Roto Riteup: June 13th, 2012

I had a fight with my computer last night. There was yelling, name calling, and blame. Needless to say, I slept on the couch, and the Roto Riteup suffered. But we’ve made up today, so the Roto Riteup is back in action!

• If you think Andre Ethier’s contract extension doesn’t have any impact on his fantasy value, you’re wrong. Ethier continuing to play in Dodger Stadium is a big deal, thanks to its’ propensity to allow homers to left-handed hitters. Throughout his career, Ethier’s wOBA has been 45 points higher at home than on the road, so his numbers are well in line with what we would expect from a lefty in Dodger Stadium. Certainty is always a plus, so Ethier’s value in dynasty leagues goes up a hair.

• It sounds like Vladimir Guerrero is going to do everything he can to force his way into the big leagues this season, even though he was a replacement level big leaguer last year. From a fantasy perspective, Guerrero was still a decent player last year, hitting .290 with 13 homers. In his prime, Vlad was one of the best fantasy options in history; you could pencil him in for 30 homers and a .300 almost every season, and his 2002 campaign (.336/39/40) was one of the greatest in history.

• Joe Mauer’s 2012 season has gone under the radar a bit due to his counting stats, but don’t be fooled: Mauer’s been pretty darn good. Finding a catcher who can hit .300 while playing almost every day is hard to do, but that’s what you’ve been getting if you are a Mauer owner. Everything about Mauer will always be compared to 2009 — when he hit 28 homers — but it shouldn’t be. For the most part, Mauer is still head and shoulders above most of the competition.

For those of you who play daily fantasy games like FanGraphs: The Game, or just like to stream players, here are a couple matchups you may be able to exploit.

A Pitcher for Today: Felix Doubront (BOS) at MIA
If Doubront isn’t available, skip streaming today. The other options are pretty horrific.

A Pitcher for Tomorrow: Scott Diamond vs PHI
The Phillies don’t scare me, and while Scott Diamond is nothing special, he’ll do.

A Hitter for Today: Right-handed Pirates at BAL (Brian Matusz)
Righty hitting Pirates don’t get much of a chance to shine in PNC, but they should be able to do something spectacular against Matusz. Even if Matusz misses a start after bashing himself in the face with a baseball, I still like the Pirates hitters.