Nyjer Morgan proved that he can move on the ice as well as on the baseball diamond as he laced up his skates to practice with his boyhood team, the San Jose Sharks. Morgan even scored a rather “soft” goal during the shootout.
The Phillie Phanatic recently made a trip back to his homeland in the Gallapagos Islands. The Phanatic was kind enough to share some of his pictures with his favorite fantasy baseball site, Fantasy Baseball Dugout.
HOME GAME: The Phanatic makes his way to his hometown on the Gallapagos Islands.
POSER: The Phanatic poses with a native of the island.
(See more of the Phanatic’s home pictures after the jump.)
BallparkBob analyzes the top 2012 sleepers at the second base position. His #1 pick for fantasy baseball sleeper is a guy that you don’t often think of as a second baseman — Michael Cuddyer. Also, insight into Jason Kipnis, Jose Altuve, and others who should have a good return on investment at second base.
In our continuing analysis of your 2012 fantasy baseball draft, we look at the fantasy baseball sleepers at the second base position for the 2012 fantasy baseball draft.
MILE HIGH POTENTIAL: Michael Cuddyer's eligibility at second base and his move to Colorado make the veteran a 2012 sleeper at second base.
Second base, along with catcher, is the position many managers look for when it comes to position scarcity, meaning that there’s less good ones available. Hence, players like Ian Kinsler and Robinson Cano have increased value in your fantasy baseball draft. But, if you have to draft a second baseman deep in the rounds, here are some guys they just may turn out to be keystone gems.
1. Michael Cuddyer, Colorado Rockies — When most baseball fans think of Michael Cuddyer, they don’t think about a second baseman, but Cuddyer, depending on your league’s rules, may be just that. Hence, his value in moving to hitter friendly Coors Field is increased even more. In 2011, Cuddyer played first base and right field for the Twins, but he also appeared in 17 games at second base, not to mention pitching one inning. That qualifies him as a keystoner in most leagues. Cuddyer, 32, hit 32 homeruns for Minnesota in 2009. He can match that total in Colorado this year.
2. Jason Kipnis, Cleveland Indians — Kipnis was slowed by an oblique and a hamstring injury in his rookie season last year. Kipnis, however, showed considerable promise last year in his time in Cleveland and is likely the overall most talked about second base sleeper for 2012. The rookie second baseman hit .272 with 7 homers, 19 RBIs, 24 runs scored and five steals in just 36 games in his inaugural season.
3. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros — Jose Altuve was hitting .389 in the Minors when the Astros gave him the call to the show last year after Houston had abandoned all hopes. Altuve hit .276 with a pair of homers, seven steals, 12 RBIs and 26 runs scored in 221 at-bats during his inaugural season. We like the 7 stolen bases and think he’ll get his chances to steal on an Astros team that will struggle to score runs. At 5′ 7″, Altuve doesn’t have the power to ever be considered an elite second baseman, but as a MIF guy, he won’t hurt your batting average and can give you 20 stolen bases.
4. Alexi Casilla, Minnesota Twins — Alexi Casilla was on his way to his best season ever before a hamstring pull sidelined him in August. That was a big injury for Casilla in that his biggest contribution to your fantasy baseball team is his stolen base totals. Casilla hit .260 with 15 stolen bases and just 2 homers in 323 AB’s last year. Australian Luke Hughes, who has considerably more pop, will push Casilla for starting time at second base.
5. Daniel Murphy, New York Mets — Daniel Murphy was on his way to a career year before a torn MCL ended his season in early August. Murphy ended up hitting .320 with six homers, five steals, 49 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 391 at-bats. Murphy missed the entire 2010 season so he remains an injury risk and while we don’t think he’ll be able to duplicate another .300 season, it’s nice to have a second baseman on your team who will actually help your team batting average. Moving the fences in at Citi Field will also help Murphy exceed the 12 homers he hit in 2009.
Jonathan Bentz of Fantasy Baseball Dugout discusses the Michael Pineda for Jesus Montero trade and its impact on fantasy baseball 2012.
In getting traded to the New York Yankees, Miguel Pineda immediately gets thrown into a spotlight/pressure cooker situation. He’s projecting right now as no. 2 in the Yankees rotation behind CC Sabathia — so you know he will be in line for some wins if he can keep it consistent. After his All-Star start to the 2011 season – he struggled with getting wins down the stretch.
Obviously, wins aren’t as important in fantasy baseball as they are in real life. This is one of the great inaccuracies of fantasy baseball, but one of the biggest reasons great pitchers on bad teams still have a lot of value (see Hernandez, Felix circa 2010). As we start projecting player rankings for the 2012 draft season, look for Pineda to be a top 25 starting pitcher. It would seem that Pineda could be one of the biggest draft day values in fantasy baseball 2012 – and he should be a solid no. 2 in fantasy baseball, too.
For 2012 fantasy baseball analysis of Jesus Montero, Read the rest of this entry »
Leryn Franco, Javelin thrower, from Paraguay.
Leryn Franco, Paraguay
Not a hot baseball wife, but we suddenly have an interest in javelin throwing.
Ricky Romero of the Toronto Blue Jays seemingly lives a very good life. Romero’s father entered the country illegally from Mexico about the same time that Mexican pitching great Fernando Valenzuela was taking Los Angeles by storm. The elder Romero settled in East Los Angeles and worked numerous jobs to give his children a better life.
Today, son Ricky is the ace of the Toronto Blue Jays and coming off a 15 win season that saw him have a 2.92 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. But, despite all of those impressive numbers, Romero’s most impressive win has been his relationship with 2010 Miss USA Rima Fakih.
Fakih is not your normal pristine Miss USA contestant. She was a contestant on WWE’s Tough Enough show and in December, she was arrested for drunken driving. I doubt she even mentioned world peace in her final question.
HEAT: Ricky Romero with Rima Fakih
Miss USA 2010 is Rima Fakih
Rima Fakih
See even sexier pictures of Rima (if that’s possible) after the jump. 18+ adults only please.
Fantasy Baseball Dugout brings fantasy baseball rankings, advice and news to help you win your fantasy baseball league.
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