Trade Targets and Bait

August 14th, 2009 kNuke

For most Yahoo leagues, it’s trade deadline time.  I always believe it’s a good idea to get your trade offers in before the weekend, so today is your last chance.

Here are a few players to think about on the Trade Market.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B (Bait)
Gonzalez is a solid producer, but playing in San Diego with that junk around him will hurt his value. I’d use him to shore up other holes in your lineup and pickup a guy like Billy Butler to fill in at 1B.

Ben Zobrist, 2B/SS/OF (Bait)
Zobrist has been producing like a madman all year, but I think his production will start to tail off; Sell high, but only if you can get a solid return, because he provides a lot of position flexibility.

Ian Kinsler, 2B (Target)
Kinsler is injured right now, but he’ll be back soon. An impatient or skiddish owner might trade him away on the cheap.

Gordon Beckham, 3B/SS (Bait)
Beckham has been on fire for the past month, but he’s starting to cool.  If you can package him, I’d say go for it. Try to find an owner that loves college baseball.

Jermaine Dye, OF (Target)
Dye hasn’t been hitting, but he’s a proven veteran. Even with the addition of Alex Rios, I still think Dye will get his. You may want to bench him for the time being, but he’s an HR and RBI addition that could take your team to the top.

Jason Bay, OF (Target)
That lineup has to start producing again, it’s just too good. I would expect Bay to be right in the middle of the resurgence. He won’t come cheap, but he’ll be worth it.

Torii Hunter, OF (Bait)
I’d use this opportunity to trade him before he comes back. An owner might take the gamble. I’ve never been high on Hunter’s fantasy value. Maybe a Bay for Hunter swap?

Jake Peavy, SP (Bait)
Peavy looks to be coming off the DL in a few weeks. You should be trying to unload him right now. He may come back and win some games for the White Sox, but I think he’s worth more to your team right now if you can get good value in return.

John Lackey, SP (Target)
Lackey’s season numbers are pretty good, but his second half has been impressive. An owner may be willing to part with him if given the right players in return. I’d give it a try.

Cole Hamels, SP (Target)
Hamels has not been very good, but I keep believing he’ll get better. Most owners won’t let him go for nothing, because of his reputation, but I’d throw a deal at it.

Johan Santana, Dan Haren, Roy Halladay, SP (Bait)
Their respective teams are pretty far out of the race. All of these guys will continue pitching for the duration of the season, but I’m not sure they’ll get a lot of victories if their teams start playing different guys. Right now is a great time to use their name and #1 SP status to load up for the stretch run.

Kevin Gregg, Matt Capps, Kerry Wood, Mike MacDougal, RP (Bait)
Owners in need of Saves may overpay for one of these guys. I’d throw fliers out to Save-strapped owners.

These are just a sample of guys to think about on the Trade Market. In reality, you should evaluate your entire roster. If you have a specific situation, post it up or drop me a line and I’ll be happy to help you out.

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Fantasy Baseball All-Stars

July 5th, 2009 kNuke

As MLB announced its All-Stars today, it’s only fitting to unveil my Fantasy Baseball All-Star Selections.

C: Brandon Inge. Mauer and Victor Martinez will have better numbers at the end of the year, but right now, I give Inge the nod.

1B: Albert Pujols. If you need an explanation why, go crawl back under that rock.

2B: Aaron Hill. I wouldn’t argue against Utley or Kinsler, but Hill is helping his owners the most.

3B: Mark Reynolds. You think I’m crazy? Go check Reynold’s statistics. He’s helping in every category and his average isn’t hurting the team.

SS: Hanley Ramirez. Hanley has not disappointed one bit.

OF: Carl Crawford. Finding a guy who consistently steals bases while not hurting your team in other categories is hard to find; Crawford may be the only one.

OF: Ryan Braun. Behind Pujols, Braun is the best hitter in the game.

OF: Torii Hunter. Known more for his glove, Hunter is having a marvelous year; hitting for average and power, driving in runs, and stealing a few bases.

SP: Zach Greinke. Greinke has slowed down a bit since his torrid start, but what a surprise he’s been.

SP: Tim Lincecum. You’re getting what you expected when you drafted Lincecum, but 141 Ks in 121 IP is ridiculous.

RP: Jonathan Broxton. Even though Broxton gave up 3 runs today, he’s still the best closer right now.

RP: Ryan Franklin. Franklin doesn’t strike a lot of guys out and he’ll make you sweat, but he’s been nails. He, Aardsma, and Bailey are at the front of the “Best RP off the Waiver Wire” award line.

P: Chris Carpenter. Carpenter stumbled a little bit as of late, but he’s been a big time steal for any owner that drafted him. I was also thinking of Edwin Jackson here, but I gave the nod to Carpenter.

There you have it; not your list of usual suspects huh? I’m sure there are many other players that could be included on this list. If you think I missed someone, post a comment and state your case.

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First Quarter Fantasy Baseball Awards

May 18th, 2009 kNuke

We’ve pretty much closed the book on the first quarter of this year’s baseball season so I’ll hand out my First Quarter Fantasy Baseball Awards.

MVP: Raul Ibanez and Aaron Hill.  Ibanez is tearing it up right now batting .357 with 13 HR and 35 RBI while Hill ain’t too shabby either batting .345 with 11 HR and 34 RBI; Both Classic Sell High candidates.

Cy Young: Zack Greinke.  He’s got 65 Ks in 60 IP to go along with 7 W, 0.60 ERA, and 0.83 WHIP.  Since he is a high K guy, I would hang on for the ride.

Best “Everyone” Pick: Adam Jones. Just as good as advertised with a with a surprising .370 AVG.

Worst “Everyone” Pick: Alexei Ramirez.  Eek…

Biggest Bust: Jimmy Rollins. If you own him, you might as well go down with the ship.

Best Waiver Wire Pickup: Jason Bartlett and Brandon Inge.  Bartlett is giving owners a little bit of everthing and Inge has Catcher eligibility.

Oldie, but Goodie: Johnny Damon.  Batting .322 with 10 HR and 27 RBI.  Kudos to you for drafting him.

Nice to Know You: David Ortiz.  Sad to say, but Big Papi’s fantasy career is over.

Where Are You: Matt Wieters and David Price.  Both have yet to log an inning this season.

Category Star: Carl Crawford.  With his 24 SB, it’s possible he’ll put your team in the Top 3 for the category by himself.

Recount: Wandy Rodriguez, Jered Weaver, Ramon Ramirez, Edwin Jackson, Randy Wolf, Orlando Hudson, Marco Scutaro, Russell Branyan, Asdrubal Cabrera, Nick Johnson, Ryan Theriot, and Kendry Morales.  Yeah, go check their stats again.

Best Guy Still Available: Andrew Bailey.  He might not be the official closer in Oakland, but he’s worth the speculative add.

There you have it, my First Quarter Fantasy Baseball Award Winners.  Let me know if I missed any of your guys.

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Waiver Wire Work

April 13th, 2009 kNuke

Okay, about a week’s worth of games have been logged so let’s take a look at the Waiver Wire.

Guys like Emilio Bonifacio, Adam Lind, Jorge Cantu, and Brandon Inge are probably long gone. No matter, only Cantu and Inge will stick anyways. I’m not saying Inge will keep his current pace, but he’s Catcher eligible so he’ll play everyday, which makes him golden.

I’ll start throwing some names out:

Travis Hafner, Util
I think he’s returning to form. The only thing that sucks about Pronk is that he’s only Utility eligible.

Yunel Escobar, SS
I’m not real excited about this guy, but he’ll hit .300, score some Runs, and he has to hit more than 10 HR.

Aaron Hill, 2B
He did hit 17 HR in 2007.

Dexter Fowler, OF
He’s hot right now; play him until he cools off.

Ian Stewart, 2B/3B
If you have an extra bench slot, stash this guy. If he ever gets consistent playing time you’ll be a happy camper.

Kevin Millwood, SP
The Strikeouts are there so I’d take the chance. There are going to be rough outings when he pitches at home, but he might be a good matchup on the road.

David Aardsma, RP
Ryan Franklin, RP
Grant Balfour, RP
All three guys could be in line for Saves. If you’re hurting in that Category, think about it.

It’s still early in the season. Don’t hit the panic button just yet…

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Early Adds/Drops

April 7th, 2009 kNuke

I’ve been seeing a lot of Waiver Wire activity after the first few days of the MLB season.  My rule is to wait a week or two before evaluating players.  The exceptions are Injuries and Closer situations.  If I see that a borderline Closer had a bad outing (Jason Motte, Brandon Morrow, and Brandon Lyon), I look to pickup the other alternative on that team.

That being said, you shouldn’t completely ignore the Waiver Wire at this point in the season, because there may be dropped players to add.  Also, there may be players that are in nice lineup spots that weren’t foreseen (Khalil Greene and Mark Teahen).

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Sporting News Salary Cap Challenge

April 1st, 2009 kNuke

I just signed up for Sporting News Salary Cap Challenge.  This is a little different than the normal Roto Style game.  You build a 9-man roster under the $35M salary cap.  Each day, your team earns points based on your team’s performance.  The price of each player moves up and down in a dynamic price market, which determines your roster value.

Here’s my planned Opening Day Roster:

P  F. Francisco   $1.00M
P  K. Gregg        $2.50M
P  Y. Gallardo    $3.75M
C  P. Sandoval    $3.00M
OF C. Maybin     $3.50M
OF N. Cruz         $3.85M
CI C. Davis         $4.50M
MI A. Ramirez    $4.30M
DH M. DeRosa    $4.00M

I am $4.60M under the cap at the moment.  Many of my players have multiple position eligibility, which keeps my roster flexible as my players prices increase/decrease.  Hopefully they will all just increase!

I’ll be posting periodically as the season progresses.  Go check out the game and good luck!

http://www.sportingnews.com/games/baseball/season1/basic/home.php

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Fernando Rodney, Detriot Tigers Closer

April 1st, 2009 kNuke

Rodney has been named the Tigers closer.  He does have closer experience, but I wouldn’t expect him to remain the closer for the entire year.  Expect 10 Saves and everything else after that as gravy and you’ll be fine.

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Brad Ziegler, Oakland A’s Closer

March 31st, 2009 kNuke

I love the way Ziegler throws; it just amazes me that a Major League pitcher can get guys out throwing an 85 mph fastball.  He’s Oakland’s closer since Joey Devine is headed to the DL, but I wouldn’t expect the world out of him.  30 Saves sounds like the right amount.

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Kevin Gregg, Chicago Cubs Closer

March 29th, 2009 kNuke

Kevin Gregg is now the closer for the Chicago Cubs.  Gregg’s value skyrockets as he could notch 40 Saves on a long leash.  If the leash is short, I still expect him to record 20 Saves minimum.

Sorry to all you Carlos Marmol Owners out there.  But don’t panic and drop Marmol, he can still help you out and I think he’ll eventually take over the closer role as Gregg has proven to be erratic in the past.

FYI: If you have Marmol, you may want to make a speculative move and pickup Seth McClung.  McClung could grab a few saves while Trevor Hoffman is on the DL.

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Fantasy Baseball Targets

March 23rd, 2009 kNuke

Below are the guys I’m targeting in my 12-Team Fantasy Draft.  The list includes Sleepers, Value Picks, and High Risk/Reward Guys.

Carl Crawford: Round 3
Crawford is prime for a bounce back year now that he’s healthy and not carrying the franchise on his back.
Prediction: .300 AVG, 110 R, 20 HR, and 50 SB

Brian Roberts: Round 4
Roberts is going to have another solid season.
Prediction: .300 AVG, 110 R, 15 HR, and 45 SB

Bob Abreu: Round 5 (Value Pick)
Abreu may be the most underrated Fantasy player in the past few years behind Melvin Mora. He’ll contribute in all categories.
Prediction: .300 AVG, 105 R, 105 RBI, 20 HR, and 15 SB

Chone Figgins: Round 8
I was torn between the speed of Figgins versus the production of Atkins in this Round. I chose Figgins, because I think Atkins will be traded at mid season, which drops his value for the year big time.
Prediction: .300 AVG, 110 R, and 50 SB

Erik Bedard: Round 12 (High Risk/Reward)
Bedard has the stuff to be a big time strikeout pitcher, but will he have the innings?
Prediction: 10 W, 180 IP, 170 K, 3.70 ERA, and 1.40 WHIP

Pablo Sandoval: Round 12 (Sleeper)
Sandoval should be an everyday player at 3B, but he has Catcher eligibility.  By simply playing everyday, he’ll be in the Top 3 at the Catcher spot.  One note, everyone seems to be on to this guy so if he’s snatched earlier than expected, target Chris Iannetta and his Frost Brewed 25 HR.
Prediction: .300 AVG and everything else is a Bonus

Lastings Milledge: Round 12
Milledge is going to start the season batting leadoff for the Nationals, but I doubt he’ll stay there all year. That means SB early in the season, RBI later.
Prediction: .280 AVG, 90 R, 75 RBI, 20 HR, and 30 SB

Willy Taveras: Round 16 (Value Pick)
If you are weak at SB at this point in your draft, Taveras will get you some SBs.
Prediction: .280 AVG, 100 R, and 50 SB

Mike Gonzalez, Joel Hanrahan, Frank Francisco, and Brandon Lyon: Round 17-19
All of these guys should be on your Saves Radar.
Prediction: 35 SV

Travis Hafner: Round 17-19 (High Risk/Reward)
If Pronk can stay healthy, he’ll produce decent numbers, but he does tie up that Utility spot.
Prediction: .290 AVG, 90 R, 100 RBI, and 30 HR

Chris Carpenter: Round 20 (Sleeper)
All reports indicate that Carpenter is good to go, but injury is always a concern.
Prediction: 12 W, 170 IP, 120 K, 3.50 ERA, and 1.30 WHIP

Adam LaRoche: Round 20-21
If you need HR help, LaRoche is a great pick to round out your draft.
Prediction: .275 AVG, 80 RBI, and 25 HR

Hope my list may help you out a bit. Good Luck this season!

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