Injuries are the theme in this installment. As in, one former top prospect’s current DL stint is costing him a golden opportunity, a used-to-be-can’t-miss player needs another shot before he suffers yet another ailment, and a future big leaguer could use some more aches and pains to befall those ahead of him if he’s going to make his debut this season.
Round and round she goes; where she stops, nobody knows. This closer carousel that keeps spinning around this season is starting to become downright unbearable. They say never to pay a premium for saves on draft day because they’ll be abundant on your waiver wire, but this is ridiculous. Now it’s getting to the point where you shouldn’t be spending so much of your FAAB dollars either because the shelf-life of a closer in 2012 is about a week. Here’s a look at who’s getting the baton passed to them now… Read the rest of this entry »
It’s Wednesday, or “hump day”, as the cool kids say, so you know what that means, right? Time to feel sorry for all you deep leaguers out there. The funny part about writing this weekly column is that I am reminded how crazy deep mixed and Only leagues are. When you get excited about picking up the players I highlight, you know your league is deep. So who looks tastiest one the free agent buffet?
Catcher started out as a deeper position this year than it has been in years past, but the injuries seem to be mounting up behind the plate more quickly than at almost any other position — pitchers notwithstanding since there are about as many of them as there are position players even before articulation is taken into account. This month alone Miguel Olivo, Josh Thole, Chris Iannetta, Wilson Ramos, and most recently Sandy Leon have all been placed on the disabled list, leaving owners looking for a replacement.
To that end, here is a pair of catchers who are getting enough playing time to be considered plug-and-play and producing enough to be worth rostering. Read the rest of this entry »
It seems like every other day a member of the Tampa Bay Rays is being put on the disabled list. Kyle Farnsworth, Evan Longoria and Desmond Jennings are the main players sidelined by injury, but they’re joined by the likes of Sam Fuld and backup catchers Jose Lobaton and Robinson Chirinos. The latest to catch the injury bug is big right-handed starter Jeff Niemann.
One Yankee and one former Yankee in today’s waiver wire post. Coincidentally enough, expectations for both players were low coming into the season but they’ve since proven to be more useful than anticipated.
Raul Ibanez | OF | Yankees | Owned: 26% Yahoo! and 47.2% ESPN
Both Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira got off to slow starts this season, but the Yankees survived thanks in part to Derek Jeter’s insane April and unexpected contributions from Ibanez. The former Phillie is off to a .273/.330/.568 start with seven homers and 21 RBI through his first 97 plate appearances, and a slight uptick in BABIP (currently .233) will boost his average even more. Keep in mind that as a fly ball hitter, it’s not guaranteed to rebound all the way to his .302 career mark. Ibanez’s strikeout rate (9.3 K%) is a career-low (by far) and I have to think that at some point he’ll run into a 12 K in 20 PA slump or something like that. Hopefully not though.
Lance Berkman’s return to from the disabled list is the last thing any Allen Craig owner wanted to hear, but the multi-position eligible power bat should still find enough time to be productive in fantasy leagues.
Currently, Craig is owned in just 61% of Yahoo! leagues, which is borderline criminal at this point. After starting at first base in Berkman’s absence, Craig is now eligible at 1B, 2B, and OF. With Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, and Berkman all being aging veterans, and John Jay being a left-handed hitter, Craig should still find enough time between the corner outfield positions and first base to receive enough plate appearances to remain valuable.
Read the rest of this entry »
“Hello, boys! I’m baaack!”
–Russell Casse from Independence Day
Much like the so-crazy-he-has-to-be-right Casse from the 1996 summer blockbuster Independence Day and his never-ending efforts to prove non-believers wrong about his alien abduction, I am bringing back the Mining the Minors column to continue my quest to keep fantasy owners aware of lesser-known minor leaguers who are nearing the majors — and (crazy, I know) just might make an impact on fantasy teams in deeper and/or keeper leagues.
Or put another way: Just because many of these non-big leaguers are currently unowned in the vast majority of fantasy leagues doesn’t mean they should be, ahem, alien to you, dear fantasy owner.
For those of you new to this space, of if you just need a refresher on the method behind this column, I invite you to read the inaugural Mining the Minors from last season.
In the interest of staying current, I’ve taken the liberty of updating the above link with examples from last season of the various types of minor leaguers I’ll be checking in on this year.
1) Lesser-known prospects making names for themselves
2011 Impact Examples: Paul Goldschmidt, Jose Altuve, Ryan Lavarnway, Juan Nicasio, Brad Peacock, Addison Reed
2) Solid but non-elite prospects
2011 Impact Examples: Jemile Weeks, Eric Thames, Henderson Alvarez, Lance Lynn, Josh Collmenter, Javy Guerra
3) Former top prospects whose careers had stalled or fallen off
2011 Impact Examples: Danny Duffy, Todd Frazier, Fautino De Los Santos, Alex White, Zach Stewart and Nick Hagadone
4) Triple-A veteran types
2011 Impact Examples: Ryan Vogelsong, Nolan Reimold, Brett Pill, Jose Constanza, Tom Wilhelmsen, Michael Fiers
If your league’s waiver wire looks anything like the ones in my leagues, then you know how slim the pick’ns are out there. Even the slightest inkling of a quality bat, and your league is jumping on it like a fat kid on cake. But if it’s saves you’re looking for, then the waiver wire is your friend as the revolving door of closers is making more rotations than most fantasy owners would like. Here’s a look at two of the most recent options to explore… Read the rest of this entry »
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time to go fishing in the dark, murky waters of the free agent pool. Today I look at two starting pitchers, one of which I am extremely surprised to see such a low ownership percentage for, the other, not so much. If you are in need of pitching help, read on.
