At last, it’s the final Pod’s Picks and Pans, as we finish things off with catcher. In the past, there have been years I haven’t even published a catcher version because there just wasn’t much disagreement. Which is strange because often times we all know the top tier, which is Buster Posey first, a couple of guys in the next couple of slots, and then a massive tier where we could make a reasonable case for a slew of guys to finish the season at said ranking at season’s end. Luckily, this year there does seem to be some disagreement worth discussing. Here are the updated consensus rankings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Making bold predictions is one of my favorite activities in advance of an upcoming baseball season. It allows me — and the other writers partaking in the bold predictions series — to identify the bandwagons we’re on (or perhaps even driving). While now is the time of fluffy stories about players being in the best shape of their lives and poised for career years, not all is rainbows and butterflies. Below, you’ll find a few not so friendly bold predictions, too.

Read the rest of this entry »

We blush with mortification when we contemplate how clueless we were as preadolescent stat geeks. This was back in the age of the glyptodons, of course, but even so, we lacked insight. As far as we were concerned, if Major League Baseball wasn’t measuring it, it didn’t exist. And since fielding statistics for catchers were essentially nonexistent then—really, all they had was fielding percentage (meaningless) and passed balls (the league leader was the catcher on whichever team had a knuckleballer, and everyone else was the same)—we knew and cared only about how catchers hit.

We thus well understand—indeed, as striplings we even played a variation of—a game described by Fred C. Harris and Brendan C. Boyd in their classic treatise of 1973, The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading, and Bubble Gum Book. Their game was called Lousy Catcher. Its play consisted of one guy’s naming a “lousy catcher”—in other words, a second-string catcher who hit say, .240 or less with, say, 5 home runs or fewer—and the next guy’s trying to name a yet “lousier” one. As we recall, the player who trumped all others in Harris and Boyd’s divertissement was Charlie Lau. For us, it was Danny Kravitz. Read the rest of this entry »

We are doing our March ranking updates. You can follow each position here:

• Outfielders
• Starting Pitchers
• First Base
• Shortstops

We’re using Yahoo! eligibility requirements which is 5 starts or 10 appearances. These rankings assume the standard 5×5 categories and a re-draft league.  If we forgot someone, please let us know in the comments and we’ll make sure he’s added for the updates. If you have questions for a specific ranker on something he did, let us know in the comments. We can also be reached via Twitter:

• Paul Sporer
• Jeff Zimmerman
• Zach Sanders
• Mike Podhorzer
• Dan Schwartz
• Paul Kastava
• Justin Mason

There will be differences, sharp differences, within the rankings. The rankers have different philosophies when it comes to ranking, some of which you’re no doubt familiar with through previous iterations. Of course the idea that we’d all think the same would be silly because then what would be the point of including multiple rankers?! Think someone should be higher or lower? Make a case. Let us know why you think that. The chart is sortable. If a ranker didn’t rank someone that the others did, he was given that ranker’s last rank +1.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

Imagine having Mike Trout on your team. Seriously, just think about it for a second. An easy 30 home runs. Roughly a .300/.400/.600 triple-slash line, the baseball equivalent of basketball’s 50-40-90 club. Some stolen bases. Solid defense from a premium position. Kisses babies, shakes hands, frolics with puppies. All that good stuff.

Now imagine surrounding him – he of the four consecutive top-two finishes in American League MVP voting – with a supporting cast that still grades you as below-average on offense, with a 96 weighted runs created-plus and a pedestrian .307 OBP, after including Trout to bring the numbers up. Splitting his time between second and third in the order, Trout managed “just” 90 RBI, in part because the team’s lead-off hitters OBPd .280 (!!) and the team’s other regular No. 2 hitter, Kole Calhoun, struggled to get on base in that spot, too.

It has to be frustrating, having the best player in baseball and missing the playoffs because of the team around him. Not that the Angels were bad – they won 85 games despite getting outscored – and the nice thing about employing Trout is that you’re always going to project as “pretty decent” at worst. Still, it’s not exactly the most exciting lineup around him again in 2016.
Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

The final season for the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field stands to be one of their most disappointing, so long as you’re of the belief meeting exceptionally low expectations still qualifies as a disappointment. The Braves opened their Turner Field tenure (then called Centennial Olympic Stadium) in 1997 with a 101-win season, winning 10 division titles in nearly two decades there. Last year, the Braves recorded 67 wins, the fewest in their history at the park. They stand to challenge that mark in 2016.

That’s because the Braves are coming off of a league-worst weighted runs created-plus of 85, built on a .251/.314/.359 triple-slash line that produced a sub-.300 weighted on-base average. That’s a lot of numbers to say the Braves’ offense was bad, with the league’s least-dangerous power-hitting lineup and not much plus-contact or speed to speak of to help make up for it.

Thee had a busy offseason in response, to the point that this year’s roster will look drastically different from last season’s. That’s probably a positive, even if Fangraphs’ projections see them scoring more than only the Phillies, if only for catharsis. And hey, maybe life at SunTrust Park will be better, even if it’s inconvenient for the bulk of the fan base and a waste of tax dollars.
Read the rest of this entry »

So here you are, a month from Opening Day, reading a Deep League Waiver Wire column. If you’re actually perusing the wire, it’s either because you’re one of the few fantasy owners who’s already drafted or, like me, you’re frantically patching holes in a sinking fantasy Spring Training team that’s been decimated by injuries.

I’m writing this weekly column to help those of you looking at rather threadbare free agent pools find suitable replacements, Plan Bs, and maybe if we strike gold together, some…gold. This week, we focus on a couple overlooked catchers who are either going late in drafts or not at all. So, let’s go digging.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

A few bad contracts, delayed success for a sputtering prospect, and another Dustin Pedroia injury conspired together to sink the offense of the Boston Red Sox in 2015, leading to a disappointing 78-84 record. The Sox aren’t used to being a pedestrian offense, and that’s decidedly what they were a year ago, on an adjusted basis, ranking 13th in baseball with a weighted runs created-plus of 98 despite ranking fourth in total runs scored.

The Sox still did well getting on base despite an average walk rate, thanks in part to a .305 team batting average on balls in play and one of the league’s lowest strikeout rates. That represented a shift from the past two seasons, when they were far more true outcome-heavy, to strong results in 2013 but mediocre ones in 2014. A moderate lack of power outside of David Ortiz was somewhat unexpected, and relying on a 40-year-old in his victory lap season, however good that 40-year-old is, is a risky proposition.

With so much long-term money committed to Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, and Rusney Castillo, the Sox opted not to make an offseason splash on the lineup side. That doesn’t mean this offense won’t be better, though. Progression from several intriguing young players, the chance for veteran bounce-backs, and a better optimization of playing time will work together to make the Sox one of the most dangerous offenses in baseball once again.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve started our annual Depth Chart Discussions, re-branded as Playing Time Battles for 2016. You can catch up on every team we’ve covered in the Playing Time Battles Summary post or following along using the Depth Chart Discussions tag.

This time yesterday, there really weren’t any Cubs playing time battles to discuss. There’s always the token catcher chat, and we’ll flesh that out below. Some words could have been spilled regarding utility men Chris Coghlan and Javier Baez. Overall, it wouldn’t have been an exciting post. With Dexter Fowler’s stunning agreement, there is a real battle to address.

Read the rest of this entry »

The worst kept secret in the fantasy sports industry is that the people in it are amazing. A little over a year ago, with the help of some friends (with fantasy benefits), I entered the industry with a silly little podcast, a website, and no real expectations that it would ever turn into anything more than a hobby. I was pleasantly surprised to find out how helpful and encouraging the majority of the fantasy industry is. No one ever said no to an appearance. I was given a ton of advice on what works and what doesn’t in the industry. You read what these people write and listen to what they have to say, but what you don’t realize is that they are just as cool in real life as they appear to be from the outside. Read the rest of this entry »