Fake Teams Hits the Fantasy Links

Today is July 19.  Here are your fantasy baseball links for today:

PITCHERS: Mid-Season ROTW Rankings | Baseball Guys
I'm not going to sit here and nitpick this to death, mostly because making mid-season rankings is a thankless job (and it is a good list overall), but here are two quibbles: Both David Price (19) and Madison Bumgarner (49) are way too low.

Fantasy Baseball Free Agent Pool – 2011 Speed Demons Vol. 7 | LestersLegends.com

Relievers that could turn to closers soon | Fantasy Baseball 365

Waiver Saviors: The Slim Shady Edition | COSFBA
Under the radar rookies

Sabermetrics & Fantasy: HR/FB and Joey Votto, Logan Morrison & Freddie Freeman | Roto Hardball

As they grow older, fill out, and move their batted ball mixes towards fly balls, Jason Heyward might be in for a more powerful career. But it's obvious that right now, given similar HR/FB numbers and divergent batted ball mixes, Freddie Freeman is the young Brave to own for second-half power.

Follow the jump for more of the latest fantasy baseball news and analysis from around the web.

Hughes, Niemann & Worley: Waiver Wire | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Worley’s recent minor league track record hints at more strikeout-ability (8.9 K/9 in Triple-A this year), and like the other guys in this post, he’s got a favorable schedule ahead of him. Following Wednesday’s start at Wrigley Field, he’s start at home against the Giants and Pirates before going out west to visit the Giants and Dodgers. The impending homerun correction is scary, but Worley is a decent gamble this late in the year, when the waiver wire is close to dried up.

Ludwick, Gwynn: NL Outfielders | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

He doesn’t have great upside, and you’ll have to manage him every day, but if you have room on your bench and a need for speed, Gwynn is still an option for you.

The SABR Spotlight: Adrian Gonzalez | COSFBA

So far, he's posting a career high in AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS, and significantly higher numbers than his career averages in those categories. He's also on pace for career highs in Runs, RBI's and SB's (a whopping 2). But where is the power? Gonzalez is on pace to hit less than 31 HR's for the first time since 2006. Why aren't the balls flying out of Fenway as we predicted?

Waiver Wire Fire! Alex Presley Deserves Your Attention Now | Fantasy Knuckleheads

No matter what format you’re in, Presley is a player worth making a case for especially if you’re in need of a combo package of OBP and speed.

Forget Me/Forget Me Not: Can Brandon Belt Become A Viable Option In 2011? | Rotoprofessor

If Belt can continue to hit for power, he easily could force the Giants hand. In 2010 he hit .352 with 23 HR and 112 RBI in 492 AB across three levels, so don’t consider it impossible. In other words, just because he’s struggled and been demoted, his name is not one fantasy owners should quickly forget.

Should Kyle Blanks Be On Your Radar? | Roto Hardball

Grab Blanks now as a speculative pick, before it becomes more obvious that Ludwick could be dealt and a roster spot opened for the hulking left fielder. He is owned in just seven percent of CBS leagues at the moment, so it is still early enough that you could likely grab him at a minimal cost. If he mashes, you'll be glad you acted early.

Karstens Gets that Sinking Feeling | Baseball Analytics

Karstens isn't throwing his pitches any differently. By changing the mix, however, he's forcing batters to learn new patterns, and while that happens Jeff thrives on the mound.

Vlad, Scott, Danks, Strasburg, Anderson: DLWW | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Recent reports from the Nationals state that Strasburg may be back in September for a few starts. He may be a nice replacement for a pitcher that may be shutdown late in the season. If you have room on the DL, it might be a good time to pick him up and see if he will pitch in the majors this season.

The Bard of Boston | Baseball Analytics

These two pitches, mixed with an occasional changeup, are the reasons why Bard has the longest active scoreless streak in the majors and longest by a Boston pitcher this season. Bard’s is the longest for a Sox reliever in a single season since Jonathan Papelbon’s 22.0-inning streak, 5/4-6/26/06 and the quality of Bard's pitching is why Papelbon may already be expendable for GM Theo Epstein because we all know that a closer by any other name may still smell as sweet...maybe even sweeter.

Injury Report: July 19: Roy Halladay, Ryan Braun, Grady Sizemore & More | Rotoprofessor

Prospect of the Day: Brandon Laird, 3B, New York Yankees | Minor League Ball

Laird has very good raw power, although his ability to tap into his strength for home runs isn't consistent and his Triple-A performance has been mediocre overall. The good news: he's been on a power tear lately, hitting four of his 10 homers this year in July with a .611 SLG this month. The bad news: his BB/K ratio in July is zero/9 in 54 at-bats. Scouts say he has quick hands and very good bat speed, but he's over-aggressive at the plate and seldom draws walks. Major league pitchers will figure out a way to use his impatience against him. A right-handed hitter, he's shown a sharp platoon split this year, with an .832 OPS against lefties but just .668 against right-handers.

Daily Dish: Alex Wimmers Returns To The Mound | Baseball America
Wimmers, Arnett, Mills, Clark, Abreu, Shibuya, Jewell, Gruver

Future Rookies: Week 16 Fantasy Baseball Cafe
Altuve, Giavotella

Fantasy Baseball Player Prospecting: Alex Cobb, Robinson Chirinos, Desmond Jennings | KFFL.com
The all-Tampa Bay Rays edition highlight's the club's Monday night starting pitcher and latest catcher on roster. Plus, a status update on Tampa's top prospect.

Pebble Hunting: Footloose and Fastball-Free | Baseball Prospectus
A fun article about mixing pitches. (By the way, McCarver, the correct pronunciation is "CLEE-burn")

Get A Brain, Morans! | Baseball Nation
Suggested by Ray in the comments section of yesterday's links post. I wanted to make sure everybody could see this, as it is not to be missed.