2009 Fantasy Baseball

[nalathegreat]

As I write this Yahoo Fantasy Baseball is on the verge of opening, (I believe its open Feb 10) and there are many new questions.
What Alex Rodriguez do? With his admission to using steriods from 01-03, will that affect his game in a positive or negative way?
How will Chase Utley recover from his injury, and will he play on Opening Day?
Will CC Sabathia earn his largest contract, and what about Mark Teixeria?
Who will be this year's sleepers?
on and on the list goes

i have a question. As a draft preparation, can i use ziguana's player rankings from last year? if not what should i use?

[cass]

As a draft preparation, can i use ziguana's player rankings from last year? if not what should i use?

In answer to the above question, Ziguana's baseball rankings unfortunately don't have the complete season's stats updated from last year yet. You might have noticed it's only the first 120 games or so. This will soon be fixed/updated. Once this happens they should be extremely helpful in draft prep! Although, you'll still wanna consider sleepers, busts, etc. because performance is never constant.

Hopefully we can get some good feedback on your other more interesting questions that loom over the upcoming fantasy baseball season too...

[neifichicken]

Top Sleepers for this year:

1) Brandon Morrow - Could he be the next Lincecum? He was drafted over Lincecum and his K numbers are equally as ridiculous. Not to mention due to the recent acquisitions of Endy Chavez and Franklin Guttierez, the Mariners now have the BEST defensive OF in the majors in a pitcher's park and all M's pitchers will benefit hugely
2) Scott Baker - Had a phenomenal year last year, will he continue to grow?
3) Carlos Gomez - I generally don't like speed players, but he could lead the bigs in steals this year and be drafted late
4) Justin Upton - I think this will be his breakout year. I'm pegging him for 35 dingers and to hit .285/.370/.535 ...it's gonna be sweet
5) Alex Gordon - He has been a disapointment thusfar, but people forget how quickly he was rushed to the bigs. He showed serious signs of life towards the end of last year and has reportedly (via ESpn.com) put in a TON of off-season conditioning this past off-season. I think this is the year he finally breaks through
6) Matt Garza - Really pitched incredibly down the stretch last year, look for him to build on that and catapult his value even more. I also expect mroe K's this season
7) Cameron Maybin - Probably gets his chance at full time play this year, could really be something special with 25/25 potential in his rookie year
8) Heath Bell - No reason this guy can't be a great closer. His set-up numbers the past two years have been great, and that should carry into the 9th
9) Nelson Cruz - This guy was amazing in the minors last year (although he's not a prospect) and was excellent in his late season call-up. This guy could do serious damage next year at the ballpark in Arlington
10) Andruw Jones - Alright, go ahead, call me crazy, but he's still not that old and is playing in Texas, where careers can be rejuvenated in a heartbeat. It might be low percentage, but if he does make the team and get playing time, he could hit 35-40 homers. It will be saddled with a poor avg, but still

[cass]

...btw stats have been updated.

[cass]

i love that list of sleepers... minus andruw jones! unfortunately, i think most ppl are wise to guys like garza and upton. but, i think baker is underrated and the rest have extremely high ceilings. i got a feeling that maybin is going to well sought after, but will probably bust (just my prediction).

any predictions for what kind of statline you think gordon will put up this season?

[neifichicken]

It's tough to say on Gordon, but I remain very optimistic for three reasons:
1) He is still just 24, which is generally when most prospects have their rookie year. He broke in very early and still has his prime ahead of him. Plus he's a true 3B, whereas Chris Davis (who you are also keeping) will only be a 3B for this season
2) The talent is never in question for him. The guy should seemingly be in the same class as Longoria and Wright, and he's worked really hard to get ready for this year.
3) Most importantly, look at how Gordon finished last year. His post all-star break line was .277/.392/.496, which is pretty damn impressive. In September he hit .311 with a .556 slugging, the best month of his major league career

Gordon will certainly improve in 2009, the question is just by how much.

Optimistic projection: 700 PA's .300/.395/.525 with 30 home runs, 15 steals, and 88 walks

Conservative projection: 650 PA's .275/.355/.470 with 20 homers, 10 steals, and 75 walks

[cass]

i think the conservative is much more reasonable, but both predictions are pretty favorable. i think he has too much of a problem hitting lefties and striking out to bat 300 anytime soon.

[neifichicken]

I think the conservative projection more or less goes in line with the growth he showed from 07 to 08.

I think because most of his success came in the second half, it shows that he was actually improving and could be primed to set off. A lot of people like to compare him to George Brett and Brett was a guy who didn't really hit his stride as a big leaguer until his 3rd year.

As Carlos Quentin showed last year, if the talent is there, it shouldn't be cast off right away. That being said, I doubt you would need to keep him because you could probably re-draft him in the first few rounds. I don't think that's the case for Pedroia, Morrow, Granderson, and Soto though

[cass]

maybe, i think morrow should slip much farther than gordon though.

[bret]

yeah i see morrow slipping further than gordon would....