Brandon Morrow (neck) pushed back to Sat. - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (neck) will have his next start pushed back to Saturday against the Yankees.

Brandon Morrow: Scratched From Wednesday Start

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Brandon Morrow: Morrow (back) was officially scratched from his start on Wednesday according to Brendann Kennedy of the Toronto Star. Manager John Gibbons said, "We just want to make sure he's as close to 100-percent as possible." Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

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

Morrow throws in pen, on track to start Wed. - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (neck) had a successful bullpen session Sunday and said he should be fine to start on Wednesday.

Morrow (neck) pushed back to Wednesday - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (neck) will have his next start pushed back to Wednesday against the Giants.

Brandon Morrow: MRI Reveals No Damage

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Brandon Morrow: Morrow (back) had an MRI in Florida that revealed no structural damage to his back, but he's still dealing with stiffness, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Brandon Morrow: (Back) Status Murky For Sunday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Brandon Morrow: There's growing concern that Morrow (back) won't be able to make his scheduled start Sunday against the Red Sox, Sportsnet.ca reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Morrow has back problem, may be scratched - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow experienced back discomfort while throwing a side session Wednesday and will likely have his next scheduled start pushed from Friday to Sunday.

Morrow fans eight as Blue Jays beat Mariners - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow held the Mariners to two runs in eight innings Sunday afternoon in a 10-2 victory.

Shuffle Up: The Tony Cingrani Problem

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Alright, gamers, settle in and let's get to work. Of all the baseball shuffles, this is the one that really matters: the starting pitcher shuffle. The fickle men of the mound are sure to define our season, for good or for bad.

We're trying to gauge everyone's 5x5 value going forward - everything to this point is merely an audition. We're only playing for 2013 here, and we're assuming a mixed-league environment. Don't worry about what the prices mean in a vacuum - they're only tools to compare the players with one another. Players at the same price tag are considered even.

I'll add comments as the night goes along, and I reserve the right to make rank changes over that time frame. Your intelligent

Mostly MLB Notes: Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper making the leap

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

Max Scherzer has a ridiculous 30 Ks over 19.0 innings this season, as he’s become baseball’s premier strikeout pitcher. He finished second to Justin Verlander in the category last year, recording only eight fewer strikeouts in 50.2 fewer innings thanks to a major league leading 11.08 K/9 rate. Scherzer dealt with some shoulder issues late last season, and while cleaned up, his delivery remains somewhat violent, but he sure appears healthy now. Scherzer has allowed a 20.5 LD%, but with so few groundballs (35.9 GB%), his .385 BABIP looks especially unlucky. In fact, among the 15 starters with the lowest groundball rates this season (Scherzer’s is the 11th lowest), only two others have a

Shuffle Up, Starting Pitchers: Exhuming McCarthy

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Alright, amigos, let's get to the prices on the mound. Here's how I rank the Top 90 arms or so for the 2013 season, 5x5.

Players at the same prices are considered even. Don't worry about the numbers in an isolated sense; what matters is how the players relate to one another. I reserve the right to tweak the list as the evening goes along. Win the debate, win the rank.

And remember the golden rule: a player doesn't gain 15-20 percent of bonus value simply because you roster him.

I'm sure there's more to the preamble but it's not coming to mind right now. I'll add commentary after the US and Mexico are done on the pitch. Make the jump, jumper.

$33 Clayton Kershaw
$32 Justin Verlander
$30

2013 – Tout Wars

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Tout Wars is one of the two exclusive fantasy baseball events each year (the other is LABR which I participated in earlier in March). Thanks to the powers that be I was invited to New York to put together a squad in Tout Wars for the second straight year. Below, you will see how my team came together, and I’ll give some thoughts about the entire weekend, which by the way, was a total blast (gotta be the greatest group of folks anyone can work with).

15 team mixed league auction.
14 hitters (2 C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, 5 OFs,

2013 Livin’ The Fantasy Draft

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

And the fantasy baseball drafts just keep on coming… Kay Adams and I hosted the Livin’ the Fantasy Draft for SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM87). The league consisted of myself, Kay, Kyle Elfrink, two producers (Drew Phelps and Phil Backert), and six listeners (one was unable to make it). That means we had a shallow 11 team, mixed league draft that we took part in. I had the #2 selection in the draft, and here is how my

Grapefruit Juice: The case for Chris Carter

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

I can't promise you Chris Carter will be a regular in Houston all season. I can't say much about Carter's defense, and I can't whistle an optimistic tune about his strikeouts.

But if you're looking to find 25-30 cheap homers (and maybe a few more) in the current power-depressed rotisserie landscape, stay with me. It's time to investigate another late-round sleeper.

Carter's raw power was on full display Sunday afternoon, as he connected for

AL LABR 2013

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Phoenix Arizona.

Not many fantasy baseball leagues mean more than LABR in the world of fantasy sports. Started by John Hunt 20 years ago, it was the first exposure many of us had to fantasy baseball, at least the first chance to really dig into the mind of the experts in the field to find out why they did what they did on draft day (for more on the history of the event see Steve Gardner’s wonderful piece). I’m honored that I’ve been asked to be a part of the event.

Last

Fantasy Baseball 2013 Head-to-Head Points League Rankings: Starters (26-50)

Source: Fake Teams by Alex Kantecki

On Tuesday, I published my top-25 starters in head-to-head points leagues. Today, I give you my next 25. (On Friday, I will publish my top-20 relievers.)

Ranking the 25 starters below was one of my favorite groups to rank in this series. There are a lot of arms capable of becoming top-25 starters (Brandon Morrow, Jon Niese, Homer Bailey), arms capable of rediscovering top-25 status (

Is Perception Reality?

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

A lot of times human beings have a hard time making a decision. Sometimes the decisions we make are well reasoned. Other times our information is faulty, we make rash/uneducated decisions because of it, or we let our hormones out of the box and they cause all kinds of issues (tell me you haven’t been out on a Saturday night at 1 AM and those hormones of yours aren’t telling you to do something that you would never do at 6 PM on a Thursday night. Don’t feel bad. We’ve all been there – some of us more than

2012 Positional Review – Starting Pitchers: Hits

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Brandon Morrow' or find free 'brandon morrow' pictures via Wylio" href="http://www.wylio.com/credits/flickr/7861342072"> Now that the 2012 season is over, it’s time to review how my predictions went for each position in fantasy baseball. To that end, I will review my top-10 at each position and give a brief rundown on how each of the ten performed. I’ll also list which player was a “Hit” (someone who lived up to expectations) as well as a “Miss” (the player who simply failed to impress).

Note: All of these rankings are taken from the

Review: Fanball & Sirius Show League

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Two more leagues to review. And yes, the results of these final two leagues was much better than the majority of my efforts that I’ve been detailing over the past week.

FANBALL LEAGUE

For those of you who haven’t been following my work for years, and shame on you if you haven’t, I used to work at Fanball. When the company was closed I took up my mantle as a Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio employee, something that I will discuss further when

Review: SiriusXM Hosts League Draft

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

The review of my season in the abyss continues as I’ll take a look today at the Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio Hosts’ League club that I put together.

Kurt Suzuki and John Buck were total failures. In the piece I just linked to above I mentioned how close I was to getting Carlos Ruiz. Oh

Review: K-BAD

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

The folks over at KFFL.com have been gracious enough to invite me to participate in KFFL’s Baseball Analysis Draft (K-BAD) the last couple of years. When you see how my team performed no wonder they invited me. I’m apparently an easy mark.

Ryan Doumit was great (.275-18-75). Not so much Kurt

Jose Bautista (OF-TOR)

Source: TG Fantasy Baseball

Top 5 Reasons to Be Excited About Blue Jays Baseball in 2013: A Fan's Take (Yahoo! Contributor Network). The Toronto Blue Jays did not live up to their expectations in 2012, finishing in fourth place in the American League East with a record of 73-89, only four games better than the disastrous Boston Red Sox. The Jays' season was marred by injuries to key players as Jose Bautista, Brandon Morrow, Sergio Santos, and Kyle Drabeck all spent considerable time on the disabled list. Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com

Review: FSTA League

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

I stand accountable. More times than not I’m right, but sometimes I make mistakes. When I do, I’m not afraid to admit it. I’d like to think that helps to set me out a bit in this industry. I try to be transparent and truthful. To that end, I thought I would spend a few days reviewing the results from my “experts leagues.” It wasn’t exactly pretty, I’ll be straight forward with that, but again I don’t believe in running and hiding. First up, the FSTA Experts

One HR, Two HR, Reddick, Bluedick

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

The .245 AVG is going to look ugly next March but 31 HRs and 80+ R/RBI has been nirvana for anyone (like Rudy) who plucked Josh Reddick off free agency in shallow leagues this year.  The power is real and, unlike the last A’s power hitter (Jack Cust), he is an above average fielder.   So the A’s now have 2/3 of a phallic OF foundation with Reddick and Yoenis.  Where is Lance Johnson Jr or Dick Pole Jr when you need them?  For 2013, I imagine the only flavor missing from his Chick-o-Stick is average, i.e., it may never be anything to write home about.  But if you’re writing home about Reddick’s average, you need new material.  Here’s hoping he doesn’t become Ryan Ludwick Part II.  Ryan Ludwick, “I

Morrow outstanding in victory over Yankees - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow was outstanding in Thursday night’s victory over the Yankees, scattering just four hits and three walks over seven shutout innings.

The user’s guide to two-start pitchers, Week Last

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

I don't know that there's a best way to present the final 10 days of the regular season, but this is how we'll look at it.

In this post is a listing, and ranking, of every pitcher slated to work twice over the final 10 days of the season. It's as tentative as tentative can be. Some contending clubs will get ready for the post-season once a spot is secured (and maybe go easy on stars). Some non-contenders might shift into shutdown mode. We'll keep producing daily streaming pieces during the week, but if you need to plan for 10 days now, what's below is for you.

Hope you're in the finals, or fighting for a much-coveted roto title.

National League, Sept. 24-Oct. 3

RCL Roundup: September 17

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

The Rank Railheads (RCL 40) continue to set an amazing pace atop the Master Standings, thanks to a still unbelievable 119 league points. Last week I said they were too far behind Chin Music in the Runs category to score a perfect 120, which I guess they took as a challenge. The Railheads narrowed the gap to 14, outscoring Chin Music 49 – 39. Another week like that would make things interesting.

Meanwhile, panthers_freak (We’ve Got the Runs — Baseball Reasons) gained a couple of points to pull to within 3 of top spot. He still could gain in wins (4 behind, but with 11 extra starts) and batting average

Royals Aim To Odorizzi Their Stinky Season

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

The Royals called up Jake Odorizzi, which means nothing really for this year.  He will start next weekend vs. the Indians, and that could be a spot start in some fantasy leagues, but this is more for 2013.  Or, since it’s the Royals, this is Moore for 2013.  In order to be protected from a Rule 5 draft, the Royals had to call him up.  I don’t think this means we see Odorizzi in the rotation to start next year, but he’ll be in the mix for the last spot.  Knowing the Royals, they’ll find someone like Randy Wolf or Carl Pavano for that last spot.  Jeremy Guthrie’s run with the Royals this year is the worst thing that could’ve happened for Royals fans.  Now ownership can get another half-dead veteran

The user’s guide to two-start pitchers, Week 23

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

It's just the raw ranks for now. I'll specify tiers and add comments immediately after the Broncos and Steelers settle things. Hey, it's opening day.

National League
Gio Gonzalez -- at NYM, at ATL
Clayton Kershaw -- at ARI, vs. STL
Adam Wainwright -- at SD, at LAD
Mat Latos -- vs. PIT, at MIA
Roy Halladay -- vs. MIA, at HOU
Jaime Garcia -- at SD, at LAD
Mike Minor -- at MIL, vs. WAS
Kyle Kendrick -- vs. MIA, at HOU
*Eric Stults -- vs. STL, vs. COL
Wandy Rodriguez -- at CIN, at CHC
Chris Volstad -- at HOU, PIT
Ryan Vogelsong -- at COL, at ARI
Wily Peralta -- vs. ATL, vs. NYM
Dallas Keuchel -- vs. CHC, vs. PHI
Alex

Pitcher Ranks: Mythbuster

Source: Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball

NL to AL. Pitchers park to hitters park. Laid-back media market to overbearing pressure cooker.

Hiroki Kuroda had to deal with all of those things this season when he moved from the Dodgers to the Yankees, and, like most pitchers who face even one of those "obstacles," he was expected by many to noticeably regress.

But the 37-year-old righty didn't flinch and is on pace for arguably the best season of his career. Kuroda's 3.14 ERA would be the second-best mark he's ever posted, and his 1.11 WHIP would be a career-best. He has seen a slight decline in strikeout rate (from 7.17 in 2011 to 6.56 this year), but that's come with a lower BB-rate (2.00) and, believe it or not, a lower HR-rate (1.00).

Also,

Two-Start SPs: Sept. 10-Sept. 16

Source: Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball

Below is a breakdown of next week's projected two-start pitchers divided into four groups: useable SPs with a pair of decent matchups; guys you can use for one of their two projected starts (favorable starts bolded); bottom feeders to avoid; and must-start aces. An asterisk indicates a pitcher's two-start status is in question:

DOUBLE PLAY: Ryan Dempster (vs. CLE, vs. SEA); Scott Diamond (vs. KC, vs. CWS); Doug Fister (@CWS, @CLE); Kyle Kendrick (vs. MIA, @HOU); Mike Minor (@MIL, vs. WAS); Wandy Rodriguez (@CIN, @CHC).

Analysis: Wandy Rodriguez actually has a pretty good career split in Cincinnati (3.89/1.35 in 12 starts, including a 3.46/1.15 line in two starts there this year), so

NatGio Shows The World One Pretty Pitcher

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

You could argue Mike Minor threw a slightly better game yesterday and deserved the lede, but you’d be arguing with a computer screen and over what should be the lede on a fantasy baseball blog.  It’s about time I gave Gio Gonzalez (7 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 9 Ks) some love after emoting all over myself in the preseason about how much I wanted Gio on every team.  In December of last year — yes, December — I gushed over Gio like a little schoolgirl that just got a free shopping spree at American Girl Place.  I followed up that gushing volcano of man love with me ranking him 17th overall.  I’m not right all the time, but sometimes you just gotta sit back and say, “Grey, your mustache is thick as your

Mad Max Finally Providing Something Beyond Thunderdome

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

Max Scherzer is finally starting to post some non-apocalyptic ERA/WHIP results to go along with his thunderous league-leading K totals.  A 7 inning / 1 ER / 9 K win against the Pujoless Angels marks his 4th straight start with a Win, 6+ IP, 2 ER or less, and 8+ Ks (this was actually his 8th straight start with 8+ Ks!).   His season ERA and WHIP are still north of 4.00/1.30 but he will under those marks in nein time at this rate.  I imagine the only thing scarier than facing Mad Max Scherzer right now is imagining him channel his inner Mel Gibson (1980′s crazy, charismatic version) and intimidating the opposition by popping his pitching shoulder in and out of the socket between pitches.  Anyway, in other

Brandon Morrow pitches well in return from DL - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow pitched well in his return from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Brandon Morrow: (Oblique) Activated From DL

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Brandon Morrow: The Blue Jays activated Morrow (oblique) from the 60-day disabled list Saturday, MLB.com reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Blue Jays activate Morrow from disabled list - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Blue Jays activated RHP Brandon Morrow from the 60-day disabled list.

Please Toronto, May I Have Some Morrow

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

I’ve gone from love to hate to love to “Are we up to love or hate now?” to the DL for Brandon Morrow.  I’ll be honest, some of my love came from getting excited about drafting him and some of my hate came from not owning him and him overperforming, according to his peripherals.  I’m only human, contrary to the stamp the U.S. government put on my hindquarters.  I’m also only human as sung by Human League.  BTW, good call on not naming your song, I’m Only League.  Getting past the jibber-jabbering, Morrow is due back three morrows from today (I used my fingers to count; if it’s Friday and not Saturday, blame my index finger, I don’t know what it’s thinking some times).  When he’s been

Morrow (oblique) likely to return on Saturday - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (oblique) is likely to return from the disabled list Saturday to face the Orioles.

Morrow throws 81 pitches in final rehab start - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (oblique) allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings Sunday in a rehab start at Double-A New Hampshire.

Links: Perfect King

Source: Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball

Fantasy Source experts read far and wide in order to keep on top of everything in baseball. Here are some of the stories that interested us this week. If you see something you think is worth sharing with our readers, tweet @DavidAArnott or email us.

King for more than a day. After Felix Hernandez's perfect game, there was a flood of appreciation for his talent. But this ESPN post goes to an interesting place, showing how Hernandez was about as good a pitching prospect as there's ever been, and has been the rare case of a

Morrow (oblique) has three rehab starts left - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (oblique) will make his second rehab appearance Friday with High-A Dunedin.

Morrow (oblique) to begin rehab stint Sunday - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (oblique) will make his first minor league rehab start Sunday with High-A Dunedin.

Brandon Morrow: (Oblique) Making Rehab Start Sunday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Brandon Morrow: Morrow (oblique) will make his first rehab start Sunday after getting through a batting practice session Wednesday without any problems, the team's official site reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Morrow (oblique) nearing a rehab assignment - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (oblique) is on track to begin a minor league rehab assignment Sunday.

Single Game Betting

Source: Fantasy Baseball Dugout by ballparkbob34

Brandon Morrow - Toronto Blue Jays

Right now, many nations are doing what they can to stimulate their economies in the wake of the global economic crisis. Many nations are taking a watchful eye to their current practices to see where they can possibly find sectors that can be expanded creating more jobs as well as bringing additional revenue into the country. The country of Canada is doing just that. Currently, a bill is being sponsored that will change some archaic practices in regards to single game betting.
As it stands now, single game betting is expressly forbidding within Canada. Citizens are unable to place sport bets on single

Morrow (oblique) ready to throw off mound - Brandon Morrow | TOR

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Brandon Morrow (oblique) is symptom-free and will throw off a mound for the first time this weekend.

Links: Call Me Maybin

Source: Sporting News Fantasy Source Baseball

Fantasy Source experts read far and wide in order to keep on top of everything in baseball. Here are some of the stories that interested us this week. If you see something you think is worth sharing with our readers, tweet @DavidAArnott or email us.

Slugging away north of the border. More and more, it appears if the Blue Jays are to make the playoffs, they'll have to do it despite their pitching, as Scott Carson ably describes. While it's been nothing but tears for fantasy owners who thought they could get cheap production out of

Citizens Bank Cheesesteak Man Calls Wife, Telling Her To Bring More Whiz

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

Phils decided they wanted to get younger for Friday’s game so they’re bringing up this guy from the minors.  They say he’s got good power, but he’s been playing first base on a foot stool.  At least they could’ve got Ryan Howard one of those giant Rawlings glove bean bags.  So Howard’s Achilles is better, but now the Phillies’ Achilles is they have to play him.  If it’s not one arrow to the heel, it’s another, as they used to say in Ancient Greece.  In weekly leagues, you may as well throw up a white flag with Howard because there’s no way he’s playing every day.  You’re about to go nuts with

Around the Horn: June27, 2012

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

(1) Brandon Morrow (obqliue) – conflicting reports on his health/return date.

(2) CC Sabathia shockingly headed to DL with groin issue.

(3) Daniel Hudson’s elbow barking – tests being run. Patrick Corbin called up.

(4) Aroldis Chapman/Santiago Casilla rebound from recent hiccups.

(5) Ryan Braun’s elbow barking – out of lineup Weds. Hopes to return Friday.

(6) Jed Lowrie’s average going down, but he’s flashing a big time power bat (he’s knocking on top-10 status at the position over at