Fantasy Baseball: 5 Potential Dee Gordon Replacements

Let’s face it. When your second round pick goes down three and a half weeks into the season, you can’t be picky with his replacement.  It’s not like there will be any fantasy studs on the waiver wire this early in the year. Which is why the dropping ownership rates of a guy who was expected to reach the top 5 of his position should be music to your ears.

Kolten Wong is off to a horrendous start.  He’s battled consistency, injury and the flu, all while losing playing time to Jedd Gyorko of all people. He’s striking out more than he ever has and hitting way down in the lineup.  But there are some reasons to expect a rebound.

The Cardinals are the best offense in baseball right now with 141 runs scored.

First, the Cardinals are the highest scoring team in baseball. With 141 runs on the board thus far, the Redbirds are outpacing everyone, including such vaunted offenses as the Cubs (+5), Dodgers (+37) and the Blue Jays (+44). It doesn’t really matter where you’re hitting in that lineup if they continue to swing the bat like they have early in the season. If Wong hits seventh regularly he’ll still see 60+ runs and 50+ RBI on the season, to help offset the loss of Gordon at second base.

Second, Wong is capable of bringing you some of those lost stolen bases. While not the straight speedster that Gordon is, Wong has stolen 40 bags over his short career and should see numbers around 15 when the season is complete. This is a far cry from the 50+ that Gordon puts up every year, but when the market is this thin, finding a guy with any multi-category potential is huge.

Third, Wong will not have a .000 ISO for the whole season. He had 43 extra base hits last season, and he should get back on that track eventually. While never being a slugger, Wong is capable of giving you 10 home runs and bringing up that RBI total to respectable numbers. His walk rate is strong, and his BABIP should regress a bit to give you some improvement in both the AVG and OBP categories.

All of this is predicated on playing time, and though Wong hasn’t seen much of the field lately it’s hard to believe the Cardinals would sit him down for any length of time.  He signed a $37 million extension last year as a key piece going forward, and manager Mike Matheny won’t be able to put that much money on the bench for very long.

Wong is an upside play, but one that Gordon owners shouldn’t turn down. With the rest of this list all having significant red flags, he should be snapped up in a lot of leagues that he’s available in.

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