After a 13-hour work day, I took a walk through the North Bay suburb of Petaluma—southwest Petaluma to be exact. The sun had set but the sky was still mostly blue, surrounded with red paint above the mountains that surround our valley. I hadn’t had time to check Twitter that day, so when my brother, Ringo, texted me, “Got heeem!” I was hopeful he meant that the San Francisco Giants had acquired David Price.

“Price?” I replied.

“Not those Giants. No, we got your boy: Dan Uggla.”

“He’ll hit.”

“You’re insane.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Despite Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer’s best attempts to convince fans otherwise, it seems that Javier Baez will likely be in the majors sooner rather than later. While Hoyer brushes off several recent adjustments made to his roster as being big-picture moves, it’s impossible not to notice the openings being created for major-league playing time for Baez.

Baez recently started seeing time at second base with Triple-A Iowa. If, as Hoyer claims, this was done “to increase his versatility,” the timing is awfully coincidental. All within the space of about a week, the Cubs had Baez start playing at the keystone, designated incumbent second-sacker Darwin Barney for assignment, and tested the waters with Arismendy Alcantara playing center field.

Read the rest of this entry »

Agenda

1. Keeper Trade Advice
2. Daily DFS
3. Saturday Picks
4. Table

Read the rest of this entry »

This past offseason, I found an xBABIP equation which correlated better than just BABIP when looking at season 1 to season 2 values . By using the the new Inside Edge data and player speed score, I kept the process  simple yet accurate. I have tweeted out the results a few times during the season, but it is time for another  full updated list.

The Inside Edge data tracks the normal bunts, grounders, fly balls and line drives. In addition to the four groups, they classify the batted ball into weak, medium and hard contract. For the xBABIP equation, I looked at all the line drives and all the hard hit fly balls and grounders. Additionally, speed is a component of getting on base so Bill James’s Speed Score is also added into the calculation.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the film “Air Force One.” Linked is the hijacking scene, one of the most intense action sequences nine-year-old me had ever seen. My parents never would have let me watch this at such a young age, but I have a pretty cool uncle.

On today’s agenda:
1. They see em Stroman, they waiting
2. Jesse Hahn to start today
3. Shane Victorino is hitting
4. The daily five

Read the rest of this entry »

A rather slow Thursday in the bullpen world, so please accept these few notes on my behalf:

The White Sox closer-by-committee situation may have cleared itself up a bit today, at least for the time being, anyway. Zach Putnam was placed on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation after recently feeling discomfort. With Putnam shelved, Robin Ventura suggested that “Jake Petricka will pitch in closer situations more often than not.” And Ventura did indeed signal for Petricka this evening with the ChiSox up 5-2 on the Twinkies in a save situation. The right-hander needed just eleven pitches to retire the Twins in order, with two strikeouts, to notch his fifth save of the season.
Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 146

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Eno Sarris and Nicholas Minnix discuss the Joakim Soria and Kendrys Morales trades; trade rumors (and the fantasy implications of them) involving Cliff Lee, Ian Kennedy, Casey McGehee, and a few others; the call-up of Chris Taylor; Darin Ruf versus Ryan Howard; C.J. Cron’s and Wilmer Flores’ returns to the bigs; Shelby Miller versus Carlos Martinez; Dan Haren; and some requested players, comprised of Jacob deGrom, Kyle Hendricks, Gregory Polanco, and James Paxton.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Alternate Title: Publicly Reviewing My Boss’ Work

A couple days ago, Eno wrote about his decision to shop his $49 Mike Trout in an ottoneu experts league. Said Eno:

I bought Mike Trout for $10 in 2012. He brought me two top-three finishes in the ottoneu experts league. But I was not up to the challenge, and now he’s $49 and my team is 8th. I see no other option but to sell Mike Trout.

Read the rest of this entry »

• In keeper leagues, it is time for the top teams to stabilize their teams with healthy players. This is an opportunity for teams buy low on know health risks. Take Jason Kipnis for example. he has been limited by an oblique injury all year. If a top team has him and you have healthy Ian Kinsler, look to trade for Kipnis. Most owners will do about anything for a win and will take the stability for this season and you get an upgrade for next season. Another player to target is Shin-Soo Choo who has had a bad ankle. Additionally, look over the HURT lists below for more injured players.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Cwik’s piece on Tyler Skaggs and the tough times the southpaw has endured while men are on base prompted me to wonder about that aspect of pitching. Which hurlers have performed differently, at least in terms of some typically advanced statistics, after hitters have reached base? What might we ascertain from what we discover?

Generally, when a pitcher pitches while men are on base, we assume that he works from the stretch. Therefore, if a starter is considerably less effective after a hitter has reached base against him, we may hypothesize that the hurler struggles while he pitches from the stretch. However, that isn’t necessarily true, because the pitcher may do things such as change his pitch mix in order to achieve a different type of result against a future hitter. Still, we can begin to make conjectures.

Read the rest of this entry »