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FanDuel: SB Nation One Day Fantasy Leagues
Many of you play in season-long leagues, while more and more of you are playing one day fantasy leagues. If you like the action of the one day leagues, make sure you join the FanDuel/SB Nation one day fantasy baseball leagues. All you need to do is click on the link below and join a league.
FanDuel/SB Nation One Day Fantasy League
- Leagues start at 7pm every evening
- It is only $5 to enter, and the top 4,378 win cash
- Top prize of $10,000
- Click the link above to learn more and get started
- On most days, our own Tim Finnegan (@TimFinn521 on Twitter) offers his picks for your daily FanDuel rosters. His articles post at 6am daily.
Fantasy Football Rankings and more
The 2015 fantasy football season is only a few weeks away and we will once again provide you with offseason position rankings, sleepers, draft strategies and much more. We hope our fantasy football writing team was able to help you win your leagues in 2014, and we will be back at it for the upcoming season as well.
With that said, here is a link to all of our early position rankings, sleepers, value picks, top rookies and more:
Fantasy Football 2015: Early Position Rankings for PPR and Standard Leagues
Johnny Cueto on the move
What nearly went down late Saturday night was completed early Sunday afternoon, as the Reds shipped RHP Johnny Cueto to the Royals for a trio of southpaws. Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb and Cody Reed – and perhaps signaling the start of a mini fire sale in Cincinnati. If they weren't already, the Royals are now frontrunners in the AL with an ace at the top of their rotation.
Cueto hasn't posted an ERA over 2.82 since 2010, and just last year threw a season-high 243 2/3 innings for the Reds. He'll bring a 2.62 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 120/29 K/BB ratio over 130 2/3 innings to Kansas City, giving the Royals a strong No. 1 option heading into the postseason. While Cueto gets a boost on defense, the park factors are not hugely in his favor. According to FanGraphs.com, both Kauffman Stadium and Great American Ballpark have park factors of 101, with the only big difference coming in terms of home runs (113 to 95). You also have to take into consideration the switch of leagues and the addition of the designated hitter in the American League, but I would argue that Cueto is going to a slightly better environment for a right-handed pitcher.
The Reds got a nice haul for their rental pitcher. Finnegan was ranked highest among the prospects Cincinnati received, and he's somewhere in the middle of the top 100 according to a lot of prospect rankings (No. 55 according on Baseball America). Finnegan has spent time on Kansas City's big-league roster this year, where he owns a 2.96 ERA over 24 1/3 innings, but he's likely to be stretched out as a starter in Triple-A for the Reds. For more information on Finnegan, Reed and Lamb, be sure to check out Fake Teams at 10 a.m. EST, when Jason Hunt breaks down the Kansas City-Cincinnati trade and all players involved.
While the Royals are probably done adding blockbuster pieces like Cueto, they should still be in the market to improve in other areas of the club. According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, Kansas City is interested in acquiring in Miami's Martin Prado, who just recently returned from injury. Prado is slashing just .273/.312/.369 with four home runs, but he can play multiple positions and add a nice veteran presence after the team lost Alex Gordon to injury.
Roto Roundup
Carlos Gonzalez remained hot on Sunday, hitting a pair of home runs in a 17-7 win over the Reds. The Rockies left fielder finished 3 for 5 with four runs and six RBI, improving his season line to .270/.326/.497 with 18 home runs, 47 runs, 47 RBI and a pair of steals. Gonzalez picked the right time to get out for Colorado, which could look to unload its 29-year-old outfielder for an elite package of prospects at the deadline. There hasn't been much in the way of rumors involving CarGo (or Troy Tulowitzki for that matter), but he would make an excellent addition to any team looking to improve their defense in the corner outfield.
Mike Trout gave the Angels and his fantasy owners a scare Sunday when a trainer was rushed onto the field to look at Trout's wrist after her jammed it by diving for a ball hit by Elvis Andrus. Trout stayed in the game and went on to do ridiculous, Mike Trout things, hitting two home runs, including a grand slam, in a 13-7 win over the Rangers. Trout went 4 for 4 with five RBI and three runs scored, raising his season numbers to .315/.405/.632 to go along with 31 homers, 75 runs, 64 RBI and 10 steals. According to ESPN.com, he's on pace to finish with 51 home runs, 124 runs, 106 RBI and 17 steals.
David Ortiz hasn't been the same Big Papi this year, but Sunday we saw vintage Ortiz back in action on the national stage. The Red Sox slugger drove in seven runs for the Red Sox in an 11-1 blowout over the Tigers, including a home run off Shane Greene in the third inning. Ortiz later hit a three-run shot off Detroit reliever Neftali Feliz to break the game wide open in the seventh. Ortiz, who finished the night 4 for 5, is slashing .243/.332/.468 with 19 homers and 54 RBI.
Matt Wisler continues to impress for the Braves; on Sunday, the 22-year-old rookie improved to 5-1, tossing seven innings against the Cardinals and allowing two runs in a 3-2 win for Atlanta. St. Louis' lineup was a little light Sunday, but that doesn't take away from Wisler's performance. The right-hander who was acquired in the Justin Upton trade owns a 3.43 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 26/12 K/BB ratio in 42 innings. Wisler is still a very attractive target in keeper/long-term leagues, but his lack of strikeouts and 34.3 percent groundball rate probably make for a good sell-high candidate in re-draft leagues.
Could Yordano Ventura be a strong bounce back candidate in the second half? The Royals erratic right-hander was at his best on Sunday, limiting the Astros to one run on six hits in seven innings, striking out five without walking a single batter. Ventura was sent down to Triple-A but recalled immediately as the team needed a replacement for Jason Vargas. Ventura shined on Sunday, but there's not guarantee that he stays in the rotation following the trade for Cueto. Ventura, who is 5-7 with a 4.86 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 70/25 K/BB ratio in 83 1/3 innings, should be a factor down the stretch, but playing time concerns limit his value in re-draft leagues at this moment.
Fantasy Rundown
If you are looking for more fantasy baseball or football coverage, look no further than Fantasy Rundown, which provides links to all of the best fantasy content on the internet.