Hey all,

On today’s show, we revealed our 2011 All-Surprise Team, and picking this squad was far from easy. I think one of the main reason why we always have a tough time deciding on this group is that there’s more than one kind of surprise player. There’s the guy who comes out of nowhere to deliver a stellar stat line (Ryan Roberts, Emilio Bonifacio, Ryan Vogelsong). But then there are other players who we expected to break out but did not expect to be quite this good (Curtis Granderson, Ian Kennedy). Because of this, there are always so many deserving candidates. Well, here’s the group we ultimately settled on, and it took Ian Kennedy’s 20th win to earn him a last minute victory over Vance Worley!

-Zach

FANTASY 411 2011 ALL-SURPRISE TEAM

CORY’S PICKS

Shields @ Hughes  (Gm 1) – Hughes unpredictable and much better on the road

Hellickson @ Sabathia (Gm 2)

Buehrle @ Jimenez – Ubaldo finding his groove with the Tribe

Haren @ McGowan

Hunter @ Beckett

Scherzer @ Paulino – Scherzer has allowed 29 HR’s this year

Pineda @ Slowey – this might be it for Pineda this year

Wilson @ McCarthy – McCarthy outstanding at home

Wandy @ Arroyo

Wolf @ Garza

Bass @ Cook

Ohlendorf @ Miley – good matchup for Miley, but K-BB says too risky

Peacock @ Worley

Lowe @ Vazquez

Schwinden @ J. Garcia

Vogelsong @ Eveland – who knew Vogelsong would last?!

CORY’S PICKS

Floyd @ Carmona (Gm 1) – I’m done with both of these guys

Axelrod @ McAllister (Gm 2)

Davis @ Nova

Pineiro @ Cecil – different reasons to not trust either

VandenHurk @ Bedard – I’ll buy the lotto ticket

Penny @ Mendoza

Vargas @ Hendriks – good home matchup for the Aussie

Holland @ Harden

Detwiler @ Kendrick (Gm 1)

Milone @ Lee (Gm 2) – biggest mismatch of the day

Delgado @ An. Sanchez

Norris @ Bailey

Marcum @ Wells – hang with ‘em on Marcum

Pelfrey @ Jackson

Latos @ Chacin – Latos is the best 7-14 pitcher in baseball

Morton @ D. Hudson

Lincecum @ Kershaw – yes, please!

Happy Monday everyone!

On today’s show, we wrapped up our 2012 position by position previews with a look at the pitchers. Here are our top-15 starters and top-10 relievers heading into next season:

STARTING PITCHERS

1. Roy Halladay
2. Justin Verlander
3. Tim Lincecum
4. CC Sabathia
5. Clayton Kershaw
6. Cliff Lee
7. Jered Weaver
8. Cole Hamels
9. David Price
10. Felix Hernandez
11. Dan Haren
12. Matt Cain
13. Jon Lester
14. Zack Greinke
15. Ricky Romero

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical):

Madison Bumgarner
Yovanni Gallardo
Tommy Hanson
Jeremy Hellickson
Dan Hudson
Tim Hudson
Ian Kennedy
Mat Latos
James Shields
Stephen Strasburg

RELIEF PITCHERS

1. Mariano Rivera
2. Craig Kimbrel
3. Jon Papelbon
4. John Axford
5. Heath Bell
6. Brian Wilson
7. Joel Hanrahan
8. J.J. Putz
9. Drew Storen
10. Jose Valverde

Honorable Mentions: Jordan Walden and Neftali Feliz

***Tomorrow, we’ll unveil our 2011 All-Surprise team. Send us your own picks and we’ll include some of them on the show!

-Zach

Hey everyone,

On today’s show we revealed our top-10 catcher and top-15 outfielder rankings for 2012. A lot of tough choices, particularly in the outfield. The Granderson vs. Ellsbury decision drove us nuts and Stanton vs. Bruce is also very close.

So without further adieu, here are our rankings:

CATCHERS

ZACH’S PICKS

SATURDAY

Colon @ Alvarez – Colon vs. TOR this year (four starts): 6.86 ERA  1.73 WHIP

Gomez @ Swarzak – I’ll take a chance on Swarzak vs. weak CLE lineup.

Porcello @ Gonzalez – Porcello’s hot and he’s been solid on the road.

Niemann @ Lester

Big Erv @ Britton – Britton: 5.61 ERA  1.72 WHIP in seven starts since All-Star break.

Stewart @ Teaford

Lewis @ Vasquez

Sosa @ Lopez

Dickey @ T. Hudson – Dickey since All-Star break: 3.18 ERA  1.16 WHIP

Volstad @ Strasburg

Westbrook @ Oswalt

Gallardo @ Volquez

Surkamp @ Pomeranz – Surkamp has benefited from favorable matchups (vs. HOU, @SD, vs. SD). He’s in for a rude awakening here.

Collmenter @ LeBlanc – Collmenter 2 ER or less in six of his last seven starts.

McDonald @ Lilly

                                                                                                                                                SUNDAY

Nova @ McGowan – Nova a little risky here but he’s been very consistent.

Weaver @ VandenHurk

Price @ Wakefield

Danks @ Chen – Coming off 8 IP 0 ER outing, Chen’s a worthy start vs. erratic CWS lineup.

Masterson @ Diamond – Diamond’s a solid play in AL-only formats, but I don’t trust him in mixed leagues just yet.

Verlander @ Moscoso – Moscoso coming off shaky performance but his home splits are still impressive (6-2  2.50 ERA  0.95 WHIP)

Harrison @ King Felix

Greinke @ Willis

Hand @ Wang

Gee @ Beachy – Gee’s bouncing back but I still don’t trust him.

Myers @ Dempster – Myers is hot and I like the matchup for Dempster.

Cain @ Rogers

Saunders @ Harang – If you’re ever going to pitch Saundo, you might as well do it here.

Lincoln @ Billingsley – I’m fed up with Billingsley’s inconsistency.

Carpenter @ Hamels

                                                                                                                                              MONDAY

Simon @ Lackey (Gm 1)

Guthrie @ TBD (BOS) (Gm 2)

Pavano @ F. Garcia – Freddy’s really struggling of late.

Furbush @ Huff

Pineiro @ Morrow – Morrow’s very close to DTM.

Lohse @ Halladay

Minor @ Nolasco – I really don’t know what to do with Nolasco at this point…flip a coin.

Happ @ TBD (CIN)

Marcum @ Coleman

Luebke @ Millwood – Luebke’s actually been much better on the road than at home. I’m rolling the dice. Millwood’s an intriguing NL-only option.

Morton @ Kennedy

CORY’S PICKS

Haren @ Hunter

Sabathia @ Cecil

Shields @ Beckett

Humber @ Paulino – two of this year’s nicest waiver wire pickups

Jimenez @ Slowey

Fister @ Cahill

Wilson @ Beavan

Wandy @ Garza

Vazquez @ Lannan – nice rebound by Javy in the 2^nd half

J. Garcia @ Worley – Garcia faded badly in 2^nd half

Wolf @ Arroyo

Capuano @ Lowe

Bumgarner @ White

Miley @ Stauffer – don’t’ trust Stauffer right now

Locke @ Kuroda

ZACH’S PICKS

Hellickson @ Miller – I know Joe said ditch on Hellickson but he’s been too dominant all year for me to sit him.
Carmona @ Ogando – Ogando can no longer be trusted.
Buehrle @ Francis
Scherzer @ McCarthy – McCarthy has been lights out at home (2.92 ERA  1.14 WHIP)
Milone @ Schwinden
An. Sanchez @ Kendrick – Anibal is hot. I’m trotting him out there.
Sanabia @ Lee
Wells @ Bailey – Coming off gem at Coors, Homer has earned it. Wells not a terrible start but the matchup scares me.
Vogelsong @ Chacin
Ohlendorf @ Eveland

Hey guys,

Today, we continued our 2012 positional previews with a look at our top-10 second basemen and shortstops. Here are our rankings:

SECOND BASE

1. Robinson Cano
2. Dustin Pedroia
3. Ian Kinsler
4. Chase Utley
5. Dan Uggla
6. Ben Zobrist
7. Rickie Weeks
8. Brandon Phillips
9. Dustin Ackley
10. Danny Espinosa

Honorable Mentions: Howard Kendrick, Neil Walker

SHORTSTOP

1. Troy Tulowitzki
2. Jose Reyes
3. Hanley Ramirez
4. Asdrubal Cabrera
5. Jimmy Rollins
6. Starlin Castro
7. Elvis Andrus
8. J.J. Hardy
9. Jhonny Peralta
10. Alexei Ramirez

Honorable Mentions: Erick Aybar, Derek Jeter

***NOTE  On Friday, we’ll move to catcher and outfield. We’d love to see your top-10 catchers and top-15 outfielders lists, so comment away! We’re planning on including some of your responses on Friday’s show.

-Zach

SIANO’S PICKS