All posts under "Preseason Prep" - Page 13

Hunter Pence (OF-SF) - And here come the injuries. The Giants announced Thursday that they fear Pence has a broken forearm. No timetable had been established at the time this was written, but it's probably a safe bet that he'll...

Howie Kendrick is one of the few current players in MLB who has at least 100 plate appearances at every single spot in the batting order over the span of his career. Beyond that, he is also one of the...

James Paxton (SEA-SP) - One of my favorite sleepers from last season was James Paxton. Paxton is a hard throwing lefty with the potential to be a top of the rotation pitcher. However, he is a risky fantasy pick as...

Congrats everyone, we have made it. Spring Training games officially start tomorrow (if you're reading this on Monday) or today (If you are reading this Tuesday). Atlanta Braves Center Field, The Dumpster Fire - Oh wow, the excitement in Braves...

Doug Fister - Fister is a major concern for me heading into 2015 after a superficially excellent 2014 (16-6, 2.41 ERA, 1.08 WHIP). Fister was able to succeed last year despite precipitous declines in swinging strike%, GB rate, and velocity...

One of the greatest challenges for all of us over the next month will be salvaging useful information from spring camps. Each evening you can go dumpster-diving into a trove of information and reporting from Florida and Arizona. This guy...

A frequent topic on the Fantistics Insider Baseball Show on Sirius XM Fantasy this spring--besides my love for Mookie Betts--has been the type of contact a batter makes. Knowing if linedrives, groundballs, and flyballs are being hit and at what...

Player Consistency Several years ago we introduced Consistency Factor and it's implications in  Head to Head and Daily leagues, as well as all Fantasy leagues regardless of their scoring setup. We run and update this piece every season because of...

Melvin Upton (Atl-OF) could miss up to two months with foot inflammation. It has been a troubling couple of years for the 30 year old center fielder, with a 0.208 and 0.184 AVG in the past two seasons, respectively. Let's...

Perspective is not in demand these days. In fact, it's mostly looked down upon. Life doesn't make room for the slow developing nature that is a hallmark of perspective. Why write something that has the audacity to present, investigate, and...

Brett Cecil (RP-TOR) - If you're on the lookout for projected non-closers who could become closers by Opening Day, Cecil is one guy to look at. As of now, the role for Aaron Sanchez is TBD at best, as the...

Can the Tigers repeat as Central Division Champions? Coming off an offseason that saw significant changes in its starting rotation, as well as injuries to its two best hitters, the ability of the Tigers to repeat as AL Central champs...

Atlanta Braves Braves Final Rotation Spot- On a team littered with potential position battles and platoons set to be decided this spring, the Braves rotation seems pretty well set in stone with the top four pitchers. The fifth starter battle...

Sabermetric analysis is and has been the foundation of our Fantasy Baseball player projections since 1999. This analysis along with our founding concept of position scarcity, has helped us achieve superior consistency in projections accuracy. All of which can...

Even after all these years, we still struggle to understand and interpret what Spring Training numbers mean. A year ago, Kansas City's Mike Moustakas pounded the ball in the thin Arizona air, finishing his spring with four HRs, 18 RBIs,...

Notes from the Florida and Arizona camps... Deep in the heart of Texas Well, Surprise AZ at this time of year. If there was one word to describe the Rangers' 2014 season, it was, "Ouch!." They should have replaced the...

Did Back to the Future actually Predict the Future? Part II of the classic movie franchise predicted that the Chicago Cubs would defeat Miami in the 2015 World Series. In 1989, the year the movie was released, neither Miami nor...

On the eve of the 2014 Major League Baseball season, Cleveland's Michael Brantley, was just another ho-hum guy. Over the course of two full seasons and parts of three others, the outfielder had shown little to turn heads. With nearly...

Jung-Ho Kang (SS-PIT) - Between the contract and the posting fee, the Pirates are invested to the tune of $16 million over four years with Kang, but he will reportedly open the year as a utility infielder. He obviously wasn't...

Andrew Cashner, SD Cashner pitched well when healthy in 2014, finishing with a 2.55 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 93 K's in 123.1 IP. For the 2nd year in a row, his BABIP (.274) and HR/FB% (6.0 %) were well below...

Will the real Padres please stand up? Every year at least one team goes out and spends big and is deemed the winner of the off-season and a pre-season favorite to win their division. I wouldn't go as far as...

Chris Davis, 1B, Baltimore Orioles Davis was one of the biggest fantasy busts in 2014, following up his monstrous 53 HR, 138 RBI campaign in 2013 by hitting a major league low .196 with 26 HRs last season. Davis had...

What do you think of Huston Street? I'll give you the answer ... if you tell me the season you owned him. If it's 2006, you have fond memories of Street's 2nd-season showing of 37 saves. But, let's hope you...

Pittsburgh Pirates: Should We Be "Jung Ho" About Kang? There is "zero intent" to start Jung Ho Kang in the minors. This is according to Pirates' General Manager Neil Huntington, who shared his thoughts about the KBO shortstop adjusting to...

With the candles burning out from the Valentine's Day festivities (for me, it was because my power went out) and catchers and pitchers soon to be reporting to camp, we know that drafting season is about to accelerate. In other...

As many of you know, Fantistics has a show on SirusXM Fantasy Sports Radio every weekend morning from 10AM-1PM. I'm lucky enough to be able to join our hosts Lou Blasi, Walter Kuberski and Sky Dombroske for a segment on...

Rules and models destroy genius and art - William Hazlit If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun - Katherine Hepburn The golden rule is that there are no golden rules - George Bernard Shaw I don't...

Sabermetric analysis is and has been the foundation of our Fantasy Baseball player projections since 1999 Sabermetric analysis is and has been the foundation of our Fantasy Baseball player projections since 1999. This analysis along with our founding concept...

Inching closer, bit by bit, day by day, hour by hour ... pitchers and catchers report in just over a week. Once the mitts and balls are unpacked, things will turn more serious for fantasy players everywhere. We'll start to...

What Do You Get the Man Who Has $150 Million?? Health! By Kyle Elfrink According to the accounting over at Baseball-Reference.com, Joshua Holt Hamilton, has already banked over $60 million.  He's locked in for another $90 million (!) over the...

Average Draft Position (ADP) should never be the end-all, be-all when it comes to mapping out your draft.  Still, it serves as a top signifier of 'the way the wind is blowing,' as we get closer to Opening Day.  Let's...

2015 SiriusXM FSTA Fantasy Baseball Draft - Expert Picks

Chris Young, Seattle Mariners - Young signed a one year major league deal with the Mariners Thursday to reasonably just keep the seat warm until Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker are healthy. Young hasn't pitched since 2012 with the Mets...

Dodgers Second Base Job With Alex Guerrero shipped to the minors, this appears to be a platoon between Dee Gordon and Justin Turner, with Gordon seizing the majority of the at-bats. In fact, after Gordon led off and went 3-for-4...

Detroit Tigers: Eyes on the Pen With Bruce Rondon undergoing Tommy John surgery, Joba Chamberlain appears to be the primary setup man and next-in-line to closer Joe Nathan. But keep your eyes on Al Alburquerque. While his control issues were...

CHICAGO CUBS: Can Travis Wood Repeat? Last year Travis Wood finished 19th in the majors in ERA (3.11) and 21st in WHIP (1.15), but his ADP in the 31st round suggests most owners aren't buying into his success last year....