Hi Folks, Welcome to the start of the 2012 fantasy baseball season! With Pitchers and Catchers reporting in a few short weeks, one of the ways I open a new season is by taking a look back at the previous one....

Preseason Fantistics Analysis - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 We’re only one day away from Opening Day. At this point, you probably already had your fantasy draft and just want to get the season started. We do too. For today’s preseason...

It's that time of the year again, Preseason Baseball is underway and we'll be carrying the pitcher box scores here every morning. Please be aware that the early preseason box scores can be deceiving. Pitchers, especially veteran pitchers, sometimes...

There Is Value In Houston’s Rotation, Part Deux I wrote about Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers in Saturday’s article, so now let’s focus on Bud Norris and J.A. Happ today. First, did you know Bud Norris’ real name is David...

There Is Value In Houston's Rotation The strength of this year’s Houston Astros team lies in the starting rotation which features Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers, J.A. Happ and Bud Norris. I’ll talk about Rodriguez and Myers today and leave Happ...

A 2B Battle on the north-side of Chicago? Heading into the season it seemed likely the Cubs would go with a straight platoon of Jeff Baker and Blake DeWitt at 2B, but with DeWitt struggling mightily this spring (.167/.180/.250) its...

TORONTO BLUE JAYS Closer Update The Jays’ bullpen has been hit with a couple of injuries, shaking up the closer situation. Expected closer Frank Francisco received good news from Dr. James Andrews the other day – no structural damage, a...

Preseason Fantistics Analysis - Wednesday, March 23, 2011 New York Yankees Is a bad start to the season a thing of the past for Mark Teixeira? Mark Teixeria is a notoriously slow starter. Ask any fantasy owner about Tex’s April...

New York Mets The Second Base Situation Shaping Up?...The day Mets fans have been waiting and hoping for finally came this past week. Luis Castillo was shown the door and the Mets firmly locked the door behind him. Don’t feel...

Jhonny Peralta - After struggling during his 27 and 28 year old campaigns, Jhonny Peralta finds himself written off by many as a second-tier option entering the 2011 season. It seemed to me, however, that there were some positive signs...

Injury news, positional battles, a retirement announced. Lots of things happening in spring training. You can follow me on Twitter @fantisticspaul (http://twitter.com/fantisticspaul - for the full link) for occasional (and hopefully increasingly frequent) baseball insights. Neftali Feliz- TEX- Feliz will...

Another day, more happenings at major league Spring Training. You can follow me on Twitter @fantisticspaul (http://twitter.com/fantisticspaul - for the full link) for occasional (and hopefully increasingly frequent) baseball insights. Opening Day is right around the corner! Chris Davis- TEX-...

Preseason Fantistics Analysis - Wednesday, March 16, 2011 New York Yankees The rotation saga in the Bronx (or Tampa for now) continues as we try to figure out how the Yankees plan on wrapping up the back-end of their rotation....

Jarrod Saltalamacchia – Red Sox – Salty draws more attention this spring as the Red Sox primary catcher with the ancient and venerable Jason Variteck backing him up. The Red Sox chased Salty like a jilted lover before landing him...

Jason Castro Is Out. Houston, We Have A Catching Problem. Heading into spring, the Astros expected their best minor league prospect Jason Castro to claim the starting job behind the dish. Unfortunately, a torn ACL has sidelined Castro for most,...

Here are some news, notes and glimpses of the future from spring training... I have finally joined the twitterverse. I'm sure I won't be as frequent with my tweets as our resident Twitter king, Drerw Dinkmeyer, if you would like...

As we enter into the third full week of spring training games, we’re right at the precipice of when spring training starts to become a bit more meaningful. We’ll have the first round of roster cuts this week, as minor...

Dodgers notes… My first day out at Camelback Ranch here in Glendale, Arizona for Dodgers spring training was rather uneventful. A few quick observations on a couple key players / situations: Jerry Sands (1B/OF) – Man-crushes…nothing wrong with them. I’m...

Preseason Fantistics Analysis - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 Milwaukee Brewers The big news hitting the wires in the last 24 hours is that Zack Greinke will be starting the season on the 15-day DL with a broken rib and is...

New York Mets Being Shown the Door? Part One...Things are heating up in Mets camp as manager Terry Collins plans on making the first cuts and trim the roster by March 14th. One decision that Mets have already made is...

Kansas City Royals Jarrod Dyson- Speedster in consideration for leadoff spot As of writing this, the Royals’ have played 5 Spring Training games, with Mike Aviles leading off three times, Lorenzo Cain once and Jarrod Dyson once. Dyson is the...

Carlos Guillen - 2B and LF are really the only spots where there is potentially some competition this spring for Detroit, and most of the 2B uncertainty surrounds Carlos Guillen's health. The 35 year old has only averaged 386 PA's...

Everyone enjoying the first week of spring training? As we get the first taste of games it’s a natural reaction to begin over-analyzing and reacting to the data. While it’s fun to speculate on some of the early results (Domonic...

New York Mets And now playing centerfield… Yes, the big news to come out of camp for the Mets is the decision that Angel Pagan will be handling centerfield for the Mets this year with Carlos Beltran switching over to...

Following our second-year theme of the return of starting pitching in fantasy baseball, let’s look at some profiles of starters from the teams I am covering this spring … Josh Beckett – Red Sox – What to do, what to...

LA Dodgers Pitching is expected to be this team’s strong suit, but we’re already seeing a reason why the old adage that “you can never have enough pitching” applies. Vicente Padilla underwent forearm surgery this week and is out until...

Spring training kicks off in full force this weekend with a full slate of games on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the team breakdowns we’re providing we’ll start digging in on game data, largely focusing on young players and...

James Shields - James Shields is a popular bounceback candidate in 2011, a sentiment that I'm willing to go along with to a point. Shields' ERA and winning percentage have deteriorated significantly the past two seasons, and it's worth examining...

Kansas City Royals Billy Butler 1B – How much will the power develop? Billy Butler is an intriguing fantasy option once again this year. He is an incredibly talented hitter, but he plays on an awful offensive club and had...

Dodgers Last week I highlighted the obvious situations to watch – closer and left field. This week we’ll dig a bit deeper and focus on third base and what we can expect from Don Mattingly in terms of a lineup....

Cleveland Indians The Choices at Third Base – Jayson Nix, Jason Donald, Luis Valbuena or a box of rocks. By the rules of Major League Baseball, the Indians must employ a living, breathing human to play third base this year....

Punxatawney Phil said we'd have an early Spring. I don't know whether that's holding true for you but at least we have some baseball to talk about. We'll start off with some insights dealing with the Orioles, defending AL Champion...

Today we’ll tour the NL West sans the Rockies… Arizona Diamondbacks: First base: Contenders for this slot include Juan Miranda, Russell Branyan, Xavier Nady, and Brandon Allen. Allen and Nady could also slot in left field if they aren’t selected...

It is GOOOOOOOOD to be back! After a nice little hibernation through January and February, we’re back at it here at Fantistics. Richard Gross got us kicked off yesterday covering situations surrounding the Mets, Mariners, A’s, and Angels and I’ll...

Play ball! Not quite—but almost. Even though official games are still a month or so away, the terrific fantasy baseball analyst here at Fantistics will get things rolling with some player notes and team outlooks for the upcoming season and...

Last week we discussed the shift we've seen from pitchers in this post PEDs era. Today we're going to look at what's happening on the offensive side. Like Yin and Yang, what happens on one side must also affect...

2011: Here comes the Small Ball Last season, just about this time, I wrote an article labeled 2010: Say Hello to The Dominance of Starting Pitching (part II) and has fate would have it...by the end of the season, 2010...

The Third Basemen The Must Haves Evan Longoria 1390 (TB) – Look for Longoria to put up A-Rod type numbers this season, minus a few steals and batting average points. There’s not too much to say about Longoria that hasn’t...

New York Mets It is looking like Jose Reyes will be back for the 5th game of the season. Where should Reyes bat? A big question this spring has been whether Reyes should bat leadoff or third, especially while Carlos...

Why Kurt Suzuki is ranked so high amongst Catchers: A quick scroll through the top 10 projected catchers and you’ll find every catcher has an FPI above 0.64, with the exception of one: Kurt Suzuki. Suzuki’s 0.57 FPI doesn’t even...

Seattle Mariners Right Fielder – At age 36, will this be the year that Ichiro Suzuki finally shows signs of decline? Last season, Suzuki hummed along as he always does with a .352 average, 225 hits and a career-high .465...

Corner Infield Preview Part 1 First Base Must Haves Albert Pujols 1890 (STL) – Pujols is this year’s most expensive player, but with a few risks on my roster, I can ill afford to leave the best, and most consistent,...

Nelson Cruz- TEX- Cruz is hitting .358 in the Cactus League with 5 homers and 18 RBI. This indicates that his power explosion of last season, when he hit 33 homers, should keep going, and is reflected in his projected...

Los Angeles Angels – Is Pitching Already a Problem? – Opening day is just a week or so away but the Angels already have a few concerns with their pitching rotation. Two of their starters, Ervin Santana and Scott Kazmir,...

Jason Frasor - It looks like Cito, as is his wont, is going back to the well for Jason Frasor as the Jays' closer to start the season. Frasor improved his control by more than a full walk per nine...

The Oakland A’s Bullpen: Last year in this space I talked about the A’s bullpen noting the team’s unusual ability to find saves beyond the primary closer. Over the last 5 years, the A’s have averaged 35% of their total...

Cleveland Indians Right Fielder – After hitting .300/.394/.489 with 20 HRs and 20 steals in 2009, Shin-Soo Choo will once again roam right field for the Indians in 2010. Choo has an excellent eye (career OBP of .386), above average...

C. J. Wilson- TEX- For now, Wilson appears headed to the Texas rotation on the strength of his performance this spring. In 14 IP Wilson has allowed 10 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10. On the down side,...

Atlanta Braves – The Young and the Aging – There were a lot of raised eyebrows during the off-season when the Braves traded Javier Vazquez to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera. Vazquez was coming off his best year and the...

If you play in a Rotisserie league and would like to give different weights to each Roto category that you select, you can with our player projections software. Within the Setup|Edit League Settings section, select the Rotisserie scoring option and...

Mets: With Carlos Beltran out for at least the first month of the season, Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr. will battle for AB. Pagan has a decent power/speed package, 6/32/.306 with 22 doubles, 11 triples, and 14 steals in...

Twins 3B - The Twins' 3B "battle" pits the disappointing Brendan Harris against the scourge of all that is good, Nick Punto. With a career OPS of .647 and 5 HRs in 509 games over the last four years, you...

Cleveland Indians First Base - Given regular at-bats for the first time since 2002, Russell Branyan provided Seattle with an excellent first half last season, posting a .280/.382/.573 line while clobbering 22 HRs. He struggled in the second half (.193/.274/.414...

Pittsbirgh Pirates Closer Situation Right now, Octavio Dotel is slated to close out ball games for the Pirates. For three straight seasons he has posted elite level K rates (12.03/12.36/10.83). Last season he posted a really bad WHIP of 1.43,...

Houston Astros – The Puma Is Out – Spring training is supposed to be about hope and optimism but this March has many teams scrambling trying to figure out backup plans for key players that are going down. Include the...

What can we expect from Alfonso Soriano? Just three seasons into a monstrous eight year deal, Alfonso Soriano looks nothing like the 40-40 candidate with a .900+ OPS that came over from Washington. Soriano’s coming off the worst season of...

Dodgers #5 starter-As of now, the front-runner here has to be Eric Stults. Stults is left-handed, has two big league shutouts on his resume, is out of options, and while it’s early, he’s looked good in camp (two scoreless innings)...

Cleveland Indians Rotation: Do the Indians have one starter worthy of a roster spot in a 10-team fantasy baseball league? The fact that a post-Tommy John surgery Jake Westbrook or the horrendously wild Fausto Carmona could potentially battle for the...

March 10, 2010 - Fantistics Preseason Notes    New York Yankees   1.The 5th Spot - Joba Chamberlain vs Phil Hughes - One of the biggest question marks for the Yankees heading into spring training is who will earn that...

Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutcheon - McCutcheon is one of the game’s better young hitters and one of the few reasons for hope for Pirates’ fans in the coming years. He is a young and exciting player, and if his pre-season...

My counterparts at Fantistics have been doing an amazing job breaking down the pre-season players and the key situations to watch for all the teams and I’m excited to jump into the foray and push a few more teams onto...

Tigers No. 4 and 5 starters – Detroit has a very competitive 1-2-3 with Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Max Scherzer, but it’s the other 40% of the rotation that could determine the club’s fate this season. A healthy Jeremy...

Dodgers Backup Outfielders – The top three is obviously set with Manny, Kemp, and Ethier, but what about the backups? Reed Johnson was signed this winter to be the No. 4 OF, and he brings with him, a .329/.395/.483 line...

Cubs Bullpen: One of the least talked about situations in fantasy baseball is the Cubs bullpen. With Carlos Marmol, a long-time fantasy darling, securing the role last season (1.84 ERA, 63 K’s in 44 innings in Save opportunities) most fantasy...

Cincinnati Reds Chris Dickerson - Dickerson is a tad upset after he was passed over for a shot at the Reds’ CF job, which is likely to go to rookie Drew Stubbs. This leaves Dickerson most likely in a platoon...

2010 DC Catcher Preview I hate catchers. I can never get this position right, much in part to the fact that I refuse to play it safe. Well, I guess old habits die hard. After making one of my goals...

Elvis Andrus- TEX-Andrus gets most of his notice for his Web Gem work at SS. His .267 average during his rookie season was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. However, it is quite possible that it is sustainable, given his...

Consistency Factor Consistency Factor: an indicator designed to measure a player's Weekly and/or Daily quality production output using Fantistics Fantasy Production Indicator (FPI). For anyone who has played in a Head to Head league, you probably already know the...

2010 Diamond Challenge Preview Okay, this is the second of two posts today. If you want to check out how I fared last season, you can find a recap in my earlier post today. This post is the first dedicated...

To those in our audience who participate in Fanball’s Diamond Challenge game, I’m going to do a little preview as I did last year. For those of you who have not heard of the Diamond Challenge, it is a very...

Dodgers 2B battle - This is Blake DeWitt vs. Ronnie Belliard. Jamey Carroll is there as well, but more than likely he was signed as a utility man, capable of playing time all over the field. DeWitt of course had...

Cincinnati Reds Jay Bruce – Bruce has developed into a post-hype sleeper of sorts. He was the Reds’ top prospect heading into 2008, and he didn’t disappoint, blasting 21 HR as a rookie in 413 at bats. Last season, though,...

Jarrod Saltalamacchia- TEX- I might be a little biased since I met Saltalamacchia’s in-laws at a local grocery store (standing out in my Ranger fan gear made it easy for them to brag on him to me) but even I...

Hi Folks, It's time for us to revisit our yearly piece on XERA: As many of you already know, Fantistics uses Sabermetric theories to create our player projections model. These theories are the foundation to our successful forecasting history. One...

Cleveland Indians Prospect C Carlos Santana  Born: 04/08/1986 - Height: 5'11" - Weight: 190 - Bats: Switch - Throws: Right We have recently hit a pretty productive vein of young catchers and Indian's trade of Victor Martinez to the...

Atlanta Braves Prospect OF Jason Heyward  The Braves boast one of baseball's top prospect in 20-year-old Jason Heyward. Already 6-4 220 lbs, Jason won't be 21 until August 9th but the 14th overall pick in the 2007 draft entered...

Hi Folks, The player news is fairly slow this time of season as the players don't start arriving to camps until next week. However it's a great time to take a look back and see what's trending. 2010: Say...

Hi Folks, Welcome to the start of our 2010 preseason newsletter. Over the next 2 months we'll be discussing a wide range of topics related to fantasy baseball. From draft insight & strategy to minor league prospects....you'll find it here,...

Hi Folks, Welcome to the start of the 2010 season! One of the ways I open a new season is by taking a look back at the previous one. Below is the link to the Historical Fantasy Values and some...

Luke Hochevar- KC- Hot- Hochevar turned in an impressive performance last night, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk while striking out 4 in 7 IP. This follows up a disaster his last time out, when he gave...

The must haves Tim Lincecum 1310 – Lincecum is our top ranked pitcher and a no-brainer in this contest. At his price he’s probably a must play almost every week. Yovani Gallardo 670 – Gallardo is a top 15 pitcher...

Scott Baker (MIN) – Big news in Minnesota is Baker unexpectedly opening the season on the 15-day disabled list with what is being diagnosed as shoulder stiffness. Baker finished his spring with a 6.85 ERA and a batting practice-like nine...

David Freese/Troy Glaus - Last night's news that Troy Glaus won't be available for much of the first half (if at all this year) certainly bumps David Freese's stock upwards, and you don't have to squint to much to see...

David Freese/Troy Glaus - Last night's news that Troy Glaus won't be available for much of the first half (if at all this year) certainly bumps David Freese's stock upwards, and you don't have to squint to much to see...

Reds deal Jeff Keppinger, Alex Gonzalez’s role even more solidified: Alex Gonzalez’s starting role was never in jeopardy in Cincinnati, but the trade of Jeff Keppinger yesterday but with inexperienced Paul Janish and Adam Rosales behind him, Dusty Baker and...

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Matsuzaka's first spring start looked remarkably like last year's action, as the Red Sox hurler tossed five innings, allowing only two hits and two runs (one earned) with three walks and two K's. Matsuzaka's ERA was expected...

Manny Corpas: Manager Clint Hurdle will name his closer sometime this weekend or early next week. It is between Corpas and Huston Street. Corpas’ 1.29 spring training ERA is misleading as he has only pitched 7 innings and has a...

The Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley is still having problems regarding his strained groin. He will not start Sunday but will partake in a bullpen session today. Hopefully Billingsley’s groin problem won’t linger too much longer or it could impact the start...

The Angels' Torii Hunter left yesterday's game in the first inning after getting hit in the face by the baseball when Jeff Bakers blast rebounded off the center field wall. Baker circled the bases with Hunter on the ground in...

Stephen Strasburg- WAS- Rookie- Strasburg is not a National yet and can’t officially be one until at least June, when he will be eligible for the draft. The most highly touted college pitcher since maybe ever, Strasburg is about as...

Preseason Outlook - March 23, 2009 1. Alex Gordon - (3B - Royals) - Gordon was held out of the lineup for the second straight day with some hamstring issues. The injury doesn't seem too serious and the Royals are...

Eric Chavez: Chavez has been fielding ground balls and should be ready to start hitting in 4 to 5 days. There was a time when Chavez was a consistent, legitimate power source at the hot corner, 2002/2003/2004/2005 home runs of...

Chris Volstad Paul had mentioned keeping an eye on Chris Volstad earlier in the spring and it might be time to start paying closer attention. Volstad is typically a prime candidate we’d warn you about coming into the season as...

David Wright fouled a ball off his left big toe hard enough crack a toenail in last night's 10-6 loss to Venezuela in the WBC. Yesterday's loss of Kevin Youkilis to injury (see below) left the US team without an...

Cole Hamels- PHI- Inj Update- No structural damage was found in Hamels’ elbow. He got an anti-inflammatory injection and should be cleared to throw again tomorrow. Even with that, he is still not a guarantee to be ready on Opening...

Josh Hamilton (OF-TEX) - We all know Hamilton has All-Star type ability and is a borderline first round fantasy pick in 12-team mixed leagues. However, I got to see Hamilton up close and personal in Arizona this week and let’s...

Preseason Outlook - March 16, 2009 1. Chase Utley - Its looking more and more like Opening Day is a reality for Chase Utley. After off-season hip surgery, he played in his first game of the preseason on Sunday and...

Runners Stranded Percentage (RS%) Measures the percentage of batters that reach base but do not score (more specifically, are not credited to a pitcher’s Earned Runs). The average stranded percentage for starters is .71. Pitchers with Stranded Percentages of...

Cameron Maybin: Talent has never been the question with Maybin and he’s flashing it again this spring. A 3-3 performance on Friday raised his spring average to .414 (10-29). Maybin came into camp being handed the everyday CF job and...

Kansas City David Dejesus – The Royals are considering shifting Dejesus from the leadoff role to the number 3 slot in the lineup. That would boost Dejesus’ values, when he seems poised to have one of his best professional seasons....

Joe Mauer- MIN- Inj Update- Mauer’s MRI of his lower back showed inflammation in the sacroiliac joint. He has been prescribed some heavy duty anti-inflammatories (presumedly not including anything with steroids). Still, Mauer is not going to be participating in...

The Red Sox are trying to tie up Jon Lester to a 5-year, $30M contract which would be the the richest contract ever given to a player with his service time status. Jon wouldn't have to even match his 2008...

Preseason Outlook - March 10, 2009 Ryan Franklin (STL) - Not surprisingly, Tony La Russa isn’t quite ready to hand the closer job over to “unproven” rookies Chris Perez and Jason Motte, leaving the door open for Ryan Franklin to...

Third Base The must have Evan Longoria 970 – If Longoria comes anywhere near our projection: .290, 87 RS, 104 RBI’s, 34 HR, and 9 B, then he is a must have. In draft leagues Longoria is a bit of...

Preseason Outlook - March 9, 2009 1. Joe Nathan - Nathan's shoulder soreness kept him from participating in the WBC games this spring, but it certainly seems like its more precautionary than a serious concern. He struck out two in...

Cha Baek: Baek appears to be the No. 3 starter for the Padres this year. He could be the poster child for average skills; 5.9 K/9, 2.7 BB/9, and a 41% GB% in 2008. Pitching his home games in Petco...

Alex Rodriguez – An update on the Alex Rodriguez hip situation: It appears this injury is more serious than originally thought. Not only did A-Rod have a cyst in his hip, but he also has a torn labrum. By moving...

Alex Rodriguez- NYY- Injury- ARod may end up not playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic after all. No, the Dominican doesn’t have a policy barring admitted steroid users from playing for them. An MRI this past...

By all appearances the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez have reached agreement on a 2-year, $45M contract .. or thereabouts. While we could hold out hope that an owner would finally stand up to both Ramirez and Boras, we had the...

Juan Cruz (KC) – A depressed market leads the Royals to a nice free agent bargain in Juan Cruz, giving him a two-year $6 million deal. Cruz will set up Joakim Soria and is the proverbial heartbeat away from closing...

MIDDLE INFIELDERS SHORTSTOP SS is a position where you are taking 3-4 players. With the high amount of quality 1B and OF (as we saw last week), I’m probably sticking with just 3. Taking that into account, it appears to...

Jason Jennings: Jennings, who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon, has a chance to earn a spot in the Rangers starting rotation this year. You can throw out last season’s disaster, 0-5 with an 8.56 ERA,...

Kyle Kendrick – Kendrick is the early frontrunner for the last spot in the Philadelphia rotation. They might be better off looking elsewhere. Kendrick has a career K rate of .422, and a terrible K/BB ratio of 1.43. If he...

Boof Bonser- MIN- Inj Update- Bonser’s arthroscopic surgery went very poorly. Actually the surgery went well, it’s the results that were poor. Doctors discovered multiple partial tears of his labrum and rotator cuff. They were repaired, but it puts an...

Dodgers 2B The Dodgers clearly aren’t giving Hudson $3.4 million guaranteed (up to $8 million with PA-related incentives) to be a backup. He’s the starting second baseman. This has a couple implications. First, Blake DeWitt will likely begin the year...

Here's a sweep through some of our handy indicators for the Outfielders. There will be more to analyze in the coming days due to the size of the position. The only position left after this one will be that of...

Okay everyone, welcome to the first official installment of the Diamond Challenge Preview. Today, I’ll go over some very basic strategy and then analyze the OF options for this year. I will also be posting the next 5 Mondays: 1....

Technical Indicators 3rd basemen Rodriguez, Alex ARod with juice .615 SLG/1.010 OPS...Arod off juice .572/.973...still a darn good player. Wright, David A better hitters background, but Citi Field has TALL walls. Numbers may stagnate in the power department. Longoria,...

Hi Folks, Lets go straight to some highlights coming from the camps. Ken Griffey Jr is all about revivals, he signed with the Mariners yesterday. Griffey doesn't have much superstar production left in the tank, but at DH he...

Minor League Analyst David Regan has updated the 2009 Top 100 Prospect Spreadsheet. David updates the Prospect Spreadsheet throughout the 2009 MLB season.  Here's a peek: TOP 50 HITTING PROSPECTS 11-30 11 Yonder Alonso CIN 1B A- Bat will...

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Fantistics as we all gear up for another season of fantasy baseball. This year I’m going to try and reach out to the CDM/Fanball portion of our audience and write a few blogs dealing specifically...

A few years ago we introduced Consistency Factor and it's implications to both Head to Head leagues as well as all Fantasy leagues regardless of their scoring setup. Consistency Factor gives us an indication of a batter's quality games or...

Hi Folks, This morning we take a swing at the top tier catchers in this year's fantasy draft.  Since there is a finite number of positions that must be filled in most fantasy baseball leagues, catchers are and have...

Hi Folks, Here's a second swing at a few key technical indicators that are shaping our 2009 pitcher projections.  These along with other player notes can be found in the notes section in the player projections software. In no...

Deserved Wins:  One of our simplest Sabermetric formulas is Expected or Deserved Wins. We define Deserved Wins as Quality Starts multiplied by a factor of .74.  Typically a pitcher wins 74% of his Quality Starts (a Quality Start as...

Within the player projections software we have a column for player notes where I post a some of the technical indicators that influence our 2009 projections, here's the latest round of analytic notes as we kick off the 2009 campaign....

Player Blurbs written by Michael Leone Eric Byrnes – Last year Byrnes had one of the best fantasy seasons among outfielders, but don’t buy into the hype just yet. His singles average was 43 points higher than his three year...

Preseason Player Projections - March 28, 2008| article by Michael Berman What do a hand fracture, a chronic bad back, a broken cheek bone and a broken leg have in common? They are all injuries that have kept Nationals 1B...

Dodgers Outfield Pierre v. Ethier. A decision that Dodgers fans and fantasy owners await with bated breath. No decision has been made as of late Wednesday, but the guess here is that Ethier will open as the starting left fielder...

Johan Santana: As if he already wasn’t the best pitcher in baseball, Santana’s move to the Mets gives him two big advantages. The first is that historically lefthanders moving from the American League to the National League tend to have...

Chris Capuano Capuano was diagnosed with a Torn UCL in his left elbow and could face the dreaded Tommy John surgery if the tear is full. I mentioned earlier in the spring I thought something was wrong with Capuano last...

Rich Hill As mentioned in yesterday’s news items, Rich Hill’s horrid outing on Thursday raises some red flags. Hill’s spring has been littered with control problems, walking 14 batters in just 12 2/3 innings. Such wild control issues for pitchers...

Oliver Perez: After struggling in his first two outings, Perez looked good against the Nationals on Monday, 5 innings with 1 ER while striking out 5 and walking none. Perez has loads of talents, as evidenced by his 2003/2004/2005/2006/2007 K/9’s...

Luis Mendoza- TEX- Although he won’t make his first major league start of the year until April 12th, when the Rangers first need a fifth starter, but he has pretty much sewed up that role. Yesterday he held the A’s...

Lets start here ... there isn't too much about baseball I don't love. But there is nothing better than spending time in a minor league park, minutes from the B&M Baked Beans factory in Portland Maine, or the Brewery Exchange...

Runners Stranded Percentage (RS%) Runners Stranded Percentage: Measures the percentage of batters that reach base but do not score (more specifically, are not credited to a pitcher’s Earned Runs). The average stranded percentage for starters is .71. Pitchers with...

Ryan Theriot “The Riot” gets a huge boost in fantasy value if manager Lou Piniella’s decision to use him as the team’s leadoff hitter sticks. Piniella made that announcement Wednesday, and considering Theriot has a .355 career minor league OBP...

Kyle McClellan- STL- McClellan seemed to benefit from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2005. His fastball went from the upper 80s to 94 mph heat with movement. Last year the Cardinals converted him from a starter to a...

Matt Morris: Morris is assured of a spot in the Pirates rotation. Barring a complete disaster, it will be his big contract, not his skills that will keep him there. Morris’ K/9 has now declined in the last five seasons,...

Preseason Blog - March 7, 2008Noah Lowry - Lowry's start to the 2008 season has been about as bad as it gets.  Lowry has complained of "fatigue" in the area between his left thumb and wrist, which definitely does not...

Dodgers #5 starter Things are starting to sort themselves out a bit here. Candidate #1, the $16 million a year Jason Schmidt won’t be ready for Opening Day after undergoing serious shoulder surgery last year. This really isn’t a surprise...

Chris Carpenter- STL- Preseason- Carpenter’s lost season was the second time in 5 years he has been out an entire year (I’m not counting his 6 innings in 2007). His 2005 and 2006 were superb, with sub-3.00 ERAs. However, he...

Brad Lidge: There is a chance that Lidge, who had surgery on his knee, could be ready by opening day. He certainly has the skill set to be a successful closer, 11.8 K/9, but there also some warning flags. He...

Alex Gonzalez Gonzalez was diagnosed Friday with a “compression fracture” of his left knee, an injury that is expected to sideline him at least three weeks. Looking up “compression fracture” on the Internet (dangerous, I know), I found this on...

Jason Jennings- TEX- As a Rangers fan, I get used to things like having the big pitcher signing of the offseason being a player who is coming off a serious injury. I just have to remember Chan Ho Park and...

Looks like the dreaded "job-share" is in force for the catching position with the Padres, as both Josh Bard and Michael Barrett are likely to get substantial playing time. That, of course, relegates them to lower-tier status in just about...

Hi Guys, Here is another round of analytic notes. Again, many of the definitions for the indicators I am mentioning can also be found in our charting area as well.  This morning we take our second swing at the...

The luck of the bounce - Balls Hit into Play Success % Balls Hit into Play Success %: defined as the number of balls hit into play that are registered as hits against a pitcher. Much has been written...

News and notes from around spring training ... "If it blows out it's going to blow out, you can't control that." ... Not words that warm the hearts of the Cardinals, or their fans, or Albert Pujols owners on a...

Here's a look at the first basemen and some of the indicators used in developing their 2008 projections (these notes can be found in the software as well). In no particular order: Delgado, Carlos Eroding skill set, but decent...

Within the player projections software we have a column for player notes this season where I post a few of the technical indicators that influence the 2008 projections, here's the latest round of analytic notes. For those new to Fantistics,...

Within the player projections software we have a column for player notes this season where I post a few of the technical indicators that influence the 2008 projections, here's the latest round of analytic notes. For those new to Fantistics,...

Preseason Pitcher Box Scores   It's that time of the year again, Preseason Baseball is back and we'll be carrying the pitcher box scores here every morning. Please be aware that the preseason box scores can be deceiving. Pitchers, especially...

Tom Gordon: All that talk about Brett Myers becoming the closer was all just smoke. Despite being 39 years old, Gordon's 2006 numbers of a 10.4 K/9 and a 3.4 BB/9 are still in the upper tier of closers. His...

Before we get to the notes this morning, I wanted to give a little introduction to the subscribers out there. I'm the guy that Anthony Perri thinks looks like Zach Greinke, but most people know me as Drew Dinkmeyer. This...

It seems Bobby Jenks has gotten a bit tired of all the growing concerns within the media about where his arm is heading into the season. After firing 1 1/3 scoreless innings on Wednesday, Jenks told reporters that his location...

Reds Bullpen: There have been some rumblings that Dustin Hermanson could take over the closer role from David Weathers. Back problems caused him to miss virtually the entire 2006 season, but in 2005 he saved 34 games in 39 tries,...

Freddy Sanchez's second opinion on his knee sprain didn't provide positive news for fantasy owners. He'll likely start the season on the DL and appear back in the lineup sometime around April 7th. The reigning NL batting champion is still...

Internet problems forced me to post this late, but hopefully some of you still see it. Even if Freddy Sanchez starts the season on the DL, he will only miss the first week. It seems as if the debate within...

The D-backs Edgar Gonzalez has pitched extremely well this spring, since March 9th. Gonzalez has pitched 19 Innings, while only allowing 14 baserunners, 3 Earned Runs on 12 Ks. During his  5 year minor league career Edgar posted unspectacular...

Quick Pitches: Cubs Wade Miller likely locked a rotation spot on Saturday night when he tossed 5 innings of 3 hit ball. As we've discussed, Miller isn't the same pitcher who won 16 in 2001, his fastball is topping...

Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners started and ended strong in his start on Friday, but he struggled in the middle. Hernandez retired the first six and the last six batters of his outing in order but allowed four runs...

The JJ Putz watch continues for those intrigued by the Mariners closer situation. Putz did some soft throwing on Thursday for about five minutes to see how his arm reacted and said he felt fine afterwards. Putz's breakout 2006 season...

Rays Manager Joe Maddon was very definitive yesterday when he said that Rocco Baldelli (hammy) "is going to be"in Tampa's Opening Day lineup on April 2nd. Rocco left Tuesday game with what Maddon is terming a "mild"hamstring strain and understandably...

Sure preseason box scores can be deceiving, especially when we're taking about veteran pitchers or others who are coming into camp with a secure rotation spot. However when we're dealing with young pitchers vying for a starting job, these...

Eric Gagne made his first appearance in "A"games this spring and was rudely welcomed by Kevin Frandsen with a long HR. Gagne settled down after allowing the HR getting two groundouts and a strike out to end the inning. Gagne's...

Speculation surrounding Alex Rodriguez leaving the Yankees continues, this time with rumors about a move to the west coast to join the Angels at the end of the 2007 season. This is just one of many rumors that will be...

Devil Rays Closer: It is no shock that alleged closer Seth McClung has struggled this spring with 7 ER in 4 innings. With a 2006 BB/9 of 5.9, his skills are not even major-league worthy. If the Rays break...

With 2 weeks of Spring action in the books, today we'll take a peak at how the young prospects are performing. For veteran players, spring stats are to be ingested but not digested. Veteran players typically take it easy during...

New Page 1 3/17/2007 Runs Scored - The Ugly Duckling of Fantasy Baseball Part II Earlier this week we discussed the players who led the league in Runs Scored Percentage. This morning we'll take a look at the guys...

One of the biggest knocks on Matt Murton of the Chicago Cubs in 2006 was that he wasn't showing enough power potential. As a result the Cubs acquired Cliff Floyd in the off-season to play left field (when he isn't...

Marlins Closer: The Fish still have not named a closer. There are some rumblings about importing Jorge Julio from Arizona, but as of now, it is a battle between four in-house candidates, Kevin Gregg, Taylor Tankersley, Matt Lindstrom, and Henry...

HOU Hunter Pence OF - The last thing the Astros expected coming into this spring was another outfield playing time dilemma.  With a cast that already includes Lee/ Scott / Lane / Burke / Hidalgo, Hunter Pence is making a...

Chad "Don't Call Me Barbara"Billingsley continues to be the front-runner to fill that last coveted spot in the Dodgers rotation. However, despite a solid spring of 6.3 IP without an earned run, manager Grady Little has guaranteed the 22-year-old a...

Sammy Sosa continues his march to nail down a spot on the Texas roster. After going 2-for-3 in yesterday's game, Sosa is hitting .464 with 2 homers, 2 doubles, a triple and 6 RBI. At this point it looks like...

Lets start here ... there isn't too much about baseball I don't love. Baseball is the drama and angst of a great television series like 24, but it's on every day for, perhaps fittingly in this analogy, 24 hours a...

Chan Ho Park was, well, Chan Ho Park again on Monday. The right-hander gave up four runs in three and one-third innings to the Nationals. Park is probably the leading candidate right now to be the Mets fifth starter (especially...

With all the controversy swirling around Gary Matthews, Jr. it seems like the Rangers may have really done the right thing in letting him walk. Looking through some old reference material (I knew there was a reason I saved those...

Regular subscribers to Insiderbaseball.com know all about how I feel about starting pitching. No matter how good any given hitter is, even at a scare position, he's still just 1- of -14 hitters in most formats. An elite SB guy...

Rich Hill of the Chicago Cubs is coming along nicely in Spring Training. Hill is a guy who can be a high risk high reward player this year. He is high risk because he is a sophomore and because he...

The following news items were collected from each MLB team's Official website, and its impact is updated each morning in our player projections software. O's Daniel Cabrera Starting to Dominate "I'm starting to see all the things that I...

Today we'll take a close look at catchers. Usually, it's the position you dread drafting most. You get to that special point in the fantasy draft when someone takes McCann and Mauer and you end up throwing your hands in...

Kris Benson was back in the news on Wednesday, with the word that he isn't experiencing much success in rehabbing his torn rotator cuff. Benson, who was 11-12 with a 4.82 ERA and an ugly 88:58 K:BB last year with...

Travis Hafner: Took the step up from a fantasy superstar (FPI: .82) to the elite (FPI: .91). The move up in class was fully supported by the growth in his underlying stats. His batting eye rose to .90 in 2006...

One of the benefits of living in south Florida is the availability of spring training games. Yesterday morning I saw in the paper that the Marlins were going to put 200 tickets on sale for that day's game against the...

Having done many mock drafts over the last couple of months, I've been faced with a difficult decision a few times late in the 2nd round - Carlos Lee or Jason Bay? Using the Fantistics Player Projection software customized to...

Sure, plenty of attention has been focused on Alfonso Soriano since he signed with the Cubs. It's possible, though, that he may actually be underhyped. After a 2006 season in which he hit .277 with 46 homers and 41...

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies had his contract renewed for the grand total of $900,000. This may seem like the deal of a lifetime for the Phillies and a huge rip off for Howard, the 2006 National League Most...

3/02/2007 Players who have improved physically   Every year we hear about players who come into camp with an improved physique. It sure makes for great chatter around the water cooler, but does it really have an effect on...

Here are some press notes from the team beat writers this morning: Tankersley's Shoulder Ailing - Florida's Closer situation wide open Tankersley, Taylor - Fla/RP: As the Palm Beach Post reports, "Already down a starting pitcher, the Marlins opened...

The MLBPA says the clause in Barry Bonds contract that would terminate the deal if Bonds is indicted is unenforceable. So they are on board with the farce as well. It's obvious that neither the Giants nor B*nds himself has...

Here are some press notes from the team beat writers this morning: Ken Griffey Jr. still on the mend Griffey Jr., Ken - Cin/OF: According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, "Ken Griffey Jr. and Gary Majewski remain the only Reds...

Good Day Folks! Today is the start of our daily 2007 Pre-Season Player Projections Blog. Starting today, through the last day of the Spring season (with the exception of Sundays), we'll be making comments on players and adjusting their valuations...

A sixth-round pick in 2003, Kevin Kouzmanoff is light on physical tools yet heavy on outstanding numbers. Kouzmanoff hit .330 in 2004 and .339 in 2005, and then made those numbers look downright pathetic after moving up to the...

It you are one of the contract-year believers you can add Curt Schilling to your contract-year watch list. Schilling informed WEEI in Boston that in a brief meeting with the Red Sox GM Theo Epstein that the team would not...