Yardbarker: Michael Bourn

AccuScore: MLB Trade Market

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:51:32 -0500

Rarely do you have a trade where both parties agree to the original offer. Chances are one owner wants one thing, while the other owner has a different approach in mind.

Top 7 Fantasy to Real Life Baseball Discrepancies

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:12:42 -0500

With the best players in baseball like Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez and other established stars, it usually translates into them ranked nearly as high as far as fantasy baseball is concerned in almost every single case. But due to fantasy baseball being?fantasy, some discrepancies arise as you start looking at who the most valuable players are in your 4x4 or 5x5 league.

Sometimes, the guy that ends up winning your league for you is the same guy whose fans curse the team every time that he is in the lineup, or a guy whose numbers look decent at the end of the year, but whose streakiness makes him beyond frustrating to root for in real life.

This week's Top 7 pays tribute to the players whose fantasy value and real value are the furthest from each other.

7. Dan Uggla

OK, fine, this is based upon his performance in the All-Star Game, but three errors and 27 men left on base in ten innings wouldn't mean much of anything fantasy-wise, but sure didn't help the NL. Here's the most depressing thing about the All-Star Game?with JD Drew getting his second huge home run in less than a year and being healthy all season so far, is it even fair to rip on him being the biggest pansy in baseball anymore? How depressing.

6. Alfonso Soriano

Streakier than Jim Edmonds, injured nearly as much as Drew, and as frustrating in the outfield as Adam Dunn, Soriano may put up huge numbers year after year, but you can't find too many Cub fans without several negative things to say about him.

5. Michael Bourn

He is the new Juan Pierre. He is on someone's roster in any fantasy league because of his steals, but on the Astros he is a leadoff guy with a .218 average and a .273 OB%, good for 84th out of 86 qualified players.

4. Willy Taveras

Another ungodly light-hitting outfielder who inexplicably keeps playing despite horrifically low power numbers and OB%, but fantasy owners hope the Rockies continue playing he and his 39 steals.

3. Carlos Marmol

Unless you are in one of those progressive leagues that have the holds-plus-saves category, middle relievers are the most under appreciated players in fantasy baseball. Marmol was the posterboy for that in the first half with 22 of them despite slowing down the last few weeks. He is still owned in some leagues because of his massive amount of strikeouts, but he sure won't be on major league waivers any time soon.

2. Jason Isringhausen

Ah yes, fantasy saves. There are people who, especially in NL-only leagues, have Izzy sitting on their roster hoping that he gets another chance to close so he picks up some more saves. In real life, Cardinal fans across the country scream and throw things at the TV if he even begins warming up.

1. Juan Pierre

He helps neither real nor fantasy in power, with no homers since 2006. The only thing keeping him on fantasy rosters are his stolen bases, and the only thing keeping him on the Dodgers is one of the worst contracts in baseball.

NL All Crap Team

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:09:28 -0500

Screw the All Star Game let's put together a roster from those that have been utter disappointments this season.

C: Carlos Ruiz - With a lot of bad awful terrible catchers out there, Ruiz takes the cake this season. He's hitting .206 with only 2 home runs in the band box in Philly.
1B: Todd Helton - His power #s have been in a steady decline for awhile but now he's not even hitting for average, registering in at .266 so far this season.
2B: Freddy Sanchez - The former batting champ is now hitting .226 with a .253 on base % and a .307 slugging %. Ouch.
3B: Geoff Blum - Not that surprisingly Geoff Blum hasn't been very good. He's hitting .219 for the Stros.
SS: Omar Vizquel - Old Man River has been basically the worst hitter in baseball history.
OF: Eric Byrnes - Captain hussle, has not been hustling too much with multiple trips to the DL and only 4 steals and 6 homers to his name.
OF: Andruw Jones - Whatever has happenned to ole Andruw Jones. No longer a beast, he's now a player fans are grateful to have on the DL and not on the field.
OF: Corey Patterson - Somehow still on the roster despite an OPS of .562, but mercifully relegated out of the Reds starting lineup.

Bench: J.R. Towles - Basically you can pick out any bad catcher for the backup position but Towles was the rookie de jour coming into this season and well he's hitting .152.
Bench: Felipe Lopez - A utility man of awful this season. He's mixed time at SS and 2B and is
Bench: Troy Tulowitzki - While not spending massive amounts of time on the DL, Tulowitzki is hitting under .170.
Bench: Khalil Greene - Hitting .222 on a team that needs hitting more than any other in the league.
Bench: Michael Bourn - His massive amount of steals be damned, the guy has an OPS of .571.
Bench: Wily Mo Pena - Wily Mo is having a major major power outage this year with only 2 homers while hitting .210.

SP: Barry Zito - Who wouldn't want to pay 200+ million for 12 pre-all star break losses.
SP: Brett Myers - So bad that the Phillies decided to send him to the minors to get straightened out.
SP: Ian Snell - Looking like an emerging young star after last season, Snell has an ERA of 5.88 before landing on the DL.
SP: Brad Penny - Formerly an All Star game starter, Penny has an ERA well above 5 and is now on the DL.
SP: Mark Hendrickson - The opening day starter for the Marlins now sits with a bunch of losses and an ERA above 6.
SP: Tom Gorzelanny - Gorzo was terrific at times last season. This year he has 7 losses and an ERA above 6.
RP: Guillermo Mota - Former Steroid User Guillermo Mota has been so bad the last month he's gone from closer to be to ERA above 6.
RP: Scott Proctor - The former Yankee who was abused by Torre, is now abused once again in LA where he has called himself out for being so terrible.
RP: Luis Vizcaino - He was a Type B free agent, meaning the Yankees got a draft pick for letting him go. Now he has an ERA above 9 for the Rockies.
RP: Manny Corpas - Corpas went from looking like Mariano in the postseason last year to out of the closers job in a flash.
CL: Eric Gagne - Continued his miserable performances with the Red Sox last year with Milwaukee this year.

Ed Wade Makes a Pretty Lousy Scape-Goat

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:45:47 -0500

As the fingers start pointing in Houston as to who should be blamed for the Astros' misery, Ed Wade is drawing most of them. Yet, holds the least amount of blame.

Phils sign Lights out Lidge to extension

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:00:49 -0500

Brad Lidge will be saving games in Philadelphia through at least the 2011 season, after the pitcher agreed to a three-year, $37.5 million contract extension. The deal includes a 2012 club option and performance incentives. Working for $6.35 million in the final year before becoming a free agent, Lidge is off to the best start of his career, with an 0.77 ERA in 35 appearances. He's one of two full-time closers in the Major Leagues, along with New York's Mariano Rivera, not to blow a save this season. The right-hander has anchored the NL's best bullpen, which has a 2.74 ERA. His devastating slider/fastball combination has produced 47 strikeouts in 35 innings. Talk of a long-term agreement seemed to begin since Nov. 7, 2007, the day Lidge was acquired by the Phillies with Eric Bruntlett for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and Michael Costanzo. It continued through Spring Training and accelerated with each save Lidge recorded this season. Cincinnati's Francisco Cordero signed for four years and $46 million during the winter, and that was believed to be the going rate for elite closers Lidge and potential free-agent Francisco Rodriguez, of Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Philadelphia got ahead of the curve by signing Lidge now.

AccuScore: The Need for Speed

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:23:54 -0500

Fantasy expert Tim Williams reviews AccuScore's top 20 stolen base options for the remainder of the season, and gives you five teams who can't stop people on the base paths.

AccuScore: The Need for Speed

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:08:26 -0500

Fantasy expert Tim Williams reviews AccuScore's top 20 stolen base options for the remainder of the season, and finds several excellent sources for stolen bases in the outfield and at second base who you can get for a cheaper price than Carl Crawford or Brian Roberts.

Bourn has a .274 OBP. When do the Astros make a change?

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:55:46 -0500

Although manager Cecil Cooper has publicly stated that he is committed to the run game, at what point are the Astros forced to make a change at the top of their batting order?

AccuScore: The Need for Speed

Thu, 29 May 2008 11:30:04 -0500

Which teams, catchers and pitchers allow the most stolen bases? Is Michael Bourn the next Carl Crawford? Should you add Jerry Hairston Jr? These are all questions answered by AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams in this edition of The Need for Speed.

Breakout

Thu, 22 May 2008 06:04:52 -0500

Saturday through Tuesday = 4 games/9 runs. Wednesday = 1 game/12 runs. This constitutes as a breakout. Ryan Howard goes yard twice mixing in a double and climbs closer to the Mendoza Line (.195). Shane Victorino started his 3rd game in a row despite being told Jayson Werth was a "starter" and had 3 hits as well, including a homerun. Out Machine Pedro Feliz also went deep and chipped in 3 hits like Howard and Vic. Coste, Utley, and Rollins were invited to the hit-fest too, dumping 2 hits a piece. Overall, it was a well played game in all facets (defense, pitching, offense, base running) and therefore was entertaining. Jamie Moyer handled the bulk of the pitching weaving his way in and out of trouble most of the night to notch his 4th victory over 6 shutout innings; Jars of Clay Condrey finished out the contest. Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth were the only 2 regulars to not breakout, in fact they had a breakdown. Burrell's average continues to plummet (.271) and Werth hasn't had a hit since his fabled 3 homerun game (0-13 with 7 k's). It's nice to win a series, feels like it's been awhile. Now off to Houston for a 4 game set where Lidge and Bruntlett are excited to visit old friends and show that their new team is better than their old one, and Michael Bourn waits to burn the bases (20 sb) when he actually gets on base (.208 avg/.272 OB%). You make me dizzy, Running circles in my head. One of these days, I'll chase you down. Well look who's going crazy now? We're face to face my friend. Better get out. Better get out! You know you make me breakout! Make me breakout! I don't wanna look like that, I don't wanna look like that. Know you make me breakout. (Foo Fighters- Breakout)

The Long Ball: Public Enemy Number One

Sun, 18 May 2008 09:48:36 -0500

Is a two game losing streak anything to fret over? A definitive maybe.

Fantasy Rundown: Tampa Bay Rising

Fri, 16 May 2008 13:57:03 -0500

The Tampa Bay (Don't Call Us Devil) Rays just got finished beating up on the Yankees taking the series 3-to-1. The win keeps Tampa a full game ahead in first place, and dropped New York into last in the AL East. So is this a changing of the guard? Several young pitchers made terrific starts including Chad Billingsley, Mike Pelfrey, and Aaron Laffey, and Jose Valverde continues his May dominance.

The Astros, They\

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:15:24 -0500

An insightful and intelligent look at whether the Astros are the real deal so far. "So here's the quick and dirty of it: This team has been getting the hits that count, when they count, which so long as their plate discipline remains should hold true. Our pitching has been very good with the exception of the long ball, which one has to assume that will even out of the season, leaving just solid pitching. Our gloves have been great; they've been exceptional in some areas, average in others, and just pitiful for Carlos Lee. This looks like a team that is capable of staying the course, they're confident, capable of winning games in any way (just look at the Dodgers series) and if anything, have room for some improvement still. In sum, we look like a contender, which in the end is all we could hope for and more than a lot of us expected." Go read to see why all of that's true.

AccuScore: The Need for Speed

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:34:12 -0500

Jose Reyes ranks at the top of the list in the AccuScore stolen base rankings for the remainder of the season. AccuScore fantasy expert Tim Williams reviews AccuScore's top 25 speed options for the remainder of the season, and gives you the over/under predictions on each player's projections.

AccuScore MLB Rundown: Brandon Webb is Unstoppable

Fri, 09 May 2008 01:46:20 -0500

Brandon Webb is proving he's the best pitcher in the National League, both in real life and in fantasy. The right-hander won again Thursday night to move to 8-0. Other interesting pitchers had good nights including Daniel Cabrera and Edwin Jackson, and Michael Bourn is terrible but find out why you need him on your fantasy team.