Color me biased (I’ve owned Chris Young for the last two seasons and I’m keeping him this season) but I think the Arizona outfielder is one of the more undervalued assets in fantasy. No one likes taking on a player with a career .240 average, but he’s had back-to-back 20/20 seasons and will almost certainly be in line for a third. At this point in his career, we know who Young is, and if it weren’t for the other contributors on this site who don’t value Young as highly as I do (damn you, George!), Young would definitely be a top-100 player.
Best case scenario: B.J. Upton (TB)
Similar players: Drew Stubbs (CIN), Jeff Francoeur (KC), Andrew McCutchen (PIT) with a lower BA
Worst case scenario: Ryan Roberts (ARI)
Strengths
Power, speed, run/RBI combo. Young has been a 20/20 player in each of the last two seasons and added in a third 20/20 year back in 2007. For his career, he averages 23 homers and 21 steals per 156 games (the exact amount he’s played the last two seasons). Young tends to bounce around the Arizona lineup, but in general he’s their fifth hitter. Batting behind Justin Upton and Miguel Montero, two very good bats, should equal plenty of RBI despite the low average, and his speed is enough to help him elevate his run total…again, despite the low average.
Weaknesses
Batting average. Young will be lucky to bat .257 again, and something right around .240 is what we should expect. If he was even able to bat .270 he’d be a top 25-50 option, but that’s a pipe dream.
ADP Report (125.0)
People really hate Young. Because of his low average, everyone seems to assume he’s more of a detriment to your team than he really is, but having a player like Young allows you to take on other undervalued players like Michael Young who can give you a great batting average but don’t help you much in homers or steals. Last season Michael Young finished 46th and Chris Young finished 99th, but because of their perceived shortcomings their ADPs this season are 71 and 125, respectively. Pairing them would produce incredible combined value and be a shrewd move.
