Fantasy

Now that Adrian Gonzalez will be calling Fenway Park home instead of Petco Park, we have to wonder what we can expect from him this year (and in the future) in terms of fantasy production.

Dan Uggla tends to be a rather polarizing player.  The people who like him really, really like him. 

The people who are not as high on him may not “hate” him, per se, but they devalue him based on the potential for a low average. 

The question is: are some people underappreciating the skill set that Uggla brings to the table?

Before we can fully answer that question, let’s take a look at what he accomplished in 2010:

If you are a fantasy baseball avid, over the next few weeks leading up to your draft, you will likely read more "Top Ten Sleepers for 2011" or "Under the Radar Players to Watch Out For This Year" articles than ‘Useful Financial Advice’ or ‘Finance for Dummies’ articles Brian Cashman or Al Davis will read. Although, on that note, everyone in America would be well-served to read some of those articles. Anyway…sleepers. What are they? What does the term sleeper mean? How young or inexperienced does a player have to be to be considered a sleeper?

There are only so many Juan Pierres and Rajai Davises in the MLB. When drafting a fantasy baseball team, it is crucial that you do not overlook the stolen base category because the talent here can thin out before you even have a chance to react. In 2010, there were 17 players who stole 30+ bases, which is about how many players hit 30+ home runs in 2010. However, whereas there were 69 players who hit 20+ home runs, there was a mere 30 20+ base stealers. So what is the moral?

If you don't know who Kila Ka'aihue is, I wouldn't be surprised. Ka'aihue is the projected 2011 starting first baseman for the Kansas City Royals.

Yes, I am aware that no Royals player has hit 100 RBI since Carlos Beltran in 2003. Yes, I am aware that the Royals ranked 20th in 2010 in runs scored with only 676.

There has been some significant movement in our starting pitcher rankings since we originally checked in on them. 

The most glaring change was due to Zack Greinke’s trade to the Brewers, but that’s certainly not all. Let’s take a look at how things currently look:

After defeating the Yankees in 2003 as a member of the Florida Marlins, Josh Beckett officially became an ace. While his ’03 season was impressive in its own right (3.04 ERA, 142 IP), his dominant post-season performance gave him the stage he needed to show the world how great he could be.

Once upon a time Brian Roberts was among the elite second basemen in the game.  Doesn’t that feel like decades ago at this point?  Even before injuries limited him to just 59 games in 2010 Roberts’ star had lost a bit of its shine.

Just look at his stolen base totals in recent years:

One of the biggest questions surrounding the baseball world this offseason involves the bat of Toronto's newest slugger, Jose Bautista.

Last season, Bautista's on-again, off-again relationship with the home run had many fantasy owners perplexed as to what type of player he truly was.

There are times that fantasy writers will make a bold statement or reach for a player in a mock draft in order to simply make a point.  As unrealistic as it may seem, they want to hammer it home how strongly they feel about a particular player.

That’s not something that I do and this isn’t one of those times. 

If I had a choice between David Price and Colby Lewis, I would make the same selection every single time, whether it be a mock draft or a real draft.

I would rather own Colby Lewis