Fantasy Baseball 2015: Week 4’s Buy-Low, Sell-High Trade Advice – Bleacher Report

2015 Stats: .205 BA, 10 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB (90 PA)

Right now, Adrian Beltre’s owner is freaking out over the fact that his second-round selection has been really bad so far this year. Like, so bad that maybe even you, dear fantasy reader, are cringing at his numbers above and wondering if it’s actually worth targeting him as a buy-low candidate.

If that’s the case, ask yourself this: Is Beltre just completely toast as an impact fantasy performer? Uh, no.

Granted, the Texas Rangers third baseman is 36 years old, so age is something of a concern, especially because older players can have a without-warning cliff season in which their production just falls off, well, a cliff.

But Beltre was 35 last year (duh), and he was pretty great then, hitting .324 with 79 runs, 19 homers and 77 RBI. Heck, that’s why he was a second-round pick in the first place. Well, that and a track record that includes him hitting .316 and averaging 29 homers from 2010 through 2014.

Maybe those digits are a bit out of reach given the circumstances and slow start, but Beltre has an egregiously low .203 BABIP that ranks just outside the 10-lowest in MLB. And yet, aside from a dip in line-drive rate early on, nothing else in Beltre’s plate discipline or batted ball profile sticks out.

The Rangers, by the way, are sporting a worst-in-baseball .248 BABIP as a team, which helps explain why Beltre’s runs and RBI numbers are so low thus far. Expect a turnaround for Beltre, who should still finish as a top-10 fantasy third baseman.