Astros in Fantasy: Colby Rasmus

The signing of Colby Rasmus was one of the surprise moves of the Astros offseason. How does signing with the Houston Astros affect his fantasy value? Last season with the hard-hitting Blue Jays, he struggled to hit the ball. Will his style of game fit better with what the Astros do? Could Rasmus have already peaked, and he is the player he showed last year hitting in the .230’s with 20 ish home runs and 45 runs batted in? The biggest question is, can Rasmus be trusted in fantasy baseball?

Comparing 2013 and 2014 for Colby Rasmus

To Colby Rasmus’s credit, he had his best season in 2013, so some regression was probably expected in 2014. Some of his numbers decreased because of decreased playing time from his ineffective hitting, and the Blue Jays trying to compete last year. While Rasmus’s numbers dropped across the board, the things that fantasy owners should pay the most attention is his on-base percentage, batting average, and RBI. Especially on the current Astros team, those numbers are not acceptable to be a full-time starter.

Colby Rasmus 2015 Fantasy Projections

The 2015 projections for Colby Rasmus by Fantasy Pros, were put together using multiple websites projections, to find an average projection for fantasy owners to use. While looking at the projections versus real 2014 results, a good sign is that he is expected to improve in 2015. The question is whether he improved enough?

Colby Rasmus’s ADP (Average Draft Position)

Feb 26, 2015; Kissimmee, FL, USA; Houston Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus poses for a picture during photo day at Osceola County Stadium Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Looking at Rasmus’s ADP so far this offseason, he has a consensus overall ranking of 394, with a range of 316 (yahoo) and unranked by ESPN and Rt Sports. In terms of what that ranking means in terms of your league, let’s look at the following.

  • Ten-team league – 40th round pick. If your league is this deep, Rasmus could be a steal. If your draft is only 25 rounds, then he is undraftable.
  • Twelve-team league – 33rd round pick. Did you expect that much a difference between ten and twelve? He is still undraftable, but could be a good free agent pickup if he is successful early in the season.
  • 20-team league – 20th round pick. Yes, Rasmus is actually draftable if you are in one of the rare 20-team leagues. He could be a sleeper in that deep a league, because with the energy the Astros have, it could rejuvenate his career.

Colby Rasmus’s Expert Rankings

While his ADP is relatively high in a bad way, his consensus Rankings by Fantasy Pros show him as the 318 overall player. Rasmus’s best overall projection is 193 (Fantasy Fix) and worst is 382 (Razzball). The Fantasy Fix is obviously higher on Rasmus than most people are, I might ask them why this is the case.

What others are Saying

Razzball,

He signed with the Astros this offseason as he chases Brett Wallace for the record for the biggest disappointment from a once-highly sought-after prospect that now appears in their player page picture like they need a helmet when they use a pencil.    2015 Projections:  58/22/62/.231/3.- Grey

The Fantasy Fix,

An improved Astros lineup should provide run production potential from top to bottom, and that’s good for Rasmus as he’ll probably slot somewhere in the bottom third of the order. He’ll make for a cheap draft day power option that will look nice on in a utility spot or fifth outfielder spot in 12-team mixed leagues or larger, and that obviously puts him firmly in play in AL-only leagues as well.

More from Climbing Tal's Hill

In terms of whether you should draft him, unless you are in a really deep league, I would pass. However, he is a player to watch as the season progresses, because he could hit better with the Astros. He hit more home runs in less at bats last year. He appears to be hitting the ball father, now he needs to just work on hitting the ball period.

What do you expect from Rasmus in 2015?

 What’s Next?

January 2nd, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 1: Astros Top 10 prospects

January 9th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 2a: George Springer

January 16th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 3: Evan Gattis

January 23rd, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 4Jose Altuve

January 30th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 5: Chris Carter

February 6th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 6Dallas Keuchel

February 13th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 7  Luke Gregerson and the Big 3

February 20th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 8: Jed Lowrie and Luis Valbuena

February 27th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 9: Colby Rasmus

March 6th, 2015 – Astros in Fantasy Part 10: Starting Rotation

Next: Who Would be the next Astros top Prospect when Correa isn't Eligible