Fantasy Phenoms - Your all access pass to information, strategies and techniques http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/ Copyright Fantasy Phenoms 2008 The guys at Mock Draft Central hosted their 5th Live Mock Draft Expert Draft of the season Monday night, and extended Fantasy Phenoms an invitation. The league settings- QB (2)RB (3)WR TE K DEF: NO FLEX SPOT AND NO POINTS PER RECEPTION http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=375 Albert Pujols Miguel Cabrera (He shouldn't be 3B eligible next year) Lance Berkman Justin Morneau Ryan Howard Adrian Gonzalez Prince Fielder Mark Teixeira Kevin Youklis Derrick Lee http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=365 While the true offensive busts of this fantasy season have been players who have been injured, there are still a number of people who have been healthy this year that have been major disappointments. Overall production might be down, but what about their contact rates? Can trends in contact rate be useful indicators of what this down season means? Below are some players who are having off years that are maintaining contact rates at or better than last year’s. Quite... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=373 There are few worse feelings than seeing one of your fantasy studs go down for a prolonged period of time with an early season injury. Just off the top of my head, jumping onto a bicycle without a seat and listening to Michael Bolton’s “Time, Love & Tenderness” may be the only more painful experiences than watching your season limp off the field. There is no guaranteed method to predicting injuries, however if fantasy owners follow trends... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=371 This week I'll be ranking the top 10 at each position for next year. Brian McCann Russell Martin Geovany Soto Joe Mauer Ryan Doumit Victor Martinez Dioner Navarro Yadier Molina Kurt Suzuki Bengie Molina McCann deserves the #1 spot because he has more power than any other catcher and maintains an 87% CR which... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=364 Listen in as this week's guest, Brain Swaw of GameTimeDecisions.net and I, discuss all the latest in Fantasy Football! We've got you covered for anything and everything you need to win! http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=368 The Quarterback position on a fantasy team is extremely important, no matter what format you play in. A consistent QB, will score 20+ points for your fantasy team week in and week out, and on those days he explodes, unless you forgot to start the rest of your team, the week should be won with relative ease. Yet, a very under-looked aspect of drafting QBs in certain... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=363 Rafael Furcal had back surgery to correct a disc herniation in his Lumbar (lower) spine. When this is performed, there is weakness and instability that is created in the spine. The body needs to re-learn how to move again in functional patterns following an invasive procedure such as this. In addition, the wall of the disc (annulus) needs to scar over fully so that the actual disc itself does not breach the wall of the annulus again. Furcal was given a 6-8 week time frame on his return to... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=362 Comparing current MLB stats to Average Draft Position (ADP) is always interesting, and usually enlightening. When formulating a draft strategy for speed an owner needs to consider whether to concentrate the stolen bases in a few big threats or to spread them around. If the owner chooses to have one or two big SB threats then the next question is whether or not the owner is willing to spend an early pick on a Jose Reyes or try to bottom feed off of the Michael Bourn types.   http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=360 Just some updates on some shaky closer situations... The New York Mets say that Billy Wagner will remain on the disabled list for at least a portion, if not all, of next week. So, Wagner owners, leave him on the bench. Despite watching every game, there is no clear-cut option at closer. Jerry Manuel has gone to Aaron Heilman most of the time, but tends to bring in lefties Pedro Feliciano or Scott... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=361 This week's edition of Home/Road Splits - Pitchers recommends starting Mike Pelfrey and sitting Derrick Lowe.   Read on to see who else to start and sit next week.   White Sox SP Mark Buehrle   http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=358 This week's edition of Home/Road splits recommends starting Aaron Miles and sitting Mike Cameron.   * Note that the Cardinals only play five games this week.   Read on to see who else to sit and start.    Phillies OF Pat... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=357 We can all agree that in order to win a fantasy baseball championship, it takes several things to break right.   We need to do some research in January and February.   We need to have a solid draft in March.   April and May need to be months where our drafted team provides us with a comfort level that proves "my team can compete."   June is a make or break month for a lot of teams. Somebody has to... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=355              One constant across the sports landscape, both fantasy and professional, is the law of averages. Simply put, the law states that if a certain event is repeated enough times, a positive outcome will result. For example, if Samuel L. Jackson continues to appear in eight to ten motion pictures per year, the Academy Award committee will grow sympathetic and eventually award him an... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=354 Let's take a look at the BABIP winners and losers over the last 30 days.   One's with low BABIP's should be considered lucky, with a higher ERA and WHIP coming.   Pitcher's with high BABIP's should be considered unlucky, with lower ERA and WHIP coming.   Pirates SP http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=352 For those of you in PPR leagues, it is all about the receptions. Wes Welker, T.J Houshmandzadeh, Reggie Wayne, Derrick Mason, Brandon Marshall and Jason Witten are a few of the leading pass catchers from last year. However, for those fantasy football purists out there who swear by standard leagues, yards and TDs are the only stats that matter for your pass catchers. http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=353 Let's take a look at the K/9 leaderboard over the last 30 days.   Has anyone slowed down?   Which pitchers are showing higher strikeout ratios of late?   Mets SP Oliver Perez       http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=351   It's mid-August, so that means that fantasy football is almost here. It seems like minutes away as opposed to weeks. The best way to prepare for the season is simple....practice. PRACTICE!? Yes...practice. The best practice is Mock Drafting, and last night I was invited to participate in the Game Time Decision's Experts Mock Draft hosted by Mock Draft Central. I randomly drew the 4th over all pick, and it was a no-brainer in my... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=350 Fantasy owners need to constantly evaluate their team needs. It should be pretty clear at this point of the season whether or not an owner needs to add players, hold steady, rebuild for the future, or do some combination thereof.    When it comes to focusing on one’s pitching staff in particular there are a number of metrics available to aid an owner’s quest of deciding who to keep and who to sell/dump. The key is to determine which... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=349 Rocco Baldelli - TampaBay OF - With the news that Evan Longoria & Carl Crawford were both placed on the DL, Baldelli's return couldn't come at a better time. Baldelli's always been a guy who has been high on peoples draft boards, but unfortunately his health has kept him from ever reaching his potential. At the... http://www.fantasyphenoms.com/article.php?id=347