Yardbarker: Denard Span

10 Questions for Denard Span

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:27:26 -0500

The Minnesota Twins acquired Carlos Gomez from the New York Mets in the Johan Santana trade over the winter, a transaction that for all intents and purposes knocked Denard Span out of the center field picture in the Twin Cities. Span, the long-believed heir-apparent to Torii Hunter was sent back to AAA but the demotion [...]

He's Baaack

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:42:20 -0500

Photo From Yahoo Sports

It’s been an anticipated day for Twins fans, and they weren’t disappointed. In his first major league start in more than three months, Francisco Liriano dazzled the nearly 40,000 fans in attendance. His control was off at times, but in his first start back it was to be expected.

Liriano walked three hitters in the start, but one was more of an intentional, unintentional walk to the Indians’ leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore. He struck out five hitters overall, and his slider looked particularly nasty at times.

Franchise was not dominant, but he was still very good. A few walks and a poor defensive play in the third inning forced Liriano to work out of a jam, and he ran into a little trouble in the fourth and fifth innings. In the sixth inning however, Liriano retired the Indians’ in order to end his day, including the first two hitters on just three pitches.

Offensively, the Twins scored four runs in the two middle innings to build their lead. They were lead by two run-scoring triples by Mike Lamb and Nick Punto along with two solo homeruns by Bendan Harris and Denard Span.

The 6-2 victory was the perfect ending to the perfect day for Minnesota. With a big Royals win over Chicago they moved into first place in the American League Central for the first time in more than one-hundred days. And it looks more and more like Liriano could provide the spark that the team needs.

Looking for Late Season Help?

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:43:56 -0500

Most trading deadlines have past in fantasy leagues so the main source of help is going to come from the waiver wire. Here are a few players that are hot over recent days and can help you bring home a fantasy championship.

MLB Fantasy Minute - Week 19

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:15:53 -0500

Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon breaks out his famed MLB Fantasy Minute and breaks down the MLB's top five fantasy-related stories. Believe it or not, Ryan Braun is making his case for MVP. The surprise NL pitcher of the year has now changed -- who is it?. And we're still keeping an eye on Josh Hamilton's RBI chase. Mr. Yoon has all if it covered and much more.

MLB Buy 'n Sell - Week 20

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:56:30 -0500

Screaming Sports' Billy Smith break out MLB Buy 'n Sell and runs down a short list of players you should be buying or selling. Denard Span? Believe it or not, it's time to sell. Adam Dunn? Grab him while he's hot!

No Way That Just Happened!

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:46:48 -0500

Last night at Safeco Field, the Twins took a 6-1 advantage into the bottom of the 7th behind a strong performance from southpaw Glen Perkins. Minnesota had drawn eight walks, picked up a pair of RBI from Mike Lamb and even saw little Nickie Punto go yard a day after Denard Span had done [...]

Fantasy Baseball: The Home Stretch

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:58:38 -0500

As each day goes by, we are getting closer and closer to the rosters expanding and baseball teams calling up players from the minor leagues. August is a crucial month in that teams begin to call up guys with much more potential than their lesser teammates. Josh Hamilton was called up as a member of the Cincinnati Reds and played a big role not only for their team, but for some lucky fantasy owners across the country. Other than guys that I have previously mentioned (Francisco Liriano and David Price), here are 2 guys who should be called up within the month and have a positive fantasy impact. Gio Gonzalez SP OAK- WIth Oakland seemingly refusing to try and contend this year by trading Joe Blanton and possibly Huston Street, watch Billy Beane call up Gio within the next week or so. In 115 IP, Gio has racked up 119 K's. While his ERA is a bit high, he struggled at the beginning of the year and has been on a tear lately. His biggest issue are control problems but he has nasty stuff and has been tough to get hits off of. Look for Gio to start against weaker teams as well, even as early as this week against the Royals. Matthew Laporta CLE OF- The crown jewel of the C.C. Sabathia trade, Laporta will be called up to show GM Mark Shapiro exactly what he got for his hefty lefty. In AA ball with Milwaukee, Laporta was batting .288, with 20 HR and 66 RBI. He has gotten off to a slow start with the Cleveland minor league team, but expect that to change quickly. A key stat about this guy is that he takes walks. With Milwaukee's AA team, he had an On Base Percentage of .402, very impressive considering his Batting Average was below .300. Laporta can help your fantasy team across the board besides for steals and should make an impact as soon as he is called up. There are other options, rather than banking on prospects, that one can take in making their fantasy baseball team better. It is at the point where certain categories should be disregarded. For instance, in a rotisserie league, if you are already near the bottom in ERA and around the middle of the pack in strikeouts, load up on strikeout pitchers. Look at pitchers such as Jonathan Sanchez or Ian Snell, guys who have struggled this year but have above average strikeout numbers. Snell has really struggled this year after a solid 2007, but expect a resurgence from him towards the end of the year as 2 of his last 3 starts have been solid. The waiver wire is a great place to find these category fillers. Pitchers such as Braden Looper, Kenny Rogers, and Kyle Kendrick are available in many leagues and can help you pile on wins because they play for above .500 teams. Also, keep tabs on teams set-up men and team decisions to make changes in the bullpen. The Detroit Tigers just named Fernando Rodney their new closer, which skyrockets his value, and drops Todd Jones's down like the Dow Jones. Check on Jon Rauch in Arizona, and see if Brandon Lyon can hold on to his closer role, or choke with a talent like Rauch waiting in the wings. On the hitting side, there are plenty of solid options on the waiver wire to shore up some holes that your team may have. Denard Span of the Minnesota Twins has been very good since becoming the leadoff guy. While he won't get you any power numbers, Spam will get on base, steal a couple, and score some runs for your ball club. With Joe Crede on the DL, look out for Josh Fields. He was called up on Friday and will play both 3B and OF. Fields was projected to start at some point this season, but Crede has been so good that he hasn't seen the majors until friday. Fields is a power guy and can grab you some HR and RBI very quickly.

Once Again it’s On

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:35:36 -0500

Once again the race in the AL Central has come down to two teams — the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. Once again the two teams aren't very fond of each other and once again, the more things change the more they stay the same. It's simply a matter of time before the Twins [...]

Carlos Gomez Needs to Go-Go Away

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:06:36 -0500

Andrew Kneeland again crunches the numbers and lets you know why Carlos Gomez needs to either move down in the batting order, or be shipped to Rochester. He also compares Gomez to Denard Span and calculates how many runs more Span would have scored were he in the lead-off position.

Span Should Be Here to Stay

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:16:27 -0500

Denard Span was supposed to be the center fielder that took over after Torii Hunter's departure before Carlos Gomez decided to intervene. Span found himself in the minors, again but after ripping it up at AAA Rochester (.340 and 15 steals in 40 games) has come up to replace an injured and disappointing Michael [...]

Span Should Be Here to Stay

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:16:27 -0500

Fantasy Baseball Minor League Report (5/19)

Tue, 20 May 2008 07:53:47 -0500

What minor league stars could eventually fill a huge role for a major league team? And more importantly, what minor league star could eventually play a huge part for a struggling fantasy GM? Screaming Sports' Phil Yoon has those answers and many more in his latest minor league report.