After looking at the worst five fantasy outfields by average ADP, I thought looking at the Top 10 fantasy outfields would be helpful. What made it especially so was my Fantasy Writers League draft where I reached for Justin Upton with the 193rd overall pick. Based on Mock Draft Central's ADP, I took Upton 3 and a half rounds too early.

What struck me beyond how undervalued I think Justin Upton is at the 235th pick is how good the Arizona Diamondback outfield will be in 2009. Assuming Upton produces this season, just a ADP of 163 would take the D'backs' avergae ADP to 3rd overall. The question is whether Chris B Young and Eric Byrnes hold their 2008 ADP's steady. I am confident Young will, but I am not so sure on a 32-year-old Eric Byrnes. At 50th overall, fantasy gamers are saying they are much more condident.  read more »

Round two of the playoffs begins today with the Los Angeles Dodgers visiting the Philadelphia Phillies. The NL West champs are coming off a sweep of the Chicago Cubs while the NL East leaders took three of four in the two NLDS over the past week.

Given the fact that we have already previewed the Dodgers and Phillies (as well as the additional information in the Link of the Day in the sidebar on the left), I thought it might be more fun to take a look at the League Championship and World Series odds as presented by Bodog.

Odds to Win the League Championship Series:  read more »

I, too, feel that "value" should factor in when handing out fantasy baseball awards. That being said, here are my award winners: FANTASY MVP Albert Pujols - What this guy does with one good arm is amazing. I won't be passing over him next season. Dustin Pedroia - His ADP was 165. He currently leads the majors with 211 hits. Josh Hamilton - Another ADP of 165. What didn't he do right this year? Grady Sizemore/Hanley Ramirez - 33 HR/38 SB and 33 HR/35 SB respectively. Carlos Quentin - 36 HR/100 RBI from the virtually undrafted. FANTASY CY YOUNG Cliff Lee - He was so good this season, I wouldn't be surprised to see him win the AL MVP and Cy Young awards. Frankie Rodriguez - As unimportant as the save has become in real baseball, it is still fantasy baseball gold. Receiving 62 from one player is priceless. Mike Mussina - Possibly another 20 game winner who was largely undrafted. Tim Lincecum - Dominant! FANTASY ROOKIE Geovany Soto - Ranked the #3 catcher on ESPN and # 5 on Yahoo. Rarely does a rookie live up to the hype, let alone a rookie catcher. That's right Salty, I'm talking to you! Jacoby Ellsbury - .280/98/9/46/50 - I'll take that line from a rookie OFer any day. Evan Longoria - 27 homers in 120 games. Is 35 out of the question for 2009? FANTASY SLEEPERS - Look carefully at this list of players. There is tons of value available in the late rounds of drafts as well as on the waiver wire. Use the early rounds of your draft to go after proven talent. Cliff Lee/Carlos Quentin/Mike Mussina - Already mentioned. Aubrey Huff - Leads the majors with 82 extra-base hits. ADP of 348. Nate McLouth - He had 13 HR and 22 SB in 329 AB in 2007 but did anyone notice?  read more »

Guess what, ya’ll? Carl Crawford is going to hit 40 home runs and steal, like, 60 bases and hit over .350. Carl Crawford will also win the Roberto Clemente Award and the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award for his relief work off and on the field. Or so went the many years of ‘pert [...]

Brutal day for many owners in terms of closer implosions. Matt Capps managed to wreck the day of all THREE! of my fantasy squads. Thanks Jason Bay. I almost threw my Allagash Interlude bottle through the television after the replay. Carl Crawford similarly victimized James Shields owners (though he won).

I wouldn't worry much about Capps. Wood, Gagne, and Gordon on the other hand...those were ugly. Gordon because it comes on the heels of a brutal spring. I didn't think spring training would mean much for a veteran like Gordon. Maybe not. As for Wood, considering that he's (at most) the third best reliever on his own team, how much rope can he have? Gagne, like Gordon, also had a brutal month of pretend games before opening day. The surprise wasn't that he sucked, it's that Turnbow was ignored in the late innings. What? Is it his inability to go two innings in a row without walking someone? In any event, Riske picked up the save, and he looks like the guy to get.  read more »

"X - reached first on catcher's interference" The line above has often been used in baseball box scores to denote one of baseball's orphaned statistics: catcher's interference. It is an event that happens just infrequently enough for people not to care about it, but important enough that the official scorer has to report all instances of it in the totals of a game. The play doesn't count as an at bat for the batter, but the batter doesn't get credited in his on-base percentage for reaching base safely. But a batter who came up just once in a game and reached base on catcher's interference would keep a hitting streak going. A batter reaching base on catcher's interference who comes around to score is an unearned run, but batters who reach after him are usually earned runs.  read more »

James Shields walked slowly off the mound and doffed his cap to a cheering crowd, looking a little surprised that he'd been taken out. No sweat -- rookie reliever David Price and the rest of the Tampa Bay Rays were ready to finish the job. Big Game James had already lived up to his nickname. Shields stymied the slumping Philadelphia Phillies and Price got the final seven outs, pitching the plucky...  read more »

Outfielder Carl Crawford was activated from the disabled list by the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday after sitting out 1 1/2 months because of a finger injury that required surgery. Crawford injured a tendon in the middle finger of his right hand on Aug. 9 when he checked his swing while batting against Seattle.

Looking at the Fantasy Bloggers League Draft our own Bob Taylor was recently invited to participate in, here are my impressions:

Round One

Best Pick: A-Rod at number one. Way to toe the line.

Worst Pick: There's no obvious problem picks in round one (not a surprise), but I have to question Pujols over Fielder. That owner should have been thanking his lucky stars that a fairly equivalent player to a healthy Pujols (and Pujols ain't healthy) fell that far.

Strange Pick: David Wright over Hanley Ramirez. Well, I can only imagine that this owner is worried about Ramirez's shoulder surgery (no spring training ball, yet). While it's tough to argue with caution in round one, I don't know about this move.  read more »

I showed you my team. Now, here are the first four rounds of tonight's Fantasy Bloggers League draft, offered to help you prepare for yours:

1. Alex Rodriguez
2. Jose Reyes
3. David Wright
4. Hanley Ramirez
5. Johan Santana
6. Jimmy Rollins
7. Matt Holliday
8. Miguel Cabrera
9. Chase Utley
10. Ryan Howard
11. David Ortiz
12. Albert Pujols

13. Carl Crawford
14. Alfonso Soriano
15. Prince Fielder
16. Grady Sizemore
17. Brandon Phillips
18. Ryan Braun  read more »