by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

After months of rumors the Ike Davis saga has finally ended, as the New York Mets yesterday sent him to the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league relief pitcher Zack Thornton and a player to be named later.

Obviously Thornton, a 25-year old RHP, is not a major return despite his overall impressive minor league numbers (3.03 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9).  Sure he could play a role in the Mets bullpen, but he’s not likely to make a fantasy impact.

Until we know who the additional player in the deal is, the fallout of the deal is the first base carousel in both cities:

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by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

Carlos Quentin is set to open the 2014 season on the DL…  Surprise, surprise!  He will miss time due to a bone bruise to his knee and there is no word as to when he will return.  With Cameron Maybin already out, there are clearly opportunities in the Padres outfield.  Who should fantasy owners be targeting?

Will Venable was already on radars, and someone we discussed back in December (click here for the article).  Outside of him, the majority of the options are likely sitting on the waiver wire.  Let’s take a look and see if there is anyone worth targeting:

Seth Smith
Smith has power potential, with 14+ HR four times in his career, though the majority of that damage came while playing in Colorado.  Last season, his second in Oakland, he hit just .253 with 8 HR in 368 AB.  One of his biggest problems the past two seasons has been strikeouts (22.2% and 22.9%), and just because he’s moving back to the NL doesn’t mean he’s going to improve there.

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by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

There has been a lot of injuries to starting pitchers over the past few days, so let’s give a quick recap of where things stand:

Patrick Corbin – Arizona Diamondbacks
The Situation – Corbin was forced from a start Saturday night due to stiffness in his forearm

The Latest – According to the team via a series of tweets (click here to view):

“Medical update: Patrick Corbin underwent an MRI last night that showed damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow.”

“The team will get a second opinion this week and Corbin will not make the trip to Sydney, Australia for the Opening Series.”

The Likely Outcome – While we can try to remain optimistic, Nick Piecoro (via Twitter) has reported that Tommy John surgery has already been recommended, costing him all of 2014.  If you already own him keep him stashed, just in case things change on a second opinion, but it doesn’t look good.  If you haven’t drafted yet, keep your distance (outside of dynasty formats).

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by Ray Kuhn

R.A. Dickey was a disappointment last season, something that should go without saying. In his first season with the Toronto Blue Jays, his ERA went up one and half runs as he clearly regressed from his Cy Young award winning season of 2012. How much of it is legitimate and deserved? What do we make of the knuckleballer’s 2013 when we project him forward for 2014?

The general consensus on Dickey is that he really is not worth your attention in 2014. Most sites have him ranked as SP4 or SP5 depending on the depth of your league. I am not going to say Dickey should be boosted in the rankings as if last season didn’t happen, because it did. It must be adjusted and accounted for. The 39-year old’s days of a sub-3 ERA are likely gone. Honestly, I’m not sure I feel comfortable projecting Dickey for anything under 3.75.

You could make the argument that it was a quick and steep fall for Dickey, but there are a few factors to consider that say otherwise. His age cannot be ignored, and the hypothesis is that it is at least partly responsible for the drop in velocity he has seen over the past few seasons. Yes, I know, he is a knuckleballer. So then why would it really matter how fast he throws? Isn’t the ball just supposed to float and flutter up there?

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by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

While the slew of recent injuries didn’t impact our Top 15 starting pitchers (which you can view by clicking here), the rest of the Top 45 definitely didn’t come out unscathed.  Let’s start updating things by looking at #16-30:

16) Homer Bailey – Cincinnati Reds
17) Zack Greinke – Los Angeles Dodgers
18) Anibal Sanchez – Detroit Tigers
19) Doug Fister – Washington Nationals
20) Matt Cain – San Francisco Giants
21) Gerrit Cole – Pittsburgh Pirates
22) Masahiro Tanaka – New York Yankees
23) Alex Cobb – Tampa Bay Rays
24) Mat Latos – Cincinnati Reds
25) Andrew Cashner – San Diego Padres Read more

by Eric Stashin (aka The Rotoprofessor)

News broke on two separate injuries to starting pitchers, so let’s take a second to see how each impact our fantasy strategy:

Cole Hamels – Philadelphia Phillies
Original Ranking – 10
New Ranking – 16

According to Matt Gelb of Philly.com (click here for the article):

“There was no hint of worry in Cole Hamels’ voice, even as he described the pain in his prized left shoulder that forced him to stop throwing in December and put him behind schedule for spring training. The $144 million pitcher is confident he can pitch in April, but he will not be on the mound to start the season.”

The Phillies are clearly going to try and downplay the situation, but for the time being fantasy owners need to take a cautious approach. Hamels, 30-years old, has worked at least 180 innings for seven consecutive seasons (five of which were over 200). Since debuting in 2006 he has thrown 1,596.2 IP in the regular season (and another 81.2 in the postseason). It is the 11th most over that time period.

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