Baseball

I was very high on Jason Bay last year. I figured he would drive in a ton of runs with Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia at the top of Boston’s lineup.

He did not disappoint with 36 HRs and 119 RBI despite missing 11 games.

He’s moved on to the Mets this year, and he still figures to have plenty of opportunities hitting behind the likes of Jose Reyes and David Wright.

Bay has reached 100-plus RBI in four of his last five years, with nearly four of those years coming in Pittsburgh, so I don’t see him having a problem reaching that figure.

Mets Gaining Reputation As Not-So- Lovable Losers

Murphy's Law: Anything than can go wrong, will.

When I search "New York Mets" these days on the internet, I see a whopping increase in stories outlining the inexplicable ineptitude of New York's second best baseball club.

I also see a glut of blogs and websites dedicated to lamenting on the travels and travails of this comically dysfunctional organization. It's unreal the amount of effort that is going into these things. 

As usual, many pitchers finished the 2009 season with injuries. Injuries, particularly with pitchers, make fantasy owners question whether they should avoid the player at all costs or whether he represents a good "buy low" candidate.

Here is a recap of pitchers coming off injury, and whether they are worth the risk fantasy-wise or not for the 2010 season. We’re giving the Green Light to players not expected to be negatively impacted by their most recent injury woes.

Green Light

It’s been a roller coaster ride for Jason Bay and fantasy owners over the past few years.  In 2007, it seemed like his days as a stud fantasy outfielder were over (.247, 21 HR, 84 RBI), but a year and a half spent in Boston has clearly reinvigorated his value.

You don’t have to look further than his 2009 campaign for proof:

531 At Bats
.267 Batting Average (142 Hits)
36 Home Runs
119 RBI
103 Runs
13 Stolen Bases
.384 On Base Percentage
.537 Slugging Percentage
.318 Batting Average on Balls in Play

For any Red Sox fans out there, you'll love to take a look at the PECOTA predictions for the 2010 season. 

According to the Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, the Boston Red Sox are projected to go 94-68 next year, the best record in MLB. They are favored to win the AL East by two games over the New York Yankees. 

When he was signed in the 2008-2009 offseason, Juan Cruz was of the few Dayton Moore acquisitions met with widespread approval. Having waited to sign Cruz until the market shook itself out, Moore found himself nabbing Juan Cruz for a mere $6 million over two years with a club option that would bring that total to $9.5 million if exercised.

The Philadelphia Phillies hold the distinction of the longest standing franchise in professional sports having been formed 127 years ago. As many Phillies fans will attest, the team has endured more than its fair share of lean seasons on its way to also setting the record for most losses with 10,167 and counting.

Of course, a great deal of that is ancient history as the team is currently considered one of the elite teams in baseball, if not professional sports.

On March 24, 2008, Claudio Vargas was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and competing for a spot in the starting rotation. On March 25, 2008, Claudio Vargas lost that competition and was cut from the team altogether.

In reality, there were too many starters for not enough spots in that rotation...on March 25. Shortly after, Chris Capuano was injured and hasn't thrown a pitch in the Majors since. Thus is the tenuous nature of pitching. One day you can have an apparent surplus and the next you can have a severe dearth.

With pitchers and catchers due to report to Spring Training this week, the race to find the next ace for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is about to heat up.
Typically a strength in Anaheim, it was the Angels' pitching staff that set an ominous tone at the start of the 2009 season.
John Lackey injured his shoulder just weeks before Opening Day. Ervin Santana was sidelined after straining his forearm early on in Spring Training.

In December of 2004, Red Sox veteran catcher Jason Varitek was named the Red Sox's team captain, the first captain since outfielder Jim Rice in the 1980's. However, fastforward to 2010 and the 37-year old is now the back-up to Victor Martinez.

What has happened to Varitek in a period of six years? Could it involve off-field issues, such as the 2009 divorce between him and wife Karen? Is it simply old age? Whatever the answer, one only has to look to Varitek's stats to understand the magnitude of his rapid decline.