Yes, you did read that title correctly! I know it’s early, but once you have some coffee in you, let the full gravity of this hit you! My esteemed colleague and I are back with off season Roto Riteup coverage on every Tuesday and Friday, and today we came out swinging (hooray for pop-punk!). Rather than report on the previous day’s fantasy happenings and recent trends and hot streaks, the off season RR will consist of more stories and less stats. Obviously.
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The staff voting for the American League Fantasy Turtle was one of the most varied ballots for any award. The full award listing was described in full detail by Eno yesterday. All told, the AL Fantasy Turtle balloting was as follows:

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Congratulations to all of you league champions out there! I hope that the RotoGraphs staff played no small part in helping you along the way to victory. For those of us who didn’t win any leagues this year (myself included), we’ll go get em next season. Much like the Chicago Cubs: there’s always next year!

Now — and with apologies to our regularly scheduled content — since I am a lucky enough position to speak on such a public forum, I’d like to dedicate this space to the Oakland Athletics.
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Today marks the last day of the fantasy baseball season. To those of you who are in the finals of a head-to-head league or are in a neck and neck race in a roto league, I wish you the best of luck.

• Someone who I feel is consistently under-rated — even by me — is Denard Span. He had a two hit game yesterday afternoon and now his average sits at .285 on the season. He has also stolen 17 bases and while his runs scored is lower than I’d like from a lead-off hitter, he still makes for a useful fantasy cog. Cheap steals and average? Where do I sign? I can usually count on Span being available to grab after a draft, and he is available right now in 87% of Yahoo! leagues and 80% of ESPN leagues.
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If my writing seems (extra), blame it on the fact that I am watching my A’s tangle against the Texas Rangers. Call me crazy (call me maybe. Hey, I still like that song. It’s so dang catchy ), but I’m looking forward to seeing my A’s sweep the Rangers and win the West. And yes, I’m writing this while the game is still in the third inning.

• You know that song that goes “I’m trying to find the way to describe this girl without being disrespectful?” Well, I’m trying to find words to describe Jonathan Lucroy without being over the top. As I’m sure you all know by now, I tend to punt the catcher spot(s) in favor of streaming them as the season goes on. I picked up Lucroy in two leagues about a little more than a month ago and I haven’t stopped playing him yet. His ownership rate in both Yahoo! and ESPN is finally above the 50% threshold, so it seems as though others have taken note as well. Lucroy powered his 16th 12th home run of the season yesterday and those home runs have come in less than 400 plate appearances. Looking ahead to next season I sincerely think about drafting him as my #1 catcher and merely streaming my #2 spot.
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This marks the final version of the American League outfield stream edition and the AL OF rankings and updates as well. It’s been a learning experience and a pleasure. Given the seasons final three games, here are some freely available options that you may want to consider.

Trevor Plouffe – Admittedly, I have fluctuated on what I think of Plouffe an awful lot this season. I still question his talent being stretched over a full season again, but in a three game set in a very home run friendly ball park in the Rogers Centre, I like him to homer once — maybe even more than that. StatCorner has Toronto’s home park at a 119 on their right-handed HR index, making it a well above average place for power righties. Plouffe is available in 30% of Yahoo! leagues and 27% of ESPN leagues. He is healthy and playing.
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With apologies to the dear reader(s), I have been quite ill for the past few days. That being said, a pack of wild Kate Uptons couldn’t keep me away from the last three days of baseball action.

• If it seems like I just wrote about Brett Lawrie hitting a home run, it’s because I did. That being said, Lawrie hit another home run yesterday during his three hit game and he boosted his slugging over .400 for the season. It is a far cry from the .580 SLG that he displayed in 2011, but as previously stated, I’m still high on him for 2013.
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Today’s Roto Riteup is being unofficially sponsored by the Magic Hat IPA that I’m currently enjoying.

• As far as injury concerns go, Chris Iannetta was pulled from yesterday’s game in the eighth inning due to leg cramps. Since the first of September, Iannetta has started 23 games — all of which have been at catcher. The Angels travel to Texas to play the Rangers today and of course don’t have a scheduled off day until a potential play off situation. I expect the Angels to announce that Iannetta will receive at least one day off. He isn’t owned in a ton of leagues however, so you should be able to proceed as per usual when setting your roster.
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Is it just me, or will the combination of the stretch run of baseball and fantasy baseball making life extra stressful? I am fully aware that I’m probably too old to care so much about baseball, but I do care this much.

• It took an 0-for-32 stretch, but Josh Reddick finally got a pair of hits in last night’s game against the Texas Rangers. Reddick has been a great surprise for not only A’s fans but also fantasy owners. His 29 home runs, 79 RBI’s and 11 stolen bases have made him a legitimate fantasy cornerstone. Only his batting average is lacking to make him a five category threat. Thinking ahead to next season, I’d expect Reddick to be drafted alongside upper shelf talent instead of being available on the waiver wire like this season.
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Since I linked to a My Little Pony video earlier in the month, and just yesterday I posted a link to a Calvin and Hobbes related things, I figured why not combine the two? Here is a lovely crossover from someone who is much more talented than myself.

• I’m okay with writing about Jon Jay twice in a one week span if you are. Jay went 2-for-5 in yesterday’s win over the Houston Astros and he even stole a base to boot. He just keeps hitting. He is owned in 53% of ESPN leagues now but still just 25% of Yahoo! leagues. We’re all aware of the different computations each site uses to calculate ownership, but Jay should be owned in 80% of all leagues by now.

• At this point I’ve given up trying to comprehend how A.J. Pierzynski is hitting all of these home runs. He hit his 27th long ball of the year yesterday and now has nine more home runs than his previous single season high. His ISO now stands at an incredible .230; almost 70 points higher than his previous best season. Writing this off as an aberration is the route that I’m going to take with this 35-year old catcher.
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