FantasyMLBTips

Player Notes

If you’re here reading this, you didn’t commit fantasy baseball suicide after just one week. Good for you! Now let’s touch upon the origin of a basic cardinal fantasy sin — turnover happens. Not just with apples, but with fantasy baseball players too. We put too much into the name value of certain players, hoping for the stats of yesteryear and that needs to stop. Look — Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux are not going circa ’95 on us anytime soon, or ever again for that matter… not even close. Turnover is happening right now — and with the gap between small and big market teams larger than ever, young players are arriving on the scene bigger, better, and faster than ever before. It is the world that small market teams have been forced to deal with and it’s also the only way they can compete. You need to take advantage now and with that in mind — without further adieu, heeeere’s Johnny! 

Johnny Cueto — What Miley Cyrus is to teenie-boppin girls, Cueto is to fantasy baseball junkies. He’s the hottest rookie pitcher to produce such early-season hype since Tim Lincecum got called up last May. Like Lincecum, the Reds will probably look to keep Cueto’s innings to something in the 180-range. Also like Lincecum, he’s a sub six-footer, which makes him kind of like you and me. Well, except for the rocket attached at his glenohumeral joint. Since A-ball, Cueto hasn’t sniffed an ERA above 3.53 and he’s kept his K/9 rate right around nine all the way through the system. I’m sure he’s no longer available in your league, but trade for him now if the price is right — with the idea that an ‘07 Lincecum season is well within reach… perhaps even with a tad more win potential. 

Edinson Volquez — Homer Bailey who? Here’s the fall back option if you missed out on Cueto. If the Reds were willing to deal away Josh Hamilton, you know they had to be getting something pretty nice in return. He may not be ready to fully “breakout” this year, but I’d say Volquez is pretty nice indeed.

Manny Parra — A lesser-known name than that of Cueto, Manny Parra might very well still be available in your league right now. Stop reading this, go pick him up, and come back for some good news about your new acquisition….Back yet? Alright, here’s what you just invested in: Johnny Freakin’ Cueto. Really — as long as he’s efficient with his pitches and keeps his walk-rate down,  he could be just as good as the young Red… perhaps with even more win potential than either Cueto or Lincecum. Parra’s K/9 rate over the past two years in the Brewers’ system has also been right around nine, while his ERA hasn’t been higher than 2.99. Another nice Brewer name to know is Carlos Villanueva. His upside isn’t as high, but grab him as well if you’re weak in pitching and hold onto him for a couple weeks. When Yovani Gallardo gets back in two more weeks from rehabilitating his knee, someone’s getting bounced from the Brewer rotation. Hopefully it’ll be Dave Bush rather than Villanueva or Parra; of course it could always be Ben Sheets’ annual DL trip that creates an opening. 

Justin Upton — Look, 20-year olds aren’t supposed to do what he just did this week. Hitting a homer in three straight games, all while hitting out of the seven-hole is impressive, especially under the lineup protection of Stephen Drew and Robby Hammock. Just the fact that this projected eight-hole hitter batted sixth last night is something that should get you all giddy inside about Lil’ Up. I’m guessing the D-Backs’ idea of a solid middle of their order doesn’t really involve Orlando Hudson, Eric Byrnes, and Chris Snyder hitting 3-4-5. Instead, I could see them employing a top-five lineup of Byrnes, Hudson, Chris B. Young, Upton, and Connor Jackson by this summer, and you need to get yourself well ahead of the game by either picking up or trading for Upton now. 

Scott Hairston — The Padres have had enough faith to bat Hairston both first and fifth in their lineup throughout the opening week and you should have enough faith to entrust a roster spot to this former first-round selection. A late bloomer, Hairston is just entering his power years and could get 550 at bats this season in his first full time gig. Those 550 AB’s should at the very least get you the type of production you might expect from the Xavier Nady’s and Austin Kearns’ of the fantasy baseball world.
 

Quick Hitters: 

Hiroki Kuroda — This is who you want in place of Greg Maddux, let the past go! 

Joe Saunders — Could be a lefty version of Kuroda with slightly better win potential. 

Mike Jacobs — The top of the Marlins lineup isn’t as weak as some have advertised; enjoy the spike in HR and RBI from Jacobs this year. 

Yunel Escobar — He gave the Tomahawk Choppers enough reason to deal off Edgar Renteria in the off-season; he’s hitting 2nd in a stacked Braves’ lineup; and he has multiple position eligibility — what’s not to like? 

Brian Bannister — I’m not sold yet on this one; he’d need to improve his K/9 ratio or get dealt to a contender for me to get excited. I do like how he handled A-Rod.

Player Notes:

This just in — a record number of grandparents and household pets passed away Monday…. allegedly. What? You know you used some sort of similar excuse to get out of work to watch the “REAL” opening day for baseball. Here’s some observations to consider, though it is important to remember not to get too high or too low after one day’s worth of stats, but a glorious day it was.

Names to know:

Alexei Ramirez — He has 2B eligibility right now and will soon have eligibility as an outfielder as well. Couple that with the fact that his manager is convinced he’s a player and that he looks like the next coming of Alfonso Soriano and you’ve got yourself quite a useful player. You may keep reading that he’s only keeping centerfield warm until Jerry Owens gets his man muscle in check, but if you’re like me, the potential five-category upside of Ramirez far outweighs the limp noodle and speed combination that Owens brings to the dish.

Nate McLouth — Okay, it’s more than likely that his secret is out already, but if your league has been too stubborn to recognize Mr. McLouth’s potential, then they are blind and you should take advantage of their handicap. McLouth has been awarded the starting center field and leadoff job for the Pirates, and aside from his stolen base potential, he could put up 15 to 20 bombs as he’s just now growing into his power (not to mention that he’s in that magical “Age 27” year). We may have a poor man’s Eric Byrnes on our hands here and you need to be the one to cash in on it if McLouth is still available in your league. The guy stole 22 bags in 23 attempts last year — he’s legit, too legit (thank you M.C. Hammer).

Lastings Milledge — Speaking of rappers. What more do you need to know about Lastings Milledge other than the fact that he raps? Okay, well if that isn’t doing it for you, his 20/20 potential should. He’s hitting 2nd in a more than formidable top of the lineup for the Nats. Ryan Zimmerman should be well on his way to making us all forget about his 2007 season, which really wasn’t all that bad considering his wrist troubles and the fact that it was his sophomore season. Couple that with the spry looking Nick Johnson hitting fourth (did you see him stretch that single into a double on Sunday and then follow it up by scoring from second base on a hard single seconds later?) and Milledge is starting to look like he has nice run potential to go along with his nice mix of speed and power.

Jon Rauch — Hopefully not too many of you went into cardiac arrest Sunday evening when Rauch’s 6’11” and 280 pounds came on in the 9th instead of Chad Cordero. Cordero says he had a “weird” feeling in his arm. Sounds kind of like something a high school freshman might say the first time he sees the cheerleading squad perform at half time of the football game, except the weird feeling wouldn’t be in his arm…. oh never mind. Whatever the case, Cordero and the “weird” feeling in his arm is going to be handled with caution for two reasons. Rauch is probably the better of the two pitchers to begin with, and they want to ensure Cordero stays healthy long enough to use as trade bait this summer.

Carlos Gomez — So maybe even Big Papi might be a 30-SB threat if he could play every game with Mike Napoli behind the plate — but the fact that Jose Reyes told us last year that even he can’t outrun Gomez is something that says a lot about Torii Hunter’s replacement. The Twins put together a nice lineup behind Gomez and you know they want to give him every chance to shine so that their trade of Johan looks only “somewhat lopsided” rather than “completely ripped off.” Gomez will steal 50 bags with regular at bats, and he’s going to get them. If you missed out on Michael Bourn and Willy Taveras, go get Carlos Gomez and thank me later.

Don’t jump ship yet:

Kerry Wood — If you own him, you obviously need to invest in Carlos Marmol as well. As for Wood’s roller coaster ride in the 9th inning Monday, don’t fret. If Lou Piniella can sit through a season of Ryan Dempster as his 9th inning guy, I’m sure the leash will be long enough for Wood to stick around as closer as well. You still need to be more concerned about Wood’s health than an actual demotion.

Matt Capps — I’ll admit, two walks for a guy who issued only 16 all of last season was a bit of a shock. However, he still should have gotten a cheap save had Jason Bay and Nate McLouth not looked like a couple of Bad News Bears players in the outfield on that routine can o’ corn hit by Brian McCann. What I don’t get is why the Pirates didn’t run Capps out there at the start of the 9th. Sure, they had a five run lead, but how many games do they really plan on winning this year? Even seven of their own players recently told a local newspaper columnist that they didn’t predict their own team to win the NL Central. So much for optimism.