For Fantasy Sake

Willie Calhoun is currently out with a jaw fracture after being hit in the face with a pitch, how will he respond at the plate after returning? Sometimes injuries hit your fantasy baseball team out of nowhere, kind of like a fastball to Willie Calhoun's face. This week's column is about figuring out the value of Calhoun coming off an unexpected injury. Make no mistake: Calhoun was going to be a breakout candidate this season, but he had to take a long road through the minors to reach this point. He struggled after being the key piece of the Yu Darvish trade in 2017. Calhoun still found a way to make his debut that season playing 13 games, and he seemed poised to grab a roster spot in 2018. However, Calhoun started 2018 in the minors for his "defense" (arbitration). Calhoun didn't take the demotion well, voicing his displeasure and having his numbers drop to a concerning level batting .229 by the end of April. Calhoun's time fi

While the Pittsburgh Pirates think spending money is an Oberyn Martell level tactical mistake, some MLB teams did the unthinkable this off season. Teams like the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox had a crazy idea to spend money on making their teams better. To keep the Oberyn analogy going, here are some faces in new places with five players who can strengthen your team in 2020. Gerrit Cole, NYY, SP  He was the best pitcher in baseball last season so a change in venue shouldn't matter too much for Gerrit Cole. He was in the 97th percentile for velocity, 96th in spin rate and 99th in K rate according to baseball savant. The expected batting average against him was .184, so he had the arm of a God last season. You would think by moving to Yankee Stadium that has a reputation as a launching pad that would hurt his overall numbers. However, Alex Chamberlain used stat cast data to calculate a park factor for each stadium. Surprisingly, Minute Maid Park in Houst

If you play keeper or dynasty fantasy baseball, you may want to consider trading players like Jose Altuve and Yulieski Gurriel. Sell and fade your Houston Astros fantasy baseball players. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has put the Astros in the jackpot this season. Manfred has been falling all over himself for about a month while doing nothing to change the situation after his slap on the wrist penalties were handed down over the sign-stealing scandal that has rocked the league to its core. This just leaves MLB players to police themselves with their own backward brand of justice under the "unwritten rules of baseball." I hate the unwritten rules of baseball. They are dumb, and they need to go away. Throwing at players accomplishes nothing. Do you want justice? Try winning the game. However, the level injustice that is being allowed to occur has put a target on every one of Houston players' backs considering the over-under for the times the Astros player

Nick Madrigal could just hit his way into a prospect laden White Sox lineup (NBC Chicago) Like Morpheus searching the Matrix, I think I've finally found the one. A slappy little fast guy without any real power who is worth rostering. Nick Madrigal 2B Chicago White Sox Highest level: AAA Age: 22 ETA: Early 2020 Now most players who lack the ability to hit more than 10 home runs in a season should be left on the waiver wire, or at least be a catcher. Madrigal has found a way to transcend his inability as a hitter by maximizing what he's good at, he doesn't strikeout. Across three leagues last year, Madrigal set a minor league-low 3.3 percent strikeout rate. Additionally, he's not just a tough out -- he produced a slash line of  .331/.398/.424. After being drafted by the White Sox in 2018, Madrigal seemed advertised as a guy who was going to be an asset at the top of the lineup as a single and maybe score kind of asset. However, he took an even greater

Will Jo Adell be the latest prospect to set the league on fire upon callup? Get Ronald Acuña Jr. on your team. This should be the first step to winning every fantasy baseball league every year for the foreseeable future. However, unless you’re blessed with the top pick in your fantasy draft you’re going to have to identify the next Acuña before his meteoric rise to stardom. Last season, we saw the future of the league be turned over to prospects who even average fantasy players knew were going to be some of the best in baseball the moment they stepped onto the diamond. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatís Jr. and Eloy Jiménez -- those names were drummed into our heads so often we knew they were coming, like an offspeed pitch at a Houston Astros' home game. Everyone knows these players and their value is already really high just like this season Wander Frano, Luis Robert or Casey Mize are trending the moment they take the rubber or pick up a bat, so this article isn

The strategy is simple ... play Christian McCaffrey; win all the money. Every week.  He did it again. Like he does every week. He just gets it done. Christian McCaffrey is a machine. A robot. A man among boys. All the cliches. They all apply here. You're not getting away from him. Even at the $10.5K price tag this week on DraftKings. He's a lock every week at this point until he reaches Russell Westrbook and James Harden price territory -- shouts to all the NBA DFSers out there ... you know what I'm talking about. This weekend against the Packers is no different. They've seemed to have given up on trying to defend the run at all of late, and have been torched by backs throughout the season. McCaffrey's gotten insane amounts of work week in and week out, and there's no reason that we should believe it would change at all this week, even with him carrying an injury tag and getting in limited practices. He's their horse. A few years back, eve