MVN: Most Valuable Network

Morosi on Diamondbacks Trade Plans

Jon Paul Morosi, Fox Sports:One executive with knowledge of Arizona's plans said the team has spent much more of its time attempting to trade left-handed starter Doug Davis, right-handed starter Jon Garland and infielder Felipe Lopez.So, don't be surprised if those players are dealt away before the July 31 non-waiver deadline.At the same time, the source indicated that it's now "less likely" that the Diamondbacks will trade reliever Chad Qualls, who has drawn interest from the Yankees.Lopez is a great grab for teams out there, but I'm not sure about Garland. Lopez could work for the Red Sox if Lowrie...

Wednesday's Games of the Day

Six of Wednesday's fifteen games are day games, making Wednesday a getaway day for those twelve teams. Wednesday doesn't feature the best pitching matchups, but does have some good games worth watching. Two All-Star Game bound ten-game winners are pitching on Wednesday. Ryan Sadowski looks to go 3-for-3 in his first three career starts. The Reds and Phillies continue an entertaining series. Oliver Perez returns to the Mets rotation and the NL Central and AL West showdowns continue. Pittsburgh at Houston: The Pirates-Astros series finishes with Charlie Morton and Wandy Rodriguez facing off. If Pittsburgh wins, they'll be only 2...

Tuesday's Games of the Day

Tuesday brings a full schedule for our viewing pleasure. The day starts with the Reds and Phillies facing off in a game the Reds hope does not turn out the same way as Monday's game. The Rays and Blue Jays jockey for third place positioning in the AL East. Tuesday's schedule also contains games for two series' that will help determine division leaders heading into the All-Star break. Those games and more can be found below. Cincinnati at Philadelphia: The Phillies crushed the Reds 22-1 on Monday and look to continue that dominance against Aaron Harang on Tuesday. Hopefully they...

Fantasy Links of the Day

Monday brings some normalcy back to the Links. There's some good hitter links directly below that discuss who could be the next Ben Zobrist and why Justin Upton is about to become the next fantasy stud. Futures Exchange discusses some up-and-coming Triple-A and Double-A prospects. Of course, the Tuesday Links can be found at the very end. Closer Links:Depth Chart and Hot Seat. Hitter Links:Cody Ross is rising. Mike Lowell is falling. In Leading Off, Eric Karabell looks for the next Ben Zobrist among a list that includes Seth Smith and Matt Murton of the Rockies, Brandon Wood of the...

MLB Top 10: Yanks Making a Push

We're entering the final week before the All-Star break, but most teams have already passed the official midway point of their seasons.  So now that we're half way there in crowning the 2009 world champions, who are the hottest teams in baseball entering this week? 1. New York Yankees (48-33)The Yanks continue to inch their way towards division-leading Boston, trailing in the AL East by a single win.  It's sure to be one hell of a race down the stretch, even if some meaning is lessened by the fact that both teams are likely assured of reaching the playoffs.  For now, I'm sure Yankee fans will take the moral victory of Mark Teixeira beating out Kevin Youkilis for the starting 1B spot on the All-Star team.2. Texas Rangers (45-35)It looks like the AL West is going to have a very competitive division race down the stretch, which is something that...

Monday's Games of the Day

Monday's schedule contains intriguing matchups. It begins with Ricky Romero looking to extend his scoreless innings streak against the Yankees at new Yankee Stadium. The Phillies look to improve on their 16-22 home record with Cole Hamels on the mound against Cincinnati. John Smoltz continues his quest for his first win as a Red Sock. Mike Hampton faces the Pirates for the third time in his last five starts and there's an AL West showdown in Anaheim. All these games, and more, can be found below. Toronto at New York Yankees: The Yankees look to sweep the Jays and bring...

Angels lose - Santana & Scioscia strike out.

Okay, let's just pin last night's loss to Baltimore on where it belongs and move on. First, Santana. Obviously. Sure, he struck out a few guys. The ball was coming out of his hand well (I guess versus throwing it over a batter's head), and he had some movement. But it seems that ever since Santana has been in the bigs, people have been making excuses for him. Yes, he had 16 wins early on. But his ERA was well over 4, so let's not get too excited. Then the next year he stunk it up so badly they sent him down. He got focused and got back to the bigs and had a nice year last year. Then this year he got hurt, rehabbed, came back, got bombed, rehabbed, came back, got bombed. But the ball's coming out of his hand well? Doesn't matter, because the problem with...

Sell Targets: tell Torii goodbye

Back this week with Mark from Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove.  Last week we looked at some players to target in trades.  This week we look at some players worth selling high on. Torii Hunter - A lot can come with a name brand.  Hunter's charisma and highlight reel catches make him a household name.  That makes no difference when it comes to fantasy baseball.  What it does do is help to boost his perceived value.  Hunter's .306, 17 HR, 12 SB line is very front-loaded.  8 of his homeruns came in April when his flyball rate was over 50%.  That rate has fallen back down to his career standards and so too has the AB/HR rate.  9 of his 12 steals came in May and his AVG has gone from .325 in April to .304 in May and .289 in June.  His strikeouts also continue to rise per month.  It's safe to say that the best part of Hunter's season is behind him.  In the second half we'll likely be seeing a good player, but one that will be less valuable for your fantasy team.  Recently traded for: David Wright, Alex Rodriguez, Dan Haren, Ichiro Suzuki, Evan Longoria. Ben Zobrist - Yeah, he looked pretty legit coming out of the gates when he moved into a full time role, but let's face it, he's not Chase Utley good.  His almost 24% HR/FB rate is sure to regress a little and he strikes out over 22% of his at bats.  June was a significantly cooler month for Zobrist.   I do think he's capable of 10-12 homers in the second half, but the AVG may not get much over .280 or so.  The biggest reason to sell on Zobrist is the proven talent you can get in return.  Recently traded for: Lance Berkman, Josh Beckett, Zack Greinke, Jose Reyes, Bobby Abreu, Chad Billingsley. CC Sabathia - The ERA and WHIP look good, but look deeper and you might not like what you see.  While everyone is worried about Johan Santana's recent issues, it's Sabathia's strikeouts that have been way down all season long.  His 6.44 K/9 is only a little above league average and he is seeing more fly balls off the bat of opposing hitters than he has in his career.  Think this will get better in the second half?  It could, but there is plenty of risk involved as well.  Sabathia is on course to approach 230 innings this season, which would actually be down from a consecutive three year rise in innings pitched.  Take into account the way (amount of innings) he pitched late last season and into October.  There would seem to be a chance he wears down in August and September of this season.  Even if he doesn't wear down, the fact is that we are looking at a pitcher who's value is still largely perceived off of last season's incredible performance.  Sabathia is the perfect guy to try and deal for a package of players.  In...

AAA All-Stars Announced

The rosters for the Triple-A All-Star game have been announced. Some names of note:Eric Young Jr. (Rockies)Clay Bucholtz (Red Sox)Andy Marte (Indians)Shelly Duncan (Yankees)Chris Shelton (Mariners)Brandon Wood (Angels)Matt Murton (Rockies)...

Home Run Trot's June All-Star Team: Position Players

The monthly All-Star team is another feature I'm bringing over from my old blog. For those unfamiliar with my previous work, here are the April and May posts. I'm bringing the All-Star team over to MLB Notebook with a twist. It's going to be divided into two posts. One for the position players and a second for the pitching staff. Now that I'm working with some other great writers, these monthly posts can properly be used to start a discussion.*All stats are compiled as of 7 PM EST on July 1. Catcher: Bengie Molina, San Francisco GiantsMaking this selection was...

FB365's Morning Drive 7/2/09

Jordan Zimmermann is getting a lot of fantasy love lately.  I was on this guy in late April.  He out-pitched Josh Johnson yesterday. Cody Ross hit his 14th bomb of the season of newly acquired Sean Burnett.  Ross is slugging .633 vs. left handed pitching this season.  Josh Johnson left the game after only 3.1 innings.  No injury, just a rain delay and 4 walks to go with a rising pitch count. Ricky Romero continues to impress.  He's stranding over 85% of runners and his FIP is a run higher than his ERA before his start yesterday.  Walks and the AL East are my concerns, but he's definitely a guy worth rostering right now.  He's only owned in 33% of Yahoo! leagues. Brad Bergesen impressed against the Red Sox.  He's not going to strikeout a ton of guys, but he's keeping the ball on the ground and keeping the walks to a minimum.  His next start comes against the Mariners.  If you need a spot start, he's worth another go. Yovani Gallardo struck out a career high 12 in 7 IP against the Mets.  If Gallardo can reduce his walk rate, he's basically Lincecum light. Gil Meche, coming off a "dead arm" period, threw 121 pitches in only 6 innings.  His arm looked fine with a fastball sitting in the mid 90's, but minor injuries have been an issue this season.  If I'm A Meche owner (or a Royals fan) I'm not happy about the pitch count at all.  Billy Butler, 4-4, continues to outperform James Loney, but it seems no one is paying attention.  Jason Hammel has been pitching well for the Rockies lately.  He's not quite the ground ball pitcher Aaron Cooks is, but he is getting enough groundballs and limiting walks to be an NL-only add. Troy Tulowitzki got cold just as fast as he got hot two weeks ago.  I think he'll finish with an AVG around .270. Jimmy Rollins took another o'fer, but so did most of the Phillies against Jair Jurjjens who only allowed 1 hit.  Justin Verlander was touched up last night.  That makes two less than spectacular starts in a row.  I'm not reading much into it. Jose Contreras has struck out 8 batters in 3 of his last 4 starts. Randy Wells pitched well again and got his third straight win.  I'd start him again at home vs the Braves in his next start.  Johnny Cueto brought back the strikeout last night against the D-Backs.  Of course the D-Backs are second only to the Marlins in team strikeouts.  Kevin Millwood and Jered Weaver squared off in a battle of the "sell highs".  Neither faired particularly well and neither are likely to repeat their first half numbers in the second half. Nelson Cruz left with a back injury.  It didn't sound serious, but I never like to hear about back problems.  Keep an eye on the situation. Albert Pujols did not hit a homerun, but he did go 2-2 with a stolen...

Torii Hunter needs more All-Star votes

As of Tuesday's midday All-Star vote tally, Torii Hunter is 144,981 votes behind Josh Hamilton in American League outfielder All-Star voting. If voting ended Wednesday, Hamilton would be one of the three starting outfielders for the American League. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Torii Hunter should be starting for the AL at the All-Star game. He's more deserving of recognition from fans outside of the Los Angeles-Anaheim area. Don't get me wrong, I like Josh Hamilton. He's an amazing player, when healthy. But Hamilton's played only 35 games this season. Hamilton is expected to play a three-game...

Wednesday's Games of the Day

July begins with several teams either looking to extend winning streaks or stop losing streaks. San Francisco and St. Louis continue a series that impacts the early Wild Card race. Colorado looks to turn their luck around against the Dodgers. Plenty of pitchers are looking for win number eight, nine, or ten on July 1. Nyjer Morgan joins the Nationals. Adam Jones and Marco Scutaro begin July looking to end recent slumps. Those, and plenty of other good storylines, can be found in Wednesday's Games of the Day. Washington at Florida: The Nyjer Morgan era begins in Washington. He and...

Fantasy Links of the Day

Tonight's Links have plenty of good, useful fantasy information for you. Charlie Saponara takes a look at the fantasy impact of Tuesday's Nyjer Morgan trade. A trusted fantasy writer thinks Scott Podsednik can't be trusted. Christopher Harris thinks Edwin Jackson is the most positive pitching surprise this season. He also thinks a certain Twins pitcher (like that doesn't give it away) is the biggest disappointment. Plus, there's an interesting Fantasy Baseball Roundtable question after the jump. Closer Links:Brian Fuentes leads the league with 22 saves. You can find that and other closer notes about Andrew Bailey and the Tampa Bay...

MLB Top 10: Halos Grab AL West Lead

Sometimes when I think about this list during the weekend before Mondays roll around, things end up looking a bit differently than I pictured.  This was one of those weeks.  Over the weekend, multiple winning streaks were snapped, teams unexpectedly played poorly, and my top ten list underwent some major reconstruction.  The result?  A drastically different list compared to what we would've seen on Friday.  1. Los Angeles Angels (41-32)The Halos have won five straight, including a series win over the red-hot Rockies last week.  They followed up the impressive series win by sweeping the woeful Diamondbacks over the weekend, and they now hold a 1.5 game lead in the AL West over Texas.  They get the chance to widen the gap this week when they continue their road trip in Texas, in what some are calling the biggest series for the Angels this year.2. Tampa Bay Rays (42-35)Don't look...

They've Got That Winning Feeling.

Baseball's a funny game. A beautiful game. And the really great thing about it is its length. 162 games. The cream rises to the top. The playoffs, sure, anything can happen. Especially in the first round, which is too short. Should be seven games. Come on, after six months of grinding it out, you can be eliminated in the equivalent of a weekend series? Three lousy games? Ridiculous. But not in the regular season. In the regular season you have to earn it. A hot streak, a hot pitcher, a missed suicide squeeze won't do it for you. You have to gut it out, and be better than the other teams. Period. Which is why the Angels are back in first place. Finally. Feels like it's been an entire season already. And hey, there was a moment there when they were sinking and the Texas Rangers were rolling and...

MLB Notebook Looking for Part Time Writers

This is an official announcement for MLB Notebook:MLB Notebook is looking for Part Time writers. I can't put a number on how many we are hoping to add, because if we get 10 really great writers that apply, I will be tempted to add them all. Here are some details on what being a Part Time writer is all about:2-3 Posts a week - Could be more if you have the drive to do it, but we only expect 2 each week.Love of baseball - If you don't love the game, we don't love you.Writing Experience - We would prefer...

Fantasy Links of the Weekend

It's the weekend, so there aren't as many links as I'd like. I was still able to find some quality links though. At this point in the season, the waiver wire links, strategy links, and daily prep links are always the best ones out there. Luckily, I have links in each of those categories that will help navigate the weekend. Hitter Links:Charlie Saponara says Paul Konerko will have a second half surge. Gary Gramling says to ride out Jimmy Rollins' slump. Remember, for Rollins slump equals all season. Gramling is still correct, especially for those in keeper leagues. Impact Analysis: Vladimir Guerrero. Tom...

FB365's Morning Drive 6/25/09

Geovany Soto is officially back.  He hit his 6th long ball of the season and 4th in the month of June. Big Papi cranks his 7th of the season.  See above. Zack Duke improves to 8-5 with 6 IP, 1 ER effort last night.  Duke now has lowered his ERA to 3.09 for the season.  Like other pitchers getting by on groundballs and very few strikeouts (Nick Blackburn, Mark Buehrle, Kevin Slowey) there is always the distinct possibility for a complete falloff.  However, given that all these guys should have cost you very little on draft day, who really cares.  Sell high if you can, just enjoy the unexpected value you've received if you can't.  Sizemore goes deep for the first time since coming off the DL.  That didn't take long.  More on him later today.  Joey Votto is a bit rusty.  Don't give up on him just yet.  He was in the midst of a breakout season before taking some time away for some real serious reasons.  He has the power and plate discipline to be a fantasy force in the second half.  I don't think he'll hit anywhere near .350, but .290-.300 with 15 or so homers is realistic.  Scott Richmond continues to make the best of his opportunities.  I'm still nervous about endorsing Richmond because of his GB/FB rate, which favors flyballs. His 21% line drive rate is a bit high too.  I'd sit him upcoming against the Phillies. Pat Burrell connected for his second homerun of the season.  Burrell is only owned in 54% of ESPN leagues and there is no doubt that when healthy he can provide plus power.  Much way I liked the pickup of Marcus Thames, I would say the same for Burrell, especially in OBP leagues. Holy Joe Blanton!  10 K's in 7 IP.  Blanton has been pitching much better since his rough month of May.  His peripherals are actually much improved from last season.  As of yesterday his K/BB rate stood at 2.79, which but him alongside Jered Weaver and just below Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee and Jake Peavy.  Keep him on your watch list for good matchups.  Toronto is not one of those good matchups. Correction: Blanton's next start would be against the Braves.  That is a go for a spot pickup.  David Wright goes 4-4 in an 11-0 rout of the Cardinals.  He also added his 19th stolen base of the season.  Power outage!?  With a .356 AVG and 19 steals, who cares!! It might be safe to say that Rickey Nolasco is officially back.  7 IP, 7 K, 1 BB in a win against the Orioles.  Nolasco hasn't given up more than 2 ER runs in July and has only walked 5 batters in 4 games.  He walked 3 on June 7th, his first game back from the minors.  With the news that Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom was headed to the DL, the guessing game began for, "who will be the next Marlins closer?"  Leo Nunez seemed to be the first in...