MARDI GRAS MADNESS: The Evil Empire

Felipe M

We continue on our reviews for our fantasy baseball league, Mardi Gras Madness.  Please take some time to read the St Bernard Giants outlook.  

The next team is the newest owner in our league, but by no means is he a rookie to fantasy baseball.  Let's take a look at how our resident Yankee fan fared in his first draft in this league. 

CENTRAL DIVISION--The Evil Empire (from Illinois by way of New York)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: Strong left side of the infield with Ryan Zimmerman and Troy Tulowitzki.  As mentioned before, I truly believe that Tulo is the best SS in baseball, but there are injury concerns with him.  In the last 3 seasons, he’s only played in 64% of the Rockies’ games and has not played in over 150 games since 2009.  Carlos Gonzalez is on the squad as well as he’ll be showing off his power/speed combo. 

Dislike: Nelson Cruz, even though he has enough power to be a relevant fantasy player, is just too impatient for my taste.  He’s projected to post an on-base% of .326.  As an owner who had Carlos Beltran on his fantasy team last year, seeing him run out of gas late in 2012 was a tremendous letdown.  He did play in 150 games, but at 36 years-old, will he be able to get through a full season in 2013?  Adam Jones’ value comes from his counting stats, but eventually, the poor approach at the plate and the relatively low on-base% will catch up to him and screw his fantasy owners.  And even though Dan Uggla was picked in round five (virtual 12^th round) of the draft, Uggla’s fall from the top of the 2B list should be alarming.

Look Out For: Manny Machado as his year can go either way: he will either flourish this season with the Orioles or his impatience will catch up to him and they will be forced to send him back to the Minors.  

2013 Hitting Projections
Player	Team	Pos	BB/K	AB/K	AB/HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
Nelson Cruz	Texas	RF	0.35	4.30	21.07	0.326	0.484	0.809	10
Dan Uggla	Atlanta	2B	0.51	3.55	22.01	0.344	0.425	0.769	3
Adam Jones	Baltimore	CF	0.26	5.06	21.69	0.338	0.494	0.831	13
Manny Machado	Baltimore	3B	0.33	4.96	28.24	0.301	0.429	0.730	9

Bench: The Empire had a very interesting bench as the “homer” in him had him pick up a few Yankee players. Backing up Tulo will be Derek Jeter.  Currently, free-swinging, Adam LaRoche is starting at 1B, but most likely taking his place will be Mark Teixeira.  Kevin Youkilis is a good piece to have on your team because he qualifies at 1B/3B and can also be placed on the DH spot.  Victor Martinez was accidentally picked as a catcher, but he will only qualify at DH this season (until he plays 5 games at the backstop), but the team was able to acquire Matt Wieters after the draft in a trade.  Both are good options at catcher.  Even V-Mart makes for a great DH.  

PITCHING

Like: Johnny Cueto and James Shields are both top 25 pitchers.  Jeff Samardzija fell into our 3^rd Tier list because of his BB/9, but when he has his control working, he can be pretty dominant.  Derek Holland can be useful on the right team and this club is right for him as a middle of the rotation starter.  Ryan Vogelsong is the last member of a solid 6-man rotation. 

Dislike: I’m still skeptical about R.A. Dickey.  I’ve explained before about distrusting kucklers, but his projections were good enough to place him ahead of teammate Shields on my top 25 list.  Clearly, this owner did not read my analysis on Justin Masterson.  

2013 Pitching Projections
Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/9
Justin Masterson	Cleveland	2.09	6.85	3.27	9.26	1.39	0.73
Ryan Vogelsong	San Francisco	2.28	7.56	3.32	8.52	1.32	0.77
Jeff Samardzija	Cubs	2.33	8.82	3.78	7.98	1.31	1.02
Derek Holland	Texas	2.73	7.66	2.81	8.51	1.26	1.07
Brandon League	Los Angeles	2.13	6.75	3.18	8.34	1.28	0.53
Chris Perez	Cleveland	2.70	8.84	3.27	7.04	1.15	0.82

Bullpen: One of my favorite closers to pick on, Chris Perez is on the ballclub.  Bad enough that he can be a bit loose with his words and actions, but sometimes he goes through these stretches where he loses control and command of his pitches.  Brandon League has so many people rooting against him as they await for Kenley Jansen to take over in Los Angeles.  League’s stuff and projections also make him a questionable choice at closer. 

PREDICTION: Pretty good team despite the fact that it is being run by a new owner.  Starting pitching and offense might be good enough to keep this team in playoff contention, but they also have plenty of hitters that are susceptible to prolonged slumps.  In a fantasy points’ league like this one where you lose points for strikeouts, it can prove to be difference between making the playoffs and watching other teams playing for the championship.  

More fantasy baseball content is available here.

To check out the rest of the Mardi Gras Madness teams, click here. 

CATCH!: 2013 Early Pre-Rankings--Catchers

Is this the year that Carlos Ruiz cracks the
Top 10, Catchers' list?
(photo courtesy of Mike McCann's Field of Fotos)

Felipe M

It's only February, but I'll go ahead and release my preliminary rankings at every position, beginning with the catching position.  The list has a deep emphasis on the upcoming, fantasy baseball season. Names highlighted in GREEN indicate players that are currently on my keeper team.  Other different colors will indicate "tier breaks" on the list.

TOP TIER

1.  Buster Posey: Let me count the ways that Posey has become a valuable commodity in baseball:

• The San Francisco Giants seem to always win with him in the lineup.
• Probably the best keeper catcher in any format imaginable
• Quite possibly the best, all-around hitting catcher in the game today.
• And I can go on and on, but we'll have to save that for another day...

2. Yadier Molina: Has always been an above-average defender, but has seen his offensive production increase in terms of batting average, on-base%, and SLG%.

3. Joe Mauer: Like Posey, Mauer was once considered the best, all-around catcher in the game, but age and lack of power production has slightly dropped him from the top spot.  Nevertheless, Mauer is still a good-hitting catcher and is a solid, "safe" pick at the position.

4. Mike Napoli: Injury concerns in the offseason along with decreases in his slash line last season prevented Napoli from one of the top 3 spots.  However, a move to the Boston Red Sox, where he will be permanently situated at 1B and the fact that he can still provide power, put him comfortably in our top 5.

5. Carlos Santana: Santana has had to battle injuries that has sapped some of his ability to produce power and average, but he's still an on-base machine and he's still young enough to prove his prowess.

6.  Miguel Montero: MLB Network has named the Arizona Diamondback catcher the face of the franchise.  He basically has also become the D'backs' best hitter by default as well.  

7.  Matt Wieters: Just like Santana, Wieters, at 26, is young enough to improve on his offensive numbers, but unlike Santana, Wieters' low batting average also comes along with a low, on-base%.  The switch-hitting catcher can still hit for power, but he needs to prove he can contribute in other categories before we move him up on our list.

SECOND TIER

8. Salvador Perez: Seems like every baseball publication has him ranked high, but we warn our readers about this guy: he's only 22 and is far from having fully developed batting skills.  His power production, at this stage of his career, is merely based on potential.  Be cautious.

9. Wilin Rosario: Another, young, power-hitting catcher.  But as we explained on this site already, Rosario comes with a lot of holes in his game including poor plate discipline, low contact rate, and unpolished defensive game.  Just like Perez, many publications have him ranked high, but be cautious of this player.

10. Jesus Montero:  Struggled mightily as the Seattle Mariners' DH, but he's only 23 years-old and Safeco Field will have new, somewhat hitter-friendly dimensions for 2013 so that should help the young hitter as well.  

11. Carlos Ruiz: His advanced age and the fact that he will begin the season on suspension drops him outside the top 10, but Ruiz has been one of the more dependable, steady catchers for the past few years or so and has a reputation for his clutch-hitting.  Having Ruiz along with one of these younger catchers would provide you with insurance at the backstop position.

12. Ryan Doumit: Injuries have been a hindrance to Doumit reaching his full potential.  Despite no real position for Doumit for the Minnesota Twins, he's still projected, by many publications, to reach 500+ at bats.  He can be a cheap source of power, injuries notwithstanding.

13. Jonathan Lucroy: A career year moves Lucroy into a borderline, starting fantasy catcher.  However, as impressive as 2012 was for him, it's hard to envision him posting another .881 OPS in 2013.

14. A.J. Pierzynski: A career year by A.J. gave him the opportunity to sign with the Texas Rangers. Very questionable that he'll hit for that much power again, but playing in Texas gives him the opportunity to come close to reaching those numbers again.

15. Brian McCann: I'm the biggest McCann fan and his biggest apologist.  It's hard to look past the decrease in his numbers last season, but he was battling a nagging shoulder injury.  The Atlanta Braves still have confidence in him and he'll be given every chance to come back at 100%.

THIRD TIER

Here are how the rest of the catchers pan out:

• John Jaso
• Alex Aliva
• A.J. Ellis
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia
• J.P. Arencibia
• Tyler Flowers
• Chris Iannetta
• Russell Martin
• Welington Castillo
• Rob Brantly

And here are a few catchers to keep an eye on this spring:

1. Travis d'Arnaud
2. Wilson Ramos vs Kurt Suzuki-- Suzuki is still ahead of Ramos in the Washington Nationals' depth chart.
3. Mike Zunino

First Base is next!  Who?  Exactly!

For more MLB content, click here. 

For our list of 1B, click here.