Expert Draft Tonite

There is an expert draft tonite at mock draft central, it is definately worth checking out. You can watch the draft live via this link. It is a very impressive list of people including reps from Sports Illustrated and Yahoo!. I will not be participating in the draft but I will be there making comments and asking questions for the duration of the draft. You may here a plug or two for MLB Front Office in there so if you hear me, (I may be listed as MLB Front Office, Brad Stewart, or greenbaydude1232) make a shout out to the rest of the people about how great my blog is (just kidding...kind of). There will be analysis of the draft available on here sometime later this week. The draft starts at 7 CST.

In Other Baseball News...

From now on, every Sunday I am going to be putting out an article about the Baseball News from the past week that might affect your fantasy team. Since I didn't put one out last Sunday, the first one will appear today, on a Tuesday, instead.

The Bigs news this week is that Orioles SP Kris Benson is out for the year with a torn rotator cuff. Benson is seeking another opinion from a different doctor but come on, a tear is a tear. This is unfortunate for Benson because it will probably result in the Orioles not picking up his 7.5 million dollar option for next season, but it shouldn't have much fantasy impact as Benson is not being drafted in very many leagues. The Orioles signed Steve Trachsel to replace him in the rotation but he doesn't have significant fantasy value either. If you are looking for a sleeper pick in a very deep league or a keeper league, this may open up a job for Hayden Penn.

In other news, Carlos Zambrano said in a TV interview that if the Cubs don't sign him to a long term deal before the season starts he will leave the Cubs after the season ends. He doesn't say exactly what he means by long term deal but he did reference the contract Barry Zito got earlier this year. It seems unlikely to me that, considering the money the Cubs have tossed around this offseaon, Zambrano isn't given an extension. However, if he does not resign and the Cubs are not in the playoff hunt come the trade deadline, he could be dealt to a contender. If he does not sign, he said he would still play full strength for the Cubs this year but, if he does not sign, look for a little dip in his performance. This is definately something to keep an eye on.

There are also rumors floating around that Mariono Rivera could and would leave the Yankees in 2008. The New York media immediately took that to mean that he would go to the Red Sox. No matter how obsurd that immediate conclusion is, it would seem to me that if that seems like a bigger possibility, the Yankees would probably resign him to keep him away from Boston. Possbily a sign and trade deal could be worked out with another team. It does seem like if Rivera is pitching like he did last year, however, he will be resigned. The yankees has a number of internal options they could use but my guess is they are waiting to see what happens with Fransisco Rodriguez's contract. The Red Sox would provide good leverage for Mo to use with the Yankees, if it comes to that.

Other quick hits:

- Joe Mauer signed a 4 year/33 mil $ deal

- Bernie Williams will not accept the Yankees minor league offer and apparently has turned down guaranteed offers from other teams, it seems like he really wants to stay a Yankee.

- Armando Benitez is still on the trading block, but will need to prove he is healthy first.

- Mets sign Chan Ho Park

- Bronson Arroyo re-ups with Cinci through 2010 with a club option for 2011.

- Aaron Harang also re-signs with Cinci through 2010 with a club option for 2011. His deal is worth 36.5 MM including the option.

- Brett Myers got a 3 year extension from the Phillies.

- The Atlanta Braves were finally sold by Time Warner to Liberty Media, pending league approval. Maybe this will mean a larger pay role for the Braves and possibly an Andruw Jones extension?!?

#21: M. Teixeira - TEX 1B

#21: M. Teixeira

Mark was a 1st rounder in almost every draft last year, but boy did he have a bad year a la Beltran 2 years ago. Most experts are predicting a bounceback for him this year and I agree. Due to the fact that he had a unusually bad year last year, looking only at his stats from last year can not help you at all for your draft. However, looking at the history behind the player will prove to be very beneficial and if your leaguemates are uninformed, you may be able to grab this guy in the 3rd round.

Heres a little bit more about Mark: Last year Teixeira hit 33 home runs to complement a .282 BA. Not terrible stats but not Mark Teixeira stats either. In 2005, Mark Topped 40 HR and a .300 AVG to go along with 144 RBI and 112 Runs. Now those are Mark Teixeira numbers. I wouldn't be surprised to see 40 HR, .290 AVG, 125 RBI and 105 Runs. Mark won't produce anything from the speed aspect but that isn't a big deal.

One reason to take him: Mark should rebound pretty nicely from last year as I mentioned above. One reason that I firmly believe this is that if you watch some game film from last season you will see that an unusual number of balls of Marks are bouncing off the fence or going over the fence in foul territory. This leads me to believe that the power is still there and he was merely unlucky last year. With a little hard work he should be back to form.

One reason not to take him: His numbers from last year do not warrant this position in the top 25 so there is a little bit of risk involved in this pick. If you would rather stick with a safer bet this early in the draft than Teixeira is not your guy.

Some New Friends...

In an attempt to help MLB Front Office blossom to its full potential, I have spent this morning sending out emails to various fantasy baseball websites looking for some mutual advertising agreements. I have heard back from a couple and you will see there links on the right hand side. I am still waiting to hear back from many that I sent email's out to but I don't expect to hear back from all of them, as I am sure to most this tiny blog does not help their cause largely enough to give me the time of day. This is where I need your help! By telling your friends and your friends telling their friends, this fantasy website can get enough daily page visits to get the attention of these larger websites and in turn get even more attention on the global fantasy sports level.

Look at it this way. If 50 readers tell two of their friends and in turn those two friends tell two of their friends, we know have 350 people (I think - haha). Imagine now if you post a message about MLB FRONT OFFICE in your league and then each person in your league posts a message in all their other leagues etc. etc. I know it is a far fetched dream but the results would be out of this world.

Please take the time to tell your friends and your league about MLB Front Office so this little blog can grow and grow into a fully blown, efficiently operating website with multiple fantasy experts writing just for you!

In addition, I'd just like to remind anyone that if you have any fantasy baseball questions, feel free to email me at: stew0610@ameritech.net and you may even be featured in a blog article!