Red Hot Corner: Fantasy Baseball Third Basemen for 2013
What a difference a year makes. Entering the draft at this time last year, Jose Bautista (TOR) was the clear-cut number one choice at third base (and potential top 5 overall pick). Miguel Cabrera (DET) was not yet eligible at the position and Brett Lawrie (TOR) speculation was running rampant. Needless to say, the position has undergone some change. Fast forward […]
Tampa Rays lock up Longoria well ahead of schedule
Evan Longoria was already signed for several seasons at a clubhouse friendly deal. He had already shown that he has a propensity to get hurt, but when on the field he presented value on both sides of the ball. Today, Tampa decided they would jump the gun and lock him up before someone else fell […]
The Big Apple Bomb Squad: How the Yankees Can Escape the AL East Dogfight
July 18 This is the date that we will point to if the Yankees collapse down the stretch. “What?” you exclaim. “The Yankees? Collapse? Please.” However, New Yorkers cannot sweep the Bombers’ recent mediocrity under the rug. On the 18th, the Yankees rolled into Oakland with a 57-34 record(or .626 winning percentage); four […]
What if Carl Crawford is 100%?
Close your eyes, count to ten.. pretend you’re in Tampa, Florida. It’s warm and muggy, except not around you because you’re in Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. You’re really excited because you get to see a great and competitive baseball game. Now tell me what you think of when you hear these […]
Book Review: Major League Dads
Is there anything more American than a game of catch between a father and his son? For many, the answer to this question would probably be that the only way to make that vision more American is to have an apple pie sitting in the window of the house next to the yard where the […]
The Not So Hot Corner: Top Ten Fantasy Baseball Third Basemen for the 2012 Season
One strategy many fantasy baseball owners use when assembling their roster is to quickly ‘shore up’ a player at a shallow position. If you are a fantasy owner who likes to use this approach, you will want to consider grabbing (or keeping) a third baseman in 2012. Going into the 2011 season, there were approximately 5 or 6 fantasy third […]
The Arrival of Jennings, Is it Too Little Too Late?
Generally I haven’t been a big fan of ESPN’s Sweet Spot Blog over the past few months. The writing of David Schoenfield just doesn’t compare of the wit and insights we used to see in that space when Rob Neyer was at the helm. But, I will give Schoenfield his credit as he does occasionally […]
The Tampa Bay Rays After 5 and a Half Weeks
The Rays are one of the hottest teams in Major League Baseball with 22 wins. They have won 7 of their last 10 games and are sitting in first place with the Yankees now in second by 1 game, the Rays are now 22-15 on the season. Pitching and hitting have equalized […]
Thinking 3rd Base was Shallow Entering 2011? It’s Gotten Worse
Coming into the 2011 season, the general consensus was that third base was one of the weaker positions from a depth standpoint. It consisted of a few elite players, a few stars and then a huge drop off in the talent pool. After a top tier consisting of David Wright (NYM), Evan Longoria (TB) and Alex […]
15 MLB Newcomers to Watch in 2011
The good thing about baseball is that even fans of the perpetually obsolete clubs have hope each year. With the emergence of a hot prospect or still-green major leaguer, a team’s fortunes can change for the better. Take the 2008 Rays — after losing more than 90 games each year since the franchise’s […]
Taking a Look at the Rays in Week Two and Looking Forward to Week Three
The Tampa Rays have been able to pick up the pace and stay in contention with this past weeks play. Starting 0-6 and a surprise retirement by Ramirez, they have stayed the course and gained valuable ground by playing with consistency. Winning four in a row has the Rays just 2.5 games out of first […]
2011 Fantasy Baseball Big Board Top 50: Is St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols Still the Top Pick?
Image by Getty Images via @daylife Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings. Over the past few weeks, we’ve announced the top 50 players on our 2011 big board. Click […]
THIS WAS A WEIRD WEEK
THIS WEEK’S TOPICS Gonzalez Dismissed, Hoffman Just Dissed We begin with the news that the Marlins dismissed Manager Fredi Gonzalez as manager. Delusional owner Jeffrey Loria thinks he can re-create 2003 simply by changing leaders. Remember, this is the guy who fired Joe Girardi after his Manager of the Year season simply because Girardi asked […]
Passing the Fantasy Baseball Torch
Last week we saw the retirement of one of the truly elite talents in baseball history and one of the most dominant players that played in my (and every other ~23 year old’s) generation. Ken Griffey Jr. was my first favorite baseball player, the first guy that I would wait to watch on Sports Center […]
AL East – Who are the Pretenders and Contenders
Right now we are just about six weeks into the 2010 Major League Baseball Season, and the AL East is looking like the strongest of the American League. With both the Rays and Yankees off to fast starts, it is looking like a two team race. As the cool days of Spring move into the […]
2010 Projections: Can Twins’ Delmon Young Live Up to His 25-30 HR Potential?
One of the most hyped prospects in recent memory, Delmon Young has yet to fulfill his lofty expectations. From a bat-tossing incident which lead to a 50-game minor league suspension in 2006, to criticizing the Rays’ upper management and refusing to take coach’s instructions, Young’s character has always been in question. Twins’ manager Ron Gardenhire attributes Young […]
BBA 2009 AL MVP Ballot
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Warning: most of this ballot is going to surprise you. How do I know, because it surprised me! You see, I didn’t just use my eyes or even the traditional method/statistics to make up this ballot. I used 11 statistical categories including defensive metrics & added some objective weight […]
Deserving Gold Glove Winners – A.L.
Image via Wikipedia Catcher: Catcher’s defense is by far the toughest to quantify, as there really isn’t a metric for it, and you pretty much have to go exclusively by stats like runners thrown out, passed balls, and dare I say, fielding percentage. Deserving Winner: Jason Varitek Reasoning: Highest RF/9 (range factor per game) among […]
The Current Mindset of the Rays
It’s hard to believe that in this decade, Tampa Bay major sports franchises have been to the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup Finals. Not bad for a city that has, at other times, been synonymous with horrendous teams (the Buccaneers before this decade, and the Rays before last season). What have […]
May’s Hottest Hitters By Position
Image by Keith Allison via Flickr Sorry about this, but due to the fact that I gave Nick the week off from his weekly Fantasy Focus and my vacation that I am currently on, this will be a little short. Here are the top hitters by position for the month of May. I will also […]
The Rays After 40 Games
The 2009 Tampa Bay Rays played their fortieth game of the season on Monday, May 18th and in so doing got themselves back to the .500 mark at 20-20. But at this point, things that went right in 2008 so far have not in 2009, and the Rays find themselves in fourth place in their […]
April’s Top 9 Hitters By Position
Here’s a look at the top players per position for the month of April. We have included the top 3 outfielders rather than list them by LF, CF & RF. Admittedly this is a little late and next month I’ll try to get this to you quicker, but for now, I hope you enjoy this […]
Rays Reflections
David Price and Andy Sonnanstine are exhibits A and B in a lesson about how valuable experience can be when making a major league roster or, more importantly, a starting rotation. Though I am a big fan of Andy’s, anyone can see that Price is likely a far more talented pitcher in every aspect of […]
Reflections on the Rays
In pre-season of 2008, I picked the Tampa Bay Rays to make some noise in the American League, to win 25 more games than they had the year before, to top the Seattle Mariners by 18 games, and to make a run at the wild card in the American League. And if you managed to […]
The American League Rookie of the Year Prediction
The American League Rookie of the Year Award has some big names in the hunt. One played two months in the league before receiving a big contract extension, one was well known for his post season appearance last year and one even flew under the radar for most of the season even though he put […]
