Well, it's Monday. Hopefully you don't work in an office where someone feels the need to quote Office Space at this time every week. That would be awful. Today is May 16. On this day in 1897, this happened:
Fans assemble for Cleveland's first Sunday baseball game only to have the police arrest the players after the first inning. Players and umpire Tim Hurst are released on bail provided by Cleveland club owner Frank DeHaas Robison. A test case is made of rookie hurler John Powell. On June 10th, he will be found guilty of playing ball on Sunday and fined $5.
Today is also the anniversary of the acquittal of President Andrew Johnson in his impeachment trial (1868) and the birthday of William H. Seward (1801). Better name for a blunder: Seward's Folly or Merkle's Boner? Here are your fantasy baseball links for today:
Interleague games start up this weekend, so AL-Only and Mixed League players with DH spots will want to pay attention to which teams are playing in which parks. Rotoprofessor looks at designated hitters that shouldn't lose any playing time. On the flip side, players in mixed leagues with low position eligibility thresholds will want to note which National Leaguers will DH in AL parks, as gaining eligibility at that position can be very valuable.
RotoExperts looks at some pitchers who have been both lucky and unlucky based on BABIP in relation to LD%.
RotoGraphs has two new holds candidates.
The Fantasy Fix recommends starting Matt Joyce and sitting Chris Coghlan, among others.
RotoGraphs updates pitchers have seen significant velocity changes so far this year, for better or worse.
It's the beginning of the week, so two-start pitcher columns abound: Razzball, RotoGraphs, Rotoprofessor, Lester's Legends, KFFL (AL and NL), Fantasy Baseball Cafe, and Fantasy Baseball 365.
As always, there are ton of waiver advice columns, all of them worth your time: The Hardball Time (AL and NL), Razzball, RotoGraphs, Rotoprofessor, RotoRob, The Fantasy Fix, and BaseballPress.
Follow the jump for more of the latest fantasy baseball news and analysis from around the web.
Roto Hardball on Jose Baustista:
After coming out of nowhere last year, Bautista could end up turning in one of the top-5 greatest offensive performances in history during a year in which pitching has dominated the headlines.
Whoa. Also, Beyond the Boxscore has a graph illustrating the change in Bautista's approach over the years, while Getting Blanked shows how hard Bautista hits the ball.
RotoGraphs wonders if Mark Trumbo can be a viable option at first base. Boy, is he a hacker:
He has hacked at 43.5% of pitchers thrown out of the zone this season. Trumbo’s O-Swing ranks behind just Alfonso Soriano, Adam Jones and Vladimir Guerrero among all major league hitters.
ESPN New York notes David Wright's struggles against right-handed pitching.
Baseball Analytics investigates Curtis Granderson's recent power surge and discovers that he absolutely punishes fastballs.
RotoGraphs likes Alex Rios as a buy-low candidate.
John Sickels of Minor League Ball profiles Matt Joyce, who is so hot right now.
RotoGraphs believes Mark Reynolds will be better going forward, but still not good enough for you to bother with.
Sons of Roto has some advice for Jorge Posada. I have some advice for mixed league Posada owners: Stop it. Baseball Analytics shows how pitchers have adjusted to Posada.
The Hardball Times likes Bud Norris, but issues a word of caution.
BaseballPress calls Daniel Hudson a buy-low candidate, which I wholeheartedly agree with.
Baseball Analytics has some really interesting stuff about Jhoulys Chacin's pitch selection.
Roto Hardball recommends picking Jake Peavy up as he returns from injury.
It wasn't long ago that Mat Latos was called a buy-low candidate by several of the sites I link here on a regular basis. Now, BaseballPress is saying sell high.
RotoRob praises Alexi Ogando and checks in on some other Texas Rangers, while Fantasy Baseball Cafe notes that Ogando is due for a fall.
Also returning from injury is Brian Matusz, and Lester's Legends examines his fantasy worthiness.
Roto Hardball monitors the Seattle Mariners' bullpen in light of Brandon League's recent implosion. Lester's Legends asks if it's time to panic about League.
Baseball Prospectus and RotoExperts have injury reports.
John Sickels' Prospect of the Day is the recently called up Hector Noesi.
Minor League Ball, Baseball America, RotoGraphs, Razzball, and KFFL have prospect updates.
Rotoprofessor checks in on Blue Jays OF Anthony Gose.
Finally, as a noted Yankee hater, I present the following links without comment:
The New York Times reports that in the 1970s George Steinbrenner provided help to the FBI as he tried to gain pardon from a felony stemming from illegal campaign contributions.
Also, Yankees prospect Slade Heathcott was prominently involved in a brawl in the Sally League on Friday night.