Fantasy Baseball Links: Pedro Alvarez, Paul Konerko and Others

Paul Konerko Player Projection No. 78 | Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove

Konerko was supposed to regress in 2011, but that did not happen. At age 36 you have to start worrying about age, but most underlying skills still are strong. His current ADP on Mock Draft Central is 47. Are you investing?

What They're Saying: CBS Sportsline - #9 in the Top 40 First Basemen; Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN.com - #7 in the Top 25 First Basemen & #41 in the Top 250 Players; RotoChamp - #34 in the Top 300; Mock Draft Central - #7 First Baseman and #45 Overall Projection: With a lengthy career and little injury history you can use pen for Konerko's floor this season...I think he'll be firting with .300 again looking at his increasing line drive and declining fly ball rates, unless this is the year he goes A-Rod on us.

The Disappointments of Youth: Pedro Alvarez | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Until Alvarez can increase his contact rate, cut down the strike outs, and hit lefties, I will be avoiding...

The best thing Alvarez has going for him right now is his pedigree, but plenty of high draft picks flame out, so that doesn’t mean much. Keeper players will face a decision that will likely depend on exactly how contracts and keepers work. I wouldn’t cut him if you have him under contract, but if your league is a simple "keep X players off your roster, lose one draft pick per keeper" you can get better value out there. Redraft players should stay away until he shows he can hit something besides a fastball. There’s too much risk associated with him and too little upside when pitchers know that all they need to do is bury a slider in the dirt to get him out. If you’re still enticed by the power potential he clearly has, there are worse late-round gambles out there, but have a starter and safety in place in case he finds himself back down in Indianapolis with McGehee manning third base.

AL SP ADP: Early Results | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball
Fangraphs AL only ADP reports

NFBC Trends: ADP Reactions To Recent Moves - RotoWire.com
ADP trends: Darvish, Montero, Cespedes, Fielder

BaseballHQ.com - Playing Time Today

The most intriguing fallout from Fielder's signing is where Miguel Cabrera (1B, DET) ends up defensively. Initial reports suggest that the Tigers will try Cabrera at 3B and LF, the positions at which he broke in with FLA back in 2003-2007--and many, many pounds ago. This idea is being met with skepticism everywhere outside the Tigers front office, because simply put, Cabrera isn't a good defender, even at 1B. It could take 20 games elsewhere for DET to figure this out, but don't count on it; the most reasonable projection is that Cabrera takes over most of Martinez' vacated DH AB while time-sharing with Fielder at 1B. The other current 3B options in DET--Don Kelly (3B, DET) and Brandon Inge (3B, DET)--seemingly have little to worry about for now.

Pressing Questions: The Cleveland Indians | Roto Arcade - Yahoo! Sports
All questions answered on the Indians...

Sleepers & Busts: Jonathon Niese, Justin Verlander: Fantasy Baseball - RotoAuthority.com

Verlander pitched 271 innings last year including the playoff. Are you drafting Verlander as a top three SP? Jonathan Niese is flying under the radar at ADP: 220 Last season, Niese flirted with periphs befitting a bona fide No. 3 fantasy starter: 7.89 K/9, 2.52 BB/9, 51.5% GB rate. Just for kicks, compare those to Ricky Romero's: 7.12 K/9, 3.20 BB/9, 54.7% GB rate. Niese bested Romero in two of those three categories, which, as Meatloaf tells us, ain't bad.

Farm Futures: Rookie ADP Report - RotoWire.com

Matt Moore - Current ADP = 99 Yu Darvish - Current ADP = 122. Bryce Harper - Current ADP = 212 Julio Teheran - Current ADP = 215 Dayan Viciedo - Current ADP = 226 Yonder Alonso - Current ADP = 229 Jesus Montero - Current ADP = 182. Anthony Rizzo - Current ADP = 236 Devin Mesoraco - Current ADP = 239 Zack Cozart - Current ADP = 245 Drew Pomeranz - Current ADP = 247 Tyler Pastornicky - Current ADP = 275 Tim Beckham - Current ADP = 281