Fantasy Baseball

For all the hype Robinson Cano had in 2010, when you compare his numbers from the past two years the only major change was in his RBI.  As fantasy owners enter 2011 drooling over the numbers Cano posted just a year ago, they quickly forget that in 2009 he hit .320 with 25 HR, 83 RBI and 103 R.  Clearly, that’s not a statement that is meant to temper expectations in the least.  The fact of the matter is, with back-to-back exceptional seasons Cano has now captured the crown as the best fantasy second baseman in baseba

When the Oakland A’s acquired Michael Taylor as part of the Roy Halladay trade (he had a quick stop in Toronto before being shipped to Oakland in exchange for Brett Wallace), they thought they were acquiring a future star outfielder. 

At 6′6″, 260 pounds, the A's expected Taylor's power to continue to develop (he had hit .320 with 20 HR and 84 RBI in 428 AB in ‘09), but instead they got a player who regressed further than anyone could have imagined.

The past two days were extremely busy at the winter meetings, highlighted by some shocking developments.  Let’s take a look at everything that happened (for my thoughts on Days 1 & 2, click here and here): 

The Boston Red Sox Signed OF Carl Crawford

Ryan Raburn caught fire towards the end of the season, hitting .340 with 13 HR, 38 RBI and 37 R over the final two months of the season.  Obviously, he’s not going to maintain those types of numbers, especially when you look at the peripherals that led to them:

While Day 2 of the Winter Meetings were not as busy as the first (at least in terms of action), let’s take a look at the potential fallout from the moves that were made:

The Cubs signed 1B Carlos Pena.

Pena had a terrible 2010 campaign, hitting .196 with 28 HR and 84 RBI in 484 AB.  The fall in power (he had hit 46, 31 and 39 over the previous three seasons) was not due to the number of AB, as he has never had more than 500 AB in a season. 

After exploding in 2009 with 31 HR and 106 RBI, fantasy owners were clamoring about what Andre Ethier could be in 2010.  Could he emerge as one of the elite outfielders in the game?  Forget about just outfielders, could he emerge as one of the elite hitters in the game?  The fact is that the question owners should have been asking was if he could even repeat that success.  The answer would have been no (though there’s an asterisk), as Ethier posted the following line:

While the Adrian Gonzalez trade has gotten all of the publicity (and rightfully so, as you can read my thoughts on the deal by clicking here), there was plenty of other moves on the first day of the Winter Meetings worth noting.  Let’s take a look at the fantasy fallout:

With Adrian Gonzalez officially being dealt to Boston, there has been a major shakeup in our first base rankings.  Let’s take a look at how things currently stand for the 2011 season:

After years of rumors, Adrian Gonzalez has finally been traded to the Boston Red Sox.  Dan Hayes of the North County Times (via Twitter) has reported that the Padres will receive P Casey Kelly, 1B Anthony Rizzo and OF Reymond Fuentes in return.  Other reports have a player to be named later also included.

Is Carl Crawford really worth the eight-year deal that he's demanding?

Will Jayson Werth turn into the next J.D. Drew if he signs with the club?