Fantasy Baseball Tools

Milwaukee Brewers sign Aramis Ramirez, trade Casey McGehee

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 12th, 2011

The Milwaukee Brewers found a big bat to add to their lineup on Monday by signing free agent third basemen Aramis Ramirez to a three-year $36 million contract. With Ryan Braun possibly out for the first 50 games of the season, Ramirez will have a chance to drive in the majority of runs hitting third or fourth in the lineup.

Speaking of Ryan Braun, if he is out the first 50 games of the season, what does that mean for his fantasy value? If we cut 1/3 of his stats from last season, he doesn’t fall as much as you [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings – Day 5 News and Notes

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 9th, 2011

The big news of day five of the major league baseball winter meetings was a trade between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics with the Diamondbacks acquiring starting pitcher Trevor Cahill and Craig Breslow and Oakland picking up starting pitcher Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and relief pitcher Ryan Cook.

Parker has been the D-Backs number one prospect for the last couple of seasons, but his path to the major leagues was sidetracked in 2009 when he underwent Tommy John surgery. He has a 3.49 career minor league ERA in 346 innings with 8.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He should [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings – Day 4 News and Notes

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 8th, 2011

The Los Angeles Angels stole the thunder on Thursday at the major league baseball winter meetings by landing free agent first basement Albert Pujols with a 10-year $254 million contract. Outside of all of the hoopla surrounding the second highest contract in major league baseball history being awarded or the fact that the team gave a 10-year contract to a player that turns 32 in January, the most pressing question is what this means from a fantasy baseball perspective.

The latest news was that Kendrys Morales was coming along from his second ankle surgery and was expected to be ready [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings – Day 3 News and Notes

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 7th, 2011

The Miami Marlins continue to the big spenders so far of the winter meetings as they snagged starting free agent pitcher Mark Buehrle, signing him to a four-year $58 million contract. The move reunites him with his old manager from the Chicago White Sox Ozzie Guillen. The left-handed Buehrle who turns 33 in March will be pitching in the National League for the first time in his career which may make him relevant in fantasy baseball circles a while longer as he ages. It should also help boost his strikeout rate slightly which should push his totals closer to [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings – News and Notes

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 6th, 2011

The 2011 Major League Baseball winter meetings kicked off in Dallas, TX with several teams jumping into trade action. The San Francisco Giants sent outfielder Andres Torres and relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez to the New York Mets for Angel Pagan. Pagan becomes the second new addition to the outfield for the Giants joining Melky Cabrera who was acquired earlier in a trade this winter. With Torres and Ramirez both arbitration eligible, this gives the Giants a little extra room in their budget to possibly and go out and get a shortstop like Jimmy Rollins.

For the Mets, it was a [...] Continue Reading…

Miami Marlins Sign Closer Heath Bell

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 2nd, 2011

The Miami Marlins made their first splash in free agency by signing free agent closer Heath Bell to a three-year contract for $27 million. With Juan Oviedo (formerly Leo Nunez) on the restricted list, this was a good move by the Marlins to lock up a solid closer.

There is no change in Bell for his fantasy baseball value but the big winner in the deal for now is Luke Gregerson in San Diego who for now is the closer for the Padres. Gregerson has a career 3.10 ERA and 1.12 WHIP and has struck out more than a batter [...] Continue Reading…

Colorado Rockies Trade Chris Iannetta, Sign Ramon Hernandez

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 30th, 2011

The Colorado Rockies made two moves that would make a veteran fantasy baseball owner smile had this been done in a fantasy league as they essentially swapped catchers while picking up a young starting pitcher. In their first move, the Rockies traded catcher Chris Iannetta to the Los Angeles Angels for starting pitcher Tyler Chatwood. The team then signed free agent catcher Ramon Hernandez to a two-year contract for $6.4 million.

For the Angels, they get to try fix the mistake they made a year ago when they lost an offensive catcher by dealing Mike Napoli while the Rockies can [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Dominican Winter League Updates

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 28th, 2011

Through 30+ games of action in the Dominican Winter League, here is a snapshot of some of the top players and how they are performing as well as their potential impact in fantasy baseball leagues in 2012.

Aguilas Cibaenas:

Wilin Roasrio (COL) – Rosario has flashed power in 113 at bats with six home runs and 28 runs batted in. He is going to need to cut down on his strikeouts however if he expects to have a chance to with the Colorado Rockies catching job with 35 strikeouts and only seven walks.

Brian Bogusevic (HOU) – a sleeper pick in NL-only [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Caribbean Winter League Updates

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 22nd, 2011

With many of the professional winter baseball leagues halfway through their season, here is a look at some of the top names in the 2011 Caribbean Winter Leagues and how they are performing through 30+ games.

Bravos de Margarita:

Collin Cowgill (ARI) – the outfielder is hitting just .212 through 104 at bats with no home runs and a stolen base. He could push Gerardo Parra for playing time in the outfield for the Diamondbacks in 2012.

Wilmer Flores (NYM) – the shortstop is struggling to stay above the Mendoza line with a .200 average in 60 at bats with three RBI. [...] Continue Reading…

Texas Rangers Sign Joe Nathan, Move Neftali Feliz to Rotation

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 21st, 2011

The Texas Rangers inked closer Joe Nathan to a two-year contract Monday night for $14 million with a team option in the third year of the deal worth $9 million or a $500,000 buyout. Next year will be his second season removed from Tommy John surgery and the second half of the 2011 season showed improvement by Nathan as he posted a 3.91 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP with a .207 batting average against.

From a fantasy baseball perspective, the big news of this transaction by the Rangers was it means that former closer Neftali Feliz will be headed to [...] Continue Reading…

Philadelphia Phillies Acquire Ty Wigginton From Colorado Rockies

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 21st, 2011

The Philadelphia Phillies made a solid move to shore up their bench to and to give them protection in case first basemen Ryan Howard is not ready to start the season by picking up infielder Ty Wigginton from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Wigginton is the American League equivalent to David Murphy in Texas. He is a guy that starts off in a reserve role but still seems to end up getting 400 at bats by the time the season ends which makes him good value in an NL-only type format.

In [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Arizona Fall League Stats – A Review of the Top Performers in the AFL

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 20th, 2011

The Arizona Fall League just wrapped up its 2011 season and there were several players that stood out for their performance at the plate and on the mound. The AFL is the top showcase for up and coming minor league talent in the off-season and it provides a nice preview for fantasy league baseball owners for the upcoming season as several players that you might not have heard of before their AFL play will have an impact in 2012.

Last year guys like Ben Revere and Josh Collmenter turned some heads in the Arizona Fall League and were able to [...] Continue Reading…

Starting Pitcher Strikeout Rates Per Nine Innings – Biggest Drops in 2011

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 15th, 2011

Yesterday we talked about one of the ways to look at fantasy baseball statistics when doing a year-over-year comparison is by looking at the average or percentages instead of just the raw numbers. Sometimes the raw numbers can be misleading and a starting pitcher may have had more strikeouts simply because of an increase in the amount of innings he pitched rather than an increase in performance. Here is a look at some of the starting pitcher that saw the biggest drop in their strikeouts per nine innings rate from 2010 to [...] Continue Reading…

Starting Pitcher Strikeout Rates Per Nine Innings – Biggest Jumps in 2011

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 15th, 2011

One of the ways to look at fantasy baseball statistics when doing a year-over-year comparison is by looking at the average or percentages instead of just the raw numbers. Sometimes the raw numbers can be misleading and a starting pitcher may have had more strikeouts simply because of an increase in the amount of innings he pitched rather than an increase in performance. Here is a look at some of the starting pitcher that saw the biggest jump in their strikeouts per nine innings rate from 2010 to 2011. For reference, strikeouts per nine innings is the mount of [...] Continue Reading…

Jamey Carroll Signs With Twins

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 12th, 2011

The Minnesota Twins will have a new shortstop in 2012 after signing free agent shortstop Jamey Carroll to a two-year contract for $7 million. While he is not a sexy name for mixed fantasy leagues, American League only owners should definitely have his name in mind as a late $1-$3 play in fantasy baseball auction formats or as a late round pick in AL-only snake draft formats.

Turning 38 in February and with little power to speak of, he has not homered since 2009, most fantasy baseball owners will overlook him. However, he has as .278 career batting average, including [...] Continue Reading…

Jonathan Papelbon Set to Join Philles

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 11th, 2011

The first big name signing of free agency looks close to happening with closer Jonathan Papelbon reportedly agreeing to a four-year, $50 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. It was just yesterday that it looked like last season’s closer Ryan Madson was going to be back in the fold on a four-year deal before talks fell apart. Instead it ends up costing the Phillies an additional $6 million over the life the of the contract if the reports of $44 for Madson were correct and the Phillies will also lose their first round draft pick next season with Papelbon [...] Continue Reading…

Giants Swap Jonathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 8th, 2011

Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore did what most fantasy baseball owners should do as well when it comes to trading, dealing from an area of strength in trading outfielder Melky Cabrera who had a career year in 2011 for starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez of the San Francisco Giants.

Sanchez gives the Royals a quality starter that, while he still struggles with his control, strikes out more than a batter an inning. The Royals only had two starting pitchers throw more than 160 innings last year so they were in desperate need to find rotation help. Sanchez turns 29 [...] Continue Reading…

More Home Runs Coming for David Wright in 2012?

Posted by Todd Lammi on October 31st, 2011

The New York Mets made a major announcement today that had little impact on news outlets, but could have a big impact for fantasy baseball owners that own Mets hitters. The team announced that they will be making changes to the dimensions of Citi Field in 2012 which they project could add roughly 25 more home runs to the teams offensive output at home. For power hitters like David Wright and Jason Bay, that could mean another three to six home runs at home per player, in addition to increased confidence which could impact other offensive categories as well.

Citi [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Final Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Closers

Posted by Todd Lammi on October 30th, 2011

Here is a look at the final 2011 fantasy baseball rankings for closers. I used the criteria of a minimum of 10 saves as the threshold for the player pool in determining the final rankings.

1. Craig Kimbrel – head and shoulders above all other closers from a fantasy baseball perspective, striking out 127 in 77 innings and posting 46 saves. The heavy workload seemed to catch up to him by the end of the season as he converted 5-of-8 saves in September with a 4.76 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP.

2. John Axford – [...] Continue Reading…

2011 Final Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Outfielders

Posted by Todd Lammi on October 14th, 2011

Here is a look at the final 2011 fantasy baseball rankings for outfielders. I used the criteria of 400 at bats as the threshold for the player pool in determining the final rankings. If you are a Kansas City Royals fan and you loaded up on all of their outfielders in your fantasy baseball draft, chances are you finished in the money in your league as all three outfielders ranked in the top 20.

1. Matt Kemp – a more focused Kemp bounced back from his sub par 2010 campaign and came a home run [...] Continue Reading…