FanDuel Contest: Vegas and $1 Million?

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Are you a fantasy baseball fan? Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you have a few bucks laying around that you could potentially turn into a life changing experience…? If so, this is the post for you.

Who wants a chance part of the $24,000 prize package on Friday from Fanduel.com? Better yet, who wants to also get a shot to win $200,000 with an all expense paid trip to Vegas as well? All you need is $10 bucks and some fantasy

Shuffle Up: The joy of Jean Segura

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

One unavoidable fact about middle infield this year: it's not deep for fantasy purposes. The fears of the preseason appear justified at the quarter pole.

The prices that follow below are how I'd attack this area (2B/SS) if redrafting right now. The games played to this point are an audition, not a ranking mandate. Expect to disagree with a lot of stuff, that's why we have a game. You know the preamble by now.

We'll use a 5x5 scoring assumption, as most reasonable people do. Don't worry about prices in a vacuum: what matters is how the players relate to one another. Assume similar-ranked commodities are equal.

I'll add comments later in the day and perhaps move a few ranks around. Share your

Fantasy do-over: Auditing results from an in-season experts draft

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

At the risk of tearing down the entire "fantasy expert" scam, we begin today with an admission: Occasionally, fantasy gurus get stuff wrong.

It's rare, but it happens. Back in March, it's possible that some of us led you to believe Roy Halladay was salvageable and that Adam Dunn was not terrible at baseball. We apologize for these misunderstandings.

With six weeks of MLB data in the books, it's time to reassess the player pool. We've assembled a group of 10 experts for an in-season baseball draft. The league settings are fairly standard: 5x5, mixed player pool, CI & MI, head-to-head, weekly lineups. Nothing too exotic.

[You can still own Paul Goldschmidt! It's not too late! Sign-up today for

Back in the Saddle

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

For those of you that missed it, The Oracle spent three days in the hospital with a dastardly case of the flu. He’s still not even close to 100 percent, but he’s going to do his best to get back on it today. Let’s see how he does.

Tony Cingrani has shocked me with his success thus far (1.50 ERA, 0.89 WHIP,

Shuffle Up: Checking in with Josh Rutledge; more words about Didi Gregorius

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Today's Shuffle Up assignment is the middle infielders, everyone who covers the second base or shortstop area for your fake juggernaut. Settle in, settlers, and let's try to figure it all out. (Where's Braun and Miggy? Sorry kids, they're not middle infielders.)

Play to this point matters as an audition, but that's it. The goal is to figure out who will play the best (and collect the juiciest stats) from this point forward, 2013-only. Pretend we're starting from scratch with a fresh draft tonight. Don't worry about the dollar value in a vacuum; they're merely used as tools to compare. And players at the same price tag are considered even.

I'll add extensive comments as the day goes along and I may tweak a

Mostly MLB Notes: Examining hot starts by Justin Upton, Chris Davis and Jeff Samardzija

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

Justin Upton posted an .899 OPS as a 21-year-old, got away from a franchise that he clearly didn’t see eye-to-eye with, and there’s a real chance last year’s disappointing season was a direct result of a since healed thumb injury. On the other hand, Upton had actually disappointed two of the past three seasons, finishing as the 122nd ranked fantasy player in 2010 and 47th last year. Upton also left one of the best hitter’s parks for a generally neutral one that happens to depress power for right-handers (Turner Field’s HR Park Index for RHB is 88 over the past three years). Despite the latter, fantasy owners thought more highly of the former and drafted him aggressively, as he was likely gone within

Alcides Escobar has three hits against Twins - Alcides Escobar | KC

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Alcides Escobar went 3-for-4 in the Royals' 7-4 win over the Twins on Tuesday.

Mostly MLB Notes: A 2013 Season Preview

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

Editor’s note: I wanted to get this posted much earlier, but I had my first kid recently (well, technically my wife had her), so that’s my excuse for the delay.

National League East

1. Washington Nationals
2. Atlanta Braves (WILD CARD)
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. New York Mets
5. Miami Marlins

Comments/Fantasy Predictions: Both Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper are top-15 fantasy players, while Dan Haren is a top-25 starting pitcher. Ryan Zimmerman proves to be a better pick than Evan Longoria, while Drew

Fantasy Baseball: All-Value team, 2013

Source: Roto Arcade by Brandon Funston

They say timing is everything. That might be giving "timing" a little bit too much credit. But at least in the case of fantasy baseball drafts, it's spot on. When 2013 comes to an end, you can count on this page to be top-heavy with players that not only had successful fantasy campaigns, but were also afterthoughts on draft day. With that in mind, here's an All-Value team for 2013 - again, it's all about the timing (ADP).

First Base - Chris Davis, Baltimore (Yahoo! ADP 160, Y! '12 rank 89): Players that can hit 30 home

Fantasy Baseball 2013: Shortstop Primer

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

As a group, major league shortstops demonstrated exactly one useful fantasy skill last season: They stole bases.

They didn't do much else, but at least they ran. This position delivered four of the game's top-13 individual stolen base totals, with Everth Cabrera's 44 steals leading the National League. Twelve different shortstops reached the 20-stolen base plateau in 2012, the most at any spot except outfield. And you might recall that Cincinnati farmhand Billy Hamilton had a pretty decent year, establishing a new minor league record for single-season steals (155).

So yeah, there's plenty of speed at short (even with

Player Profile: Elvis Andrus

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Elvis Andrus is a somewhat polarizing player in fantasy baseball. Some people love his speed. Others think there isn’t much to separate him from

Mock Draft: Talking Pitching Early

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

In fantasy baseball circles I’m known as the ‘anti-pitcher’ guy. I tell people all the time that in re-draft leagues there is no reason to take a pitcher at the top of a draft, and I practice what I preach (see how my staff turned out in the recent FSTA Experts Draft where I waited until the 8th round to take my first hurler). I know though that many others disagree with that line of thought. So for the sake

Top 400 for 2013 Fantasy Baseball

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Finally, we come to the end of the 2013 fantasy baseball rankings. (Can we start games already?) A little birdie told me we’re opening up our commenter fantasy leagues on Monday. Then the little birdie pooped on my shoulder and I thought it was blue cheese and I put it on a cracker and-- Wait, where was I? Okay, you know that I like Brett Gardner more than Carlos Gomez in the top 60 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. You know I like Alcides Escobar less than Erick Aybar as seen at the

2013 Rankings: Shortstops

Source: Fantasy Baseball 365

Like second base, shortstop lacks depth. Scraping the bottom of the barrell is a scary thought and will yield players that should only be started in AL-only and NL-only leagues. 

Rank First Name Last Name Organization 1 Troy Tulowitzki Rockies 2 Jose Reyes Blue

Top 400 for 2013 Fantasy Baseball

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Finally, we come to the end of the 2013 fantasy baseball rankings. (Can we start games already?) A little birdie told me we’re opening up our commenter fantasy leagues on Monday. Then the little birdie pooped on my shoulder and I thought it was blue cheese and I put it on a cracker and-- Wait, where was I? Okay, you know that I like Brett Gardner more than Carlos Gomez in the top 60 outfielders for 2013 fantasy baseball. You know I like Alcides Escobar less than Erick Aybar as seen at the

Pressing Questions: The Kansas City Royals

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Controversial, lopsided trades are a staple in baseball. Over the years, numerous unbalanced swaps have occurred, leaving fanbases both perplexed and pissed. Pittsburgh’s shipping of Jose Bautista to Toronto for ‘iconic’ catcher Robinzon Diaz back in 2008 immediately comes to mind.

Soon, Royals GM Dayton Moore’s December shipping of uber-prospect Wil Myers to Tampa, along with pitchers Mike Montgomery, Jake Odorizzi and Patrick Leonard, in exchange for James Shields and Wade Davis may be viewed with similar bewilderment.

Myers, the organization’s 2012 Minor League Player

Jean Segura, 2013 Fantasy Sleeper

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

You say Alcides Escobar, I say Jean Segura…Let's call the whole thing off! That's you and the co-owner of your fantasy team right before your eyes lock after twelve years of friendship and things suddenly get weird. "Doode, you have nacho cheese on your lip and it's in a tear drop shape." "What?" "Nothing. Wanna play touch football? Our team needs a tight end." On a side-sidenote, doesn't Jean Segura sound like an actor from the 1950's? I imagine him lurking in the shadows of Vienna's back alleys. Jean Segura is...The Third Man!... with Joseph Cotten and Ryan Raburn. "Between Switzerland and Milwaukee, they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock and Miller beer." That's Dead Orson

Alcides Escobar: Is He For Real?

Source: Fake Teams by Paul Rice

Back in the year 2008, Alcides Escobar was seen as one of the better prospects in baseball, and one of the very best shortstop prospects. Before the 2010 season (Escobar's rookie year), Escobar was ranked by Baseball America as the #12 prospect. When the Royals dealt Zack Greinke to the Brewers, Escobar was a key component of the package being shipped to Milwaukee. Once in Kansas City, he was expected to be entrenched as the team's shortstop for several years. It seemed

Player Profile: Alcides Escobar

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Alcides Escobar' or find free 'Alcides Escobar' pictures via Wylio" href="http://www.wylio.com/credits/flickr/7283480732">
After a couple of middling years as a middle infield option in league specific setups, Alcides Escobar went from a relative afterthought to someone who can legitimately be looked at as a potential top-12 option at shortstop in mixed leagues in 2013, or can he? Is that too much praise or could he possibly live up to that hype next season? Before breaking down the effort of Alcides and what that means for the future, let me regale you with what he accomplished in

Billy Hamilton, 2013 Fantasy Outlook

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

SAGNOF essentially means don’t pay for saves or steals.  Steals/Saves Ain’t Got No Face, i.e., they can be found for cheap.  They are in abundance later in drafts and on waivers.  For this post, let’s focus on steals.  Everth Cabrera didn’t play a game in the majors until May 17th and gave you 44 steals, the 3rd most steals last year.  Rajai Davis came in 2nd in steals with 46.  He was drafted in the last rounds and found on waivers in many leagues.  Coming in first for steals last year was Mike Trout, he might’ve been drafted in the end rounds, but he wasn’t held onto in most mixed leagues.  Coming in 5th with 40 steals was Ben Revere, then Coco Crisp, Juan Pierre, Carlos Gomez, Alcides Escobar… In the top 11,

Top 20 Shortstops, 2012 Fantasy Baseball

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Top 20 catchers, 1st basemen and 2nd basemen are in the books.  What a strange, glorious trip it’s been!  Though not really.  Today, the top 20 shortstops for 2012 fantasy baseball get to shine.  Hmm… Actually, most of these won’t shine.  They’re cloudy with a chance of crapballs.  To be a bit more specific, the top ten shortstops were about equal with the 2nd basemen through the top 10, then they fall off the map like a 12th century explorer.  For

Shields Runs Into Orioles Lucksaw

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Yesterday, James Shields yields 15 Ks, 1 run, but a win ain’t won.  Murray Chass just bid a penny on the world’s smallest violin on eBay so he can play it just for Shields.  Murray had this to say, “When men were gristled, and ladies were more gristled, we had a name for yellow-bellies like James Shields.  That name was ‘Can’t do what needs to be done for a win.’  It may not have been the most succinct of names, but before Al Gore went and invented the Internet, we didn’t need succinct.  We needed appropriate.  Now you only have 140 characters to say something and it’s never appropriate!”  I’ll say this for Murray.  He sure has ornery in spades.  ”Now kids are playing spades on their

Orioles Promote Bundy To Stick His Hand Down His Pants

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

After the Orioles played 18 innings on Tuesday, delirium set it in and they said, “We’ve had two bean and cheese burritos since 6 o’clock and we have to pull a double shift ice trucking.  Somebody gives us a Christian side hug right now or we’re calling up Dylan Bundy.  Okay, fine.”  Only they did it with no punctuation and in a spot-on Christopher Walken impersonation.  For the ostriches with their heads stuck in the sand, Dylan Bundy is the Orioles 19-year-old who has been labeled by some as the best prospect to come out of high school since Babe Ruth had sex with Miss Agatha Hannigan and he was kicked out of his orphanage.  Bundy’s A-Ball numbers were insane.  He was too good for A-Ball.  A-Ball

Too Little, Tulo?

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

Just in time for the H2H playoffs, Troy Tulowitzki returns to throw a quandary into your lineup.  Do you bench a guy that has actually been performing for a guy that hasn’t done anything this year and is coming back from an injury?  Let’s answer that question with other questions.  Do the Rockies start Tulo in every game risking injury?  Do they have aspirations of moving up to finish with a slightly better record while still coming in last?  Do the Rockies risk next year for that?  Why is Tulo even coming back at all?  Are all planets round or are there some, say, triangle planets?  Are the Rockies trying to boost his value for an offseason trade?  What is the point of him returning?  If with age comes

Escobar's RBI single walks Royals off in 11th - Alcides Escobar | KC

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Alcides Escobar delivered a two-out RBI single in the 11th inning on Thursday, giving the Royals a walk-off 7-6 victory over the Indians.

OPS Fantasy Leagues: These Pirates Arrrrr Worth Owning

Source: Razzball by grey@razzball.com (Grey Albright)

I realized that in the couple months I’ve been writing these articles, I haven’t covered any Pirates players. Maybe it’s a personal bias, or maybe I’m struggling with the idea that so many Pirates players are worth owning this year. When was the last time that happened? Seriously, I don’t remember. So to make up for ignoring them, here are a few Pirates:

Andrew McCutchen – I know I’m not going out on a limb here, but McCutchen has been fantastic this year.  His improvements have been even more pronounced in OPS leagues, as his current 1.060 OPS is second to Votto in the entire league. This is even more remarkable because he had previously been a low 800s OPS guy. In 2012, he’s producing a

Shuffle Up: Ian Desmond puts it all together

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The middle infield is the focus for this week's shuffle up, your 2B and SS options. Settle in for the usual rule disclaimers, and then we'll discuss some prices.

This blog contains how I'd rank the players if I were headed into a new start-from-scratch league today. What's happened already in 2012 is an audition, but what we're trying to figure out is what the players will do going forward. Don't obsess over the dollar amount in a vacuum; what matters is how the players relate to one another. Commodities at the same tag are considered even.

Your respectful disagreement is always welcome, and it will help me iron out this list. But you need to have a reason for your unrest; further the conversation,

Alcides Escobar's power surge leads Royals - Alcides Escobar | KC

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Alcides Escobar smashed two home runs in a game for the first time in his career on Saturday, leading the Royals to a 6-3 win over the White Sox.

Plouffe, there it is: Meet the 2012 Wiggys

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The same thing happens in every March draft. You walk away from the computer or the war room and think "we drained the depth pretty well. The waiver wire is going to be skank all year."

And then the unknowns come out of nowhere, the surprise stories, the fun pickups and the lucrative pickups. And on my clipboard, I like to call them The Wiggys.

Ty Wigginton, our patron saint, represents so much that's good and right about fantasy baseball. He had a 24-homer season with Tampa Bay in 2006, a spike pretty much out of nowhere. He routinely qualifies at a bunch of different positions. He's usually out there on the wire, ready to go for free when you need him. And sometimes it's more fun to win your