Fantasy Baseball Tools

by Todd Lammi

A lot has been happening in the last few days around the major leagues, so let’s examine some of the stories and how they relate to fantasy baseball.

Closer watch - Kevin Gregg was named closer of the Chicago Cubs over Carlos Marmol. If you have an auction league this weekend, I still bid for Marmol and assume he will get his share of saves once Gregg falters. I see Marmol ending with around 20 saves and Gregg maybe 15. Tony Larussa confirmed that Jason Motte will see save save chances, but Motte has not been officially name the outright closer. Ryan Franklin should still see time in the ninth inning. Chris Perez was sent to AAA so you can scratch him from your draft sheet. Brandon Morrow has been moved into the closer role for the Seattle Mariners. That’s good for fantasy owners who spent many a sleepless night debating between the four to five other options the Mariners had. Trevor Hoffman will start the season on the disabled list for the Milwaukee Brewers with Carlos Villanueva filling in for the first week of the year. Joey Devine could be headed to the DL with tightness in his elbow bumping up the value of Brad Ziegler for saves.

Late round fliers AL / NL only leagues - I like Casey McGehee with the Milwaukee Brewers. I would be happy with the Brew Crew letting Bill Hall and Mike Lamb go and see what McGehee could do until Matt Gamel was ready. Livan Hernadez was named the New York Mets fifth starter. I don’t care what his numbers are in spring training, stay far, far away from him. Ross Ohlendorf has secured a spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation, I would be willing to pay a $1 for him.

Position Battles – Brett Gardner was named the starting cetner fielder for the New York Yankees. Gardner has a chance to steal 30-35 bases this season. Speaking of speed, DeWayne Wise looks to have secured the starting center field job for the Chicago White Sox and will be the lead off hitter. I don’t expect that to last for more than two months of the season. In the meantime, enjoy a few stolen bases while Wise is in the lineup.

Rookie Watch - Jordan Schafer took one more step closer to locking down the center field job with the Atlanta Braves with the trade of Josh Anderson to the Detroit Tigers. Brett Anderson of the Oakland A’s had a nice outing on Monday. He looks to be solid play in AL only leagues. Two words, Jason McDonald, pick him up now, he should be the fifth starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers and should put up some decent numbers.

Lineup announcements – It looks like David Murphy starts the season hitting second for the New York Mets which gives him a bump up in runs scored. Luis Castillo looks to be hitting eight which will reduce his stolen base attempts batting in front of the pitcher.