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

Carlos Quentin (OF—White Sox) Carlos Quentin finished off the season with a fairly strong September, hitting 6 home runs for the month. After struggling a good portion of the year with injuries, Quentin’s .239 batting average was much lower than

Ricky Nolasco (SP—Marlins) Ricky Nolasco finished off the 2009 season with his most impressive game of the year, fanning 16 batters in 7.2 innings and flirted with the record for consecutive strikeouts. Despite Nolasco falling 1 strikeout shy of Tom

Jarrod Washburn (SP—Tigers) Well, for once it appears that Seattle may have made a good move, trading Jarrod Washburn to Detroit when he was at the height of his value. Since arriving in the Motor City, Washburn has pretty much

Chris Coghlan (OF—Marlins) Chris Coghlan has tossed his name into the Rookie of the Year race as he has been on fire the past couple of months. From the beginning of August, Coghlan is batting an amazing .383 in 214

Jake Peavy (SP--White Sox) Congratulations to all Jake Peavy owners who have waited over 3 months to use the ace pitcher this season. Your patience has been rewarded. Saturday was Peavy's White Sox debut against the Royals and he was

Josh Johnson (SP--Marlins) With just a little over 2 weeks left in the regular season, every game the Marlins play have serious implications as they try to hang on for the NL Wildcard spot. Josh Johnson is someone they will

Johnny Damon (OF--Yankees) Johnny Damon has had a bit of an aching back that kept him out of the lineup on Friday and Saturday. It doesn't sound like it’s anything to worry about. This is good news since Damon is

Albert Pujols (1B--Cardinals) It almost seems like a pointless exercise to write about Albert Pujols. Is there anyone in the fantasy baseball universe that doesn't know how great he is? Is there anyone that needs to be told that he

Clayton Kershaw (SP—Dodgers) Stupid injuries are the most frustrating for fantasy owners. Like the guy who stubs his toe on the dugout step and winds up missing a week of games. Or perhaps the player that cuts his index finger

John Lackey (SP—Angels) John Lackey walked away with a tough luck no-decision on Saturday as he scattered 6 hits, allowed 1 ER over 9 innings, walking none and striking out 4. Lackey has put together a solid season albeit not

Carlos Beltran (OF—Mets) Could things be turning around for the Mets? Not enough to make a bit of difference at anything resembling a playoff run, but maybe a few positive signs to salvage what is left of an abysmal season.

Scott Kazmir (SP—Angels) The Angels seem to have acquired Scott Kazmir at the right time. He’s been on a fairly good roll of late and seems to have found some consistency that he was lacking prior to his visit to

Oliver Perez (SP--Mets) It's like some scene out of an Agatha Christie mystery novel where several characters are in a mansion and one by one they keep disappearing until only a few remain. Such is the Mets season and the

Brian Roberts (2B—Orioles) Brian Roberts had his hitting streak come to an end at 12 games on Saturday going 0 for 3 with 2 walks and a stolen base. He had been batting .385 over that span with 5 home

Bobby Parnell (SP—Mets) Well, this wasn’t how the script was supposed to play out. The way it’s supposed to go is if you pitch poorly and then you follow it up with an outstanding performance, your next start is supposed

Ian Kinsler (2B—Rangers) After a two week stint on the DL, Ian Kinsler was back in the Ranger lineup Saturday and obviously felt refreshed and ready to play some ball as he went 2 for 3, hitting his 24th home

JJ Hardy (SS—Brewers) JJ Hardy has been mired in a season slump where his top BA was .247 for one day back in May. His season has been so poor that he was only hitting in the .240’s for three

Neftali Feliz (RP—Rangers) There is nothing like a good, old fashioned Texas barbecue. And the Rangers now have someone coming out of their bullpen that is bringing the fire. Neftali Feliz can throw heat! Flaming, red-hot fastballs that consistently border

Luis Castillo (2B--Mets) Here's a suggestion: rather than play "Take me out to the Ballgame" at CitiField, during the 7th inning stretch, about the Mets play the theme from M*A*S*H? There must be some dark magic that is working against

Jeff Niemann (SP—Rays) You can add Jeff Niemann’s name to the list of very talented young pitchers that are in the Tampa Bay organization. Niemann’s season thus far has been peppered with outings that have been sub-par combined with some

Jake Peavy (SP—White Sox) Wow! This one came out of the blue. Jake Peavy apparently does think that Chicago is his kinda town as he waived his no trade clause and has decided to pitch for the White Sox. Still

Mat Latos (SP—Padres) It’s difficult to determine how rookies will do once they come up. Even the rookie “sure thing” will endure struggles. Look at David Price and Matt Weiters. They have hardly been the impact players out of the

Luke Hochevar (SP—Royals) There is little doubt that Luke Hochevar has plenty of upside and after Saturday’s start against a potent Ranger lineup where he struck out 13, you might suspect that there is a sense that Hochevar might be

Miguel Montero (C-Diamondbacks) –Generally, fantasy owners fall into three different categories. You’ve got one type who have assembled their All-Star team and will ride that team ‘til the end, win or lose, with the belief that the cream will rise

Marc Rzepczynski (SP—Blue Jays) Marc Rzepczynski nailed down the first victory of his career and did it impressive fashion against a tough team in the Red Sox. Rzepczynski has only logged 18 innings in 3 starts this season but he

John Smoltz (SP—Red Sox) – There are a lot of red flags where John Smoltz is concerned. First, he’s 42; he’s no spring chicken and is certainly in the twilight of a hall of fame career. Second, he’s returning for

Oliver Perez (SP--Mets)—Dim the lights, cue scary music. Yes, Oliver Perez is back. And were you thinking that now would be a good time to add Perez to your lineup? The “New and Improved” Oliver Perez? Did the notion enter

Victor Martinez (C—Indians)—Cheer up Victor Martinez owners. You knew that at some point he was going to have to slow down. You didn’t think he was going to bat .350 the whole season, did you? A huge bonus compared to

David Wright (3B--Mets)--Is David Wright having a terrific season? I guess it depends on who you ask. I will say it’s a very unique season. Yes, his BA is in the .340 area, which is wonderful, but where has all

Kevin Slowey (SP—Twins)—I’m a little perplexed by Kevin Slowey. I can’t really decide what kind of season he is putting together. Yes, he is tied for the major league lead in wins at 10, so he has been getting the

Matt Lindstrom (RP—Marlins) -- I know closers are hard to come by, at least reliable closers. You just can’t turn the corner and find a Rivera or a Papelbon standing on every street corner. But at the rate that Matt

David Aardsma (RP—Mariners)—OK, let’s get real here for a second. Prior to this season, David Aardsma had a career ERA of 5.29, had a BB/9 of 5.6, an H/9 of 9.3, a WHIP of 1.65 and never had saved a

Mike Hampton (SP-Astros)—it’s hard to be surprised that Mike Hampton has returned to the disabled list on Wednesday, this time with a groin injury. Hampton has done decently for the Astros this season from time to time, holding his own

David Ortiz (DH--Red Sox)-- It has been well documented what a difficult season it has been for David Ortiz. Fantasy owners that were expecting the usually offensive numbers from Ortiz have instead acquired one of the biggest fantasy busts so