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In May, Michael Young was the #9 consensus ranked third baseman. In June, he hit .257/.306/.327 with zero home runs and zero stolen bases, which was really only slightly worse than the .280/.306/.372 he demonstrated up until that point. He was still scoring runs, but you could put Carlos Maldonado on second base for the Texas Rangers offense and he’d still score 120 runs in a season.

For the second half consensus rankings, Young’s stinker of a June only dropped him down to a consensus #15 ranking. At 15, he’s still ahead of an ailing Evan Longoria, Chase Headley, David Freese, Kevin Youkilis, Trevor Plouffe, Will Middlebrooks, and a goodly number of other bodies occupying the hot corner who you could probably make a better case for.

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As news of Dillon Gee’s potentially season ending blood clot spread, Mets fans and fantasy owners began to speculate whether or not the Mets would call up Matt Harvey to assume Gee’s spot in the rotation. A slew of variables will weighted by Sandy Alderson, Paul DePodesta and company to ultimately determine what’s best for right hander and the club. But, here at RotoGraphs, all we care about is how Matt Harvey can affect your team should the Mets call him up. If Buffalo’s ace does to Queens, be wary. While his long term potential remains high — he projects to be innings eater with swing and miss stuff — he still has a way to go to get there.

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Phew what a bear. Starting pitchers remain on the docket for Monday, but thankfully only catchers tomorrow. Because there seem like there are about a million outfielders.

Of course, not all of them are any good, especially in a mixed league. And we probably ranked about three times as many as we needed to for mixed leaguers. But at least all the relevant names are here. Even if there are too many to recap in any comprehensive way, they’re here.

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A commenter brought up a common refrain on a discussion of the first base ranks yesterday. That commenter asked if I would trade my Mark Teixeira straight up for Adrian Gonzalez, since I had ranked Mark Teixeira one spot ahead of Adrian Gonzalez. It was a simple question, but it brought into focus many of my feelings about these rankings.

First, there’s no such league that I’ve ever been in where I have offered or received an offer of one player at one position for another player at the same position. That doesn’t mean that it never happens, or shouldn’t happen, it just means that the hypothetical doesn’t really match up with reality in a useful way. Then again, if you felt strongly about those two players, perhaps you would make that trade.

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Perhaps I shouldn’t have scheduled the rankings week during a vacation week, but this isn’t a normal vacation. My wife and our three-month-old are visiting her sister, her 18-month-old, and her newborn in Hawaii — it wasn’t going to be a vacation like most vacations. In fact, even though rankings are a grueling, thankless task, they offer a respite (a vacation, perhaps) from my vacation.

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• Drew Storen looked great in his first rehab outing today needing just eight pitches to complete his perfect inning. Tyler Clippard is still expected to hold onto the ninth inning duties for the Nationals, but Storen is on track to return to the Nationals after the break and is worth keeping an eye on if Clippard were to struggle.

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Charlie Furbush’s transition to reliever has certainly worked out well. After starting 12 games last season and throwing 59.1 innings, Furbush had a 6.83 ERA and a 2.67 K/BB ratio — with 12 home runs allowed. In a relief role, Furbush has a 2.19 ERA in 61.2 innings, a 3.10 K/BB ratio, and only seven home runs allowed.

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If starting Billy Hamilton guaranteed your team would win steals, where would you draft him? It would be arguable Hamilton is the best fantasy baseball prospect in the minor leagues, if that were the case. As everyone knows, the Cincinnati Reds shortstop has already surpassed the 100 steal mark, and season isn’t yet half way over. But – come on, you knew this was coming – there are still a few questions surrounding Hamilton. Read the rest of this entry »

Sure, it’s a buy-low piece. But what I’m really saying is, trade me Matt Moore. Because I’m buying.

We can start with his strengths, even if they are obvious. His 11.9% swinging strike rate is fourth among qualified starters. Only Cole Hamels, R.A. Dickey and Stephen Strasburg garner more whiffs. That leads to a strikeout per inning, which is extremely valuable from a starter. All from a wicked 95+ mph fastball and a great changeup and curveball combination.

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This year has most certainly not been the type of year many expected out of Jonny Venters. After posting consecutive years with an ERA below 2.00, Venters’ ERA has ballooned to over 4 while his velocity has dropped a mile per hour on all of his pitches.
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