Hanley Ramirez to have MRI and more

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez could be sidelined for more than two months or maybe just two weeks because of an injured left thumb.

"They've painted both pictures, and it's a pretty big window," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Wednesday. "We're guessing."

Ramirez was hurt diving for a ball while playing third base Tuesday night in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic. He helped the Dominican Republic beat Puerto Rico 3-0.

Source: ESPN.com

Yankees GM unsure if Jeter will be ready for opening day

"The Yankees are bracing for the possibility of an Opening Day without Derek Jeter, as the captain's availability is now in doubt after an anti-inflammatory cortisone injection was administered to his left ankle on Wednesday morning.

General manager Brian Cashman said that the stiffness and soreness Jeter is experiencing with his surgically repaired ankle is not a serious setback, but Jeter may need to begin the year on the disabled list with the club's April 1 opener approaching.

"I just can't rule it out," Cashman said. "We've got to do what's right for him. Whatever is right for him, it will be right for us."

Source: MLB.com

Doubront has talent, but has adjustments to make

"Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have a World Series championship and a no-hitter on their résumés. John Lackey has started a dozen playoff games in his career, and Ryan Dempster has thrown 200 or more innings seven times in his career.

But the most talented pitcher in the Red Sox rotation may be 25-year-old lefthander Felix Doubront, whose list of accomplishments would not take long to read.

After five seasons in the minors, Doubront had short stints with the Red Sox in 2010 and ’11 before earning a place in the rotation a year ago. He was 11-10 with a 4.86 earned run average, statistics that at face value were not particularly impressive."

Source: Boston.com

MLB sets sights on A-Rod, Braun

"Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers' All-Star outfielder, knows they are out there.

Everywhere he turns, everywhere he looks, they are there.

They are talking to his friends. They are talking to his peers. They are talking to his associates. They are scouring through paperwork. They keep digging.

They are the Major League Baseball investigators."

Source: USAtoday.com

Pujols won't let sore foot slow him down

"Albert Pujols is wearing custom orthotics for the first time in his career, and he has to spend a little extra time in the training room, but those are the only concessions the Angels first baseman has made for the plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

“I’ve had it for the last seven years; is that a problem?” Pujols said of the condition, which causes inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot and can be very painful when it flares up. “It’s one of those things that comes and goes.”

Pujols has been eased into action this spring as he recovers from last October’s surgery on his right knee — he played the field for the first time Tuesday — but Manager Mike Scioscia said Pujols’ knee hasn’t been as big a concern lately as the foot."

Source: LAtimes.com

Halladay trying to regain strength

"And the mystery continues.

Roy Halladay sat at his locker Tuesday morning, fresh off eating breakfast. He looked skinny. And, considering Halladay’s last three or so days, holding down breakfast might have been a big accomplishment.

Two days earlier, Halladay ignited a storm of worry by leaving his start after just one inning of work. Both the Phillies and Halladay said it was a stomach virus.

“I feel like I’m going in the right direction,” Halladay said. “Just bad timing for a setback.”

Source: Courierpostonline.com

Bud Norris to start Astros opener

"Bud Norris has been considered a “B”-level player his entire career. A good but not great pitcher; a solid athlete who’s never been a star.

Wednesday, the former second-tier pitcher was named the Astros’ opening-day starter.

Norris, 28, will take the mound next Sunday at 7 p.m. against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park in MLB’s 2013 season-opener. The game will be televised on ESPN.

The honor fulfills a childhood dream for Norris, who’s long wanted to be able to call himself an opening-day pitcher. When Norris joined the Astros in 2009, he asked Roy Oswalt what it was like to receive the ball on one of sports’ most memorable days. Now, Norris’ name will forever be attached to the Astros’ American League debut, and he’ll pitch before family and friends on national TV."

Source: Chron.com

Giants and Posey working on mega deal

"The Giants have quietly started contract talks with the goal of locking up young superstar catcher Buster Posey to a mega-deal.

Word is, there's a decent-sized gap at this point, though not enough of a gap that the team or Posey has given up trying. Posey surely would like to be a Giant for life if at all possible, and the Giants, run by very smart and deep-pocketed people, wouldn't be opposed to such an arrangement, either, if it can be accomplished.

The question is, how long?

And of course, for how much?

These are not easy questions since Posey is a once-in-a-generation type player who's won two World Series and an MVP award , and he is just starting out."

Source: Cbssportsline.com

Top 16 Fantasy Baseball Catchers

In the past the catcher position has been the vagabond of all my fantasy teams. In an attempt to achieve optimal fantasy value from the offensively deficient position I would scour the waiver wire for the catcher with the best matchup for the upcoming week. But those days are gone. There are a lot of players who are currently being drafted outside the top five could provide top five fantasy production.

Fantasy owners in one catcher 10-12 mixed league can easily wait until the end of the draft and find fantasy goodness. If you’re in a two catcher 10-12 mixed league waiting until the end of the draft is another viable strategy, but I recommend trying to get two in the top 16 outlined below. Even though the position is deep, most of the players provide statistical silos, providing above average production in one or two categories. Some players provide a lot of pop but will struggle to provide batting average while some players will provide a lot of runs and a high batting average with no power.

1. Buster Posey, SF
2. Yadier Molina, STL
3. Wilin Rosario, COL
4. Joe Mauer, MIN
5. Matt Wieters, BAL
6. Miguel Montero, ARZ
7. Carlos Santana, CLE
8. Salvador Perez, KC
9. Jonathan Lucroy, MIL
10. Victor Martinez, DET
11. Alex Avila, DET
12. Brian McCann, ATL
13. Jesus Montero, SEA
14. A.J. Pierzynski, TEX
15. John Jaso, OAK
16. Welington Castillo, CHC

Honorable Mention: Ryan Doumit, Travis d’Arnaud, Carlos Ruiz

*If Yasmani Grandal didn’t start the year with a 50 game suspension he would have ranked eleventh overall.

Additional Information:

1. Posey is the best catcher in the game. However, he’s extremely likely to regress in 2013. For more detailed information check out Posey’s player profile.
2. What’s not to love? As Molina has matured he’s grown into power. This is evidenced by his home run totals increasing year-over-year. Don’t overlook the 6-10 steals he provides. It may not seem like a lot in the team aggregate, but it provides more flexibility with their roster construction.
3. Rosario had the quietest 28 HRs of anyone in baseball last year. Even though he’s helped greatly by Coors, his short swing will provide enough contact to hit for a solid average on the road. If he plays a full year 20 home runs is his floor.
4. With his injury concerns I don’t see Mauer spending any more than 80-90 games behind the plate, which is great. I have more confidence that he will stay healthy playing fewer games behind the plate.
5. Almost guarantee for 18+ home runs with a .255 average. Wieters’ batting average ceiling is limited because when he bats left handed he’s usually facing a shift. One of these years he’s going to have a breakout year, I just do not know when. If fantasy owners want to go the extra dollar or grab him a round early, it’s understandable.
6. Montero routinely hits fourth and fifth in the lineup, almost guaranteeing he’ll bat with runners on base. He had the fourth most plate appearances with runners on base among catchers.
7. Santana’s horrible May and June masked what could have been a better year than his 2011 campaign. He cut down on the strikeouts, which provides optimism he can return to the .260 batting average he hit in 2010. He’s a notorious slow starter, which makes a great buy low candidate in June.
8. Last year was the second year in a row Perez put up solid numbers, albeit in small sample sizes, and is still not talked about in the main stream media. I believe part of this is due to the small, team friendly five-year, $7 million contract he signed a year ago. He’s a solid contact hitter with gap power that will allow him to hit .295 and 11-14 home runs.
9. Lucroy has a really good approach at the plate; hardly swinging at pitches out of the zone. I doubt he’ll hit .320 again, but he should hit .285 with 12-15 home runs.
10. Martinez only hit 12 home runs in 2011, which is a little troubling. However, he’s expected to bat fifth, behind Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder so he’ll have a lot of run producing opportunities. Make sure he qualifies at catcher. CBS for example only counts him as a DH.
11. The fantasy darling two years ago had big drop in production last year. Perhaps the cause for Avila’s sub-par year was a troubled left knee? Avila is a great buy low candidate; if you can grab him towards the end of the draft you should.
12. In October McCann had surgery on his right shoulder, which could have dramatically impacted his offense last year. Historically he’s hit in the middle of the order, but with the recent additions to the team, he’ll likely bat sixth of seventh, reducing his RBI and run opportunities.
13. Safeco Field suppressed his fantasy output last year. Montero hit .295 on the road compared to only .227 at home. He will enter the season as the everyday catcher, which hurts his fantasy value. Usually it takes longer for catching prospects to develop their hitting because more time is allocated to preparing defensively for each individual game than any other position player.
14. Can Pierzynski repeat his 2012 numbers? Very unlikely. Even though he’s moving to a more hitter friendly ballpark, the 2012 season screams outlier. These are his home run totals since 2005: 18, 16, 14, 13, 13, 9, 8, and 27. Which number looks out place?
15. It’s only a matter of time Jaso’s career .359 OBP is batting leadoff or second for the Athletics. If he does he could score 80+ runs with a decent average.
16. I love Castillo. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits 20 home runs this year. For a more detailed analysis check out Castillo’s player profile.

The Fantasy Baseball Diary: Buster Posey

Buster Posey

Bats: R | Age: 26 | Team: Giants | Position: C | ADP: 1 (13)

Year	LVL	AGE	PA	HR	R	RBI	SB/CS	SO%	BB%	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	BABIP	HR/FB
2010	MLB	23	443	18	58	67	0/2	12.4%	6.8%	.305	.357	.505	.862	.315	16.1%
2011	MLB	24	185	4	17	21	3/0	16.2%	9.7%	.284	.368	.389	.757	.326	10.0%
2012	MLB	25	610	24	78	103	1/1	15.7%	11.3%	.336	.408	.549	.957	.368	16.8%

Can Posey repeat his 2012 MVP season?

Buster Posey's mantle already has a MVP and two World Series Rings; pretty impressive for any player, let alone someone whose only been in the big leagues for three seasons. To say anything other than he’s the best catcher in the game (fantasy or real life) would be crazy.

However, I am surprised that he has a current ADP (average draft position) of 13 at Mock Draft Central; that’s right, a catcher is being taken 13^th ahead of players like Prince Fielder, Giancarlo Stanton, Troy Tulowitzki and Clayton Kershaw. Proponents of taking Posey that high say the lack of offensive depth at the catcher position makes his production even more valuable. That’s true for the 2012 season, but as fantasy owners we’re drafting players on what they will do in 2013. All the underlying stats last year suggest a regression is coming. During the second half of the season he had a .385 batting average; there’s no way that’s going to happen again. Also, the .336 batting average was aided by an extremely high.368 BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Before 2012, his career BABIP in the big leagues was .314. For additional context, according to Fan Graphs, an average BABIP is between .290-.310.

Another reason for drafting Posey so high is the replacement level value at catcher is the lowest for any position; basically, the value a free agent provides is a lot less than a free agent outfielder. However, for the first time in a long time, the catcher slot is pretty deep.

There are 17 catchers I would be happy with on my team. For two-catcher leagues taking Posey 13^th overall would make more sense, but would still be too high because catchers get hurt and wear down more often than other position, thereby making them riskier.

Bottom line

Posey is my number one rated catcher and I have him ranked 48^th overall. Owners should draft him with the expectation of him repeating the numbers he posted the first half of 2012 .289/.362/.458 rather than the .385/.456/.646 numbers in the second half.