**Merry Christmas to those who celebrate the light-filled holiday! I am a Jew, and as a result, will be fitting the stereotype to a T, going to a movie followed by a delicious Chinese dinner.

A couple of weeks ago, free agent slugger Mark Reynolds signed a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians to man first base on a full-time basis. He’s coming off a disappointing season that saw a drop in power that came along with the usual horrid batting average. Oriole Park at Camden Yards had always had a bandbox perception, while Progressive Field in Cleveland has typically been thought of a pitcher’s park, but never mentioned in the same breath as other extreme pitcher’s parks. Based strictly on perception, the ballpark switch is going to hurt Reyndolds’ chances of a rebound. Let’s see what the data says.

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With Kevin Youkilis headed out the door and the third baseman market looking pretty bleak, the Chicago White Sox opted to go for the relatively cheap but always reliable Jeff Keppinger to fill their vacancy at the hot corner for 2013. He got a three-year deal worth roughly $12 million and word has it that his final decision was based on the fact that he was guaranteed a starting job as opposed to keeping a spot warm for someone else, as would have been the case with the Yankees. So what does this move to the Leroy Brown’s neighborhood do for Keppinger’s fantasy value? Is he worth drafting? Read the rest of this entry »

Shameless self promotion: I felt it necessary to announce that I have finally joined this thing called Twitter. Okay, so it’s not exactly new to me, as I have multiple business accounts, but never felt the need for a personal one. So yeah, for you Twitterers reading this, follow me @MikePodhorzer if you dare. I’ll try to be entertaining (twittertaining?).

It doesn’t feel too long ago that Alex Gordon was one of the most hyped prospects of the moment, vaulted from a fantastic season at Double-A in 2006, and then wOBA’d a somewhat disappointing .316 during his rookie campaign. Nearly all of his improvement in his sophomore season came from a jump in walk rate, as his minor league patience finally translated. Then he stunk it up and received all of 406 at-bats (also partly due to a hip injury) over the following two years. In 2011, the long awaited breakout finally arrived. Then he took a step back this season and we’re back questioning who exactly is Alex Gordon?

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One of the most exciting times of the off-season is when the first projection set is released. We now have the Bill James system on the player pages for our analyzational (I like making up words) pleasure. One of the most difficult things us fantasy owners have to figure out every year is what to expect from the past season’s biggest surprises. So, let’s take a look at four of this year’s most surprising hitters, both on the positive side and the negative side, and examine each of their early projections.

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Due to the magnificence that is MLB Network, I was able to take in an early-season Adam Wainwright start. For me, the draw was how Wainwright would pitch after a season off. For Wainwright, it was pretty ugly, as he allowed eight earned runs and was chased after three innings.

But what caught my attention was my perception of how the announcers were trumpeting David Freese as though he was some sort of Schmidtian force to be reckoned with. Like many viewers, I too had taken in the glory of his World Series heroics, and eventually I chalked it up to how few business days had elapsed since then, but it really had me wondering if this Freese guy was as good as these announcers were saying, or if it was simply hometown announcing at its….finest?

Schedules being what they were, I didn’t actually dig too deeply into Freese, at least not until today. Today, let’s have a look at Freese’s 2012, and how he looks heading into the next baseball campaign. Read the rest of this entry »

2012 was supposed to be a big year for Pablo Sandoval in fantasy circles. Entering his age 25 season and coming off a 23 homer campaign in only 460 plate appearances the year before, a healthy Sandoval should have been a reasonable shot to touch 30-35 round-trippers with an above-average batting average if he could stay on the field. In fantasy circles, he was being treated like one of baseball’s near-elite. According to ESPN’s average position draft tracker, he was going off the board 38th overall (5th among third basemen). So in March, owners definitely didn’t envision seeing Sandoval slip to 26th in Zach Sanders’ End of Season Rankings for guys at the hot corner.

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Kyle Seager broke the F out this season. He hit 20 home runs, stole 13 bases, and basically cemented himself a starting role going forward. Though it’s also great news that all of this production was in line with the work he did in the minor leagues, that same fact leaves us wondering how much breakout is left for the 25-year-old infielder.

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Chase Headley emerged as an elite third baseman last season. A big reason for Headley’s breakout was a increase in power. Headley hit 31 home runs last season, beating his previous career-high by 19. The fact that he accomplished that feat while playing half of his games in Petco makes it even more impressive. Because of his performance, Headley is likely to shoot up fantasy drafts next season. But in order to repeat, he’ll have to display the same amount of power again. Otherwise, he’ll be nothing more than a one year wonder.

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We’re having more fun with third basemen here as we continue to roll through Zach Sander’s Third Base End of Season Rankings. For today, I thought I’d take this opportunity to actually say goodbye to a couple of former stalwarts who have been an integral part of a number of fantasy championships over the last two decades. Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez, it was, without a doubt, our pleasure to have you on our rosters. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, so it’s the wrong Frazier/Frasier. The point is, if you were lucky (or smart) enough to grab Todd Frazier to hold down the hot corner in any of your fantasy leagues, then your mind was at least at ease. While he was ranked in the top 25 for third basemen this year — albeit barely, coming in at 23rd — that does not do him justice.

Frazier accumulated a 5×5 line of 19 home runs, 55 runs, 67 RBIs, a solid .273 batting average and even stole three bases too. Normally those numbers wouldn’t be worth noting from a corner infielder, however Frazier racked up those counting stats in just 422 at-bats spread across 128 games. That is fewer AB’s than anyone above him with the exception of Jose Bautista.
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