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April 8, 2008 — Okay, so the first full week of the 2008 MLB season is in the books. The initial Weekly MOTY Rankings are posted. And while there are many things to like about Week 1, there are plenty that leave a bad taste in your mouth … sort of like throwing up a little in the back of your throat. That’s bad. We don’t like that.
Of course, here’s where we throw in the obligatory “Fantasy baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.” We know, we know. But it’s fun to win the sprints, too.
The key to very-early returns is to decipher what’s real and what’s mirage. Which eyebrow-raisers are “hm’s” and which are “hmmmmmmm’s.” Cliff Floyd, Livan Hernandez, Jason Kendall and Tim Redding making the Hot lists? More of a “hm” … interesting, jot that down (cough, cough, My Roster watch list). Derek Jeter and Matt Holiday making the Not list? “Hm” … no worries, whatever.
David Murphy and Mark Reynolds making the Hot lists — “hmmmmmmm.” And Pedro Martinez showing up as a Not, that’s a “hmmmmmmm” to be taken note of due to the hamstring injury he suffered.
As always, we’ll focus on guys who may be available in your league or prime trade targets/bait (believe it or not, we’ve already seen a deal for Miguel Cabrera due in part to his slow start … hey, some people panic — “Buy Low, Sell High!” — maybe you can get him or some of the other slow starters after 5-7 games for a steal). Of course, you can use the MOTY Scope™ advanced filters to quickly find even more players to help your team.
The most important thing to remember about playing fantasy baseball — and what wins leagues — isn’t merely having the best “season-long” players in your lineup, it’s having the best producing players in your lineup “all season long.” When Robinson Cano is struggling and Jose Lopez isn’t, you want Lopez in the lineup and Cano on the bench (or another team). And nothing tells you who’s trending up or down better than the Weekly MOTY Rankings and the “HOT and Not” lists.
So, let’s jump in.
As you’ll find every week in the Hot and Not MOTY Talk, players appear in this list for 2 reasons — they’re the guys who’ve both risen to the top in the Last Week (LW) MOTY rankings (which, of course, are this week’s YTD, MTD and LW) AND, more than likely, are available in your league.
A notable exception for Week 1 being Jermaine Dye, who shows up in the AL Hot list because it’s reaaaaaally good to see him coming out of the gates strong after a disappointing first half in 2007.
Stats for Week 1: March 31 - April 6, 2008 … (min. 15 ab) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter | |||||||||||
| MOTY# | r | hr | rbi | sb | avg | ops | |||||
| Laird, Gerald | TEX | c | 4.17 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0.312 | 1.087 | ||
| Napoli, Mike | LAA | c | 2.26 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.278 | 1.017 | ||
| Suzuki, Kurt | OAK | c | 1.65 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.375 | 0.881 | ||
| Millar, Kevin | BAL | 1b | 4.45 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.389 | 1.143 | ||
| Broussard, Ben | TEX | 1b | 2.68 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0.190 | 0.880 | ||
| Lopez, Jose | SEA | 2b | 3.75 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0.318 | 0.970 | ||
| Grudzielanek, Mark | KC | 2b | 2.53 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.400 | 0.905 | ||
| Crede, Joe | CWS | 3b | 3.20 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.375 | 0.949 | ||
| Mora, Melvin | BAL | 3b | 1.34 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.768 | ||
| Betancourt, Yuniesky | SEA | ss | 1.63 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.381 | 0.857 | ||
| Dye, Jermaine | CWS | of | 6.58 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0.417 | 1.315 | ||
| Murphy, David | TEX | of | 4.92 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.409 | 1.095 | ||
| Floyd, Cliff | TB | of | 4.44 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0.333 | 1.212 | ||
| Drew, J.D. | BOS | of | 4.01 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.375 | 1.188 | ||
| Quentin, Carlos | CWS | of | 3.81 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0.312 | 1.014 | ||
| Hinske, Eric | TB | of | 3.36 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.400 | 1.400 | ||
| Inge, Brandon | DET | of* | 3.33 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.316 | 1.154 | ||
| Anderson, Garret | LAA | of | 1.84 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.310 | 0.851 | ||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOTY# | w | sv | K | whip | era | bb/K | |||||
| Saunders, Joe | LAA | sp | 3.00 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.62 | 0.00 | 4.00 | ||
| Bannister, Brian | KC | sp | 2.92 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.29 | 0.00 | 4.00 | ||
| Eveland, Dana | OAK | sp | 2.55 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1.00 | 1.29 | 7.00 | ||
| Hernandez, Livan | MIN | sp | 2.39 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1.00 | 3.86 | 3.00 | ||
| Millwood, Kevin | TEX | sp | 2.37 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1.43 | 1.29 | 2.25 | ||
| Blackburn, Nick | MIN | sp | 2.22 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0.86 | 1.29 | 6.00 | ||
| Casilla, Santiago | OAK | mr | 2.26 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0.38 | 0.00 | 7.00 | ||
| Tallet, Brian | TOR | mr | 1.89 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 | ||
| Albers, Matt | BAL | mr | 1.23 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.23 | 0.00 | 3.00 | ||
| Wheeler, Dan | TB | mr | 1.15 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 | ||
| Perez, Rafael | CLE | ciw | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 | ||
Key to the “Not” list is that these guys are almost certainly on a roster in your league, possibly yours. And based on low or near-nonexistent MOTY#s, it might be wise to sit them on the bench and start a Hotter player until the sluggish superstar wakes up.
Stats for Week 1: March 31 - April 6, 2008 … (min. 15 ab) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter | |||||||||||
| MOTY# | r | hr | rbi | sb | avg | ops | |||||
| Johjima, Kenji | SEA | c | 0.08 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.118 | 0.328 | ||
| Ortiz, David | BOS | 1b | 0.45 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.115 | 0.489 | ||
| Cano, Robinson | NYY | 2b | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.174 | 0.391 | ||
| Polanco, Placido | DET | 2b | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.087 | 0.174 | ||
| Lowell, Mike | BOS | 2b | 0.00 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.214 | 0.481 | ||
| Cabrera, Miguel | DET | 3b | 0.23 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.111 | 0.516 | ||
| Renteria, Edgar | DET | ss | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.231 | 0.490 | ||
| Jeter, Derek | NYY | ss | 0.24 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.217 | 0.544 | ||
| Ordonez, Magglio | DET | of | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.280 | 0.640 | ||
| Damon, Johnny | NYY | of | 0.13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.136 | 0.473 | ||
| Cuddyer, Michael | MIN | of | 0.31 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.278 | 0.556 | ||
| Guillen, Jose | KC | of | 0.44 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.167 | 0.439 | ||
| Guerrero, Vladimir | LAA | of | 0.56 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.562 | ||
| Suzuki, Ichiro | SEA | of | 0.70 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.558 | ||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOTY# | w | sv | K | whip | era | bb/K | |||||
| Kennedy, Ian | NYY | sp | -0.02 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3.43 | 23.14 | 0.50 | ||
| Beckett, Josh | BOS | sp | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1.50 | 9.64 | 1.50 | ||
| Vazquez, Javier | CWS | sp | 0.14 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1.80 | 7.20 | 1.50 | ||
| Bonderman, Jeremy | DET | sp | 0.16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.58 | 5.68 | 0.50 | ||
| Sabathia, C.C. | CLE | sp | 0.26 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1.78 | 7.59 | 1.29 | ||
| Fukumori, Kazuo | TEX | mr | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.75 | 20.25 | 0.00 | ||
| Shields, Scot | LAA | mr | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | ||
| Speier, Justin | LAA | mr | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.20 | 5.40 | 0.00 | ||
| Reyes, Al | TB | cl | -0.03 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 | 21.60 | 0.50 | ||
| Street, Huston | OAK | cl | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.64 | 12.27 | 2.00 | ||
Like the guys highlighted in the AL list, these players are pulled from the masses because they started the 2008 season red hot. And are likely available in your league.
Stats for Week 1: March 31 - April 6, 2008 … (min. 15 ab) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter | |||||||||||
| MOTY# | r | hr | rbi | sb | avg | ops | |||||
| Kendall, Jason | MIL | c | 5.88 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.467 | 1.233 | ||
| Doumit, Ryan | PIT | c | 3.31 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.450 | 1.050 | ||
| Johnson, Nick | WAS | 1b | 2.60 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0.304 | 0.950 | ||
| DeRosa, Mark | CHC | 2b | 2.12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.350 | 1.009 | ||
| Iguchi, Tadahito | SD | 2b | 1.46 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.321 | 0.760 | ||
| Reynolds, Mark | ARI | 3b | 3.93 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0.304 | 0.993 | ||
| Hall, Bill | MIL | 3b* | 2.92 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0.280 | 0.868 | ||
| Keppinger, Jeff | CIN | ss | 7.39 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.435 | 1.306 | ||
| Drew, Stephen | ARI | ss | 1.58 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.227 | 0.773 | ||
| Kapler, Gabe | MIL | of | 6.98 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0.438 | 1.224 | ||
| Church, Ryan | NYM | of | 3.91 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.381 | 0.933 | ||
| Pagan, Angel | NYM | of | 2.92 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0.312 | 0.847 | ||
| Hairston, Scott | SD | of | 2.76 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0.280 | 0.985 | ||
| Ludwick, Ryan | STL | of | 2.56 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.316 | 1.013 | ||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOTY# | w | sv | K | whip | era | bb/K | |||||
| Lohse, Kyle | STL | sp | 4.34 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0.92 | 0.00 | 1.25 | ||
| Kuroda, Hiroki | LAD | sp | 2.55 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0.43 | 1.29 | 4.00 | ||
| Owings, Micah | ARI | sp | 2.45 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0.60 | 1.35 | 4.50 | ||
| Thompson, Brad | STL | sp | 1.63 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1.35 | 0.00 | 3.00 | ||
| Redding, Tim | WAS | sp | 1.61 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.57 | 0.00 | 0.67 | ||
| Dempster, Ryan | CHC | sp | 1.48 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0.83 | 1.50 | 2.50 | ||
| Grabow, John | PIT | mr | 1.35 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.23 | 0.00 | 4.00 | ||
| Cruz, Juan | ARI | mr | 1.06 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.33 | 0.00 | 4.00 | ||
| Miller, Justin | FLA | mr | 1.01 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.46 | 0.00 | 3.00 | ||
| Riske, David | MIL | ciw | 0.74 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1.07 | 1.93 | 1.33 | ||
When the MOTY# is down, the player’s name goes up … on this list.
Stats for Week 1: March 31 - April 6, 2008 … (min. 15 ab) |
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batter | |||||||||||
| MOTY# | r | hr | rbi | sb | avg | ops | |||||
| Martin, Russell | LAD | c | 0.27 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.095 | 0.412 | ||
| Howard, Ryan | PHI | 1b | 0.70 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.696 | ||
| Uggla, Dan | FLA | 2b | 0.28 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.125 | 0.442 | ||
| Atkins, Garrett | COL | 3b | 0.21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.304 | 0.681 | ||
| Tulowitzki, Troy | COL | ss | 0.18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.192 | 0.481 | ||
| Jones, Andruw | LAD | of | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.136 | 0.390 | ||
| Kemp, Matt | LAD | of | 0.06 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.125 | 0.250 | ||
| Soriano, Alfonso | CHC | of | 0.16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.077 | 0.303 | ||
| Holliday, Matt | COL | of | 0.35 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.182 | 0.644 | ||
| Dunn, Adam | CIN | of | 0.40 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.176 | 0.568 | ||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MOTY# | w | sv | K | whip | era | bb/K | |||||
| Martinez, Pedro | NYM | sp | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.50 | 10.80 | 1.00 | ||
| Francis, Jeff | COL | sp | 0.27 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2.05 | 7.11 | 3.00 | ||
| Myers, Brett | PHI | sp | 0.29 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1.80 | 6.30 | 1.20 | ||
| Oswalt, Roy | HOU | sp | 0.34 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1.92 | 6.00 | 3.00 | ||
| Lilly, Ted | CHC | sp | 0.37 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.07 | 7.71 | 4.00 | ||
| Gordon, Tom | PHI | mr | -0.02 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4.80 | 27.00 | 0.67 | ||
| Howry, Bob | CHC | mr | -0.01 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 | 16.88 | 1.00 | ||
| Hoffman, Trevor | SD | cl | 0.00 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.91 | 12.27 | 1.50 | ||
| Capps, Matt | PIT | cl | 0.05 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 16.20 | 0.50 | ||
| Corpas, Manuel | COL | cl | 0.08 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.67 | 9.00 | 0.00 | ||
| Lyon, Brandon | ARI | cl | 0.12 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2.00 | 12.00 | 3.00 | ||
Questions, thoughts, cool stories of how the MOTY System has helped your fantasy baseball team? Drop us an email. Your comments might show up here in a future MOTY Talk.
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