Category: BASEBALL

By Dalton Del Don 1. St. Louis Cardinals Hitting: The Cardinals don’t jump out at you on paper, but there are no real weaknesses in the lineup, especially if Skip Schumaker can remain at second base. Having the game’s best hitter has a big ripple effect on the rest of the lineup, and although losing…

By Dalton Del Don 1. Atlanta Braves Hitting: The Braves hardly have the best offense in their division, but they do have two superstars in their lineup, and Kelly Johnson, Yunel Escobar and Casey Kotchman could all take the next step this year. However, the outfield is probably below average, and Jeff Francoeur’s development (or…

By Dalton Del Don One of my biggest regrets during draft season is not having Kevin Slowey on a single team of mine. He’s never going to win any ERA titles with his susceptibility to the long ball, but his pinpoint control makes Slowey one of the bigger helps in WHIP.  He’s also showing signs…

By Dalton Del Don 1. Los Angeles Dodgers Hitting: Orlando Hudson should be an asset when not hurt, but Casey Blake is consistently overrated by media types who care about things like being a “clubhouse leader.” Still, James Loney should improve, and a healthy Rafael Furcal would really help. I do worry about Russell Martin…

By Dalton Del Don Call me crazy, but I currently view Jason Motte as a top-10 closer. Sure, there are safer options, but then again, there’s also quite a bit of uncertainty in the closer’s market right now (B.J. Ryan, Brian Fuentes, Francisco Cordero, etc.). There’s always the chance Tony La Russa goes all Ryan…

By Dalton Del Don If anyone is interested in joining the RotoScoop Invitational fantasy baseball league, there might be an opening or two due to time conflicts. Comment here or email me at seven3d@aol.com. The draft is tomorrow (Thursday) at 6 PST. Ryan Braun’s intercostal strain has officially become a major concern. Considering it’s the…

By Dalton Del Don Here is my current top-50 but realize every format is different. For instance, in a two-catcher league, I would have upped their values and included three of them here. 1. Jose Reyes 2. Hanley Ramirez 3. Albert Pujols 4. David Wright 5. Grady Sizemore 6. Miguel Cabrera 7. Ryan Braun 8.…

By Dalton Del Don A batch of links to start your week off right: Interesting article by the Football Scientist. He dissects just how much better Larry Fitzgerald is than Anquan Boldin and why Terrell Owens and Lee Evans are a poor fit together. Evans is a much, much better vertical threat than T.O. at…

By Dalton Del Don Rich Harden has about as much upside as any fantasy player in baseball. By now, everyone knows the inherent injury risk – he’s reached 150 innings in just one season during his six-year career. But this is someone who posted an 11.28 K/9 IP mark once he came over to the…

By Dalton Del Don I wouldn’t mind Josh Johnson ending up on plenty of my teams this year. He returned from Tommy John surgery earlier than anticipated last season and saw an increase in velocity in doing so. His control still needs to improve, but his 7.94 K/9 IP mark and 1.56 G/F ratio reveal…

By Dalton Del Don After posting the results of my auction, I wanted to discuss some strategies and players who ended up on my team. In a deep format like this, I’m all about not paying for stars and trying to accumulate as many at-bats as possible. In fact, I didn’t spend more than $23…

By Dalton Del Don Here’s the team I drafted at LABR this past weekend. I’m still getting caught up after being out of town for nearly a week, so for now, I’ll post only the results. I’ll go into much greater detail Thursday. Remember, it’s a 13-team league with extremely deep rosters (14 offensive players,…

I’m off to Phoenix, so posting will be scarce for the next few days. I’ll make it up to you when I get back. Got any specific NL-only targets you recommend I should go after? Let me know and wish me luck!

By Dalton Del Don Joba Chamberlain is one of the toughest calls this year, as he has a ton of upside yet is a health risk, and his role remains somewhat in question. He’ll almost certainly be a starter moving forward – after all, the Yankees would be fools not to put him in the…

By Dalton Del Don It really wouldn’t be all that crazy to consider Carlos Beltran late in the first round of drafts this year. His current ADP is 22.33, which seems low – behind inferior options like Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and Justin Morneau. Normally I’m against recommending players on the wrong side of 30,…

By Dalton Del Don Chris Iannetta is my favorite target at catcher this year. He’s no secret after posting an .895 OPS last season, but he’s not exactly getting treated like a future star either, with an ADP of 135 (with seven catchers going before him). Durability questions remain, but he’s clearly Colorado’s future at…

By Dalton Del Don I was already extremely wary of Johan Santana, but with news he’s out “indefinitely,” and his availability for the start of the season is in serious jeopardy, I’ll be avoiding him altogether now. Apparently ramping up to pitch in the WBC, Santana has developed tightness in his elbow. If he feels…

I’m going to start a RotoScoop fantasy baseball league this year. Like the football version, the buy-in will be $50. More details on the format to follow, but it will be rotisserie with daily transactions and an innings cap. If interested, let it be known in the comments section and/or e-mail me at seven3d@aol.com. The…

Click here to check out my return to the podcast scene.

By Dalton Del Don Andrew Miller – Over his first 181.2 major league innings, Miller has an ugly 5.80 ERA and 1.64 WHIP.  His 5.2 BB/9 IP mark is horrendous. Still, there remains a lot to like about the former sixth overall pick. Last year’s 7.46 K/9 IP mark was solid, as was his 1.24…