Fantasy Baseball Advice

I picked up Doug Fister in every league I could.  So, that’s out of the way.  I won’t start him the next time out though and I’m not sure I’ll start him ever.  I may just drop him if I never get a good matchup at home.  At home’s key.  That’s the only place I’d start him.  Last night, his 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks performance is his peak.  He pitches to contact and doesn’t K anyone.  He’s similar to Joel Pineiro.  Call him Jo-eh.  If you were the firster to get him off waivers, chuck him into a package trade for someone much more reliable or exciting.  His appeal is limited.  So, yes, I grabbed him to chuck him.  My apologies, Mister Fister.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Casey Kotchman – Hit his 2nd homer in as many days.  Going mono y mano with Soriole, Bradley Bergesen.

Franklin Gutierrez – The Big FraGu left the game in the 7th with tightness in his groin.  Ugh-arf!  That’s FraGu backwards (almost).

Conor Jackson – To the DL with a hamstring.  This is probably the best thing to happen to his owners all year.  If you’re struggling to find room for him on the DL, I’ll save you the time.  Drop him in most mixed leagues.

Kelly Johnson – 1-for-4, but Conor Jackson’s hamfret pushes Johnson into the leadoff role.  I like me some Johnson!  Not like that.  C’mon, that’s juvenile.

Gerardo Parra – 1-for-3, and now has a starting job because Conor Jackson’s injury is paying it forward.  Parra has little value outside of NL-Only leagues.  There, he’ll give you very little power and little speed.

Ty Wigginton – I mentioned grabbing him yesterday when he had four homers in the last week.  Today, he has 5.

David Eckstein – He hit a walk-off HR for San Diego.  When pressed for comment, Eckstein said it was his biggest hit since knocking out Soda Popinski.

Clayton Richard – 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 5 Ks.  He’s not really bad on Ks and he will have an under-4 ERA at home this year.

Brian Fuentes – Scheduled to return from the DL on Wednesday.  He should get the closer role right back.  At least I hope so since I own this doode.

John Lackey – 3 1/3 IP, 8 ER.  A’la Superintendent Chalmers, “Lack-eee!”  Honestly, this might have been Lackey’s alter ego pitching, Lon Jackey.  He pitches like he’s in a horror film.

Mike Cameron – Could miss a few games because he’s got some stones below the belt in the literal instead of colloquial sense.

Jacoby Ellsbury – May end up D’ellsburied after all.  The Sawx played Bill Hall in center yesterday.  How’s that for depth?

Jeremy Hermida – HR yesterday.  Hermida couldn’t get to a ball he should’ve, which started the scoring on Lackey.  Hermida is a poor-man’s Trot Nixon.  Call him Mosey Agnew.

Brad Penny – 7 IP, 2 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks.  He’s actually been one of my best pitchers so far.  Scary, yet true.

Aaron Rowand – Reports are good that Rowand won’t need surgery on his face.  Too bad Willie McGee never received the same good news.

Juan Uribe – Has two homers in the last two games.  He’s one of the streakiest hitters.  Bet he hits at least two more homers this week.

Dontrelle Willis – 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 2 Ks.  He seems like a good guy.  I wish him the best.  I wouldn’t touch him.

Felix Pie – Will miss up to three months with latissimus dorsi muscle injury.  I thought only dolphins had dorsi muscles.  Anyone ever see Felix Pie flinch around a can of tuna?  Eh, guess it’s not important.  I imagine Reimold’s still nursing his Achilles’ because he’s pulling a Kotchman with that thing, but he’s got one less schmohawk to deal with for playing time and he has been hitting cleanup.

Kelly Shoppach – Out for 4-6 weeks with knee surgery.  I had knee surgery once and I wasn’t able to catch for almost two months later.  Actually, that’s a complete lie, but my English Comp teacher once told me to personalize.

Brandon Morrow – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks vs. the Royals.  Now they should make him a closer!  I keed.  Morrow should be capable of more performances like this one, but he gets the Rays next and I’m officially more worried about the Rays’ offense than the Sawx’s.

Mike McCoy – 3-for-4, 2 steals.  Hill’s due back soon which will push McCoy to, well, wherever McCoys go when they’re not playing.  In the meantime, McCoy stole 40 bases in Triple-A.  As they say at Razzball, SAGNOF!

Travis Snider – 2-for-5 as he hit his 2nd homer in four games.  I think he might be a year away still, but he could be coming around; don’t sleep on him if he’s out there.

Cliff Lee – Will throw a simulated game on Tuesday.  They should use a Wii for that.

Ike Davis – 2-for-4, 1 RBI and a million New Yawkers thinking this Davis has an idear up der at bat.  If you scroll down, you’ll see a post about him.  Want more, greedy?  Okay.  The Mets announcers (I heart Keith Hernandez) were comparing Davis to John Olerud.  Davis was wearing a batting helmet at the time, but they meant it about his hitting.  Also, they meant it as a compliment, but I took it as insult.  20 homers and a good average?  I’m hoping he develops more power than that.  Either way, you should own Davis for the chance at a breakout.

Jose Reyes – Wanted the day off because of fatigue.  It’s fair after playing three plus games in two days.  Then he got in the game late and continued to do nothing.  We need to remain calm.  He had no time to ramp up to the season.  The thyroid shorted him his Spring Training.  I’m not worried.  If Reyes gets hot, he could carry you for a month.

Craig Stammen – 8 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks.  That Stammen is a real pistil!  What, flower jokes ain’t your thing?  Whatever.  Oh, and Stammen’s a terrible pitcher, nothing’s changed.

Kevin Mench – The Nationals gave him a minor league deal and he’s hitting so far.  If the Nats call him up, I’m booking tickets for Kevin Mench Fathead Poster day when the first 10,000 guests get life-sized posters of Kevin Mench’s head that one can affix to their wall like a giant tapestry or fresco.

Scott Podsednik – Left the team for a family emergency.  The emergency:  give his hot wife a royal f***in’ vs. playing for the f***in’ Royals.

J.J. Hardy is an easy buy, which isn’t the same as an easy sell.  Hardy’s not exactly promoting a yum-yum juicy chicken burger with a side of 30 homers and 20 steals.  He’s cheap.  His expectations are low.  He’s 27-years-old and averaged 83/25/77/.280 at 24 and 25.  Last year, he didn’t tune and check out with Khalil Greene, going off to mullet all over.  Hardy started the year dealing with back issues and he never recovered.  If you invite Hardy onto your team, you don’t need to put plastic sheets on the bed and hide all the good flatware.  With O-Dog currently hurt and his grasp on the #2 spot tenuous, Hardy could be next in line for that spot.  If so, 160+ R/RBI is definitely reachable and the power is already there.  Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

BUY

Ervin Santana – I was saying the other day something like you should move to the exit row.  I didn’t say exit.  I was preparing my exit.  Now when I see he’s only owned in 26% of ESPN leagues, I’m beginning to think people bailed on him too soon.  This isn’t a buy, this is a hold.  Format constraints and all that.

C.J. Wilson – Went over him this morning.  Go ahead.  Scroll down.  This’ll be here, assuming you don’t try to scroll by taking a crowbar to your computer screen.

Gio Gonzalez – This buy is solely dependent on you wanting Ks.  But, really, who doesn’t want Ks?  I could’ve put Felipe Paulino here instead.  In fact, I did last week.

Justin Masterson – My logic in the morning post didn’t seem to interest people so I’m going to break it down to you simple enough that even a dead Minnie Pearl could understand it.  Masterson will be better than Oswalt this year.

Ian Kennedy – In his first start, he had 8 strikeouts through 5 innings and only made one mistake (a 3-run homer).  I’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Muesday.

Kelly Johnson – For those out there that are like Mr. Short Term Memory — Hey, who turned on my computer?! — I present to you a not that oldie and not that goodie, “In certain circumstances, I’m excited to draft Kelly Johnson late as my middle infielder.  Last year, Bobby Cox never gave Johnson a fair shake.  He benched him against lefties, sat him when he slumped, told him he’d never be Marcus Giles… It was a trying time for a guy with a girl’s first name.  An every day job could easily translate to a 15/10 season.  Sounds yawnstipating, but at MI and where he’ll be drafted he’ll be a steal late in 2010 drafts.”  And that’s me quoting January Grey!  Do I need a dot-EDU URL to gain some trust?

Ian Desmond – Owned in 3.7% of ESPN leagues?  Seriously?  That makes me sad.

Casey McGehee – I wasn’t a big fan of his in the preseason, but he’s hitting 5th behind Fielder and Braun and he has the superfecta of eligibility.  Could be a poor man’s Uggla.

Josh Willingham – The Nats really aren’t that bad.  No, really!  Okay, their pitching staff Sansburg isn’t good, but their hitting isn’t terrible.  “Isn’t terrible” for the Nats is a compliment.  Willingham is the guy on everyone’s waivers that can get you 25-30 homers and 90-100 RBIs.  Does he bling-bling up your fantasy team?  No, he’s not flashy.  You’re looking at Blanks or Swisher, but Willingham is the other white meat.

Julio Borbon – To bust out my Jackie Chiles, the dissimilitude of Borbon’s performance to my magnanimity of drafting him has been egregious.  Need to give Borbon another week or two.  Yo quiero Julio and I’m sincero.

Matt Lindstrom – Was thinking about how Lindstrom is only owned in 61% of ESPN leagues, but then I thought about how 50% of ESPN leagues are already abandoned, so Lindstrom’s already at 111%, so, ya know, it’s all good, baby, baby.

Chris Perez – SAGNOF!

Franklin Morales – See 1/8 of an inch above.

Jeff Clement – He should get 400+ ABs if he stays healthy.  Napoli has never reached 400 ABs in any season of his career.  Cust kayin’.

Casey Kotchman – He’s hitting third vs. righties so he’s on the right side of the blahtoon.  The toon side, if you will.

Gaby Sanchez – Hitting .364 through three games.  No rush to defrost Ted Williams’s frozen head just yet, but, well, I own Sanchez.

SELL

Carlos Gomez – Spoiler alert!  If his big game came any day other than Opening Day, you wouldn’t even need this reminder that he’s terrible.  Well, here’s your one reminder.  He’s terrible.

Travis Snider – I was randy on Travis.  No more.  Later, doode.  To drop a Mama’s Family-esque line on ya, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

Rickie Weeks – I like Weeks and do think he can be very valuable if he stays healthy.  That “if” needs its own island to stretch out its legs.  If you can get anything for Rickie “To the DL for 6-8″ Weeks, I’d consider it.

Vernon Wells – Sweet Sassy Molassey!  Wells is hitting everything out of the park, but I don’t think it continues.  Trade him before the clock strikes crap.

On his way to The Stadium That Jane Fonda Didn’t Receive In The Divorce Settlement, Jason Heyward ordered his chariot driver to the side of the road so he could wrestle a wildebeest.  Suicide mission or pregame ritual?  Doesn’t matter.  With nary a scuff to his gladiator sandals, he escaped unharmed.  With the wildebeest head shipped off to PETA, Heyward arrived at the game, went 2-for-5 and hit a home run.  No doubt, he is the greatest player since RBI Baseball’s Darrell Evans.  After the game, Heyward said, “What game?  I was commissioned by Al Gore to form cloud cover.”  Consider Heyward a 80/20/80/.280/10 guy.  If someone offers you better than that, take it.  If you’re in a league where someone gives you a top 50 player for him, you’re in a sucker league.  And you better beat those suckers.  Remember, Jordan Schafer hit a home run on Opening Day last year.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Nate McLouth – Hitting eighth.  He did hit .010 in the preseason, but I think Cox comes around on him.  Could be a nice buy low situation.  Then again, I’m not a huge fan of McLousy, so I need to stop touting him.

Carlos Zambrano – 1 1/3 IP, 8 ER.  In all fairness, he gave up five bloop singles… And two bloop 450 foot homers.

Derek Lowe – 6 IP, 5 ER and the Win.  I don’t like Lowe this year; this start did nothing to change my mind.

Shaun Marcum – Had a no-hitter through 6 and a third until Nelson Cruz said I am more than an All-Star replacement.  Marcum’s one of those pitchers I’d be all over if he played in the NL.  In Toronto, s’okay.

Jason Frasor – 1/3 IP, 2 ER as he blew the save.  He has guys behind him that can fill-in, but the Jays are playing for nothing.  So it’s six of one, half dozen of another for how long Frasor’s closer leash will be.  I’m not grabbing Downs or Gregg yet, but one more blown save and that could change.

Adam Lind – HR yesterday.  One down, 34 more to go.

Travis Snider – 0-for-4, 3 Ks.  There will be quite a few of these type of days.  He can still hit plenty of homers too.  The bugaboo is he’s batting 9th.

Mike Napoli – Didn’t start yesterday.  Napoli is why the Ron Popeil method of setting and forgetting your catcher was invented.  Napoli doesn’t play every game, it’s how Scioscia do.

Carlos Gomez – 4-for-5, steal and a homer.  Gomez hit 2nd yesterday.  I mentioned in the comments that he could be this year’s Emilio Bonifacio.  What I mean is a guy that steals 4 bases in one week, everyone adds him then by the third week of the season people wish he’d die by falling in front of a marching band that tramples him.  Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t add him early, just don’t drop anyone you’ll regret.

Carlos Gonzalez – It’s an 8-for-10 day for CarGoes. Gonzalez was also thrown out by about a foot trying to steal.  Good to see him running, be nicer to see him getting better jumps.

Seth Smith – 0-for-4, 3 strikeouts.  Fowler owners and lispers rejoice.

Huston Street – Received good news that there wasn’t nothing seriously wrong with his shoulder.  Except that he can’t pitch.

Dan Haren – 7 IP, 1 ER.  I’m guessing it’s before the All-Star Break.  Hey, look, it is!

Mark Reynolds – HR yesterday.  Reynolds isn’t ready to relinquish the Mini-Donkey title just yet.  Mini-Donkeys are stubborn.

Ian Stewart – HR yesterday.  In a land of men and Mini-Donkeys, there was one Mini-Donkey who was smaller than all others, but his heart and home runs were bigger.  His name was Ian Stewart and he’s Mini-Mini Donkey.

Mark Kotsay – Announcers were talking him up as a professional hitter that “adds flexibility.”  I don’t know but his wife makes me stiff.

Mike Jacobs – 0-for-4 as he hit cleanup.  I get the whole righty-lefty thing, but Mike Jacobs can barely cleanup his locker.

David Wright – HR yesterday.  After last year, his owners will take any power signs, but this homer was a fortunate, well-placed blast that was just around the pole.  Or as they call it in New York, The Pesci Pole.

Jose Reyes – Stole two bases in his rehab game.  It won’t be long now, ya’ll.

Casey Kotchman – 2-for-4, 4 RBIs.  As expected, he hit third against a righty.  For those that aren’t hip to handiness, there’s a lot more righties.  If you can find someone to get into your lineup when the Mariners face lefties, it could be worth it.

Garrett Jones – 2 HRs yesterday.  As our fantasy football contributor, Mark, said yesterday, “Robot Jones just fulfilled one of his 3 laws.”

Delmon Young – 2-for-4, HR yesterday.  Deep leagues obviously need to react quicker than other leagues.  Who knows, Young is still, well, young at 24 and he was once a big time prospect.

Roy Halladay – 7 IP, 1 ER, 9 Ks.  What’s a bigger joke?  Halladay vs. the Nats or Lannan vs. the Phils.

Placido Polanco – 3-for-5, 6 RBIs, grand slam. That was a month’s worth of Feliz.  Spanish pun intended.

Ian Desmond – 0-for-2 as he hit 8th.  Willie Harris went 0-for-4 from the two hole.  While Desmond needs to hit to stay on the field, Willie Harris should not be batting 2nd.

Ryan Franklin – 1 IP, 2 ER.  Kazaam!

Chris Carpenter – 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 Ks.  Rudy and I both agree that we wouldn’t own Carpenter this year.

Albert Pujols – 4-for-5, 2 HRs.  Poo-Holes is spitting fire.

Colby Rasmus – 2-for-4, HR.  Really wish I got him in a league this year.  I have a feeling it’s going to be his coming out party.  Maybe he’ll announce it in The Advocate.

Drew Stubbs – 2-for-2, didn’t get the start, but was brought in to face the lefty Reyes.  If Dusty’s only playing Stubbs vs. lefties, it kills his value.  Worse, I think all the Reds’ outfielders — aside from Bruce — are looking at 350-400 ABs.  That’s Gomes, Dickerson and Stubbs.

Joey Votto – 3-for-5, HR yesterday.  It was a good day, Ice Cube.

Zach Greinke – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 Ks.  Over/under for Greinke’s no decisions this year?  16? 17 maybe?

Justin Verlander – 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 Ks.  Same thing every year for Verlander.  April early showers, bring May flowers.

Cameron Maybin – 0-for-4, 3 Ks.  It’s no embarrassment to be overmatched by Johan, even Johan 2.0, but Maybin looked completely lost.  My bigger problem with Maybin is he only has 20 steal speed.  He’s not a burner.

Gaby Sanchez – 2-for-4 with a double.  Yeah, not that exciting but I own him, so you’re gonna have to occasionally hear about him.

Ken Griffey Jr. – You see this Dick’s Sporting Goods commercial with Griffey running around the store?  Is this commercial from 1993?  Griffey strained his hamstring somewhere in aisle #5.

Mark Buehrle – 7 IP, 4 baserunners.  After Buehrle made one of the best plays by a pitcher ever, The Hawk, the White Sox announcer, said Buehrle’s had a storybook career.  Can’t wait for the movie.  The Mark Buehrle Story starring Michael Rappaport.

Carlos Quentin – No wonder he’s always getting hurt, I watched him get hit by pitches twice that he should’ve easily avoided.  He has the reaction time of Robert De Niro in Awakenings.

While the merits of what someone is hitting or not hitting in Spring Training can be debated, where they are hitting or not hitting is important to look at.  First, I want you to refresh your pretty little brain with the impact of lineup position on Runs and RBIs.  Welcome back!  Anyway, here’s some players whose value dips or shoots up (easy, Hamilton) due to 2010 lineup position:

Alexei Ramirez – He tends to start the season slow and he’s slated to bat ninth.  That’s a recipe for yawnstipation.

Ben Zobrist - Here’s what I said about Zobrist in the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings, “Zobrist’s homers don’t seem as fluky as they might appear.  He maintained a 17.5 HR/FB in 2009 and a 17.4 HR/FB in 2008.  Granted, that was a smaller sample size.  So he may look like David Eckstein, but the only thing they have in common is neither is Jewish though their names sound like they are.  Zobrist’s average seems out there; he looks closer to a .270 hitter.  He was a utility man coming into 2009 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he left 2010 back in that role.”  And that’s me quoting me!  Well, I could be wrong.  Zobrist will be hitting third for the Rays.  The doubts I had about Zobrist coming into this season are a bit assuaged by this lineup position.  I still don’t think Zobrist hitting third will last the whole year, but who goes from hitting third at the start of the year to the bench?  Oh, wait…

Casey Kotchman – Should hit third against righties.  Look at Casey making a play for fantasy value!  Unfortunately, he probably won’t play against lefties with Garko stealing ABs.  If you can somehow work a platoon of Kotchman into your fantasy lineup (I’m thinking mostly AL-Only leagues), Casey could be a steal.  Damn, every time I say I’m done with a player, they pull me back in.  So who’s hitting third vs. lefties? Glad you asked, random italicized voice.

Franklin Gutierrez – Will hit third vs. lefties.  Though The Big FraGu is slotted into the 7 hole vs. righties, hitting in front of the catcher and Jack Wilson.  On the bright side, this is contingent on the health of Bradley and Griffey Jr., who’s now older than Griffey Sr. from when you remember him.

Jose Bautista – Hitting leadoff.  That could also be the answer to, “Where did all of Aaron Hill’s RBIs go?”

Travis Snider – Currently stuck between John Buck and Alex Gonzalez.  That’s like the middle seat between Afa and Sika.

Gaby Sanchez – This could change, but right now he looks like he’s stuck in the eight hole.  Luckily, no one’s actually drafted him anywhere, except for me.  Yay me.

Shane Victorino – This move has been covered by me numerous times before, but, yeah, he’s in the 7 hole and Crapolanco is appropriately enough in the two hole.

Ian Desmond – Batting 2nd.  “Mr. Desmond, roses just arrived from you.”  “Who are they from?”  “Grey from Razzball.”  “Put them in the pile with the chocolates he sent yesterday.”

Marlon Byrd – The five hole.  He’s going to prove to be so borderline mixed league worthy, I have a feeling there will be at least 1700 comments this year asking me if they should drop (Insert Schmohawk) and pick up Byrd.

Orlando Cabrera – O-Cab’s in the two hole.  He’ll probably be more valuable than most middle infielders that are owned more than him, but what freakin’ fun is it owning Orlando Cabrera?

Jay Bruce – Until Rolen gets injured, Bruce is in the 6 hole.  Bruce could be this year’s Kemp in regards to a losing value from lineup position.

Julio Borbon – Will be hitting on top of a very potent lineup.  Borbon will have to really struggle to not have a huge year.

Elvis Andrus – He has not left the building, but he has parked in the nine hole.

Albert Callaspo – Hitting third.  For all of you crazy excited about Butler this year.  He’s hitting in this lineup:  DeJesus, Podsednik, Callaspo, Butler, Ankiel, Guillen, Betancourt, Kendall and Getz.  There’s about eight names there that wouldn’t make the starting lineup for any other team.  Fun times!

Magglio Ordonez – I really don’t think he’s ownable anywhere, but he’s set to bat third.  I could probably knock in 90 and score 90 in the three hole of a major league lineup.

Scott Sizemore – Will be allowed to ferment in the 8 hole as he proves his mettle for a month or two.  I have a feeling that I might be jumping off the Scott Sizemore bandwagon sooner vs. later.  We shall see.

Erick Aybar – Leading off for the Angels. Will get Runs, some steals and average, poor homers and RBIs.  His stats are like looking at Yunel’s in the mirror.  I will call you, lenuY.

Garrett Jones – Will bat third.  If you can have a fantasy lineup of mostly three hole hitters, you’re at least pointing in the right direction.

Colby Rasmus – Batting in front of Pujols.  A 2001 Bonds would get pitches to hit in front of Pujols.

Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler – Top of the Rockies order.  That’s rated 3 M for Mmm…

Everth Cabrera – At some point, I hope the Padres make the right decision and put EverCab at the top of the order, but I don’t think it’s happening out of the gate.

Pablo Sandoval – Hitting third behind Rowand and Renteria, which sounds like a VD clinic.

Nick Johnson – Hitting 2nd for the Yankees.  Johnson has a .400+ career OBP.  Last I checked the Yankees scored a lot of runs.  Anyone want any action on the over/under for the amount of times Johnson’s on second and gets held at 3rd on a single?  65? 70?

Nolan Reimold – I’m not even sure he’s in the lineup.  Trembley’s talking about starting Pie.  How dare you judge, Reimold!  Doode, your team’s going nowhere fast — play Reimold!  Sorry, this has nothing to do with this post.  But I thought some of you might not have heard and I didn’t want to do a whole post on this, though I did have the title, Effin’ Pie.

Alcides Escobar – Batting at the bottom of the lineup for right now, but Weeks is one aggressive burp away from the DL.

Matt Holliday signed with the Cardinals after it became clear that no one else was signing him.  Other than going to the Padres or A’s (again) or some other terrible team/park, I didn’t think it mattered much where Holliday signed.  He is in the prime of his career and is what he is.  A .315, 15 steal, 25-30 home run hitter.  His absurd 28 steals in 2008 looks to be an outlier.  As does his 36 homer season in 2007.  He’s not signing on for Coors II, The Humidor Breaks.  Currently, I have Matt Holliday ranked in my top 20 for 2010.  (The rankings begin next Monday.  You can hardly wait!  No, you!)  I ranked him there knowing he was probably staying in The Bootheel.  Anyway, here’s other signings and trades and what they mean for 2010 fantasy baseball:

Casey Kotchman – Off to the Mariners.  When your career is five years in and your defining moment is an eight month bout with mono as immortalized by Pulling a Kotchman, you got problems.  A junket to Safeco ain’t helping the cause.  Sorta gives you a good idea about imbalance when Kotchman was a back-up’s back-up on the Sawx and is now the starting first baseman for the M’s.  Conor Jackson looks at Kotchman’s power upside and laughs (then coughs from Valley Fever as he pulled his own Kotchman last year.)  I.e. Ignore Kotchman in mixed leagues unless he’s showing signs in Spring Training or the first weeks of the season.

Adrian Beltre – The Red Sox seem to be intent on making sure the only Lowell in Massachusetts next year is the one 40 minutes NE of Boston.  Our hopes that they’d replace him with a Freddie Saugus or Nick Framingham didn’t work out.  The Red Sox keep signing bleh hitters (Cameron, Beltre) because of their defensive prowess.  Whatever.  We’re a fantasy baseball site.  That doesn’t excite us.  There’s only one good fielder in baseball….and his name is Prince.  Because of his fielding, Beltre should help the Sox pitchers (and their opponents with his hitting).  I keed.  Of course leaving Safeco will help Beltre.  Two things will happen now that Beltre is on the Red Sox.  1) He will be more valuable as a hitter.  Hey, a 315 left field wall can’t hurt.  Unless you’re Mike Cameron and you run into it with your head.  2) Beltre will now be drafted much higher.  So you have to weigh how much 1 warrants 2.  Beltre has been a bit of a hacking mess the past few years.  Last year, he ranked 6th in all of baseball for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone.  Two players worse than Jeff Francouer.  Other than his off-the-charts 2004, Beltre has never cleared the fences more than 26 times in a season.  The Red Sox don’t need production from him so that will either mean he’s more relaxed and hit better or he’ll grow disinterested.  I could see the latter happening.  But that should be offset by Fenway’s favorable conditions.  Either way, he’s a fair bet for 24 homers, a .275 average and 10 steals.  There’s value in that at 3rd base.  Just don’t let his newfound home cause you to push him too far up draft boards.  He did, after all, hit 8 homers last year.  Sure, that was because of a shoulder injury, but what makes anyone think shoulder injuries just go away?  After his shoulder surgery, Mariners medical director said, “(The procedure was) very successful.  We expect a rehabilitation timeline of approximately three to four months.”  That was after his first shoulder surgery back in September of 2008.  He then needed to have a similar surgery in late June of 2009.  I.e., Beltre’s better now, but not without flaws.