Buster Posey: Getting A Day Off Monday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Buster Posey: Posey is not in the starting lineup Monday against the Padres, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Shuffle Up: Jonathan Lucroy comes around

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Today's Shuffle Up assignment is the catchers, the backstops, the men in the tools of ignorance. Everyone should play catcher (and goalie) at some point in their youth sports career. It builds character.

We're trying to rank players for future 5x5 value. What's happened to this point is an audition, nothing past that. Players listed at the same price are considered even.

Your respectful and intelligent disagreement is always welcome in the comment, but for the love of all things holy, give us a reason. Further the conversation, gamer. Win the debate, you may win the rank.

I reserve to tweak this list Monday, and I'll add commentary as well. Dig in, game on.

$24 Buster Posey
$22 Mike

Top 10 Position Rankings: Two-Month Mark

Source: Fake Teams by AnthonyCalanni

Catcher

1. Yadier Molina
2. Mike Napoli
3. Evan Gattis
4. Buster Posey
5. Joe Mauer
6. John Buck
7. Carlos Santana
8. Wilin Rosario
9.

FanDuel Contest: $3000 Friday Tournament

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Every Friday at BaseballGuys.com, I relay to you how you can sign up for a daily fantasy baseball game courtesy of FanDuel.com. Today is no different. I’ll spend a bit of time detailing how you can win some cash, and then I’ll give away all my secrets by letting you know who should, or shouldn’t, be in your lineup. Oh, and finally, I’m also going to be in the league, so

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,

Finally Home

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

I’ve spent the last three days in the hospital with the whopper of all illnesses. Try throwing up 20+ times (literally), having cramps to bad that you can’t straighten out your fingers for nearly two hours, yeah, it was great times, and taken your first ambluance ride ever. On the slow road to recovery now though. Thanks for all the well wishes to all of you, I really appreciate it.

Some observations from my hospital bed.

Why couldn’t the Dodgers activate

Posey hits game-tying HR in comeback win - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Buster Posey launched a game-tying two-run homer off of Diamondbacks' setup man David Hernandez in Monday's comeback win.

The Matt Adams ownership dilemma

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

As of this moment, Matt Adams is on pace to finish the season with just 249 plate appearances — clearly not enough to make him a no-doubt fantasy option, despite his ridiculous early-season performance. Adams is 11-for-18 so far with three homers, eight RBIs and an OPS of 1.872. He's only started four games this year, yet he somehow has more total hits than Ryan Braun (10-for-30), Matt Kemp (10-for-51) and Buster Posey (9-for-39).

Adams is, for lack of a better cliché, absolutely on fire.

But as everyone knows, he's also blocked at first base in St. Louis by Allen Craig. Defensively, Adams really doesn't fit at any other spot. The Cards have zero motivation to trade him, because he's cheap ($490K), young (24) and

Shuffle Up: John Buck, flushing hero

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

You probably know the Shuffle Up rules by now, but we'll go through a refresher course just in case.

The prices below are my catcher rankings for the rest of the season. Don't obsess over the prices in a vacuum; what matters is how the players relate to one another. Commodities at the same dollar figure are considered even.

Assumptions: 5x5 scoring, mixed-league format. Players who are currently disabled or in the minors are not eligible for ranks. The value on that type of player is largely context-driven, anyway; Yasmani Grandal could be a valuable stash in some pools and next-to-worthless in some other groups.

I'll add comments as the day goes along and I reserve the right to tweak this list during the

Buster Posey: Sits Tuesday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Buster Posey: Posey is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Rockies. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Roto Roundup: Buster Posey, Eric Young Jr. and Others

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

Happy Easter everyone! And Happy Opening Day for the 2013 baseball season. The offseason seemed very long this year, and I hope our fantasy baseball coverage here at Fake Teams helped bridge the gap between the World Series and Opening Day for you. I am looking forward to an exciting and successful 2013 fantasy baseball season, and we are here to help you win your leagues.

Eric Young Jr: Fantasy Sleeper

Lost in the news that the Rockies sent Tyler Colvin down to AAA yesterday is why they sent him down. One reason is to give him more at bats to work his way out of the slump he is in.

Roto Roundup: Verlander, Posey, Cole, Machado and Others

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

Yesterday was a big news day in major league baseball headlined by the big contract extensions given to Tigers ace and former Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander, and Giants catcher and reigning MVP Buster Posey. Verlander received a 5 year, $140 million extension, while Posey received a 8 year, $159 million extension. Asked for his thoughts on the Verlander extension, Clayton Kershaw just smiled, and giggled in an evil voice. Dodgers GM Ned Colletti couldn't be reached for comment, but was seen downing shots of Jameson at lunch yesterday.

Manny Machado to bat second

Third baseman Manny Machado is slated to bat second in the Orioles lineup to start the season, behind Nick Markakis, and just ahead of Adam Jones

Buster Posey: Inks Nine-Year Deal Friday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Buster Posey: Posey, the reigning National League MVP, signed a nine-year, $167 million contract with the Giants on Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Posey inks eight-year, $159M extension - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Giants signed C Buster Posey to an eight-year, $159 million extension with a $21.4 million club option for 2022.

Giants, Posey in 'serious' extension talks - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Giants and Buster Posey are in "serious discussions" about a long-term deal.

Fantasy Baseball 2013: The Hate List

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

OK, so maybe "hate" isn't exactly the right word here. I'm fairly sure that no member of the Yahoo! fantasy staff actively hates anyone on the list below (except maybe Evans, with Hosmer. Something's up there). In fact, you might actually be able to field a middle-of-the-pack public league fantasy team from the names below. We're not discussing terrible players here.

But the draft-day price tags? Yup, those we hate. Here's a roster full of guys we're not buying...

[Baseball 2013 from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports: Join a league

Empty Wallet: The All-Avoid Team, 2013

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The good cops have had their say, the optimistic spins are already out there. Today I'm here to play bad cop, throw some red ink around. Let's get ready for the Anti-Value team, the names to avoid.

There's a sneaky industry secret when it comes to target and avoid lists; the second group generally gets the short end of the stick. It's common for many a fantasy pundit to

Gap in extension talks between Giants, Posey - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

According to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman, there is a "decent-sized gap" between what Buster Posey wants in an extension and what the Giants are willing to give him.

NL-only league prep: Taking a look at the first two rounds

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

I have my big money league draft on Thursday night. This is an 11 team (we added one team this season), 5 x 5, NL-only non-keeper league that I won last year, so I have to prove my worth by repeating this season. It certainly won't be easy, as there are some good owners in this long time league, and any time you win a league, let's face it, you had luck go in your favor.

For me, I lucked out with a few of my draft picks last season, most notably drafting Buster Posey in the 8th round, Jose Altuve in the 12th, Aroldis

Over/Under: Comeback kid, will Lincecum regain All-Star form?

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Fantasy is a speculative game. Predict the future, and you look like a genius. Don't, and you're painfully human. Gazing into the crystal ball, here's our view on nine intriguing over/unders entering spring training.

Former top-of-the-line fantasy starters Roy Halladay and Tim Linceucm have struggled mightily this spring. Who bounces back stronger?

Andy – HALLADAY. He was actually having a nice spring (10.1 IP, 3 R, 2 BB, 9 Ks) until Tuesday's clunker. I'm giving him a mulligan. Not yet worried. Of course I haven't yet drafted him, either.

Brad – LINCECUM. He's battled through blisters this spring, but his velocity is hovering in the 92-94 mph range and his

Anth's Catcher Rankings

Source: Fake Teams by AnthonyCalanni

1. Buster Posey
2. Carlos Santana
3. Matt Wieters
4. Joe Mauer
5. Yadier Molina
6. Miguel Montero
7. Mike Napoli
8. Brian McCann
9. Wilin Rosario
10. Jesus Montero
11. Jonathon Lucroy
12. Salvador Perez
13. J.P. Arencibia
14. A.J. Pierzynski
15. Ryan Doumit
16. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
17. Carlos Ruiz
18. Alex Avila
19. Russell Martin
20. A.J. Ellis

Fantasy Baseball 2013: Catcher Primer

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

There are basically only two ways that a fantasy owner can avoid injuries at this position: Either you can draft a catcher-eligible player who spends most of his time at another spot — perhaps someone like Mike Napoli or Victor Martinez (both of whom have injury histories) — or you can simply get lucky.

And that's pretty much it. There's a strong chance that your fantasy catcher — whoever he is, wherever you draft him — is going to get hurt. This roster spot presents greater injury risk than any other everyday position. The physical demands at backstop are unlike those we find anywhere else on the defensive spectrum. Only six major league catchers managed to reach 500 at-bats last season, and only five appeared in

Fantasy baseball 2013 draft preview: Catcher primer

Source: SI.com

Welcome to the catcher revolution. Catcher is traditionally a very weak fantasy position, but it grows deeper every year. What's more, Buster Posey has set the bar incredible high at the top.

Michael Young (3B/1B/DH-PHI)

Source: TG Fantasy Baseball

Buster Posey, Fantasy Schmohawk. Source: http://razzball.com

Buster Posey, Fantasy Schmohawk

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

It's more like you're a schmohawk if you draft Buster Posey in the 2nd round. Let's just look at his MVP season. Hmm, it might take me a while to get through 300 hours of video to look at his MVP season. Plus, you give this to me on VHS?! Grey's Intern, "Sorry, Mr. Albright, MLB is a bit behind with their technology. I assumed you didn't want grainy black and white film with Mel Allen voice over." Put an ad on Craigslist for a new intern! GI, "Aw, shucks." All right, due to a slight setback we're gonna have to look at Posey's season through the online prism of stats. His MVP year was 78/24/103/.336/1. To compare and contrast: he had the 66th most runs, one behind Michael Young and Andre Ethier. Yay. Yay,

Pressing Questions: The San Francisco Giants

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

The Giants improbably won their second World Series over the past three years in 2012, once again riding strong pitching and terrific defense in the postseason. They did so despite being down 2-0 against the Reds while heading to play the next three games in Cincinnati and then down 3-1 against the Cardinals in the NLCS, only to outscore their opponents 36-7 over the next seven games – all wins. San Francisco became champs while hitting by far the fewest home runs in major league baseball, although that had plenty to do with AT&T Park, which had the lowest HR Park Factor (0.522) of any stadium since 2002.

The Giants somehow won the World Series despite Tim Lincecum finishing with a 5.18 ERA,

The Fantasy Freak Show Podcast: Stephen Strasburg, bustin’ on Posey and a Jeter admission

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Across the virtual universe, league commissioners are looking under rocks, digging holes in the snow and climbing peaks in an attempt to contact fellow owners. With Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball open for business, it's time to get the band back together.

On this week's enthralling program, Brad Evans and Dalton Del Don broke down overrated/underrated commodities in the AL East, reviewed happenings from one of the industry's biggest mixed league drafts (LABR), explained why gambling on Buster Posey in Round 1 is a dangerous game, discussed the possible rebirth of Michael Vick and Darren McFadden and, of course, answered your critical questions.

Too busy worrying about

Seventh-Inning Stretch: Exploring the Tigers bullpen; is Bryce Harper a first-round pick?

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Pitchers and catchers have finally reported to their respective Florida and Arizona camps, and the baseball wire is finally springing with some news of note. It's time for a lap around the diamond.

The Tigers have an obvious vacancy at their closer position and manager Jim Leyland isn't in any hurry to settle things. In fact, it's possible the Tigers might break camp without naming their bullpen chairman.

Rookie Bruce Rondon has the highest theoretical upside on the roster, but we're still talking about a 22-year-old who's never thrown a pitch in the major leagues.

Let's pick up the story from Steve Kornacki of

Freak Show Friday: Streaking for spring at 8 PM ET, 5 PM PT

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Across the virtual universe, league commissioners are looking under rocks, digging holes in the snow and climbing peaks in an attempt to contact fellow owners. With Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball open for business, it's time to get the band back together.

On this week's enthralling program, Brad Evans and Dalton Del Don will break down overrated/underrated commodities in the AL East, review happenings from one of the industry's biggest mixed league drafts (LABR), explain why gambling on Buster Posey in Round 1 is a dangerous game, discuss the possible rebirth of Michael Vick and Darren McFadden and, of course, answer your critical questions.

Here's how YOU can join the

Player Profile: David Ortiz

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Last season David Ortiz of the Red Sox had a better batting average than Robinson Cano (.318 to .313). Ortiz had more homers than

Tip Drill: The Buster Posey Problem

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The catcher position is the hard knock life area for baseball. The poor backstops lumber around with heavy equipment, while kamikaze baserunners treat them like a crash test dummies. Catchers spend six months in an uncomfortable crouch, blocking pitches in the dirt and waiting for the next foul tip to ding them up. Let's offer them some tea and sympathy.

But let's not take these poor guys in the first round of any fantasy draft.

[Baseball 2013 from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports: Join a league today!]

2013 Rankings: First Basemen

Source: Fantasy Baseball 365

Next up in the positional rankings is first base. The position offers a lot of offensive talent, young and old. Players will be drafted out of this player pool to fill more than first base, they'll also fill corner infield spots and utility positions as well. 

Rank First Name Last Name Organization 1 Albert Pujols Angels 2 Joey Votto Reds 3 Prince Fielder Tigers 4 Edwin Encarnacion Blue

2013 Rankings: Catchers

Source: Fantasy Baseball 365

Fantasy draft time is just around the corner for many folks. That means it is time to start rolling out the position rankngs for draft prep. I'll be posting the rankings without commentary. Feel free to discuss the rankings in the comments below.

Ranking First Name Last

Ryan Doumit: He Deserves a Longer Look

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

On draft day, most owners won't target their catcher until the middle rounds, that is, unless they want to draft Buster Posey, his ADP per Mock Draft Central is 9.84, currently; or Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, whose ADP is 29.92 per MDC. I prefer not to draft catchers that early, as I lean toward power/speed guys or big power guys early in drafts, with a sprinkle of a few starting pitchers to build my staff around. But, there is one catcher who could be drafted in the middle rounds who could provide 75% of the production of a Posey.

Ryan Doumit is certainly not one of the top catchers off the board in many fantasy drafts, but I think he should be. We ranked

Buster Posey: 8 Million Dollar Man

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Buster Posey: Posey agreed to a one-year, $8 million contract with the Giants on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

NL MVP Posey, Giants avoid arbitration - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Giants avoided arbitration with C Buster Posey by agreeing to a one-year, $8 million contract.

Buster Posey: Won't Play In World Baseball Classic

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Buster Posey: Posey will not play in the World Baseball Classic, according to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Player Profile: Hunter Pence

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

The San Francisco Giants, for the second time in three years, won the World Championship. Marco Scutaro was amazing throughout, and Barry

Around the Horn: November 19, 2012 – Awards

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

(1) Buster Posey the runaway winner of the NL MVP Award.

(2) Why did Miguel Cabrera dominate Mike Trout in AL MVP voting?

(3) Why did R.A. Dickey dominate in NL Cy Young Voting?

(4) David Price defeated Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver for the AL Cy Young.

(5) Bryce Harper narrowly edged Wade Miley for NL ROY.

(6) Mike Trout the 8th unanimous winner for AL ROY.

(7) Oddities in voting. Who are some of these voters?

By Ray Flowers

Buster Posey named National League MVP - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

The Giants' Buster Posey has been announced as the National League MVP.

Nirvana… Again

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly two years ago to the day I wrote the first Nirvana piece. That piece started out… “In the grand scheme of things a championship in sports means nothing, and the life of one person is also rendered insignificant when placed in the context of the world. But I gotta tell you, in this corner of the sphere that we all inhabit, there have been few things that can rival what has occurred over the last 24 hours.” And it happened,

OPS Fantasy Leagues: 2012 Catcher Review

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

Here is a look at the value of catchers over the past season in OPS fantasy leagues. This is not meant to be a ranking so much as adding a lens to illustrate their relative value with OPS as a component. They are listed from highest to lowest OPS. Note that I only included players with at least 300 plate appearances in 2012.

Top 15

Buster Posey – He was already the top catcher in fantasy baseball and is even better when considering his fantastic .336/.408/.549 line. His .957 OPS was not only top among catchers, but was one of the best in the league. This year he improved his walk rate, line drive rate, and contact rate, while posting a career-high slugging. Even if he regresses next

2012 Positional Review – Catchers

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

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

Roberto Kelly (OF-FA)

Source: TG Fantasy Baseball

Giants first base coach Kelly injured during BP (The Associated Press). SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- San Francisco Giants first base coach Roberto Kelly has been taken to a hospital after getting hit in the back of the head when Buster Posey's ball struck him while he was standing near second base during batting practice. Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com

Giants top Reds in Game 5, advance to NLCS - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Buster Posey hit a decisive grand slam to lead the Giants past the Reds 6-4 on Thursday in Game 5 of the NLDS, punching the team's ticket to the NLCS.

Top 20 1st Basemen, 2012 Fantasy Baseball

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

After drudging through an Andy Dufresne-type tunnel for the top 20 catchers for 2012 fantasy baseball, I find myself with a group that actually really hurt or helped your team depending on how you drafted. If you went wrong with your 1st baseman, it could kill your season.  Hey, Eric Hosmer, no hard feelings from me.  We are totally fine.  Please enjoy these cyanide pills I made special for you.  If you went right, you might’ve won your league.  To recap, this final ranking is from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater with my comments.  Anyway, here’s the top 20 1st basemen for

Joaquin Arias (3B/SS-SF)

Source: TG Fantasy Baseball

Giants stay alive with 2-1 win in 10 innings over Reds (Reuters) - (Reuters) - The San Francisco Giants kept alive their post season by claiming a 2-1 win in 10 innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday after losing the first two games of the best-of-five Division Series. A two-out error by eight-time Gold Glove-winning Reds' third baseman Scott Rolen on a grounder by Joaquin Arias allowed Buster Posey to score from third base in the 10th after he had moved up on a passed ball by catcher Ryan Hanigan. ... Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com

Giants stay alive after Rolen error in extras - Buster Posey | SF

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Buster Posey scored the winning run on a Scott Rolen error in the 10th inning Tuesday to keep the Giants alive in the NLDS against the Reds.

Top 20 Catchers, 2012 Fantasy Baseball

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

It feels like yesterday the baseball regular season started.  You wrote “I heart baseball” in permanent marker on your arm, then you met a girl who wrote “I heart guys who heart baseball” on her arm, then, during sex in September, you screamed out “I love you, Chris Davis!” and now you don’t have baseball or a girlfriend, unless your girlfriend was Bill James.  C’mon, calendar, make like a soldier and turn to March.  The only cure for the post-baseball season blues — recapping the preseason top twenty lists and being hand-fed Doritos.  First up, Cool Ranch and our preseason 

Buster Posey (C/1B-SF)

Source: TG Fantasy Baseball

Batting title highlights Poseyand#39;s amazing comeback. Buster Posey told teammates as the regular season ended, andquot;Iand#39;m looking forward to that Little League feel.andquot; Thatand#39;s the best way, Posey believes, to handle the Major League challenge of performing in the postseason. Source: http://mlb.mlb.com