.342-.505 in 275 at bats and Leone 21-51-5-.269-.344-.597 in 253 at bats.

Aaron Boone, Cleveland - I know, I know. Not a legitimate sleeper. But I always try to pick one guy per league who will be the Comeback Player of the Year. Of course, Boone did not play at all in 2004 due to his overexuberant approach to outlawed basketball. However, during the previous two years, he averaged 25-92-28, while slugging .446.

Roy Halladay, Toronto - My AL Comeback Pitcher of the Year candidate had what was for him a disastrous season in 2004. He had shoulder problems that landed him on the DL and gave him a mediocre stats line of 8-8-4.20-1.35. However, he threw well after his September return, exhibiting the form that netted him seasons of 19-7-2.93 in 2002, and 22-7-3.25 and the Cy Young Award in 2003.

Zack Greinke, Kansas City - Perhaps the best young pitcher not only of the Royals, but possibly all of baseball, the 20-year-old Greinke went 8-11-3.97-1.17 during his rookie season, with 100 K's against only 26 walks during 145 innings. If the Royals can put together a decent offense, watch for this young man to become the AL version of Roy Oswalt.

Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay - Here's another rookie who made his debut in 2004 at the tender age of 20. Although not quite as successful as his age-mate Greinke, Kazmir did give a hint of what might be coming by striking out 41 batters in 33 innings, a modest little rate of 11.1 per nine innings.

Joe Blanton, Oakland - By trading away Mark Redmond, the A's have cleared the decks for this guy to join the starting rotation. In AAA ball in 2004, he went 11-8-4.19, with 143 strikeouts in 176 innings. Now he just has to grab the golden ring.

Chris Young, Texas - Young is a 6'10" monster who could be playing in the NBA right now if he had chosen that route, after starring in basketball at Princeton. Instead, Young has opted to terrorize American League hitters, and he's doing a darn good job of it, so far. He went 3-2-4.71 in his seven start cup of coffee, including a September win over the eventual World Champion Red Sox.

Bronson Arroyo, Boston - How about an unheralded pitcher on a World Champion team? They're hard to find, but here's one. Arroyo put up some good numbers: 10-9-4.03-1.22, 142 K's in 179 innings, but because he appeared very little and unsuccessfully in the postseason, a lot of folks will overlook him.

Jesse Crain, Minnesota - Recommending a set-up guy, you might interject? Why, yes, I retort. With talent like this, you don't worry about a role, you just try to get him on your team as cheaply as possible. How does 3-0-2.00-1.07 sound to you? Well, that's what he did in 27 innings for the Twins last season, and that was after posting a 2.49 ERA in 51 innings in the minors.

Rafael Soriano, Seattle
Bobby Madritch, Seattle
I don't really know anything about Madritch except what he did for Seattle during his rookie season: 6-3-3.27-1.22. And he's a lefty, and that's good enough for me. Soriano had a washout season in 2004 due to injuries, but he should bounce back in a big way. The thin Dominican had a tremendous relief season in 2003: 3-0-1.53, 0.79 WHIP, .162 batting average against, 68 strikeouts against only 12 walks and 30 hits in 53 innings. What's not to like?

Bruce Chen, Baltimore
Matt Riley, Baltimore
Chen has appeared on just about every list like this that I have ever done, and he's still on it, darn it. His many managers seem to have heartburn with the fact that he won't pitch inside. I'm guessing that he's sick of moving, and he will learn to pitch inside. Last season, Chen had a 3.02 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP with the Orioles and he was equally effective in the minors. Perhaps he has already beaten that old inside demon. Riley is another Oriole left-hander who has the potential to break out in a huge way as a starter. He had a 1.71 ERA in AAA ball in 2004, and he should eventually be a big strikeout guy in the majors.

Wil Ledezma, Detroit
Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit
Ledezma is one of our tough-to-pronounce name guys from Venezuela, but the big lefty's numbers are not that funny: 4-3-4.39-1.37. But Bonderman can probably look forward to an even better career. At the age of 21, the righty posted some very serious numbers: 11-13-4.89-1.31, with 168 K's in 184 innings. I can't wait to see what he does for an encore at the age of 22.

Jeremy Affeldt, Kansas City
Dustin Hermanson, Chicago
Bob Wickman, Cleveland
Bob Howry, Cleveland
BJ Ryan, Baltimore
Need a relatively cheap closer? You might look into these guys. Wickman is a proven closer with a history of arm problems, but the Indians believe he can still be effective or they wouldn't be dropping $2.75 million on him this season. If Wickman can't cut it, his probable successor will be Howry, who had a super season in 2004 by going 4-2-2.74-1.15 with 39 K's in 43 innings and a .228 opponents' batting average. Affeldt was converted from starter to closer during his 2004 rookie season, and he handled it well, except for a stint on the DL. The lefty posted much better numbers as a closer than he did as a starter, including 3-1-4.50 with 13 saves and 28 K's in 30 relief innings. Ryan is a big lefty who had a stellar 2004 season: 4-6-2.28-1.14, with 3 saves and a brilliant 122 K's in 87 innings. That works out to a closer-worthy 12.6 strikeouts per 9 innings. This just might be the year that the Orioles give Ryan the full closer shot.

Rick Brooks finished fifth in the 2004 American Volunteer League, the only league he plays in that he has never won. “Wait’ll next year!” he says on behalf of his Brookslyn Dodgers, just like they used to say for Da Bums.