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      Broncos will not trade Jay Cutler

      March 4, 2009 /

      For those Lions, Vikings or Bucs fans that were hoping the Broncos still had Jay Cutler on the trade block, you can forget it because according to head coach Josh McDaniels the disgruntled quarterback will not be dealt.

      Jay Cutler“Let me be as clear as I can about this,” McDaniels said when reached at his office Tuesday afternoon. “We are not trading Jay Cutler — period.”

      Let those words ring around the NFL, the Internet, the blogosphere, sports-talk radio. No matter how much trade talk there is regarding Cutler, it is not originating from Denver and, to the disappointment of many, it is not happening. In fact, further proof that Denver fully intends to keep Cutler is evidenced in its action. McDaniels and Cutler are scheduled to meet next week.

      Now that McDaniels has made things clear on that, he must work on bridging the gap between he and Cutler that was created by the original trade talk. Cutler apparently refuses to sit down and talk with McDaniels right now, which is completely ridiculous. Cutler needs to buck up and realize that this is professional football and trades happen. It would also be wise for McDaniels to seize control and show a little faith in Cutler or else this situation will get worse before it gets better.

      NFL

      Fantasy baseball draft tips: Tier it up!

      March 4, 2009 /

      All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

      You’re hunched over your desk, boring a hole into your cheat sheet. “Michael Young or Joey Votto?” You’re up in two picks. Make that one pick. Panic sets in. “Michael Young or Joey Votto?” You’re running out of time. Your eyes dart right to left between the two names. “Michael Young or Joey Votto?!” Time’s up; you need to make a choice. “MICHAEL YOUNG OR JOEY VOTTO?!” You burst into tears.

      Okay, maybe you don’t actually cry…or maybe you do, I don’t know. Either way, you can potentially avoid this kind of draft day drama entirely if you spend a little more time preparing beforehand. Sure, you probably at least have one or two cheat sheets from your fantasy magazines or websites in front of you. Maybe you even took the time to put together your own cheat sheet. Unfortunately, that just means you’re looking at a jumbled mess of names organized by position. What does it all really mean?

      To get a clearer picture of what kind of talent is still available during my drafts, I break each of my position rankings up into tiers. Typically the elite players at each position get their own tiers, followed by the guys I view as starter-quality, the fallback options and the leftovers. Depending on the depth at a particular position, there may also be a “star” tier in between the elites and starters, and maybe another serviceable tier between the starters and fallbacks, but you get the idea.

      Michael YoungSo what’s the point? If the poor fictional sap in my example above had a tiered cheat sheet in front of him, he may have noticed that Young was the last guy in his starters tier at shortstop, whereas there were three quality first basemen still available after Votto. So he takes Young to fill his hole at short and then targets Votto or one of the other three first basemen with his next pick. Problem solved, decision made, embarrassing emotional breakdown avoided.

      My goal each draft is to fill my roster with as many starter-quality (and above) players as possible, and having my rankings broken up into tiers makes it much easier to gauge what kind of depth I’m dealing with. You may be surprised by the amount stress this kind of information can eliminate from your draft. Should you take a third outfielder or your starting middle infielder? What do your tiers say? You’d like to get one more closer but can you afford to wait another round or two? A catcher or another starting pitcher? Michael Young or Joey Votto?! The answer is in the tiers.

      This isn’t a revolutionary way to approach your draft – all sorts of owners use some kind of tiered system – but it is an extremely useful tool that can help you build a deep and productive roster heading into the season. What owner wouldn’t want that?

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      2009 Fantasy Baseball Preview: Third Basemen

      March 3, 2009 /

      All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

      Here is everything you need to know about the depth at the third base position these days: On CBS Sports’ cheat sheet for the top players at each position, they list 41 starting pitchers, 25 relief pitchers, 67 outfielders, 25 first basemen, 25 second basemen, 25 shortstops, 30 catchers…and 15 third basemen. Fif, teen. But wait, it actually gets worse: of those 15 third basemen, two are full-time first basemen (Kevin Youkilis, Miguel Cabrera) one is a full-time catcher (Russell Martin), and one played nearly 100 games at DH (Aubrey Huff). In other words, just over a third of all the teams in Major League Baseball have a third baseman worth drafting. And they include Ryan Zimmerman and Edwin Encarnacion as two of those 11 players, meaning even that number is padded.

      What this means for you, gentle reader, is that assuming Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols are no longer on the board, you are a stone cold fool if you don’t draft either David Wright or Alex Rodriguez at your earliest opportunity, and you could even be excused for drafting Wright or A-Rod ahead of the other three. (Don’t let this whole ‘steroids pariah’ hoopla scare you; A-Rod’s gonna put up crazy numbers this year.) Almost overnight, third base has become a fantasy wasteland, so you’d be wise to snag a stud third baseman if you can, especially now that Ryan Braun has lost his 3B eligibility and Troy Glaus decided to go under the knife at the 11th hour. But even when the big names are off the board, don’t panic; there are some players that can keep your fantasy team from having a smoking hole in the ground where third base used to be.

      Mark ReynoldsMark Reynolds, Arizona
      Meet the new Richie Sexson, same as the old Richie Sexson. Reynolds is death in head-to-head leagues thanks to his obscene strikeout numbers – he ranked 24th in points among third basemen in one of our leagues last year, and to put that into perspective, Marco Scutaro finished 19th – but if you can live with a subpar batting average, he’s capable of giving you 100 runs, 30 homers, and 100 RBI, with 10 stolen bases as a bonus. Not bad for a guy currently ranked #244 in our draft room. A bargain pick if ever there was one, but be prepared to take the very good with the very bad.

      Alex Gordon, Kansas City
      Is this the year that Gordon finally lives up to his potential? For his first two seasons in the majors, Gordon has been Lucy with the football, sending his owners hurtling to the ground while they shout “Augh!” in exasperation. There is evidence to suggest that Gordon is ready to break out, though; his walks, runs scored, home runs and batting average all increased from 2007 to 2008, and in fewer at-bats (he was one RBI shy of tying his 2007 total), which means the strike zone is starting to come into focus. The typically anemic Kansas City offense is also significantly upgraded from last year, thanks to the additions of Coco Crisp and Mike Jacobs. Lastly, Gordon is projected to bat seventh, which should take some of the pressure off. Definitely worth a late flier.

      Chris Davis, Texas
      Another player that loses his 3B eligibility at season’s end – he’ll be a full-time first baseman this year – the secret on Davis is officially out after he posted an incredible half-season that projected to 102-34-110-2 had he played the entire year in the bigs. Granted, Davis likely would have fallen short in all of those categories (well, except stolen bases), but this should give you an idea of what kind of mashing potential the young slugger possesses. He’s projected to be drafted around the 11th or 12th round, but don’t be surprised if he flies off the board earlier than that.

      Chipper JonesChipper Jones, Atlanta
      He may have lost his fantasy stud status a few years ago, thanks to his frequent trips to the disabled list – he had five separate injuries last year alone –but even in an injury-shortened season, Larry Jones Jr. still managed to knock in 75 runs, belt 22 homers, and win a batting title. If you do draft him, you’d be wise to pick another third baseman a few rounds later as insurance, but if Jones can manage to stay healthy, he could put up Youkilis-type numbers at a bargain price.

      Jorge Cantu, Florida
      It may have taken three years, but Cantu finally followed through on his breakout season from 2005 with a .277-92-29-95-6 stat line. The only question this year is whether the frugal Marlins will look to their deep pool of minor league talent and ship Cantu to a contender at the trade deadline in order to save a couple bucks. Cantu’s job would seem to be secure now that Mike Jacobs is in Kansas City and the Marlins have Dallas McPherson (!) penciled in at third base, but these are the Marlins we’re talking about here. No one holds better fire sales than they do. Still, Cantu is definitely worth a middle-round pick for the home run numbers alone.

      Here is our official ranking of third basemen. We left out middle infielders and catchers that were also eligible at third base because, seriously, why would you play a guy eligible for middle infield or catcher at a position other than middle infield or catcher?

      NOTE: This piece was written before the news about Rodriguez’s cyst and the subsequent tug-of-war over whether he’ll have surgery to fix the problem. For the moment, the Yankees say that A-Rod will fix it through rehab, which takes away roughly one sixth of his season. We have adjusted our rankings accordingly. (For those seeing this list for the first time, we originally had Rodriguez second.)

      1. David Wright, NYM
      2. Miguel Cabrera, DET
      3. Kevin Youkilis, BOS
      4. Evan Longoria, TB
      5. Alex Rodriguez, NYY
      6. Aramis Ramirez, CHC
      7. Aubrey Huff, BAL
      8. Garrett Atkins, COL
      9. Chipper Jones, ATL
      10. Chris Davis, TEX
      11. Jorge Cantu, FLA
      12. Ryan Zimmerman, WAS
      13. Edwin Encarnacion, CIN
      14. Mark Reynolds, ARZ
      15. Adrian Beltre, SEA
      16. Mike Lowell, BOS
      17. Alex Gordon, KC
      18. Kevin Kouzmanoff, SD
      19. Casey Blake, LAD
      20. Chone Figgins, LAA

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      2009 Fantasy Baseball Preview: First Basemen

      March 3, 2009 /

      All 2009 Fantasy Articles | 2009 Position Rankings

      If you do a detailed search for rankings of first basemen for your 2009 fantasy league, the only consistent thing you’ll see is: 1. Albert Pujols, STL.

      After King Albert, first basemen ranked 2 through 7 is a toss up. Some fantasy pundits believe Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera is the next best 1B after Pujols, while others still feel that Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard deserves the No. 2 spot. One of the Yankees’ big offseasons signings, Mark Teixeira, is also getting some love behind Pujols, while Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder, Minnesota’s Justin Morneau and San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez are floating anywhere from No. 4 to No. 7.

      What’s the deal? After Pujols, how do you value the first basemen that fall 2 through 7? By home run totals? By age? In the case of Fielder, by the size of their waistbands? First and foremost, you can’t go wrong with any of the first basemen in the top 7, if not the top 10. They’ll all give you good to great home run and RBI totals and if you’re lucky, a couple will even hit .300 and produce 100 runs.

      In an effort to sort out the mess, here’s the way we see the top 7 for first basemen in 2009:

      Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
      There’s no debate – Pujols is still the Ferrari of first basemen. Sure, you’ll have to worry about him breaking down throughout the season, but word is he’s healthy and he has always been consistent. There’s no reason he won’t accomplish what he did last year (.357-37-116-100) and there’s no reason to believe he’s slowing down at 29. He’s a stud – there’s not much else to say.

      Miguel CabreraMiguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
      Many owners expected Cabrera’s move from South Florida to Motown to be an instant hit from the start but much like the Tigers themselves, Miguel struggled early on. But unlike Detroit’s miserable season, Cabrera wound up finishing with solid numbers, hitting .292 with 37 home runs and producing 127 ribbies and 85 runs scored. Now that he’s got a full season in the AL under his belt, there’s no reason to believe he won’t top the .300 mark in average this year and come close to the home run, RBI and run totals he produced a season ago. A healthy Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield would go a long way in helping Cabrera put up big numbers in ’08, as well. Added bonus: he still qualifies as a third basemen, too, which gives him more value than Ryan Howard, Mark Teixeria, Justin Morneau and Prince Fielder.

      Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
      Teixeira could make a case for being No. 2 behind Pujols, but not unlike other fantasy pundits, we believe that Cabrera could have an MVP-type season this year in Detroit. Teixeira won’t match Howard’s home run or RBI totals, but he could bat close to 50 points higher with much fewer strikeouts. Teixeira will also benefit from playing in a loaded Yankees’ lineup and at 28 years old, he’s in the prime of his career.

      Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
      After signing a three-year, $54 million contract in early February, Howard doesn’t have to worry about his future until 2012. Howard is what he is at this point; he’ll hit 45-plus home runs, produce 140-plus RBIs and score 100-plus runs. His average will also hover in the .260-range and he once again won’t be afraid of the K (he had 199 strikeouts in ’08). Some feel as though Howard is still the second best option at first base after Pujols, but we favor Cabrera’s potential and Teixeira’s balanced numbers more. Still, Howard’s a beast and if you’re able to grab him early in your draft, you could focus on players that can hit for average later on.

      Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins
      Morneau is just clutch ain’t he? Not only does he hit for average (.300), but his high RBI totals also make him a fantastic catch and he has 25-plus home run potential. He’ll also chip in close to 100 runs, 50 doubles and has a solid 76-walk to 85-strikeout ratio. We’ll give him the nod over Fielder because while he can’t match Prince’s home run potential, Morneau trumps him in all other categories and is only two years older.

      Prince FielderPrince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
      What happened? After a fantastic 2007 campaign, Fielder ditched the meat for an all-veggie diet and his numbers dropped last year. He’s still going to hit 40 home runs and produce 100-plus RBIs, but his average will likely top out around .280 and he won’t hit many doubles (30) or triples (2). At 25, he still has loads of potential, but if you draft him you’re essentially banking on him hitting 40 home runs again, which is certainly doable in a hitter-friendly Miller Park. If he doesn’t come close to that dinger total, however, chances are you’re going to be left a little disappointed. The good news is that according to recent reports, Fielder has reported to spring training in good shape. Maybe the two-year, $18.5 million contract he signed in late January motivated Prince to slim down and keep his weight in check.

      Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres
      Gonzalez is the San Diego Padres offense. If he didn’t play on such a bad team and in a pitcher’s park, he might make the leap over Fielder in the rankings. Still, his 36 home runs, 119 RBIs and 103 runs cannot be ignored and his .279 average is better than guys like Howard and Fielder. We’ll give Gonzo the nod over Lance Berkman, who is still a quality player (.312-29-106-114) but slumped down the stretch last year after a hot start and is seven years older.

      Here is our official ranking of first basemen. Remember, David Ortiz, Travis Hafner and Jim Thome qualify as DH’s only.

      1. Albert Pujols, STL
      2. Miguel Cabrera, DET
      3. Mark Teixeira, NYY
      4. Ryan Howard, PHI
      5. Prince Fielder, MIL
      6. Justin Morneau, MIN
      7. Adrian Gonzalez, SD
      8. Kevin Youkilis, BOS
      9. Lance Berkman, HOU
      10. Joey Votto, CIN
      11. Derrek Lee, CHC
      12. Chris Davis, TEX
      13. Carlos Delgado, NYM
      14. Carlos Pena, TB
      15. Aubrey Huff, BAL
      16. James Loney, LAD
      17. Pablo Sandoval, SF
      18. Conor Jackson, ARZ
      19. Paul Konerko, CHW
      20. Adam LaRoche, PIT
      21. Casey Kotchman, ATL
      22. Mike Jacobs, KC
      23. Ryan Garko, IND
      24. Lyle Overbay, MIL
      25. Todd Helton, COL

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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