– With Jed Lowrie ready to return from the disabled list, it appears that he and Marco Scutaro with split time at shortstop for the mighty Boston Red Sox. With that lineup, it may not matter to Boston who ends up in the starting lineup, but this is a big blow for fantasy owners. Heading into the season, I had a hard time projecting numbers for both of the Boston infielders due to playing time questions, and did not draft either of them in the process. If for some reason you own one of the aforementioned shortstops and don’t have a backup plan, I feel sorry for you. If you’re looking to add a player off the wire and Lowrie is available, he might not be a bad pickup. If he hits, he’ll stay in the lineup. Bottom line.

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Thanks to TBS’ Sunday MLB coverage, I had the chance to watch a couple innings of Mike Minor’s start yesterday against the Mets. Here are some observations I made note of during the game: Read the rest of this entry »

Today marks the fourth day of a new feature we will be trying out here at RotoGraphs. In an attempt to keep you, the fantastical reader, informed, we will be looking at some of the stories around baseball that have an effect on your fantasy team. Because this piece is ultimately being read by you, your opinion is requested. Please chime in using the comments and let us know what you would like to see from this piece.

– After undergoing surgery on his left shoulder, Cincinnati Reds’ third baseman Scott Rolen will miss at least a month of action. Odds are the Reds are going to give Miguel Cairo most of Rolen’s playing time, and he has actually played well for Cincy this year, already contributing over 1.5 wins to his team. Cairo’s fantasy value is certainly limited, but he may not be a terrible pickup in very deep leagues if you own Rolen. Another player to keep an eye on in Todd Fraizer, but it appears Dusty Baker prefers to keep him on the bench.

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Today marks the third day of a new feature we will be trying out here at RotoGraphs. In an attempt to keep you, the fantastical reader, informed, we will be looking at some of the stories around baseball that have an effect on your fantasy team. Because this piece is ultimately being read by you, your opinion is requested. Please chime in using the comments and let us know what you would like to see from this piece.

– Brett Lawrie was lighting the PCL on fire before he missed significant time with a fracture in his left hand, and now he’s back and hitting well again. The 21-year old infielder has hit .319 since coming off the DL, mashing three homers in just under seventy at-bats. The power stroke may not be all the way back, but he could still be up in the majors by the end of the week. If you want to take a chance on him in standard leagues, now is the time to pounce on him to ensure that he is yours.

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Today marks the second day of a new feature we will be trying out here at RotoGraphs. In an attempt to keep you, the fantastical reader, informed, we will be looking at some of the stories around baseball that have an effect on your fantasy team. Because this piece is ultimately being read by you, your opinion is requested. Please chime in using the comments and let us know what you would like to see from this piece.

– Stephen Strasburg, the phenom to end all phenoms, will begin a minor league rehab assignment sometime next week. The Washington Nationals ace has come back quickly from Tommy John surgery, and while some of his owners would prefer him to take it easy and wait until 2012 to return, getting a taste of big league action in 2011 will be good for the Nationals organization. As long as he’s not being rushed back, Strasburg pitching this season shouldn’t be a problem for his long-term development. If you’re in a standard redraft league, don’t worry about picking The Monument up, though.

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Today marks the first day of a new feature we will be trying out here at RotoGraphs. In an attempt to keep you, the fantastical reader, informed, we will be looking at some of the stories around baseball that have an effect on your fantasy team. Because this piece is ultimately being read by you, your opinion is requested. Please chime in using the comments and let us know what you would like to see from this piece.

After a wild trade deadline, the Rangers now have Neftali Feliz, Mike Adams, and Koji Uehara in the back of their bullpen. This trade has a few fantasy storylines, so let’s make it more digestible:

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With the trade deadline fast approaching, owners playing in league-specific formats are going to be in for a hard time. When players change leagues, some owners are going to get hosed and some owners are going to get lucky. With all of that in mind, here’s some advice on how to handle a handful of starters who could get dealt.

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Zack Cozart | SS, Reds | 4% Owned (Y!) | 4% Owned (ESPN)
Prior to hyperextending his elbow during Saturday’s game against the Braves, Cincinnati Reds’ shortstop Zack Cozart was providing his ball club with great production in an area of need. Initial x-rays of Cozart’s arm came back negative, and while we don’t have a definitive time table for a return, his injury was much less serious than it could have been.

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Madison Bumgarner | Giants
Despite some poor looking fantasy numbers, Bumgarner has been damn good lately in both fantasy and reality. His roto numbers over the past thirty days are skewed by his disastrous outing against the Twins in which he faced ten batters and gave up nine hits (his one out was via the strikeout). But even in that outing, Bumgarner threw twenty-two of his twenty-five pitches for strikes and refused to yield a homer. Bumgarner also had a poor fantasy outing against the Padres before the All-Star break, but once again, he did not allow a dinger.

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Mark Ellis | 9% Owned (Y!) | 12% Owned (ESPN)
If you look up “pesky” in the dictionary, you may very well find yourself staring at a picture of Mark Ellis. His photograph also happens to grace the page in which the definition for “Deep League Second Baseman” resides. Some of us were worried that we would have to find a new player for the 2012 version of the dictionary, but after being traded from the A’s to the Rockies a couple of weeks ago, it appears Ellis is still deep league worthy.

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