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 »

Amongst the various Gospels of Fantasy Baseball is the one that says fantasy players should not draft pitching at the values every rankings system assigns it.  I admit to being one of the faithful, but, recently, I have begun to rethink this.  Not in the first round, though.  The top position players are still much better relative to their peers than the top pitchers are, but, after the first round and a half or so, I am not so sure.

Should I take Carlos Lee or Grady Sizemore over Jake Peavy in the second round when I can get Torri Hunter or Brad Hawpe four or five rounds later?  Should I take Russ Martin in the third round over Erik Bedard or Brandon Webb when I can get Jorge Posada in the 8th round?  How about Bobby Abreu over Josh Beckett when a whole slew of potential 15 HR/15 SB outfielders who will play every day, like Lastings Milledge, Justin Upton and Adam Jones, are available 100s of picks later?  read more »

Mike Mussina worked both sides of the plate as he cruised through the Tampa Bay Rays lineup and joined some elite company. Thanks to Moose, the New York Yankees did just fine after Derek Jeter went down. Mussina tied Bob Gibson on the career wins list by pitching six sharp innings, Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer and the New York Yankees beat Tampa Bay 6-1 on Monday night.  read more »

Both the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox lost out on the Mark Teixeira sweepstakes and are now left to figure out which roster tweaks remain both available and viable this off-season. In itself, not going to $180 million, $190 million, $200 million for Tex's services is perfectly defensible but that does not change the notion that if you are not improving while teams around you are, you're effectively getting worse. For both teams to maintain the competitive advantages they have enjoyed for the last handful of seasons, they would be wise to consider other options.  read more »

Here's why the Cubs shouldn't sign Bobby Abreu, by Maddog

Over the life of the contract the guy would be below replacement level.  read more »

Tampa Bay Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman confirmed meeting with free-agent outfielder Bobby Abreu's representatives on Wednesday, in addition to a host of other agents representing free agents the club is interested in pursuing, according to MLB.com.

"We have basically talked to all the agents of players we have interest in," said Friedman, choosing not to share the names of those players.  read more »

Mike Mussina tied Bob Gibson on the career wins list by pitching six sharp innings, Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Monday night. Abreu went 3-for-3 with a walk and Hideki Matsui drove in two runs for the Yankees, who lost Derek Jeter after two innings but salvaged a split of the four-game series before they headed west to start a difficult…

Read the full story.  read more »

As an unknown commodity, Kosuke Fukudome is not getting enough respect in fantasy leagues in my opinion.  He's being drafted around the 14th round, but looks like a poor man's Bobby Abreu to me.  And Abreu goes in the fourth round.

I have Fukudome at .281-18-85-93-10 in 550 ABs, a $10.44 value.  But if he bats third and posts a .400 OBP, there's reason to believe he could top the RBI and run projections.  And Fukudome himself projected 15-20 swipes.  It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him as a top 20 outfielder, but he's going 41st among them.  My biggest concern is that he doesn't match the 18 HR projection.  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 »

Updated 12/10 Phillies/Cubs/Padres close to deal, according to Steve Phillips (so, you know, whatever). So far, the Orioles, Phillies and Twins have all been mentioned as the "third team" - as if someone got a glimpse of them on the grassy knoll or something. Patience may be required, but Kevin Towers almost has to unload Peavy now. Kerry Wood is a physical away from being a member of the Cleveland Indians. Milton Bradley is talking to the Cubs. Late Update Are teams lining up replacements for pieces of the trade? Phillies add a catcher , Cubs check on a super-utility guy . Updated 12/8 Wow, a lot going on. Keeping up with MLBTR alone is tough. Raul Ibanez is in play, but the Cubs are reported to prefer Abreu over Ibanez, and either over Dunn/Bradley. Rich Aurilia ? DeRo a Phillie ?  read more »