Josh Johnson-Not fully Recovered?

I just noticed ESPN's latest fantasy baseball rankings and, while not to much has changed since their last update, a major shocker to me was Josh Johnson. He has plummeted to number 76 amidst concerns about his recovery from a shoulder injury that cost him the last 3 weeks of his 2010 season. Many fantasy players, myself included, see Johnson as a potential Cy Young contender this year. I have searched around and failed to find anything more concrete about his current health. This is something to monitor closely in a couple of weeks when pitchers and catchers report for the opening of spring training.
Johnson had Tommy John surgery in August of 2007 and made it back to the majors in July of 2008. While he has had no issues since, it is worth noting that many pitchers have been out much longer after Tommy John surgery. While Johnson, coming off his second consecutive all star season and his first career era crown, could be a great number one fantasy starter, I would not draft him as my top starter until we know more. For any of you with extremely early fantasy drafts, you would be very smart to move Johnson down your draft board. There are just too many pitchers with less to worry about at this time. Stay tuned....................
As an update, mlb.com is reporting that Johnson is fully recovered and has already thrown a handful of bullpen sessions in Florida. However, I think fantasy owners may still want to monitor JJ closely. There is no doubt that this guy is as talented as any pitcher in baseball but he has to throw 200 innings in a season before I can put him in the category of elite. You can check out more from mlb.com here.

Troy Tulowitzki-2011 Fantasy Preview

Troy Tulowitzki is a very hot commodity heading into the 2011 season. The show that he put on last September was nothing short of amazing and fantasy owners are salivating over the numbers that he could put up over the coarse of a full healthy season. However, over the coarse of his career, Tulo has really struggled to stay healthy. In four full seasons at the Major League level he has only exceeded 150 games played twice. There is certainly a major risk reward with this near unanimous first rounder. The risk is, you only get around 350 abs from your number one pick and, with no depth at shortstop, you have no way of replacing him. The reward is also pretty clear, if you get 600 abs from Tulowitki, you have a good chance of having the best player in baseball. While he will likely never put up numbers like he did last September again, he is just entering his prime and still has room to grow into an even better all around player.
Click here for my projections

Ryan Braun-2011 Fantasy Preview

Entering last year, Ryan Braun looked to be on the verge of becoming a challenger to Albert Pujols status as the best hitter in fantasy baseball. After three superb seasons, to start his career, he was almost a unanimous top 5 pick in drafts. However, Braun hit a bump in the road in 2010. Struggling with consistency all year, he went through some long slumps and finished with the most disappointing line of his young career. However, he enters the 2011 season at the magical fantasy age of 27. So, what should fantasy baseball owners expect from this elite talent?
Click here for my full break down

Hanley Ramirez-2011 Season Preview

A near unanimous 2nd pick in last year's fantasy drafts, Hanley Ramirez

disappointed his fantasy owners a bit last year. While he struggled at times and battled a few injuries his final line really was nothing to complain about. However, when you draft a guy at number 2 and he struggles to finish in the top 30 that can hurt your chances. While 2010 saw Miguel Cabrera pass him for the second spot in my overall rankings and also saw Troy Tulowitzki push him atop his position rankings, I certainly don't believe that fantasy baseball owners should drop Hanley too far after one slightly down season.

Full preview with 2011 projections

Draft Day Decision SS (Elvis Andrus vs Starlin Castro)

Elvis Andrus is a young shortstop with a lot of upside who is gathering a lot of steam heading into the 2011 Fantasy Baseball Drafting Season. He has almost limitless upside in speed and looks like a player that could grow into another Jose Reyes type talent. Based upon his ADP on Mockdraftcentral.com, many fantasy owners are big believers in this future star. He is currently going number 66, which is in the middle of the 6th round for your standard 12 team league. Owners drafting Andrus are hoping that he continues to mature and leads the second tier of fantasy shortstops in 2011.
Starlin Castro is another young shortstop with superstar upside. With just half a season under his belt at the major league level, there is not much history to go off of but Castro did show that he is ready. It will likely take some time before we see just how good Castro will be but his upside is tremendous. His ADP on Mockdraftcentral is much lower than Andrus', currently 159 or early round 14 in 12 team leagues.
There is much more risk in drafting Castro than there is with Andrus. You will likely see more highs and lows with Castro. Both players have similar tools and talents but experience at the major league level is big. While Castro will likely outplay Andrus at times throughout the 2011 season, I doubt that he will be really close at the end of the year. However, that does not mean that Andrus is the better play here. Like a lot of draft day decisions, you have to look at who else is on the board at the time. Other players drafted around the 6th round on MDC include-Clayton Kershaw, Kendry Morales, and Justin Verlander. I would take any of those three along with Castro over Andrus and any other player around round 13-Ricky Romero, Johan Santana and Mike Stanton (I think Stanton will move up from this current position).


Projections-Andrus-282 avg, 5 hrs, 43 rbi, 41 sbs, 101 runs
Castro-285 avg, 7 hrs, 53 rbi, 26sbs, 78 runs

Red Sox Acquire A-Gone and Crawford

The baseball world and, for my interest, the fantasy baseball world was put on notice by the Red Sox this week. It started with a trade for Adrian Gonzalez and ended with the signing of Carl Crawford. What does that do to the fantasy value of the players involved?

Find out here

Miguel Cabrera (age 26) 2011 Fantasy Preview

After his most complete season in the majors, Miguel Cabrera finds himself in the discussion for the top pick in fantasy drafts for 2011. Even though I don't put him there just yet, I do think that it is now a matter of time before Cabrera passes Albert Pujols for the top spot in all of fantasy baseball. With the improvements that the Tigers have made this offseason, Cabrera is even more dangerous.

2011 projection

Albert Pujols, 1b Cardinals (Age 31)-2011 Preview

Once again, Albert Pujols leads the way in my 2011 rankings for first basemen and all keeper players. How much longer should fantasy owners expect Albert to be the king of baseball and what type of numbers should his owners expect from him in the upcoming season?

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