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  • Fantasy owners should be salivating if Kluber is still available in your league (USAT)

    Corey Kluber is a former fourth round pick with a career 4.42 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in the minor leagues. He posted a 5.14 ERA and 1.49 WHIP as a rookie with Cleveland last season, although that did come with a 54:18 K:BB ratio over 63.0 innings. In 2013, he’s quietly become interesting. Over his last five starts (not including one in which he lasted just two innings thanks to a rain delay), Kluber has a 2.31 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with a 32:5 K:BB ratio over 35.0 innings. While Kluber’s last start came at home against a struggling Nationals team, the other four included @Tex, @NYY, @Bos and at home against Detroit, making the stretch all the more impressive. He has a lack of pedigree and is 27 years old, but if you ignore the small sample, here’s a pitcher with a 24.6 K% and 4.6 BB% paired with an 11.0 SwStr%. In other words, those are the peripherals of a star. Seriously, take a look at the company of pitchers who are strong in these areas, and see just how favorably Kluber stacks up. (Also notice how legit Hisashi Iwakuma has been). And that’s not even factoring in his accompanying 1.45 GB/FB ratio (and his 9.1 IFFB%). Kluber’s fastball has seen an increase in velocity the last couple of years, and he now relies on a cutter more so than in the past. Systems can’t agree if his breaking pitch is a curveball or slider, but it’s been a terrific offering no matter how it’s classified. He’s held left-handers to just a .235/.286/.374 line this season, and it’s probably safe to expect his .365 BABIP versus righties to drop moving forward. I for one certainly didn’t see this coming, and again, it’s been a small sample, but Kluber is currently owned in just 20% of Yahoo leagues. Given the aforementioned peripherals, that number should be closer to 100%.

    Here’s Cuban prospect Alfredo Despaigne taking home run watching to the next level. (H/T Grant Brisbee and Carson Cistulli)

    This play was pretty cool.

    Here’s Bob Costas’ curious take on the decline of Western civilization.

    Read More »from Mostly MLB Notes: Hyping Corey Kluber, loving Giancarlo Stanton and offering an apology
  • Eric Stults, point and click (USAT)You've got your list of Tuesday errands, I've got mine. Put out the trash. Do some laundry. Round up some groceries. Pick up Eric Stults for a streaming assignment – or maybe a temp-to-perm gig. We've got a pitcher of interest in San Diego.

    Stults is currently owned in 28 percent of Yahoo! leagues and the number is rising – he's been the most-added player in Y! leagues this morning. He's posted a 3.28 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 14 starts, with six wins and 60 strikeouts. Working in the NL West is a cushy assignment if you can avoid Colorado and Arizona. Stults's average fastball barely registers on the radar gun (86.4) but he's locating well and getting positive results nonetheless.

    Stults's best work has come in Petco Park, as you might expect (2.90/0.84), but his ratios aren't terrible on the road (3.58/1.25). A Wednesday start agains the banged-up Giants in AT&T Park doesn't look too threatening.

    Improved control is telling most of the Stults story for 2013: he's only issued 17 unintentional walks over 90.2 innings, which is why we can get away with his modest strikeout rate (5.96/6). He's been lethal on lefties (.546 OPS) and passable against righties (.724). If you aren't chasing the K/9 category, this looks like someone you can audit in medium and deeper pools.

    Read More »from Closing Time: Slow times for Eric Stults; Colorado bats don’t get through customs
  • Whatever else you think of 'em, you have to agree Jets fans are photo-friendly (Getty Images)

    The Juggernaut Index is our annual preseason ranking of NFL teams for fantasy purposes. Repeat: FANTASY PURPOSES. Here, we care primarily about yards and points. We’re not forecasting wins and losses. This isn’t your standard NFL power ranking. If a team’s roster features multiple upper-tier fantasy assets, that group will rank near the top of the J.I. If instead a team features nothing but fantasy drek, you’ll find ‘em near the bottom. Make sense? Great. Really, the J.I. is just a gimmick, a way to deliver team-by-team fantasy spin.

    In the six years that I’ve been producing the Juggernaut Index for Yahoo!, there has never been a more obvious choice for No. 32. This year’s version of the New York Jets is painfully light on talent at the skill spots, and the team’s presumptive starting quarterback is kind of a walking plague. Let’s just try to get this big green [expletive] pile out of the way quickly, so we can get to the useful teams.

    The Jets will have their third offensive coordinator in as many seasons, as Marty Mornhinweg joined the coaching staff back in January. Mornhinweg will either need to resuscitate the career of Mark Sanchez — somehow turning a reckless, scattershot passer into a competent West Coast quarterback — or he’ll need to get second-round rookie Geno Smith up to speed in a hurry. Both of those tasks seem difficult.

    Read More »from Juggernaut Index, No. 32: The New York Jets
  • Annie Savoy says he's ready (USAT)

    The outfield is the fun place to do some roto shopping, with something for every budget and discerning eye. And from a sheer volume perspective, it's the most important offensive position to negotiate. Let's dig into this expansive area.

    What we're doing is ranking the players for expected 5x5 roto value the rest of the season. What's happened to this point is merely an audition. Don't worry about the prices in a vacuum; what really matters is how the commodities relate to one another on this list. Players at the same cost are considered even.

    I reserve the right to tweak this list in the first 24 hours of debut, and I'll add comments shortly. Your intelligent and respectful disagreement is most welcome, but be sure to defend your arguments. Win that debate, win that rank.

    And please remember the golden rule of Shuffle Ups: no player gains (or loses) 15-20 percent of value simply because you roster him.

    Enough preamble, game on:

    Read More »from Shuffle Up: Wil Myers finally gets the call; two Cargos rule the world
  • How involved will Ball be as a receiver? (USAT)

    There's a strong debate regarding which rookie runner should be taken first in 2013 fantasy leagues, with Montee Ball and Le'Veon Bell the leading candidates among a group that could prove highly productive right away. Dalton Del Don prefers Ball, who's in an ideal situation in Denver, whereas Brad Evans loves him some Bell, whose path to a featured role seems easier. Their cases are stated below.

    Dalton opens: Montee Ball isn’t a sure thing to be Denver’s starter Week 1, but he should be viewed as the favorite, and even if not, it shouldn’t take long before he takes over the role. We’ll have a clearer picture come August, but that doesn’t mean we can’t prognosticate right now, and there’s a lot to like about Ball, specifically his situation.

    The Broncos produced 21 carries inside the five-yard line last season, which tied for the seventh-most in the NFL (Pittsburgh produced just 11 such rushing attempts). With Peyton Manning another year removed from neck surgery and already showing more zip on his passes this summer combined with the addition of Wes Welker, Denver should produce even more scoring opportunities in 2013. This is an absolutely loaded offense, and Manning has never been shy to audible to a run play, especially in the red zone. Ball stands to benefit.

    [Get in the game with Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football]

    Read More »from Spin Doctors: Montee Ball vs. Le’Veon Bell
  • Tim Lincecum turns his lonely eyes to you (USAT)

    It's a glorious Father's Day to absorb, with action all over the land. U.S. Open golf is winding down. Spain and Uruguay go at it on the pitch. The NBA Finals hits a critical Game 5, if that's your thing. And we've got the Giants and Braves to scout, Tim Lincecum against Julio Teheran - the struggling former phenom against a new kid on the block.

    Sidle up with your Old Man, or Bossman Senior, and let's do this thing - let's rekindle fake friendships. We'll take some laps around the sandlots and there will be plenty of off-topic discussion too, that's what we do. Sip a drink, vote in a poll, make a joke, find a new middle infielder. First chat pitch is slated for 8:20 pm ET. You've got about five hours to get into character.

    Read More »from Sunday Night Fantasy Chat: 8:20 pm ET
  • Miller is sleeping on South Beach. (USAT)

    Walk into any watering hole on a Friday night and chances are someone is emulating Alex Trebek, peppering friends with generally meaningless questions in an attempt to test their alleged Schwab-like sports knowledge. If you’re a person who typically dons a fine-tailored suit, lily white lip sweater and relishes flexing your trivia chops, this gem is for you:

    In terms of total fantasy points scored, where did the Miami Dolphins backfield rank in 2012?

    Don’t immediately open another window or look down, cheater. Take a moment. Ponder.

    The answer: No. 7, ahead of Baltimore, Tampa and San Francisco, teams often revered for their strong rushing attacks. Shocking, isn’t it?

    Though carpetbagger Reggie Bush bolted north for Detroit and Pro Bowl right tackle Jake Long opted to sign a discounted deal with the Rams, the rebranded Flippers could again sport the most underappreciated ground game in the NFL. No surprise its unrivaled starter, Lamar Miller, is hiding in the fantasy shadows, poised to strike.

    The former ‘U’ standout is arguably the most undervalued running back in early drafts.

    Here are three reasons that explain why:

    Read More »from First Down: Miami’s Miller tastes great, fantasy filling
  • Made in the shade (USAT)It's a casual Friday, all bullets, all the time.

    • Rick Porcello was one of the spring training stars back in March, and maybe that small sample wasn't lying to us after all. He's been useful in eight of his last nine turns, with the latest success a seven-inning bagel stroll through Minnesota (3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K). If we hash together Porcello's run since the end of April, we're looking at this line: 2.84 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 10 walks and 56 strikeouts over 57 innings. That makes him a Top 12 fantasy starter over that time.

    It's encouraging to see Porcello missing more bats; that's what can push him into fantasy relevance for good. For all the waiting we've done on this stock, he's still just 24 and someone tied to a first-round pedigree. The dreamy ground-ball rate has always been there: it's at 56 percent for 2013.

    A tweak to the back of his repertoire (more curves, less sliders) has helped, though he still throws his fastball 61 percent of the time. Better command and confidence with the change-up has also come in handy. Porcello is at home for the Orioles and Angels over the next two weeks, and is unclaimed in 74 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

    • The Mariners are looking at a closing committee while Tom Wilhelmsen takes a time out, and the spinner pointed to Oliver Perez at the end of Friday's victory at Oakland. The well-traveled lefty did the job admirably, working around a Josh Reddick single and posting a scoreless inning. Perez's funky mechanics almost seem to change from pitch-to-pitch and a 1.11 ERA isn't supported by a 1.32 WHIP, but nonetheless there's a respectable line here (24.1 IP, 33 K, 12 BB).

    Perez got the ball Friday over a rested Carter Capps, which might mean something, too. How badly did you say you needed saves?

    Read More »from Closing Time: Rick Porcello on the case; Brandon Beachy hits a setback
  • Doug Martin, top-of-draft fantasy asset (Getty)

    As most of you know, playing in a fantasy league alongside real-life fantasy experts is a hopeless undertaking. HOPELESS. Zero probability of success. Like challenging a group of bears to a moose-eating contest. Not recommended. You couldn't possibly win. You'd be humiliated. And lucky to survive.

    I mean ... we're experts. We only get these jobs because we've each won thousands of leagues, beating tens of thousands of regular humans like yourself.

    So please, don't think for an instant that you can handle any of us. I doubt you'd even win a fantasy medal. Spare yourself the embarrassment. Stay away. That's the best advice I can give you.

    But still, for whatever reason, some of you seem to think you could hold your own in a league filled with accredited fantasy professionals. Because you're delusional. Thus, the Roto Arcade Pro-Am was created.

    Read More »from Draft Review: The Roto Arcade Pro-Am
  • Denver's rookie RB could Ball out this fall (USAT)

    With many fanatics mired in a June swoon, the tedium of fantasy baseball is starting to lose its luster, diverting attention away to what lies ahead. Just weeks away to the sound of pads cracking and cleats clacking, the fantasy football season is closer than you think.

    On this week's info-taining program, we caught you up to speed on the latest news and notes from around the NFL and MLB. On the agenda: Montee Ball's booming stock, weighing Tony Romo's value, Ryan Mathews at the crossroads, ninth-inning nincompoops and the resurrection of Jose Reyes.

    Too busy enjoying the sophomoric chuckles from Seth Rogen? No sweat. Listen to the replays below:

    LISTEN TO HOUR 1 HERE (NFL)

    LISTEN TO HOUR 2 HERE (NFL/MLB)

    Read More »from The Fantasy Freak Show Podcast: Ball to the wall, Blanks and ‘Zona’s cracked Bell

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