Pitchers, pitchers, pitchers.  We’re only two days into Spring Training game action and already two aces have been scratched from today’s starts.  While I’m not overly concerned about Johan Santana or Brandon Webb, this just goes to show the risk you’re taking in drafting a starter in the first three or four rounds.  While hitters tend to play through injuries, especially minor ones, pitchers usually need to be very close to 100 percent healthy in order to take the hill every fifth day.  Arm discomfort?  Forget it!

Anyway, make sure to check out the updated mock draft results through Round 21 which are posted below.  Two more rounds to go.  January 12th was the start date, so forgive me if I’m having trouble remembering my first few picks.

Let’s get to your questions.

-Zach

FEATURED QUESTION OF THE DAY

I can’t understand why he is so underrated. He may not hit 21 home runs
again, but I would still view him as a top 10 2B. What do you think of
him this year and is it smart to target him in my drafts?

DeRosa’s not a sleeper in the pure sense, but yeah, potentially undervalued for
a guy who could hit 12-15 homers (if not more) with 2B/3B/OF
eligibility. I think he’s slipping in drafts since he’s viewed as a
late bloomer and is moving to the tougher league, but he’s definitely a
good value in the late teens or later.

-Cory

Alex Cushing – MLB.com

Joe Sheehan – Baseball Prospectus
Jeff Erickson – Rotowire.com
Mike Siano – MLB.com
Jeffrey Ma – Citizen Sports                                                                                                                           
Jason Collette – Fanball.com
Nando Di Fino / Tom Herrera  - WSJ.com / AOL.com
Will Carroll – Baseball Prospectus
Cory Schwartz – MLB.com
Lawr Michaels – CREATiVESPORTS.com
Zach Steinhorn – MLB.com
Tony Cincotta – Fantasypros911.com

R1 P1    Alex Cushing      Ramirez, Hanley
R1 P2    Joe Sheehan      Reyes, Jose
R1 P3    Jeff Erickson       Rodriguez, Alex
R1 P4    Mike Siano         Pujols, Albert
R1 P5    Jeffrey Ma         Wright, David
R1 P6    Jason Collette   Sizemore, Grady
R1 P7    Nando Di Fino    Howard, Ryan
R1 P8    Will Carroll         Upton, B.J.
R1 P9    Cory Schwartz   Braun, Ryan
R1 P10  Lawr Michaels    Utley, Chase
R1 P11  Zach Steinhorn  Rollins, Jimmy
R1 P12  Tony Cincotta    Cabrera, Miguel

R2 P1   Tony Cincotta    Hamilton, Josh
R2 P2   Zach Steinhorn  Teixeira, Mark
R2 P3   Lawr Michaels    Morneau, Justin
R2 P4   Cory Schwartz   Kinsler, Ian
R2 P5   Will Carroll         Santana, Johan
R2 P6   Nando Di Fino    Hamels, Cole
R2 P7   Jason Collette   Longoria, Evan
R2 P8   Jeffrey Ma         Lincecum, Tim
R2 P9   Mike Siano        Beltran, Carlos
R2 P10  Jeff Erickson    Holliday, Matt
R2 P11  Joe Sheehan   Soriano, Alfonso
R2 P12  Alex Cushing   Lee, Carlos

R3 P1    Alex Cushing     Ramirez, Manny                                                     
R3 P2    Joe Sheehan     Kemp, Matt
R3 P3    Jeff Erickson      Suzuki, Ichiro
R3 P4    Mike Siano        Pedroia, Dustin
R3 P5    Jeffrey Ma         Sabathia, CC
R3 P6    Jason Collette  Crawford, Carl
R3 P7    Nando Di Fino   Markakis, Nick
R3 P8    Will Carroll        Berkman, Lance
R3 P9    Cory Schwartz  Roberts, Brian
R3 P10  Lawr Michaels   Youkilis, Kevin
R3 P11  Zach Steinhorn  Phillips, Brandon
R3 P12  Tony Cincotta    Ramirez, Aramis

R4 P1    Tony Cincotta      Ramirez, Alexei
R4 P2    Zach Steinhorn    Bay, Jason
R4 P3    Lawr Michaels     Drew, Stephen
R4 P4    Cory Schwartz    Fielder, Prince
R4 P5    Will Carroll          McCann, Brian
R4 P6    Nando Di Fino     Rios, Alex
R4 P7    Jason Collette    Martin, Russell
R4 P8    Jeffrey Ma          Ellsbury, Jacoby
R4 P9    Mike Siano         Quentin, Carlos
R4 P10  Jeff Erickson      Webb, Brandon
R4 P11  Joe Sheehan     Peavy, Jake
R4 P12  Alex Cushing     Ortiz, David

R5 P1     Alex Cushing      Granderson, Curtis
R5 P2     Joe Sheehan      Mauer, Joe
R5 P3     Jeff Erickson       Soto, Geovany
R5 P4     Mike Siano         Papelbon, Jonathan
R5 P5     Jeffrey Ma          Hart, Corey
R5 P6     Jason Collette   Gonzalez, Adrian
R5 P7     Nando Di Fino   Guerrero, Vladimir
R5 P8     Will Carroll        Jones, Chipper
R5 P9     Cory Schwartz  Victorino, Shane
R5 P10   Lawr Michaels   Haren, Dan
R5 P11   Zach Steinhorn Dunn, Adam
R5 P12   Tony Cincotta   McLouth, Nate

R6 P1    Tony Cincotta      Rodriguez, Francisco
R6 P2    Zach Steinhorn    Nathan, Joe
R6 P3    Lawr Michaels      Billingsley, Chad
R6 P4    Cory Schwartz     Rivera, Mariano
R6 P5    Will Carroll           Halladay, Roy
R6 P6    Nando Di Fino      Furcal, Rafael
R6 P7    Jason Collette     Oswalt, Roy
R6 P8    Jeffrey Ma           Lidge, Brad
R6 P9    Mike Siano         Abreu, Bobby
R6 P10  Jeff Erickson      Davis, Chris
R6 P11  Joe Sheehan     Hernandez, Felix
R6 P12  Alex Cushing     Soria, Joakim

R7 P1      Alex Cushing       Martinez, Victor           
R7 P2     Joe Sheehan        Lackey, John    
R7 P3     Jeff Erickson         Tulowitzki, Troy
R7 P4     Mike Siano           Young, Michael         
R7 P5     Jeffrey Ma            Liriano, Francisco    
R7 P6   
  Jason Collette     Shields, James    
R7 P7     Nando Di Fino     Beckett, Josh
R7 P8     Will Carroll          Uggla, Dan    
R7 P9     Cory Schwartz    Pence, Hunter
R7 P10    Lawr Michaels    Napoli, Mike    
R7 P11    Zach Steinhorn  Matsuzaka, Daisuke         
R7 P12    Tony Cincotta     Hardy, J.J.
    
R8 P1     Tony Cincotta      Santana, Ervin    
R8 P2     Zach Steinhorn    Young, Chris      
R8 P3     Lawr Michaels     Ordonez, Magglio      
R8 P4     Cory Schwartz    Votto, Joey    
R8 P5     Will Carroll          Bruce, Jay    
R8 P6     Nando Di Fino     Kazmir, Scott    
R8 P7     Jason Collette    Valverde, Jose    
R8 P8     Jeffrey Ma           Iannetta, Chris
R8 P9     Mike Siano          Doumit, Ryan    
R8 P10   Jeff Erickson       Cano, Robinson    
R8 P11   Joe Sheehan      Pena, Carlos    
R8 P12   Alex Cushing      Lee, Derrek

R9 P1     Alex Cushing      Vazquez, Javier     
R9 P2     Joe Sheehan      Chamberlain, Joba        
R9 P3     Jeff Erickson       Lee, Cliff    
R9 P4     Mike Siano         Huff, Aubrey    
R9 P5     Jeffrey Ma          Marmol, Carlos    
R9 P6     Jason Collette    Jeter, Derek    
R9 P7     Nando Di Fino    Ludwick, Ryan    
R9 P8     Will Carroll        Maybin, Cameron
R9 P9     Cory Schwartz  Peralta, Jhonny
R9 P10   Lawr Michaels   Figgins, Chone    
R9 P11   Zach Steinhorn Damon, Johnny    
R9 P12   Tony Cincotta   Molina, Bengie    

R10 P1   Tony Cincotta    Burnett, A.J.    
R10 P2   Zach Steinhorn  Fuentes, Brian    
R10 P3   Lawr Michaels   Ryan, B.J.    
R10 P4   Cory Schwartz  Encarnacion, Edwin
R10 P5   Will Carroll        Milledge, Lastings
R10 P6   Nando Di Fino   Volquez, Edinson    
R10 P7   Jason Collette  Gordon, Alex    
R10 P8   Jeffrey Ma        Atkins, Garrett    
R10 P9   Mike Siano       Lester, Jon    
R10 P10 Jeff Erickson     Wood, Kerry    
R10 P11 Joe Sheehan    Kendrick, Howie
R10 P12 Alex Cushing    Zimmerman, Ryan

R11 P1  Alex Cushing       Greinke, Zack     
R11 P2  Joe Sheehan       Broxton, Jonathan
R11 P3  Jeff Erickson        Gallardo, Yovani
R11 P4  Mike Siano          Cordero, Francisco    
R11 P5  Jeffrey Ma           Wieters, Matt    
R11 P6  Jason Collette    Cruz, Nelson    
R11 P7  Nando Di Fino    Hoffman, Trevor
R11 P8  Will Carroll         Jenks, Bobby    
R11 P9  Cory Schwartz   Bell, Heath    
R11 P10 Lawr Michaels   Ethier, Andre    
R11 P11 Zach Steinhorn Zambrano, Carlos
R11 P12 Tony Cincotta   Lindstrom, Matt
 
R12 P1   Tony Cincotta    Matsui, Kaz    
R12 P2   Zach Steinhorn  Beltre, Adrian    
R12 P3   Lawr Michaels   Werth, Jayson    
R12 P4   Cory Schwartz   Nolasco, Ricky    
R12 P5   Will Carroll        Harden, Rich    
R12 P6   Nando Di Fino   Blalock, Hank    
R12 P7   Jason Collette   Lopez, Jose
R12 P8   Jeffrey Ma         Aviles, Mike
R12 P9   Mike Siano        Verlander, Justin    
R12 P10 Jeff Erickson     Loney, James    
R12 P11 Joe Sheehan    Upton, Justin    
R12 P12 Alex Cushing    Capps, Matt

R13 P1   Alex Cushing     Gonzalez, Mike       
R13 P2   Joe Sheehan     Hawpe, Brad    
R13 P3   Jeff Erickson      Ibanez, Raul    
R13 P4   Mike Siano        Cain, Matt
R13 P5   Jeffrey Ma         Bradley, Milton
R13 P6   Jason Collette  Devine, Joey    
R13 P7   Nando Di Fino   Sheets, Ben    
R13 P8   Will Carroll        Guzman, Cristian    
R13 P9   Cory Schwartz  Wainwright, Adam    
R13 P10 Lawr Michaels   Span, Denard    
R13 P11 Zach Steinhorn Myers, Brett    
R13 P12 Tony Cincotta   Hunter, Torii
    
R14 P1   Tony Cincotta     Taveras, Willy    
R14 P2   Zach Steinhorn   Johnson, Kelly    
R14 P3    Lawr Michaels   Navarro, Dioner    
R14 P4    Cory Schwartz  Wells, Vernon    
R14 P5    Will Carroll        Wilson, Brian    
R14 P6    Nando Di Fino    Iwamura, Akinori    
R14 P7    Jason Collette   Dye, Jermaine    
R14 P8    Jeffrey Ma         Jackson, Conor    
R14 P9    Mike Siano       Delgado, Carlos    
R14 P10  Jeff Erickson    DeRosa, Mark         
R14 P11  Joe Sheehan   Price, David    
R14 P12  Alex Cushing   Polanco, Placido
    
R15 P1     Alex Cushing    Danks, John    
R15 P2     Joe Sheehan    Scherzer, Max    
R15 P3     Jeff Ericks
on     Garza, Matt
R15 P4     Mike Siano        Dempster, Ryan    
R15 P5     Jeffrey Ma         Escobar, Yunel    
R15 P6     Jason Collette   Lowe, Derek    
R15 P7     Nando Di Fino   Tejada, Miguel    
R15 P8     Will Carroll        Kershaw, Clayton    
R15 P9     Cory Schwartz  Lilly, Ted    
R15 P10   Lawr Michaels   Baker, Scott    
R15 P11   Zach Steinhorn LaRoche, Adam    
R15 P12   Tony Cincotta   Burrell, Pat

R16 P1     Tony Cincotta    Suzuki, Kurt        
R16 P2     Zach Steinhorn  Posada, Jorge     
R16 P3     Lawr Michaels    Sanchez, Jonathan     
R16 P4     Cory Schwartz   Hanrahan, Joel     
R16 P5     Will Carroll         Reynolds, Mark
R16 P6     Nando Di Fino    Bedard, Erik     
R16 P7     Jason Collette   Slowey, Kevin     
R16 P8     Jeffrey Ma         Weeks, Rickie     
R16 P9     Mike Siano        Cabrera, Orlando     
R16 P10   Jeff Erickson      Qualls, Chad
R16 P11   Joe Sheehan     Stewart, Ian     
R16 P12   Alex Cushing     Weaver, Jered 

R17 P1    Alex Cushing      Nady, Xavier      
R17 P2    Joe Sheehan      Dukes, Elijah
R17 P3     Jeff Erickson      Jones, Adam     
R17 P4     Mike Siano        Cantu, Jorge     
R17 P5     Jeffrey Ma         Gomez, Carlos     
R17 P6     Jason Collette  Guillen, Carlos     
R17 P7     Nando Di Fino   Konerko, Paul     
R17 P8     Will Carroll        Johnson, Randy
R17 P9     Cory Schwartz  Pierzynski, A.J.     
R17 P10   Lawr Michaels   Saunders, Joe     
R17 P11   Zach Steinhorn Harang, Aaron     
R17 P12   Tony Cincotta   Sandoval, Pablo
 
R18 P1     Tony Cincotta    Johnson, Josh     
R18 P2     Zach Steinhorn Hernandez, Ramon     
R18 P3     Lawr Michaels   Sherrill, George     
R18 P4     Cory Schwartz  Young, Chris     
R18 P5     Will Carroll        Francisco, Frank     
R18 P6     Nando Di Fino   Byrnes, Eric     
R18 P7     Jason Collette   Lewis, Fred     
R18 P8     Jeffrey Ma         Balfour, Grant     
R18 P9     Mike Siano        Morrow, Brandon     
R18 P10   Jeff Erickson     Matsui, Hideki     
R18 P11   Joe Sheehan    Renteria, Edgar     
R18 P12   Alex Cushing    Lopez, Felipe
   
R19 P1     Alex Cushing     Crisp, Coco     
R19 P2     Joe Sheehan     Saltalamaccia, Jarrod     
R19 P3     Jeff Erickson      Lind, Adam     
R19 P4     Mike Siano        Young, Delmon     
R19 P5     Jeffrey Ma         Hermida, Jeremy     
R19 P6     Jason Collette  Clement, Jeff     
R19 P7     Nando Di Fino   Kendall, Jason     
R19 P8     Will Carroll        Theriot, Ryan     
R19 P9     Cory Schwartz  Cameron, Mike     
R19 P10   Lawr Michaels   Jurrjens, Jair     
R19 P11   Zach Steinhorn Maine, John     
R19 P12   Tony Cincotta   Street, Huston

R20 P1     Tony Cincotta    Wang, Chien-Ming
R20 P2     Zach Steinhorn  Pettitte, Andy
R20 P3     Lawr Michaels   Drew, J.D.
R20 P4     Cory Schwartz  Shoppach, Kelly 
R20 P5     Will Carroll        Ankiel, Rick
R20 P6     Nando Di Fino   Perez, Oliver 
R20 P7     Jason Collette  Parra, Manny 
R20 P8     Jeffrey Ma        Hafner, Travis
R20 P9     Mike Siano       Pierre, Juan
R20 P10   Jeff Erickson    Duchscherer, Justin 
R20 P11   Joe Sheehan   Butler, Billy
R20 P12   Alex Cushing   Kotchman, Casey

R21 P1     Alex Cushing   Cueto, Johnny 
R21 P2     Joe Sheehan    Lyon, Brandon
R21 P3     Jeff Erickson     Hanson, Tommy
R21 P4     Mike Siano       Laird, Gerald
R21 P5     Jeffrey Ma        Penny, Brad 
R21 P6     Jason Collette Rodriguez, Wandy
R21 P7     Nando Di Fino  Varitek, Jason
R21 P8     Will Carroll       Floyd, Gavin 
R21 P9     Cory Schwartz Meche, Gil
R21 P10   Lawr Michaels  Blake, Casey
R21 P11   Zach Steinhorn Putz, J.J. 
R21 P12   Tony Cincotta   Jacobs, Mike 
 

Siano’s out the rest of the week, so it’ll be Schwartz and I getting to your questions for the next couple of days.  Remember to check out today’s podcast, which will be available on the site sometime this afternoon.  For the first time in a really long time, you will see neither Mike nor Cory.  Petey Mac will run the show alongside new addition to the 411 family Corey Gottlieb.  They’ll talk underrated/overrated heading into ’09. 

I stand by my guarantee that we’ll complete our mock draft before the start of the regular season.  We’re in the middle of the 21st round now.  I’ll post an update upon the conclusion of the round.  Hopefully, a final mock draft result list will follow shortly after.

That’s all for now.  Fire away!

-Zach

FEATURED QUESTION OF THE DAY

Chris

Chris, I don’t mind O-Dawg for $3… as Mike and I discussed on
Tuesday’s podcast, he should be good for a strong AVG, 10-12 homers and
steals, and decent run/RBI numbers depending on where he hits in the
lineup. But he’s no superstar, so this is a case where you have to
weigh his consistently good production vs. “roster spots have value.”
Who will be out there who might be more worthwhile that you think you
can get for a good price? The available market should make the call for
you here… if it’s deep, you might want to gamble and let him go, but
if not he’s a very reasonable keeper at that price.

-Cory

I keep forgetting to tell you guys about some things cooking in the fantasy world.

Cbssports.com is doing a pretty good job on their site with helping you get ready for draft day. They have done some mock auctions in non mixed and have a bunch of articles so check it out. Cory and I are not endorsing all of their strategy stories but it never hurts to hear both sides. 

Jeff Erickson of Rotowire is back on the airwaves. You can now find him Monday thru Friday. Here is a copy and paste of the newsletter.

To all current and former RotoWire.com members:

We wanted to let you know that RotoWire’s “Fantasy Focus” daily audio baseball show, hosted by Jeff Erickson, is moving to BlogTalkRadio.com and RotoWire.com from XM Radio.

Fantasy Focus will be broadcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com at noon ET each Monday through Friday (at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RotoWire ). It will later be available by podcast at http://www.rotowire.com/podcast/, BlogTalkRadio.com and iTunes. It’s totally free to listen to live or podcast for later use.

Erickson’s slate of guests next week includes: Jason Grey from ESPN.com, Scott Pianowski from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports, injury guru Will Carroll and minor league expert John Sickels. Similar to the XM format, Erickson will be taking listener calls plus answering live questions in an online chat room.

“Fantasy Focus” ran on XM Radio’s Home Plate 175 channel from 2005 to 2008. Host Jeff Erickson is the two-time winner of the Fantasy Baseball Writer of the Year from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association. His lengthy experience in the industry (since 1997) brings in many high-profile guests on the show. Find Erickson’s writing on RotoWire at his weekly Rounding Third column.

The “RotoWire Fantasy Sports Hour” hosted by Chris Liss is not available via podcast at the moment. We plan to debut that show on rotowire.com later this spring.

Featured Question of the Day:

Kenny

I think the whole Indians lineup is due for a rebirth. With a stud like Sizemore, Peralta having a nice year and Choo and Francisco ready to make their way onto the scene Hafner can now focus on hitting and not carrying the lineup. If he doesn’t have a good 09′ he is pretty much done so knowing his work ethic and pride I think he is in line for a solid if not spectacular season. The only thing I don’t like about Hafner is his lack of flexibility in your lineup. After Big Papi’s injury plagued 08′ I am so down on DH only guys I can’t even think straight. Hafner is going pretty late in drafts so I see good returns but it’s still a buyer beware.

-Siano

Oh Vernon how are thou hammy?

Going to shoot the show in a few. Vernon has jumped into the headlines along with the Crede, Anderson and Hudson signings so stay tuned for that.

Let’s get to your questions……..Siano

FEATURED QUESTION OF THE DAY

Hey Guys,

I am in a 12 team Head to Head points league with the points being HR=4, 3B=3, 2B=2, 1B=1, SB=2, R=1 and RBI=2

I just made the pick of Jayson Werth and I was debating between him and
Lastings Milledge. Did I make the right choice and how do these two
players compare?

Thanks, Kampy

Most projection systems have Werth comfortably ahead of Milledge this
season due to his power upside, and that gives him a clear edge in your
scoring system. But I will say this… as Siano noted, I think Werth is
already as good as he’s going to be, but I’m convinced Milledge can
approach what McLouth did last year… maybe a few less homers, but the
overall development and production spike can be very similar.

-Cory

Not a huge weekend as far as star power goes but we did have some dominoes fall. Orlando Hudson to the Dodgers, GA to the ATL and Joe Crede and his back to the Twins. We will get into detail on all of them on Tuesday’s show, but if you really can’t wait then ask away.

Did anyone watch the 30 in 30 shows on the Network? I think 60 minutes is 30 minutes too long and when watching the Twins I would have liked some more insight on what could happen in their OF this year since it is so crowded with talented players, but then again it is only February. What I thought was really interesting and I’m going to talk to Joe Sheehan about this today is that thenetwork used the Pecota forecast for standings. For a major network to not just have their analysts make blanket predictions in just it’s second month is a good sign to me. More details on that to come when I find out. Oh and not sure how many people care but hate that they use the opening song from Rescue Me.

I will have some Listener League News in the next few days so keep an eye out for that.

My two cents on the Oscars since the only movie I saw was Dark Knight. I thought the best thing of the night was actually the Barbara Walters Special before the show when she interviewed Mickey Rourke, his take on what it would be like to win was classic.

-Siano

FEATURED QUESTION OF THE DAY

Napoli
probably offers the greatest degree of certainty in terms of both playing time
and production. Napoli will definitely be the number one catcher in Anaheim,
although Jeff Mathis will still see plenty of action, and he’ll hit plenty of
homers despite a medicore batting average. A best-case scenario for Napoli would
look something like one of Mickey Tettleton’s best seasons: 30 or so homers, a
.265 average and tons of walks and strikeouts. Saltalamacchia is likely to offer
the better batting average and also solid power, but his playing time is less
guaranteed due to the presence of Taylor Teagarden and hard-charging Max
Ramirez, who produced monster numbers in the winter leagues. Clement will rotate
between catcher, designated hitter and first base, but is coming off a knee
injury, was not terribly impressive in his MLB debut last season, and will be
hamstrung by a very week supporting lineup. Long-term he might be the best of
the bunch but he’s the least valuable of the three in non-keeper drafts this
year.

-Cory

Did another mock draft tonight because, let’s face it, it’s a lot better way to spend a night than watching another industry awards show, which I think is just a self-serving exercise in ego gratification. Anyway, here are the pick-by-pick results, my team and the projected standings.

Obviously this didn’t turn out to be not one of my finer efforts, but there’s a lot of upside here with guys like Chase Utley (a steal at 2.11), Lastings Milledge (9.5), Colby Rasmus (18.11), Mike Fontenot (22.11) and Kendry Morales (23.5). Of course, there’s also plenty of risk with those guys, plus most of my pitching staff, Adam LaRoche (13.5), Kevin Kouzmanoff (14.11) and others. This is the kind of team that could finish anywhere in the top three spots or the bottom three spots depending on health and luck.

I will say this, though… I think Milledge is going to have a monster season; in fact, I’m saying to anyone who will listen that Milledge : 2009 :: Nate McLouth : 2008. Meanwhile, Fontenot (right) is a great late-round gamble in the middle infield or utility spots. That guy is a solid hitter, he’s in his prime and he could put up very good numbers in that Cubs lineup as long as they don’t stick him in the #8 hole.

Anyway, I’ll keep posting my mock draft results as I do them and hopefully the results will get better as we close in on draft day!

Thanks,

Cory

From the ‘I’m Just saying Department”………

Below is an excerpt of Willy Taveras chatting with Hall of Fame scribe Hal McCoy

 ”I didn’t play all the time last year, for some reason, “I can only remember playing one Sunday game all year. I can be a consistent hitter if I’m in the lineup. I know I can get my average up and my on-base average up. A leadoff hitter who plays every day can get 600 to 700 at-bats. I stole 68 with only 479 at-bats and a low average and on-base percentage. So yes, stealing 100 is possible if I get the at-bats and have a .350 on-base average. And I’m working on bunts and plan to bunt at least once a game.”

I mentioned earlier this year that if Taveras can get his priorities about how he should be getting on base straight he could do some damage and way exceed his draft value. Right now he is going around the 13th round or so. It’s hard to call him a sleeper however when he led the land in stelas last year, but you see where I am going……………………Siano

FEATURED QUESTION OF THE DAY

As requested, here’s a complete 2008 games-by-position list (
2008 GxP 2009 projections.zip) for every MLB and minor league player, plus the 2009 composite batting and pitching projections, with the league column added. You ask, the 411 delivers! It’s a .zip file with a big Excel workbook included.

A few of the other Q&A threads have included some questions about the projections that were answered in the original posts, so please re-read those:

* About the composite pitching projections

* About the composite batting projections

* Last year’s projections and FAQ

As far as the GxP list, this includes one row each for MLB games and one for all total minor league games, including short-season “complex” leagues (Dominican Summer League, etc.) but NOT including the Mexican League since it is not affiliated. All three spreadsheets list each player’s 2009 team and league as of a couple of days ago.

I’m currently tinkering with my own formulas to convert projections into rankings and will probably post those in the next two weeks or so, hopefully including a formula to convert to dollar values. This is all work-in-progress stuff that I use to prep for my own drafts, so whatever I figure out, you all are welcome to share in as well.

BTW, there’s no good reason I included this picture of Yovanni Gallardo (right). I just wanted to include a picture so this wouldn’t look so boring.

Enjoy!

Thanks,

Cory

Just shot today’s show. Topics included Junior’s return to Seattle, the fantasy value of the Rockies rotation in 2009 and an e-mail about Billingsley and Joba. When you see the show you will see a new face. Corey Gottlieb joins the 411 on air family today and we are excited to have him. He will fill in as an analyst and Schwartz will start doing some ring leader work as the year progresses. Be sure to welcome Corey. Here is a mini bio and photo.

A member of MLB.com’s team since the start of 2008, Corey Gottlieb is an editor who works in fantasy content development and production.  Corey is a graduate of Amherst College, where he was an English major; before that, he was a starting pitcher for the Brookline High School baseball team (an achievement not shared by fellow BHS alum Theo Epstein). Despite the better wishes of his father, a lifelong Yankee fan who witnessed Roger Maris’ legendary 61^st homer, Corey is a Red Sox fan and is by no means afraid to say it. When he’s not obsessing over his fantasy lineups, Corey enjoys playing sports  …  and watching “Gossip Girl.”

Questions time………..

Featured Question of the Day

I’m a little surprised to see that Rick Ankiel has not yet been taken in your mock draft. If healthy, can’t he put up numbers similar to what we can expect from Carlos Pena?

Charlie Saponara

I’m a big fan of Ankiel and think he has 30-35 homer power, although some might be turned off by the potential playing time crunch in the St. Louis OF with the emergence last year of Ludwick, the arrival of Rasmus this year and the return of Chris Duncan. Still, he should be gone by now and I’m surprised he’s not; I’d take him but I drafted OF much earlier so I’m filled up now!

Cory