MLB Hottest Players: Edition #2

We will be closing in on the thirty game mark in the 2010 Major League Baseball season, and we still have players continuing to surprise, and star players that are struggling. This weekly list does not take the top five best statistical players, because it would virtually be the same people every week. This list focuses on some stars, but also on the underdogs who are having a good week.

Robinson Cano

The New York Yankees’ homegrown second baseman has been nothing but a stud so far this season. He is currently ranked number one overall in offense, according to Yahoo, and owns a league best .387 batting average while hitting in a loaded lineup. He has also shown great power, hitting nine homeruns and his defense has been superb as well, committing only one error so far this season.”It’s a ribbee…for Robbie!”

Paul Konerko

After struggling the last two seasons, Konerko looks to be back on the right track this season as his twelve homeruns leads the majors. Fantasy owners are still not sold though, because the numbers on him show him only be owned by 79% of managers, a number that was in the 90′s two seasons ago. Konerko has also been good in the field, with his one error, and if he keeps up this pace, he could very well have a forty homerun season. And don’t forget, “You can put it on the boooooooooooard! Yes!”

Kelly Johnson

Here is another hidden gem making his way onto the list, a player Yahoo ranked 889. He currently finds himself sitting in eighteenth, but offensively is the third best second baseman behind on Robinson Cano and Chase Utley. He deserves a mention because he does not play in a stacked lineup like the other two. He is currently tied for second in the league with nine homeruns, and has eighteen RBI’s with a .310 batting average. [Keep with trend and insert Braves announcer call here.]

Barry Zito

The last edition featured Tim Lincecum, but this time another Giant will get a chance. Could it be that Barry is back? The one time ace and Cy Young winner who has had three miserable seasons in San Francisco has finally found his game. He is currently 4-0 in five starts, and the one start the team lost, Zito gave up only one run. The plague with his tenure with the Giants has been run support, but they have been much better at it this season. His ERA is now an incredible 1.53. He started the season at less than 10% owned by fantasy managers, and he now sits at 83%. Don’t let us down, Barry!

Ubaldo Jimenez

Fellow NL West counterpart gets the nod as the other hot pitcher in the majors right now. Two weeks ago he tossed the first no-hitter in Rockies history, and he still has not looked back. He currently has a 5-0 record with a league best 0.79 ERA. He has become the ace that the Rockies have sorely lacked throughout their franchise history. Only question is, will the thin Colorado air allow him to stay this successful?

Also of note: Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay have shown no signs of slowing down. It’s fun to do a comparison of the two, but even more fun to combine their numbers. The pair has a 9-1 record with an ERA of 1.37 and 82 strikeouts in 84 innings. Just give them a share of the Cy Young already.

And what’s up with Javier Vazquez? The ace of the Braves last season is struggling mightily with the New York Yankees, having a 1-3 record with a bloated ERA of 9.78. Fans are quick to overreact, saying that he cannot pitch in New York, even if he was 14-10 with them in his first stint. It could be nerves, it could be a hidden injury; no one really knows. But one thing is for sure, it cannot get any worse. This could be a good time to buy low on him in fantasy leagues, if dealing with an impatient owner. His ERA won’t stay at ten all season.

Also featured on Phillies Phever.

MLB Hottest Players: Edition #1

Through roughly ten games in the 2010 Major League Baseball season, we have already seen some crazy games; there was Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter tonight, the first in Colorado Rockies team history, and as I write this, the Mets and Cardinals are in the bottom of the 18th inning.

Alex Rodriguez hit his first homerun of the season today, showing how hitters have gotten off to slow start so far. But below are the five players who have been on a tear since game one. I did not just pick the five statistically best players, but I scoured around a little bit. They are also in no particular order.

Albert Pujols

The reigning MVP and league’s best hitter got off on the right foot with two homeruns on opening day. He has since hit three, coming in two games. His batting average stands on .359 and he is tied for the league lead in RBI’s with 15. Can never go wrong with this guy, and he will continue to own pitchers the rest of the way.

Vernon Wells

It’s about time that the league’s biggest contractual flop got things going early on in the season. He is tied for the league lead in homeruns with six, and if the Jays hope to trade him, like they do every season since they signed him, they need him to keep producing at this pace.

Alex Gonzales

Who would have thought that a player that Yahoo Fantasy ranked 1079 would make this list? The veteran journeyman shortstop has been absolutely tearing it up for the surprise Jays, batting .340 with four homeruns and eight RBI. I would expect that he will cool off though, and make all fantasy team owners who picked him up (raising his total to 50%) think that they were drinking the night they added him.

Tim Lincecum

The two-time reigning NL Cy Young winner is picking up right where he left off, with a 3-0 record and a mind-numbing 0.90 ERA. He also has twenty-four strikeouts in twenty innings and has a changeup that Brian McCann, after Lincecum’s victory over the Braves a few days ago, remarked, “You can’t hit it.” I expect him to keep up this winning pace, although his ERA will go up eventually.

Roy Halladay

My second favorite pitcher in the league continues to show why he simply is the best. He continues to eat up innings and after toying with American League lineups for years, he has cut through National League ones like a hot knife through butter. He is currently 3-0 with an ERA of 1.12 and already has the first of many complete games under his belt.

Honorable Mention: Jerry Manuel

Let’s just say he’s on the hot seat.

This article is also featured on Phillies Phever.

Fantasy Baseball: Are Deep Leagues for Better or Worse?

I just got finished drafting in an eighteen team league, which to my knowledge, is the largest amount of teams Yahoo allows. This will be the forth year I am apart of this league, whose commissioner runs a sports cards stand in the local hobby shop. The same regulars appear year after year, so there is a sense of camaraderie amongst the managers.

It was actually this commissioner, who I modeled my Closers Schmosers mentality after, because he was the first to begin the elimination movement. With such a massive league, and only so many good closers to go around, it made sense. Now all that needs to be done is the elimination of catchers, because when you look at it, how many good hitting catchers are there?

That is the one negative to really deep leagues. There is Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, and now Matt Wieters, apparently. But after that, there is no one left but lower tier hitters. Sure, Russel Martin, Mike Napoli, and Bengie Molina are worth a mention, but after these six guys, the quality severely drops off.

People argue that fantasy sports are just supposed to be there for fun, and I agree, to a certain extent. I look at it one way: if you have an all-star at every position, and you are facing a team with all-stars of equal caliber at every position, how much fun can it be?

When you have ten teams or less in a league, that is what it becomes. Twelve teams, and each manager still has a good lineup. More than that? Now it’s becoming realistic!

Fantasy managers want to be able to open the draft window and make their selections without much thinking. But where is the fun in that?

Take my draft tonight, for example. Eighteen teams. By the time the fourth round rolled around, all the stars were gone. Not having to worry about closers made it easier, but then there were those poor managers on auto-pick who will end up being stacked with meaningless relief pitchers.

But as for thinking, man did this draft drive me nuts. You make one selection, and then you gear up for you next one. But more than likely, since there are more than twenty picks, due to snaking, before you go again, just scrap all plans you have, and wait to start thinking again when there are only four or five teams left ahead of you.

I love to play in small leagues every once and a while, where I don’t have to think, but deep down, I just love large leagues. It adds a true sense of realism because teams are like actual teams. A star here, a star there; role players everywhere else.

With the thirteenth pick in this years draft, I thought I would be able to grab Lincecum, but there I go thinking again. Had to scrap those plans when the team in front of me chose him. I settled for Prince Fielder. Below is my team:

Batters: C-Bengie Molina, 1B-Prince Fielder, 2B-Brian Roberts, 3B/1B-Pablo Sandoval, OF-Michael Bourn, Jason Heyward, Brad Hawpe, UTIL- Mark Teahen (1B/3B/OF), BN- Skip Schumaker (2B/OF), and Randy Winn (OF)

Pitchers (No relief stats, so no relievers): Dan Haren, Jered Weaver, Ryan Dempster, Phil Hughes, Jonathon Sanchez, Barry Zito, Tim Wakefield, Todd Wellemeyer

As you can see, I’m a Giants fan. Sandoval will come in handy because of his duality in the infield. As for pitching, Sanchez should have the best year of his young career, this season. Barry Zito, with all his struggles, never gets injured and will be out there every five days getting me innings, and hopefully, wins, this season. Todd Wellemeyer has been pitching out of his mind this spring, so I grabbed him with my final pick.

But just take a look at my entire roster. It’s not bad, but it’s not beautiful either. But I look around at all the other teams and everyone is average. It’s like fantasy baseball parity at it’s finest.

Deep leagues are not for everyone, but if you want to feel intensity and realism, give a league with fourteen or more teams a chance, or go all the way to the bring (of insanity) with an eighteen team league. Feel what it is like to actually have to think and build a team, when the superstars run out pretty early.

Fantasy Baseball Secret Unveiled: Closers Schmosers!

As a fantasy baseball manager since 2003, I have experienced moderate success; in 15 teams I have managed, I have won the championship twice, while finishing in the top-three five other times. Both championship victories I have both came last season, because it was after I realized what the secret was.

It’s nothing groundbreaking, nothing that would make you go, “Oh, why didn’t I think of that!”, but it’s there, and it’s right in front of your face. Some managers even do it by accident, and I guarantee they have experienced some form of success.

The secret is this: forget about closers. Wait a minute…what? You mean to tell me that you don’t draft Francisco Cordero in the fifth round when there are so many superstars available? That’s right my fellow fantasy managers, I just ditch the closers.

Think about it; we waste an early round pick for a player who is going to get our team one stat– the save. When he gets one, terrific, we increase one stat column. But blow a save, and your ERA for the week can be messed up so much you end up losing that category.

The closer is a position that was made up in baseball, and now the fan following of them has led to an almost cult stature.

“Only a certain pitcher can be a closer!”

“It takes a certain mindset to close out a game!”

Those are the things I hear when I discuss the importance of closers to the game. Now we even have to play certain music when they come out, and oh, almost forgot, they have to grow some kind of intimidating facial hair style.

There is only one closer in baseball– Mariano Rivera, and I’m not a Yankee fan.

They may very well be important, but they are blown out of proportion. Let’s face it, anyone can be a closer. How many times a season do we see a “star” get injured, and some journeyman schmuck comes in and saves 30 games? Oh, and it just so happens they’re a free agent that off-season and they end up getting a huge contract with a new team. David Aardma saved 38 games last year…enough said.

Sorry for that, the rant is now over. Back to fantasy baseball stats and how to win your league.

If you wanted to be totally bad-ass, like yours truly, then create a league and do not instill a closer/relief position. Or, if you want to really piss people off and prove a point, keep relief pitchers available and get rid of the save stat. How many closers will we see picked up then? Probably close to none.

This would all be just babble if I didn’t win the championship in 2 out of the 3 leagues I have played in since dropping the closers off my team. I must also add that both of these victories came in league where closers were an available position and saves were a stat. The glory of the Yahoo fantasy setup are those starting pitchers that count as relievers as well. So that’s exactly what I did. Found two starters who count as both an “SP” and “RP” and plugged them in the relief position.

Obviously I lost the saves category every week, but when most teams were rolling two and three closers at once, I was winning the Innings Pitched, Strikeouts, and Wins categories pretty severely. Most often ERA too, because one bad performance wouldn’t necessarily end my week.

This season I have three suggestions for that fantastic SP/RP versatility: J.A Happ on the Phillies, Joba Chamberlain on the Yankees, and Todd Wellemeyer on the Giants.

Happ pitched extremely well last season and is a lock for a spot in the rotation. Why Yahoo even has him listed as an RP is beyond me, but take advantage of their mistake as once a player is listed in a certain position, they can not be removed, only new positions can be added to them.

Chamberlain is tricky because of the weird pitch and innings count he will be on, but with the Yankee’s offense, I would be willing to take the chance.

Todd Wellemeyer looks like he will win the Giants fifth spot in the rotation due to his superb spring. Should he continue this, figure him for 8-10 wins on the season.

This idea may seem a bit wacky, and I understand not all leagues have the same setup. I think the majority of fans use Yahoo, meaning this is the correct configuration. I highly recommend you try it; you’ll lose the saves category every week, but you will never lose innings pitched and strikeouts.

If you don’t trust me, try an experiment on just one of your teams. Even if you have already drafted, now is the time to offer in a trade, your superstar closer, and have a chance to get a decent starting pitcher or hitter back. It may seem crazy, but I guarantee that once you go this way, you’ll never go back.