Baseball

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Luis Castillo to a minor league deal and it makes perfect sense to do so.

It is not that I don’t like these outfielders; it’s just that I feel like their ADPs (courtesy of Mock Draft Central) have them going a little bit earlier than I’d prefer to call their names:

Catching is a position in baseball that deserves immense credit; those able to combine power and average with All-Star-calibre defense are far and few between. 

Look at the likes of Joe Mauer and Ivan Rodriguez: 16 Gold Gloves, two MVPs and 11 Silver Sluggers. Within this generation, they are two of the very best. 

So, when teams claim to have the next superstar of the future, many are skeptical. 

As Opening Day anxiety continues to mount, the New York Yankees are still in somewhat of a mini-crisis on the pitching mound, as they are yet to name a formidable five-man rotation.

Manager Joe Girardi has already named ace C.C. Sabathia and recovering ace A.J. Burnett as his one-two punch, but the other three spots remain in limbo.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

There was an excellent article about Marco Scutaro in today’s Boston Globe. Columnist Nick Cafardo crafted an insightful story in which he detailed the shortstop’s health issues last season, providing a considerable amount of behind-the-scenes information that fans had not previously known. But does that mean Scutaro should be the Red Sox’ starting shortstop in 2011?

Matt Thornton was just named the closer by Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Sometime in late April or early May Chris Sale will begin to get save opportunities, pitch well and never look back, as he will put a strangle hold on the closer's job for the Chicago White Sox for the remainder of the season. In keeper leagues you must continue to consider the possibility of the young hurler being placed back into the starting rotation next year. 

With the injury to Chase Utley, a hole is left in the Phillies infield. How the Phillies will fill this hole is still unknown. In fact, the significance of Utley's injury is not yet known either.

Wilson Valdez, who filled in for the injured Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins last season, can be a quick fix for the Phillies. Valdez did a great job filling in for these two key players and did a great job as a bench player as well, hitting .258 over the entire 2010 season.

After his latest start, Jake Peavy reported feeling a distinct discomfort in his pitching shoulder. With further review, it was eluded that Peavy may be diagnosed with tendinitis. His current pitching schedule has been slowed down, and his hopes to make Opening Day are slowly fading away.

The question stands to be asked, if Peavy is not ready to go come April 1st, what do the White Sox do?