http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/509 Recent articles about Placido Polanco en-us A breakdown of all that happened in the MLB on 6/10/08 and how it will affect your fantasy baseball team. Injury news, updates, advice and more. Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:31:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276735 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/276735 Daniel Cabrera is getting harder and harder to ignore. For years he has teased the Orioles and fantasy owners with his potential, and now he finally appears to be fulfilling it in his fifth major league season. It was a good day for starting pitchers as Justin Verlander showed signs of progress, Chad Billingsley continued his recent run of dominance, and another young Red Sox prospect shut down the Royals. Wed, 21 May 2008 06:16:37 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/269262 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/269262 I think we can all agree that Jonathon Papelbon is a douche. From his stupid Riverdance to his lame attempt at Spanish. Good to see Polanco shut his mouth off for at least one night. Thu, 08 May 2008 10:10:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264753 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264753 It was a battle between two of the best offenses in the league, but it took an error and a broken bat single for the Tigers to beat the Red Sox last night... get the recap at The Bottom Line. Thu, 08 May 2008 07:37:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264691 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264691 Another one of FIO's weekly baseball articles, staff writer Tim Hays gives you some waiver wire players who you should be paying attention to. Whether you're streaming guys at a position or need a fill-in due to injury, these are the players to look at for a pick-up. Wed, 07 May 2008 08:00:23 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264195 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/264195 We're now a month into the baseball season and it's time to scan the rosters of the teams in your league to find some underachieving stars who can be acquired on the cheap. The strategy is to find a vulnerable owner who is tired of carrying the dead weight of such a player, and whose stats are bringing down the rest of his team. Not all owners are impatient or have a quick trigger finger on making deals, but if you look hard enough you'll find at least one - and all it takes is one. This owner has likely become frustrated and is probably looking to "shake things up". If you have something he likes, then you'll be able to acquire an established talent for a bargain. Below is a list of some players at every position who have had a terrible April, but could get close to posting their customary numbers. Many of these players have a level of risk attached to them for various reasons, but if the value exchange is right for you in a deal - and there is a fit within your team - then the upside should top the potential downside. Read the list of players here: http://www.thefantasysportsforum.com/article.php?ID=271 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:33:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/261656 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/261656 Last Week: 4-3 This Week: (4/21: at Tor; 4/22-24: TEX; 4/25-27: LAA) If this doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, then you ought to have your Tigers stripes revoked immediately: Placido Polanco and Gary Sheffield are hurting, and aren't showing any signs of getting better. Shiver. Double shiver, actually. In 2006, when the Tigers limped to the finish line after their remarkable 76-36 start, the downslide started -- and not coincidentally -- with Polanco injuring his shoulder while making a diving catch in Boston (remember that?). Last summer, the Tigers struggled mightily when Sheffield's bad shoulder didn't respond to treatment. And now the Tigers might be without both of them for an undetermined amount of time? The news isn't awful, but it isn't all that encouraging, either. Polanco was sent to Detroit ahead of his teammates to have his aching back examined further. And Sheffield is pondering a doctor's exam on his still-not-right shoulder. Both situations are scary, but I think Sheffield's is the more troubling, despite how petulant backs can be. Sheffield is 39, and if you read between the lines when he talks -- normally not a necessity because Sheff rarely speaks anything less than his mind -- he's dropped several hints that he might, at a moment's notice, decide that enough is enough and that he's through as a player. Even a run at 500 career home runs (he has 481) won't be enough to change his mind. Over the weekend, he acknowledged to the papers that he probably should have taken a full year off after his post-season shoulder surgery. Instead, he "rushed" back in five months, in order to be ready for the 2008 season. Ah, but just how ready was Gary Sheffield, after all? His paltry numbers are indicative that he's not healthy. Just how "not healthy" he is, is the question that gives me those shivers. Polanco's back is also a major concern, of course. The Tigers, simply, win when Polanco and Sheffield are both healthy and doing their thing. And they lose when those guys aren't and don't. Nothing fancy or over-analytical about it. I'm not saying that Polanco is to blame for the Tigers' loss in the 2006 World Series, but he hit in the ALCS, won the MVP, and the Tigers swept. In the Series, he went hitless, and you know what happened. I'll bet the Tigers can't wait for April to be over with. It's been a miserable month, and all the cold weather hasn't helped the aches and pains. At least Curtis Granderson is going to be back soon. It's just too bad that his return has to be muted by the Polanco and Sheffield issues. This week the Tigers host the struggling Texas Rangers. If ever there was a time to get this train fully back on the track, it's against Texas, because the first-place Angels follow the Rangers into Detroit. Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:11:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/252204 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/252204 by Kevin Mark Baseball managers, players, fans, and media like to say "baseball is a game of match ups." Watch any game and moves are constantly being made by managers to ensure the best match up for their team. Left and right hand hitting platoons, situational left handed relief pitchers, and pinch hitters are all examples of adjustments Major League managers will make attempting to create a favorable match up for their team. But when using their bullpen in the 8th and 9th innings of a game, managers stop trying to create the best possible match up. All Major League managers have clearly defined roles for their bullpen and they almost never deviate from it. Without any regard for what might be the best possible match up, all 30 Major League managers will use their setup man to pitch the 8th inning and their closer to pitch the 9th. This is the way baseball is managed in the 21st century. Last evening I watch this ridged structuring cost the Minnesota Twins a game making me wonder how many games are lost each season because teams have predefined bullpen roles. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:02:46 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/239121 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/239121 Placido Polanco made a throwing error in the 3rd inning of the Tigers, Red Sox game. He went 186 games without making an error, some 911chances. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:48:24 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/232776 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/232776 Dontrelle Willis made his debut as a Tiger in his new home ballpark in Detroit today. He would try and earn the Tigers first win of the season after losing to the Sox yesterday and being swept by the Royals to start the season. He walked Nick Swisher, the first batter he faced this season, and then put down Cabrera, Thome, and Konerko in order to get out of the first. The Tigers first two batters went back to the dug out early, Carlos Guillen walked and Maggs got a single but Cabrera popped out to end the inning. Willis sent the next set of batters down in order. After getting two quick outs to start the inning off again the Tigers bats looked to be stuck in the same slump as the first four games. Jaque Jones singled two keep the Tigers alive, Brandon Inge drove him home with a double. Clete Thomas singled and it wasn't until Placido Polanco grounded out did the Tigers stop running. Dontrelle looked to have run support, if he could continue to shut down the sox he could get his first win as a Tiger, and get the Tigers their first win. The next inning Willis kept the Sox off the bases aside from once again walking Nick Swisher. After Carlos Guillen, the holder of the highest batting average in Detroit, popped out the next two Tigers followed, this left Willis with a slender lead to deal with. After Thome grounded out to start off the fourth, Willis walked Konerko and Dye. Carlos Quentin came up with one out and two men on. Willis forced him to ground out into a double play that ended the inning and kept the Tigers lead intact. The bottom of the fourth started off Edger Renteria getting a single. Pudge came up and looked to have at least a double when Quentin caught his fly ball and threw out Renteria (who seemed to share my thought that Pudge would get a hit) at first for a double play. Jaque Jones walked with two outs, and Brandon Inge came up. Inge who up until this point had the games only RBI, added to his stats by hitting a two run jack to push the Tigers ahead by three. Clete Thomas got the third out to end the inning, but the damage was done. Willis, who now had some breathing room, walked Joe Crede to start off the fifth. Pablo Ozuna grounded into a double play, and Toby Hall followed by popping out for the final out. The Sox to this point had still not recorded a hit. The fifth ended with the Tigers top batters going three and out. The sixth started out with another Swisher walk, his third in three appearances, and then walked Cabrera. First and Second had runners on them with Jim Thome coming to the plate with no outs. The first hit of the game was a Thome double that drove home Swisher and pushed Cabrera to third. Zach Miner came in to replace Willis on the mound. Miner would have his hands full, the go ahead runner was Paul Konerko who also had two men on with no outs and the two hottest hitting Sox coming up. Konerko grounded out to Brandon Inge who threw him out at first while Cabrera scored and Thome stayed put at second. Miner would go on to walk Jermaine Dye, one out. Carlos Quentin tied up the game by getting a single, which pushed Dye to third on an error by Thomas. Joe Crede popped out to Jones; his outing earned him a RBI sac fly after Dye scored. Ozuna grounded out to end the inning after Zach Miner had given the Sox a one run lead. The Tigers retaliated by going three and out. Willis pitched strong for five innings and got enough run support to maintain a lead. When the sixth rolled around the Sox rallied forcing Willis to retire, the bullpen struggled and now the bats looked to fall right back into their slump. Francis Beltran replaced Zach Miner, and sent the sox down in order. The Tigers looked to do the same but Clete Thomas got a single. Then Placido grounded out. Beltran stayed in for the top of the eighth, he forced Thome to pop out and struck out Konerko. Jermaine Dye continued on his streak by homering with two outs in the eighth and extending the Sox lead to two runs. Carlos Quentin ended the inning by grounding out to Brandon Inge. Guillen started off the bottom of the eighth with a single to left field. Magglio erased all the progress by swinging into a double play. Miguel Cabrera stayed hitless for the day by ending the eighth and sending the Tigers in to the ninth trailing by two. To the ninth! The Sox would try to extend their lead against Denny Bautista. Joe Crede popped out for the first out of the inning. Juan Uribe did the same for the second. Toby Hall grounded out for the final. Renteria would lead off followed by Pudge and Jones. Bobby Jenks would try to save the game for the sox. Renteria hit one towards the infield gap but Uribe cut it off and put him out at first. Pudge came up with one out and lined sharply to Nick Swisher for the second. Jones continued to have a hot day and got a hit putting the tying run at the plate. And who else would come up besides Brandon Inge. Inge would get walked, bringing up Clete Thomas who would be the go ahead run. On the first pitch, a fastball, he grounded out. So the Tigers remain winless, and it seems as though they have continued to fall into the same losing formula. Strong pitching falters and the bats fizzle out late when it really matters. Detroit has now gone through their rotation without earning one of their pitchers a win. Only Carlos Guillen has been playing where he should offensively. We'll have to wait another day to see a Tigers win this year. We'll have to wait and see if everyone was wrong about all the hype that came to Detroit with the three big names they brought in. Until then enjoy this article Tigers fans because theirs really nothing else to enjoy at this point in the season. Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:44:03 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/229750 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/229750 The Tiger bats are struggling......So The World of Isaac looks to see things that can score more than the Tigers offense Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:05:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/228607 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/228607 The Detroit Tigers kicked off their season today, facing off against the division rival Royals. Justin Verlander pitched against Kansas City's Gil Meche. There were two new Tigers in the line up, Miguel Cabrera and Edger Rentaria. Cabrera started off the game slow in the field, getting his first error this year. He didn't exactly hit the ground running in the box either, stranding three runners and going 0-2. Renteria on the other hand, drew a walk and drove home Carlos Guillen for the Tigers first run of 2008 for two of his first at bats. The regular suspects were producing in the motor city, with Guillen, Ordonez, Inge, and Rodriguez combining for six of the first seven hits. Meche walked home Rodriguez for the second run of the game by pitching four straight balls to Gary Sheffield after initially pitching two strikes. Magglio and Placido both had an at bat with the bases loaded in the fourth but failed to come through. By the midway point Meche had seven hits, four walks, and two earned runs. While in the other dugout Verlander had only one hit and four strikeouts. After Renteria and the usual Detroit star players produced as expected Cabrera got his first hit, run, home run, and RBI for the 2008 season and as a Tiger. Cabrera hammered one of Meche's pitches over the left field wall to put the Tigers ahead three to nothing. Detroit seemed comfortable with Verlander giving up only one hit leading into the sixth inning. Alex Gordon drove one way back and out of there bringing around two runs and making this a one run ball game. Suddenly the Verlander and the Tigers were a little uneasier. The Tigers went three up three down in the bottom of the sixth and would move on to the seventh clinching on to a one run lead. Verlander walked Mark Teahen to start off the inning that was followed by Ross Gload's single that pushed Teahen to third. Verlander retired after striking out six with two earned runs, and a one run lead. Jason Grilli replaced Verlander and started out with John Buck getting a single and driving home Teahen and moving Gload to second, still no outs. The game was tied at three when Tony Pena Jr singled shifting Gload to third. Bobby Seay replaced Grilli with one out and runners on the corners. Gathright lined out to Renteria, which made it two outs, then Aquilino Lopez came in to replace Seay on the mound. Mark Grudzielanek drove home Ross Gload, the go ahead run. Alex Gordon flied out which ended a rough two-inning stretch for the Tigers. Meche retired with his team now clinching a one run lead, leaving the team's fate in the hands of Brett Tomko. The Bottom of the seventh started out promising with Gary Sheffield drawing his third walk of the game. However, Magglio grounded into a double play. Miguel Cabrera followed him by striking out swinging and bringing Detroit into the eighth down by one. Tomko would stick around for the bottom half of the eighth and Guillen, the first man up, made him pay by slamming a ball and tying the game up at four. Denny Bautista would stand on the mound for the additional innings. Bautista would walk the first Royal up, Teahen. Gload would sac bunt Teahen to second, one out. John Buck would come up next and send a ball soaring to Inge. Teahen would try and score but was called out at the plate while Buck posted up at second, two outs. In a déjà vu sort of way Pena Jr shot one right at Inge as well, only this time Buck would make it home and give the Royals a one run lead with a man on first. Gathright was walked which brought up Esteban German with a runner on first and second. Bautista struck out German to end the inning, but the damage was done. The Tigers would have to at least have one player cross the plate in order to keep playing. Joakim Soria stared down Clete Thomas to start the bottom of the eleventh. Thomas would lead off with a double that almost tied up the game falling in the warning track dirt and ricocheting off the wall. The tying run sitting at second, Brandon Inge stepped up and sac bunted Thomas to third. Edgar Renteria came up, not doing anything since he drove in the first run. He dug a hole starting out 0-2, he took two balls to even the count as the stadium became electrified. He swung for the fences but the breaking ball snuck by him. Placido Polanco would step into the batters box with two outs. Polanco drove a liner towards the gap but Alex Gordon made a diving stop and throws out Polanco ending the game and sealing an opening day victory over the Tigers for Kansas City. Both Renteria and Cabrera went 1-5 with an RBI. Miguel had a throwing error and a homer in his debut in Detroit. Verlander, like the rest of the Tigers played well initially but failed to take advantage of big plays that could've pushed them ahead for good. Nunez got the win for KC and Bautista earned a loss. Both starting pitchers will be nursing an unusually high ERA for a stutter step at the start of this season. It was a hard fought loss for the Tigers and a narrow escape for the Royals. This season and baseball looks to send to MLB in a different direction than the course it has been set on for a few seasons now. Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:55:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/225256 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/225256 Ten of Fantasyfanatics.com's baseball experts lined up for a fantasy draft. Here's a look at the first 18 rounds with analysis. Any bad picks? Let us know. ROUND 16, PICK 151 Todd Jones, CL, DET The ERA, WHIP, and K's might leave something to be desired, but we're talking about a closer here. A pitcher who threw no more than 64 innings in each of the past two seasons, yet has racked up 75 saves. Despite grabbing my first closer in the 12th round, I now have three guys who can get 35 or more saves on my roster. Jones is the closer for the Tigers, a team expected to make a run into the playoffs this season. ROUND 16, PICK 152 Kevin Gregg, CL, FL It was time to pick up a second closer, and Gregg appears to have earned the job in Florida by saving 32 games last year. He struck out more than a batter per inning last season. ROUND 16, PICK 153 James Loney, 1B, LAD Loney was my Jim Thome insurance. He is not going to put up great power numbers for a first baseman, but if Thome goes down for a few weeks, Loney will give me a nice boost in batting average. Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:24:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/219352 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/219352 Over the next week, FSE will release rankings for each position in fantasy baseball. Top 10s will be provided for all infield positions while outfielders, starting pitchers and relievers will have an expanded set of rankings. In addition, we will highlight a few sleepers at each position provide some honorable mentions if applicable. Having already covered catchers and first basemen, we now take a look at the second basemen. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:17:58 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/210255 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/210255 Fantasy baseball expert Rotogod ranks the top-10 second basemen for 2008, while dividing the list into tiers, based on expected performance. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:03:39 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/192172 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/192172