Join NYaT's Fantasy Baseball league

		Hey NYaT Readers, You have been invited to join NYaT's custom league in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball. In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to game front page, click the "Sign Up Now" or "Get Another Team" button and follow the links to "Join a Custom League". When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below. League ID#: 148297 Password: Mo We will send you a confirmation with further details once you have completed the registration process. Note from Andrew: We have a few spots open on the annual NYaT fantasy baseball blog league. Sign up to join and play for the ultimate blog bragging rights! --Fantasy Baseball Commissioner http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/b1

Biggest Fantasy Baseball Surprises: Outfielders, DHs and Pitchers

Yesterday we looked at the biggest fantasy baseball surprises in the infield, today we'll look at those that play the outfield, are solely utility, starting pitchers or relief pitchers. All stats and rankings courtesy of Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball. Here we go:

Utility (AKA DH)

Biggest Surprise - Vladamir Guerrero. Former Angels made popular fantasy baseball draft picks from John Lackey to Chone Figgins. But who would have thought that the best former Angel was going to be Vladamir Guerrero. He was ranked the 145th best player coming into this season and is now the second best player in baseball and looking like his MVP form of the past (as well as a sure-fire candidate to go back to Anaheim for the All-Star Game). He's hitting .339 with 29 runs, 12 HR, 42 RBI, and 4 SB.  Two points to make. One is that the weather hasn't really gotten hot so the balls are going to start jumping out even more in Texas this summer. And two, the craziest point about this whole thing is that if the Rangers had completed their trade for Mike Lowell in the off-season, Vlady may be sitting with Jermaine Dye at home still looking for work. Picture from USA Today 

Biggest Disappointment - Pat Burrell. This is pretty bad. Burrell was drafted in a fair amount of leagues for those hoping to get a bounce-back year from the Tampa DH. But he rewarded those people (and the Rays) with a .202 average, 9 runs, 2 HR and 13 RBI in 84 ABs before being released. Ouch. For a small market team such as Tampa, that's gotta hurt.

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Biggest Fantasy Baseball Surprises: Infielders

As the regular season starts to heat up so to does the fantasy baseball season. A few months removed from draft day decisions we see the errors or our ways or the fruits of our search for super sleepers. Although the fans of some of these teams would not see them as surprises, 5x5 fantasy leagues do so. Going position-by-position, let's look at the biggest fantasy surprises and disappointments so far in the season (data from Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball including the rankings), starting with the infielders

Catcher

Biggest Surprise - Miguel Olivo. He came into the year ranked as the 380th best player in baseball and right now is the top ranked catcher at 124. His .297 average with 18 runs, 8 HR, and 22 RBI have been a pleasant surprise, especially considering many didn't even know if he would be the starting catcher (and he may not be for much longer). 4 stolen bases have helped his cause even further. Amazingly, he's only owned in 67% of fantasy leagues. Honorable Mention - Rod Barajas (#380, 21 runs, 10 HR, 27 RBI) and John Buck (#933, 18 runs, 8 HR, 26 RBI). Picture from the Denver Post

Biggest Disappointment - Victor Martinez. The fact that he's the 6th best catcher is irrelevant since he was supposed to be one of the best players in baseball and was drafted likewise. So far, he's put up an extremely disappointing .258, 6 HR, 20 RBI line--which has actually an improvement from his slow start. For a guy who was picked so early in so many drafts, that's not acceptable, especially considering Martinez was picked as the second catcher in most leagues. His bruised toe suffered this week shouldn't help things much, either. Honorable Mention - Brian McCann (#34, .263, 5 HR, 18 RBI) and Matt Wieters (#105, .253, 11 runs, 4 HR, 15 RBI).

First Base

Biggest Surprise - Paul Konerko. I could have gone with a lot of names here, but Konerko has been the most surprising, even considering his recent slump. His 14 HR is tops at a position where slugging is king after he was only ranked #271 coming into the season. He's the 45th best player in baseball so far and has provided the power numbers for many fantasy teams. And his 14 HR equals of the output of Mark Teixeira and Prince Fielder--combined. Honorable Mention - James Loney (#155, .298, 29 runs, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 6 SB) and Adam LaRoche (#198, .281, 30 runs, 7 HR, 32 RBI) Picture from the Chicago Sun-Times

Biggest Disappointment - Mark Teixeira. For a guy drafted in the first or second round of every draft, these are not the stats you want to see: .210, 25 runs, 7 HR, 30 RBI. While most of the offensive stats actually match up with Albert Pujols', his average is almost 100 points lower. A notoriously slow starter, Tex has gotten off to an extra-slow start this year frustrating both his Yankee fans and his fantasy owners. Him and A-Rod have made the middle of the order quite unproductive. To put it in perspective, former Yankee Eric Hinske is ranked higher on the season than Teixeira despite having only 73 ABs. Definitely can't get worse. Honorable Mention - Derrek Lee (#52, .242, 24 runs, 6 HR, 23 RBI, 1 SB) and Carlos Pena (#85, .189, 23 runs, 8 HR, 28 RBI).

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Fantasy Baseball 2010: 3 Up and 3 Down -- hitter's edition

Here at NYaT, we talk about baseball all the time.  Mostly Yankees stuff, of course, but our focus is on the real games.  But let's not pretend that we don't play fantasy baseball.  My guess is that most of the people who read this blog play in at least one fantasy baseball league.

With that in mind, let's do a "3 Up, 3 Down" for the first month of the 2010 season.  We'll start with just the hitters today, and the pitchers will come tomorrow.  Think I missed someone?  Disagree with my list?  Add your comments below!

3 Up:

1.)  Vernon Wells


(Photo Credit: AP)
 

Despite being labeled a bust with an untradeable contract, and in spite of declining numbers in recent years, Wells has been on fire early this season.  In only 8 games, he has posted a .345/.457/.931 with 5 HR, 10 RBI, and 9 R.  Not bad for a guy who wasn't even drafted in most leagues (#227 in one of my mine).

It's unclear if he can keep this up, but if he does, the Jays might have to eat slightly less of his $126 million contract in order to move him to a contender at the deadline.

2.) Jason Heyward

(Photo Credit: AP)

There was as much hype surrounding Heyward going into the 2010 season as for anyone in recent memory.  This may have scared off some fantasy players; in one of my leagues, he wasn't picked until the 14th round, and he went undrafted in another.  But boy has he delivered on those great expectations.  Despite being just 20 years old, the rookie has hit .269/.387/.654 for an impressive OPS of 1.041.  He's also crushed 3 HR and driven in 9 runs, scoring another 5.  Incredibly, everything we have seen and heard about this guy appears to be true -- he is mature and poised and ready to carry a significant chunk of the Atlanta offense on his back.  If you picked this guy up off the FA wire, congratulations on making the steal of the year.


3.) Jose Guillen

(Photo Credit: AP)

Guillen went undrafted in most leagues.  His Yahoo O-Rank is 945 and he is owned by only 10% of teams.  Yet the controversial journeyman has gotten off to a torrid start, hitting .313/.357/.781 with 4 HR, 8 RBI, and 7 R.  He's in the last year of a 3-year, $36 million contract with the Royals (contract year, ka-ching!) and he's currently serving as their full-time DH.  I just picked him up as a FA, and if he's still available in your league, he's worth grabbing as a short term investment.  Especially if you have dead weight you can afford to shed.  Speaking of underperforming hitters...

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Three Reminders: Poll, Fantasy Baseball and NCAA Tourney Pick'em

Three reminders for you on this Tuesday night before LOST as the New York Rangers fight for their playoff lives with the Montreal Canadians.

First, we have the poll going on the right side for the best closer in New York. Right now, it's a runaway win, but there's still time to vote.

We also have a free Fantasy Baseball league with two open spots and a NCAA Tournament Pick'em League with NYaT bragging rights on the line.

Picture from the Albany Times Union

The NYaT Free Fantasy Baseball League

It's that time again friends where men (and women) across the country get ready to play fantasy baseball. Here at NYaT, we're no different and we're giving you a chance to play along in our fantasy league. It's free to join and open to the first 12 people who respond (though if the response is really large, we'll open it up to more). The winner will not only get bragging rights on the blog, but will get a special prize as well. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. Official draft time will be determined once everyone joins and votes. Please only join if you're going to maintain your team for the entire season. Here are the details to join:

You have been invited to join elgato83's custom league in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball, NYaT.

In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to game front page, click the "Sign Up Now" or "Get Another Team" button and follow the links to "Join a Custom League". When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 420619
Password: Mo