Looking for insights, thoughts, and opinions on potential pick-ups for the defensive position.

Mr. Erik Karlsson has been killing me as of late and I'm thinking about perhaps dumping him with a replacement. Talk me off of the ledge or please help me with suggestions.

Here are some waiver wire options that are currently out there:

Bieska

Hamhius

Tyutin

Seidenberg

Corvo

Pretty thin on the wire so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all....

I have to make a choice to choose between two of the following three goalies.

Who looks to put up the best stats for the remainder of the year?

Halak

Lehtonen

Rask

Tough choice for me as they are all pretty good in my opinion. Rask could be a sleeper in the second half as he proved himself last year. Halak and Lehtonen have both been doing fairly well this season to this point.

What to do? Somebody has to go.

Thanks...

So he's now started the majority of the last ten games? The team is tearing it up and to top it off, he's still undefeated!  Mr. Luongo is getting more than his fair share of rest.

My question here is this: For the remainder of the season, how many starts does Cory get? Worth a speculative pick up? An interesting development nonetheless.

What goalies would you put him on par with at this point?

Here's my situation...Currently, I have the following goalies:

Turco (bust so far)

Neuvirth (started well but hasn't played well in over a month and lost the starting gig).

Kipper (solid enough on a mediocre team)

Should I drop any of these guys for one of the following:

Lindback (solid rookie with Rinne out for another week or two)

Leighton (nearing return but no starting gig assured)

Nabby (he's going somewhere. Caps?)

Thanks for your thoughts and knowledge!

1. Buster Posey
2. Carlos Santana
3. Miguel Montero

These three guys should all be playing in the bigs within a couple of weeks. I don't recall a glut of good hitting catchers coming around like this anytime recently. It should be very exciting to see what these guys can do.

My question to you all is this. Who provides the most offensive for their respective team for the remainder of THIS season? This is an extremely tough choice for me and I'm looking for some help.

Thanks...

So he's off to a scorching start in AAA Columbus...A switch hitter with 4 taters in 20ab along with a .450AVG/,500OBP

Not knowing too much about his defensive skills, is there any hold up here? Marson isn't exactly blocking him on the Indians. I would love to see what this guy could do at the major league level.

This brings the obvious question to the table.

ETA?

When do you see Santana getting the call up?

Based solely on offensive output for the upcoming season, who puts up the best numbers?

It appears that all have a chance to see regular playing time at their given position but.....many factors to consider.

- Texas may have a logjam at 1B which could take away ab's from both Smoak and Davis.

- Smoak needs to have an outstanding Spring just to get into the Rangers lineup (mid-season call up?)

-  Carter...I honestly don't know enough about him but continue to hear that his power is absolutely for real.

So for 2010, who puts up the best numbers? All comments and opinions welcome.

Thanks...

Both C. Kershaw and U. Jimenez both posted a respectable 1.23 WHIP during the 2009 season.

Not having reached their potential/ceiling yet, my hope is that they will continue to improve command of their pitches.

Do you think that this is a realistic expectation for these two young studs to be? Who else would you expect to see a WHIP improvement from for the upcoming season?

Other possibilities include:

Tommy Hanson

Ricky Nolasco

Brett Anderson

? ? ? ? ?

Texas is still in the hunt...will this move help them to surpass the Red Sox for the wild card?

It sounds as if Chris Davis will take over at first base for the majority of the remaining games. Hank Blalock just wasn't getting it done and has been relegated to a bench player for the stretch run.

Since being demoted to AAA, Davis hit quite well and changed his batting stance in order to see the ball better.

Can we expect anything better than what we saw before his demotion? The team is playing well and it would be nice to see him contribute down the stretch.

Trevor Cahill during the last month:

2.65 ERA

1.12 WHIP

He hasn't given up more than 3 earned runs during his last six starts.

It looks as if he is getting better as the season rolls along. One thing I don't know is his ground ball % on balls in play. Has that improved? It would also be nice if he could raise his K/9 rate a bit but I'm thinking that will come in time.

He's certainly one to watch as we approach the second half of the season...

Before long, all of these guys should make their respective teams starting rotations. Given the following fantasy stats. W-IP-K-ERA-WHIP, which of the following rookie pitchers do you like the most for the upcoming fantasy season?

Who makes the biggest fantasy impact?

Brett Anderson

Trevor Cahill

Tommy Hanson

Jordan Zimmerman

James McDonald

Other.......

Please feel free to pass along any thoughts, opinions, or other ponderings that may have led you to your decision.

Thanks guys...

It looks like Nelson Cruz will finally get his chance to be an everyday outfielder for the Texas Rangers this year. At age 28, what can we expect? Will he bat in a productive place in the batting order? Can he hit 30 HR and maintain a solid batting average?

Is it worth mentioning that he has played a ton of ball over the past year to include:

AAA

MLB

Winter ball

WBC

Spring training

Will this wear him down over the course of the year or can he sustain his hot bat for the forseeable future?

What kind of numbers do we see him producing this year and in what place will he bat in the order? I like this guy a ton and hope he does well.

All comments welcome....

I was wondering what the opening day rotation is going to look like.

Here's my guess so far:

1) Justin Duchscherer (elbow injury, cortisone shot)

2) Dana Eveland

3) Sean Gallagher

4) Dallas Braden

5)

A) Gio Gonzalez

B) B.Anderson

C) Trevor Cahil

D) J. Simmons

My question is whether or not Anderson and/or Cahill can crack this rotation right from game one. These guys both have the potential to stick solidly in the rotation once there.

What is your opinion???

Which prospect do you think will be playing for their MLB team on opening day this season? Who makes an immediate impact and has the best chance to stay with their team for the season right from day one?

Here's my pick:

Tommy Hanson

MVP of the Arizona Fall League

7 starts, 5-0 record, 0.63 ERA...we know the kid has good stuff.

He hasn't pitched above AA but GM Frank Wren admits he will be given a chance to crack the ATL rotation this spring.

Who do you like to do big things this year and please give your reasons.

Clayton Kershaw

So what kind of reasonable numbers do we expect from this young stud in the making for the upcoming season?

Last year when he hit the bigs, he had his ups and downs (to be expected).

His strikeout rate was fine. My concern is that his WHIP was up (1.50) considerably from when in the minors (0.95?). What was this a product of?

Does he in fact have a rotation spot all locked up at this point?

He's got to be there right with the best of the second year starters, right?

Any insights or thoughts greatly appreciated.

Nelson Cruz is up and it sounds like he'll be there for the remainder of the year as rosters expand soon. I believe he will get a good look this time around in order to give Texas a better idea of what he can do at the major league level. Big time power potential with some speed to go with it!

OK, he flopped with his call up last year. Why?

Any predictions here? Any major flaws that may be exposed over the next five weeks for him? How do you think he will do and will he in fact play everyday?

It appears as though Scherzer is working his way back to the bigs after some time off (shoulder fatigue). He's throwing in the upper 90's again so his velocity is there.

Right now, Y. Petit has taken over Owings rotation spot (demotion to Tucson).

If Scherzer is once again healthy, does he get a rotation spot with the D'Backs or will he be placed in the bullpen? It would be fun to see him as a starter again, but it seems the D'Backs are being extremely cautious with their prized young arm.

What do you think?

Oh boy, this has turned into a bit of a mess with the investigation now taking place.

Liriano has been absolutely lights out for the last month now. This we know. He should without question be in the Twins rotation NOW.

But an investigation pointing to arbitration issues? I'm not so sure this is the right way to get back to the bigs.

It is my undestanding that he would earn more money next year by being up on the Twins now so I think I see this part of the point. But are he/Genske (agent) taking a risk here?

Will the Twins tire of this and potentially put him out there for a trade? It sure seemed like a simple promotion a week ago but now it has turned into so much more.

Any other thoughts or opinions out there as to how this will shake out?

I've been reserving judgement for some time now, but I think Kevin Kouzmanoff is ready for a breakout season.

We all know the story from last year. He got off to a horrible start but then picked it up from May on to finish strong. This year, he's starting off with a bang and I think he can keep it up all year long. If you look at his short MLB career, he's only had one bad month. His minor league numbers suggest that he will hit for average along with decent power (25+hr?). Of course, PETCO will keep his numbers down a little but A.Gonzalez managed to bang out 3oHR last year.

Are there any red flags here that I may be overlooking?

What do you guys think?

First off, does he need more seasoning at AAA LOU.? His overall numbers to this point are outstanding. Would playing in CIN hurt him at all?
Secondly, Dusty Baker could potentially botch this one up by bringing in Lofton or Patterson (God forbid). I have a bad feeling about this one with Baker at the helm...

So, do we see Bruce getting regular ab's from the onset with the Reds? Disclaimer: I know this topic has been brought up recently. I'm just attempting to figure out if he's going to get enough ab's to be fantasy worthy in o8'.

Age:24

2006:
W12 L3
121IP
89H
32BB
144K (WOW)
2.16 ERA
1.00 WHIP
-------------------------------------------------
These numbers make Lincecum jeolous! Not many pitchers (if any) were better during that same time frame.
He had TJ surgery in November of 2006. Since then, his rehab has been on track. He's been throwing full-speed bullpen sessions (w/o live hitters) and is expected to be ready for spring training.
So, what can we expect from him? Do we have any aces that have come back successfully after TJ surgery? What does the past tell us here?
I am really hoping for the best here for him but have to be realistic.
Thougts? Projections?

Right now, it "appears" to look like this:

1.Blanton
2.Harden
3.Gaudin
4.Duchscherer
5.DiNardo

That being said, many moves (possibly more) have been made this off-season that will probably have things looking quite different by Opening Day. A stockpile of young arms now looks to infiltrate and replace at least a couple of the rotation spots (De Los Santos, Gio Gonzalez & more).

What do you think is a reasonable guess as to what the rotation will actually look like?

"Yo" last year reached the big leagues quickly and fit into a starters role rather nicely. He showed good poise on the mound and was rarely lit up. Not a true power pitcher but has good stuff and knows when to throw it.
Good all-around #'s with a seemingly great future ahead of him. For my money, he was the best rookie pitcher of the year.

My question is who (if anyone) can accomplish this in 08'?
Of course there are plently of possibilities out there but you need to be given the chance. What team(s) is/are willing to let a young talent step into the rotation? And which pitcher(s) can have pressure on them and get away with a day when they may not have their best stuff?

Thoughts & opinions appreciated....

How about giving this guy a fair shot right now? What's not to like about him? LA could sure use a power bat right now and he's been absolutely tearing it up in Vegas.
With Betemit now gone, he deserves a fair shot at the 3B spot. Nomar is ok but is not the answer here. This could be the big bat that gives the Dodgers the edge in the division.

What do you guys think? Am I missing something here?

Up to date stats after last nights dominating performance: 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA, 34 H, 76/18 K/BB in 54 2/3 IP

Are the Brew-Crew just waiting for a starter to go on the DL here? It sure looks as if this guy is ready to make an immediate impact when called up.

Am I missing something here or is he on the fringe as was Lincecum?

It seems Lind now has a starting job with the Jays. So what do we project here? According to John, his bat is for real and he can hit for power. Any downside here? Reed Johnson looks to be out for awhile so here is his chance to stick with the club.
Chris Young has played spraringly so far with an injury early on. Now that Quentin is back, his playing time may be cut.

Who looks better for 07'?

Thanks fellas.....

My question here is if Jason will get enough AB's to make himself a regular in the Twins lineup.
Right now, he's going to be a platoon DH.
R.White getting hurt could give him additional AB's.
His knees appear to be healthy and he has decent plate discipline.
So what do you say Ron? Will he be a regular this year from day one or does he have to work his way into the position via injuries?

Your thoughts.....???

Two fine young players currently slotted to play 3B for the Royals.
With Teahen healthy after his surgery, I look for him to pick back up where he left off in 06'. The question is at what position. Will he be pushed to the OF right from day one?
It looks to me like Gordon is ready (3B) but I am hearing that he may be sent down to AAA for a short time. Why? It looks like he could put up decent #'s and they certainly could use another bat in the line-up.
Where do you think these players will end up starting the season?

Ryan Braun

After putting up some good all-around numbers in A/AA last year, I'm wondering if he's got a shot at making it into Brew-Crew line-up in 07'.

As a 3B, it appears as though he could really add some punch to the order in Mil. They could use another young player without the health risk that Koskie has.

What do you think? Is he worth a late round draft pick?

Outside of the traditional 5x5 cat., which ones do you like to use in your league? I've been running a Yahoo league for about six years now with 12-14 teams. Last year we used OBP&IP as new ones and it worked well.
Any favorites that you like to use?

Does anyone know what date the leagues open up over at Yahoo?