Will Carroll and April Whitzman join the guys on BDD Radio at 7:00 ET

Will Carroll and April Whitzman join the guys on BDD Radio at 7:00 ET: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thefantasyinsiders/2012/03/26/baseball-daily-digest-radio-with-joel-henard-and-albert-lang?utm_source=BTRemail&utm_medium=ShowReminder.

We’ll talk Brian Matusz, Nolan Reimold, Josh Willingham, Ben Revere, Buster Posey, the Blue Jays, Adam Lind, Travis D’Arnaud, Anthony Gose, Brett Cecil, Kyle Drabek, Noah Syndergaard, Henderson Alvarez, J.P. Arencibia, Carlos Gonzalez, Jonathan Sanchez, Justin Morneau, Chris Sale, Chase Utley, David Wright, Michael Morse, Joba Chamberlain, Pedro Alvarez, Julio Teheran, Giancarlo Stanton, Zach Britton, Scott Baker, Asdrubal Cabrera, Neftali Feliz, Rajai Davis, Alex Presley, Tyler Pastronicky, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Michael Bourn, Matt Holliday, Mike Napoli, Rickie Weeks and much more.

Lock, Stock and Taking Stock, Part 3 for Razzball

Lock, Stock and Taking Stock, Part 3

http://razzball.com/lock-stock-and-taking-stock-part-3/

 

 

Don’t Look Back in Anger: Brett Cecil, Felipe Paulino, Edwin Encarnacion

Don’t Look Back in Anger: Brett Cecil, Felipe Paulino, Edwin Encarnacion For Razzball:

http://razzball.com/don%E2%80%99t-look-back-in-anger-brett-cecil-felipe-paulino-edwin-encarnacion/

 

h2h Corner ~ Katy Perry (Hot ‘N’ Cold Fantasy Baseball) All-Stars

Players get hot and cold over a seven-day period, it’s as sure as the samples are small.

That is why Katy created the Hot ‘N’ Cold All-stars.

‘Cause you’re hot…you’re yes…you’re in…you’re up

Hideki Matsui: Man, Matsui has come back from outer space over the last seven days: 13/29 with two dingers. It raised his disappointing season average to .244 and has him on the cusp of double digit homers. Matsui, who hasn’t hit less than 21 homers or batted less than .273 in his last three full seasons, could make a decent down the stretch addition. It wouldn’t surprise me if he hit around .270 the rest of the way and doubled his homerun output.

Cliff Pennington: I’ve always loved Cliff Clavin (Hey he did predict Obama) and always kind of liked Cliff Pennington. However I hate the Jets and I hate Chad Pennington, go figure. Anyway, back to whatever the point of this was: Pennington has smoked the ball of late (12/26 with two dingers). He hit a modest .250 last year, but did steal 29 bases in 34 attempts. Unfortunately, this year he is abysmally 6/15 in SB attempts. With shortstops and middle infielders around the world falling like fruit flies, Pennington is worth a look. The batting average is decidedly average and the power is non-existent, but he could go on a decent steals “tear” down the stretch. Hey, when Alexei Cassilla hitting the DL is a blow, people like Pennington become relevant.

h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before It Starts: Brett Cecil

Brett Cecil – Current ADP Not Ranked; 105th+? SP – My Rank: 77th Pitcher; 62nd SP

Cecil made an inauspicious debut in 2009 with the Toronto Blue Jays, posting a 5.30 ERA and not showing the 9+ K/9 rate he flashed in his minor league career. Still, he was beset by a .338 BABip (it was never higher than .313 in the minors) and a 74% strand rate – oh and it was only 93 innings. So his xFIP was 4.68.

He followed up his 2009 with 172.2 innings in the majors in 2010. His BABip was .293, he struck out 6.1 batters per nine innings and his strand rate was right at 70%. So he had a 4.22 ERA and 4.32 FIP.

Cecil, only 24, seems ready to take a step forward in 2011. He lowered his line drive and HR/FB percentage last year. He also increased the amount of times batters swung at pitches outside the zone, lowered his contact rate and increased his swinging strike percentage.

In short, I see Cecil incredibly capable of throwing up an ERA that hovers around 4.00 +/- .15. I think he’ll continue to miss more bats and see his K-rate improve to around 7. I’ll give him 175 innings, so good for 140 Ks or so with a bit of upside. If he can maintain a walk rate under three free passes per nine innings, we’re looking at a WHIP between 1.30-1.35.

I can’t imagine his numbers will be any worse than someone like Carl Pavano, Mike Pelfrey, and others. He could even outperform the likes of Wade Davis, Trevor Cahill and Tim Hudson. Certainly, if he is going undrafted in a lot of leagues, he’ll provide phenomenal value.

Feel free to share your insights below or at my Twitter (@h2h_corner).

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Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP).

While no two drafts are identical, knowing where a player typically goes gives you a general idea of where he will go in your draft. That said, be sure to do homework on your league mates subjective tendencies. For example, if there are Red Sox fans, be sure to snag guys like Lester and Youkilis a bit earlier than you normally would. In addition, you should talk up your sleepers before the draft (discretely of course) to see if anyone is on to them. If you don’t, an opponent with an itchy trigger finger who hasn’t done his ADP homework might snag one of your sleepers a round before anyone else is typically taking him.

Now that you know WHY ADP is important, I want to show you HOW to exploit it by highlighting those players who are going too low compared to players with similar ADPs. You can grab an ADP report at Mock Draft Central.

Feel free to share your insights below or at my Twitter (@h2h_corner).

h2h Corner ~ Katy Perry (Hot ‘N’ Cold) All-Stars

Players get hot and cold over a seven-day period, it’s as sure as the samples are small.

That is why Katy created the Hot ‘N’ Cold All-stars.

As noted by the recent news that Katy’s latest single is “three parts pop and one part rap,” it is never too early to sellout (I’m looking at you Snoop Dog). The lay observer of pop culture would be shocked that the king of Gin & Juice would lower himself to vodka soda posh standards. However, if you carefully followed his career, you would have seen his reality show and presence on an (admittedly awesome) PCD song (for those not in the know, Pussycat Dolls).