Note: With The Athletic cutting many of their small market reporters, I subscribed to PressReader to get more and varied news. All of the info will be from newspapers so I’m just going to give the newspaper and author credit with no link.

American League

Astros

• Yainer Diaz will at least catch games when Hunter Brown pitches.

For most of this week, though, Diaz’s role has been what Baker described as a pinch hitter, and as someone who he will catch with “designated” pitchers. Diaz caught fellow rookie Hunter Brown on Saturday, guiding him through six innings of two-run ball. After the game, Baker intimated the battery will stay intact for the foreseeable future.

Read the rest of this entry »

I ranked all trade deadline-affected batters (Paul is doing the pitchers) by how much their 2023 redraft league fantasy value increased or decreased (NOT OVERALL VALUE). The list includes every traded hitter (back to July 21st) and those guys who saw changes in value but stayed with their team.

Value Up

Jeimer Candelario (WSN->CHC): Team and park upgrade along with him playing first base.

Jeimer Candelario will play 1b on a regular basis with the Cubs, per David Ross.

— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) August 1, 2023

Carlos Santana (PIT->MIL): Milwaukee’s first base job is his. Read the rest of this entry »

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They get originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in four or more of these leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

7:30	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Astros

• The team refuses to update a player’s health information.

This season, two Astros players who’ve battled injuries in the past said Houston trainer Jeremiah Randall discouraged them from speaking to the media about their progress. Altuve — the face of the franchise — ran over to Randall to apparently receive permission before speaking to three reporters in Seattle during his recovery from thumb surgery.

Without insight from the injured players themselves, it is almost impossible to get accurate information about recoveries, leaving Baker in a difficult position every day. Sometimes he erroneously cites HIPAA laws in response to questions. Other times, he arrives and says he hasn’t yet spoken to Randall about the team’s injuries.

Baker has sometimes told reporters to ask Randall the questions he’s fielding. Despite numerous requests, the team has not made Randall available for interviews.

Read the rest of this entry »

While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They get originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are nine of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers are going to try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in four or more of these leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

7:31	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Zach Neto has led off for six straight games.

• Mike Moustakas has started in nine of the last 10 games.

• Trey Cabbage has started in three of the last four games, all against a righty.

• Twenty-seven-year-old Michael Stefanic (.349/.445/.441, 2 HR, 6 SB) has started the last two games at second base. Read the rest of this entry »