…And the Winner is…..the Oakland A’s?

By Corey R. Cunningham

I have always been a baseball fan of the Oakland A’s, as they have a very good reputation. Although over the recent years, the reputation of not winning, but of putting out young talented ball players through their system. Just recently, the A’s won the bidding war, on a talented Cuban player, Yoenis Cespedes. A’s signed Cespedes to a 4yr-$36MM deal. This shocked most of the MLB analyst, and fans. There were numerous teams in the running, and rumor mill for the 26 yr old Cuban outfielder, (Marlins, Cubs, Yankees, Orioles) to name a few, but the sneak attack team was the A’s.

Cespedes has spent the last 7 years in the Cuban league and has been very productive, but I am not sure those numbers he managed to put up in the Cuban league can be subject to the same numbers we should expect in the MLB. Some say, those numbers will diminish to Low-A or High-A numbers, basically taking away 25-35% of his numbers. With the A’s having the OF set this year, Seth Smith LF, Coco Crisp CF, and Josh Reddick RF, I don’t think to expect to see Cespedes on ESPN for MLB, but I do expect to see him in the MILB. Below I have posted a stat courtesy of ‘Fangraphs’.

Year	AB	H	DB	TP	HR	BB	SO	R	RBI	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG
2004	288	87	17	7	9	28	65	50	42	3	3	0.302	0.379	0.503
2005	339	106	22	5	15	34	59	69	51	5	2	0.313	0.398	0.540
2006	339	119	24	4	23	44	43	89	78	8	3	0.351	0.442	0.649
2007	340	103	24	3	17	42	53	79	66	15	10	0.303	0.398	0.541
2008	366	104	16	2	26	32	50	82	78	4	4	0.284	0.342	0.552
2009	328	106	19	0	24	43	40	83	76	4	4	0.323	0.411	0.601
2010	342	118	19	4	22	42	45	87	67	5	3	0.345	0.426	0.617
2011	354	118	17	1	33	49	40	89	99	11	3	0.333	0.424	0.667

His best year came of course in 2011, and as most players due produce the last year of a contract (go figure). These numbers are consider ‘ludicrous’ to most baseball fans, but one has to realize if these numbers were reliable, and a great source to what has yet to come, how comes he was not offered more money?, and why take an offer from Oakland? You can locate Cespedes workout mentality on YouTube, or perhaps that might just be a show off factor, who knows if it is real, or who knows if Yoenis Cespedes is really his correct name, anyone remember Fausto Carmona?, I don’t. I have read in recent articles it’s hard for any Cuban / Latin American citizen to survive, so they take every chance they can to do the best for themselves/family. I of course would do what it took to provide for my family, however, I am not sure committing a federal felony would be one of those options for me, as it has more repercussions.

It has been a known fact for many players, from Little League World Series to Cuban/Latin American players to lie about age, and names. One may never know the true identity of most of the players in MLB, however, we concentrate on the talent portion, and not so much the stereotypical image of the person themselves. If Yoenis can produce for the A’s and help the small market ball club, which they choose to be, then great. I hope the best for Cespedes and the Oakland A’s; however, if he would have gone to a big market team, I could not say the same.

Top 50 SP

Today we look at the top 50 SP for fantasy baseball. Many think the last few years have been the “year of the pitcher” at first look that may be true but what we are really seeing is that the top SP come draft day seem to hold their value come the end of the season. What I mean is this. Of the top 8 SP drafted last year in all formats 6 finished in the top 10 at their position. Of the top 8 hitters drafted only 3 finished among the top 10 hitters.

 There are aces on the mound and there are studs at the plate. What you should do come draft day is get yourself a stud from the top 15 or so ranked SP and then sprinkle in other SPs after you have solidified your 5 best hitters. So while position players have more variance between each ranking, SP tend to be grouped much closer together. Missing out on top ranked SP is now where near the same as missing out on the number one ranked shortstop or 2^nd baseman.

So to recap get a stud to anchor your team then if throughout your draft value presents itself in the way of SP grab. If you are on the fence between pitching and hitting for your pick…grab the hitter. Remember names like Ian Kennedy, Doug Fister were available in the late teen rounds last year.

Roy Halladay

Clayton Kershaw

Justin Verlander

CC Sabathia

Tim Lincecum

Cliff Lee

Felix Hernandez

Stephen Strasburg

Jered Weaver

Zach Greinke

Cole Hamels

Yovani Gallardo

Dan Haren

David Price

Mat Latos

Chris Carpenter

Yu Darvish

James Shields

Ian Kennedy

Brandon Beachy

C.J. Wilson

Matt Cain

Matt Moore

Josh Johnson

Daniel Hudson

Madison Bumgarner

Michael Pineda

Tim Hudson

Adam Wainwright

Doug Fister

Jordan Zimmermann

Tommy Hanson

Jon Lester

Shaun Marcum

Gio Gonzalez

Jamie Garcia

Cory Luebke

Matt Garza

Anibal Sanchez

Max Scherzer

Brandon Morrow

Josh Beckett

John Danks

Ervin Santana

Ubaldo Jimenez

Jhoulys Chacin

Ricky Romero

Roy Oswalt

Colby Lewis

Wandy Rodriguez

Cashing in on Cashner for R to I-Z-Z-O

By Corey R. Cunningham
New Cubs GM Theo Epstein has landed Anthony Rizzo once again. Rizzo was traded from the Padres to Chicago in exchange for RHP Andrew Cashner. Rizzo will get a small shot at the starting 1B gig this year at Wrigley Field while competing with Bryan LaHair, while Cashner will be pitching in a young and depleted Padres rotation.

Anthony Rizzo was drafted in the 6^th round of the 2007 June Amateur Draft by the Boston RedSox. I got to see Rizzo first hand last June while I was in Boston attending the Padres Series. Being a RedSox fan, it was a bitter-sweet moment seeing Rizzo playing at Fenway Park, however, being in an opposition uniform. I once again am rooting for this young and upcoming prospect to do the best, even if it is in a Cubbies uniform (your welcome Ryan). Reports out of Chicago has the 29 year old Bryan LaHair getting the nod at 1B, however, Rizzo should bring some stiff competition. With Rizzo’s smooth swing and from the left handed side of the batter’s box, I would think he could be capable of a lot of 30 plus HR seasons. Rizzo has seen every spot in the batting order at least once last year, except for 2nd in just 128 AB. Rizzo spent a majority of his time batting in the 5^th or 7^th slot. In 49 games he batted 128 times, for a .141 BA, just 1 HR, and 9 RBI. Before his horrible second half of summer in San Diego, he had an excellent first half in AAA Tucson. Rizzo played in 93 games, where he batted .331, 26 HR, 101 RBI, .652 SLG, and 1.056 OPS. I am pulling for Rizzo to get the starting 1B job, if so I don’t think he will slug 30 HR just yet, but I do predict these numbers: .280 BA, 18 HR, 75 RBI.

Andrew Cashner who was drafted 4 times in 4 years from 2005-2008, final signed with the Chicago Cubs in 08. Cashner was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 05’ in the 20^th round, in 06’ by the Rockies in the 18^th round, 07’ by the Cubs in the 29^th round, and once again in 08’ by the Cubs in the 1^st round. He spent the past 4 years in the minor leagues with the last two years splitting time between the minor and major leagues. His most productive years in the minors were in 09’ and 10’. In 2009 he spent time in High-A Dayton and AA Tennessee, he had a line of 3-4, 2.60 ERA, 1.176 WHIP, 100 IP, 75 K, and 6.7K/9. In 2010, he split time between AA Tennessee, and AAA Iowa with a line of 6-1, 2.05 ERA, 0.947 WHIP, 57 IP, 59 K, and 9.3K/9. Cashner also spent time in the MLB in 10’ and 11’. In 2010 he went 2-6 with a 4.80 ERA, giving up 29 ER in just 54 IP, while in 2011 he pitched just 10 innings, with a 1.69 ERA. Cashner most likely will get the nod on the No. 5 slot, pending the physically conditions of SP Clayton Richard and SP Dustin Mosley who both experience left shoulder problems in 2011. My prediction: 8-11, 3.85 ERA, 140 K