Madison Bumgarner Player Projection No. 68 | Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove
At only age 22, Bumgarner is showing all the skills we want to see in a young SP. K/9 up, walks down. Solid Tier 2 pick!
What They're Saying: CBS Sportsline: #19 Starting Pitcher; Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN.com: #21 Starting Pitcher & #82 Overall; Mock Draft Central ADP: #20 Starting Pitcher & #94 Overall; RotoChamp: #71 Overall Projection: The wins will continue to be an issue, but there’s not a whole lot else to complain about. Bumgarner has shown better control and can pitch to lefties and righties. 14 wins 3.08 ERA 1.19 WHIP 195 K in 197 innings
Matt Moore Player Projection No. 69 | Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove
Moore is one of the most fascinating players to track proceeding 2012 fantasy drafts. Although I believe Moore is a future Cy Young winner, his price tag is simply to high for my liking right now. The lefty is going as early as the third or fourth round in early NFBC leagues so far. If he available in the 6th round however I would be forced to consider...
What They're Saying: CBS Sportsline: #5 Relief Pitcher; Tristan Cockcroft of ESPN.com: #24 Starting Pitcher & #94 Overall; Mock Draft Central ADP: #36 Starting Pitcher & #154 Overall; RotoChamp: #83 Overall Projection: This is the highest that Moore is going anywhere, but assuming he can crack the rotation and stay healthy, I will gladly reach for the upside. 13 wins 2.97 ERA 1.20 WHIP 206 K in 184 innings
Position/Role Battles: The Reds' Left Fielder: Fantasy Baseball - RotoAuthority.com
I Agree with RotoAuthority that Heisey is the CIN OF to draft. Keep in mind injuries, contact rate struggles, and trouble hitting lefties, but again Heisey could provide a nice value as your 5th OF. Target: 16th-18th round.
Fantasy outlook: My inclination would be to draft Heisey since he possesses the most upside. He, Ludwick and even Frazier can all provide some solid power numbers in a standard 5x5 league, but you shouldn't expect much outside of the HRs and maybe the RBI category (though Frazier has shown decent base-stealing ability in the minors). I doubt Ludwick would exceed this modest projection and Frazier is unlikely to get enough playing time to be a factor. With Heisey, however, the potential is there for him to break out and become a legitimate, everyday Major Leaguer. It may take a couple of months for Cincinnati's LF situation to become clear, so I'd draft Heisey with a late-round pick and then cross your fingers that he emerges by midseason as the de facto starter.
Sleeper Candidate for 2012: Brennan Boesch
Severe 2nd half fades make me worry about this pick. If he gets the AB's, still value to be had. His ADP is all over the map. Solid 14th round pick if he lasts that long.
I feel that 130 games in 2012 is a conservative number for Boesch, leaving .270/20/70 as my baseline projection for him with room for a lot more if he can stay on the field. Other OF’s going in his ADP range include: Alex Presley, Nyjer Morgan, & Alex Rios, furthering my belief that this late in drafts, Boesch is an absolute steal for what he’s going to cost you. He’s someone you can take in the 20-22 round range and legitimately see 25 home runs, 80 runs, a .280 average, and a sneaky handful of steals from next season. While outfield remains one of the deeper positions in fantasy, things thin out quickly in the OF4 and OF5 range. Brennan Boesch is someone who can be had for an OF5 price and return OF3 value, which is something we are all looking for on draft day. From The Baseball Forecaster: September surgery for torn thumb ligament ended season early. Before that, nice comeback from 2H collapse as 2010 rookie. Skills were again fading before injury, so his ability to string together two good half-seasons is an open question. Ability to hit LHP means he can avoid platoon role, so if he gets 500 AB ? UP: 25 HR.
Fantasy Baseball Shortstop Sleepers 2012 Season | Fantasy Baseball Dugout
1. Dee Gordon, Los Angeles Dodgers 2. Zack Cozart, Cincinnati Reds 3. Eduardo Nunez, New York Yankees — 4. Taylor Pastornicky, Atlanta Braves 5. Mike Aviles, Boston Red Sox 6. Trevor Plouffe, Minnesota Twins 7. Jed Lowrie, Houston 8. Emilio Bonifacio, Miami Marlins 9. Kyle Seager, Seattle Mariners
I’m Not Buying: Mark Texeira | Terez Owens Fantasy Sports
I am ignoring the article below until they can learn to spell Teixeira :-)
Bust is a pretty strong word when describing a guy who hit 39 homers and drove in 11 runs, but calling him an "Overrated poor man’s Ryan Howard" just seemed like too much work. Don’t get me wrong, Tex is still going to hit home runs, and drive in runs, but that’s where it ends with him. His career low average of .256 in 2010, was bested by a .247 mark in 2011. He also showed less plate discipline, once a strength of his, by swinging at a career worst 28% of pitches outside of the strike zone. That caps a five year trend of worsening strike zone management by Big Tex. 2010-2011 both marked the first time since his rookie season that Texeira had a slugging % less than .500. He is hitting line drives at a less rate, fly balls at a higher rate, and swinging and missing at more pitches than ever. He set a career low BABIP of .239 in 2011, which bested his career low mark in 2010. Although the .239 mark is lower than it should have been for a hitter the caliber of Tex, it continues a 2 year downward trend in BABIP, meaning it’s probably never going get to where it once was. Basically, we are trending about a whole lot of trends that show Tex is on the downside of his career.
The Trade Counsel: Pre-season Keeper Trading | Rotoprofessor
Great advice below on taking advantage of the rookies in your league!!!
This time of year is ripe with opportunity for trading. Plenty of fantasy players (like me) are desperate for the baseball season and will gladly enter into negotiations. However you can be sure that most of those guys will also be underprepared when it comes to 2012 analysis. Many will still have the same preconceptions that they finished 2011 with. From my own point of view, I know I will have 10 times the information I have now when my main leagues draft in March. Now is the time to strike hard and fast, before the other owners get up to speed.