Off the Field Issues

[Yah Mule]

The one thing that can lead to an unexpectedly poor season from a player is when his mind isn't right because of off the field concerns. Jean Segura's breakout season in 2013 was followed by two down years, but he was dealing with the unimaginable heartbreak of losing his infant son to illness. Prince Fielder had a bad season that many people chalked up to a disintegrating marriage. The difficult thing for us is these things usually don't come to light until well after draft season is done.

I was an early Carlos Martinez adopter and I typically own him a lot. After drafting and buying him a few times this winter, I found out he is being sued over an incident back in 2014 outside a nightclub. It's alleged that Martinez, deceased Cardinal prospect Oscar Taveras, and some other men beat some guy up and now he's claiming injuries including a broken back. Obviously he waited until Martinez signed his big contract to bring the civil suit. Whether Carlos is culpable or not, this is going to be a massive distraction for him. You might have noticed he was away from the team for personal reasons during spring training and this was why. He also had a very shaky spring, which may be unrelated, but it makes you think.

I dropped Martinez a bit in my rankings after this news. Predictably, I didn't get him any more because 200 inning arms are becoming more scarce every year. His command is non-existent today.

[King of Queens]

Looks good to me!