Debate Me: Tommy Hanson is the Braves Starting Pitcher You Want To Own - FantasyPros911.com
Great article here by the folks at FP911 about Hanson. For me there are too many red flags about health (especially the shoulder? so I am staying far away
Statistically, Hanson has been one of baseball’s better starting pitchers over the last three years. Although his ERA jumped up to 3.60 in 2011, his HR/FB rate was up significantly at 12.5%. Even during limited innings in 2009 and 2011 (127.2 and 130.0), Hanson has posted at least 10 wins every season in the Majors. His K/9 rose to 9.83 which is closer to the numbers that he posted in the Minor Leagues. Hanson is statistically solid and pitches for a Wild Card capable ball club. If you buy his health, you should buy him in 2012.
I have been the most eager Pineda pimps out there, but I have to admit that I share some of the worry about Pindeda's dropped velocity. It's possible that he is simply working on other pitches, and simply waiting to jack it up when he NEEDS the high heat. We shall see. First week of April or his last spring training game will give us more more needed info..
My intentions in most fantasy baseball drafts are pretty clear. I write about them, discuss them, tweet them … you name it. But the main one -- other than having fun -- is to look for value. I'll draft a player earlier than normal if I really want certain statistics, but most of the time if I don't like the player's value, I'll simply ignore him. Pineda doesn't make my top 25 starting pitchers. He's obviously talented, and maybe there's a dominant full season in his future at some point, but he's too risky for my taste, and when I get around to selecting starting pitchers, Pineda will be gone. Pineda's name is the first one that comes to mind if you ask me who I'm avoiding in 2012 drafts. We call this annual blog entry my "Do Not Draft" list, though I will admit that if everyone in a certain draft believes a player is overrated and he slips far enough, I'm interested. It's all about the value, even with Pineda. I do have him ranked, after all, just not nearly as high as everyone else. Here are some other players I won't be targeting:
2012 Fantasy Baseball - Top Five Questions - Cincinnati Reds - FantasyPros911.com
Contact rate and extreme struggles against right hand pitching worrisome. Stubbs is an extreme BA liability that I cannot take in the fifth round. I will be passing on draft day...
3. Can Drew Stubbs go 30/30? The change in lineup affects his fantasy value. He will not exceed 90 runs again this season. He may be lucky to get 80. His RBIs will go up, but not enough to warrant early attention in the draft. Stubbs’ value lies in his speed. If he can control his free-swinging tendencies, Stubbs could move up in the order, record more runs and maybe even break 45-50 stolen bases.
FACTS/FLUKES: Hamilton, Humber, Ryan, Pavano, Aviles | BaseballHQ.com
Humber caught my attention here in HQ's great fact/articles. Not a lot of upside here but a decent final starter to fill out your rotation. The community at large will say that Humber over performed last year so he is mostly being ignored in mixed leagues.
Humber is a ground ball pitcher with good Ctl, so he’s not likely to be hurt much pitching half of his games at US Cellular Field. He’s also not as bad as his second half ERA indicated. While you shouldn’t expect him to sustain that second half Dom, Humber makes an intriguing end-game pick in 2012.
DRAFT & HOLD: Pole Position | BaseballHQ.com
Great strategy article here by BaseballHQ. I must read for NFBC draft and hold players.
Final thoughts on jockeying for position Professional pool players look to run the table on every shot—each shot sets up the next one until all of the balls are off the table. Using a similar approach, participants in draft and hold formats should use the draft to "run the table" by setting up each round with slotting and advanced strategies. As Ron Shandler's Formula for Consistent Success points out, having better in-draft strategy and tactics is the most important part of future success.
10 Players We Love More than You - Fantasy - Yahoo! Sports
While I have been in love with Belt since infancy, you cannot ignore the Giants track record of playing their veterans. Belt is unfortunately blocked at the moment. Once he finds playing time Belt could be a star. But once again I worry about him finding at bats.
Brandon Belt – The Giants can’t keep this baby in the corner any longer. He’s a hitting machine that blazed a trail from college to San Francisco in less than two seasons. And he’s forcing the Giants to take notice once again this spring. San Francisco’s going to have to do the right thing and make him a regular.
New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira looking good at spring training - ESPN
Many people think a multi year decline is happening. Skill set say that Teix could "bounce back" if that is even possible when it comes to a player like Teixeira. I am expecting a BA more around .275
The Yankees stable of "mature" players is sizeable, including the likes of shortstop Derek Jeter and pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Their expected level of contribution indicates the team is counting on the veterans' collective ability to stay healthy. They certainly look to be in great form this spring, but when all is said and done, only time will tell.
RotoWire Roundtable: Latest 350 (Part 1) - RotoWire.com
Latest top 350 rankings from Rorowire
Welcome to the second edition of the RotoWire Roundtable. This month, we added a new ranker - welcome Kevin Payne! Since our February update, there have been significant injury updates, closer battles and even a suspension reversal. The goal of the March update is to help you refine your draft day strategy. Below you will see our rankers' consolidated top-350 players. These rankings were assembled for 12-team, 5x5 mixed leagues that start two catchers per team (thus there is a positional scarcity component added for catchers). We used five rankers: Jeff Erickson, Derek VanRiper, Michael Rusignola, Bernie Pleskoff and Kevin Payne. The rankings were provided completely blinded - none of the rankers saw any of the other rankings before the publication of this article. For more background on how to use these rankings, see the introduction to last month's update.