RADIO
On March 7th it was announced that A's Outfielder Josh Reddick will miss 4 to 6 weeks with a strained oblique. Reddick was poised to be a main run producer for a lineup already missing 3 of last years opening day starters: Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Moss, and Josh Donaldson. With these stars out of the lineup, there may be some fantasy value sleeping in the A's outfield.
From the looks of it, the A's outfield will really lack power, but they can make up for some of this with speed. Coco Crisp will once again be the starting Center Fielder and will most likely be leading off to start the year. Any leadoff hitter is worth taking a look at in any fantasy formant and can be essential in daily fantasy contests. Crisp's .246 batting average last season was the lowest it has been since he went to Oakland, so a bounce back season may be in store for him. His speed has never been questioned as he has averaged a stolen base every 4.78 games over the course of his career.
I wouldn't touch Sam Fuld or Craig Gentry in a season long draft, but they may have daily fantasy potential when being used near the top of the order. Fuld needs to increase his .239 Batting Average to take advantage of his solid stolen base rate (21 in 113 games). Gentry had 20 stolen bases in only 94 games last season, but his 7 extra base hits in as many games make him an undesirable target.
The biggest wild card in the A's outfielder is acclaimed speedster Billy Burns. At only 25 years old with a ton of Minor League hype, he is worth keeping an eye on especially with Reddick out. Burns put up a shocking 179 stolen bases in only 385 Minor League games. While he doesn't possess much power (only .211 slugging percentage in 28 AAA games), we have seen this type of speed immediately translate to the majors in years past, most recently with Billy Hamilton. I would recommend keeping a keen eye on Burns as a very deep sleeper and plugging him in early in daily fantasy lineups when he gets spot starts before his price increases. You can't teach speed.
