As I took a look around the American League, I looked back to even when I was young (at 21, it wasn't that far off) and realized how big of a transfer the DH has undergone. The DH used to be just an elite hitter who couldn't play defense, like your Edgar Martinez types, but now it is either the guy who used to play in the field but can't, the injury prone type who barely makes it through 2/3 of the season or most commonly, an off day in the field in some kind of rotation. Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington most famously employs it - the Rangers often use their entire team regularly with only Kinsler, Andrus and Beltre playing just about every day.
If your team has a DH slot, it can be tough to fill outside of the usual suspects - Ortiz, Dunn, V-Mart, Butler and now Trumbo. All great fantasy hitters but every other team cannot guarantee DH slots to one hitter. Essentially, these platoons can be taxing on fantasy owners. Sure Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion will play probably daily, but how long is it until they qualify for DH if they split 1B and DH? Can Travis Hafner stay healthy? Seattle and Oakland are an absolute mess which I would stay away from outside of Reddick, Cespedes, Morse and Morales for your OF/1B spots, but luckily for you, Morales probably qualifies at DH. My advice is to stay away from a platoon on a team with enough offense to go around, like in New York until Hafner stays healthy and productive. I debated Chris Carter here, but I'm interested in seeing how Bo Porter will manage at-bats. So, I went with an option who should be playing regularly at either C, 1B or DH (great to have a guy who you can move around) and can still hit - Ryan Doumit. Let's take a look.
Doumit's first year in Minnesota? Actually, it's his best - career highs in plate appearances, home runs, RBI and tied a career high in doubles. His line produced: .275/18 HR/75 RBI, with a .275/.320/.461 and .781 OPS. His walk rate was lower than career norms - hopefully an aberration and not a trend. But take a look at this: Doumit's stat line from this year is nearly exact for a standard Doumit season: .272/18 HR/74 RBI with a .272/.331/.446 and .777 OPS. Scary accurate. So, going out on a limb stating that Doumit can replicate his stats from last year isn't crazy at all. He's great in a UTIL/DH role who can fill in at other positions in case your fantasy teammates get hurt.
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