Category: Fantasy Baseball (Page 14 of 48)

      Mikey’s Crystal Ball: preseason MLB award predictions

      March 29, 2009 /

      It’s hard to believe the start of baseball season is next week. It seems like a very short time ago when the Phillies and Rays were playing a Game 5 of the World Series in frigid Philly, having to suspend it and pick up the next night. It seemed like nothing was going to stop that Phillies team, much to the dismay of this Mets’ fan. Anyway, it’s a fresh start and a clean slate and a whole lot of possibilities. Here are a few of those as I see them…

      NL MVP: David Wright, New York Mets—Am I playing homer? Yes. But this kid works really hard every off-season and consistently puts up big numbers, and he hasn’t even come close to showing his potential. This year Wright is going to show the world why the Mets have built their franchise around him, and he’s going to (finally) lead them to a World Series.

      AL MVP: Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians—Last year, Sizemore had a full season low batting average of .268 but racked up career highs in home runs (33), RBI (90) and stolen bases (38). Last season Sizemore finished 10th in the AL MVP voting but like Wright, he is on the verge of something huge, and he’s going to lead the Indians to the playoffs.

      NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants—I love a good short-guy-kicks-ass story, the kind where most scouts write someone off because of their size (5’10, 160 pounds), and then they go and prove everyone wrong except the team who drafted them. That’s Tim Lincecum, who won the NL Cy Young last season for the Giants, winning 18 of his team’s 72 wins, or ONE QUARTER of them. His stuff is absolutely sick, and at times just unhittable and he will coast to his second straight Cy Young.

      AL Cy Young: Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox—Last season, Dice-K went 18-3 but was largely overshadowed by Cliff Lee’s 22-3 masterpiece as well as by K-Rod’s record-breaking 62 saves. But this guy has taken over as the dominating shutdown starter in Boston after Josh Beckett battled inconsistency last year, and this year he’s going to roll to the Cy Young.

      NL Rookie of the Year: Micah Hoffpauir, Chicago Cubs—Last season, during the second straight historic collapse by the Mets, Hoffpauir was Babe Ruth for one game, going 5 for 5 with two home runs and five RBI. That was his only multi-hit game, but you don’t just have a showing like that by accident.

      AL Rookie of the Year: David Price, Tampa Bay Rays—Sure, the Rays optioned their young phenom to the minors recently, but don’t let that fool you. Once Price logs a few innings, he’ll be back in Tampa blowing hitters away the way he did in the ALCS against Boston last season. And he’ll find himself as the #2 or #3 starter before long.

      NL Manager of the Year: Jerry Manuel, New York Mets—When Willie Randolph was let go in New York last season, the Mets were 34-35. After Manuel replaced him, the Mets went 55-38 the rest of the way. Okay, they choked again down the stretch, but this year it’s Jerry’s team from the start, and he’s going to show everyone that his no-nonsense and player-friendly approach can win lots of games, as well as championships. It doesn’t hurt that he has two lights-out closers (K-Rod, JJ Putz) anchoring his bullpen now.

      AL Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge, Cleveland Indians—The Indians missed the playoffs last season after taking the eventual champion Red Sox to 7 games the year before. The Tribe plays well in odd numbered years as of late—going 93-69 in 2005 and 96-66 in 2007. This season, with the additions of Kerry Wood, Mark DeRosa and Carl Pavano, Cleveland is going to surprise a lot of folks.

      NL Comeback Player of the Year: Eric Byrnes, Arizona Diamondbacks—Byrnes was way off his career averages in 2008, hitting a paltry .209 with 6 homers and 23 RBI. He has nowhere to go but up, and this season I have a feeling Byrnes’ numbers are going to match his intensity on the field.

      AL Comeback Player of the Year: John Smoltz, Boston Red Sox—After season-ending shoulder surgery in June of 2008, the Braves finally let one of the cornerstones of their franchise go, as the free agent pitcher signed with the Sox. He won’t see the mound until June, but Smoltz threw in the bullpen this week and showed no signs of pain. He’s going to make the Braves sorry—really sorry.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      B.J. Upton likely to miss Opening Day

      March 22, 2009 /

      The AL Champion Rays will likely be missing one of their stars when the regular season starts in April.

      UPDATE 1: Center Fielder B.J. Upton, who suffered a bruised bone when hit by a pitch in a minor league game yesterday, said he will have to take it easy for the next couple of days. He said the setback probably firms up the target date for his return to the lineup as the regular season home opener April 13. There was an outside chance he could have returned from off-season shoulder surgery for the season opener April 6 at Boston.

      This injury is unlikely to sideline Upton very long. Fantasy owners should monitor the situation, but he’ll be fine over the long haul.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Twins’ Mauer probably won’t be ready by Opening Day

      March 20, 2009 /

      The Twins are unsure when catcher Joe Mauer will be able to return to the field, but they know it probably won’t be by Opening Day.

      Update: Mauer has pretty much ruled himself out for Opening Day, which has been speculated about but something no one with the club wanted to address. Mauer admitted that it’s, “frustrating,” that it has taken so long to heal and that he’s been unable to learn why he has soreness there in the first place. Will add quotes later.

      When asked if it’s doubtful that he would be ready for Opening Day, he said: “Yeah, I just have to get healthy. I don’t think I’m ready to get out there and play any games. I know it’s getting closer. I really don’t know if I’m going to be there or not.”

      Smith said the club had reached out to specialists in the Twin Cities a few weeks ago in addition to sending Mauer to see a highly-regarded specialist in Baltimore. A source with knowledge of Mauer’s case said the specialist is based at Johns Hopkins University.

      What’s still not known is when Mauer will get back on the field (one week? two? more?). While the Twins haven’t been told that Mauer’s condition is a long-term or chronic problem, no one knows how fast the medication will reduce the inflammation. With Opening Day just over two weeks away, the Twins probably will have to look at prospects Drew Butera or Jose Morales to support veteran Mike Redmond at the position until Mauer is ready to play.

      “There’s not a timetable right now to say when he is going to be on the field,” Smith said. “This is the right treatment for now. We have to get the inflammation down before we turn him loose.”

      Mauer could be a late round steal in your fantasy draft if other owners are petrified of his injury situation. He would obviously be a risk, but a risk worth taking. He would actually pair up nicely with a guy like Bengie Molina, who you could snag in the final couple of rounds while everyone else is filling out their bench. You could get the most out of Molina (who typically starts well but fades after the All-Star Break) and then once Mauer is healthy (presuming he does eventually get healthy), dump Molina on a desperate owner in need of a catcher.

      Just a thought.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Cole Hamels to have elbow examined

      March 16, 2009 /

      Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels has left spring training to fly to Philadelphia to have his sore elbow examined by team doctors.

      Cole Hamels“We do not think it is serious, at least at this time” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “We thought it was important for Dr. Ciccotti to check him out and see if there is anything more serious than what we think it is. He’ll decide once he sees him tomorrow morning if he needs to do any testing or any further testing. We did do a physical on him before we ended up finalizing the multiyear deal with him and felt comfortable with the diagnostics and such. But he’s had a little persistent soreness and we want to be cautious about it and have him checked out.”

      Hamels pitched in a minor-league spring training game yesterday at the Carpenter Complex. The Phillies said afterward that it went well and that he remained on schedule to start Opening Day on April 5.

      “And he was,” Amaro said. “But he’s still got a little bit of soreness in there. We don’t feel that it’s serious, but again, I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t look inside his elbow. We just want to be cautious, and we thought it was important that he sees our doctor in Philly.”

      I don’t think teams can ever be too cautious when it comes to starting pitchers and their arms, but it’s way too early for Hamels to be having any kind of issues. Hopefully for Phillie fans, it’s nothing serious and he doesn’t miss any time. But it’s a long season and if Hamels needs to miss a few weeks in April, that’s better than losing him during a key stretch run late in the year.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Top 10 active WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched)

      March 14, 2009 /

      Since we focused on the offensive side last week when listing the Top 10 in active OPS in Major League Baseball, this week we’ll take a look at the active WHIP leaders for pitchers. That stands for Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched, and is an extremely important statistic when you’re considering pitchers to draft for your fantasy team. Not only do most fantasy leagues count points for WHIP, but it’s a great indicator of overall pitching prowess. Here is that Top 10 in WHIP, and it includes only pitchers who are active going into the 2009 season:

      1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees (1.0199)—Rivera has been the hammer in the Yankees’ bullpen for over a decade and still shows no signs of slowing down. At the age of 38 in 2008, Mo struck out 77 in 70 innings, and racked up 39 saves.

      2. Pedro Martinez, free agent (1.0512)—True, Pedro is about a lifetime removed from his dominating days with the Red Sox, but dude can still pitch effectively and has no MLB team at the moment.

      3. Johan Santana, New York Mets (1.1024)—Will Johan be the guy to lead the Mets to their first title in almost 25 years? He had a brilliant first season in New York but was hurt by lousy run support and an even lousier bullpen.

      4. Curt Schilling, Boston Red Sox (1.1374)—It’s hard to believe Schilling is not done yet, because he hasn’t pitched in a real game in almost two years. But if and when he goes back out there, I’m still picking him for my fantasy team.

      5. Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants (1.1673)—The Big Unit is five wins shy of 300 for his career, and reaching 300 is something that seemed impossible when he had back surgery before last season. But dude is still a beast and still blowing the ball past hitters, and he’s in his mid-40’s.

      6. John Smoltz, Boston Red Sox (1.1697)—It’s going to be strange seeing Smoltz in a Red Sox uniform, but as a diehard Mets’ fan, I couldn’t be happier about that.

      7. Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (1.1864)—When you think of the game’s top pitchers, do you think of this dude? Well, you should. Peavy has already racked up 1256 strikeouts and he’s only 27.

      8. Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (1.1979)—Another amazing young pitcher, Oswalt is 31 years old and has a lifetime record of 129-64 for a usually-less-than-awesome Astros’ team. That’s just sick.

      9. Ben Sheets, free agent (1.2010)—If he ever pitched a full season, Sheets would be a lock for the Hall of Fame by now. But you just never see an injury report without his name on it.

      10. Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays (1.2076)—Playing north of the border, Halladay has won the AL Cy Young Award once and finished in the top 5 in voting three other times. How have the Yankees kept their paws off of this guy?

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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