Kevin Youkilis (1B - Red Sox) - Youkilis continues to improve every year. Heading into 2009, it would have been tough to beat his 2008 numbers. Last season, he hit .312 with 29 HR, 115 RBI, and a .958 OPS. This year, his average is flat at .311, but he's already at 24 HR to improve his AB/HR rate from 18.6 last year to 17.8 this year. That's good enough to give him a boost in OPS to .980 on the season and his OBP is over .400 at .417 for the first time in his career. After posting BB/K of 0.76 and 0.73 in 2006 and 2007, the "Greek God of Walks" took a step back in lieu of more power with a 0.57 in 2008. But, he has taken a step back in the right direction with a 0.60 through Sept. 8. In total, Youkilis' FPI has improved every year for the last four years (0.64, 0.66, 0.78, and 0.81 in 2009) and, for consistency alone, continues to climb up draft boards heading into 2010.
Alex Rodriguez (3B - Yankees) - On the surface, A-Rod has decent numbers on the season. He's hitting about .280 with 24 HR and 80 RBI after sitting out the first month and a half of the season with a hip injury. But since the Yankees starting giving A-Rod some regular rest (about July 1st or so), A-Rod has actually been much better. Since that date, he's hitting .318 with a .409 OBP, .937 OPS, and a 0.83 FPI. His year has been pretty quiet, but he has certainly hit in the clutch with half of his total HR's either tying or putting the Yankees ahead. A-Rod will get his fair share of critics, but fantasy owners should take comfort heading into 2010 that further surgery on his hip is unlikely at this point and he after brushing off a few cobwebs in June, he has proven he can still be one of the elite fantasy third basemen.
Russell Branyan (1B - Mariners) - Branyan is supposed to start working out again when the Mariners return to Seattle next week, but its becoming more and more likely that he will offer little to no fantasy value for the remainder of the year. This was Branyan's big breakout year and its unfortunately being cut short by about 100 AB because of injury. With 31 HR in 431 AB, he would have certainly flirted with the 40 HR mark. The good news is that the soon-to-be 34 year-old power hitter has resurrected his career and becomes a decent cheaper 1B option heading into 2010. The bad news another 30+ AL first baseman is likely done for the year (Carlos Pena as well).
Scott Kazmir (SP - Angels) - Its frustrating to try and explain how a change in teams can make a player completely change. We have all seen the glimmer of potential out of Kazmir for the past few years, but injury and inconsistency has kept him from truly breaking into the elite SP category. In his two starts with the Angels, he has 2 quality starts in a total of 13.1 IP, giving up one ER in each outing with a total of 12 K's and just 3 BB's. He has yet to earn a W, but Kazmir is looking a lot more comfortable in an Angels uniform than in a Rays' one. Not exactly sure how to quantify it, but fantasy owners may finally be getting the Kazmir results they had hoped for back in March. His next outing will be at home against the White Sox.
Matt LaPorta (OF - Indians) - LaPorta was called-up mid-August and got off to a stellar start. From August 20th through the end of the month, LaPorta hit .372 with 2 HR, 6 RBI, and 9 runs in 43 AB. His OBP was actually freakishly lower than his average with a .364 (no walks and a sac-fly). However, he has really cooled-off in September, hitting just .143 this month with a dinger and 2 BB. While LaPorta continues to be a big name with lots of power potential, he may be too risky of a play for the final few weeks of the season. He has shown over the last couple of weeks has strikes out way too much and has yet to learn enough plate discipline to earn walks and boost the OBP. You can probably find decent power on the free agent wire - LaPorta is certainly a keeper, but doesn't move the needle in my book for the last 3 weeks.
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