Tiers (1B) – Fantasy Baseball 2015

Jack MoneyJack MoneyCPR (Comprehensive Player Rating), Draft Articles, The PulseLeave a Comment

Every Tuesday and Thursday for the next 4 weeks Caveball will sort out the 8 tiers for all 8 Fantasy positions. The following week at the end of February we will release our unique “Chartfelt Tiers”, the ultimate Cheat-sheet for Fantasy Baseball – unique because it allows you to easily cross-reference players in different positions who have similar value.

During that same week we will offer up our General Draft Strategy, which will then be followed by a specific strategy for 2015, which you can use in tandem with our “Chartfelt Tiers”.

To get the ball rolling let’s start with the always intriguing and perennially loaded First Base position:

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MLB’s Top 20 Off-Season Moves for Pitchers

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It was an exciting and historical off-season for the sheer number of moves that transpired in the MLB. For this reason, Caveball has divided the top moves into two posts. Last Friday’s post – MLB’s Top 25 Off-Season Moves for Hitters – covered the hitters, and now this one is devoted to the key pitching moves made over the past three intense months.

The top four free agent pitchers this off-season are established and consistent workhorses, who should be more valued than ever, as they seem to be somewhat of a dying breed. This made the moves to acquire them even more intriguing than with the position players.

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MLB’s Top 25 Off-Season Moves for Hitters

Jack MoneyJack MoneyDraft Articles, The PulseLeave a Comment

 

 

It’s could be an omen when the hype gets flowing.
Right around this time last year Adrian Beltre predicted his team’s latest acquisition would win the MVP award in 2014. The Rangers had just signed Prince Fielder, along with Shin-Soo Choo and Alex Rios to boost the team’s offence. The excitement was palpable. Texas became the most hyped team before Spring Training even got underway. We all pictured Fielder hitting third after Choo and Andrus, with Beltre protecting him in the clean-up spot, and Rios after that. On top of this, half of their games were to be played in the bandbox, whoops, I mean, Ballpark in Arlington, It was a perfect world. Too perfect. Too good to be true. 

We all know what happened next. In short, Ian Kinsler’s wish came true, Texas had their worst season since 1985. They lost Fielder for the year on May 16, but up to that point he had been struggling quite badly, anyway. Fielder owners quickly went from stoked to choked. Choo battled injuries all year long after having a career year in Cincinnati, where he had an .885 OPS and 107 runs – not to mention, 21 HR and 20 SB. Rios had a lacklustre season where it seemed like he was just going through the motions. The pitching staff was hurt by injuries, as well. The team fell apart before they even had a chance to come together. So, what can we take from all of this?

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Comprehensive Player Rankings – Top 100

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All of the industry’s experts will point out the external factors which affect each player’s final projected stats for the year. Factors such as: home ballpark, teammates (fielding ability for pitchers, and offensive clout of the line-up for hitters), and even the divisional opposition. Caveball determined a statistical value for each of these external factors and combined it with each player’s individual ability. This final number will be his CPR, or Comprehensive Player Ranking.

This ranking is particularly important in assessing a player who has switched clubs, ballparks, leagues and/or divisions. And this off-season has been historical for the sheer number of acquisitions/trades that have transpired in the majors. (Look for Caveball’s upcoming articles which rank the most significant off-season moves in order of player rankings. There was so much movement that we divided the article into two parts: one for hitters which comes out tomorrow, and the second for pitchers on Monday)

As Spring Training proceeds certain tweaks will be made due to injuries and recovery times, potential line-up or rotation changes, or other news which may affect a player’s performance in the new year. For now, here are Caveball’s pre-season rankings for the top 100 players overall:

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Caveball – Inaugural Address

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Welcome, One and All ! Welcome to Caveball !

(DUC – Digression UpComing)

Sorry, can’t even get eight words out before I start going off on one of my rants. Although, this one is important for all of us. It has to do with the insufferable overuse of the exclamation mark. It appears everywhere now – more common than the common period. Which makes it, well, common.

“Have fun doing your taxes!”

“Don’t forget to take out the trash!”

“Good luck with your prostate exam!” (Well, this one kind of works, facetiously)

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