SGE Fantasy Baseball Preview: Outfield Part Tres

Sleeper Pick

It’s just 3 days away from Opening Day and its time for a final bonus edition concerning the outfield position for those still to have their fantasy baseball draft this weekend. As stated in part one and deux of the outfield rankings this is where you will find players who will gather the most points for you through out the season in five categories. Those categories being hitting for average/home runs/RBI’s/scoring runs and stealing bases. Guys like Boston Red Sox Jacoby Ellsbury, Arizona Diamondbacks Justin Upton and Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki are the best at this and will be sure to be taken early so lets go deeper.

Breakout Player: Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles

• Jones was a first time All-Star last year and on the brink of MLB stardom when injuries cut short his season. It wasn’t just injuries that put a damper on his second half as pitchers began to figure him out and he hit .237 with 7 home runs and 26 RBI’s. This came after a first half in which he hit .305, 12 home runs, 44 RBI’s and scored 50 runs. He spent a huge chunk of the off season with Orioles hitting coach in better preparing himself to take more walks so he doesn’t become an easy strikeout victim which prolongs hitting slumps.

Sleeper Pick: Garrett Jones, Pittsburgh Pirates

• I toss and turned over on where to put Jones here in the sleeper or the risky spot. In the end I have to trust my gut and believe last year wasn’t a fluke for him. He reminds me of Los Angeles Dodgers Casey Blake who developed into an everyday player at the big leagues late in his career. Jones was a 10 year minor league journeyman before getting his first lengthy legitimate shot with the Pirates. Pittsburgh gave him the opportunity in midseason and he capitalized on it by hitting .310 with 10 home runs in July and finished with more home runs than any other rookie in the major. The longer I allowed myself to second guess myself the worse it got for Jones. Ultimately I had to come back to what my eyes saw last year and it just wasn’t the home runs, it was the confidence he showed at the plate. He belonged and and I believe he will show it again this year too.

Risky Player: Chris Young, Arizona Diamondbacks

• Young had yet another roller coaster season last year, hitting .196 with 6 home runs through the All-Star break. Then in September he hit .278 with 8 home runs and 14 RBI’s. He has a combination of speed and power that give him an attractive allure but he never seems to put it all together at the same time for a long period. Until Young makes more consistent contact I see another year like last, some highs more lows.

Slipping Player: Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays

• Wells had wrist surgery in November to help with pain from a 2008 injury. It’s believed that the lingering pain caused for his power numbers to suffer like they did last season. With his power numbers down again, Wells did impress me by stealing 17 bases last year. It gave him some added value but on the other side what took away from that value was him falling back to hitting .260. I thought he had pulled himself out of the depths that he reached in 2007 when he hit a miserable .240 and only 16 home runs. At the end of 2010 I don’t see him crossing the plate more than 80 times, 16 home runs and back to normal on the bases with 11 steals and another .260 season.

Be sure to come back for a preview of starting pitcher position.

Apr 01, 2010 | MLB, Predictions | Comments Off

2009 American League Gold Glove Winners

Est. 1869

Gold Glove winners have been handed out by Rawlings since 1957. The award is the greatest measure of fielding excellence and has been bestowed on some of the greatest defensive players the game has ever seen and this year is no exception. Winners are selected by Major League coaches and managers and may not vote for players from their own club and only vote for players in their own league.

This year, three of the nine American League players selected are first time award winners: Mark Buehrle, Evan Longoria, and Adam Jones. Congratulations to the 2009 AL recipients.

Nov 11, 2009 | MLB | Comments Off

2009 ALL-SGE-MLB Team

Est. 2009

The 2009 regular season of Major League Baseball has ended and Sports Grind Entertainment is handing out it’s first ever All-SGE-MLB Team. The 2009 All-SGE-MLB Team takes in account not only what a player does with the bat but as well in the field, weak players with the glove are easily removed from consideration.

2009 ALL-SGE-MLB Team:

First Base – Albert Pujols (Allah), St. Louis Cardinals: Pujols probably will walk away with the 2009 National League MVP and his numbers of 47 home runs 135 RBIs and .327 batting average are just a peek into his overall value.

Second Base – Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays: Hill is generally thought of as a great double play combination but the year of 2009 everything happened to fall into place for him with the bat, 36 home runs 108 RBIs and 195 hits for a .286 batting average.

Shortstop – Hanley Rameriz, Florida Marlins: Rameriz is quickly becoming one of of the best players in all of MLB. Rameriz didn’t hit for power in 2009 but instead for a National League high .342 and hit to all parts of the field collecting 195.

Third Base – Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals: Zimmerman might not be know outside of Washington or to drive by fan but he has Gold Glove type of fingers at third and saw his numbers jump to 33 home runs 106 RBIs and a .292 average.

Catcher – Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins: Just as Pujols should walk away with the National League MVP the same could be said of Mauer. The 2009 American League Batting League champion should also see his 2009 awards include a Gold Glove and the AL MVP.  It’s outstanding when you consider Mauer is a catcher and hitting .365 average and 28 home runs.

Outfield – Adam Jones, Baltimore Orioles: If the name Ryan Zimmerman is foreign to the drive by MLB fan then Jones name is from outer space. Jones was an excellent outfielder in 2009 and should be in line to win his first Gold Glove award. Despite playing in only a 119 games due to a neck injury he still posted 19 home runs and 70 RBIs with a .277 average.

Outfield – Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers: Kemp was all over the outfield for the Dodgers and his bat help supply for many of Los Angeles come from behind victories in 2009. Kemp had 26 home runs 101 RBIs and a .297 average to go along with 34 stolen bases.

Outfield – Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners: Ichiro was once again Ichiro in 2009. As usual another dominate defensive performance to go with yet another 200 season, 225 hits and a .352 average.

Starting Left Handed Pitcher – CC Sabathia, New York Yankees: Sabathia was the best left handed starting pitcher in 2009 with a 19-8 record and 3.37 ERA and struck out 197 batters in 230 innings.

Starting Right Handed Pitcher – Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals: Carpenter should win the 2009 National League Cy Young Award with his 17-4 record and 2.24 ERA in striking out 144 batters while completing three games.

Closer – Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees: Rivera continues to be the best closer of this generation, it’s not the number that are impressive it’s the times and situations that he continues to be effective. The 2009 saw Rivera save 44 games out of 46 opportunities with a 1.76 ERA in 66.1 innings pitched while striking out 72 batters.

Manager – Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies: Tracy who took over the last place Rockies on May 29th, 18-28, the Rockies then went 74-42 and won the National League Wild Card. In the end, the Rockies were 92-70, and set a club record for wins in a season while making the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

Oct 15, 2009 | MLB | Comments Off