All posts under "Preseason Prep" - Page 15

CHICAGO WHITE SOX Jose Abreu - Jose Abreu is likely the most difficult player to forecast for 2014, with so few Cuban comparables relative to most other foreign countries, a baseball change that likely accounted for a not-so-insignificant portion of...

Notes from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues...as all pitchers and catchers have reported and position players for the Tigers, Phillies, Pirates, Cardinals and Mariners report today. Ryan Dempster- BOS- Dempster will not be pitching for the Red Sox or anyone...

Fantasy news related to the Brewers, Cubs, Reds, and the rest of the league.

Boston Red Sox Will Middlebrooks- Cheap power at third or a dead spot in your fantasy lineup? Few players were more Jekyll and Hyde in 2013 than Red Sox Third Baseman, Will Middlebrooks. The first half of the season in...

Observations from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues...Pitchers and catchers will be reporting today for the Braves, Orioles, Cubs, Tigers, Angels, Padres and Nationals. Derek Jeter- NYA- The biggest news of yesterday was that the last of the Core Four will...

Houston Astros How Will Dexter Fowler Fare Away From Coors Field? In one of the more surprising moves of the offseason, the Astros were able to acquire the center fielder from the Rockies for Jordan Lyles and Brandon Barnes. The...

Welcome to spring....after a fashion. Below are a select smattering of the player projections and comments that will soon be available with the draft software, followed by a bit more detail regarding the specific players in question. Hope you all...

Notes on the last day before real games start... Jason Frasor- TEX- RP- Frasor looks to be the prime setup man for the Rangers, He has been very tough against righties in his career, so could have some value in...

Philadelphia Phillies Roy Halladay, RHP PHI For fantasy owners who drafted Halladay expecting a bounce-back season, the right-hander's spring results have been disheartening to say the least. In 12 Grapefruit League innings, Halladay has allowed 13 hits, seven walks and...

Preseason fantasy baseball preparation for March 27th, 2013. Mets injury news and Twins player projections

The Yasiel Puig Phenomenon Through 55 at-bats as of Monday, Puig leading the league in hitting at .527/.509/.855. He's shown contact ability, power, speed, and athleticism that has been compared to the great Bo Jackson. I got to see Puig...

Indians' No. 5 Starter: Finding Value with Scott Kazmir, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer - The three-man race to name a fifth starter is down to two in Cleveland as the Tribe announced late last week that they are sending...

Atlanta Braves Third base update Since Juan Francisco and Chris Johnson have both performed well this spring, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has decided to go into the season with a platoon, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The problem is that...

Preseason Fantasy Baseball Prep for March 22nd, 2013. Coverage on the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins

Angels Health Update #1: Tommy Hanson Tightness in his right triceps forced him to leave before the start of the 4th inning in Wednesday's spring training game. Please excuse me when I'm not too encouraged by this, even after...

Oakland A's Jarrod Parker's Value (SP)- Parker's rookie season could not have gone better for Oakland, as the rookie ended up throwing 181.1 innings while pitching to a 3.47 ERA (3.43 FIP and 3.95 xFIP). While his peripherals from...

Notes from around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Mike Fiers- P- MIL- Fiers lack of stuff has caused him to be underestimated by many scouts. However, he has consistently struck out more than a batter per inning in his pro...

Indians' Rotation: Zach McAllister, Deep Sleeper - The Indians already know their top three starters are Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jimenez and Brett Myers, but a Cleveland pitcher that should intrigue fantasy managers is No. 4 starter Zach McAllister. McAllister pitched...

Toronto Blue Jays How to Approach Brandon Morrow Brandon Morrow SP - After three straight years of vastly underperforming surface stats based on expected ERA stats, Morrow actually outperformed his expected ERA stats by quite a bit last season....

Notes from around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Michael Kirkman- TEX- RP- Kirkman is finally going to assume the prominent role in the Texas bullpen that he was expected to last spring. A diagnosis of skin cancer and subsequent treatments...

Oakland A's Tom Milone (SP) Expectations: Milone exceeded almost all expectations for the A's last season pitching to a 3.74 ERA in 190 innings. His pinpoint control has always given him an advantage, but his 8.7 percent swinging strike rate...

Ronnier Mustelier 3B (NYY) - There are going to be 200 ABs up for grabs, in all likelihood, for players that wouldn't otherwise have received them for the Yankees this spring before Granderson and Teixeira return. The obvious options are...

Will Carl Crawford be ready for Opening Day? It sure sounds as if he won't. Crawford was recently shut down for a week due to soreness in his surgically-repaired elbow. He is reporting no issues hitting off a tee, but...

Toronto Blue Jays Rebound for Ricky? Ricky Romero SP - Heading into last season Fantistics warned subscribers that Ricky Romero was overrated, but I don't think any of us saw this coming. Romero's ERA ballooned from 2.92 to 5.77...

Lucas Harrell - SP Astros - Lucas Harrell says he would like to upgrade his curveball for the 2013 season, hoping it will help him work deeper into games. He considers it his 4th best pitch but he'd like...

Oakland A's Reddick (RF) Expectations- Reddick's 2012 season was one of the more pleasant surprises of the year, as he was able to lead the A's in home runs (32) in his first full year. The 26 year-old showed an...

Gordon Beckham (2B) CWS - After three seasons of disappointment, maybe Gordon Beckham's value has dropped enough now that he will be a bargain once again. Beckham showed the best contact rate of his career in 2012, and ended the...

Indians' Third Base - It's the Chiz Kid's Time: Reports out of Cleveland's camp point toward Lonnie Chisenhall getting first crack at the third base job this season with super-sub Mike Aviles waiting in the wings. For the past few...

Observations from the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues... Nelson Cruz- TEX- OF- Cruz woke up with chest soreness yesterday and spent the day in the hospital undergoing tests. If the stress test he had went well then he will be released...

Toronto Blue Jays Post Hype Sleeper Brett Lawrie 3B - Last week I talked about Eric Hosmer of the Royals as a post hype sleeper, and this week I am going to talk about Lawrie. I love drafting guys...

Storylines Out of Angels' Camp Trout's Extra Weight Leading to Extra Concerns? The short answer: hecks no! Reports out of Angels' camp have Trout at 241 lbs., 15 more than where he was for most of last year. What...

Dodgers' fifth starter Ted Lilly takes the hill on Thursday for his spring debut, and he's apparently still in competition with three other guys - Chris Capuano, Chad Billingsley, and Aaron Harang. Billingsley allowed two runs on five hits over...

Oakland A's A Healthy Brett Anderson? Anderson made his return from Tommy John surgery in late August for the A's, and made six starts in which he had an ERA of 2.57 along with a 4-2 record. While he...

Indians' Rotation - Hoping for Production from the Top: Losses are a terrible stat, but when your team's top two starters combine for 32 losses in one season, that's probably a bad sign. Alas, 2012 was a rough year for...

Preseason Prep for February 23rd 2013. Los Angeles Angles newcomers, Mets outfield and players to avoid on the Minnesota Twins

Toronto Blue Jays What to expect from new additions? Jose Reyes SS (TOR) - The Blue Jays certainly made a splash this offseason, highlighted by their acquisition of Jose Reyes from Miami. Reyes is not the 60+ SB threat...