Shuffle Up: Manny Machado, ahead of schedule

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Here are your Shuffle Up corners for the month of May. Dig into them, think about them, disagree with them. I'll be back with commentary later tonight.

Normal rules apply, of course. We're trying to project 5x5 value to come; what's happened to this point is an audition, not a mandate. Players at the same price are considered even. Don't worry about the prices in a vacuum - what matters is how the players relate to one another. Your intelligent and respectful disagreement is always welcome.

Please remember the golden rule of shuffling: a player doesn't gain (or lose) 15-20 percent of value simply because he's on your roster.

Courtesy injury ranks are at the bottom. I won't debate those (I'm generally not as

Over/Under: Is there a new Gold standard in fantasy?

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 10 intriguing over/unders this week.

Corner Infield conundrum. Pick one from this point forward: Albert Pujols, Paul Goldschmidt, Chris Davis or Anthony Rizzo

Scott – GOLDSCHMIDT, Jerry, Goldschmidt. It pains me to have him on zero teams. (Check that: I have Goldschmidt in one hybrid league that doesn't count home runs. Boy is that league fun.)

Andy – GOLDSCHMIDT, easy. This one doesn't seem like much of a contest. He's an all-category contributor. If Price were in here, we would have had something to

Mostly MLB Notes: Albert Pujols’ decline, Carlos Santana’s emergence and examining David Price

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

We held a mid-season draft Monday, and I ended up taking Albert Pujols with the 19th pick. Judging by Yahoo’s updated rest of season rankings, I guess this could be considered something of a reach. I’m not necessarily going to argue against that, but it’s remarkable someone who was a unanimous top-three pick last year and was generally considered a top-10 pick this year is now a

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

Chris Davis hits 11th homer as O's beat Twins - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis tallied his 11th home run of the year Sunday as the Orioles topped the Twins 6-0.

Shuffle Up: Carlos Gomez, the real deal

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

When it comes to fake baseball, the outfield is where the fun is. The first couple of rounds will always include some of these stat-grabbing giants, and yet the waiver wire in an average mixer consistently offers something for the discerning shopper. Add it all up and there's a lot to digest.

The prices you see in this piece are roughly how I rank the roto-eligible outfielders going forward. What we've seen to this point is merely an audition; if you want a list of the top players to this point, there are plenty of places you can access that.

Don't obsess over the prices in a vacuum: what really matters is how the players relate to one another. Assume a 5x5 scoring format, as always, and players at the same price

Shuffle Up: Carlos Gomez, the read deal

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

When it comes to fake baseball, the outfield is where the fun is. The first couple of rounds will always include some of these stat-grabbing giants, and yet the waiver wire in an average mixer consistently offers something for the discerning shopper. Add it all up and there's a lot to digest.

The prices you see in this piece are roughly how I rank the roto-eligible outfielders going forward. What we've seen to this point is merely an audition; if you want a list of the top players to this point, there are plenty of places you can access that.

Don't obsess over the prices in a vacuum: what really matters is how the players relate to one another. Assume a 5x5 scoring format, as always, and players at the same price

Fantasy baseball Stat Focus: Davis' ISO explains hot start

Source: SI.com

Chris Davis' hot start this year -- he belted four homers and drove in 17 runs in the season's first week -- shouldn't have come as a huge surprise. It's difficult to predict any player having four home runs and 17 RBIs in a six-game span, but Davis proved his power bona fides a year ago. Still, Davis quickly became a sell-high candidate, especially after hitting two more homers the next week and one more in the third week of the season.

Chris Davis (knee) returns to lineup Sunday - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis (knee) is back in the Orioles' lineup Sunday.

Chris Davis (knee) hopes to play on Tuesday - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis (knee) said he hopes to be back in the Orioles' lineup on Tuesday.

Chris Davis (knee) expected to avoid the DL - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis (knee) is expected to avoid the DL.

Chris Davis: Awaiting MRI Results

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Chris Davis: The Orioles have not revealed the results of Davis' Saturday morning MRI, MASN Sports reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Roto Roundup: Hanley Ramirez, Aroldis Chapman, Chris Davis, and Others

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

I just want to remind everyone that you can post any fantasy questions here in the comments section of the Roto Roundup, so feel free to ask as many questions as you would like.

I get the MLB Extra Innings package via Comcast Cable and for some reason last night, they did not show the Dodgers-Giants game. This happens from time to time, but could they have picked another day, like when Clayton Kershaw wasn't pitching?

Carlos Martinez makes his major league debut

The

Chris Davis to undergo MRI on right knee - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis will undergo an MRI on his right knee on Saturday.

Chris Davis: Knee Injury

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Chris Davis: Davis left Friday night's game against the Angels with an apparent right knee injury, the Angels' broadcast reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Chris Davis leaves game with knee injury - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis was removed from Friday's game against the Angels in the fifth inning with an right knee injury.

Chris Davis leaves game with apparent injury - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis was removed from Friday's game against the Angels in the fifth inning with an apparent injury.

Chris B. Davis Is The Center Square On The Sell High Bunch

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

Here’s Chris Davis‘s ceiling.  And here’s where he’s playing right now:  take your jigsaw, saw out a hole in your ceiling, put a ladder through the hole, climb to the roof, grab onto the tree branch to your right, monkey-climb up to the top and wait twenty seconds.  Okay, now grab onto that passing stork and sit in his mouth for five minutes.  Go ahead, you can check your phone while you’re in there, it won’t bother Storkie.  Now if Storkie has closed his mouth, open it.  Otherwise, just look up… See that basket with Bill James waving down?  In that basket, just offscreen is Chris Davis.  That’s how far he’s playing above his head.  Right now, everything he’s hitting is falling in or

Mostly MLB Notes: Buying Matt Cain and examining what’s wrong with Eric Hosmer

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

Matt Cain entered this season having allowed 129 homers over 1,536.2 innings (0.76 HR/9). This year, he’s already served up nine home runs over 34.2 innings. Put differently, he’s allowed the same amount of long balls this month as he did all of the 2011 season, which spanned 221.2 innings. Cain has never had a season in which his HR/FB% was higher than 8.4. That number currently sits at 19.1% in 2013. While some could view this as regression hitting hard, Cain’s previous sample was too big to be written off as a fluke, and it’s worth pointing out just two of his six starts this year have come at home. Cain’s fastball velocity is down slightly in the early going (about 0.5 mph less compared to last

The Razzball Podcast — The One Where We Hit On Some Hitters (Non-Sexually; Except For Rudy With Bryce Harper)

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

Rudy loves him some Bryce Harper, but don't we all (now)? The question on March 20th from Brandon Funston was, "(You picked) Bryce Harper, Round 1, Pick 13 … That's about 20 picks higher than the brilliant (sic) minds that compose the Yahoo! ADP. Would you please tell our constituents why they are selling Boy Wonder short? What is a realistic best-case roto line for Harper in '13?" Besides Harper, our team in F&F looks putrid right now, so there's that. So There's That, Part II: There's More; Our ERA is at a one and WHIP is at a one due to Marmol and Axford crapping the bed, then asking us to sleep in said bed, but we own Verlander, so we should get better. In the podcast, Rudy goes over where he'd draft Harper now if he had

Is It Time to Panic?

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

 

I get questions all day from folks. Many of them come from people who are panicked about the struggling the players they own, while some come from folks who overestimate the value of the players on their roster leading them to think they’ve got the championship in the bags. In the following piece I’ll give my thoughts on a series of players and let you know whether you should be buying or selling in the fantasy baseball game.

I’M NOT WORRIED – BUY

Shuffle Up: Michael Cuddyer gets his groove back

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Today's ranking assignment takes us down on the corner, the first basemen and the third basemen. Settle in, settlers.

What you'll see below are prices for most of the Yahoo-eligible cornermen going forward. There are a few rules here: if you're in the minors or on the DL, you don't make this list. Too variable in worth, league to league. If you're catcher-eligible, you don't make the list – everyone's probably going to use you at catcher anyway. Don't obsess over the actual dollar amounts – what matters is how the players relate to one another. When players are at the same number, they're considered even.

The games to this point are merely an audition. We're trying to figure out who's worth the

Draft Day Challenge, April 16

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Daily baseball is all the rage in the fantasy sports world, so I will be covering the game a couple of times a week here at BaseballGuys.com. To that end, I’ve partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, every week, I’ll be giving you some insight into the mind

Mostly MLB Notes: The Matt Harvey Show

Source: Roto Arcade by Dalton Del Don

I’m not sure what more can be said about Matt Harvey at this point, but I’ll go ahead and continue to pile on the praise. The guy has allowed six hits over 22.0 innings this season. Six! Thanks to a 0.82 ERA and a decent 0.55 WHIP, he’s been the No. 1 ranked fantasy player so far. Harvey’s control still isn’t great, as he’s walked multiple batters in all three of his outings (and he had a 3.93 BB/9 rate across Triple-A and with the Mets last year), but his stuff is among the nastiest in the league already. Harvey’s average fastball velocity (94.3 mph) has been the fourth-highest among all starters this season, while his slider (88.6 mph) has easily been the fastest (next highest is Madison

The Fantasy Freak Show Podcast: Decoding Davis, believing in Brett and Billy Butler BBQ

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

To the dedicated fantasy player, it would seem Chris Davis was a thirty-something fighting to make his mark as a respected power-hitter. He's been hyped and re-hyped by pundits since he dropped 17 bombs in 295 at-bats as a rookie with the Rangers in 2008. But in reality, he's a 27-year-old who's just now entering his prime. Still, despite his roaring start, many fanatics remain skeptical about this long-term capabilities.

On this week's educational program, Brad Evans and Dalton Del Don decided whether owners should turn a profit or exercise patience with Davis. Our fearless forecasters also touched on Darren

Freak Show Friday: Should Chris Davis owners turn a profit? Find out at 8 PM ET, 5 PM PT

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

To the dedicated fantasy player, it would seem Chris Davis was a thirty-something fighting to make his mark as a respected power-hitter. He's been hyped and re-hyped by pundits since he dropped 17 bombs in 295 at-bats as a rookie with the Rangers in 2008. But in reality, he's a 27-year-old who's just now entering his prime. Still, despite his roaring start, many fanatics remain skeptical about this long-term capabilities.

On this week's educational program, Brad Evans and Dalton Del Don will decide whether owners should turn a profit or exercise patience with Davis. Our fearless forecasters will also touch on Darren McFadden's possible redemption this fall, Justin Upton's

Over/Under: Is this the year Fowler finally keeps pace?

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 10 intriguing over/unders.

Dexter Fowler, out to a scorching start launching four homers in just under 40 at-bats, combined HRs/SBs on season 37.5

Scott – I have a handful of Fowler shares this year, so my heart wants to push this number up. But UNDER is the logical call; I don't want to bet on the come when it's not warranted. Road games are generally an issue for the Rockies (the ball simply doesn't break as much in the mile-high air), and Fowler's never learned the craft of base stealing (a shame given his raw

The Sky is Falling

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

A hypochondriac is someone who is obsessed by the idea that they have an illness of some kind when, most of the time, there is no actual condition to be concerned with. I bring that up because in the world of fantasy baseball it seems like there is an epidemic of hypochondria akin to the zombie apocalypse that is portrayed in the television show The Walking Dead. People are freaking out. I’m talking, losing their minds type of situations.

The world is ending.
Life is

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

Instant Overreactions: A look at extreme outliers in the young baseball season

Source: Fake Teams by Kenneth Arthur

The baseball season is now one week long. I preached patience last week, and I can't stress that enough, but that gets harder to do with every passing day. A pitcher has two bad starts to open the year and now you have to wait four or five whole days to see if he will rectify that. And then what if his third start is bad? You're already in the hole in your league!

Then again, Chris Davis has more RBI than all of the Astros. Literally. So he's the MVP right?

The season is long... *looks suspiciously around room* a little too long... But that doesn't mean we can't start looking around for some extreme outliers after one week

Fantasy Beat – End One Fantasy Season, Begin Another!

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Chris Davis' or find free 'chris davis' pictures via Wylio" href="http://www.wylio.com/credits/flickr/8623570654">
For all of you fantasy basketball players, Justin and Trevor talk about players that you can still find on your waiver wire who can help you win your fantasy basketball league. The guys also recap the first week of the 2013 MLB season and talked about which players came up huge. The guys make some serious predictions.

NBA: Carl Laundry, Derrick Favors, Kyle O’Quinn

MLB:

Week That Was: Dexter Killing It in 2013

Source: Rotoworld Baseball Articles

Dexter Fowler and Chris Davis showing early season greatness and a quick review of 42 highlight the first Week That Was of 2013.

Week That Was: Dexter Killing It in 2103

Source: Rotoworld Baseball Articles

Dexter Fowler and Chris Davis showing early season greatness and a quick review of 42 highlight the first Week That Was of 2103.

Friday I’m in Love with Yu

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

We have almost a week of baseball in the books and Yu Darvish's Marvishlous 14 K 1-hitter and Chris Davis' power surge have been early standouts. Don't own either? That's a shame. Feel like quitting? Not yet, Razzball Nation, I am here to help. You may remember me, Dan, or my alter ego Blairtch, from such fantasy Friday roundups as Mike Trout Saved My Season, But Jewel Saved My Soul and Harper: Better, Faster, Stronger, and my popular online fantasy advice guide, Quit Losing Already, You Loser! I will be recapping Friday nights in fantasy baseball, providing plenty of references to The Cure and

Moore Money Moore Problems and MLB Updates

Source: Legion Report by Legion Report

  Carlos Marmol – Almost blew his 2nd save of the season on Thursday, putting the winning run on with no outs before escaping. Look for this inconsistency from Marmol to give way to Kyuji Fujikawa – Chicago’s Closer in waiting. Kyuji Fujikawa – See above – Pick him up. Chris Davis/Mike Morse/Justin Upton/Robinson Cano -  Sticking to [...]

Chris Davis hits grand slam in Orioles' win - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to break a 5-5 tie and push the Orioles past the Twins on Friday.

Fantasy Baseball Points League — Street Fighter 2 Edition: Chris Davis Unleashes Shoryuuuuken

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

Greetings all! Tis I, Tehol Beddict, ready and willing to service you in any way you desire, though the main goal here is to help you with fantasy baseball. I am a man who has worn many a hat. You may know me as the fantasy football guru who dominated the Razzball writers league, or as the fantasy basketball writer who was almost gang raped by she males in Bora Bora, or possibly even seen my man-kini photo spreads in countless magazines and websites throughout the years. It is a pleasure to serve you and it's a privilege to write for the greatest fantasy sports website known to man. Let's jump into the post as I'm going in and out of consciousness due to the fact I've been starving myself in preparing for an audition at

Roto Roundup: Jose Valverde, Chris Davis, Andy Pettitte and Others

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

My apologies for not posting the Roto Roundup on Thursday. I had an online auction that went from 8pm-midnight, and was pretty beat afterward. This one will be a short one as I have to catch a train to NYC this morning, as I have one of my NL-only auction drafts in NYC this evening.

Anyway, the big news from Thursday was the Tigers signing their former closer Jose Valverde to a minor league deal. I assume once he is ready, he will be closing for the Tigers, but that bullpen is a mess right now. Phil Coke blew a save on Wednesday, and

Baseball Daily Dose: Man On Fire

Source: Rotoworld Baseball Articles

Nate Grimm takes a look around the league at Chris Davis' scorching start, Mariano Rivera's return to the mound and more in Friday's Daily Dose.

Chris Davis: Huge Start To the Season

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Chris Davis: Davis homered for the third time in as many games Thursday and also had a two-run double, giving him four RBI in the game and 11 in the three-game series against the Rays. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Davis stays hot with four-RBI day vs. Rays - Chris Davis | BAL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Chris Davis continued his assault on the Rays' pitching staff Thursday, hitting a two-RBI double and a two-run homer in the win.

Shuffle Up: Choose your sophomore, Mike Trout vs. Bryce Harper

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The outfield is the fun place to go shopping in fantasy baseball. Power, sure, you'll find it here. Plenty of guys run. A few players do everything. And the two most exciting young position players in the game happen to reside here, too. Everyone likes picking out their outfield.

The goal today is to rank all the mixed-league worthy outfielders going forward in 5x5 fantasy value, 2013 only. Don't read too much into the dollar values in a vacuum - they're merely used as a tool to compare players. And when commodities share the same price, they're considered even. (Players on the DL and minor-league prospects are not eligible for ranking.)

I reserve the right to tweak this list as the day goes along,

Fantasy Baseball: Top Outfielders – 31 to 45

Source: Fantasy Baseball Dugout by BeeZee

There are still some good fantasy baseball outfielders picks in the later rounds that you can choose in your cash fantasy baseball or free fantasy baseball league. Here are the picks for those later rounds:

31. Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers

Cruz played in 159 games (previous high was 128) so his 24 HR were disappointing for him. Cruz hit under .265 (.260) for the third time in four seasons and did not reach double-digit steals for the second straight year. Cruz turns 33 in July.

32. Carlos Gomez, Milwaukee Brewers

Gomez stole 37 bases and hit 19

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

MLB Predictions: 30 haikus for the forthcoming season, AL edition

Source: Fake Teams by Kenneth Arthur

I am not claiming to be a poet.

Baltimore Orioles -

The moon rises again

Chris Davis steps up to the plate

Strike three, you are out

Boston Red Sox -

"Give them money," he said

It changes to "Get rid of them!"

Contender again

New York Yankees -

"Give them money!" he said

"More money! More money!" continued

Too big too fail, perhaps

Player Profile: Albert Pujols

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

Albert Pujols will be in the Hall of Fame one day. He is one of the most consistently excellent hitters that that the game has ever seen (only

Fantasy Baseball 2013: Outfield Primer

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

Last season, the players who ranked first, second, fourth and sixth in terms of overall fantasy value were all outfielders. This spot gave us one player who went 30/40 in home runs and stolen bases (Mike Trout), and another who went 40/30 (Ryan Braun). Seven different outfielders gave us 20/20 seasons. Thirty-seven outfielders finished with at least 35 homers-plus-steals.

Simply put, this position is a smorgasbord of stats. Among the outfielders, you'll find several of our game's most useful multi-category contributors — guys like Trout, Braun, Kemp, McCutchen, Heyward, Harper, both Uptons and both Car-Gos. You'll also find a collection of high-quality category specialists in the outfield — burners like Ben Revere and

Pressing Questions: The Baltimore Orioles

Source: Roto Arcade by Andy Behrens

If we would have told you last spring that Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold and Brian Roberts were going to combine for only 553 at-bats in 2012, then you probably would have assumed the Orioles were in for a lousy season.

Of course it's possible you would have predicted a lousy season for the Os under any circumstances, no matter how that trio performed. On paper, Baltimore looked ... well, lousy.

Yet the 2012 Orioles somehow managed to win 93 games, despite only scoring seven more runs than they allowed. Deep into September, the team actually had a

2013 Rankings: Outfielders

Source: Fantasy Baseball 365

You can find a bit of everything in the outfield. There are players who contribute across the board, and others who make waves in single categories. There are established veterans with lengthy track records, and young players on the cusp of becoming superstars. Oh, and the position is also home to two players who are going one and two overall in many fantasy drafts.

Rank First Name Last

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