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Here is a review of this weeks best pickups as reviewed on Daily Roto Pickups. I will try to supply one from each of the following positions at my weekly review here on Crooked Pitch (C, CI, MI, OF, SP and RP) I will include their current availability which may have changed since my initial review. I will also update reviews if they are a better or worse pickup.

C: Dioner Navarro - I love this pickup right now. He is coming back from a minor injury and has played well in his rehab games. He had an amazing second half (for a catcher!). He had 179 AB’s after the break and had 30 R, 8 HR, 31 RBI with .281/.340/.475 which would be 75/20/75 in 450 AB’s. If you play in a 2 catcher league he is a must and in other mixed leagues he is a great backup or injury fill in.

He is currently owned in 14% of leagues.

CI: Matt Stairs - I am surprised that he is not up from 10% owned with Thomas getting released. The team also did not call up Adam Lind, so he should be playing everyday. Last year in 357 AB’s he hit 21 HR which would be about 30 HR in 500 AB. The Blue Jays are also playing pretty well right now and should give him some RBI chances. He is a career .267 hitter, but has batted over .280 as recently as last year.

He is only owned in 10% of CBS leagues.

CI: Jorge Cantu - The problem here is that he is not as strong a play with only 1B/3B eligibility. He was so much better with 2B eligibility during that 2005 season. If he regains his form though he could have 20+ HR and strong RBI, but not in the range of his 2005 season of 117. His BA has varied from bad to OK so don’t count on much there. He also doesn’t walk a lot so the OBP is poor and so are runs. I do like that he has 2 SB already while never topping 4. If he got 10+ this year he would add even more value.

He is only owned in 27% of CBS leagues.

MI: Brendan Harris - Harris has a little pop and just hit a homer on Sunday. But, he will never hit much more than 10 HR and could top out around 15. He is limited on speed as well, but should be around .280 or so in the average. In my OBP league he doesn’t help, but in a Yahoo league, he is a good MI or replacement for Rollins on the DL.

He is only owned in 25% of CBS leagues.

OF: Luke Scott - In the field I would pick up Luke Scott. I don’t think his stats will be top tier, but it is not unreasonable to expect 25/90 with good BA and OBP. Baltimore will definitely let him play and he seems to still be hot. Bill James projects him at 24/83 with a .280 BA in 461 games. Up that to 500 and he reaches my numbers.

He is only owned in 56% of CBS leagues.

SP: Jeremy Guthrie - He has played really well for 3 out of 4 starts. The other start was not very good and has hidden his stats and made him look worse than he is. I don’t see K’s or wins coming from him in great numbers, but he can be a back end starter in most leagues. If you’re dealing with injuries in the rotation then go get Guthrie.

He is owned in 49% of leagues.

SP: Hong-Chih Kuo - This is neither long term or for those with a strong staff, but Kuo can be a quick boost in K’s. He has thrown more than a K per inning and will stick in the 5th spot for now. He is being limited on pitches which kept him from a win last time out, but pitching in the NL west and with a strong K rate is nothing to ignore. I would spot start for now, but also be aware he is a big injury risk.

He is only owned in 18% as of this morning on CBS.

SP: Scott Olsen - Whether or not he will lose his cool or even pitch 20 more starts is not the point. He appears to be healthy now and he is facing the Nationals on Sunday. This is one of my 3 must start opponents this year. The others are the Giants and the Twins. I expect another good start and perhaps you can get some K’s from him. His owned percent is going up after shutting down a weak Nats lineup. The Brewers this week will be more of a challenge.

He is only owned in 66% as of this morning on CBS.

RP: Manny Acosta - After the injury to Moylan and Soriano any one with an open RP spot and looking for4 saves needs to take a shot on Acosta. If your rate stats are high you might want to pass, but in a league without holds I would give him a shot over a Neshek(pitching poorly in 2008) or Broxton. He should pick up more saves than any of the other options. As a Soriano owner I have him starting tomorrow. How has his owned percent only gone to 31%? He may not be the best, but he is getting saves. Now that Soriano has had more discomfort go get him if you need saves.

He is only owned in 31% as of this morning on CBS.

Pretty even match between the American League and the National League this week with the MVP awards. There are even a few surprises mixed in. Enjoy!

Catcher: This was a tough call as no catcher really strutted his stuff ahead of everyone else. So, I’m going to give the award to someone, who most likely, is a free agent in your league, Chad Moeller (NYY). Moeller hit .350/.435/.600 with 5 runs scored, a home run, and 3 RBI as he continued filling in for Jorge Posada.

First Base: Conor Jackson (ARI) showed superb stuff this week hitting .480/.519/1.080. He also scored 10 times, hit 3 home runs, knocked in 10 and even stole a base.

Second Base: Chase Utley (PHI) is a man among boys. This is his 2nd MVP award and maybe his best week yet. he hit .391/.462/.1.087 with 6 runs scored, 5 home runs, and 8 RBI.

Shortstop: This was a close race between Jose Reyes, Ryan Theriot, Hanley Ramirez and Derek Jeter. But I’m giving the award to Ryan Theriot (CHC) who hit .481/.533/.815 with 9 runs scored, a home run, 4 RBI and a stolen base.

Third Base: Here’s another close race between Miguel Cabrera, Chipper Jones, and David Wright. I was prepared to give the award to Cabrera until I saw that his on-base percentage was lower than his batting average. That just didn’t sit well with me, so Chipper Jones (ATL) wins the week 3 fantasy baseball MVP award. He hit .565/.600/1.174 with 6 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 7 RBI.

Outfield: “Manny being Manny” is quickly turning into the definition of tearing the cover off of the ball. Manny Ramirez (BOS) hit .417/.517/.958 with 7 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 8 RBI and he’s really keeping the Red Sox alive while Papi finds his swing.

Starting Pitcher: John Danks (CHW) only gave up 8 hits in 14.2 innings of work this past week. He won both starts and had an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.68 while dazzling with a 6.00 strikeout to walk ratio (12:2). He’s also available in some leagues, so give him a look in very deep mixed leagues and AL only’s.

Relief Pitcher: Billy Wagner (NYM) recorded three saves this past week and posted a 0.00 ERA and WHIP. He struck out three batters while walking none.

The fantasy baseball MVP awards are in, and boy did the National League dominate in week one. If not for Pierzynski and Soria, the NL would have swept these awards. I did give Figgins an honorable mention, but then again, it was just a mention.

Catcher: A.J. Pierzynski (CHW) blasted 2 home runs, scored 7 times and knocked in 7 runs last week while hitting .500/.565/1.000.

First Base: I distinctly remember talking, back in January, about Derrek Lee (CHC) and how I thought he’d make a return towards his 2005 numbers. Well, he hit 3 home runs last week and averaged .400/.423/.880.

Second Base: Chase Utley (PHI) is earning his first round draft status by averaging .429/.519/.952 with 3 home runs, 8 runs scored and 6 RBI last week.

Third Base: Mark Reynolds (ARI) struck out 8 times last week, but still hit .304/.385/.609 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Chone Figgins (LAA) was considered for MVP honors this week after hitting .407/.484/.481 with 2 stolen bases, but for some reason I couldn’t hand the hardware to a player who had a higher on-base percentage than slugging percentage.

Shortstop: Jeff Keppinger (CIN) had a superb week hitting .435/.480/.826 with 2 home runs, 6 runs scored, 4 RBI and a stolen base.

Outfield: The outfield MVP was an easy choice after watching him blast two homers from the cheap seats at “The Ted”. Xavier Nady (PIT) finished the week with 3 homers, 9 RBI, 6 runs scored and a stolen base while hitting .385/.448/.769.

Starting Pitcher: Man, did i want to give Johnny Cueto (CIN) this award as he took a perfect game into the 6th in his Major League debut, but Jake Peavy (SD) had a sick week with 2 wins, 12 strikeouts and an 0.56 ERA and WHIP. Nasty!

Relief Pitcher: The Royals are leading the AL Central and Joakim Soria is 3-3 in save opportunities. He struck out 7 and hasn’t walked anyone yet. With an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.50, Soria was an easy choice.
photo credit: The G-tastic 7

I’d like to share four fantasy baseball thoughts about what I saw yesterday, and to a certain extent, last week in Japan.

1. Carlos Gomez and Michael Bourn are on pace to swipe 324 bases this year. Now, that’s not even realistic. However, the fact that they both swiped two yesterday really goes a long way to showing me that they are gonna get a lot of green lights in 2008. That being the case, they’ll both outperform their average draft positions (331.41 & 195.50 respectively) in a big way.
2. Since we’re talking about pairs, Xavier Nady and Jim Thome both blasted two home runs yesterday. Thome hit 25 homers in the second half of last season after only 10 in the first half. He seems to be continuing the trend. Nady had the opposite split with almost twice as many homers in the first half than second. So, who’s trending and who just had an unusual outburst yesterday? We’ll keep an eye on that.
3. Many feel that Franklin Gutierrez will have a season double-double with home runs and stolen bases. His 3-3 performance yesterday with a home run leads me to believe it as well.
4. Jake Peavy and Brad Penny both posted 0.00 ERA’s yesterday. Peavy threw 7 innings and Penny 6.2, but neither had great strikeout to walk totals. Penny’s was 3:2 and Peavy’s was 4:3. I’d much rather have the opening day performances of Johan Santana (7 IP, 2.57 ERA, 8:2 K:BB) and Rich Harden (6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 9:3 K:BB)

Every day, over at ESPN SportsNation, they have fantasy baseball chats with some of the experts in the field. Today, at 11:00, the host was Tristan H. Cockcroft and he answer some good questions like:

• Homer Bailey or Matt Garza?
• Which SS past the 1st round will provide the most value this season in relation to their current ADP?
• The NL hitter who will come from nowhere this year to be a stud is ______________?

Also today, James Quintong will be hosting a chat at 3:00. Make sure to check it out.

I just came across a three part series over at The Baseball Analysts authored by Rich Lederer. In these three posts he’s going to rank 75 players under the age of 25, but he’s doing it with a twist. He’s going to break them down by age. Furthermore, the methodology for his rankings are truly interesting.

The rankings are heavily weighted toward stats, age vs. level of play, and position. Tools and upside also played a part, as did opinions by Baseball America, Keith Law, and Kevin Goldstein, especially among younger prospects. Ultimately, the rankings are based on a discounted present value of the future returns (like they do in the financial world) of each player’s career. The closer the expected returns, the higher the value.

Anyone who plays in a keeper league should read these three posts (Only two of them have been published, so far)

• Rich Lederer’s 25 and 24 year olds list
• Rich Lederer’s 23 and 22 year olds list
• Rich Lederer’s 21 and 20 year olds list          Update: 2/13/2008 at 1:04 PM

Hi folks. I suppose a bit of an introduction before the last post might have been good. My name’s Andy and I write about the Pirates over at Bugs & Cranks. Yes, that’s right, I’m a lifelong Pirates fan, and that might be a harder admission than telling a roomful of strangers that you’re an alcoholic.

Given my MLB allegiance and the fantasy baseball slant to this site, I thought about trying to write a post about giving Roto advice as it pertains to the Pirates players. Well, I started making some notes, and here’s what I came up with: by no means should you ever draft: Jose Bautista, Nyjer Morgan, Jack Wilson, Ronny Paulino, Matt Morris…that’s as far as I got. My hand started to get tired. In case you’re curious though, here’s a link to 40 other people you probably don’t want on your fantasy team either.

Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell are both young pitchers you actually might want to consider. However, they’ll probably be lacking in a certain important fantasy pitching category *ahem* wins *ahem*. In addition, young Pirates pitchers have shown a remarkable propensity to get hurt or flame out over the past 15 years, so both of them are karmically due for a bad season. So there, I may actually have taught you something you didn’t know.

Anyway, the big story we’re running today over at Bugs&Cranks is a debate over the respective MVPs for each league. In that vein, I thought it might be fun for any readers out there to share who the MVP of your fantasy team was this year. Maybe it was a five category stud like Alex Rodriguez, whom you took with the third overall pick and he carried you to victory. Maybe it was a late waiver pick up like Reggie Willits, whose steal total allowed you to steal the category and keep the big trash talker in your league from taking the crown yet again.

My fantasy MVP this season was A’s pitcher Dan Haren, whom I got with a low round pick. Not only did his beard remind me of how my dad rocked it throughout the 80s, but  his spectacularly consistent performance kept my staff afloat and kept me out of the indignity of finishing in the basement.

What about all of you?