came across this fantasy article on looper :
Time to "sell high" on Braden Looper
May 2, 2009 - Joe Hoffer
If you are an owner of Braden Looper (RHP, MIL), you have to be pretty happy with the return on what was certainly a small investment at your fanalytic draft table this Spring. Two wins against no losses ... a 2.45 ERA ... you're feeling pretty good, right? Well, instead of spending time patting yourself on the back for your astute drafting, you might want to spend some time Saturday morning hitting the phones to try to move Braden Looper before the proverbial shoe falls ... because odds are it is going to fall soon ...
Year ERA xERA WHIP CTL DOM CMD BPV
==== ==== ==== ==== === === === ===
2003 3.70 4.06 1.38 3.3 6.3 1.9 65
2004 2.71 3.42 1.23 1.7 6.5 3.8 101
2005 3.96 4.82 1.47 3.4 4.1 1.2 18
2006 3.56 3.90 1.31 2.5 5.0 2.1 62
2007 4.94 5.12 1.34 2.6 4.5 1.7 30
2008 4.16 4.59 1.31 2.0 4.9 2.4 50
2009 Y 2.45 4.86 1.50 4.5 6.5 1.5 18
Y = Year To Date
Don't get us wrong ... in 2008, just his second year as a starting pitcher, Looper proved himself to be a serviceable innings eater and 2009 should be the third consecutive year that Looper provides double-digit wins. Conversely, we can see that when comparing Looper's current ERA (2.45) with his current xERA (4.86), not much has changed with Braden Looper this year other than his wonderful luck best displayed in his current 87% strand rate which is guaranteed to start dropping with each start.
Are you a proud owner of Braden Looper? It's been a fun ride thus far ... but when you look (with the understanding that this is a small sample set) at Looper's current WHIP (1.50), CTL (4.5), CMD (1.5) and BPV (18), it becomes clear that Braden Looper is a back-rotation filler ... not a sub 3.00 ERA stud. If you can convince somebody he is the latter, the time is now to move Braden Looper ... because that ticking sound you hear is the world of reality that could set in on Looper's fanalytic owners any day now ... and that day could be this Saturday.
