Fantasy Baseball

There are a lot of young pitchers with potential upside in baseball today.

While the AL East is generally not a good place to go searching for such pitchers, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Brett Cecil could be an exception to the rule. He was solid in his rookie campaign and it could be just the beginning.

Before we get into what could be, let’s look at what he did in 2010:

15 Wins
172.2 Innings
4.22 ERA
1.33 WHIP
117 Strikeouts (6.1 K/9)
54 Walks (2.8 BB/9)
.298 BABIP

It has been a big week for the Colorado Rockies as they have extended Troy Tulowitzki through 2020 (for $157M, no less) and resigned free agent Jorge de la Rosa.  

It seems painfully obvious that staying in Denver is ideal for Tulo and not so much so for de la Rosa, but these are two players worth examining further heading into 2011.

There has been a flurry of moves the past few days, so let’s take a look at the fantasy implications: 

Javier Vazquez signs with the Florida Marlins

This is the biggest move of the past few days.  After struggling mightily in the AL East (5.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 6.9 K/9), he returns to the NL East.  Let’s not forget, in 2009 while with the Braves, Vazquez put up Cy Young-esque numbers (2.87 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 9.8 K/9).

This is an extremely rough first draft of my pitching rankings and faces a lot of changes as the offseason progresses (as well as being expanded significantly).  Keep that in mind as you look things over.

By many accounts, Ryan Braun disappointed in 2010.  A certainty in the first round heading into the year, his performance has left many fantasy owners on the fence on whether they should once again spend an early-round pick on him.

Let’s take a look (please note, when I talk about the first round, I am referring to a standard, 12-team league):

Did Rickie Weeks finally put things together in 2010?  He’s been talked about as a potential breakout star for some time, though injuries and inability perennially short-circuited those hopes.

The 2010 season was the first time Weeks played in more then 129 games as he posted the following impressive line:

The Orioles have progressed left-handed pitcher Zach Britton slowly since he was drafted in the third round of the 2006 draft out of high school.  In fact, they hadn’t advanced him more then one level in a year, giving him a slow climb through the system.  That came to an end in 2010, however, having pitched in Double- and Triple-A and posting the following numbers:

With Trevor Hoffman ticketed out of Milwaukee via free agency, it would appear that John Axford is primed to assume the full-time closing duties. 

Obviously, if that is the case, he is going to be viable in all fantasy formats.  The question, however, is if he is a closer we should target on draft day.

When Hoffman struggled, Axford stepped in and did a solid job as the closer, posting the following line: 8 W, 24 SV, 58.0 IP, 2.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 76 K (11.8 K/9), 27 BB (4.2 BB/9), .319 BABIP.

Victor Martinez is one of the best catchers in baseball.

No one is going to argue that. But when he signed with the Detroit Tigers, you have to wonder if it was a positive move for his fantasy value. 

The Detroit Tigers continued their aggressive offseason approach today by adding Victor Martinez to their roster for a reported $50 million over four years. 

Martinez is obviously a huge upgrade for the Tigers over Gerald Laird and Alex Avila, although Avila will have a chance to approach 300 at-bats again in 2011 with Martinez sure to see some time at DH.  The real question is whether the move to Detroit upgrades Martinez’s fantasy value in 2011.