Castellanos vs. Alvarez
Often in the midst of your draft, you’ll find yourself deciding between a couple players at the same position. With Player Showdowns, we take two players who are closely ranked by Average Draft Position (ADP) and/or Rotoworld’s 2015 season projections and have writers take a side and debate who should be selected first. Whose side will you be on?
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Nick Castellanos vs. Pedro Alvarez
Castellanos
I’m pretty much always going to argue in the favor of upside and opportunity, and Castellanos beats Alvarez handily in both of those categories. Alvarez lost his starting third base job last season to Josh Harrison due to dreadful defensive play and his continuing struggles with offensive consistency. Pittsburgh has moved the left-handed-hitting Alvarez to first base, where he’ll be in a platoon this season with the right-handed-hitting Corey Hart. Castellanos has the third base job all to himself in Detroit and wears a long leash as one of the Tigers’ few respectable prospects. Castellanos batted just .259/.306/.394 in 148 games last season as a 22-year-old rookie, but he still managed to tally 11 home runs and 66 RBI. The raw tools are there, and his minor league numbers suggest that his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage will all be on the rise in 2015. Alvarez, meanwhile, owns a .235 batting average and .307 OBP in 2,293 career plate appearances. His poor offensive profile is set in stone. – Drew Silva (@drewsilv)
Alvarez
Not much went right for Alvarez last season. He struggled both offensively and defensively before losing his starting job at third base and was a non-factor down the stretch due to a stress reaction in the fourth metatarsal in his left foot. His stock is down at the moment, but the chance for redemption is there in 2015 as he makes the transition to full-time first baseman. Alvarez amassed 66 homers from 2012-2013 (tied for fifth in the majors in that time), so I'll happily take my chances on his power. And while his batting average didn't show it last season, his strikeout rate dropped by five percent and he brought his walk rate over 10 percent for the first time in his career. Yes, there were some positives to take away from what was largely a disappointing year. Castellanos made lots of solid contact as a rookie last season, but it didn't result in much fantasy value, as he hit just .259 with 11 home runs and a .700 OPS while posting an ugly 140/36 K/BB ratio. Of course, it was just his age-22 season, so it wasn't bad under the circumstances. There's reason to be patient with him, but I'm not convinced a major leap forward will happen in 2015, especially since he's due to hit in the bottom-third of the Tigers' lineup again. - D.J. Short (@djshort)
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