Once A Player Displays a Skill....Draft Him!

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DOUGHBOYS
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Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

Once A Player Displays a Skill....Draft Him!

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:07 am

"Once a player displays a skill, he owns it."

This phrase has left drafters even more ambivalent about their choices in drafts.
Joe Mauer and Jacoby Ellsbury hit a lot of home runs one year.
Does this mean they have another power year in them?
Miguel Cabrera had four categories in tow at one time.
Does this phrase mean that he's still capable of doing it once again?

The phrase itself is fraught with double meanings.
A little like some jokes....

"My ex-wife still misses me....But her aim is getting better!"

"Mom, can I have a cat or dog for Christmas?"
"Landsakes No! You'll have turkey like the rest of the family!"

The phrase itself, means nothing and everything about a player.
If thinking of Joe Mauer in fantasy terms, we think of a high volume of at bats player who is slow to fill up any one of our five roto categories.
If thinking from phraseology, Mauer is capable of hitting almost 30 home runs and having an unusually high batting average,
While also being the slow roto filling player that he is today.
The phrase captures every bit of Mauer in one sentence.
What you do with the phrase is up to you.
If thinking that there are dormant power skills left in Mauer's arsenal, then you have an excuse to draft him.
The phrase says it can happen.
If thinking that Mauer will hit in the high .300's, the phrase backs you.
And if you think Mauer is not worthy of a pick till the 33rd round because his skills have declined, the phrase supports that too!

It is one of the most quoted and one of the most meaningless phrases in fantasy baseball.
Of help, to nobody.
Miguel Cabrera had skills.
One of the best players in the game.
Now, with injury he is not.
His best skill now? Missing games with a bad back.
This is not to criticize Cabrera. He was great for a long time and when a player gets older, sometimes health deteriorates.
The phrase has you covered whether Cabrera is 'Comeback Player of the Year' or has another broken back year.

I heard the phrase when Jayson Heyward was drafted in the 29th round of a draft.
Ugh.
Just ugh.
Heyward is available in the 29th round of drafts because of his 'skills'.
His best skill is hitting a ball on two or three hops to the second baseman.
Can he comeback and play well?
Sure.
We don't expect it, but it is possible.
But puhleese, if he does, don't recite the phrase.
Heyward's skills have dropped him from once being a second round player to being a 29th round player.
He 'owns' a lot more bad skills than good.
That is why he is in the 29th round.
If wanting to feel better about a 29th round pick in Heyward or 32nd round pick in Mauer, I guess the phrase is in place for you too.

To those that draft dormant players hoping for them to once again rise from the ashes, the phrase is an impetus.
A phrase of hope.
A thought that the player can once again dominate.
Remember though, it is YOU that is finishing the phrase, not the writer.
It would read like so......

"Once a player displays a skill, he owns it....and that skill will come back this year on my team!"

Good luck, Skill Owners!
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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