Fantasy

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. 

This is one of the oddest years for fantasy baseball owners, as after the first three picks the first round is extremely wide open.  It wouldn’t be a stretch to see someone selected fifth or sixth in one draft, only to be selected in the early-to-mid second round in the next.  Therefore we are going to analyze all of the potential first-round picks, looking at their pros and cons to determine if they should be selected in the first round or left for later rounds.

Up first, let’s look at Ryan Howard.

In his first full MLB season, Casey McGehee exceeded all expectations.  Considering his minor league track record, it didn’t necessarily take much.  Hitting primarily in the fifth spot in the lineup, he posted the following line:

There were many surprising performances in 2010, but were any more shocking then Bruce Chen’s?  He’s been around the majors since 1998 and has very rarely proven to be close to a usable option for fantasy owners.  Last season was a different story, however, as he posted the following line:

12 Wins
140.1 Innings
4.17 ERA
1.38 WHIP
98 Strikeouts (6.3 K/9)
57 Walks (3.7 BB/9)
.256 BABIP