(1) Ian Kinsler a dynamic option at second base.
(2) What do Chase Headley, Ryan Braun and Alfonso Soriano have in common?
(3) Yonder Alonso streaking at the dish.
(4) Tim Lineceum turned his season around.
(5) Erick Aybar producing in the average and steals columns.
(6) Orioles call up phenom Dylan Bundy.
By Ray Flowers
Today I’ll not only do my normal Friday thing, giving you some advice on guys I’d be starting Friday and Saturday, but I’m also going to point you to a game in which you can turn $10 into $5000. How does that sound?
CONTEST – KING FOR A DAY; Win $12,000
Here’s the deal. Every Friday starting today, through September 7th, 12 qualifiers will be given a shot to win $12,000 in the final contest on September 14th. Here’s how it works from the official webpage of the tournament.
Each weekly qualifier is a $10 entry multiple-entry tournament with the winner earning a seat in the Sept 14th $12,000 King’s Crown tournament. In the event of a tie for first place, normal Daily Joust tie-breaker rules apply. If a tie still persists, a playoff will occur to determine the winner.
That’s right. Be a weekly winner and you’ll get your shot to view for the $12,000 in prizes ($5,000 to the winner)… for the cost of $10.
Sound like a game you’d like to try your hand at? Wish I could qualify…
HITTERS – FRIDAY
Robinson Cano vs. Josh Beckett: Cano hits everyone, and Beckett is no different as Cano has hit .324 with three homers and 13 RBI over 71 at-bats.
Matt Holliday vs. Ricky Nolasco: This matchup is golden for Holliday who is hitting .476 with two homers and six RBIs in 21 at-bats. Carlos Beltran also kills it with 13 hits in 38 at-bats (.342 average) against Nolasco.
Carlos Lee vs. Jake Westbrook: A new team for energy, and a great matchup for production. Lee is hitting .450 in 40 at-bats against the righty from STL.
Luke Scott vs. Justin Masterson: In a horrific slump that has him hitting .194 on the year, Scott is 7-for-16 (.438) with five RBIs off Masterson. Will this be the tonic he needs to turn things around?
PITCHERS – FRIDAY
Hiroki Kuroda vs. Red Sox: In his lone outing against the Sox he allowed two runs in seven innings while racking up nine Ks. Over his last eight starts this season he’s dropped his ERA from 4.50 to 3.17, and over his last 34 innings he has an impressive 39 Ks. He’s rolling.
Justin Masterson vs. Rays: So Scott hits him, but no one has really hit Masterson of late. Over his last six starts he’s struck out 36 while walking nine leading to a 1.93 ERA and 0.95 WHIP. Maybe he turns around those awful career numbers vs. the Rays (6.80 ERA, 1.74 WHIP in 43.2 IP).
Travis Wood vs. Mets: In his lone start against the Mets back on June 25th Wood hurled seven shutout innings. Moreover, he’s won his last three starts while allowing a total of one earned run. Put that together and you have a nice streaming option.
HITTERS – SATURDAY
Ryan Braun vs. Wandy Rodriguez: Maybe Wandy hopes he will get dealt to the Brew Crew so he won’t have to keep facing Braun. In 34 career at-bats Braun has hit .412 with four homers and seven RBIs. Rickie Weeks (.353), Aramis Ramirez (.349) and Corey Hart (.386) also kill Wandy.
Miguel Cabrera vs. Bruce Chen: Ten hits in 21 at-bats (.476) and three homers and seven RBIs say to start Cabrera in all leagues. Not like you wouldn’t anyway.
Kevin Youkilis vs. Ricky Romero: The Blue Jays’ lefty has been awful of late whereas Youkilis is finally starting to hit. In 23 career matchups Youkilis is hitting .348 with three bombs leading to a 1.336 OPS.
PITCHERS – SATURDAY
Ubaldo Jimenez vs. Rays: In one game against Tampa he tossed 6.2 innings of one run ball. However, it’s his work of late that is so exciting. In his last six starts he has 36 Ks in 40 innings leading to a 2.93 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. It’s pretty much been vintage Ubaldo.
Kyle Lohse vs. Marlins: The last time he took on the Marlins it was 7.1 innings of two run ball. The last three times he has taken the hill against anyone, including that game against the Marlins, it’s been at least seven innings with two or fewer earned runs allowed. Since the start of June, Lohse is 3-2 with a 1.91 ERA and 0.97 WHIP (over at Fleaflicker people have started to notice his rise).
Jarrod Parker vs. Mariners: In his last start against the club from Seattle it was seven innings of one run ball. In his last four starts overall he has allowed three earned runs. Face it, it may not always be pretty, but the rookie is flat out getting it done every time he takes the hill.
By Ray Flowers
(1) Brandon Morrow (obqliue) – conflicting reports on his health/return date.
(2) CC Sabathia shockingly headed to DL with groin issue.
(3) Daniel Hudson’s elbow barking – tests being run. Patrick Corbin called up.
(4) Aroldis Chapman/Santiago Casilla rebound from recent hiccups.
(5) Ryan Braun’s elbow barking – out of lineup Weds. Hopes to return Friday.
(6) Jed Lowrie’s average going down, but he’s flashing a big time power bat (he’s knocking on top-10 status at the position over at Fleaflicker).
By Ray Flowers
Justin Fensterman and Trevor Ray discuss the problems people can run into while trading. Like we said last week everyone is trying to trade right now but there is nothing more frustrating then getting close to a trade only to have it never get done….
Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez, JD Martinez, Alcides Escobar, Paul Konerko, Juan Pierre, Jim Johnson
(1) Austin Jackson continues to miss time with abdominal issue (check out how good he has been over at Fleaflicker). Team calls up Quentin Berry.
(2) Mike Napoli – has he really been awful this season?
(3) Roy Oswalt close to signing with the Rangers in wake of injury to Neftali Feliz?
(4) Ryan Braun – guess what, he’s a fantasy superstar once again.
(5) Lance Berkman – will knee surgery knock him out longer than 6-8 weeks?
(6) J.J. Hardy dealing with shoulder soreness.
(7) Carlos Pena batting leadoff again.
(8) Red Sox moving parts around with Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and Will Middlebrooks.
By Ray Flowers
(1) D’backs call up Josh Bell to replace Ryan Roberts.
(2) Bryan LaHair really slumping in May.
(3) James Loney heating up.
(4) Chris Capuano pitching like Sandy Koufax.
(5) Kyle Drabek living on the edge.
(6) Adam Lind solid start down at Triple-A.
(7) Miguel Montero and Ryan Braun dealing with groin issues.
(8) Jimmy Rollins out a couple of days to be with first child.
By Ray Flowers
Everyone panics when their players start slowly in fantasy baseball. What do I always say, something like ‘stay patient’ I believe? Let’s take the case of Ryan Braun – one of the players that EVERYONE was bashing me for supporting a few days ago.
After action on April 29th Braun was hitting .263 with four homers, 11 RBI an a .822 OPS through 22 games. Those numbers would lead him to a pace of .263-29-81 with that .822 OPS over the course of a season, and there isn’t a single Braun owner in the world that would be happy with that. Still, I said remain patient.
On April 30th, as you all know, Braun went bonkers hitting three bombs, producing four hits (he also had a triple), while scoring three runs and pushing six across the plate. After the game Braun was then on pace for 49 homers, 120 RBI, a .294 average an a .994 OPS.
Think about that.
That one game, because it was so huge and because the season is still so young, vaulted Braun from being on pace for the worst production of his carer to a pace that would net him a career best in homers and RBI while pushing his OPS up to the exact same mark of .994 that he reached in his amazing 2011 season.
Sample size people.
For those of you who may have missed it…
Last week I broke down how the fantasy production of Rickie Weeks and Darwin Barney wasn’t appreciably different since the start of the 2011 season.
This is the official release from Major League Baseball in regards to the 50-game suspension that was given to Ryan Braun which has been overturned – i.e. Braun will not serve a single game of the 50 game suspension that was originally handed down.
Milwaukee Brewers OF and NL MVP Ryan Braun has won his appeal and won’t be suspended.
MLB issued this statement disagreeing with the decision made by the arbitrator:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STATEMENT
Major League Baseball Executive Vice President for Labor Relations Rob Manfred issued the following statement today:
“Major League Baseball considers the obligations of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program essential to the integrity of our game, our Clubs and all of the players who take the field. It has always been Major League Baseball’s position that no matter who tests positive, we will exhaust all avenues in pursuit of the appropriate discipline. We have been true to that position in every instance, because baseball fans deserve nothing less.
“As a part of our drug testing program, the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association agreed to a neutral third party review for instances that are under dispute. While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”
Here is a link to a report about the whole situation at ESPN.
FANTASY TAKE
With the removal of the specter of suspension, Braun leaps up draftboards. After his effort last season, and the last few years for that matter, I don’t see how anyone can look at Braun and not think he deserves to be a top-5 overall option. I believe he’s a top-2 option along with Matt Kemp, and I’m in favor of Braun going first off the board.
By Ray Flowers
No, I won’t be sampling wines for you on this day, I’ll just be taking a look around the league touching on Ryan Braun’s suspension, CC Sabathia’s lack of girth, Phil Hughes hype, Tim Wakefield’s retirement and more. I know, how exciting.
There is still no resolution in the Ryan Braun PED case. I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling that the longer this drags on the more likely it is that the 50 game suspension is going to be reduced.
Gary Carter passed away yesterday at age 57. Carter finished his career with 324 homers, 1,225 RBI, 2,092 hits, 11 All-Star game appearances and a spot in the Hall of Fame. The world is worse off with his passing.
I’m still sitting on that A.J. Burnett article I wrote a week ago. Yankees, trade the guy so that I can finally post this sucker (apparently the Yankees will pay $20 of the $33 million left on his deal, but because there is money involved the Commissioners Office has to get involved before the deal with the Pirates can become official).
Don’t buy the Phil Hughes hype that is already coming out of Yankees beat writers. For my thoughts on the hurler see his Player Profile.
Did you see this insane story that the Jim Leyland plans on getting Brandon Inge some work at second base this spring? Jimmy, you are kidding right? Inge, at one time a plus defender at third base, has never played second base as a professional. I understand that the Tigers might be non-plussed by guys like Danny Worth, Ramon Santiago and Ryan Raburn, but Brandon Inge? Over the last five seasons Inge has hit better than .240 just a single time and he batted .197 last year proving that he simply isn’t a major league caliber hitter any more. As for Raburn, he too has issues, but he finished on a tear last year hitting .341 with a .967 OPS over his last 45 games. Why the team wouldn’t give him a shot instead of Inge is beyond me. Don’t look for Inge to play second base — this story seems like sheer folly to me.
Last night went great by the way. There’s no telling what the weekend might hold. If I didn’t tell you all, 2012 is the Year of Ray…
Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters both focused more on training their bodies than throwing this offseason. Both felt that after they made 79 and 85 appearances that building up their stamina an bodies was as important as anything. Venters reportedly gained about seven pounds of muscle. In a related news story I curled a 10 lbs. weight yesterday in my garage.
It’s that time of year, and we’re getting the ‘he reported in great shape’ reports again. Here’s one. CC Sabathia has lost a lot of weight this offseason according to Buster Olney. That’s good news as he was threatening to play Godzilla in the remake with only green paint on since his girth wasn’t in need of a costume.
THE AARP CROWD
Jason Varitek hasn’t decided if he will retire. Let me make it easy for you Jason – hang em up. You’re still a highly respected signal caller, but your defensive acumen is on the wane, and the last time you hit .240 was 2007. Varitek has hit .256 in his career with 193 homers and 757 RBI in more than 1,500 games played.
Tim Wakefield has decided to retire. Wakefield won 200 games in his career and saved 22 in over 3,200 innings. He was never an elite fantasy option, but he won 16 games twice, on two other occasions he also won 17 games, and from 1995 through 2011 he tossed less than 140 innings just one time (129.2 in 2009). I wish someone would teach me the knuckleball. Let’s hope that scouts don’t push knucklers out of the game forever – they give us hope that we could pitch in the big leagues.
Brandon Webb is throwing off flat ground. I wish him the best, but he’s through. Webb threw four innings in 2009 then none in 2010 and 2011. It’s a sad end to what was shaping up to be an excellent career. From 2005-08 an average Webb season resulted in 18 wins, a 3.23 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 181 Ks and 232 innings pitched. To say that he was a fantasy beast is a vast understatement.
By Ray Flowers
At the bottom of all my articles readers are encouraged to leave their thoughts on my work, to ask questions, or just to blow off some steam. I have to admit that there are some pretty good queries thrown up there at times. Today, I’ve compiled some of those thoughts into an article since I doubt most of you spend much time reading my responses unless they are to your own questions.
Jake – Is there any sort of format that you might suggest that combines a season long roto format along with some type of playoff at the end of the season?
BBGuys - Your issue of people stopping to care late in the year is common. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good answer on how to stop this. Reason being is this – playoffs take skill out of the mix and go more with luck. Do you want to give someone a “win” in a playoff week because they picked up Brandon Crawford and he had a better week than Troy Tulowitzki? Do you want to reward a 2-start James McDonald over a one start Roy Halladay? When you break the game down into playoff segments the sample size shrinks, and with it the luck factor goes up. To me, we are best served rewarding year long excellence versus weekly luck.
Mike – As much as I love Evan Longoria this year, were you tempted with Jacoby Ellsbury still available? For him to fall to #12 seems shocking to me.
*** This questions refers to The FSTA Draft that was held in Vegas during which I chose Longoria #10 overall instead of Ellsbury. Over at Fleaflicker they also have Longoria going off the board after Ellsbury.
BBGuys - Here’s the deal. Only 37.5% all all the top-15 selections the last eight years have returned top-15 production (that’s from the Baseball Forecaster). In essence, we all spend way too much time worry about our first round pick when they are more likely to fail to live up to expectations than to meet or exceed them. Second, Ellsbury’s game was his speed, and after averaging 60 SB his last two healthy seasons he saw his steal total fail to hit 40 last year. That’s a big concern for me. Third, never in his life did Ellsbury show 30 HR power. Remember, he had 20 homers in his first 349 games. Players just don’t hold on to gains like the one he showed last season. Sure Kirby Puckett and Jose Bautista did, but you get my point. I just can’t see Ellsbury holding on to his 17 percent HR/F rate. I also don’t think he’s a .320 hitter. If he goes .285-20-75-100-40 is he a first round pick? You could certainly argue that persuasively, but I don’t know if that would make him much different than Andrew McCutchen.
Marc in CO – In addition to waiting on a 1B, you also waited to pick a SS (Yunel Escobar in the 13th). Can you give us your thoughts on him in specific and the shortstop position in general in terms of draft strategy?
BBGuys - I waited on the shortstop because that’s how the draft played out. Also, since I had two second basemen, I didn’t need to worry about my MI spot, so it was as much a combination of factors as anything else. As for Escobar, I like what he brings. Not much upside power wise, he hits everything into the ground, an obviously he’s not a speed demon, but his skill set is stable. Take out 2010 and you have three nearly identical seasons in 2008-09, 2011. I’ll take .290-10-60-75-5 from my SS and be pretty happy with it since in reality he is my MI behind Brandon Phillips and Dustin Pedroia.
Rick – Are you worried about the suspension of Ryan Braun? Do you think it will be the same old same old when he returns? Also now that this is out here are you worried that his numbers will fall off a cliff like Arod?
BBGuys – I’m not worried about Braun at all. Just expect 2/3 of his normal production for 2012 and you should be fine (just check out his rookie numbers to see how amazing he can be in limited playing time). MLB has done testing for years, so clearly we have to assume that Braun hasn’t been doing something illegal for a long time. In fact, I’m still not convinced that he took “steroids.” Regardless, Braun is 28 this year – still very young. Arod is 36. Arod’s decline had nothing to do with getting of the juice, he was simply experience a slow down with age. Remember, Arod had 54 homers, 156 RBIs and a 1.067 OPS in 2007 – he used steroids in 2001-03.
Wesley – Hey Ray. What do you think of Carl Crawford and Carlos Gonzalez? I feel they’re going to be good values and bounce back guys.
BBGuys - Two different stories. CarGo hit .295, went 20/20, and scored/knocked in 90 runs last year. There’s not much to “bounce back” from there. If he had played another 20 games we’d be talking about a .300-30-100-100-20 season. Expecting more than that is asking too much.
Crawford on the other hand is a prime bounce back candidate. according to Fleaflicker’s numbers, Crawford is being drafted inside the top-70 overall.
By Ray Flowers
The FSWA winner of the Best Baseball Series of 2011, BaseballGuys.com is the only source you will need for your fantasy baseball knowledge. OK, you might need other sources, but BaseballGuys.com should be on your daily list of must reads for the insights an analysis it provides on the world of baseball.
The co-host of The Drive on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87: M-F at 5-8 PM EDT), Ray has spent years squirreled away studying the inner workings of the fantasy game to the detriment of his personal life. Specializing in baseball, football and hockey, some consider him an expert in all three. Ray's work can also be found as feature writer for: Fantasy Alarm, Rotoinfo, Rotowire and Sports Illustrated.
You can contact Ray through e-mail at fantasyfandom@yahoo(dot)com or on Twitter.
