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Trade Debate: A day of wheeling and dealing

By Charlie Saponara | July 3, 2009 | Fantasy Baseball 365

I've made a few trades here and there throughout the season dispersed amongst my different leagues. But then came yesterday. I had been getting a rush of offers from a couple different teams in my ESPN 10 team auction league. After a little back and forth two deals went down involving trading away 4 and receiving 4 players. Here are the deals. Received Chipper Jones for Jorge Cantu. My offense if fine, but could use help mostly in AVG and despite his current slump Chipper should help in that area. Even if he misses a few games here and there (more like when) I still would rather have Chipper over Cantu. I also have Aramis Ramirez on my DL, so I'll be able to put one of the two at CI or UTIL when he comes back. I was getting some serious interest in Zack Greinke. Aside from Greinke my starting pitchers consists of Jon Lester, Yovani Gallardo, Matt Cain, Edwin Jackson, John Danks and Max Scherzer. As you can see, pitching is pretty solid. Since the offers were coming back fairly aggressive, I decided to see how high I could sell on Greinke as I have already had a half seasons worth of great production. The deal ended up like this... My team traded: Zack Greinke, Shane Victorino and Frank Francisco My team received: Alex Rodriguez, Matt Kemp and Chad Qualls The way I see it: A-Rod has started to find a little groove. While I don't think he'll be the A-Rod of old for the rest of the season, he should be a great addition to Chipper/Aramis at 3B/MI/UTIL and makes one of them expendable should I want to try and deal for another position. To me Matt Kemp>Shane Victorino. They are the same type of player, but Kemp has more power and more speed. Frank Francisco for Qualls is basically a wash at this point. Francisco has not looked sharp since returning from the DL and Qualls is a low end closer. My other closers include Jose Valverde, Kevin Gregg and Kerry Wood. Not the best closer group in the world, but it's holding me above water. All in all these are the players I gave up and received: I got: Chipper Jones Alex Rodriguez Matt Kemp Chad Qualls I gave up: Jorge Cantu Zack Greinke Shane Victorino Frank Francisco How do you think I did in my day of wheeling and dealing? P.S. have a great 4th of July weekend!!!!...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Chad Qualls, Chipper Jones, Fantasy, Fantasy Baseball, Florida Marlins, Frank Francisco, Jorge Cantu, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Matt Kemp, MLB, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Shane Victorino, Texas Rangers, Zack Greinke

Home Run Trot's June All-Star Team: Pitchers

By Jonathan Etkowicz | July 3, 2009 | MLB Notebook

Choosing the pitchers for June's team was just as tough as making some of the decisions for the position players. Some of the players below, like Zack Greinke and Jason Frasor, are making their third straight appearance on the team. Others, like Josh Johnson, are making the team for the first time. Take a look and leave your comments. I think it's a great pitching staff. *Stats as of 7 PM EST July 2STARTERS:SP: Zack Greinke, Kansas CityYes, Greinke had a tough June going 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA and .290 batting average against. Yet he still leads all starters...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Andrew Bailey, Boston Red Sox, Florida Marlins, Francisco Rodriguez, Heath Bell, Home Run Trot All-Stars, Jason Frasor, Jonathan Broxton, Josh Johnson, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Matt Cain, MLB, New York Mets, Oakland Athletics, Ramon Ramirez, Ramon Troncoso, Roy Halladay, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Tim Lincecum, Toronto Blue Jays, Zack Greinke

Friday's Games of the Day

By Jonathan Etkowicz | July 3, 2009 | MLB Notebook

The Fourth of July Weekend kicks off with a full schedule of games. The Yankees look to start a new winning streak against the Blue Jays. The Brewers and Cubs continue their seesaw NL Central battle. The Brewers need wins to stay ahead in the division because the Cardinals and Reds are battling for positioning in the division. The Mets and Phillies begin a series that will determine which team is in first in the NL East on Monday. These games, and many more, can be found in Friday's Games of the Day. Toronto at New York Yankees: The Mariners...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: AJ Burnett, Boston Red Sox, Brian Tallet, Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Curtis Granderson, Derek Lee, Detroit Tigers, Felix Hernandez, Franklin Gutierrez, Games of the Day, Gordon Beckham, Hideki Matsui, Homer Bailey, Houston Astros, J.J. Hardy, Jeff Suppan, Joel Pineiro, Jose Lopez, Kansas City Royals, Kevin Slowey, Luke French, Mike Cameron, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, MLB, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Paul Konerko, Philadelphia Phillies, Rodrigo Lopez, Ryan Sadowski, San Francisco Giants, Scott Kazmir, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Tim Wakefield, Toronto Blue Jays, Zack Greinke

Notes at Noon: Aviles, Ayala, Keppinger

By Zach Sanders | July 2, 2009 | MLB Notebook

Royals shortstop Mike Aviles will undergo Tommy John surgery and faces 9-12 months of rehab.The Twins have released Luis Ayala after failing to deal him after designating him for assignment.Jeff Keppinger is ready to play whenever the Astros put him in the lineup.Thoughts:Aviles hadn't been playing well this year, and the Royals need to hope he comes back strong from surgery.For teams looking for cheap bullpen help, look no further. Ayala is super consistent, with FIPs of 4.37, 4.47, and 4.37 the last three years.Just another bench player who wants to get back into the action now that the player...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Houston Astros, Jeff Keppinger, Kansas City Royals, Luis Ayala, Mike Aviles, Minnesota Twins, MLB

FB365's Morning Drive 7/2/09

By Charlie Saponara | July 2, 2009 | Fantasy Baseball 365

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...

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Adam Wainwright, Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Baltimore Orioles, Billy Butler, Brad Bergesen, Cincinnati Reds, Cody Ross, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Fantasy, Fantasy Baseball, Florida Marlins, Gil Meche, Jason Hammel, Jered Weaver, Jimmy Rollins, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Josh Johnson, Justin Verlander, Kansas City Royals, Kevin Millwood, Los Angeles Angels, Matt Cain, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, Nelson Cruz, Philadelphia Phillies, Ricky Romero, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Troy Tulowitzki, Washington Nationals, Yovani Gallardo

Thursday's Games of the Day

By Jonathan Etkowicz | July 2, 2009 | MLB Notebook

Thursday brings us another short schedule with only nine games scheduled. Thursday is still filled with good games. The Mets and Pirates finish a series that began in June. Houston and San Diego face off in a matchup of teams just out of last place in their divisions. The Phillies look to beat the Braves and stay in first in the NL East. And the Brewers and Cubs renew their rivalry. Those games and more can be found below. New York Mets at Pittsburgh: This game is a makeup of the June 3 game that was postponed. If Paul Maholm and...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Adam LaRoche, Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Atlanta Braves, Barry Zito, Bruce Chen, Carlos Beltran, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Games of the Day, Houston Astros, Ichiro Suzuki, J.J. Hardy, JA Happ, Jason Vargas, Javier Vazquez, Kansas City Royals, Mark Buehrle, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Paul Maholm, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ryan Dempster, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Tim Redding, Wandy Rodriguez

ORoyals open July with a loooong loss

By Minda Haas | July 2, 2009 | Royal Blues

Sidney Ponson made the start for Omaha. I had kind of hoped John Buck would be the starting catcher, so we'd have an "all-rehab" battery, but he Buck was not in tonight's lineup. In Ponson's last appearance last Friday, he got through five innings at Memphis, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits. Tonight, Ponson pitched six innings and gave up three runs - all earned - on nine hits. He only threw 11 pitches in the 1st inning and eight in the 2nd, but struggled in the 3rd. He needed 25 pitches to get out of that frame, and New Orleans scored two runs. He settled back down after that inning, though. Meanwhile, Omaha's offense got off to a verrrry promising start when the first two batters walked, but neither of those runners scored and the offense did very little until the 8th inning. By that time, the Zephyrs...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Kansas City Royals, Minor League Baseball, Omaha Royals

The Firing Squad: Dave Owen Edition

By Craig Brown | July 2, 2009 | Royals Authority

The rumblings are growing louder by the day. This team stinks like a rotting carcass and people are looking at someone to whom they can pin the blame. Some are calling for the manager. Our friend Rany wants the trainer fired. You kind of get the feeling Dayton Moore is feeling some heat.There are obviously a ton of issues with this team. It's not going to be a simple fix. Firing one guy isn't going to solve all our problems. Having said that, this brand of baseball we're seeing in Kansas City is pathetic. It's ugly. It's awful. We've seen some crappy baseball over the last 20 years, and this team is keeping pace with some of those historically awful clubs. Name a fundamental part of the game. Defense? Horrible. One of the worst fielding teams in the league. Getting on base? Horrible. Near the bottom in OBP. Pitching? Everyone...

Read more | 15 Comments | Tags: Kansas City Royals, MLB

MLB Great Debates: Which Playoff Contender Needs a Trade to Stay in the Race?

By Staff Report | June 26, 2009 | MVN Outsider

MLB Outsider's Jaymes Langrehr and Kurt Evans debate the issue: Which contending team most needs to make a deal before the July 31 trade deadline in order to stay in the race? Jaymes Langrehr argues that the Brewers desperately need starting pitching:As we get closer to the trade deadline, a good number of teams are developing clear needs that need to be addressed if they're going to stay in playoff contention. Some teams will be able to cope with their weaknesses and still make the playoffs due to their other strengths. Other clubs will need to make a move if they have any chance at contending in the second half.The Milwaukee Brewers are a prime example. Heading into this season, they knew that their pitching wouldn't be as good as it was down the stretch last season. Given the strength of their offense, however, they figured to be in okay...Read more

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MLB Stock Market - Meeting our Expectations Edition

By Kurt Evans | June 8, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Things are starting to play out as we thought they would. Not that anybody can ever be completely right -- even the experts rock a far-less-than 100% accuracy rating -- but there are fewer and fewer surprises as the season wears on. Take the AL East for example. As expected, the Yankees and Red Sox are battling it out for first place. The Jays have descended to third in the division while Tampa is struggling to get over .500. And the Orioles? Let's just say "not so good," because we don't want to hurt peoples' feelings.But that doesn't mean we can roll over and go back to sleep until September. Some pretty impressive things are happening right now -- not necessarily record-breaking things, but good baseball is happening none the less. And even if things are starting to play out like we would have assumed they would, there is plenty of time...Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, MLB Outsider, Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays

MLB Outsider - It's Not "Early" Anymore

By Kurt Evans | May 31, 2009 | MVN Outsider

June tends to be the month where the talented baseball teams separate from the pretenders. It's not that the playoff picture will suddenly become clear, but rather the mediocre teams will stop competing with the half dozen good teams vying for the four playoff spots available to each league. Two easy examples: in the AL East, we've already seen the Toronto Blue Jays, once invincible-looking, lose 9 straight as they plummeted to a 2nd place tie with Boston. In the AL Central the pesky Royals, who were once 18-11, have gone 5-14 since May 8th and will either be made or broken by the month of June.But rather than look at early team accomplishments that will ultimately mean nothing, we instead will focus in this article on individual feats. There's always that one guy who looks as if he might challenge for the homerun record, or for a .400 AVG,...Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, MLB, MLB Outsider, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays

MLB Great Debates: The Ballpark Experience

By Staff Report | May 26, 2009 | MVN Outsider

MLB Outsider's Jaymes Langrehr and Kurt Evans debate the issue: Which experience is better, going to a Major League Baseball game or going to a minor-league one?Jaymes Langrehr says MLB's quality is top-notch:Where I grew up, I was about a three-hour drive east away from Milwaukee County Stadium, and a three-hour drive west away from the Metrodome. I was literally stuck in the middle of nowhere when it came to the MLB map, and looking back, I was definitely jealous of the kids who were able to spend their summers buying cheap Brewers tickets and move their way up to field level (because it's not like anyone was sitting in those seats, anyway). Still, the few major-league games that I was able to attend were incredible -- even though the home team almost always got crushed. Even when your team stinks, there's something special about a Major League game that...Read more

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MLB Outsider Mock Draft: Kansas City Royals Select Aaron Crow

By Staff Report | May 18, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Crow - sarowen

MLB Outsider is hosting a 2009 MLB mock draft, where bloggers from all over come together in an attempt to project the draft results that will take place June 9. Royals Authority's Clark Fosler picks for the Kansas City Royals at No. 12. RHP Aaron Crow was picked ninth last year by the Nationals and drops three spots this year. Follow the mock draft here.The Royals have been down this road before, drafting Luke Hochevar number one overall in 2006 after he refused to sign with the Dodgers following the 2005 draft. Given Hochevar's modest career to date, this would be a pick made with some uncertainty. That said, Aaron Crow was almost certainly the best right handed pitcher in the 2008 draft, with a fastball that sits solidly in the mid-90's and can sneak up to as high as 98 mph. When you combine that kind of fastball with...Read more

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MLB Great Debates: Steroids and the Hall of Fame

By Staff Report | May 13, 2009 | MVN Outsider

MLB Outsider's Jaymes Langrehr and Kurt Evans debate the issue: Should the BBWAA look past the use of performance-enhancing drugs and vote known "steroids guys" into the National Baseball Hall of Fame?Jaymes Langrehr says the writers will eventually have no choice but to vote in tainted players:Once again, the game of baseball has been rocked by a star testing positive for a banned substance. Every time this happens, everyone ends up trying to decide if that player is going to be allowed to enter the Hall of Fame. And every time this happens, all the old time-tested baseball writers voting for the Hall say that the player will get in over their dead bodies.It's getting to the point now, though, that eventually they're going to have to lighten up, or risk enshrining some undeserving players. If they stick to their word, we won't be getting Alex Rodriguez and Manny...Read more

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MLB Stock Market - The World Is Upside Down Edition

By Kurt Evans | May 11, 2009 | MVN Outsider

I don't remember last year being this unusual. We've got high profile steroid busts, Hall of Fame careers coming undone, a competitive Kansas City Royals team, cats and dogs living together ... it's mass hysteria!RisingAlex RodriguezNot that he's going to be able to keep it up. I've got a pretty strong feeling that Alex Rodriguez is eventually going to crumble under the pressure of his transgressions. But for now at least he has started the year with authoritative fashion, hitting a homerun in his first at bat in 2009. Look to see him on the flip side of this column next week in all likelihood. Zack GreinkeYou know how there are players who are called 4A players (or AAAA players) - guys who are too good for Triple A but not good enough for the Majors? Well there is apparently another class of player. Let's call him a Major Leaguer+. ...Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays

MLB Great Debates: Which Unlikely Leader Can Keep Pace All Season Long?

By Staff Report | May 8, 2009 | MVN Outsider

MLB Outsider's Jaymes Langrehr and Kurt Evans debate the issue: Of the teams who raced out to hot starts in 2009, which is most likely to stay relevant and maintain a lead in the division deep into the season? Jaymes Langrehr picks the Florida Marlins:Sure, the St. Louis Carinals may be the easy choice. They've jumped out to a lead in a division that seems to be filled with fairly average teams. They have the best player in the game. They've got one of the better managers in the game. They seem like the best bet, right?I'm not taking the Cards -- put me down for the Marlins being the best bet to keep up with their hot start.Like the Cards, the Marlins are playing in a division that's pretty wide open. Like the Cards, they were able to jump out to a huge lead early in the season.They've been...Read more

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