Fantasy Baseball Links 2-16-12

Minor League Notes: February 13, 2012, Yoenis Cespedes Edition - Minor League Ball

The truth of matter is that we simply do not know how Cespedes will react to major league pitching. From a scouting perspective he should be a 20/20 hitter. The big question mark is how the hit tool will translate. Can he even hit .250? .220? My early projection is 300 AB's, 10 HR, 10 SB, .245 AVG.

Power is his best hitting attribute: rated 70 on the 20/80 scouting scale by most who have seen him in person. Reports on his pure hitting skills are a bit more mixed, and not everyone is sure how he'll handle the strike zone against major league pitching, or what his batting average and OBP will look like. He is an excellent overall athlete, with the speed for center field and a strong throwing arm.

2012 Fantasy Baseball Sleeper Third Baseman: Lonnie Chisenhall | LestersLegends.com

Plate discipline and strike zone judgement has been a problem for the 23 year old. With an up tick in on base skills, Chisenhall could surprise. 20 HR's are within reach. His AVG should kill you but won't help you either. Look for an AVG between the .240-.265 range...

Chisenhall should not be thought of as your fantasy starter, even at a shallow position like third base. I wouldn’t even want him as my corner infielder either. Not with the bevy of first basemen available. You won’t have to either. With a Mock Draft Central ADP of 366, that would be the 31st round, which is more than most leagues have. . Chisenhall is a guy to keep an eye on if he starts the season of the way he finished last year. He can also help out if your third baseman goes down with an injury.

Can Greg Holland Repeat His Great Season? | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

While Holland’s performance will likely regress due to the expected increase in walks and rise from last year’s .250 BABIP, he is still a good bet to finish the season in the upper echelon of middle relievers. With at least some possibility of becoming closer eventually, though he would have to battle with former closer Jonathan Broxton if Soria were traded, Holland is a good reliever to draft.

First Base Mediocrity? | Baseball Guys

The great Ron Shandler made a great point on BaseballHQ that 1B is actually a scarce position when many owners use first basemen as there CI. 1B is indeed deep, but be carefull not to get stuck.

In years past, first base was the land of offensive titans. To a certain extent that still is the case with names like Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez etc. However, once you get past the elite options at first base, let’s say outside the top-10 or 12, there are a whole bunch of options that have similar outlooks for 2012.

Ricky Nolasko and ERA-FIP Differences " MLB Dirt

Don't be fooled by this guy again. Avoid Nolasko at all costs...

With Spring Training getting under way very very soon, it means that it is time to have those fantasy baseball keepers close to figured out. Looking at one of my teams, one player that I am stuck on is Ricky Nolasco. I have been doing a lot of looking at Nolasco’s stats to help make my decision, and it seems that pretty much every year his ERA has been a much different story compared to his FIP. In the sabermetric community, ERA does not offer much validation anymore and FIP is the go to stat with pitchers. It can help project what a pitcher is capable and whether or not a pitcher projects to regress or improve when comparing FIP to ERA. Well with Nolasco, the ERA has looked bad year after year despite a much better FIP. Here is a look at Nolasco’s ERA vs FIP over the last 3 years:

Heath Bell won't be as loud for fantasy baseball saves :: KFFL - Article

Bell is still a solid Tier 2 closer, but as the article suggests, he is no longer elite. Signifigant decrease in strikeouts, ground ball rate dropped steadily the last three seasons...

Still, I'd rather avoid ringing Bell (almost made it through pun-free) and take a chance on Ryan Madson, Joakim Soria and Carlos Marmol, or wait on Santos or Betancourt or take a chance on Kenley Jansen winning the job eventually. Bell will still be a fine buy at the right price, as long as you don't expect his increasingly hittable arsenal to magically return him to previously overpowering levels. He isn't the Liberty Bell yet, but the crack will get worse.

Offseason Injury Report - Draft Strategy - Rotoworld.com

You'll notice that the subject matter on our player news page is slowly transitioning from rumors, trades and player signings to injury updates and a handul of players proclaiming that they are in the "best shape of their life." It's a welcome sign that pitchers and catchers are mere days away from reporting to their respective spring training sites in Arizona and Florida. On a related note, below you'll find a list of prominent players who are making their way back from injury and/or surgery. I didn't tackle all of the big names here, so be sure to track our player news page for the all the latest updates. If you want to be completely prepared leading up to draft day, be sure to get the Rotoworld Online Draft Guide. It's available right now, by the way. You'll get close to 1,000 player profiles and projections, customizable and printable cheat sheets, positional tiers, ADP (Average Draft Position) reports, keeper rankings, prospect rankings, depth charts and a whole lot more. Why not get a head start on dominating the competition?

ADP Analysis: Underrated Hitters: Fantasy Baseball - RotoAuthority.com

Catchers: Matt Wieters (ADP 98.90; 6th C), Salvador Perez (ADP 236.01; 17th C) and Devin Mesoraco (ADP 242.05; 24th C) - Wieters is a nice post-hype sleeper. His home runs jumped from 11 in 502 plate-appearances in 2010 to 22 in 551 PAs in 2011. His HR/FB jumped from 8% in 2010 to 13.6% in 2011, and his ISO also jumped from .128 in 2010 to .188 in 2011. Wieters is a player developing and entering his prime. Ron Shandler writes in his 2012 Baseball Forecaster that the switch-hitter has 30-homer upside. Wieters also has AVG upside, as his BABIP was just .276 last season after being .356 in 385 PAs in 2009 and .287 in 2010. Look to Wieters' 2011 second half xBA of .285 as the potential upside. Wieters also projects to hit 5th in Baltimore's lineup. ... Perez is a nice C2 target as he projects to hit seventh in a big-upside lineup in Kansas City, and should see a substantial amount of the catcher at-bats without a viable backup.