Archive for Roto Riteup

My inner (and outer) nerd is going crazy with all the recent baseball news. Oh, and the fact that IPL 5 as well as WCG 2012 is going on is great as well. Baseball is my true love, but I admit it: I cheat on it with StarCraft. I’m so sorry.

• The biggest news of yesterday was the trade that involved the Minnesota Twins sending Denard Span to the Washington Nationals in exchange for pitching prospect Alex Meyer. Span join B.J. Upton in moving from the AL to the senior circuit, and while Span may not have the same flashy name as Upton, his move also effects AL and NL-only leagues. Over the past four years, Span has average 18 stolen bases, hit .280 and posted a .348 on-base percentage. His counting — and to a lesser extent his rate stats — took a dive in 2011 when he suffered a concussion and then battled the subsequent effects. Span consistently sits amongst the top of the leader board of smallest SwStr% and K%. He makes for an okay-if-not-inspiring later round pick.
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To all of our readers of the female persuasion, (unofficial) Sadie Hawkins Day is today. Well, at least according to one source it is.

• If Mike Napoli can be considered a full time catcher going forward, then he is most likely the best fantasy catcher that is a free agent. I say that with all due credit to David Ross and his new hitter friendly home at Fenway Park. Even though Napoli is unlikely to repeat his crazy 2011 season, even in a down year last year he managed to his 24 home runs and put up an above league average wRC+. The Boston Red Sox — among other teams — have shown interest in Napoli thus far. There is also up-and-coming Ryan Lavarnway in their system as well. On the face of it, with both Jarrod Saltalamacchia and the newly signed Ross on the roster, it may seem unlikely that the Red Sox pursue Napoli. However, the Sox may deal Salty, as a platoon of sorts Napoli and Ross could make for a very strong receiving corps. Another option would be to have Napoli play first base and catch on occasion. Really, anything that keeps Napoli’s catcher eligibility is the key here. Calling Fenway home would be a near ideal situation. With his right-handed power and fly-ball tendencies, one could expect his HR/FB rate as well as extra-base hits to both climb. For what it’s worth, despite normally punting catcher, I would draft/bid on Napoli if he became a Red Sock.
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A show of hands of who misses baseball. Everyone? I thought so.

• With the re-signing of David Ortiz to the two year deal that he was looking for, the Boston Red Sox have taken one of the premiere — if not aging — bats off of the market. In all likelihood, this was the best move for Ortiz and his potential fantasy owners. Last season Ortiz crushed the ball at Fenway “Pahk” at a .359/.463/.706 pace. In other words, Ortiz’s slugging was .130 points higher than teammate Nick Punto’s OPS as a Red Sock. For the second straight year Ortiz’s home OPS was over 1.000 and his away OPS was under .900. Age aside, Ortiz still makes for a valuable fantasy contributor in both standard 5×5 leagues and Ottoneu. I’ll be aiming to draft him.
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I haven’t watch a full game of baseball in four days. If I don’t watch a replay of something soon, I’m going to start shaking.

• The San Francisco Giants announced that they will not exercise the $10 million dollar option on Aubrey Huff. After landing a two year contract in the wake of his absolutely bonkers 2010 season (where he hit .290/.385/.506), Huff struggled to even approach being league average with the bat. Between that and the emergence of Brandon Belt as a viable candidate at first base (finally), Huff was the odd man out. From a strictly fantasy perspective, this makes Belt much more appealing. Given that Belt earned 472 plate appearances vs Huff’s 95 this past season, this was a move that everyone saw coming and was merely made official. After hitting .275 and stealing 12 bases, power — and the RBI’s that come with it — is really the only thing left to be desired in Belt’s game.
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With all due congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, it is now time to fully look ahead to the 2013 baseball season, and perhaps just as importantly, the 2013 fantasy baseball season!

• Rumors are swirling about what the Los Angeles Angels will do with one of — or both — Dan Haren and Ervin Santana. Despite having a down season by all accounts, Haren was an elite pitcher as recently as 2011. The primary cause for concern regarding Haren is his slumping fastball velocity. For the first time in his career, his four-seamer averaged less than 90 mph. Or even 89 for that matter. In fact, his velocity on all of his pitches was down across the board. Pure speed isn’t the absolute critical factor in pitching, but it certainly does help. Santana has been more consistently inconsistent. Given that he posted his worst K%, BB%, ERA, FIP, and xFIP in five years, it is highly possible that Santana might not see his 2013, $13 million dollar option exercised. Santana’s biggest issue was that he always seemed to give up a home run. He actually lead the league in home runs allowed, despite making half of his starts in a home park that suppresses home runs from both left and right-handed hitters. At this point, it seems most likely that the Angels will pursue Zack Greinke and not Santana nor Haren for next season, let alone the long term.
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Before this Roto Riteup gets too far underway, this was hands down the biggest announcement from yesterday.

• It was confirmed Albert Pujols underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last week. The Los Angeles Angels claim that it was “a minor cleanup surgery” and that Pujols will be ready for spring training. Per wOBA and wRC+, Pujols is on a five year slide. Despite this trend and the surgery, Pujols still figures to be a pillar of any fantasy squad. If anything, I think natural aging is the cause of any decline. And of course, Pujols’ worst year of his career in 2012 was “only” 30 home runs, 105 RBI’s with a .285 batting average. As far as re-draft leagues go, proceed as usual.
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Yes, you did read that title correctly! I know it’s early, but once you have some coffee in you, let the full gravity of this hit you! My esteemed colleague and I are back with off season Roto Riteup coverage on every Tuesday and Friday, and today we came out swinging (hooray for pop-punk!). Rather than report on the previous day’s fantasy happenings and recent trends and hot streaks, the off season RR will consist of more stories and less stats. Obviously.
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Today marks the last day of the fantasy baseball season. To those of you who are in the finals of a head-to-head league or are in a neck and neck race in a roto league, I wish you the best of luck.

• Someone who I feel is consistently under-rated — even by me — is Denard Span. He had a two hit game yesterday afternoon and now his average sits at .285 on the season. He has also stolen 17 bases and while his runs scored is lower than I’d like from a lead-off hitter, he still makes for a useful fantasy cog. Cheap steals and average? Where do I sign? I can usually count on Span being available to grab after a draft, and he is available right now in 87% of Yahoo! leagues and 80% of ESPN leagues.
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With apologies to the dear reader(s), I have been quite ill for the past few days. That being said, a pack of wild Kate Uptons couldn’t keep me away from the last three days of baseball action.

• If it seems like I just wrote about Brett Lawrie hitting a home run, it’s because I did. That being said, Lawrie hit another home run yesterday during his three hit game and he boosted his slugging over .400 for the season. It is a far cry from the .580 SLG that he displayed in 2011, but as previously stated, I’m still high on him for 2013.
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Today’s Roto Riteup is being unofficially sponsored by the Magic Hat IPA that I’m currently enjoying.

• As far as injury concerns go, Chris Iannetta was pulled from yesterday’s game in the eighth inning due to leg cramps. Since the first of September, Iannetta has started 23 games — all of which have been at catcher. The Angels travel to Texas to play the Rangers today and of course don’t have a scheduled off day until a potential play off situation. I expect the Angels to announce that Iannetta will receive at least one day off. He isn’t owned in a ton of leagues however, so you should be able to proceed as per usual when setting your roster.
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