Posts Tagged ‘Prince Fielder’

Tigers Sign Prince Fielder to Nine-Year Contract

Posted by Todd Lammi on January 24th, 2012

The Detroit Tigers made a move to fill a hole in their lineup created by the season-ending injury to designated hitter Victor Martinez by signing first basemen Prince Fielder to a nine-year contract worth a reported $214 million contract. This gives the Tigers two 40+ home run, 100+ RBI sluggers in the middle of the batting order with Fielder joining Miguel Cabrera.

From a fantasy standpoint, there should be little change to the value of Fielder with the move to the American League. The big winner in the signing is Cabrera who will now see time at third base, first base and designated hitter. While it might take Cabrera a few weeks to gain third base eligibility once the season starts, it puts him in discussion now for being the number one overall pick in fantasy drafts.

The only real question with Cabrera now shifting to third base, is where is Fielder going to hit in the lineup. Cabrera has been entrenched at cleanup so Fielder would fit nicely into the third spot in the order and provide a nice lefty-right split between the three and four hitters in the order.

It also helps Austin Jackson keep his value if he hits first in the order again as he was looking at a drop in runs scored with the loss of Martinez from the order. Now with Fielder in a run-producing spot in the lineup, Jackson’s value goes back to where it was pre-Martinez’s injury.

 

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2010 Final Fantasy Baseball Rankings – First Base

Posted by Todd Lammi on October 21st, 2010

Here is a look at my 2010 final fantasy baseball rankings for the position of first base. Several players are included in the list that did not start the year at first base, based either on games played or where I expect them to play in 2011.

1. Albert Pujols – not much to say about him, had another great campaign in 2010, kept his stolen bases in double figures and heads into 2011 as the number one pick again for fantasy baseball drafts. If the St. Louis Cardinals ever get a true lead off hitter, he might drive in 150 runs.

2. Joey Votto - he was very close to catching Pujols in the rankings. I thought he was still another year away from his breakout but it turned out 2010 was his season. The stolen bases were somewhat of a surprise although he did steal double figure bags in 2006 and 2007 in the minor leagues.

3. Miguel Cabrera – scored over 100 runs for the first time in the American League and hit over 30 home runs for the fourth straight season. His batting average has been over .300 six of eight seasons with the other two years in the .290′s.

4. Paul Konerko -picked the right time to have a bounce back season to his 2004-05 years as he heads into this winter as a free agent. The Chicago White Sox can ill afford to let him go as one of the leaders on the team. Stats were boosted by his incredible performance at home, where he hit .342 with 26 home runs and 64 RBI in 74 games.

5. Mark Teixeira -it seems like he had a disappointing season until you check the numbers and they are all in line with 2009 except for his batting average. Has struggled more against right-handed pitching the last two seasons, going from .311 in 2008 to .247 last season.

6. Adrian Gonzalez -recently underwent shoulder surgery to clean up his shoulder that was injured in May which could be partially to blame for his drop in home runs. He still knocked in 100runs and came close to hitting .300 for the second time in his career.

7. Adam Dunn – has hit 38 or more home runs for seven straight seasons and as I mentioned in a previous article, I think that consistency is worth paying for.  Numbers were similar to 2009 except for losing 30+ walks.

8. Ryan Howard – what happened to the 40+ home runs? He started off the year slow with only eight home runs the first two months of the season and could never quite catch up. Has slightly dropped his strikeout ratio two years in a row, but for fantasy baseball players, the extra batting average is not worth the drop in home runs.

9. Aubrey Huff – who could have guessed before the 2010 season that Aubrey Huff would end up having a better year than Prince Fielder did? It was a magical season for the 33-year-old Huff who scored 100 runs for the first time in his career and set a career high in walks with 83.

10. Prince Fielder – Fielder ended the year as the big disappointment at first base based on where he was drafted compared to the stats he put up. A low batting average and an average amount of RBI can be blamed either on his relationship with ex-manager Ken Macha or concerns over his upcoming free agency if you are looking for excuses and a reason to keep him highly ranked in 2011.

11. Adam LaRoche – nothing really exciting about owning him in fantasy baseball leagues, but he is awfully consistent. This season was the first time he reached 100 RBI in his career.

12. Michael Cuddyer – came back to earth after his breakout in 2009 as his home runs fell by more than 50%. Still managed to score 0ver 90 runs and steal a few bases so he still had some value.

13. Luke Scott – another guy that has been pretty consistent now for three straight seasons. The extra 25 points of batting average were a bonus if you owned him this year.

14. Gaby Sanchez – all of the talk in Florida was about Logan Morrison being the guy at first base but Sanchez took the job in spring training and never looked back. Batting average dropped the second half of the year by 65 points so he needs to better prepared to make some adjustments in 2011.

15. Billy Butler – he had a solid year but not quite the year that fantasy baseball owners were hoping for that were picking him in the top third of the draft. Still hit a ton of doubles but lost some home runs and RBI.

16. Garrett Jones – did very little the second half of the season, hitting .215 with 10 home runs and only one stolen base. Hit much better as an outfielder (.217 9 hr 32 RBI in 170 at bats) than at first base (.234 11 hr 53 RBI in 411 at bats).

17. Kevin Youkilis - numbers were all in line with previous seasons before suffering an injury to his thumb that caused him to miss 1/3 of the season. Scored a staggering 77 runs in only 362 at bats.

18. Derrek Lee – the clock struck 2010 and he turned back into the Derrek Lee of old, erasing memories of his 2009 season. At 35 and a free agent with injuries setting in, no reason to expect anything better than his 2008 line.

19. James Loney – it is not a good sign when your fantasy baseball first basemen has as many stolen bases as he does home runs in a season. Only the steals are what’s keeping him in the top 20.

20. Carlos Pena – batting average dropped for the third straight season, not a good thing when you are hitting free agency. Walks still give him some value in leagues with an on base category.

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The Daily Dirt for Friday

Posted by Todd Lammi on June 19th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Looking to add some power to their offense, the San Diego Padres recalled their top minor slugger Kyle Blanks from Triple-A. The Padres face left-handed starters in five of their next six games and will be playing American League clubs, giving Blanks the possibility of starting at first base, the outfield or at designated hitter. Blanks hit .283 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI in 66 games at Triple-A., while batting .424 over his last 10 games. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Friday…

Hitters:

Derek Lee continues to roll, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and two RBI. Lee sent the game into extra innings with his home run off of Kerry Wood in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Brad Hawpe went 3-for-4 with three RBI, including his 10th home run of the season. Hawpe is currently second in the National League with a .343 batting average and fifth in RBI with 50 on the season.

Victor Martinez smacked his 12th home run of the season and drove in three runs, giving him 53 RBI on the season. Martinez has now driven in 12 runs in his last eight games.

Prince Fielder went 2-for-4 and clubbed his 17th home run of the season. Fielder also drove in three runs, giving him a RBI in five consecutive games., totaling 12 plated runners.

Jason Bay collected his 18th home run on the season and drove in two runs giving him 65 RBI on the season, good for second place behind Fielder’s 67. Bay has driven in 10 runs in his last nine game.

Miguel Olivo went 2-or-4 and blasted his 10th home run of the season. Olivo has certainly taken advantage of John Buck being out of action, by hitting five home runs and driving in 11 runs in his last nine games.

Aaron Rowand went 3-for-3 and hit his seventh home run of the season. After batting fifth for the majority of the season last year, he has found a home lately atop the batting order as the lead-off hitter, where is batting .346.

Marcus Thames went 2-for-4, knocking out two home runs and driving in four runs. Thames now has three home runs in his last two games.

Garret Anderson went 3-for-3 with four RBI in an Atlanta Braves 8-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Nate McLouth went 2-for-4 with two RBI and added his 12th home run on the season.

Pitchers:

Fernando Nieve picked up his second win of the year, allowing one run in six innings with four strikeouts. Nieve has now allowed three runs in 14 2/3 innings since being recalled on June 6th. His next start will come against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.

Andy Pettite allowed one run in seven innings with seven strikeouts to up his mark to 7-3 on the season. It was no surprise the win came on the road for Pettite, where he has a 2.59 ERA and is holding opposing hitters to a .226 average compared to his home splits of a 5.77 ERA and a .332 average allowed. Fantasy baseball owners might want to consider benching him for his home starts.

Kevin Slowey allowed one run in six innings with six strikeouts to notch his 10th win of the season. Slowey moved into a tie with Roy Halladay for the win lead in the American League.

Jon Garland tossed seven shutout innings, allowing seven hits with three strikeouts. The no decision snapped his five game losing streak.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Tuesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 12th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

With all of the talk in the news again about performance enhancing drugs, it is nice to see there are still some legitimate hitters in the major leagues, as several players had multiple home run games last night.

Hitters:

Adam Jones hit two home runs, giving him eight on the season, to go along with 25 RBI. His batting average is now up to .363 and he leads the American League in runs scored with 35.

Jim Thome hit two home runs, scored three runs and had four RBI. The home runs were Thome’s first since April 22nd and he now stands one behind Mike Schmidt for 13th place on the all-time home run list.

Prince Fielder went 3 for 4 with two home runs and four RBI to power the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-3 win over the Florida Marlins. He is currently on pace to far surpass his walk total of 84 from last season with 27 free passes already through 33 games.

Jason Werth went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and stole four bases, giving him seven on the season. His thievery included a steal of home in the seventh inning.

Aaron Hill hit his ninth home run of the season, and is now hitting .357 with 30 RBI for the year.

Josh Hamilton returned from the disabled list and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to spark a six run rally in the Texas Rangers 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Chris Davis hit his ninth home run, but he is going to have a hard time getting his average over .240 with 50 strikeouts in 108 at bats.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 11th home run and drove in two runs in the San Diego Padres 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. He is getting little help from his teammates as the second best hitter in the lineup is David Eckstein with a .263 batting average.

Joe Mauer homered for the third time in four games and missed another home run when he was robbed by Clete Thomas in the first inning. Mauer has now driven in nine runs in his last five contests.

Brad Hawpe went 4 for 4 with 5 RBI including his fifth home run of the season in a Colorado Rockies 12-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Ian Stewart added two home runs and drove in five runs as well.

Matt LaPorta got his first start in the last five games and went 1 for 3 while playing first base. LaPorta is now hitting .188 on the season.

Pitchers:

Roy Halladay became the first pitcher to seven wins, tossing a complete game against the New York Yankees. Halladay scattered five hits and one earned run while striking out five.

Zach Duke picked up his fourth in of the season, allowing one run in eight innings to lower his ERA to 2.52. Duke allowed five base runners and struck out five.

Jair Jurrjens lost a win on a blown save by Mike Gonzalez in the ninth inning. Jurrjens allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings with four strikeouts.

Rich Harden allowed two runs in six innings with five strikeouts to move to 4-1 on the season. His counterpart Jake Peavy took the loss, allowing three runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. There is little room for error when Peavy is on the mound as the San Diego Padres offense has scored only nine runs in his last five starts.

Kevin Slowey allowed one run in six innings with two strikeouts to improve his record to 5-1 on the year.

Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up his third win of the year. Jimenez has now allowed one run in back to back starts.

Micah Owings allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up win number three on the year. Owings was much more effective with his pitches Tuesday night, needing only 90 pitches to get through seven innings.

Recent call up Luke Hochevar got a rude awakening coming back to the major leagues, allowing eight runs in two innings against the Oakland Athletics.

Closers:

Scott Downs got a vote of confidence as the Toronto Blue Jays closer going forward after G.M. J.P. Riccardi announced that B.J. Ryan would serve in a set up role when he comes off the disabled list.

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