Pre-Season Schedule

The time has come once again, its crunch time. That's why, here at MLB Front Office, we are going to be offering even more premium content in the comming weeks. The whole big party will be kicked off this weekend with the release of more content than any one man can handle. This weekend, MLB Front Office will be finishing its release of its top 25 players. Why so fast you ask? Because we understand that your drafts do not happen two days before the season starts, they happen NOW! So in order to provide you with the best content, our top 25 will be released THIS WEEKEND, with no dip in quality either! But thats not all, also being released this weekend will be MLB Front Office's positional rankings! Every position, every player worth drafting, everything you could need! But we won't stop there. Also being released this weekend will be MLB Front Office's top 250 players! Thats right 2-5-0! This will be released along with the ranking of other FBE writers in order to provide YOU with the best rankings on the net. Oh, and we're not even close to done! Sometime this week, I will release part 1 of 2 of my massive article on Statistical Oddities in Baseball. That is a hell of an article! Also this weekend, I will be working on my 1 man mock draft. All 25 rounds of mock draft mayhem, the catch? I will be drafting against only myself! I will also be working on part 2 of my Baseball Stastics article which should be released sometime next week.

Here is a look at what MLB Front Office will be offering up until the start of the Baseball Season:

Feb 26 - Mar 4: Sleeper Week

- All my top sleepers

- players to avoid

- sleeper mania article

Mar 5 - Mar 11: Keeper Week

- Keeper Strategy

- "The Stock Market"

- Favorite Keepers

- Players to drop

- Q & A

Mar 12 - Mar 18: Prospect Week

- Prospect Bios

- Deep Deep Prospects

- Ranking Minor League System

- Top 50 Prospects

Mar 19 - Mar 25: Spring Training Extravaganza

- Key Battles

- Trade Rumors

- Biggest Movers

- HUGE SURPRISE!!!!!!!

Mar 25 - Mar 31: Offseason Wrap-up

- Biggest Fantasy Moves

- Battle Results

- Momentum?!?

- Opening Day Starters

- Opening Day Predictions

- What it all means

- Weak 1 strong/weak plays

- PLAY BALL!!!!!

Now who else besides MLB Front Office is going to bring you all of that and more?!? The Answer: No One! Thats because MLB Front Office is a one of a kind Blog. As always, feel free to email questions, comments, complaints etc. to: stew0610@ameritech and I will respond in a timely fasion.

New Feature

The Writers of Fantasy Baseball Express will be offering a new feature for your viewing pleasure. Coming soon will be a compilation of most of the writers rankings so you can look in one place to see all the rankings! No more looking at all the other blogs to see how they stack up to MLB FRONT OFFICE's rankings. It's all going to be in one place! I will post more on this as it develops a little bit further.

Thanks for your patience while I have limited computer access, the blog will be back to normal starting on tuesday!

Limited Computer Access

I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently. I have been with limited internet access for the weekend. Normal updates will return on tuesday. Meanwhile, please take a look at some of the other Fantasy Baseball Express writers and look forward to my return on tuesday. It was nice to know that people are actually following my blog because I got emails from a couple of people.

In addition, I will be signing up for the FBE Writers league and will be doing analysis on that draft after its completion.

I'll see (or write) to all of you on tuesday! Feel free to email me questions and I will try and get out timely answers.

The Big Time!

Woohoo! MLB Front Office is expanding, fast! I just wanted to update you on a couple of things that you may see coming up. Along with the links that you will see on the right hand side (I add more every day), MLB Front Office is working on a partnership with a number of different websites. I'm having ongoing conversation with Lenny Melnick of lennymelnickfantasybaseball.com, Mark Haverty of sportsblurb.com, and Keithe Morton of thefantasydraft.com. I am very excited for where this blog could go.

In addition, you will notice some new features on the right hand side. There is now a contact me link, a link to the official MLB Front Office dynasty league and a news feed from espn.com that contains all the latest and fast breaking news in the MLB.

I would also like to appologize for the lack of content today. I spent the day working on an article that I am developing about statistical oddities in baseball. This article will probably appear on lennymelnickfantasybaseball.com as well as possibly the other two websites I mentioned, and of course, it will appear here. To make up for the lack of content, I figured I'd give you a little sneak peak:

"Fantasy Baseball is one of the fastest growing enterprises in the United States. Why? Because baseball has the most statistic obsessed fan base of any professional sport. In what other sport would people first research the Day and Night game splits for a player and than calculate the number of Day vs. Night games the player will play the following year and how it will affect his numbers (ok – maybe I just have too much free time)? However ridiculous some statistics may be, there are others that are a necessary part to understanding where value lies in fantasy baseball and also to finding the sleepers and the underrated players. To some these statistics may seem daunting; to others they are just a part of the annual research process. This article will attempt to demonstrate, first what each statistic is and second how it can be used to keep you in the money."

That is just the first paragraph of what will probably end up being a four page article on statistics in baseball. If you are curious as to the rest of the article, you will just have to check back here in the coming days. Also don't forget to check out the websites I mentioned above.

Last but certainly not least, I'd like to extend a special invitation to all of you to check out The Waiver Wire. The Waiver Wire was also featured on Roto Authority in its earliest days, as was MLB Front Office. It is a very unique blog targeted to a very specific audience: Each day, the blog will identify a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher who they expect to perform well that day and are available in at least 50% of Yahoo public fantasy baseball leagues. The Waiver wire will explain why the player was chosen, and at the end of the season, they will see how they did over the course of the season.At the end of the season, The Waiver Wire will donate 1/4 of whatever they earn from the ads on the site to 'Save The Children'. It's a great cause and a great blog. Check it out!

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!

If you enjoy MLB Front Office...

If you enjoy MLB Front Office you may also enjoy two new blogs that I've exchanged links with Roto Authority and Fantasy Baseball Island. Fantasy Baseball Island is another affiliate of Fantasy Baseball Express. Links to both these websites can be found on the right side panel.

Anyway, I just wanted to touch in and let all of you know about these two great blogs and also wanted to let you know that the reason there is no new information up today is because I spent the day doing a little research for the competition at rotohog.com. If you haven't checked it out yet you need to! You could win up to 100,000 and have the title of the Best Fantasy Baseball Player in the WORLD! I will be doing a couple of articles over the course of the season on my team in this league, so check it out and sign up while you still can. They will stop accepting after 100,000 people so hurry! The Fantasy Man has his own "league" set up through them that I am in so check it out.

Also, if you run a credible and informative blog and would like to exchange links please contact me via email at: stew0610@ameritech.net

Mock Talk 2.0

UPDATE: I was reviewing some of the notes managers left me on Mock Draft Central and one guy (I don't know who it was) had Mark Prior in the last round of the draft listed as my worst pick of the draft. I'm sorry but I needed to post this because to me a guy who has 3.00 ERA upside is hardly a bad pick with the last overall pick. If he is injured again, I drop him and move on, no loss to me. I think at the end of the draft MARK PRIOR is a fantastic pick. You heard it here first!

Ok, so maybe I'm a little obsessive but I wanted to solve the 3b mystery, so I did another mock draft Sunday morning. This time my strategy went awry a little bit but my team ended up pretty good. That just goes to show that if you really know what you're doing you'll end up ok. How do you learn to know what you're doing? Well by reading my blog of course! Anyway, I'm not going to go into as much detail as last time but I have some good insights.

I'm writing this as I'm drafting so we'll see what happens. Anyway, the first pick that shocked me was Howie Kendrick going in the 3rd round. The general consensus in the draft room was that it would have been a good pick, 10 rounds later! I agree.

Then Scott Rolen went in the 6th round which really scared me. But there wasn't a 3b run like last time which was reassuring. Zimmerman than went in the 9th round and I grabbed Chipper in the 10th. Remember that this is only a 10 team draft instead of a 12 team draft. So I'd say that if you wait til like the 7th or 8th round in a 12 team draft you should be ok for 3B.

A couple of quick hit notes on my team:

I grabbed Carlos Guillen after I missed out on both Hanley Ramirez and Michael Young. I passed on Hanley to take Holliday because I felt like I needed a top notch OF based on who was going.

I got a lot of my favorite sleepers in this draft: Rocco Baldelli, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez and Rich Hill.

I snagged Chien-Ming Wang in the 13th which may have been a bit early but I had so many top strikeout guys already that I felt I could sacrifice the strikouts on him.

I stook with my strategy of draft Closers, Catchers, and Second Base late and it worked out well for me with Kinsler at 2nd, Russell Martin at Catcher and Bob Wickman and Jason Isringhausen closing for me.

The biggest flaw in my team is certainly my speed which I really didn't notice until it was too late. I wanted to grab Dave Roberts at the end to come off the bench and get a couple steals but I missed out on him.

It was a very shallow draft so a lot of the sleepers that I usually draft went undrafted but I was pretty happy with it over all, minus my glaring need for speed.

I was reviewing the draft results and honestly nothing really jumped off the page at me which is a little disapointing but I'd say the biggest thing I gained from this is a better feeling of the 3B position. Although Rolen went early again in this draft, the rest of the guys lasted a bit longer so that's reassuring. I'm now planning on taking 3B in the 8-10th round of a ten man league and the 7-9th round of a 12 man league.

Take a look at the draft results using the link at the top of the article and get back to me with any feedback! Thanks!