Draft Day Challenge, May 16

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

 

BaseballGuys.com has 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 every week, I’ll share some insight into a few of the better

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

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

Tulo slugs eighth homer, Rox rout Cardinals - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki belted his eighth home run of 2013 to help the Rockies beat the Cardinals 8-2 on Sunday.

Tulo slugs eighth homer as Rox rout Cardinals - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki belted his eighth home run of 2013 to help the Rockies beat the Cardinals 8-2 on Sunday.

Tulowitzki back in Rockies lineup on Thursday - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (leg) is in the Rockies' starting lineup on Thursday afternoon against the Yankees.

Troy Tulowitzki: Starting Thursday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki (leg) is in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Yankees. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Troy Tulowitzki sitting out again Wednesday - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (leg) is not in the Rockies' lineup again Wednesday.

Troy Tulowitzki: (Leg) Gets Another Day of Rest

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki (leg) will sit out for precautionary reasons Wednesday against the Yankees, the Denver Post reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Troy Tulowitzki: Lingering Leg Issue

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki will be available as a pinch hitter for Tuesday's game against the Yankees, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. He is currently dealing with a leg issue, which is thought to have occurred during last Wednesday's game. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Troy Tulowitzki sitting Tuesday vs. Yankees - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (leg) is not in the Rockies' starting lineup on Tuesday night against the Yankees.

Tulowitzki out Friday due to 'heavy legs' - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki is out of Friday's lineup against the Rays due to heavy legs.

Troy Tulowitzki: (Leg) Gets Precautionary Rest Friday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki is not in the lineup Friday against the Rays, MLB.com's Thomas Harding reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) returns to lineup - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) is back in the Rockies' lineup on Wednesday.

Troy Tulowitzki: (Shoulder) Makes Return Wednesday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki (shoulder) is back in the lineup Wednesday against the Dodgers and batting cleanup. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) sitting out again - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) is not in the Rockies' lineup Tuesday for the second straight game.

Tulowitzki (shoulder) could return Tuesday - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki will field grounders and could take batting practice on Monday if his left shoulder feels good.

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) sitting out Monday - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) is not in the Rockies' lineup Monday.

Troy Tulowitzki: (Shoulder) Expected To Miss 1-2 Games

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki is likely to only miss a day or two after straining his left rotator cuff in Sunday's game, the Denver Post reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Tulowitzki (shoulder) only out a game or two - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (shoulder) is only expected to miss a game or two.

Troy Tulowitzki injures left shoulder; leaves game

Source: Fake Teams by Ray Guilfoyle

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki injured his shoulder after sliding into home plate in Sunday's game vs the Diamondbacks. The severity of the injury is unknown at this point, and he will be reevaluated by team doctor's on Monday.

Here is more from Troy Renck from the Denver Post:

Troy Tulowitzki, off to the best start of his career, hit a roadblock Sunday on an

Tulowitzki leaves games with shoulder strain - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki left Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks with a left shoulder strain.

Troy Tulowitzki: Exits Game With Shoulder Injury

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki appeared to injure his right shoulder after sliding into home plate Sunday and was removed from the game after the first inning, the Denver Post reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

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

Tulowitzki (elbow) in Rockies' lineup Thurs. - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

Troy Tulowitzki (elbow) is in the Rockies' starting lineup on Thursday afternoon against the Mets.

Troy Tulowitzki: (Elbow) Starting Thursday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki (elbow) is in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Mets, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

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

Troy Tulowitzki: Gets Day Off Sunday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki is not in the lineup Sunday against the Padres. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Fantasy Baseball: Early Returns

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

The 2013 baseball season is finally underway. The story of the first few days of the season is the success of starting pitchers, highlighted by the near run to perfection from Yu Darvish (more on that below). However, that doesn’t mean it’s only been about pitching, there are still some offensive moments of note, so I’ll

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 2013: The Love List

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

The snarky comments will have to wait for another day. The red pens won't come out of the desk drawer today. It's time to get shiny, happy and target-driven on blog, unveiling a handful of players we can't wait to point-and-click on. Make sure you've got these guys queued up.

The 2013 Love List will keep us together. Who wants to ride shotgun?

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

In the

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

Player Profile: Josh Rutledge

Source: Baseball Guys by Ray Flowers

When is 277 at-bats enough to determine the value of a player? If you have followed my work for any appreciable amount of time you will know that I’m a big fan of sample sizes. By that I mean we need to have enough data at our fingertips to be able to adequately assess a player’s outlook. For me, 277 at-bats, a half season of work, isn’t nearly enough to paint a fully developed picture of what is going on with a player. For others though it seems like 277 at-bats is plenty.

First things first

Source: Fake Teams by Daniel Kelley

If you're like me, you're hearing a lot about first base being a deep position this year. If you're like me, you also need to watch less TV and lose 30 pounds, but those points are less germane to the rest of this piece, so let's stick with the thing about first base.

In theory, this means that you can hold off on first basemen, grab a lower-tier guy like Freddie Freeman or Anthony Rizzo, and focus your early-draft attentions on Troy Tulowitzki, Dustin

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

Cardinals have not called Rockies about Tulo - Troy Tulowitzki | COL

Source: Rotoworld Baseball

According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Cardinals "have not called the Rockies" about Troy Tulowitzki.

Fantasy baseball 2013 team previews: Colorado Rockies

Source: SI.com

Last season may have been an ugly one in Denver, but if I had to bet on one team to pull off an Orioles- or A's-style unexpected run to the playoffs in 2013, my money is on the Rockies (and since I'll be in Vegas a week before the baseball season starts, that might not be just a figure of speech). They have two studs in Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, both do-it-all offensive players -- Dexter Fowler gives them speed and on-base skills at the top of the order, and Michael Cuddyer, Wilin Rosario and Tyler Colvin provide power through the middle. Quietly, this has the potential to be one of the better offenses in the entire National League.

Troy Tulowitzki: (Groin) Will Play Saturday

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki (groin) will play in Saturday's spring training opener, the Denver Post reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

Tip Drill: Mythbusting with Jose Bautista

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

You might like Jose Bautista for his home-run bat, his attack mentality at the plate, or his cool sunglasses.

Me, I dig the guy because he's a one-man wrecking crew when it comes to Fantasy Myth Busting. Heck, the first three bullet points in this article will come straight from the Joey Bats file.

If you've played fantasy baseball for even a modest amount of time, you've surely come across scores of rules and tips. Some are wise and useful, while others fall under the fortune-cookie logic umbrella. And we'll never stop searching for the wisdom to tell the difference.

Settle in, settler, and let's offer up some well-regarded fantasy concepts that need to be re-examined, if not thrown into

Seventh-Inning Stretch: Bryce Harper’s weigh-in; Corey Hart whistles optimistic tune

Source: Roto Arcade by Scott Pianowski

Today's collection of February nuggets is brought to you by the Letter H. Settle in, settlers.

Mike Trout and Bryce Harper might wind up being linked for their entire careers; at least we all should be hoping for that. A Magic-Bird type of run, shaped for the diamond, would be a blast to watch.

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

With that general theme in mind, let's take a second and note the physical similarity to the players entering their post-ROY seasons. We've

Troy Tulowitzki: Expected to Play in Spring Training Opener

Source: RotoWire.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki: Tulowitzki (groin) is expected to play in Saturday's spring training opener, the Denver Post reports. Visit RotoWire.com for more analysis on this update.

2013 Colorado Rockies projected lineup: A chance for Josh Rutledge to really break out

Source: Fake Teams by Kenneth Arthur

It was a relatively young Rockies team that went to the World Series in 2007, and possibly an even younger and more talented team that won a franchise-high 92 games in 2009. Troy Tulowitzki, a leader then at age 24, plus Chris Iannetta, Ian Stewart, Seth Smith, Dexter Fowler,

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

Over/Under: Cespedes or Harper? Is that a clown question, bro?

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.

East Coast versus West Coast. Who finishes with more combined HRs/SBs: Bryce Harper or Yoenis Cespedes?

Brandon – CESPEDES. There's a lot to like about Cespedes' second half of '12, one in which he beat out Harper 24-22 in the HR+SB comparison.

Brad – CESPEDES. Everyone assumes Harper will launch into the stratosphere in short order, but who says Cespedes can't too? He's older, a more refined hitter and built like a Sherman tank. A .290-30-95-90-20

Fantasy Baseball 2013 Head-to-Head Points League Rankings: Shortstop

Source: Fake Teams by Alex Kantecki

On Tuesday, I released my top 20 second basemen in Head-to-Head Points leagues. Today I do the same, giving you my top 20 shortstops. (Go here for my top 20 first basemen, and here for my top 20 catchers.)

With Troy Tulowitzki out for most of 2012,

Fantasy Baseball Burning Questions: Colorado Rockies (with video)

Source: KFFL.com MLB

Do you dare go back to a big investment on Troy Tulowitzki? Anything else in Colorado besides Rosario that you're Wilin to try?

Pressing Questions: The Colorado Rockies

Source: Roto Arcade by Brad Evans

Traditional concerns cropped up for the Rockies last season, issues which quickly turned the season sour. Despite finishing well inside the top-10 in several offensive categories, including team BA, slugging and runs scored, Colorado’s dreadful pitching staff restricted its ability to win. Frankly, it was a laughing stock, generously serving up hitters grapefruit-sized pitches on a silver platter. Purple-clad hurlers combined for an awful 5.22 ERA and 1.55 WHIP (5.97, 1.60 at home). Management could’ve injected Coors Field’s dampened balls with led and it wouldn’t have mattered.

Largely devoid of pitching talent equipped to compete in such a harsh environment, the Rockies were doomed from the start. Jorge

Is this the year to own Troy Tulowitzki?

Source: KFFL.com MLB

Troy Tulowitzki's 2012 campaign was unraveled by injury. Aside from that, what's stopping him from being the clearcut No. 1 option for fantasy players at shortstop again?

Josh Rutledge: Rockies Reload

Source: Fake Teams by brad dengler

Josh Rutledge came on the scene when Troy Tulowitzki went down to injury last season. In 73 games he batted .274, hit 8 HRs, drove in 37 runners, and swiped 7 bags. Given the fact that Josh skipped AAA, and his major league career consists of half a season, it is easy to dismiss last year and ratchet down expectations for 2013. What do you say we take a closer look, though, and see if we can't find an objective reason to draft Josh a little higher than we might have, otherwise, in 2013.

Let's start with what tends to make fantasy owners fall in love with a player, and that is his

Troy Tulowitzki: Injury-Prone, Yet Still the Best

Source: Fake Teams by Paul Rice

In 2007, 2009, and 2011, Troy Tulowitzki played in 155, 151, and 143 games, respectively. In 2008, 2010, and 2012, he played in 101, 122, and 47 games, respectively. So it just stands to reason that in 2013, he'll stay healthy and break through the 140 game margin again, right? I mean, he's got the whole odd numbered year thing going.

Ok, so it's probably silly to go all in thinking Tulo has some sort of freaky Bret Saberhagen-ish on-again, off-again pattern going on, but for my money he's still the top shortstop in fantasy drafts. I say this as a man who got completely burned by him last year after spending a ton of money to get him in an auction draft (the