In The Sabermetric Spotlight: What a Relief

I'm sorry. I take full responsibility for Adrian Beltre's injury. The power of the Spotlight is a difficult one to control, and I am only beginning to learn to harness it's power.

Today, I'd like to switch things up a bit. The Spotlight will feature three individuals, and you're about to find out why. Today, we shine The Sabermetric Spotlight on...

Birds of a feather

The Orioles bullpen hasn't been a stable source of saves in a long time. The last 4 Orioles to earn 30+ saves in a season are guys by the name of George Sherrill (31 in 2008), Chris Ray (33 in 2006), B.J. Ryan (36 in 2005) and Jorge Julio (36 in 2003). Not exactly names that would strike fear into the hearts of opposing hitters.

Take a look at the below table. One pitcher is obviously having a better year, but isn't closing, so what gives?


Oriole #1 is obviously the ever-stressful Kevin Gregg, but who is behind door #2? That would be none other than Koji Uehara, who is quietly having one of the best seasons of any reliever in the league.

I like to think that I would make a better manager than most of the managers currently out there, but seriously, the stats speak for themselves. The fact that Uehara isn't closing for this team is ridiculous. Not only are all of his numbers miles better than Gregg's, but his peripherals back it up. Uehara has the best xFIP (shown to have the highest correlation with future performance of all the pitching metrics) of any Orioles pitcher, and it's not even close. Uehara's xFIP of 2.35 is more than half that of Gregg's at 4.81. I'm a big Buck Showalter fan, but come on, enough is enough.

Of pitchers with more than 30 IP, Uehara has the second highest LOB% (Left-on-base%) at a whipping 97.4%. That's only second to Nationals All-Star Tyler Clippard, who was very close to making this article.

Uehara's excellent ERA and WHIP, as well as mouth-watering strikeout rate (11.8 K/9), could make him one of the elite closers in the league, if only he were given the chance. It's been rumored that Gregg is on the trading block, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him dealt. With minimal return, the Orioles can dump some salary and become a better team by moving Uehara into his well-earned closing role.

Most fantasy owners are starting to catch on, and he's probably owned in deeper leagues already, but I honestly feel, regardless of trade rumors, that he's worth a look in all formats.

Bullpen Mafia?

The Tribe has affectionately named their surprisingly good bullpen the Bullpen Mafia. I'm not sure if that's an attempt to make the bullpen appear more intimidating, but I will admit it's a catchy nickname.

Much like the Orioles above, the Indians bullpen hasn't been threatening in quite some time. The last 3 Tribe to toss 25+ saves were Joe Borowski (45 in 2007) and Bob Wickman (45 in 2005) and Danys Baez (25 in 2003). Not exactly a who's who of lights out closers.

The Indians are in nearly the same situation the Orioles are in, shown by the table below. It's obvious that Chris Perez is Indian #1, but you might be surprised at who is #2.

Are you stumped? I know that my fellow COSFBA contributor JCPronkFan48 probably has the answer, but can you figure out who it is?

Perhaps the most deserving to be the "don" is Vinnie Pestano, who makes a surprising appearance as out Indian #2. Look at the K's he had compared to the innings pitched, and try not to drool.

Much like the Orioles pen, Pestano is hands down having a better year than the closer that backs him up. Perhaps it's inexperience, but I'm really unsure as to why Pestano isn't given a chance to close the game more often, especially with how shaky Perez is at times.

One fact you might find interesting is that Pestano's xFIP of 2.26 is the 3rd lowest in the league, among qualifying relief pitchers. Who are the two in front of him? Sergio Romo and Craig Kimbrel. That's pretty good company to have if you ask me. Pestano's current xFIP is the lowest since baseball researchers started keeping track of xFIP. It's amazing that he's only owned in 1% of ESPN leagues.

The Tiger goes "Meow"

Finally rounding out today's article is the Tigers bullpen. Jose Valverde has been a great pickup for the Tigers, excelling in the closers role. But in 2011, there is another Tiger, who is having a far more impressive year...and also happens to have one of the coolest names ever. One last time, take a look at the below table.

Jose Valverde is Tiger #1, the current closer. Definitely not a bad season, but not as good a one might hope. So who is Tiger #2, having a stellar season himself, with no love in regards to getting save opportunities?

That's right, Al Alburquerque is our mystery contestant #2. Following suit with Uehara and Pestano, his strike-out rate makes me salivate.

Alburquerque has a team low 2.75 xFIP, lower than fellow Tiger and All-Star Justin Verlander, to go along with his K/9, and strong ERA and WHIP. He can help you in 3 categories right off the bat, and might get some save chances down the road.

One word of caution, Alburquerque is only 25 years old, and has never pitched more than 41 innings at any level, so the Tigers will likely tread lightly with him. However, with the Tigers in the think of a division race, they might lean on him more than they would otherwise.

Do you have a comment about the article? Do you have a suggestion for the next player featured In The Sabermetric Spotlight? Hit me up on twitter @SillyLittleGame or leave a comment below!

The Knurve's American League All-Star Ballot

Shalom Everybody!

Ever since they made the All-Star game "mean something" by having it decide homefield in the World Series, I've had mixed feelings about the game. I'm pretty comfortable saying that the person the San Francisico Giants have to thank the most for winning last year's World Series (not getting there) is not Tim Lincecum, not Cody Ross, not Brian Wilson, not even Brian Wilson's beard, but......Brian McCann?!?!?

McCann's bases clearing double in the All-Star game propelled the NL to victory and gave the Giants homefield where Jonathan Sanchez, Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain were stupendous last year. I should also mention that I'm a huge believer in the Home Run Derby ruining a players swing for the second half, so I never want my fantasy hombres to be in the contest. I will say I'm looking forward to the bombs that are going to be dropped in Arizona.

So it is with this frustration in mind that I give you my American League All-Star starters, but I'll have two names under each position. The first name is who it WILL be and the second name is who it SHOULD/COULD be, just like this game SHOULD/COULD be an exhibition. If I say it "should be", then you know I feel strongly about the 2nd name, but if I say "could be" then you know a case could be made.

Catcher
It will be: Victor Martinez
He qualifies there, so it will be him. This one's all in the name for Victor. He is not the best catcher on his team (hint, hint...) but he's hitting solidly over .320 and is producing runs at a pretty solid clip. His production is a big reason the Detroit Tigers are in good shape to take a very winnable division.

It should be: Alex Avila
Now Avila is the best catcher on the Tigers and he's having a breakout year. I passed on the chance to pick him up in one of my leagues in favor of Wilson Ramos, and that's been my biggest regret so far this fantasy season. He's showing great flashses of power, has 10-steal potential, and is an even bigger reason than Martinez, and maybe even Miguel Cabrera, that the Tigers are where they are. Avila is the MVP of the Tigers this season because without his production, this team would be as average as every other team in the AL Central seems.

First Base
It will be: Adrian Gonzalez
This one is pretty straighforward. Gonzalez has been the most complete hitter in the AL and it's not even close. He's scoring runs, hitting for power, hitting for average, driving runs in at a ridiculous clip, and has carried the Red Sox, at times. People forget that he started somewhat slow, hitting a paltry .314 in April. What? David? That's not paltry!!! It is when you consider he hit .341 in May and .404 in June with 15 dingers in those two months. The man is a stud.

It should be: Paul Konerko
This is not a knock on Gonzalez, Cabrera, or Mark Teixeira at all, but Konerko has done everything but steal bases for the White Sox when the rest of their offense has been as useless as bacon to someone who keeps kosher. Like V-Mart, it's refreshing to see Konerko put these past two seasons together and bounce back to the stud he was when the White Sox won it all last decade. Think about the White Sox offensive potential in Alex Rios, Juan Pierre, Adam Dunn and Gordon Beckham. When you consider none of those guys have been hitting and it's been Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin keeping this underperforming team in the race. Many players can fold under that pressure, but Konerko has excelled.

Second Base
It will be: Robinson Cano
I don't have many qualms with this. I have really enjoyed watching Cano's career blossom in the way that it has. He hit .342 in his second full year in the bigs with just 15 homers. He has evolved his game to hit for power and not feel like he has to pull everything, which I think is rare for a young player who is entering his prime. I also like the fact that Cano was a homegrown Yankee. The fact that he came from their farm system is refreshing. He's hovered around .300 the whole season despite not being the most patient hitter, but he makes it work. This is a pretty clear choice.

It could be: Ian Kinsler
I only say this because Kinsler is Jewish. Just kidding. Seriously though, when Kinsler is healthy, he gives such an unbelievable boost to the Texas Rangers. His batting average is down a little bit this year, but with double digit homers and steals, already. His BABIP is 40 points lower than his career mark, so I can see him having a big second half if he's healthy. His run production is also down, but there's only so much he can do since he's been leading off five out of every six games.

Shortstop
It will be: Asdrubal Cabrera
He's been the rock of the overperforming Indians offense. He's been hitting for power, stealing bases and simply doing it all for the Cleveland Indians. I don't think there's much of an argument here. Jeter's days as an All-Star are done. Who better to fill his shoes than a player as similar to him as Cabrera. Cabrera has a touch more power than Jeter did but he's also a stud defensively, which us fantasy players have to take into account, as boring as that may be.

It could be: Jhonny Peralta
There are a lot of options here, including J. J. Hardy, Erick Aybar, and Elvis Andrus, but I think Peralta has been a critical performer for the Tigers. He's on pace for around 25 HR/95 RBI and gets on base at a pretty decent clip. If you told the Tigers at the beginning of the season these would be Peralta's halfway stats, then they'd have given you a hot dog. Chubby Jhonny Peralta could be eating tons of hot dogs in Arizona.

Third Base
It will be: Jose Bautista
Is there really any argument here? He is head and shoulders better than any other third baseman in the AL. This is the weakest position, by far, in fantasy and the majors this year, so what's to argue with here? I chronicled in one of my "Knurve to Say" articles that Bautista was having a brutal June, but his April and May will put him in the All-Star game. He's on pace for 10 steals, he takes walks, scores runs, he does it all. I boldly predicted the Toronto Blue Jays to get the Wildcard, and I truly believe this team has it all. Bautista is the anchor.

It should be: Jose Bautista
Is there really any arguing here? Sure Alex Rodriguez has a case, but I can't see any possible scenario where America would feel A-Rod gets the nod over Bautista, who is finally getting the recognition for what he's been doing.

Outfield
It will be: Curtis Granderson, Jacoby Ellsbury and Ichiro Suzuki
I'll start with the two locks: Granderson and Ellsbury. Is there even any question? These two guys are studs who you got for pretty cheap on draft day compared to the levels they have performed. AL Outfield is so weak this season that these two are shoo-ins. The pragmatist in me wants to be realistic and say Ichiro's going to get the votes to become an All-Star because he always does. He is starting to pick it back up, so it's not a completely lame assertion. B. J. Upton has hit 11 more dingers with the same number of steals and significantly worse batting average, so it might be six of one half a dozen of the other.

It should be: Granderson, Ellsbury and Upton
As for Upton, people want to rip on his batting average, and that's pretty easy because it's THAT terrible, but if you look at his counting stats, he's on pace for another 25 HR/45 SB season, which makes the batting average much easier to swallow. Considering the other possible names for this list are Alex Gordon and Brennan Boesch, I think we can be confident in this tandem.

Starting Pitcher
It will be: Justin Verlander
I think Verlander is well-liked enough across the country that he has to be the favorite here. As much as CC Sabathia, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester will garner a ton of votes, I'd hope baseball fans can appreciate Verlander's dominance this season. With this being another "Year of the Pitcher", it's not easy to pick this spot, but Verlander leads the majors in K's, WHIP, and Wins. His ERA is a full run higher than Weaver's, but the defense behind Verlander is 24th in the majors in Fielding Percentage whereas the Angels are 4th in the AL (8th in the majors).

It could be: Jered Weaver
There's certainly a great case to be made for Weaver. His April was Zack Greinke-esque (circa 2009) and he has established himself as a dominant starter in the AL. Along with Verlander, he's proven himself durable and reliable. Aside from one slight hiccup against the Indians, he's been as good as they come. When you're 6'7", throwing downhill is much better, especially when you're able to locate your off-speed stuff as well as he has.

So there it is... thoughts? Tweet me @TheKnurve. I'd love some feedback!
-David Kaplan

Official All-Star Ballot for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance

As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, one of the requirements is to post an official All-Star ballot each year. As a member of the Fantasy Chapter, my ballot will have a fantasy skew to its nominees.

Let's get to the balloting, by league. Up first, COSFBA's 2011 American League All-Stars:

• C Alex Avila, DET (.303/28/10/45/3)
• 1B Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.358/56/16/71/1)
• 2B Robinson Cano, NYY (.291/45/14/48/6)
• 3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.300/48/13/50/4)
• SS Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE (.290/50/12/43/12)
• OF Curtis Granderson, NYY (.279/68/21/55/12)
• OF Jose Bautista, TOR (.328/60/23/48/5)
• OF Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (.304/55/9/39/24)
• DH David Ortiz, BOS (.311/47/17/48/1)
• SP Justin Verlander, DET (10-3, 2.38 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 124 K)
• RP Mariano Rivera, NYY (19 Saves, 1.84 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 23 K)

Now on to COSFBA's 2011 National League All-Stars:

• C Brian McCann, ATL (.300/27/13/43/2)
• 1B Prince Fielder, MIL (.306/48/21/67/0)
• 2B Rickie Weeks, MIL (.294/56/14/33/7)
• 3B Placido Polanco, PHI (.286/30/4/39/3)
• SS Jose Reyes, NYM (.334/58/3/31/27)
• OF Matt Kemp, LAD (.329/50/21/60/21)
• OF Ryan Braun, MIL (.309/55/15/57/16)
• OF Justin Upton, ARI (.304/45/12/39/14)
• SP Cole Hamels, PHI (9-4, 2.49 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 108 K)
• RP Joel Hanrahan, PIT (22 Saves, 1.24 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 31 K)

So there you have them, COSFBA's 2011 Fantasy Baseball All-Star rosters. Agree? Disagree? Use the comments section to award your fantasy baseball all-stars. Feel free to comment on who you'd have as a reserve player, too.

NOTE: All stats referenced are as of games played through June 25th, 2011 and are for standard 5x5 scoring categories.

Line of the Day: June 25th, 2011

Justin Verlander struck out a career-high 14 over eight dominant innings of four-hit ball to lead the Detroit Tigers 6-0 over the Arizona Diamondbacks. He now leads the majors with 124 strikeouts and tied for most wins with 10.

Line: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 K; W, QS

My fantasy perspective: Stop me if you've heard this one before, Verlander is making the case with each start to become not only the number-one fantasy baseball pitcher (which he currently is) but climbing the rankings to become the overall number-one fantasy baseball player (currently seventh),

Over his last 10 starts, Verlander is 8-0 with a 1.56 ERA and 73 strikeouts over a span of 80.2 innings pitched. Incredibly, hitters are batting just .155 with a .189 BABIP and striking out nearly 25% of the time (73 of 293 batters faced).

Overall, he's pitched a quality start in 16 of his 17 starts and on pace for his first 20-win season. Verlander is one of just an elite few who could easily pitch a no-hitter every time he steps on the mound.

---

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Be sure to check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards and subscribe to its feed, too.

The Knurve To Say: June 20th, 2011

Hello to all the COSFBA readers, and thank you for allowing me into your wonderful homes.  I'd first like to start off by wishing all the papas out there a very Happy Father's Day.  I hope you were fed too much, annoyed by your kids a little less, and finally got those Callaway golf balls you've wanted for a while but were too lazy to get yourself.

But anways, the name of this article is, "The Knurve To Say".  I'll make some awesomely bold, yet stunningly correct assertions and then do my best to back it up.  So here we go!

This week, I have The Knurve To Say...
... Carl Crawford this year is Curtis Granderson from last year!
I tweeted this the other day @TheKnurve (first shameless plug), but I wanted to talk a little bit more about a revelation I had earlier this week and that is "a comparison between Crawford this year and Granderson last year".  Many fantasy owners, and certainly the Red Sox, have been very disappointed with Crawford's production to this point, and reasonably so.  He's only on pace for 14 dingers, 19 steals and a .243 AVG, which is a much slower pace than we were anticipating out of the number-one outfielder off the board in many league's drafts.  Both men also have to battle the stigma that they cannot hit lefties. Granderson seems to have figured it out (.277 with 9 HR in 83 at-bats) while Crawford is struggling mightily, hitting just .151 in 86 at-bats against southpaws this season.

Some of you may or may not remember Granderson got off to a similarly atrocious start last year, posting a two-HR April (and both dingers came on the opening weekend in Fenway) and just a .221 AVG before missing almost all of May with a groin injury.  Granderson came back and struggled some more before having what Yankee fans may start calling "The Meeting" with hitting coach Kevin Long, who shortened up his swing and made it fit to Yankee Stadium. Granderson hit a total of 14 stinkers in August and September and the rest, as they say, is history.  The adjustments Granderson made with Long were to shorten up his swing and eliminate some of the extraneous movement that slowed him down so much.

In looking at Crawford's swing, I see some similar problems with extraneous movement.  Both men left pitchers parks, entered hitters parks and signed big old contracts, therefore lofting expectations about what they are capable of.  But we have to remember adjustment periods are necessary to help cater swings to ballparks to fit their skill-set.  I'm not saying Crawford and Granderson are identical players (although they are similar), I'm simply saying if Crawford can take a page out of Adrian Gonzalez's book and figure out how to fight lefties off the other way with the short porch in left-field, then he'll be the fantasy player we all hoped he would be.  So to you, Crawford owners, expect him to start figuring lefties out in Fenway. He's just too talented not to.

The impetus for this whole idea was taking a look at Crawford's speed numbers and realizing how much hitting at the bottom of the order is hurting his fantasy value.  I owned Granderson last season and was furious he was hitting at the bottom of the Yankees lineup. If he could just get to that 2-hole then it would turn him into the offensive force we all expected. Just look what he's done in that spot this year: .288 AVG, 17 shtoinkers, 44 RBI and 9 SB.  #Winning.

As strange as this may seem, I think Crawford's injury will help him in the long run.  I'm pretty convinced Granderson's injury forced him to tighten things up at the dish so maybe the same will happen to Crawford.  I do want to mention with the season Jacoby Ellsbury is having, I don't think Crawford is ever going to hit those speed numbers we hoped he would.  I highly doubt he ever tops 50 steals in a Red Sox uniform. I look for him to be in the 35-40 range when he finally figures his life out.

So now that I've gotten that little tangent out of the way, here are some fantasy thoughts I had from this past week:

• Things are getting ugly for the Marlins. Watching this team play baseball has been as painful as listening to a Lil' B song.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, watch this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m5CIcbytfM). They actually have the bullpen and I am a believer in their offense, but with Hanley Ramirez as disappointing as he's been and Chris Coghlan getting sent down, it's hard to keep the faith. I truly believe this team has all the pieces. Sure, they may have been playing above their heads the first two months of the season, but I think we all know they're not THIS bad.  I'm definitely buying low on Hanley, for the right price. It's times like these in keeper leagues where you can pounce on a sell-high/buy-low situation while catch the opposing owner off guard. This might just be one of those years for Hanley.
• Adrian Gonzalez is a legitimate Triple Crown candidate. I was worried about his shoulder going into the year, but there are nights like last Tuesday where the Red Sox had five hits against the Jays and Gonzalez had 3 of them. Those are the performances that make you think this guy is onto something, especially considering he was 13-for-30 this week with three clobbershows and seven RBI.
• Going off of A-Gon, I have to say I'm starting to lose a little faith in Jose Bautista. Something has looked off about him in the past three weeks. Someone in one of my leagues just traded him for Matt Kemp straight up, and I think it was a great deal. He's slugging just .333 this month and pitchers are just not throwing to him. And guess who's been the beneficiary?  The RED-HOT Adam Lind.  Don't think these two occurrences aren't directly tied. Lind has been hitting lefties since he's been back and with Bautista's amazing ability to take walks, pitchers are being forced to throw to Lind, and he's been raking. That's a trend I can see continuing. I'm not saying Bautista's going to fall off the face of the earth, but this might be a good sell-high opportunity while many analysts are saying he's the new number-one fantasy player.
• I think Billy Butler will be a Ray by the end of the season. Sell high on him now because that's a crappy hitter’s park and he can't hit home runs.
• Since I'm talking a lot about selling, I want to share some buying opportunities. I know I own both of them on one team, but I think now is a buying opportunity for both Dan Uggla and Adam Dunn. I think both of them are onto something. And while neither may turn it on in the AVG department, I can definitely see both of them taking different approaches at the plate that will help them in the long run.
• A walk-off balk? Are you kidding me, Mets?
• Don't look now but I think Jhonny Peralta might be legit.  He has been the primary beneficiary of hitting next to those guys Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera and I can see him putting up these numbers over the course of the year. He has mid-20's home run power with the ability to hit for AVG. With middle infield power as weak as it has been, he is someone I might make a run at.
• I firmly believe that last weekend’s Brewers-Red Sox series will be a World Series Preview.

The Mike Stanton Man-Crush meter currently sits at a six. With no home runs this week, Stanton has been letting me down. I take solace in the fact that nobody on the Marlins is hitting, so maybe his young, stellar, beautiful, strong, still-developing brain just needs to allow cooler heads to prevail in that clubhouse.  He'll get it back and will be jacking monster shots in no time.

Joke of the week: What time was it in Boston during the Stanley Cup? 15 past Luongo. The joke's even funnier because nobody cares about hockey.

I'll be doing this segment each and every Monday, so get used to it and let me know what you think.

David Kaplan aka The Knurve

Line of the Day: June 14th, 2011

Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and finished with a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out a season-high 12 and walking one. He now has five shutouts and 13 complete games in his career.

Line: 9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 12 K; W, QS, CG, SHO

My fantasy perspective: Over his last nine starts (covering 69.2 innings), Verlander is 6-0 with a 2.07 ERA, allowed just 43 hits with 62 strikeouts (8.1 K/9) and just 13 walks (4.8 K/BB). Batters are hitting just .178 against him with a .260 slugging percentage over that span. That's nothing short of dominant.

His recent streak has vaulted him into the #2 fantasy starting pitcher ranking behind Jered Weaver and his 105 total strikeouts lead the AL and rank third overall behind Cliff Lee (107), Roy Halladay (106) and Clayton Kershaw (106). He's at a point in his career where every start has the potential to be a no-hitter. It sure will be fun to own him in your leagues this season and beyond.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Be sure to check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards and subscribe to its feed, too.

Line of the Day: June 6th, 2011

OF Brennan Boesch of the Detroit Tigers went 5-for-6 with a double, two home runs and five RBI in the Tigers 13-7 victory over the Texas Rangers. It was his first career multi-homer game and he also set career-highs for hits and RBI in a game.

Line: 6 AB, 3 R, 5 H, 5 RBI; 2B, 2 HR

My fantasy perspective: Boesch's season has been a tale of two months. His April numbers validated ownership (.319/17/1/13/2) even though his power numbers were down while his May numbers (.186/15/3/12/1) probably caused owners to cut ties and look elsewhere.

So far, June has been a very favorable month for Boesch, going 10/21 (.476) with three home runs and seven RBI while helping his overall 5x5 line to a very ownable .278/38/7/32/3. At his current pace, he'd produce a .278/104/19/88/8 season. That's not a bad follow-up season after placing fifth in the 2010 AL ROY race.

If your team is looking for some outfield depth, Boesch is only owned in 37.3% of ESPN and 32% of Yahoo! leagues and deserves a chance on your roster, especially while producing.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Be sure to check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards and subscribe to its feed, too.

Ask COSFBA: May 30th, 2011

I get asked fantasy baseball questions on Twitter all the time but this one deserves more than a 140 character response:

The first question has me a little perplexed because Colby Rasmus put up a .276/85/23/66/12 5x5 line in 2010 in 144 games at just 23 years of age. So I think my gut-reaction answer to the first question is a "yes". But wait a moment. Rasmus only has four home runs and four stolen bases in 51 games this season and projecting a .284/106/12/59/12 2011 5x5 line. So his average and runs are up but his home runs, RBI and stolen bases are down.

A deeper look into his numbers (via FanGraphs) show his BB% is up (14.1% 2011 vs 10.2% career), K% is down (23.4% 2011 vs 25.5% career) with a high BABIP (.355 2011 vs .321 career). Hmmm, deeper. His LD% isn't bad (18.2% 2011 vs 19.3% career), neither is his GB% (37.8% 2011 vs 34.2% career) or FB% (44.1% 2011 vs 46.5% career).

Where can the problem be to help explain why his home run numbers are so far down? An elevated IFFB% of 11.1% in 2011 is what his career HR/FB% normally is (11.1%) but is down to 6.3% in 2011 explains it all. He's still hitting the ball in the air but it's not leaving the infield.

If you can find an owner who's fed up with Rasmus and his low HR/RBI totals so far, make a fair offer knowing he'll eventually turn things around once he gets more fly balls out of the infield. BUY NOW!

Max Scherzer was humming right along through nine starts (57.2 IP; 6-0; 2.81 ERA; 8.34 K/9) and looking every bit the sleeper most fantasy baseball writers expected him to be in 2011. His last two starts (7.2 IP total; 10 ER; 8 K) have owners wondering if they held on too long to a good thing or if this is simply a couple of rough starts most pitchers have along the way during a 30+ start season.

A deeper looking into his numbers (via Baseball-Reference) show the 39 batters he faced over his last two starts hit .400 against him with a .464 BABIP. Ouch! An even deeper look shows through his first nine starts, he threw 62% Strikes with a 19% rate of Strikes Looking and a 9% rate on Strikes Swinging. In his last two starts, those same numbers are 68% Strikes, an 18% rate of Strikes Looking and a 6% rate on Strikes Swinging.

I'm going to say Scherzer will be fine and dandy this season and could approach 15+ wins with 200 K's if he stays on pace for 200 innings pitched. Again, if owners are panicking and in a selling mode, send them a fair offer and see if they'll bite. BUY NOW!

If you have a fantasy baseball question you'd like to see answered in an Ask COSFBA column in the future, be sure to follow me on Twitter or visit the Ask COSFBA page on this site.

Fantasy Baseball News and Notes from May 24th, 2011

Here are some fantasy baseball tidbits I picked up from games played on May 24th, 2011:

• SP Jorge de la Rosa, COL has a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow and will require Tommy John surgery. He'll be out for at least a full calendar year. This is a devastating blow to the Rockies and will be hard for fantasy owners to find a decent enough replacement for the numbers de la Rosa was able to put up.
• SP Josh Collmenter, ARI had extended his scoreless streak to 24 innings before allowing home runs to Carlos Gonzalez and Seth Smith in the fourth inning of the Diamondbacks game against the Rockies. He's now 3-1 with a 1.19 ERA and 0.66 WHIP and available in 85% of ESPN and 84% of Yahoo! leagues .
• CL J.J. Putz, ARI is now 13-for-13 in save opportunities with a 1.80 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and a 19/5 K/BB ratio in 20 innings pitched. His 13 Saves are tied for fourth best in the majors.
• OF Carlos Gonzalez, COL homered twice (8) and drove in four runs (31) in the opening game of the Rockies' double-header. It was the third multi-homer game of his career.
• 2B/3B/OF Ryan Roberts, ARI stole his seventh base. He now has seven home runs and seven stolen bases on the season and is on pace for a 24/24 season. Who saw THAT coming?
• RP Rafael Soriano, NYY was shut down indefinitely with right elbow inflammation and can safely be dropped in all leagues where he was being rostered for Holds. Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson will continue to pick up the bulk of Holds in the Yankees' pen. 
• 3B/OF Jose Bautista, TOR went 0-for-4 against CC Sabathia and is now 0-for-15 in his career versus the lefty. Watch for that matchup the next time these two are scheduled to meet up.
• RP Al Alburquerque, DET earned his first major league victory. There's nothing fantasy-relevant about him (yet) except in leagues that may use K/9 as a scoring category, where he's sporting a robust 15.3 K/9 ratio. Plus that's just a great baseball name to type.
• OF Matt Joyce, TB hit his eighth home run of the season and leads the majors with a .367 batting average. He's now the 10th-ranked player on ESPN's Player Rater and the 14th-ranked player in Yahoo! leagues. Players like him are why we play fantasy baseball.
• C Alex Avila, DET homered twice and now has a 5x5 line of .292/17/8/27/2 for the season, good enough for the 2nd-best fantasy baseball catcher in 2011.
• SP Josh Beckett, BOS allowed one run and five hits in 6 2-3 innings and lowered his ERA to an AL-low 1.69. He's now 4-1 and looking like the ace of the Red Sox staff again.
• 1B Adrian Gonzalez, BOS leads the majors with 42 RBI and is unbelievable 13-for-25 (.525) with two outs and a runner in scoring position. "Pay that man his money."
• DH David Ortiz, BOS is batting .341 with seven homers and nine RBI in his last 20 games. Keep an eye on the Red Sox schedule for upcoming interleague games in NL parks.
• C Carlos Santana, CLE is in an 0-for-19 slump and hitting just .203 this season. He's made up for the low average with six home runs, 21 RBI and 21 runs scored.
• 2B Brian Roberts, BAL is seeing a specialist to deal with concussion symptoms and is expected to be out for at least three more weeks.
• OF Raul Ibanez, PHI is hitting .375 with 11 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in 20 games since May 3rd. He's only owned in 47.6% of ESPN and 32% of Yahoo! leagues.
• OF Carlos Quentin, CHW became the fifth player over the last 13 days to homer three times in a game. It was the first three-homer game of his career and gave him 12 home runs and 31 RBI for the season.
• 1B/DH Adam Dunn, CHW ended a 3-for-33 slump with his fifth home run of the year. He's still batting just .192. If only he could hit his reported weight (285).
• SP Nick Blackburn, MIN pitched a complete game and ended the month of May with a 3-0 record with a 1.72 ERA in five starts.
• OF David DeJesus, OAK hit two home runs in a game for the second time in his career. Both have come this month. Oddly, those are his only four home runs for the year.
• RP Eduardo Sanchez, STL worked a perfect inning for his 5th save in seven chances. The Cardinals' bullpen continues to be a mystery. Five separate relievers have recorded a save for them this season (Fernando Salas , Sanchez, Mitchell Boggs, Trever Miller, Ryan Franklin).
• OF Mike Stanton, FLA hit his 11th home run for the season. He now has 33 home runs in 143 career games and is on pace for 39 this year. By the way, he's just 21 years old.
• CL Leo Nunez, FLA recorded his major league-leading 18th save (in 18 chances) and has a 24/9 K/BB ratio and a 8.9 K/9 ratio over 24.1 innings pitched.
• C Buster Posey, SF extended his current hitting streak to 12 games and has raised his average from .241 to .287. We knew there'd be some growing pains in his sophomore season, so hopefully this is a sign of good things to continue to come.

How useful are these post-game notes and tidbits to fantasy owners? Would you like to see them appear more often on COSFBA as a daily game roundup feature? Please let me know. Feedback is always appreciated.

Line of the Day: May 7th, 2011

SP Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers threw his second career no-hitter and the second in the majors this week, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 9-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. He threw 108 pitches (74 strikes), struck out four and walked one. The walk the J. P. Arencibia cost him a perfect game with one out in the eighth inning.

Line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; W, QS, CG, SHO, No-Hitter

My fantasy perspective: Verlander continues to prove he's worth the early round investment (39.6 ESPN ADP; 56.5 Yahoo! ADP) year after year. He's now sporting a 55:18 K:BB ratio in 57 innings pitched with a 3.16 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. Batters are hitting just .187 off him too. I can't imagine any fantasy owners wanting to trade him, so if you missed out on draft day, you probably aren't going to own him in 2011. Better luck next season.

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards here.

A Steady Stream: Probables for May 5th, 2011

A Steady Stream will be a semi-regular column that looks at probable pitchers starting games tomorrow and owned in approximately less than 50% of all ESPN and/or Yahoo! leagues that could be "stream-worthy" if they are available in your league.

Here are my "stream-worthy" pitchers for games to be played on a shortened schedule for Thursday, May 5th, 2011:

• Colby Lewis, TEX (50% ESPN; 54% Yahoo!) @ Jason Vargas, SEA (0.1% E; 3%Y!) - Both pitchers are streaming options in this game. Lewis finally got things going in 2011 with an eight inning, six hit, one walk, six strikeout effort win against the A's his last time out and looked strong, too. He's 0-3 in five career starts with a 3.82 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched at SAFECO. Vargas hasn't faired well at home this season, going 0-2 in four starts with a 6.86 ERA in 21 innings pitched. VERDICT: Stream Lewis
• Brandon Beachy, ATL (49.7% E; 36% Y!) vs Shaun Marcum, MIL - In 36.1 innings, Beachy is just 1-1 but has recorded a quality start in each of his last three starts. His 36:10 K:BB ratio is the real deal as is his 8.92 K/9 ratio. His 3.47 ERA and 0.99 WHIP make him not only streamable but ownable. This is Milwaukee's second look at him and Marcum (3-1, 2.21 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) is a tough match up but a pitcher putting up number like Beachy deserves to be run out there every fifth day until he proves otherwise. VERDICT: Stream/Own Beachy
• John Lackey, BOS (35.1% E; 45% Y!) vs Joel Pineiro, LAA (10.6% E; 5% Y!) - Both pitchers are streaming options in this game. Lackey has strung together three straight quality starts after a miserable start. It helps his case that the Red Sox offense is producing. Pineiro made his first start of the season a good one against the Rays (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) after missing the first month of the season with shoulder issues. VEDICT: Stream Lackey at home
• Chris Tillman, BAL (0.4% E; 2% Y!) @ Bruce Chen, KC (8.8% E; 12% Y!) - Both pitchers are streaming options in this game. Something about this match up is screaming slugfest to me. VERDICT: Avoid both pitchers at all costs.

There's one match up involving a streamer which I really like:

• Jason Hammel, COL (3.9% E; 5% Y!) @ Ian Kennedy, ARI - Hammel has quietly gone 3-1 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 18:8 K:BB ratio in 30.2 innings pitched. Team have a .283 BAA (batting average against) and a perfectly average .301 BABIP, so I think what we are seeing is for real. In six career starts against the Rockies, Kennedy is 0-1 with a 3.66 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a 26:15 K:BB ration in 32 innings. VERDICT: Stream Hammel and be prepared to own him

Avoid streaming these available pitchers at all costs:

• Jake Westbrook, STL (3% E; 3%Y!) vs Josh Johnson, FLA - Johnson should have been the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season. His stuff has been filthy.
• Mike Pelfrey, NYM (0.9% E; 6% Y!) vs Jonathan Sanchez, SF - Pelfrey has been horrible (1-3, 7.39 ERA, 1.96 WHIP, 16:13 K:BB ratio) and until he can string together several quality starts in a row, he should be avoided.
• Rick Porcello, DET (3.3% E; 5% Y!) vs A.J. Burnett, NYY - On any given night, the Yankees offense can go crazy on a pitcher and they seem due. Porcello could easily be the next sacrificial lamb if he's not careful.
• John Lannan, WAS (0.7% E; 1% Y!) vs Roy Halladay, PHI - This is not so much anti-Lannan as it is pro-Halladay. Look elsewhere if you are desperate for a streamable pitcher.
• Homer Bailey, CIN (0.4% E; 8% Y!) vs Brett Myers, HOU - Bailey is making his first start of the season and needs to string some healthy starts together before being worth a look as a streaming option.

Some might argue that it's a little early in the season to already be streaming and that might be true for the Rotisserie crowd but head-to-head leaguers need to be looking at those match ups daily to see if there's an opportunity to win a category or two with some strategic streams.

Be sure to check back each morning to see who earns COSFBA's "Line of the Day" award and nominate your own if you disagree or had a different player of impact on your squad.

Your Fantasy Baseball League Probably Sucks...

...IF these players are still available on waivers.

• 1B Brett Wallace of the Houston Astros is hitting .382 (34/89) with a .967 OPS and a ridiculously high BABIP of .471 deserves to be owned in more than 27.4% of ESPN leagues and 27% of Yahoo! leagues. He recently strung together six games in which he had two or more hits in a game and has done it 10 times in 24 starts. Any player sporting this much wood going into May should be on someone's roster in your league.
• C Alex Avila of the Detroit Tigers leads all catchers in the majors in Total Bases (48) and RBI (21) and has produced an unexpected 5x5 line of .309/12/5/21/1. Any catcher producing numbers like these deserves to be owned in 100% of all non-NL only leagues. So explain to me why he's 74% owned in ESPN leagues and just 66% in Yahoo! leagues.
• SP Josh Tomlin of the Cleveland Indians is 4-0 with a 2.45 ER and a 0.91 WHIP. He has gone 5-for-5 in pitching a Quality Start and easily could be 5-0. He hasn't shown the ability to be a strikeout pitcher (just 18 K in 33 IP) but he's giving three-category scoring. He deserves better than 60.4% ESPN and just 44% Yahoo! ownership.
• RP Sergio Santos of the Chicago White Sox has done a solid job (3-for-3 in save opps) as the team's most recent closer and looks to be settling in nicely into the role. All full-time closers deserve to be owned more than 56.3% in ESPN leagues and 47% of Yahoo! leagues. If Matt Thornton (25.4% E; 41% Y!) and Chris Sale (11.9% E; 31% Y!) are still owned in a league that doesn't count Holds, that league probably sucks.
• OF Peter Bourjos of the Los Angeles Angels and OF Jason Bourgeois of the Houston Astros have combined for 11 stolen bases and a .313 batting average. They are a combined 26% owned in both ESPN and Yahoo! leagues. How about this, combine them into a nice platoon and see what they do as a 4th/5th outfielder combo in deeper mixed leagues.
• Manny Ramirez is still owned in 10.7% of ESPN leagues and 6% of Yahoo! leagues. If he's still rostered in your league then this means you have an owner that has bailed on managing their team already. It's May 3rd. These people have no business playing fantasy baseball and have poisoned the rest of your league with inactivity.

This post is written periodically to help point out one of the things fantasy baseball owners complain about most: inactivity. Inactivity on any level within a league can kill the competitive balance for the entire league. Even if three-quarters of a league's members are very active, the inactivity of the other one-quarter will cause frustration to owners trying to make trades.

I truly think a large portion of fantasy baseball participants are addicted to the thrill of the live draft but are bored or even overwhelmed with how much effort it takes to manage one, let alone many, successful teams for six months compared to the relative-ease of managing a fantasy football team.

Is it getting harder each season to find quality owners and quality leagues? The answer for me is yes. I had to shut down three of my keeper leagues this offseason because I got tired of competing against 2/3rds of the teams and pulling teeth with the other 1/3 to keep them active. What types of issues are you already experiencing in your leagues this season that makes you wonder why some people bother to join in the first place?

Did You Know?: April 29th, 2011

If you weren't already aware, know this. I am a box score guy. I love the simplicity of the story it tells with numbers. I'm also excited about all of the new baseball statistics that seem to pop up yearly and even though I'm a little late to the game in understanding their utmost importance in using them when evaluating fantasy baseball players, it doesn't mean that I'm not paying attention. I hope to incorporate more of them into my analysis as I see fit. Stay tuned.

Now on to some statistics which you may not be aware of nearly a full month into the season in the latest installment of Did You Know?:

• Adam Dunn has just two home runs and 10 RBI in 19 games this season, while Ben Zobrist accomplished those numbers in yesterday's doubleheader.
• Names I did not expect to see in the top 10 in Total Bases this early in the season: Lance Berkman (1st), Jeff Francoeur (tied 6th) and Ike Davis (tied 9th).
• Aren't stolen base guys supposed to be stealing bases? Juan Pierre has five steals and has been caught six times. Brett Gardner has four steals and has been caught three times. Chone Figgins has three steals and three caught stealings.
• Josh Johnson has allowed just 13 hits in 34 innings pitched. Batters are "hitting" .116 off of him this season.
• Austin Jackson is hitting just .167 (16/96) and has nearly twice the number of K's (31) as hits (16).
• Vladimir Guerrero is hitting .284 with a .303 BABIP with zero walks in 95 at-bats. He must like his own chances when swinging the bat. Hopefully you don't own him in an OBP league.
• Ryan Dempster has allowed 33 earned runs in 31 innings pitched. His ERA of 9.58 is higher than his K/9 ratio of 8.42.
• At age 37, Johnny Damon is on pace for 130 RBI in just 136 games played (20 RBI in 21 of Rays first 35 games). Don't forget about 26 HR/26 SB pace, too.
• Jorge Posada and Russell Martin have each hit six home runs in exactly 69 at-bats this season. Martin is batting .290 compared to Posada's .130 average.
• Huston Street leads the majors with nine saves and is on pace for 63 total.
• Matt Garza has 41 K's in just 30.2 innings pitched for a staggering 12.03 K/9 ratio yet he's 0-3 with a 4.11 ERA and an ugly WHIP of 1.47.

Are there some surprising statistics floating around out there already that have you scrambling to acquire or drop a player? If so, share them with the group, please. We all have a right to know.

Ups and Downs: April 9th, 2011

This edition of Ups and Downs looks at a few players being added and dropped the most over the last seven days (according to ESPN leagues) and the possible reasons why.

• SP Kyle Drabek, TOR (+63.9%) is settling in as the Blue Jays #2 starter quite nicely. He's struck out 12 in 13 innings and allowed just seven hits and two earned but has walked seven.
• RP Jordan Walden, LAA (+58.2%) is now the Angels' closer and looks like he could be there for a while. He's 1-for-1 in save opportunities with a total of 7 K's in just 4.1 innings. Only 62.4% owned in ESPN leagues.
• 2B Freddy Sanchez, SF (+47.4%) was just 7% owned before opening the season with a .333 (9/27) BA, 1 HR, 4 RBI and 5 Runs. He definitely deserves to be owned while he's healthy and hitting.
• OF Jose Tabata, PIT (+42.8%) was being touted as a "sleeper" coming into 2011 and has opened the season with an 8-game hitting streak, hitting .344 with 1 HR, 2 RBI, 9 Runs and 3 SB. You're opportunity to get him off waivers has probably passed.
• SP Edwin Jackson, CHW (+41.1%) is 2-0 with 20 K's in just 14 innings pitched. It's no surprise he's being added in so many leagues. It's VERY SURPRISING he's still available in 39.5% of leagues.
• SP John Lackey, BOS (-32.3%) has allowed 17 H and 15 ER in just 8.2 IP. Ouch!
• OF Manny Ramirez, TB (-29.8%) should be dropped in 100% of all leagues. I'll give managers a little time but if he continues to be rostered in your league much longer than you're league probably sucks.
• OF Ryan Raburn, DET (-26.4%) was another preseason "sleeper" that seems to be stuck in a platoon with Brennan Boesch. What a shame.
•  RP Jake McGee, TB (-26.1%) was in the mix to become the Rays' closer this Spring but those dreams seemed to have faded. Not many save opportunities for a 1-6 team.
• RP Fernando Rodney, LAA (-25%) has a 7.71 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. It's clear to see why Walden is now the closer.

Have you already given up on your "sleepers" or late-round picks? Were you one of those teams in my drafts that was so focused on drafting next year's keepers that you passed on quality players that would help you win THIS YEAR? Feel free to share your early season struggles and/or successes in the comments section of this article.

2011 Starting Pitcher Sleepers

(In my continued effort to bring additional voices and perspectives to COSFBA, this article is being brought to you by guest writer KJ Hanna. KJ was one of the first people I connected with on Twitter and actually lives in the same part of Brooklyn, NY where I grew up. He's had his fantasy baseball work featured on both FantasyBaseball101.com and BigTroph.com. I hope you find as much value in his contribution to this site as I do.)

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Ahh, the dreaded word ALL fantasy experts and drafters love and hate…SLEEPER.  Another word equally as poisonous… BOUNCEBACK. The great thing about the fantastic sport of baseball is there will always be players who fall into one or both of these categories. Luckily for you, the owner, we have already crunched the numbers and taken out most of the guess work.

You’ve all heard this already but, starting pitching is deep this year and you shouldn’t reach early for a SP early. That is, unless your league’s scoring settings heavily rewards SPs or you’re in a keeper/dynasty league. That being said, it’s in my opinion that you make your move in the middle to late rounds for pitchers and these are a few you should target.

The objective to identifying a sleeper starting pitcher is to determine which players have the upside to outperform their current draft position and provide your fantasy team with an advantage over the rest of your league at a low cost/draft pick.

AL SP Sleepers

Jeremy Hellickson – Tampa Bay Rays
Hellickson, the Rays stud prospect du jour got a huge boost once Matt Garza was traded to the Cubs in the offseason. He now has the chance to build upon his impressive numbers when called up in 2010, 3.47 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 33 strikeouts and eight walks in 31 1/3 innings.

Notably revered to be more of a control pitcher, Hellickson is deceiving in his assortment of pitches and has the potential to become an ace, however, expect peaks and valleys, especially as he gets more acquainted with the AL East mashers.

Beyond the occasional long ball and a few rookie hiccups, the only negative I can see with “Hell Boy” is that the Rays may shut him down early, limiting his innings. In that case, all formats should feel confident in grabing him in mid-late rds and sell high come July (except in Keeper/Dynasty leagues).

Max Scherzer – Detroit Tigers
I know, most of you are thinking, "Scherzer, a sleeper?". That’s right readers! After an awful start to 2010 (7.29 ERA in April and half of May) and a minor league demotion, Scherzer came back to the majors with a blazing fastball and an appetite for strikeouts.

In Scherzer’s return to the majors, he posted a 2.46 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 158 strikeouts and FINALLY showed his potential and quieted the “bust” whispers. Scherzer has the talent to become an elite fantasy starter and should be on everyone’s radar in all league formats in mid rounds on draft day. Draft with confidence.

Edwin Jackson – Chicago White Sox
EJax is an enigma. Is he an Ace or a tease? After moving to the AL, Jackson put together some fantastic strikeout and walk numbers which was a great sign of things to hopefully come. Jackson’s K/9 with the Dbacks was 6.98, with the White Sox 9.24! Not only did his K/BB improve but his fastball launched from 94 MPH to 95.3 MPH AND he lowered his overall ERA by almost 2 runs!

Jax is going late enough to take a risk/reward approach with him. His skills are pointing the way to a very productive season with plenty of run support from a stacked White Sox lineup. Grab him in the late rounds and reap the benefits in all league formats.

Thankful

This is the time of year where everyone takes a moment to voice all that they are currently thankful for, reflect on the past year and look towards what the future has in store. COSFBA is no different. The following are the Top 10 things COSFBA is very thankful for this holiday season:

10. Players with multi-position eligibility. These are the types of players that make every fantasy baseball roster better. Martin Prado (1B/2B/3B), Jose Bautista (3B/OF), Omar Infante (2B/3B/SS/OF), Ben Zobrist (1B/2B/OF) are just a few valuable players whose positional flexibility kept them in the lineup.
9. Bryce Harper. What's not to love about the future of the Washington Nationals? From the ridiculous amounts of eye black to tearing up the Arizona Fall League, this guy will keep fantasy baseball writers busy for years to come.
8. Perfect games and no hitters. Ubaldo Jimenez. Dallas Braden. Roy Halladay (x2). Edwin Jackson. Matt Garza. Sign me up for more of the same in 2011.
7. The Hot Stove season. Rumors. Signings. Trades. This time of year is why I gave up on fantasy football several years ago. Who needs football when baseball is now truly a 12-month sport. Twitter has been a phenomenal source of great information if you know who to follow.
6. Statistics. I'm a huge fan of advanced baseball statistics but will admit I'm a little late to the game. You won't see me quoting a whole lot about BABIP, FIP, WAR, VORP or wOBA but I'll be sure to make reference to resources I find valuable in my hunt to become more SABR-literate.
5. Awards. Starting with the Derek Jeter Gold Glove fiasco and ending with Josh Hamilton's AL MVP, the 2010 awards gave bloggers plenty to talk about and COSFBA got in on the action, too.
4. Albert Pujols. I'm sorry, but Pujols is fantasy baseball royalty and until he proves to be less than superhuman, he's the number one pick in all fantasy baseball formats.
3. Impact Rookies. Here's hoping 2011 brings another crop of rookies as good as Buster Posey, Jason Heyward, Neftali Feliz, Austin Jackson, Jaime Garcia, Danny Valencia, Gaby Sanchez, Neil Walker and more.
2. Closers on the cheap can change the fantasy baseball landscape of any league. Guys like John Axford, Kevin Gregg and Chris Perez will be the poster boys for next season's "never pay for saves" reasoning.