Fantasy Baseball Team News

By Jeff Brown St. Louis moved into its accustomed spot atop the National League Central since the last report. Many of the Cards’ hitters decided to join Albert Pujols in the offensive fun, as Pujols leads the league in HR, RBI and RS by an inhuman amount. David Eckstein has set the table nicely for Pujols, while Scott Rolen has provided solid support behind him. Juan Encarnacion has been bounced around the lineup, but he is settling in well. And part-timers Hector Luna, So Taguchi and Scott Spiezio have provided plenty of spark for the offense that won seven out

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As poor as the Royals season has been so far, there is hope on the horizon. They have a load of promising young players at AA Wichita. A catcher, third-baseman and three outfielders grace the field for the Wranglers. Additionally, there are a couple of pitchers that are showing promise. The key will be patience because, as we will discuss, they are not ready yet. The prospects that everyone have heard of are Alex Gordon and Billy Butler. Both are hitting very well, .310 with 7 HR and .292 with 5 HR respectively. Butler has 22 RBI and Gordon has

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Team W L PCT GB Chi White Sox 22 9 .710 - Detroit 20 13 .606 3.0 Cleveland 17 16 .515 6.0 Minnesota 13 19 .406 9.5 Kansas City 8 22 .267 13.5 The American League Central Division still sports the two hottest teams in the league. Respectively the White Sox and the Tigers have the best winning percentages in the league. You could make the argument that the reason for their success was they get to play the Royals, but at least in the case of the Sox, the Royals have played them tougher than any other team. White

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By Jeff Brown The Cincinnati Reds got into the NL Central race early this season based on their offensive output. But, over the last two weeks, it has been the arms of the Redlegs that have put them on top of the standings of the NL Central. Bronson Arroyo has been the Cinderella of fantasy baseball so far this season. He’s been lights out this season. Aaron Harang can’t pitch at GABP, but he’s put up All-Star caliber numbers on the road. With the injury to Eric Milton, Elizardo Ramirez has stepped up and done the job so far. Even

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By Jeff Brown The Houston Astros made their move this week into the top spot in the National League Central, thanks to the bat of Morgan Ensberg and the emergence of a pair of young hurlers, Wandy Rodriguez and Taylor Buchholz. Ensberg embarked on a franchise-record home run streak where he hit homers in six straight games. Over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .419 (18-for-43) with nine home runs and 18 RBI. He also sparked the top half of the Astros’ lineup. The quartet of Craig Biggio, Willy Taveras, Lance Berkman and Ensberg combined to hit .366 (68-for-186) with

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I know there were some people waiting patiently for FantasyInfoCentral’s first look at the N.L. West this year, but I so desperately wanted to lead the first divisional roundup with someone other than the always-talked about left fielder for the San Francisco Giants. But, for two and a half weeks, all I could hear when I turned on the television or listened to sports talk radio was... Bonds, Bonds, Bonds. Not wanting to subject you, our loyal readers, to that boring, same-old, same-old coverage, I waited for everyone to slowly start talking about other things. And I waited some more.

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When we last visited the AL Central it featured the hottest team in baseball, the Detroit Tigers. As we renew our view, they still do. The difference is now the hottest team in baseball is the defending World Champions, the Chicago White Sox. AL Central Team Wins Losses % GB Chicago 13 5 .722 -- Detroit 12 7 .632 1.5 Cleveland 10 9 .526 3.5 Minnesota 7 11 .389 6.0 Kansas City 4 13 .235 8.5 White Sox With eight straight win, the Chicago White Sox are without a doubt the hottest team in baseball. Hitting What a difference a

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By Jeff Brown The St. Louis Cardinals are struggling – they are struggling in the bullpen, they are struggling at the plate and they are struggling in the field. Of all the members in the bullpen, rookie Adam Wainwright is the only one playing above par. Braden Looper has had to have his confidence built; Jason Isringhausen is very inconsistent – fine in closing situations, in a funk in non-closing stints; Brad Thompson hasn’t been quite as solid as he was last season; and newcomers Josh Hancock and Ricardo Rincon haven’t produced. Scott Rolen needed a big start and

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Looking at the standings of the NL East, it’s clear that most of the teams in the division are struggling with the Mets and Braves (as of 4/11) as the only teams to have more than two wins. Surprising or not, the Mets have been the most consistent and successful team in the division, exhibiting both solid hitting and pitching in their first six games. All five teams have faced particular problems thus far, most specifically in the bullpens. However, the Mets appear to be the team least suffering from this and many other problems and now find themselves atop

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The American league Central Division features two of the hottest teams in baseball to start the season. The Tigers and the Indians are tied for the best record in baseball and are trying to run away from the rest of the division. Here is how they stack up after the first week. American League Central Team  Win  Losses  %   GB Cleveland   5   1   .833  - Detroit   5   1   .833   - Kansas City  2   3   .400  2.5 Chicago  2  4   .333  3 Minnesota  1   5   .167  4 Indians

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Both the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays enter the season with shaky closing situations, and the problems are already rearing their ugly heads for fantasy owners. Chad Orvella was a virtual lock to emerge as the Rays' closer in the preseason, but pitched so poorly that he didn't make the ballclub. After trading away Danys Baez and Lance Carter in the offseason, they're now stuck with Dan Miceli at the back of the bullpen. Keith Foulke figured to retain the closing duties that he lost last season because of injury, but Boston's first save went to rookie

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With about a week to go before the start of the 2006 season, Royals fans are waiting with baited breath to see if the team that has played so well this spring is for real. So far, the Royals carry a 13-9-1 record in Cactus League play and they have done it without Mike Sweeney. Sweeney has been nursing an ankle injury most of the spring, but is expected to return next week. General Manager Allard Baird added several pieces to the puzzle in the off-season. He revamped the right side of the infield with Doug Mientkiewicz to play first

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2005 is quickly drawing to a close and the Royals are going out with a flourish. General Manager Allard Baird promised changes after last season and he has come through. The Royals have signed six free agents including two of the more sought after position players. The signings are aimed to add defense, veteran leadership and starting pitching to eat innings and show the young starters how to win. The right side of the infield will see the biggest upgrade. Mark Grudzielanek was one of the most in demand infielders on the free agent market. He will provide a significant

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Omar Minaya may have the toughest job this baseball off-season, to solidify his New York Mets as rock-solid contenders. Last season could be characterized as a practice session for Minaya and company. A season in which new comers like manager Willie Randolph and Shea Stadium newbie’s Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran could learn to adapt to the National League East. Mets’ fans desired improvement, but did not realistically expect a playoff team. However, this season will be different.

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A long season has come and gone. ’05 was a tough time to be a Royals fan. The team set a new record for losses with 106. There are many that say, “How can you be a Royals fan?” It all depends on if you see the glass as half empty or half full. Your choice is to walk with your head down, muttering about 106 losses, or to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. My choice is to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. There are many signals that the team

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With eight pitchers fighting for five starting spots in next year's rotation, there's still plenty of suspense for Mariner hurlers . It's a given that Felix Hernandez and Jamie Moyer will be in the rotation next year. Assuming the club doesn't pursue a starting pitcher in the off-season, that leaves three starting slots available. Ryan Franklin, Jeff Harris, and Joel Pineiro will all get opportunities to end the season on a high note and impress skipper Mike Hargrove. Bobby Madstritch and Gil Meche will miss the rest of the season.

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The Angels and the A’s are in quite a battle, every game between them means more than the previous game did. For whatever reason, it seems that these two teams are always engaged in a pitching duel lately. Obviously both teams are comprised of a very good rotation and an even better bullpen, but I would’ve expected a little more offense. Meanwhile, the Angels best hitter, as always, is Vladimir Guerrero. Fantasy owners should be concerned about teams giving him the Barry Bonds treatment and pitching around him. Until Garret Anderson shows why he almost won an MVP a

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The best laid plans of mice and men are not working out in KC. The Royals are currently mired in a 15 game losing streak. This is the longest American League streak since the Orioles lost 21 in a row in 1988. The Royals seem to be finding new ways to lose each day. Some days to Royals knock the fences down, but the pitching lets them down. Other days the pitching is top notch, but the hitters are nowhere to be found. Today’s doubleheader with the Tigers is a great example. In the first game the Royals lost 8-7.

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The future of Washington Nationals starter Livan Hernandez still remains uncertain after comments expressed to the media following last night's loss to the Colorado Rockies. However, FIC has recently learned that Hernandez will not opt for season ending knee surgery and will indeed pitch in his next scheduled start.

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AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG TB 21 133 457 49 129 21 5 2 47 21 38 .282 .312 .363 166 24 120 412 54 104 26 2 4 52 28 96 .252 .303 .354 146 Two sets of statistics from two different players. One is from a Hall of Famer and the other is from a current rookie. The rookie’s numbers at the All-Star break have been doubled to approximate a full season. A close look shows very similar numbers, one has less than half the strikeouts and a better

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