In comedy, they say, timing is everything. It turns out that the same thing is true in sports journalism.

Yesterday, I suggested that the Twins would likely turn to Glen Perkins to fill the void left by the recently departed Joe Nathan. While I still think Perkins is one of the better options out there that won’t cost a fortune, the Twins feel that he’s better served remaining in his current role rather than taking over the closing job. In fact, citing a lack of depth in the current bullpen, General Manager Terry Ryan indicated that the team would fill the vacancy with someone from outside the organization. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last week or so we’ve done plenty of articles discussing the impending move of the Houston Astros to the American League and how it will impact those in the fantasy baseball community.  But no matter how many times we attempt to look on the bright side and find the silver lining in it all, there’s one common thing that seems to come through in every piece.  It’s like that early montage in the movie Major League where the Indians’ fan base is looking at their 40 man roster in disbelief — from some guy asking who Mitchell Friedman is to the groundskeepers’ claims that “these guys are sh*tty”.  There’s almost no love for the 2012 Astros and very little hope for the club moving forward.  However, just like the old fantasy adage (is there such a thing?) that states that even closers on bad teams can be good and helpful, the same can be said about everyday players from Houston.  Just because the team is in relative shambles, doesn’t mean that you can’t find some helpful players at a bargain cost.

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It looks like moving relievers into the rotation has been the trend of the off-season. Last week, I tried to forecast White Sox pitcher Chris Sale‘s performance as a starter next season. With the news that the Rangers have signed Joe Nathan to be their closer, incumbent closer Neftali Feliz becomes the flavor of the day in reliever-turned-starter land. Will his transition go as smoothly as rotation-mate C.J. Wilson’s did, who made the switch in 2010, or will he wilt under the Texas sun with the heavier workload?

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The Joe Nathan era in Minnesota is officially over, leaving the team down to just one piece from the trade that sent A.J. Pierzynski to San Francisco for Nathan, Boof Bonser, and the eternally enigmatic Francisco Liriano. The deal looked like a huge win for the Twins in 2006 and 2010 — when Liriano looked fantastic — and like much less of a bargain in the years when Nathan was the sole producer of positive value.

For the first time since Nathan’s arrival in 2004, the Twins don’t have a long-term option at closer already on the team. They got a taste of what life post-Nathan was like in 2010 when Jon Rauch (21/25 in save opportunities) and Matt Capps (16/18 in save opportunities) split time, but neither Rauch nor Capps is currently with the team.

In theory, the team could go with closer by committee, but I find that to be extremely unlikely. Knowing that Nathan would be back for the 2011 season, they still went out and traded Wilson Ramos for Capps. Times may have been different then, but it does show something of a fundamental desire to have consistency at the end of games, something that closer-by-committee doesn’t really offer. To that end, here are a few names to keep in mind as potential options for the Twins’ next closer. Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, I looked at which players showed an increase in their batted ball distances from 2010 to 2011. Not all increases can be seen in the year to year data. Some changes begin to occur during the season like with Jose Bautista and Curtis Granderson in the past couple of years. Here is a look at some players that may be turning their game around for the better

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One of the stranger deals of the off-season was signed a few days ago as Clint Barmes inked a two year, $10.5 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a young team with limited financial resources it looks like a bad allocation of funds. To make room for Barmes they declined a $3 million option on Ronny Cedeno, who should put up similar offensive production for far less risk. Despite his obvious shortcomings, Barmes has real fantasy value, which illustrates just how bereft of talent the shortstop position is.

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In 2011, Jonathan Papelbon was entering the last year of his contract with the Boston Red Sox without the two sides managing to work out an extension to keep him as closer for the future. It wasn’t cemented that Papelbon was gone, but there was a good deal of speculation that Daniel Bard was the heir apparent to the fireman’s role as he was coming off a dominant 2010 campaign.

When Papelbon recently signed with the Philadelphia Phillies, many assumed that the Boston brass would summarily anoint Bard as closer and move on to more pressing issues in the starting rotation and trying to find a right fielder, but there was no such announcement. In fact, when Daniel Bard’s name was brought up, it was mentioned that while he may be a candidate for the closer role, he might also stay in his familiar set-up job, or they just might try him out as a starter.

The starting role possibility was news to me, and and in looking at his minor league starts, it turns out there’s a pretty good reason why. Daniel Bard was a terrible minor league starting pitcher.

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First base is fantasy’s deepest position, with enough established stars and up-and-comers that no team should ever be without above-average production in that lineup spot. Tier One is a who’s who of fantasy, consisting of five players that figure to be off the board within the first 8-10 picks in a typical draft. Using one of your keeper slots on these guys is a no-brainer, even if you have to overpay a bit to keep them around.

I included Zach Sanders’ end of season player rankings for reference. They were hardly the only criteria used to compile the rankings and the individual tiers though.

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Last winter, Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth both hit the free agent market, signed with East division rivals and received lavish seven-year deals securing them enough cash to make like Scrooge McDuck and dive into their own personal swimming pools filled with gold coins. Crawford got $142 million to trek from Tampa Bay to Boston, and Werth left Philly for Washington for a cool $126 million. Crawford’s average draft position in ESPN leagues entering 2011 was fourth overall, and Werth’s ADP was 47. Both were prime picks expected to anchor fantasy lineups.

Unfortunately, both landed in their new digs with a Peter Griffin-like thud. Crawford posted the lowest batting average (.255) and OBP (.289) marks of his career while stealing just 18 bases, nearly 30 bags fewer than he nabbed with the Rays in 2010. Werth hit .232 and slugged .389, popping a disappointing 20 home runs.

Suffice it to say, neither will be drafted as high in 2012. But which is the better bet to bounce back? Let’s take a closer look at pros and cons of each high-price fly catcher.

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Coincidentally, last Thursday, the exact same day that Major League Baseball approved the sale of the Houston Astros franchise, Baseball America released its Houston Astros Top 10 Prospects list. Of course, we know now that one of the conditions of the purchase by a group headed by Houston businessman Jim Crane is that the organization will be moving from the NL Central to the AL West for the 2013 season.

From a fantasy perspective, there are plenty of topics to consider. But since this is Prospect Chatter, we’re going to cover, well, the prospect aspect. Over two separate posts — one today, one later in the week — we’ll hit on all you need to know.

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