Rotoprofessor

Here’s a name that we haven’t spoken about in some time, but that’s certainly not because we think any less of him.  After being traded to the Indians as the centerpiece to the CC Sabathia trade and playing in the Olympics, Matt LaPorta had quite a tale to tell in 2008.

Overall, his numbers weren’t all that impressive, hitting .279 with 22 HR, 74 RBI and 62 R in 362 AB in his first full minor league season.  After the trade, he had just 60 AB for the Indians Double A affiliate, hitting just .233 with 2 HR in those AB’s.  He’s also struggled in the Venezuela Winter League, hitting just .164 with 2 HR in 67 AB.

Maybe it was the injuries he sustained while playing in the Olympics that has slowed him down.  He did suffer a mild concussion while in Beijing, so it certainly is possible, but at the same time, by now you’d have to think he’d be over it.

You have to look past the decline in his numbers, because LaPorta is one of the best bats in the minor leagues and will likely make his presence felt in the Indians line-up early on in 2009.  Prior to his trade, he was hitting .288 with 20 HR and 66 RBI in just 302 AB, numbers that are significantly more telling of his abilities.  That’s a HR every 15.1 AB, obviously a number he probably would not be able to repeat in the major leagues, not in his rookie campaign anyways.  Still, it shows just how much power he has. Read the rest of this entry »

A few notes for this evening:

• In a swap of former first round draft picks, the Philadelphia Phillies traded OF Greg Golson to the Texas Rangers in exchange for OF John Maberry Jr., according to Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News (click here for the post).  Golson had a cup of coffee with the Phillies in September, but played the majority of the season at Double A, hitting .282 with 13 HR, 60 RBI, 64 R and 23 SB in 426 AB.  Mayberry started the season at Double A before being promoted to Triple A, hitting .264 overall with 20 HR, 71 RBI, 85 R and 10 SB in 519 AB.  Mayberry turns 26-years old in December, 2 years older then Golson, and would appear to be a little bit closer to the major leagues at this point.  That certainly makes him more valuable to the Phillies, who may need him to help replace Pat Burrell, if he leaves via free agency.  I think Golson may end up being the better of the two, but I don’t know that he’ll be able to crack the Rangers line-up this season making Mayberry the better option for ‘09.
• David Lennon of New York Newsday (click here for the post) has posted an update on Daniel Murphy, who underwent an MRI today.  It turns out that he has a “Grade 2 Strain of the right hamstring”, which will take him out of participating in the winter leagues.  He is, however, expected to be ready for Opening Day.

I’m very happy to announce a new working relationship with Mike Kuchera of www.fantasybaseballexpress.com and www.thefantasyman.com.  Like all of the sites that I work with, Mike offers some of the best content on the internet.  He has already posted his 2009 draft rankings, so for those of us looking to get a head start on our draft preperation, that alone is definitely worth checking out.

He offers plenty of other tremendous content as well, like this article he recently wrote about going Green for the 2009 fantasy season.  I definitely recommend checking the article out in it’s entirety, but here’s a little taste to wet your appetite:

I am hoping we all do our part to try to save the planet whether it’s recycling, carpooling, or conserving energy any way we can. Ridiculous gas/oil prices have been a killer to our economy lately despite the recent drops in gas prices over the last few weeks. Don’t worry, just when you’re finally fully recovered from this holiday season, gas prices will be sky high again by Memorial Day! Can we ever catch a break?!

As a Fantasy Sports Expert and Player, I realize that most of us who play fantasy sports probably don’t take the steps to save energy and help our planet when we are actually participating in this fun yet frustrating game. Haven’t you heard? The Fantasy Man is going “Green” for the 2009 season and wants to share some simple tips to help you at least get the process moving along. Although many of these tips seem to easy or small, anything little that we can do to help…..helps! Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, this is certainly potentially draft changing news.  According to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News (click here for the post), the surgery will take place next week, though there is no word on exactly when the injury occurred or exactly what the injury is.  All we know at this point is that the injury was bothering him during the second half of last season and could keep him out for 4-6 months.

As the article points out, he “will not be able to resume baseball activities until 3-4 months after surgery”.  The breakdown they give is as follows:

• 3 months from Monday = February 24, after the start of Spring Training
• 4 months from Monday = March 24, just 9 days prior to the start of the season
• 5 months from Monday = April 24, causing him to miss the seasons first 16 games
• 6 months from Monday = May 24, causing him to miss the seasons first 43 games Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a few odds and ends I wanted to mention here this afternoon:

• Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Dispatch (click here for the article) is reporting that the Cardinals and Trever Miller are “to finalize a deal” with the only hold-up being “a physical scheduled for this morning”.  He’ll be nothing more then a lefty out of the bullpen, so he has no value to fantasy owners.
• Jordan Schafer, a top prospect for the Braves, has “injured a finger when struck by a pitch” according to David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (click here for the article).  There was no break and he is expected to be fully recovered in more then enough time for Spring Training, though his Winter League season has ended hitting .276 with 1 HR, 9 RBI, 20 R and 9 SB over 105 AB.  He is a player worth keeping an eye on, as there is certainly a chance he gets time with the Braves this season.
• David Lennon of New York Newsday (click here for the article) is reporting that Daniel Murphy will be having an MRI on his right knee due to “discomfort” he’s felt there.  It is unknown how serious the injury is, so we’ll have more on this when it becomes available.  Murphy is expected to see plenty of AB’s this season, either in the OF or at 2B, though the moves the Mets make this off-season will certainly play a role in that.  Watch the Mets closely before selecting him on draft day.

As we continue to analyze players who may or may not have fantasy value in 2009 we make a stop in Milwaukee and look at second baseman Rickie Weeks, a perennial breakout candidate.  As fantasy owners we seem to always be waiting, waiting for the season when he becomes the 20/20 player that he’s shown is possible.  Or has he?

He’s only stolen over 20 bases once in a season (25 in 2007), though he has had 19 in a season on two occasions (’06 & ‘08).  That tells me that the speed is not what we should be worrying about when analyzing Weeks.  Not that he is one of the elite options, but he certainly is a piece that you can use in building a winning fantasy team.

Unfortunately, that’s where the praise has to end.  The speed that he’s displayed has not translated into making his way around the bases, with his career high being just 89 last season.  That’s fine and dandy, but with 447 at bats in the leadoff slot and Prince Fielder & Ryan Braun just waiting to drive you in, you’d expect the runs to be plentiful.  In fact, you’d expect him to be among the tops in the league, but he wasn’t even among the top run scorers among second baseman.

In fact, he was ninth among his fellow 2B, with Kelly Johnson close behind with 86.  Yes, I know that the number is very usable, I’m not going to try and deny that, but you have to think that he not only could, but should, provide more.  If he wants to be among the elite in the game, he’s going to have to turn things up a notch. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com (click here for the article), the Yankees Mike Mussina is set to retire, a year after going 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA and 1.22 WHIP at age 39.  He retires with 270 wins and a 3.68 ERA over an extremely impressive career.

Wow, despite the talk, I really never believed that Mussina would actually call it quits.  There really isn’t much to say at this point except that he obviously shouldn’t be taken on draft day.  Things could still change, so don’t completely write him off, but obviously something drastic would have to happen.

I feel like we’ve been hearing rumors of the Red Sox trading Coco Crisp for well over a year now, since Jacoby Ellsbury emerged as an everyday player.  Finally, those rumors came to fruition today, with Crisp being sent to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Ramon Ramirez, according to Ian Browne of mlb.com.

In Crisp, the Royals pick up a capable OF’er who has the potential to bat leadoff for them.  In 361 AB’s last season, he hit .283 with 7 HR, 41 RBI, 55 R and 20 SB.  That should fit in well, as the Royals had primarily been using David DeJesus and his 11 SB in 518 AB in that role.

With regular AB’s, Crisp is a must own fantasy option for 2009, especially in leagues that require 5 OF’ers.  He should be able to score close, if not more then, 100 R’s as well as steal over 30 bases for the Royals.  He does create a bit of a logjam in the OF for the team, joining DeJesus, Teahan and Guillen.  With the team also loaded up on DH types, it would seem like they have another move to be made.

Ramirez was tremendous last season, pitching to a 2.64 ERA and 1.23 WHIP over 71.2 innings.  He also struck out 70 batters and should help bridge the gap from their strong starting staff to Jonathan Papelbon.  Still, considering he isn’t going to start and is very unlikely to pick up saves, he has little value to fantasy owners unless you are in a league that values holds.

I want to pose a question to everyone to see what their draft strategy is.  What is your preference, a player who you have a good idea what you are going to get from him or a player who is young and has yet to fully prove that he is capable of repeating the numbers he’s posted in the past?

An example of this is CC Sabathia vs. Tim Lincecum (which is a comparison we will be discussing in much greater detail here in the near future).  In Sabathia, you have a pitcher who has been one of the best in the league for the past 3 seasons, while being a very good pitcher since ‘01.  In Lincecum, you have a young pitcher who was unbelievable in 2008, but we really don’t yet know if it was fact or fiction.

Another example could be Magglio Ordonez vs. Corey Hart.  In Ordonez you have a veteran who has consistently proven to be among the best, while Hart has shown the potential to be a 30/30 player (as we discussed in a Quick Hit column that you can read here), having gone 20/20 the past two seasons.  This comparison we will actually discuss in detail next Monday.

My philosophy, honestly, is that it depends on what part of the draft I’m looking at.  The old philosophy is that you can’t win your league in the first few rounds, but you certainly could lose it.  Basically, there’s no reason to take an unnecessary risk, especially in the first 4 rounds or so.  Personally, if there are two players who are extremely similar, most of the time I’m going to go with the one that has proven more dependable instead of the one who has slightly more upside. Read the rest of this entry »

A few notes for this evening:

• The Cubs and Ryan Dempster agreed to a 4-year, $52 million contract according to cnnsi.com (click here for the article).  The contract has “a $4 million signing bonus, $8 million next year, $12.5 million in 2010 and $13.5 million in 2011. Dempster has a 2012 option for $14 million”.  If you’ve been reading the site, you know my feelings on Dempster, so you probably know my feelings on this signing.  Maybe I’ll be proved wrong, but it’s an awful lot of money to be throwing at someone off one good season.  He’s got some potential for next season, though I’m not going to be looking towards him in my drafts for ‘09.
• According to Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times (click here for the article) is reporting that one of the Angels top prospects, Brandon Wood, was “dismissed from his winter club because of poor performance”.  He hit .167 over 48 AB’s and coming off a .200 average at the major league level over 150 AB’s it makes it extremely difficult to consider him a viable fantasy option at this point.  Leave him as nothing more then waiver wire fodder.