Fantasy Baseball

First base is as deep of a position as any in baseball, though there are injury concerns hanging over a few of the best options in the game.  Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, Kendry Morales and Justin Morneau all have questions due to various injuries.  

How does that affect the rankings?  Let’s take a look at how we currently stand:

Zack Greinke certainly finds himself on the list of players who disappointed in 2010.  After posting a 2.16 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, while striking out 9.5 batters per nine innings in 2009, he was considered one of the elite pitchers in the game.  Unfortunately, his numbers ballooned in 2010:

10 Wins
220.0 Innings
4.17 ERA
1.25 WHIP
181 Strikeouts (7.4 K/9)
55 Walks (2.3 BB/9)
.314 BABIP

Prior to suffering a season ending knee injury, the Washington Nationals’ Josh Willingham showed that he is the same player that he’s been over the past few years.  Just look at the numbers to see how consistent he’s been:

370 At Bats
.268 Batting Average (99 Hits)
16 Home Runs
54 RBI
56 Runs
8 Stolen Bases
.389 On Base Percentage
.459 Slugging Percentage
.304 Batting Average on Balls in Play

Let’s take a preliminary look at the first-round of 2011 fantasy baseball drafts.  This is going to be an extremely fluid list, so don’t take the order as anything set in stone.  As I work on my progressions and really dig into my research, things are going to move, possibly quite dramatically.

With that said, let’s get to the list:

There has been talk in the past few weeks about what the Cincinnati Reds will do with Orlando Cabrera, who they hold a $4 million mutual option on for 2011.  Will they exercise that option or will they let him walk, turning the keys over to Paul Janish?

The Arizona Fall League is where a lot of top prospects are sent to get some experience, but it also is a place where guys who have struggled can try and regain some confidence.  Only a handful of games have been played, but let’s take a look at two hitters who have already begun to rebuild their value for 2011:

In the first half of the season, Corey Hart could do no wrong.  He was one of the biggest surprises in the league, hitting .288 with 21 HR and 65 RBI.  Owners who took the gamble on drafting him were on cloud nine…

Unfortunately, the euphoria did not last forever.

Hart’s production in the second half was much more inline with what we would have expected.  He hit .278 with 10 HR and 37 RBI.

Are you new to fantasy basketball? Maybe you have played fantasy sports before but have been hesitant to try out fantasy basketball for one reason or another.

Well, here are five good reasons why you should take the leap and give fantasy basketball a chance if you’ve never played before:

1) Like any other sport, it takes time to learn.

It’s never too early to start looking towards Draft Day 2011, is it? 

Let’s kick off our offseason rankings taking a look at my Top 15 catchers for 2011.

Keep in mind that these will be updated throughout the offseason, depending on player movement and finalizing my projections:

Josh Beckett suffered through one of the worst seasons of his career.  All you have to do is look at the numbers to understand just how bad it was:

6 Wins
127.2 Innings
5.78 ERA
1.54 WHIP
116 Strikeouts (8.2 K/9)
45 Walks (3.2 BB/9)
.349 BABIP

Before we get into specifics, Beckett has coincidentally alternated good and bad years dating back to 2005.  It’s odd, for sure, but it actually is a fact.  Just look at his ERAs: