Tyrannosaurus Teixeira vs. Doogie Hosmer

[DOUGHBOYS]

During Draft Season, I like to verbalize that there is no value on the draft boards. If somebody drops from their adp, it isn't a value, it may be that the 14 drafters are a little bit smarter than the average bear (Yogi reference). It should be called a 'perceived bargain', but that's not quite as catchy as screaming, "I GOT VALUE!" so the word 'value' will be all over sites and publications next year too.
The value of each pick is a reality now that the season has begun. For all the perceived bargains or 'value picks' being touted, not one matters now. Right now, unless you own Miguel Cabrera, there is a later round pick outperforming your first round pick.
Is it value?
You bet your ass it is!
And you want it to continue.
For the most part, the first rounders will come around. If you have a later pick outperforming the first rounder, you want it to stay that way for the rest of the year. But, probabilities are against that. Still, now you have value no matter where the later player was selected in the draft.

No young player can have 'value'. And no older player can have 'upside'
Most young players come along with high expectations from owners. Without an MLB track record, we look at the glowing numbers and mentally see those numbers on our fantasy teams.
Dee Gordon stealing 100 bases. Brett Lawrie going 30/30. Eric Hosmer hitting .300/100/30/100/10.
For drafters not afraid of youngsters, these numbers dance in their heads.
Mostly, because these youngsters and others like them have yet to prove that they CAN'T perform at those levels.
Reality will be a bitch for some. A reward for others.

The older players have all 'been there, done that'. Some are teasers. Francisco Liriano is a teaser. We all remember how dominant he was and how much of a help it would be for our fantasy team.
With a dominant spring training, he teased and enticed some drafters to take him 10 to 15 rounds over previous adp.
After his first start, last year suddenly came back into focus for those drafters.
Johan Santana is a teaser too. More of a health risk than a jump off the bridge type like Liriano, Santana had a good first start. Better, is that no meetings were set up with Dr. Andrews after the outing.

When we draft these veterans, we're hoping for the best of their previous years. We know that Jason Bay, Vernon Wells, and Alfonso Soriano will probably put a turd in our punch bowl. But, there is that glimmer of a hope that one of these players and players like them could have that one good year that could be left in those old bones. Now that they've hit the field and we've seen how slow they are in the field, we're simply left hoping they just don't hurt us too much.

The Teixeira-Hosmer clash is the classic battle of titans in the Young vs. Old arena.
Teixeira and Michael Young are probably the best three category players on the draft boards.
Teixeira has the good fortune of being surrounded by wonderful hitters, playing in a tailer-made ballpark, and is a switch hitter to boot.
The ballpark has betrayed his average though. Teixeira used to be happy hitting to all fields. Yankee Stadium has made him pull-happy and his average has suffered for it. Hitting left handed, it seems anything that isn't hit over the fence off Teixeira's bat, is swallowed up by the shift employed by most teams.
Still, drafters thinking in the Shandler terms of a player once displaying a skill, owns that skill can have dreams of Teixeira once again hitting for a good average. Teixeira even threatened more bunts this year. An empty threat coming from a clean up hitter.
Still, Teixeira is a three category monster and not as pricey as the Votto's and Gonzalez's and Fielder's who still do hit for an average.
Enter the challenger.
Eric Hosmer is Superman.
Ask any Royals fan.
These fans are duped into thinking that minor leaguers will all someday rise and take over Major League Baseball, the likes that have never been seen before! Sounds like a movie trailer.
Reality is that one or two of these players can pan out to being outstanding players.
Hosmer has the best chance. Hosmer is young and can still run. Something that Teixeira has absolutely no interest in. This gives Hosmer a category over most first basemen.
Hosmer sprays the ball all over the field. At worst, he is a left handed Billy Butler. At best, he could be Joey Votto.
Of course, his drafters are hoping for the latter.
It's almost ironic in that the Teixeira-Hosmer clash comes down to whether Hosmer can match Teixeira's numbers.
Not his present day numbers, but his past numbers.
Numbers that are now not obtainable for Teixeira, but could be within Hosmer's reach.

Some of us are more comfortable with older more reliable things. For his drafters, that is Mark Teixeira.
Some of us are more adventurous and are not afraid to venture in to a little of the inknown. For his drafters, that is Eric Hosmer.
Tyrannosaurus Teixeira vs. Doogie Hosmer.