Fantasy Baseball – FAAB Report, Wk.6

I’ve been sick. So sick that I was in the hospital for three days. I’m feeling better now, but apparently my brain is still a bit scrambled. Just check out some of the crazy bids I placed this week in the free agent pool.

TOUT WARS (15 team mixed): As you know, I’ve been sick for a week now, so sick I was in the hopsital for three days. I’m blaming the residual there for my lack of bid on Dee Gordon. I need a middle infielder badly in this league so I should have been more aggressive with the speed demon from LA. Instead I went small money and added Ruben Tejada ($1) and Ryan Raburn ($1). Tejada is merely a stop gap at SS, Derek Jeter missing half the season is killing me. As for Raburn, why not take a chance? He replaced Eric Sogard in my lineup (I told you I was hurting up the middle). Hopefully Raburn can remain in the daily lineup which would be a nice boost for me. I let go Mike Leake and Billy Hamilton to make the moves. Given my injury issues, I couldn’t wait on Hamilton any longer.
Notable bids: Dee Gordon $30), Hector Santiago ($5), Marcell Ozuna ($3)

To see how others are evaluating players don’t forget to go to Fleaflicker.com where you can check out the owned percentages of all your favorite players.

LABR (12 team, AL-only): Chris Nelson came over to the AL to join the Yankees, and now he is part of my club for $7. But Ray, why big do high? Well, here’s why. In the last week Chris Young and Kevin Youkilis were both sent to the DL with injuries. I needed at-bats. I went for it.
Notable bids: J.B. Shuck ($5), Sean Doolittle ($5), Freddy Garcias ($3), Jeff Baker ($3), Adam Rosales ($2)

FSTA (13 team mixed): Here are the players I have on the DL in this league – Matt Adam, Coco Crisp, Justin Maxwell, Hanley Ramirez (he was back for half a week), Sergio Santos, Kevin Youkilis and Chris Young. Think my team is in trouble, maybe? I added Ryan Raburn ($89) to help out up the middle and then Justin Grimm on the hill ($9).
Notable bids: Marcell Ozuna ($147 out of $1,000), Kevin Slowey ($59), Trevor Plouffe ($56), Oswaldo Arcia ($25), Jake Westbrook ($22), Shaun Marcum ($19)

SIRIUSXM EXPERTS (12 team mixed): Jeremy Guthrie keeps on getting it done. I sent Chris Nelson packing to add Guthrie ($2). I also let Dayan Viciedo go for Ryan Ruburn ($3). This is the league, if you will remember, that HanRam hosed me. I then spent big on Neil Walker when he was dropped, but of course he too is now on the DL. Raburn, and his second base eligibility, is a nice add for me.
Notable bids: Nolan Arenado ($31), Vernon Wells ($17), Yuniesky Betancourt ($4).

SIRIUSXM LISTENER LG (11 team mixed): This is the only league with an open waiver-wire. I had to drop Kevin Youkilis. Just too many injured players on this club to hold on. I also let Kendrys Morales go. Why you ask? Because I made two trades. Trade #1 saw me give up Carlos Santana, Shin-Soo Choo and Kenley Jansen, a big haul, but in return I received Matt Cain, Cliff Lee, Andre Ethier and Welington Castillo. I also added, in deal #2, Chris Sale and Corey Hart for Tony Cingrani. Granted it sure seems like I worked over the other fella, I added Lee/Cain/Sale in the course of four days, and I got Hart to replace Youkilis as a boost at first base when he is eligible.

K-BAD (12 team mixed): I added the guy I seemingly added in every league, Ryan Raburn ($46). I don’t think he’s going to star this year, but I’m just plugging holes like the boy who stuck his thumb in the dike (I dropped David Robertson). I moved on from Jarrod Saltalamacchia at catcher and added Russell Martin for $17. I also released Joaquin Benoit who was the Tigers closer for about 10 days before he was replaced with Jose Valverde. Chris Tillman ($13) is now a proud member of my rotation.
Notable bids: Dee Gordon ($182), A.J. Griffin ($86), Marcell Ozuna ($75), Yonder Alonso ($64), Seth Smith ($23)

FANBALL (13 team mixed): Anthony Rendon has been demoted, and we may not see him again for a while (barring injury). I let Mr. Rendon go in favor of James Loney. I know that’s a bit nuts, adding Loney, but did you realize he is hitting .398 this season? Seriously, look it up. I also placed Kevin Youkilis on the DL and added Jordan Pacheco to help ou at the third base spot. Woof is right.
Notable bids: Dee Gordon ($40 out of $100), Juan Pierre ($11), Carlos Martinez ($9), Justin Grimm ($8).

By Ray Flowers

Fantasy Baseball – FAAB Report, Wk.3

It’s tax day. So after you fill out the forms, I know you didn’t get on it early since everyone loves to procrastinate so much, here is my report on the just completed week of free agency for the main fantasy baseball leagues I’m doing this season.

TOUT WARS (15 team mixed): With Derek Jeter taking forever to get back out on the field, I’ve been using Luis Cruz for two weeks. No more. In his stead I added Ruben Tejada for $1. He hit .300 the past week with two runs scored and two RBIs. Hey, it’s better than Cruz has done in two weeks (he is hitting .091 with one run and one RBI). I also placed Zack Greinke on the DL and added two start hurler Eric Stults for a buck. He starts at the Dodgers Monday and then at the Giants on the 21st. Those aren’t world beating moves by any stretch of the imagination, but maybe I’ll get a good week or two out of them.

Trade: I gave up Howie Kendrick and Jon Jay for Kenley Jansen, David Murphy and $5 FAAB in a deal with Cory Schwartz of MLB.com. I need pen arms. Jose Veras isn’t getting it done and now Joel Hanrahan is dealing with that leg issue of his so I wanted to be a bit preemptive here (losing Greinke puts a damper on my SP hopes, so I thought I would attack the ratios with RPs). I can slot Daniel Murphy at second and then Emilio Bonifacio at the middle infield spot to cover up the hole Kendrick left. Oh, and I need power as well. David Murphy isn’t a huge power bat, but he could easily hit 10 more homers than Jay who I gave up. Plus, this is an OBP league and Murphy was actually 6th in the AL last season with a career best .380 OBP (except for that .384 mark he posted in 105 at-bats in 2007).

LABR (12 team, AL-only): This league has some different rules. If you remove one of the 23 starters from your lineup that were taken on draft day, then you have to release them. The only way you can change your lineup is to release a starter or to have one placed on the disabled (you can then obviously replace them in your lineup). Therefore, there doesn’t tend to be a ton of free agent movement each week (as an example I really want to replace Joe Blanton in my lineup right now, but I can’t because that would mean I would have to send him to the waiver-wire). There were six pickups this week: Eric Sogard ($6), Justin Grimm ($5), Hank Congar ($3), Munenori Kawasaki ($2), Steve Delabar ($1) and Joe Ortiz ($1).

FSTA (13 team mixed): Sean Marshall went to the DL to join Shaun Marcum and Hanley Ramirez. To take the two open roster spots this week (Marcum and Marshall) I added Matt Adams ($36) and Felix Doubront ($13). The Sox hurler is a two start arm this week (@CLE) and (KC) and Adams is killing it right now (11-for-18 with three homers). Isn’t it a matter of time before Allen Craig and or Carlos Beltran get hurt? There’s a 30 homer bat with Adams, though he doesn’t have a spot in the daily lineup so it’s more of a hopeful move than anything.

To see how others are evaluating players don’t forget to go to Fleaflicker.com where you can check out the owned percentages of all your favorite players.

SIRIUSXM EXPERTS (12 team mixed): I bid on two relievers, but both went for more than my bids. I tossed $7 at Jim Henderson. He went for $27. I then tried to add Kelvin Herrera for $6. He went for $18. A few others of note: Juan Francisco ($7), Evan Gattis ($6) and Paul Maholm ($6). In retrospect, I should have bid on Joaquin Benoit ($3) and Trevor Rosenthal ($1). This is what happens when you are in too many leagues. You sometimes don’t spend enough time looking over the waiver-wire.

SIRIUSXM LISTENER LG (11 team mixed): This is the only league with an open waiver-wire. Over the past few days I made a couple of moves. I dropped Edinson Volquez when Aaron Crow got a save on the off chance Crow might get a look in the 9th. He won’t. I then dropped Crow to add Sergio Santos later in the week. I then, and stop me if you notice a musical chairs situation with relievers, dropped Vinnie Pestano to add Josh Rutledge when Jose Reyes went down with injury. When Reyes was officially placed on the DL, we have two DL spots in this league, I put Reyes on the DL and then added Michael Saunders. I then put Saunders on the DL and added Wellington Castillo since Carlos Santana is still dealing with injury. Noticing that the Cards might go with Edward Mujica in the 9th inning, I then dropped Castillo and added Mujica. Oh, and then for good measure I dropped Santos and added Tony Cingrani when the Reds announced that Johnny Cueto could miss some serious time with a lat injury. See how much of a mess things can be when you have a first come, first serve waiver-wire?

K-BAD (12 team mixed): As the owner of Cishek, Jansen, Parnell, Storen and Robertson, I’m clearly loading up on big time arms that may or may not get saves. Thought I might as well add another to the mix so for $42 of $1000 I rostered Andrew Bailey. I didn’t have to drop anyone as I put Hanley Ramirez on the DL as I did with Gordon Beckham. I replaced the White Sox second sacker with Chris Getz for $14. Howard Bender went nutso in one of the most aggressive weeks of FAAB spending I have ever seen. Howard adding five players… at a cost of $497. Wow is right – Jeremy Guthrie ($71), Vernon Wells ($76), Justin Maxwell ($86), Justin Masterson ($163) and Cody Ross ($101). Talk about going for it. Two others of note that didn’t go to Howard included Yonder Alonso who went for $154 and Barry Zito who went for $91.

FANBALL (13 team mixed): I admit it. I went for the gusto. Going against my usual common sense approach, I decided to add a big armed, totally unproven arm in Tony Cingrani for $9. I dropped the struggling Edinson Volquez to do it. I don’t know how long Cingrani will stick around but thought I might as well take a shot on what could potentially be one of the biggest arms we see come up from the minors this week. Evan Gattis ($8), James Russell ($5), Cody Ross ($4), Jake Westbrook ($3) and Eric Sogard ($3) were the only other adds that cost more than $2.

By Ray Flowers

Draft Day Challenge, April 9

Daily baseball is all the rage in the fantasy sports world, so I will be covering the game a couple of times a week here at BaseballGuys.com. To that end, I’ve partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, I’ll also be giving you some insight into the mind of The Oracle as I will give you some of my best plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out. With that, here are some of the better plays for Tuesday, April 9th.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

CATCHERS
1. John Buck
2. Wilin Rosario

Not only does Buck have three homers and 12 RBIs in just seven games (the most RBIs in Mets history over the first seven games of the season), but he’s facing Cliff Lee, a pitcher who he has hit .292 with three homers against in 48 at-bats.

The Rockies’ backstop is hitting .350 with three homers on the year, and Rosario also has four hits, including a home run, in nine at-bats against Tim Lincecum.

FIRST BASE
1. Todd Helton
2. Adrian Gonzalez

Helton is broken down, old, and generally ineffective. However, he’s always risen to the occasion against Tim Lincecum who he is hitting .359 with a .479 OBP against across 39 at-bats.

I don’t know how this is possible, but in eight at-bats against Clayton Richard A-Gone has only gone back to the dugout once without reaching base. That’s right, he’s got seven hits in eight at-bats (.875 with all the hits being singles). He’s not playing, but Hanley Ramirez has been even better with nine hits in 10 at-bats against Richard.

SECOND BASE
1. Chase Utley
2. Donovan Solano

Utley is only 2-for-8 against Dillon Gee, but he’s hit .301 with a .918 OPS at home in his career and he’s also managed a .297 average and .888 OPS against righties in his career.

Solano has six hits in his last five games and is batting .292 on the young season. He’s also produced four hits, including two homers, in seven at-bats against Kris Medlen.

THIRD BASE
1. Juan Uribe
2. Chris Johnson

Uribe flat out kills it against Clayton Richard as he’s hit .385 with a 1.159 OPS, including two homers, against the lefty in 26 at-bats.

Johnson is only 1-for-3 against Wade LeBlanc in his career, but he had three hits Monday and his career numbers against lefties say he would produce about 78 RBIs over 550 at-bats.

SHORTSTOP
1. Jed Lowrie
2. Ruben Tejada

Tejada has a hit in three of his last four games, and on the year he has five walks versus four strikeouts. He’s also had a bunch of success against Cliff Lee with six hits in 13 at-bats (.462).

According to ESPN, Lowrie hasn’t sung and missed the last five games covering a total of 31 swings. He’s also produced nine line drives in the 19 balls he’s put into play.

OUTFIELD
1. Jon Jay
2. Jeff Francoeur

Jay is hitting .242 on the young season, but he’s a career .299 hitter who is about to face Bronson Arroyo, a hurler who he has 10 hits in 25 at-bats against (.400).

Francoeur has hit .316 in 19 at-bats against Mike Pelfrey. Frenchie has also been mildly effective at Kauffman Stadium in his career hitting .271 with 17 homers and 67 RBIs over 569 at-bats.

STARTING PITCHERS
1. Wily Peralta vs. Cubs
2. Kris Medlen vs. Marlins
3. Andy Pettitte vs. Indians
4. Brandon Maurer vs. Astros

Peralta faces the Cubs, and the Cubbies are hitting .186. One-eighty-six, with an OPS of 540 folks. Last season Tim Hudson, he’s a pitcher in case you forgot (though he used to DH in college), hit .218 with a .523 OPS. Just saying.

Medlen isn’t facing the Astros, more on that below, but he is facing an terrible Marlins club that is hitting .228 with a .295 OBP and .298 SLG. They’ve also only gone deep two times while scoring 14 runs in seven games.

Pettitte has a 2.70 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in his last 13 starts. In his last six starts against the team from Cleveland he’s also posted a 2.86 ERA.

Maurer looked pretty bad in his first outing as he allowed six runs in six innings, but at this point, how do you not consider any hurler against the Astros? The club from Houston is hitting .201 with a .234 OBP and .275 SLG. Honestly, you can’t be a professional club and do any worse.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

By Ray Flowers

Free Agent Monday

photo © 2007 Keith Allison | more info (via: Wylio)

I’m not a huge fan of waiver-wire bingo. I think too often we go for the quick fix when slow and steady often wins the race. You know what I’m talking about. Some guy goes 5-for-8 with a homer and a steal and you’d knock over your mother to get to the computer first so you could add him to your team (I know which one of you out there would do it to, so don’t B.S. me and say you wouldn’t). So it’s with trepidation that I throw out the following names based upon their work the past two weeks. Still, it’s Monday and you need to get your lineup in shape for the week, so if you have injured players, or guys that you simply can’t stomach for another week, here are some options you could turn to.

Alexi Casilla – .432-0-5-9-5 in 44 ABs
Finally. This guy can hit and steal a base, just look at his minor league numbers at Triple-A over 168 games: .278/.370/.371 with 38 thefts. However, after hitting .281 in 2008 with the Twins he’s struggled to get significant playing time in the bigs. With the Twins in desperate need of offense you can’t think he will be sitting any time soon, though it will be interesting to see what happens when Tsuyoshi Nishioka returns from the DL. For now, Casilla is white hot, and since he qualifies at 2B and SS there could easily be a spot for him on your club.

Freddie Freeman – .378-1-7-4-1 in 45 ABs
The problem for any solid first base hitter is that first base is the land of the titans. Solid just won’t cut it unless you are in a deep league or one that starts corner infielders. However, the Braves’ rookie is doing his best to make you consider his name for a starting spot. In six of his last eight games he has at least two hits, he’s driven in seven runners in that time, and lo and behold his season long batting average is now .277 – not bad when you consider it was sitting at .220 less than a month ago (May 13th). If you need an injury fill in he seems primed to help, but again, make sure you don’t make the mistake of thinking Freddie’s ready to be a starter at first in a 12 team mixed league.

Chase Headley – .354-0-5-5-2 in 48 ABs
Most will look at Headley and see one homer and 23 runs scored and think – why even bother with this third baseman? In retort I’d point out the following. (1) Headley is hitting .280, a solid mark. He’s also working on a 15-game hitting streak. (2) His OBP is strong at .385. In fact, that’s the best mark of any NL third baseman. (3) He has seven steals. Only two third base eligible players have more – Ryan Roberts and David Wright have nine each. Headley isn’t a difference maker, but he’s a solid add if your lineup needs a boost.

Adam Kennedy – .342-1-8-7-0 in 38 ABs
Kennedy came out of nowhere to hit .289 with 11 homers and 20 steals in 2009 after it seemed like his career was heading off into the sunset. He predictably slumped last year down to .249 with three homers, but he’s back at it again in 2011. The Mariners’ offense is atrocious, so Kennedy should continue to see time until he slows down. The pending call up of Dustin Ackley is a concern, they won’t call him up to have him watch from the bench, but until then Kennedy is a moderate add for those of you who need some batting average help up the middle, and he’s always good for a few thefts.

Miguel Olivo – .350-4-13-7-1 in 40 ABs
Over the last three games he has three homers and seven RBI, and he’s posted a hit in 6-straight to raise his average .012 points. Consistent. That’s what Olivo is. I’ve said and written it before, but here it is again. Over the past five years only two catchers in baseball have 11 homers and 41 RBI each season. They are Brian McCann and Miguel Olivo.

Cliff Pennington – .349-0-3-5-1 in 43 ABs
If you are a Jimmy Rollins or Hanley Ramirez owner you might look this guys way. He’s clearly hitting well, and he’s shown the ability to swipe plenty of bases (he had 29 steals last year). He’s nothing more than a place holder in mixed leagues, but you could do worse in the short-term.

Ruben Tejada – .326-0-8-5-0 in 43 ABs
Limitations are the name of the game here. In 17 games this year he has zero homers. In 95 career games he has only one. In 17 games this year he has zero steals. In 95 games he has only two. He’s also hit a mere .232 in 272 career at-bats. OK, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned him at all.

Ty Wigginton – .326-3-5-8-0 in 43 ABs
He somehow always goes underrated while somehow getting enough at-bats to blast 20 homers. Ty qualifies at 1B, 3B and 2B in every league, so he is a great guy to have at the end of your bench. When he’s getting regular playing time, like he is now, and is also hitting well, as he has since he returned from injury, then it makes a lot of sense to have him in your starting lineup.

By Ray Flowers