During the spring of 2011, John Jaso was near the top of a number of sleeper lists for fantasy catchers. His outstanding walk rate won him a place both in the heart of Rays manager Joe Maddon and at the top of the Tampa lineup in 2010. The general consensus was that this potential late-round selection was going to be a beast in the ways on-base percentage, runs scored and maybe even swipe a few more bases than the average backstop. But after posting a .224/.296/.449 slash line with a barely-average 5.8-percent walk rate during the first month of the 2011 season, as well as showing almost no improvement the month after, the experiment quickly came to an end. It was back to the bottom of the order and on several occasions, the bench. Read the rest of this entry »

I received an email a few days ago with an ethics question regarding the fantasy game and given some of the discussions this column has prompted in the past, I thought bringing it here might help the person out  little more. Obviously I have my own opinion on the matter which I happily shared, but also mentioned that I might put it in more of a public forum to garner additional thoughts. After mulling it over for a bit,  I thought the FanGraphs/RotoGraphs community would be a good group to provide further insight. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it.  Sifting through the waiver wire at this point can be an exercise in futility.  I mean, if the guy is just sitting out there waiting to be snatched up by anyone desperate enough to have to employ his services for the final month of the season, how good can he really be? There is no “long term” anymore, so it’s time to turn that roster spot into a revolving door and start playing the hot bat.  They’re certainly not the be-all, end-all, but here are two that just might be of service for the home stretch. Read the rest of this entry »

While Buster Posey’s .424 average after the All Star break is unbelievably impressive and Joe Mauer’s return from injury oblivion will certainly warrant consideration for AL Comeback Player of the Year, the biggest story coming from behind the dish this season has to be A.J. Pierzynski’s career year.  At the ripe old age of 35, the 15-year veteran is enjoying his finest season as a major leaguer and is boosting fantasy teams everywhere with some very unexpected numbers.  And given his preseason ADP, there’s no question that he is providing one of the biggest return values at the catcher position. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh Melky.

Melky, Melky, Melky.

How you’ve screwed over so many now.

With word breaking of Melky Cabrera’s indiscretion and subsequent 50-game suspension, there’s been a rush of emotion and not one bit of it is good. Who cares if he came out, admitted the wrongdoing and apologized. You can stuff your sorry’s in a sack as George Costanza would say. Is an apology going to replace a .346 average with a decent mix of power and speed in the middle of the Giants’ lineup during a pennant race? No. Is it going to help fantasy owners who have grown to rely on his production at such a crucial time of the season? No. So really…who cares if he’s sorry?  He might as well have pulled a Sammy Sosa and pretended not to speak English because the end results are the same. Melky cheated, got caught and it’s the rest of the baseball community, both real and fantasy, that suffer.

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While the goal is usually to find players that are well-rounded and contribute in multiple categories, sometimes you get to a point in the season, where some stats become more of a focus than others.  Maybe your batting average is great, but you lack power, so players like Adam Dunn or Dan Uggla become a bit more appealing to you.  In numerous cases, stolen bases is that stat.  You find yourself in a position to move up and all it would take is just one or two guys who do nothing but steal.  It doesn’t matter if they contribute elsewhere and it doesn’t matter if they play every day or not.  Just as long as when they are on base, they’ve got a perpetual green light.  That’s all you need.  Here are two that fit the bill. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s time to put those personal feelings aside and do what you have to do to make that final push. So what if these guys stunk it up for most of the season and caused you nothing but grief and aggravation. Put the past behind you and focus on what they are doing right now, because with either of these guys in your lineup, you’re sure to see a nice offensive boost from what has been somewhat of a disappointing season for most backstops. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a pretty exciting time for both baseball fans and fantasy players right now, isn’t it? Rosters don’t expand until September and yet we’re still seeing a slew of prospects getting called up and being handed regular playing time. The baseball fan in me loves seeing the next generation of superstars ushering in a new era while the fantasy player in me gets a nice inundation of fresh blood into the player pool, ready to be scooped up from the waiver wire and put to work as I push my way towards another fantasy championship. It’s win win, right?

Wrong.

Not everyone is totally jazzed up about some hot-shot rookie getting called up and handed an immediate starting role. Much like the debate in this country about immigrants coming in and taking jobs away from struggling, unemployed Americans, there are several in the baseball world that have a dissenting opinion here. Those veteran players who end up riding the pine as well as their fantasy owners are not a happy group of campers.

When Anthony Rizzo was summoned from Iowa to play first base for the Cubs, both Bryan LaHair and his owners were reassured that there would be no loss of playing time. He would move to right field, get his usual number of at-bats, and there was even the bonus of additional position eligibility. Forget about the fact that he was already sitting against most lefties and the handwriting was on the wall; his job was still supposedly safe.

But with the Cubs out of the playoff race, they decided to go and summon Brett Jackson, a highly touted outfielder in their system who, despite batting just .256 for the year in Triple-A was now being given a substantial opportunity to prove his worth on the major league level. But at whose expense? Yup. That’s right. We’re sorry Mr. LaHair, but we have no available table for you at this time. With Rizzo locking down first base, Jackson taking over center field and both David DeJesus and Joe Mather looking like better defensive options, LaHair’s time as a starter has come to a close and those fantasy owners that were still relying on him are now left to scour the waiver wire in search of a new hitter.

And it’s not just happening on teams that are already looking towards 2013. As the Orioles sit atop the wild card standings, they finally told a struggling Mark Reynolds, and those fantasy owners in deeper leagues still forced to use him, that his time was up when they promoted Manny Machado from Double-A on Thursday morning. They even switched the kid’s position in order to boot Reynolds from the starting lineup. It might not be happening all at once, but with the depth the Orioles have now in left field, first base and at DH, Machado occupying third now is pushing Reynolds further and further out the door.

Now obviously fantasy owners should be prepared for this type of thing. It’s something that happens virtually every year. But when you’re playing in deeper leagues and the player pool is scant with talent, these situations can be tough to avoid. It’s great to see new, young talent shine on the big stage, but when they’re stealing the spotlight from one of your guys, it becomes real difficult to appreciate.

With the heavy influx of minor league talent being called up, there are likely a number of players on the waiver wire that are being overlooked because they just don’t have that “new player smell” anymore. Not just veterans, but some youngsters as well who have been around for a couple of months or so that didn’t quite catch fire when they first arrived, but have recently caught fire. Here are two outfielders that just might fit the bill as their roles have recently increased. Read the rest of this entry »

Not sure if the other writers are updating the tiers for their positions, but there seems to be enough significant movement among the catchers, that I though a post with an updated set of tiers was worthwhile.  Taking into consideration past performance, ROS expectations and even a bit of keeper value, here’s a look at how the catching tiers look for the month of August and possibly even the remainder of the season. Read the rest of this entry »