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The Story of Bobby Jenks
2009-09-24 03:14:00
Bobby Jenks is out for the rest of the year and the rumors have begun to fly. See ESPN, the Examiner, RotoWorld, MLBTradeRumors, and even Bob Nightengale chime in with their belief Jenks will get traded this offseason. Entering his second year of arbitration, his steady save totals should augment his $5.6 million salary to ...
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Stream Team: A Full Thursday
2009-09-24 01:25:00
by R.J. WhiteFiled under: MLB Waiver WireLooking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team , where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold. Yesterday we spot-started Hiroki Kuroda again, and he was brilliant yet again. He threw six innings while giving up two runs, but both were unearned. He also threw in six strikeouts on his way to an easy win for the Dodgers. His six innings with no earned runs drops our September ERA to 3.26, using pitchers that are available in a majority of your leagues. I hope you're winning your championship game, and now I'll do my best to give you a bigger lead.Stream Team: A Full Thursday originally appeared on Fantasy Baseball Fanhouse on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:25:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs  | Comments

A New Metric for Evaluating The Fantasy Season
2009-09-24 00:10:00
This is a guest post by reader Brian M., who showcases his method for evaluating fantasy team performance in his H2H league irrespective of standings. The article explores use of a composite-Z score to compute a power ranking in a fantasy league. We think this is an interesting idea whose applicability into other ...
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Fantasy Fill-Ins: Thursday
2009-09-23 22:42:00
by Knox BardeenFiled under: MLB Waiver WireFor a number of major league teams Mondays and Thursday s are travel days. Every Wednesday and Sunday, Fantasy Fill -Ins finds guys who should be widely available on the waiver wire and can step in for the day, helping you gain ground or hold off the pack.There are nine games scheduled for Thursday. That means we may need to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find some solid fill-ins. Here are five of the best options.Jack Cust, Athletics - Cust hasn't been the model of consistent hitting this season and as of late he's been less then stellar batting .221 over the last month. But, he has a pretty good track record against Scott Feldman (five hits and two home runs in 15 at-bats) so could fill-in nicely on Thursday. Cust is only owned in 16% of fantasy leagues.Fantasy Fill-Ins: Thursday originally appeared on Fantasy Baseball Fanhouse on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:42:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email t...

Odds & Ends: White Sox, Mets, Millwood, Marquis
2009-09-23 22:39:00
Another round of links... According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, the entire White Sox coaching staff, including hitting coach Greg Walker, pitching coach Don Cooper, bench coach Joey Cora and first base coach Harold Baines, received contract extensions Wednesday afternoon that will keep them all with the club through 2011. The Dallas Morning News' Tom Cowlinshaw believes Kevin Millwood's $12 million option for 2010, which vested Monday, is a fine deal. "If you're general manager Jon Daniels or team president Nolan Ryan or manager Ron Washington and you're going to be judged next season by how much your team lives up to this overhyped notion that 2010 is the Rangers' year," Cowlinshaw writes, "you need Kevin Millwood on that wall." According to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat (via Twitter), Cubs players didn't find out about Milton Bradley's apology until his statement was released to the media Wednesday afternoon. That certainly won't help the level of perceived sinceri...
More About: White Sox , Mets , Marquis , Odds

Pitching Forecaster: Rotation roulette is upon us
2009-09-23 21:46:00
If you are playing for a Fantasy title over the season's final week, you know that figuring out rotations is a crapshoot. Eric Mack does his best to get inside the heads of all 30 managers in his last Pitching Forecaster.
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Roto Rush: My Apology to Derrek Lee
2009-09-23 21:37:00
by Matt SnyderFiled under: MLB Injury Report, MLB Locking Your Lineup, MLB Waiver WirePoppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.Before the season started, I was rough on Derrek Lee . I named him the biggest bust on the Cubs for this coming season and included him on the list of "five guys to lose" your fantasy league. I even predicted Mike Fontenot would hit more home runs than Mr. Lee. Obviously, it sounds outlandish now, in hindsight, as Lee clubbed his 35th home run Tuesday night. In the process, he established a new career high in RBI with 109. His OPS is the second-highest it's ever been -- trailing only his insane 2005 season when he did an Albert Pujols impersonation.Roto Rush: My Apology to Derrek Lee originally appeared on Fantasy Baseball Fanhouse on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Lin...

Odds & Ends: Webb, Chapman, ChiSox, Brewers
2009-09-23 20:44:00
Wednesday evening link session... ESPN.com's Buster Olney thinks Brandon Webb is right in not accepting a compromise deal from the Diamondbacks. He lists multiple teams that would be willing to offer the former Cy Young Award winner a lucrative one-year contract, including the Dodgers, Angels, Cubs, White Sox, Yankees and Red Sox. Scott Merkin of MLB.com gathered this quote from White Sox GM Kenny Williams, regarding his outlook heading into the offseason: "No. 1, I don?t like what I see on the free agent market, and what I do like, it?s going to cost you a No. 1 pick. " According to Jorge Arangure of ESPN.com, Aroldis Chapman 's agent will be present at Yankee Stadium this weekend to take in a game against the Red Sox. Chapman, though, will remain in Andorra. Arangure also "tweets" that Cuban first baseman Jose Julio Ruiz has finally become a free agent. The 25-year-old hit .305/.408/.467 over 52 games in the Serie Nacional last season before suddenly defecting to the Dominican Re...
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Elias Rankings Update
2009-09-23 20:42:00
At the end of each season, The Elias Sports Bureau ranks all MLB players numerically based on a bunch of stats. Every player is categorized in one of five position groups and by league. The rankings cover a two-year time period. They are used to determine whether free agents are Type A, Type B, or neither. If you'd like a reminder on how draft pick compensation works, read up here. Eddie Bajek of Detroit Tigers Thoughts reverse-engineered the Elias Rankings last year. Eddie's incredible work was made possible in large part due to information provided by ESPN's Keith Law. Eddie is now providing the rankings exclusively to MLB Trade Rumors. Today's snapshot covers the beginning of the 2008 season through September 22nd, 2009. The rankings will change over the remainder of the season. View the latest Elias Rankings below.
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Scouting the Unknown
2009-09-23 20:30:00
For a quick summary of each minor leagues leader boards, Rotoworld’s (Circling the Bases Blog) Matthew Pouliot complied the AAA OPS leaders, AAA ERA leaders, and Eastern League OPS and ERA leaders(AA). Not all of the names you’ll recognize, some you will because I wrote about them (Carlos Santana), others you will because they are ...
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Top Eastern League Players of 2009
2009-09-23 19:09:00
Today our series of minor league rankings moves down to the Double-A level. The Eastern League is one of three AA leagues. In my opinion this is the level that has the most exciting prospects. You get guys like Carlos Santana, Pedro Alvarez and Jesus Montero.Top 25 Eastern League Batters (minimum 50 at-bats) Name Team BB% K% AVG OBP SLG ISO Spd BABIP wOBA Daniel Nava Red Sox 17.50% 10.20% 0.364 0.479 0.568 0.203 2.8 0.382 0.471 Ryan Strieby Tigers 16.20% 27.20% 0.303 0.427 0.565 0.262 3.6 0.359 0.445 Pedro Alvarez Pirates 13.30% 26.60% 0.333 0.419 0.59 0.257 2.2 0.407 0.444 Brandon Snyder Orioles 11.80% 22.40% 0.343 0.421 0.597 0.254 1.8 0.404 0.444 Michael Taylor Phillies 9.90% 16.00% 0.333 0.408 0.569 0.236 6.9 0.361 0.438 Ike Davis Mets 11.20% 29.00% 0.309 0.386 0.565 0.256 0.9 0.381 0.426 Scott Sizemore Tigers 13.30% 20.20% 0.307 0.402 0.535 0.228 6.1 0.353 0.422 Carlos Santana Indians 17.40% 19.40% 0.29 0.413 0.53 0.241 3.4 0.314 0.418 Brian Dopirak...
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Death, Taxes & Closer Turnover: Jenks is done
2009-09-23 18:12:00
A couple quick closer notes before I lock myself in a convention hall for the rest of the day... White Sox close Bobby Jenks will be shut down with a calf injury.  Time to grab Matt Thornton and his 80 K's in 67 IP.  David Aardsma is suffering from a bit of stiffness in his back.  Mark Lowe was used in his place.  Lowe is not as good an option as Thornton and may not see many more chances if Aardsma's back feels better, but for those desperate for that extra save... Houston Street will get his closers role back.  Thank you Franklin Morales for the solid fill in work. Non-closer news: Disregard my match-up of Freddy Sanchez for Thursday, his knee injury is going to keep him out a bit longer.
More About: Taxes , Death , Closer

Bobby Cox Inks One-Year Extension
2009-09-23 17:09:00
According to the Braves' official Twitter feed, manager Bobby Cox has signed a one-year extension for 2010 and will retire after next season.
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Wednesday?s Wide World of Waivers: Keeper/Dynasty Part 1
2009-09-23 16:58:00
Welcome to Part 1 of a special edition of Wednesday ’s Wide World of Waivers (Tom will be here with Part 2 next week). With the 2009 season nearly over, it’s got to the point where it’s highly unlikely that any last minute waiver pick-ups will make a significant difference to your team, with the possible ...
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The Players Who Most Improved Their Stats In 2009
2009-09-23 16:53:00
The season is not quite yet over, but we figured we’d get a start on measuring the players who most improved and regressed from 2008 to 2009. There are many ways to do this. One thing we’d note is that players tend to put up stats far above or below expectation purely on the basis of playing ...
More About: Players , Stats , The Players

Fantasy Baseball: 9/23
2009-09-23 16:12:00
Paul Severino and Matthew discuss some guys to consider for the last week and a half of the season and next year's values for Nolan Reimold and Jose Lopez.
More About: Baseball , Fantasy , Fantasy Baseball

Cubs Suspend Milton Bradley
2009-09-23 15:53:00
WEDNESDAY, 1:53pm: Paul Sullivan notes that the Cubs have yet to file paperwork regarding Bradley's suspension and the MLB Players Association can't file a grievance until they do. At this point, it's basically an agreement between the club and Bradley that he won't return this season.SUNDAY: According to Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs have suspended disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley for the rest of the season.Bradley, who signed a three-year, $30MM contract last winter, took shots at the Cubs organization during an interview with the Arlington Heights Daily Herald on Saturday, and has battled with fans on the North Side of Chicago for much of the season. GM Jim Hendry is expected to seek out a trade partner for the 31-year-old right fielder this offseason. "The last few days became too much for me to tolerate," Hendry said Sunday, fed up with the player's attitude toward the fans and media in Chicago. "I'm certainly not going to let our great fans become e...
More About: Milton Bradley

D'Backs To Release Eric Byrnes This Winter?
2009-09-23 15:44:00
Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune suspects that the Diamondbacks will consider cutting ties with Eric Byrnes this offseason and would be willing to eat the final year of his three-year, $30MM contract. Arizona's outfield is set for 2010, and it doesn't include the injury-plagued Byrnes. Conor Jackson will start in left field, Chris Young is expected to start in center and Justin Upton will play right. Gerardo Parra, after a fine rookie campaign in 2009, will operate as the fourth outfielder but should find regular playing time.D'Backs GM Josh Byrnes will certainly try to work out a trade before simply releasing the 33-year-old outfielder, who has played just 76 games this year due to a fractured hand, but it might be hard to find a team willing to take on his salary. "The Diamondbacks will take a lot of grief if they release Byrnes," concludes Bordow. "But it would be the right thing to do."
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Fantasy Baseball: NL Second Base-The New Power Position
2009-09-23 15:30:00
More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP 1 day ago: Atlanta Braves' Martin Prado connects for a third-inning, two-run double in a baseball game against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York, Monday, Sept. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) Browse more photos » A few weeks ago, I wrote an article stating that 3B will be a scarce position in NL-only lagues in 2010. Well, it appears that 2B is the new power position in the NL. There are currently 3 second baseman with a SLG % over .500, and 12 with an OPS over .780.   Player   AB    R    H   2B   HR  RBI   BB   KO  SB     BA   OBP   SLG   OPS Utley, Chase 2B PHI 527 105 155 27 31 91 85 102 22 0.294 0.411 0.533 0.945 McGehee, Casey 3B MIL 320 53 97 17 15 61 33 59 0 0.303 0.366 0.503 0.869 Weeks, Rickie 2B MIL  147 28 40 5 9 24 12 39 2 0.272 0.34 0.517 0.857 Uribe, Juan 2B SF  354 45 103 24 13 47 22 72 3 0.2...
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Cito Gaston's Offseason Wish List
2009-09-23 15:22:00
Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun spoke Tuesday with Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston, who laid out his "wish list" for the upcoming offseason. GM J.P. Ricciardi (if he's still around) and the Jays' ownership group will ultimately make the final decisions this winter, but who knows a team's needs better than its skipper?"A lot depends on free agency," Gaston said. "It depends on who leaves and who sticks around. We might need a new shortstop [if Marco Scutaro departs via free agency], we might need to replace Rod (Barajas) at catcher. And John McDonald is a free agent, also." Gaston said he's hoping for "some help in the starting rotation" as well, and there should be a decent free agent market for mid-rotation starters.To summarize, the Jays are at risk of losing Scutaro, who's having a fine season, first baseman-designated hitter Kevin Millar and, as Gaston mentioned, Barajas and infielder John McDonald. Toronto probably won't have a ton of payroll flexibility, but there's plenty ...
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Zack Greinke's Epic Season
2009-09-23 15:06:00
I wrote some thoughts on Zack Greinke at Yawkey Way Academy. His season is one of the best in this century. There really should be no debating who is the Cy Young, but as I asked perhaps we should be debating the MVP. Joe Mauer or Zack Greinke?
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Odds & Ends: Astros, Bradley, Rangers, Ramon
2009-09-23 14:34:00
A fresh batch of links for Wednesday afternoon... Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle highlights some of the positives and negatives of the ongoing Drayton McLane era in Houston. "This is his franchise," writes Justice, "and he's certainly no absentee owner. He's front and center for all the good and all the bad." According to David Roeder of the Chicago Sun-Times, the IRS may be planning to challenge the Tribune Co.'s sale of the Cubs. The Tribune is attempting to save about $300 million in capital gains taxes with the sale, but is also maintaining a 5 percent stake in the franchise. So it's really more of a partnership. Milton Bradley's mother, Charlena Rector, told the Sun-Times' Chris DeLuca Tuesday that her son is open to returning to the Cubs. Of course, GM Jim Hendry and Co. probably don't want him back. MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan lays out several facts regarding the sale of the Texas Rangers . For what it's worth, Major League Baseball is hoping the sale price will...
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Jermaine Dye done?
2009-09-23 14:24:00
The Chicago White Sox are apparently not planning to re-sign outfielder Jermaine Dye(notes), according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He's got a mutual $12 million option and there's no way the South Siders are agreeing to that. Dye will be lucky to get half that wherever he ends up next season (if he does end up on a major-league roster).It's likely some team will take a shot on Dye, but there's a crowded market for designated hitters this off-season and Dye has shined in the field this year. So the 35-year-old Dye may be out of luck. His August and September slump isn't helping him sell himself, either. Still, the 6'5" right fielder has hit 25 home runs. Somebody could use that kind of power, right? Unfortunately, he has more than 100 strikeouts along with that.

Diamondbacks want Webb for less than his option
2009-09-23 14:20:00
The Diamondbacks have an $8.5 million option on pitcher Brandon Webb (notes) and the word is that the team doesn't want to pay him that kind of salary next year so it may buy him out for $2 million, according to the Arizona Republic, and try to negotiate something better.The team supposedly wants Webb back. He's not promising anything, though, if the team buys him out of his contract. He is not interested in a restructured deal. Webb noted to the East Valley Tribune that the older John Smoltz(notes) has $5.5 million coming to him from the St. Louis Cardinals next year and Webb feels like he is at least worth that.There is a feeling in Arizona that when push comes to shove, the team will pick up the option but that there will be lots of talk about not picking it up before then.

Will ESPN’s Local Sites Help or Kill SB Nation?
2009-09-23 14:20:00
I’m a big fan of SB Nation , as I’ve said time and time again. Off the top of my head, I probably have around eight or nine SBN blogs in my Google Reader, and I read most of them religiously. I’m also on record as saying ESPN should try to buy them, which I’ve had thrown back in my face recently now that ESPN is spending a lot of money on its local sites in Chicago, Boston, Dallas, L.A., New York, and who knows how many others down the road. This is obviously a huge threat to SB Nation, considering that their primary value right now is their local analysis (they’ve started angling more toward national coverage, particularly with their new homepage design, but that is a massive uphill climb, and I’m not sure they’ll ever really win with that). But ESPN’s new local focus may also be the greatest opportunity they’ll ever have. Here’s the difference between ESPN and SB Nation: one is a “professional” site, with profe...
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Rangers reliever Guardado retiring?
2009-09-23 14:14:00
Texas Rangers reliever Eddie Guardado(notes) has spent 17 years in the big leagues and it's looking more and more like he won't be coming back for another one, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.After all, the guy has been to the All-Star game twice, has saved 187 games, and has more than 900 appearances over the years. Plus, he turns 39 at the start of October. This year, he's pitched 39.1 innings so far and had 39 hits against him; his ERA is 4.46."I can't give you a definite, because when December comes you get that itch and Mama wants you out of the house," he told the paper. "But I think it may be time."We'll see what Mama says.

Red Sox Will Have Interest In Aroldis Chapman
2009-09-23 13:41:00
Expect the Red Sox to have interest in 21-year-old lefty Aroldis Chapman when he becomes a free agent, according to Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald and ESPN's Amy K. Nelson. The Yankees are also expected to be in the mix. Will the Sox attempt to buy up all the hotel rooms in Andorra? Chapman may be granted free agency before the playoffs. The bidding could exceed $40MM, and Chapman could potentially sign before the regular free agent signing period begins. Nelson talked to Chapman's agent Edwin Leonel Mejia, who plans to hold private workouts in Europe. Aside from the Red Sox and Yankees, Silverman names the Angels and Rangers as likely suitors. The Orioles were connected to Chapman in July, but the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec didn't expect them to join a bidding war. Mejia explained Chapman's preference to Silverman: "He simply wants to go with whatever team wants him the most."
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Offseason Outlook: Arizona Diamondbacks
2009-09-23 13:20:00
Next up in our Offseason Outlook series, the Diamondbacks . Their commitments for 2010: C - Miguel Montero - $425K+C - Chris Snyder - $4.75MM1B - Brandon Allen - $400K2B - Ryan Roberts - $400KSS - Stephen Drew - $1.5MM+3B - Mark Reynolds - $423KIF - Augie Ojeda - $713K+LF - Conor Jackson - $2.4MM+CF - Chris Young - $3.25MMRF - Justin Upton - $412KOF - Eric Byrnes - $11MMOF - Gerardo Parra - $400KOF - Alex Romero - $404K Other candidates: 1B - Josh Whitesell - $401K, 2B - Rusty Ryal - $400K, OF - Trent Oeltjen - $400K SP - Dan Haren - $8.25MMSP - Brandon Webb - $8.5MM (club option)SP - Max Scherzer - $1.45MM+SP - Billy Buckner - $403KSP - Yusmeiro Petit - $412K Other candidates: Jarrod Parker - $400K, Kevin Mulvey - $400K RP - Chad Qualls - $2.535MM+RP - Juan Gutierrez - $401KRP - Esmerling Vasquez - $400KRP - Clay Zavada - $400KRP - Leo Rosales - $403KRP - Blaine Boyer - $433K+RP - Daniel Schlereth - $400K Other commitments: Chad Tracy - $1MM buyout, Jon Garland - $1MM or $2.5MM Non-...
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A Look At The 2011 Free Agent Class
2009-09-23 11:09:00
Recently we posted a list of players who will be eligible for free agency after the 2010 season. Certain rebuilding clubs may look to save money this winter and instead spend it the following offseason. Those clubs will probably have a better crop of free agents from which to choose. Let's look at the big names projected to be available a year from now. Players with options for 2010 will not be added to the 2011 list until those decisions are made. The following players may have their options exercised within a few months: Victor Martinez, Carl Crawford, Manny Ramirez, Freddy Garcia, Cliff Lee, Braden Looper, and Brandon Webb. Assuming these players are not extended, we can pencil them in for the 2011 free agent list. Of course, any player who signs a one-year deal this winter will be a free agent again after the 2010 season. Players such as Carlos Delgado, Adrian Beltre, Rick Ankiel, Jermaine Dye, Erik Bedard, and Justin Duchscherer are candidates. Aside from those who fit th...
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Odds & Ends: Aramis, Marte, Lowe
2009-09-23 10:40:00
Links for Wednesday... Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune talked to Aramis Ramirez about his $14.6MM player option for 2011, and the Cubs' third baseman was noncommittal. Other third basemen who may become free agents after the 2010 season include Garrett Atkins, Jorge Cantu, Mike Lowe ll, Jhonny Peralta, and Scott Rolen. Former top prospect Andy Marte  spoke with Indians GM Mark Shapiro about the future, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Shapiro told Marte to play first and third base in winter ball and show up early to Spring Training. It was a tough year for Marte, who turns 26 in November. He was designated for assignment to make room for Juan Salas in February, cleared waivers, raked at Triple A, and then struggled in the bigs. Braves GM Frank Wren told MLB.com's Mark Bowman that Derek Lowe "pitched really well for us." Aside from his home run rate, Lowe's numbers declined across the board this year. The Nationals will improve their minor league cat...
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