In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

Early pecking order:

The closer:
J.J. Putz

The setup guys:
David Hernandez
Brad Ziegler
Heath Bell

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

Here’s all we can say that we know for certain about the Dodger rotation right now, as pitchers & catchers around baseball are reporting to camp: Clayton Kershaw is going to start on Opening Day against the Giants, and Zack Greinke is going to follow him. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s $53.5 million dollars wrapped up in the Los Angeles Dodger outfield and between Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, and Andre Ethier, the starting trio is about as solid as a soup sandwich.

All it really takes is for things to go right and those three occupy the respective outfield slots for the duration. But we know what we know. Specifically, that Carl Crawford is fragile and his performance since signing his $142 million dollar contract has been decidedly underwhelming. We know that Matt Kemp is coming off October labrum surgery not to mention repair of a “minor debridement” of the rotator cuff, which sounds like couples counseling in his shoulder. And we know that Andre Ethier mashes in April, becomes enigmatic, and all the while he can’t hit left handed pitchers. It’s not particularly confidence inspiring when you read that two of the three outfielders are currently focused on getting ready for Opening Day but not necessarily Spring Training. This, it seems, makes their outfield depth chart particularly important heading into the season.

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

Bullpen arms come and go. The nature of pitching a mere 40-70 innings in a season leaves plenty of room for random variation. With that caveat out of the way, there might not be a better team to find cheap rate stats and holds than San Diego.

As our very own Jeff Sullivan noted earlier in the week, the Padres are moving the fences in at Petco Park. While this may increase the home run total, run scoring may not increase much — if at all. From a reliever standpoint, perhaps the most important thing to watch isn’t home run numbers, but the health of current closer Huston Street.
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If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? That was the Giants’ philosophy in 2011, the year after winning the World Series, and that’s their philosophy now, heading into the 2013 season less than one year removed from their second title in three years. But things didn’t turn out so well for the Giants back then and given the current state of their outfield today, things don’t look so good now either. It was Albert Einstein who said, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” and given the current state of their outfield, I’d say the Giants are insane. Read the rest of this entry »

In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

The Arizona Diamondbacks should boast fantasy starters at four of their five infield positions. That may not allow much room for sleepers, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any interesting story lines surrounding the team. Newly acquired third baseman Martin Prado will be utilized primarily at one position for the first time in his career, and Aaron Hill and Paul Goldschmidt will have to prove that their performances last season were not a fluke. Things might seem clear upon first glance, but significant questions prevent nearly the entire team’s infield from being a sure fantasy pick.

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

Projected Rotation:

Jorge de la Rosa
Jhoulys Chacin
Juan Nicasio
Jeff Francis
Drew Pomeranz

Waiting in the Wings:

Christian Friedrich
Tyler Chatwood
Chris Volstad

No matter what the venue is, pitchin’ ain’t easy. The humidor has helped, but pitching well in Coors Field remains to baseball what invading Russia in winter is to infantries: difficult and bordering on impossible. Rockies starting pitchers have managed to keep their collective ERA under 4.50 just twice since 2000 and their home ERA over the same span is a rather inflated 5.02. On paper, the Rockies appear to have a very similar rotation to last year’s less-than-august crew. Their starters combined for 5.1 WAR last year or 0.4 WAR less than Clayton Kershaw had on his own, which would seem to portend more rough sailing for the Rockies in 2013.

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For a team that ended the season with a negative run differential and 76 wins, maybe it’s not a good sign that most of the outfield’s playing time is set. But the Padres have some young men on the horizon that might fight their way to the fore, and as is usually the case with their team, they have some under-valued assets that could fit on your fantasy team… if in a part-time role.

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

Today we head out to San Diego to check in on the Padres rotation, which could be legitimately labeled a mess at the moment. The good news is that there are some intriguing options, the bad news is for the forecasters (like me!) trying to project innings total for their potential starters. It’s not fun, let me tell you. I won’t pretend to really have a clue as to which five starters will open the season in the rotation, but I will do my best to analyze the options.

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In the coming weeks, we’ll be covering each team’s potential depth charts in an effort to shine a spotlight on the interesting playing time battles that will be waged this spring. Obviously none of these depth charts are set in stone — rather they should function to focus your attention in the right places to find cheap fantasy value.

At first glance, it may not seem like there’s much to look out for on the Giants’ infield. As is often the case with champions, there aren’t many jobs up for grabs, and the positions are mostly manned by returning veterans. But if you dig a little, you’ll find some opportunity.

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