AMERICAN LEAGUE SB PROSPECTS FOR 2009 Adam Jones: If not for a mid-season injury, Jones may already have been established as a major speed threat. He hit 7 triples in 128 games, which is evidence of amazing foot speed, and...

First Pitch - AL Pitcher Keepers - September 23, 2008 Last week, Drew and I dedicated two First Pitch articles to fantasy keepers.  We solely focused on hitters in both the AL (found here) and Drew's NL analysis (found here). ...

Jim Edmonds Edmonds continues to be a surprisingly-valuable asset for the playoff-bound Cubs, going 1-for-4 with a double on Saturday. He’s batting a so-so .236/. 345/.479 in 330 at-bats and while the average is a bit of a liability, Edmonds...

Robinson Cano- NYA- Hot- Cano went 1-for-4 with a homer last night to make him 6-for-10 in his last 3 games, raising his September batting average to .226. Still, this month Cano has only drawn a single walk while striking...

Derek Jeter: Jeter can celebrate for getting the unbreakable record of most hits in Yankee Stadium history, but his skills appear to be declining. His approach at the plate has remained consistent, 2006/2007/2008 BB%’s of 10%/8%/8% and Ct%’s of 84%/84%/85%,...

Jonathan Sanchez - Sanchez didn't last long on Wednesday, going just 3.2 IP while giving up 6 ER, 6 hits, and 3 BB while striking out 4. The risk profile for Sanchez has remained consistent all year long: Quality Start...

I really haven’t paid too much attention to Aubrey Huff in the second half but oh my LORD has this guy had a GREAT season. Huff went 2-5 last night with a HR and 2 RBI, bringing his season totals...

Unfavorable Matchups, American League Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay (25 for 67 .373 CS%): 4 against Baltimore (Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Adam Jones, Jay Payton), 4 against Detroit (Carlos Guillen, Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Gary Sheffield) Joe Mauer, Minnesota (27 for...

With all the hoopla surrounding Franky Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera, it’s my job to tell you that Joakim Soria has been pretty much just as good as both of them. He collected his 39th save last night in yet another...

First Pitch – September 17th, 2008 – NL Keepers for 2009: As Joe mentioned yesterday, the First Pitch editions these next two weeks will focus on potential keeper options heading into 2009. I will cover the NL Hitters this morning,...

Cameron Maybin: The Marlins called up Maybin from Double-A where he had a good, but not great, season, 13/49/.277 with 21 steals in 390 AB. He showed a nice ability to work counts, 13% BB%, but is swinging and missing...

Alfredo Aceves - Aceves has thrown two straight quality starts against the Angels and White Sox after last night's outing, leading to all sorts of speculation that he'll be in the Yankee rotation next season, something I find reasonably unlikely....

J. J. Upton- ARI- Hot- Upton was at it again last night, going 2-for-4 with his second homer in as many games. Since returning from the DL, he is hitting .389 in 13 games. Upton’s strikeout rate has dropped, with...

First Pitch - AL Keeper Hitters: September 16, 2008 Welcome to the first of four editions of "First Pitch Keepers."  Over the final two weeks of the season, Drew and I will take you through the AL and the NL...

Adrian Beltre - The season is officially over for Adrian Beltre. With surgery to his thumb scheduled for this week, the Mariners will shut the 3B down for the remainder of the year. This thumb injury was lingering all year...

Max Scherzer: I love me some Max Scherzer! Mad Max was at it again on Sunday mowing down Reds in 6 dominating innings. Unfortunately thanks to the Diamondbacks rather offensive offense, Scherzer was credited with a no decision despite yielding...

Tim Lincecum Lincecum on Saturday – the good: his first career shutout, a complete-game four-hitter in which he struck out 12 Padres. The bad: an unbelievable 138 pitches. With a 17-3 record, 2.43 ERA, and major league leading 243 strikeouts,...

Jacoby Ellsbury: Ellsbury went 4-8 in the two games in the doubleheader yesterday and scored 3 times, improving his September line to .243/.317/.351. It’s been a rough go of it for Ellsbury since his tremendous success in April and May...

Jed Lowrie – Lowrie was probably Boston’s MVP last night. He drove in their first 2 runs and also scored their third run. Lowrie finished the night 2-2 with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a walk. Both of his...

Roy Oswalt: There might not be a more valuable fantasy pitcher over the last 6 weeks than Roy Oswalt. Oswalt continued his tear throwing a 1 hitter on Thursday night and making it look quite easy. He needed just 102...

Jeremy Guthrie: The Orioles may shut down Guthrie for the rest of the season due to an ailing shoulder. Guthrie had a solid season, 3.57 ERA in 29 starts, but with a pretty average skill set; 5.7 K/9, 2.8 BB/9,...

Carlos Gomez- MIN- Hot- Gomez went 2-for-4 and stole his 30th base of the season yesterday. If he had an OBP of higher than .290, Gomez would have a much higher steal total. However, as long as he stays allergic...

Ted Lilly - Lilly pitched fantastic on Wednesday, earning the W by going 8 strong innings of 5-hit, 1 ER ball while striking out 5. Here's how the season has gone for Lilly (from a fantasy perspective): he was drafted,...

Unfavorable Matchups, American League Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay (23 for 63 .365 CS%): 3 against Boston (Jacoby Ellsbury, Coco Crisp, Dustin Pedroia, Jason Bay), 3 against Minnesota (Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, Delmon Young, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla) Joe Mauer, Minnesota...

First Pitch – Value Picks – September 10th, 2008 As Joe alluded to yesterday, our focus after this week will start to shift towards next year for those in keeper formats, which means this will be the final Value Picks...

Manny Burriss: Burriss could be done for the year with a strained oblique. Considering that he had just 14 games above Single-A ball before coming to the Giants, Burriss did a good job, 1/18.283 with 13 steals in 240 AB....

Brandon Wood - After two homers last night, Wood has three in his last three games, so maybe he's finally adjusting to the big league level. The 23 year old has seen his plate discipline deteriorate in each of the...

Greg Maddux- LAN- Cold- Maddux continues his extreme home/road splits even when the road venue is his former home. Pitching in San Diego last night he was touched for 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 IP...

Sabermetric Tuesday - September 9, 2008 This will be the last Sabermetric Tuesday of the season.  The rest of the Tuesdays will be dedicated to looking at keeper candidates as we start to think about 2009.  Its kind of sad,...

Prince Fielder: Spring Training 2007 I went on a big campaign about Fielder not having the type of power that would result in 50 HR seasons and that the Ryan Howard comparisons weren’t appropriate. Of course Fielder went on to...

Justin Morneau - Just another huge game for Morneau as he helps his team and his fantasy owners make a run at the playoffs. He was 1-for-3 with a 3B but drove-in 4 and scored one, giving him 117 RBI...

I completely forgot to pick up Gil Meche again in one of my more shallow leagues last night and I paid for it. Meche was very good again, allowing just 1 ER on 3 H while walking 2 and striking...

Randy Johnson Johnson was scratched from his start on Sunday against the Dodgers due to a sore shoulder. Let Andre Ethier and company rejoice. From all the reports, the injury isn’t serious, with Johnson saying that he just needs a...

Brendon Morrow- SEA- Hot- Morrow was supposed to throw no more than 100 pitches last night, but when he was carrying a no hitter into the late innings, that notion went out the window. Morrow finally gave up a hit...

I have to register my astonishment at how great Bronson Arroyo has been in the second half for the Reds. After allowing just 1 ER in 6.1 IP with 6 K's last night against the slumping Cubs, he brought his...

Trevor Hoffman – Hoffman recorded his 28th save of the season, and he will most likely save at least 30 games for the 13th season out of the last 14. The only season he did not obtain 30 saves came...

Jered Weaver: Weaver will have his next start pushed back 3 days after injuring his hand while trying to get up off the bench in the Coamerica Park dugout. After bursting onto the scene in 2006, 11-2 with a 2.56...

B. J. Upton- TB- Hot- Although his homer total is way down from last season (from 24 to 8), Upton’s has hit 33 doubles, as opposed to 25 in 2007. His Batting EYE has also improved dramatically, from .42 to...

Ryan Howard - Howard is streaky and can go hot or cold at the drop of a hat. But his current hot streak is surely helping fantasy owners get over that playoff hump. During his current 10-game hitting streak, Ry-Ho...

This week's Prospect Spreadsheet update wraps up my contribution in this area this year. The minor league season is just about over, though guys like David Price are staying down to help their teams through the playoffs. This year's awards...

Value Picks - September 3, 2008 Its the first week of head-to-head playoffs and if you're like me, you're stressed.  But hopefully, you have pulled-out to an early lead and can start thinking about cruising into Week #2 with a...

Reports yesterday said Torii Hunterwas out with a head injury so I kept him out of my lineup for today and, quite naturally, he went 3-4 with 1 R, 3 RBI and a SB. Hunter has been seeing the ball...

Dallas McPherson: The Marlins called up McPherson from Triple-A, where he had a monster season, 42/98/.275. He has legitimate power but consider that his home park in Albuquerque gave his power a boost and his 66% Ct% will get worse...

Justin Verlander - Yesterday was the latest in a season-long stretch of rough outings for Justin Verlander, as he allowed six singles, a homer, and two walks to the Yankees in just 1 2/3 innings to take his league-leading 15th...

Jonathon Niese- NYN- Rookie- The Brewers may not be the best of teams for southpaw Niese to make his major league debut against. Milwaukee is 31-14 against lefties, the best mark in the NL, and are hitting .274 against them...

Matt Cain- SF- Cold- Cain’s control problems caught up with him yesterday as he had as many walks and runs allowed (5) as innings pitched. He also gave up 8 hits and struck out 3. Even with only 5 IP,...