Top Third Basemen Ranked By wOBA

Name	OBP	SLG	BABIP	wOBA
Chipper Jones	0.47	0.574	0.388	0.446
Alex Rodriguez	0.392	0.573	0.332	0.413
David Wright	0.39	0.534	0.328	0.397
Aramis Ramirez	0.38	0.518	0.307	0.384
Russell Branyan	0.342	0.583	0.269	0.383
Evan Longoria	0.343	0.531	0.318	0.373
Troy Glaus	0.372	0.483	0.291	0.371
Christopher Davis	0.331	0.549	0.353	0.371
Ty Wigginton	0.35	0.526	0.296	0.37
Ronnie Belliard	0.372	0.473	0.326	0.369
Martin Prado	0.377	0.461	0.36	0.367
Pablo Sandoval	0.357	0.49	0.367	0.361
Hank Blalock	0.338	0.508	0.301	0.361
Carlos Guillen	0.376	0.436	0.321	0.359
Greg Dobbs	0.333	0.491	0.333	0.354
Edwin Encarnacion	0.34	0.466	0.267	0.351
Melvin Mora	0.342	0.483	0.293	0.35
Casey Blake	0.345	0.463	0.319	0.347
Ian Stewart	0.349	0.455	0.364	0.347
Ramon Vazquez	0.365	0.43	0.355	0.346
Jorge Cantu	0.327	0.481	0.297	0.346
Scott Rolen	0.349	0.431	0.294	0.345
Alex Gordon	0.351	0.432	0.314	0.344
Mike Lowell	0.338	0.461	0.287	0.344
Mark Reynolds	0.32	0.458	0.329	0.34
Garrett Atkins	0.328	0.452	0.314	0.337
Doug Mientkiewicz	0.374	0.379	0.302	0.337
Ryan Zimmerman	0.333	0.442	0.312	0.336
Adrian Beltre	0.327	0.457	0.279	0.336
Joe Crede	0.314	0.46	0.242	0.33
Omar Infante	0.338	0.416	0.333	0.327
Jed Lowrie	0.339	0.4	0.342	0.326
Rich Aurilia	0.332	0.413	0.308	0.324
Matt Tolbert	0.322	0.389	0.34	0.322
Willy Aybar	0.327	0.41	0.267	0.321
Jamey Carroll	0.355	0.346	0.338	0.319
Chone Figgins	0.367	0.318	0.333	0.319
Blake Dewitt	0.344	0.383	0.302	0.319
Brendan Harris	0.327	0.394	0.328	0.318
Brian Buscher	0.34	0.39	0.349	0.317
Kevin Kouzmanoff	0.299	0.433	0.301	0.316
Marco Scutaro	0.341	0.356	0.294	0.316
Jose Bautista	0.313	0.405	0.277	0.311
Craig Counsell	0.355	0.302	0.268	0.309
Wilson Betemit	0.289	0.429	0.346	0.308
Pedro Feliz	0.302	0.402	0.258	0.306
Alberto Gonzalez	0.318	0.366	0.291	0.301
Geoff Blum	0.287	0.418	0.249	0.3
Ruben Gotay	0.322	0.343	0.324	0.299
Clifton Pennington	0.339	0.293	0.296	0.299
Augie Ojeda	0.343	0.299	0.271	0.297
Jeffrey Larish	0.306	0.375	0.368	0.297
Brandon Inge	0.303	0.369	0.248	0.297
Bill Hall	0.293	0.396	0.287	0.297
Juan Uribe	0.296	0.386	0.289	0.296
Chris Gomez	0.322	0.333	0.322	0.293
Jose Castillo	0.292	0.376	0.292	0.292
Robb Quinlan	0.326	0.311	0.311	0.291
Jack Hannahan	0.305	0.342	0.291	0.289
Wes Helms	0.299	0.347	0.309	0.287
Kory Casto	0.297	0.313	0.264	0.277
German Duran	0.275	0.35	0.278	0.274
Eric Bruntlett	0.297	0.297	0.251	0.272
Pablo Ozuna	0.29	0.344	0.276	0.268
Donnie Murphy	0.274	0.301	0.258	0.262
Andy Marte	0.268	0.315	0.272	0.258
Mike Lamb	0.276	0.32	0.268	0.254
Brandon Wood	0.224	0.327	0.245	0.246
Andy LaRoche	0.252	0.256	0.177	0.236

Rocco Baldelli was Misdiagnosed

According to Ken Bell of ABC6.com is reporting that Rocco Baldelli's family has been informed by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic that the previous diagnosis of the potentially fatal Mitochondrial Disorder was a mistake. Instead they believe that Baldelli has Channelopathy, a non-progressive, highly treatable disease.

Channelopathies are inherited diseases caused by defects in cell proteins called ion channels. Cells of the body, including nerve and muscle cells, are surrounded by thin coverings called membranes. Embedded in these membranes are a large and varied set of proteins that control the movement of materials across the membrane, in and out of the cell. One major type of material that crosses through such proteins are called ions, and the proteins that transport them are called ion channels.

Ions perform many different functions in cells. In neurons (nerve cells), they help transmit the electrical messages that allow neurons to communicate with each other, and with muscle cells. In muscle cells, they allow the muscle to contract. When the ion channels are defective, these activities may be disrupted.

What Does This Mean?

It mean that one of the most disappointing developments of the last several year may not be as terrible as we once thought. It means that Rocco Baldelli still has a chance at becoming the next Joe DiMaggio. This is good news for the Baldelli's and for fantasy leaguers.

Another Edition of the Hot Stove Junkie

The latest edition of my Hot Stove Junkie column on RotoExperts.com has been posted. It is positively loaded with info this week. Please, check it out. RotoExperts.com is blowing up big time. Our acquisition of the Diamond Draft Fantasy Baseball Software is huge for us. Everyone should head over to the Diamond Draft site and download the free trial software. There are also going to be opportunities for the blogging community to take advantage of our success. Watch this spot for details...coming soon!

The Winter Meetings were a huge success from the perspective of a Hot Stove Junkie. I suppose when you are as hooked as I am that the latest hit is always the sweetest. The last day of the Winter Meetings featured the Rule V Draft – this is never to be ignored by fantasy owners unless they do not care to discover the next Johan Santana (LHP, NYM). The Major League Phase is reproduced below. However, the end of the meetings did not bring an end to the rumors, the speculation, or the trades and signings. In fact, the recent non-tender deadline just released a completely new crop of free agents into the pool. There were some very interesting and productive players set free to negotiate with the team of their choice. All 42 of the new free agents are listed below.

The Major League Phase of the Rule V Draft

1 Terrell Young RHP Washington (from Cincinnati)
2 Reegie Corona INF Seattle (from New York (AL))
3 Everth Cabrera SS San Diego (from Colorado)
4 Donald Veal LHP Pittsburgh (from Chicago (NL))
5 Lou Palmisano C Baltimore* (from Milwaukee)
6 Luis Perdomo RHP San Francisco (from St. Louis)
7 David Patton RHP Cincinnati** (from Colorado)
8 Kyle Bloom LHP Detroit (from Pittsburgh)
9 Jose Lugo LHP Kansas City*** (from Minnesota)
10 Ben Copeland CF Oakland (from San Francisco)
11 James Skelton C Arizona (from Detroit)
12 Zach Kroenke LHP Florida (from New York (AL))
13 Gil De La Vara LHP Houston (from Kansas City)
14 Jason Jones RHP Minnesota (from New York (AL))
15 Darren O'Day RHP New York (NL) (from Los Angeles (AL))
16 Eddie Morlan RHP Milwaukee (from Tampa Bay)
17 Rob Mosebach RHP Philadelphia (from Los Angeles (AL))
18 Miguel Gonzalez RHP Boston (from Los Angeles (AL))
19 Derek Rodriguez RHP Tampa Bay (from Chicago (AL))
20 Ivan Nova RHP San Diego (from New York (AL))
21 Rocky Cherry RHP New York (NL) (from Baltimore)

* Acquired by Houston in exchange for cash considerations
** Acquired by Chicago (NL) in exchange for cash considerations
*** Acquired by Seattle in exchange for cash considerations

Top Shortstops Ranked By wOBA

What are the Atlanta Brave going to do with Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson and now a returning Rafael Furcal? Could the Braves be re-entering the Jake Peavy sweepstakes?

From the New York Times:

Shortstop Rafael Furcal is close to accepting a three-year, $30 million offer to return to the Atlanta Braves.

The 31-year-old Furcal began his major league career with Atlanta, playing for the Braves from 2000 to 2005. He spent the last three seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“He liked the idea of coming back to Atlanta, but there hasn’t been any formal agreement,” Furcal’s agent, Paul Kinzer, said.

The deal would contain an option for 2012 that could become guaranteed.

Furcal hit .357 last season with 5 home runs and 16 runs batted in but had back surgery July 3 and was limited to 36 games and 143 at-bats.

Name	OBP	SLG	BABIP	wOBA
Rafael Furcal	0.439	0.573	0.38	0.44
Hanley Ramirez	0.4	0.54	0.332	0.405
Ramon Santiago	0.411	0.46	0.301	0.389
Jerry Hairston	0.384	0.487	0.361	0.387
Jose Reyes	0.358	0.475	0.319	0.366
Ben Zobrist	0.339	0.505	0.255	0.364
Mike Aviles	0.354	0.48	0.359	0.36
Jimmy Rollins	0.349	0.437	0.292	0.357
J.J. Hardy	0.343	0.478	0.306	0.355
Stephen Drew	0.333	0.502	0.326	0.353
Jhonny Peralta	0.331	0.473	0.316	0.347
Clint Barmes	0.322	0.468	0.329	0.344
Derek Jeter	0.363	0.408	0.336	0.343
Cristian Guzman	0.345	0.44	0.339	0.341
Ryan Theriot	0.387	0.359	0.34	0.338
Nomar Garciaparra	0.326	0.466	0.243	0.337
Yunel Escobar	0.366	0.401	0.312	0.337
Michael Young	0.339	0.402	0.326	0.331
Alberto Callaspo	0.361	0.371	0.327	0.328
Alex Cora	0.371	0.349	0.295	0.327
Jed Lowrie	0.339	0.4	0.342	0.326
Nick Punto	0.344	0.382	0.337	0.324
Matt Tolbert	0.322	0.389	0.34	0.322
Brendan Harris	0.327	0.394	0.328	0.318
Julio Lugo	0.355	0.33	0.33	0.317
Emmanuel Burriss	0.357	0.329	0.312	0.316
Marco Scutaro	0.341	0.356	0.294	0.316
Orlando Cabrera	0.334	0.371	0.306	0.316
Maicer Izturis	0.329	0.362	0.288	0.314
Miguel Tejada	0.314	0.415	0.303	0.313
David Eckstein	0.343	0.349	0.29	0.313
Troy Tulowitzki	0.332	0.401	0.291	0.313
Jolbert Cabrera	0.31	0.4	0.313	0.313
Jason Bartlett	0.329	0.361	0.336	0.311
Erick Aybar	0.314	0.384	0.312	0.31
Craig Counsell	0.355	0.302	0.268	0.309
Edgar Renteria	0.317	0.382	0.294	0.308
Ronny Cedeno	0.328	0.352	0.324	0.304
Alberto Gonzalez	0.318	0.366	0.291	0.301
Luis Rodriguez	0.326	0.351	0.307	0.3
Yuniesky Betancourt	0.3	0.392	0.292	0.299
Clifton Pennington	0.339	0.293	0.296	0.299
Alex Cintron	0.321	0.361	0.316	0.297
Jack Wilson	0.312	0.348	0.296	0.293
Cesar Izturis	0.319	0.309	0.279	0.292
Jeff Keppinger	0.31	0.346	0.275	0.291
Bobby Crosby	0.296	0.349	0.276	0.288
Brendan Ryan	0.307	0.289	0.289	0.277
Omar Quintanilla	0.288	0.348	0.296	0.276
Angel Berroa	0.304	0.31	0.277	0.273
Eric Bruntlett	0.297	0.297	0.251	0.272
Khalil Greene	0.26	0.339	0.262	0.264
Adam Everett	0.278	0.323	0.227	0.264
Donnie Murphy	0.274	0.301	0.258	0.262
Brandon Fahey	0.252	0.349	0.296	0.261
Luis Rivas	0.267	0.311	0.239	0.257
Brandon Wood	0.224	0.327	0.245	0.246
John McDonald	0.255	0.269	0.238	0.238
Omar Vizquel	0.283	0.267	0.249	0.235
Juan Castro	0.246	0.267	0.218	0.232
Ivan Ochoa	0.244	0.267	0.261	0.224
Chin-Lung Hu	0.252	0.233	0.226	0.214
Brian Bixler	0.229	0.194	0.236	0.195
Freddie Bynum	0.22	0.223	0.247	0.194
Tony Pena	0.189	0.209	0.211	0.174

Diamond Draft Fantasy Baseball Software

The company I work for is making big moves. Hiring established talent from ESPN, sponsoring a UFC fighter in the big event this month, and now acquiring one of the most established fantasy baseball oriented services in the industry. This is a reproduction of the press release.

ROTOEXPERTS.COM ACQUIRES DIAMOND DRAFT SOFTWARE

Leading Fantasy Baseball Draft Software Added to Growing Fantasy Sports Franchise

December 16, 2008, Safety Harbor, FL. RotoExperts, LLC announced today that they have acquired Diamond Draft Fantasy Baseball Draft Software. The acquisition includes all intellectual property including source code, the Diamond Draft web site, and the customer database.

Diamond Draft Software, operating since 2001, has built a dedicated user base with its cutting edge approach to managing fantasy baseball drafts. Diamond Draft will undergo some minor improvements as part of the acquisition, and it will be offered in the upcoming RotoExperts Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide. RotoExperts will rebrand its line of fantasy draft software, formerly Xpert's Edge, with the Diamond Draft name. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

"Fantasy drafting software has been an interest of our leadership team since the origins of the company," said Ben Ice, founder of RotoExperts.com. "After building a custom application for the NFL season, we decided that it would be most efficient to acquire an existing product heading into the upcoming fantasy baseball season. Diamond Draft is one of the best applications available in this space, and we are thrilled to be able to build upon such a well-designed tool moving forward."

"I'm really excited about the merger between Diamond Draft and RotoExperts," added Keith Macari, founder of Diamond Draft. "This merger will be an immense benefit for current and future Diamond Draft users. The first-rate staff at RotoExperts will supply far greater depth with player info, values, and projections. Another plus is that a greater effort can be put towards program enhancements. Improved player information and an enhanced program will be a huge win for everyone involved."

In addition to more traditional marketing efforts, RotoExperts is also working with baseball sites and blogs who are interested in generating income by offering Diamond Draft to their readers. "There are thousands of smaller web sites and blogs struggling to generate revenue in today's down economy," said Ice. "Our marketing team will reach out to them with an excellent opportunity to help their readers while generating revenue for their operations." Interested sites can contact Ice at ice@rotoexperts.com.

Existing customers will be "grandfathered" into the new program, with the software remaining available at the 2008 pricing for as long as there is no lapse in service for any full baseball season.

###

RotoExperts.com is one of the fastest growing fantasy sports advice sites in the industry, having grown from a team of six to over 40 in total in its first three quarters of operation. With a vision of providing "analysis with an attitude", the RotoExperts team has quickly established themselves as a premium provider of high quality fantasy software and savvy advice, with major media partnerships and more . Keep tabs on what else these guys are doing at www.RotoExperts.com

Top Second Basemen Ranked By wOBA

Name	OBP	SLG	BABIP	wOBA
Mike Fontenot	0.395	0.514	0.355	0.395
Ian Kinsler	0.375	0.517	0.339	0.393
Chase Utley	0.38	0.535	0.306	0.391
Ramon Santiago	0.411	0.46	0.301	0.389
Dustin Pedroia	0.376	0.493	0.336	0.382
Mark DeRosa	0.376	0.481	0.325	0.376
Dan Uggla	0.36	0.514	0.323	0.372
Brian Roberts	0.378	0.45	0.345	0.369
Ronnie Belliard	0.372	0.473	0.326	0.369
Martin Prado	0.377	0.461	0.36	0.367
Ray Durham	0.38	0.432	0.346	0.36
Orlando Hudson	0.367	0.45	0.344	0.358
Kaz Matsui	0.354	0.427	0.329	0.349
Kelly Johnson	0.349	0.446	0.344	0.346
Clint Barmes	0.322	0.468	0.329	0.344
Joe Inglett	0.355	0.407	0.332	0.341
Jeff Baker	0.322	0.468	0.337	0.34
Placido Polanco	0.35	0.417	0.321	0.339
Joaquin Arias	0.345	0.409	0.327	0.337
Alexei Ramirez	0.317	0.475	0.296	0.336
Rickie Weeks	0.342	0.398	0.28	0.334
Aaron Miles	0.355	0.398	0.343	0.331
Mark Grudzielanek	0.345	0.399	0.334	0.329
Alberto Callaspo	0.361	0.371	0.327	0.328
Howie Kendrick	0.333	0.421	0.362	0.328
Jose Lopez	0.322	0.443	0.311	0.328
Mark Loretta	0.35	0.383	0.304	0.326
Jeff Kent	0.327	0.418	0.295	0.326
Nick Punto	0.344	0.382	0.337	0.324
Brandon Phillips	0.312	0.442	0.281	0.324
Akinori Iwamura	0.349	0.38	0.339	0.323
Felipe Lopez	0.343	0.387	0.331	0.32
Jamey Carroll	0.355	0.346	0.338	0.319
Brendan Harris	0.327	0.394	0.328	0.318
Asdrubal Cabrera	0.346	0.366	0.316	0.317
Alexi Casilla	0.333	0.374	0.303	0.316
Emmanuel Burriss	0.357	0.329	0.312	0.316
Marco Scutaro	0.341	0.356	0.294	0.316
Luis Castillo	0.355	0.305	0.269	0.315
Maicer Izturis	0.329	0.362	0.288	0.314
Mark Ellis	0.321	0.373	0.249	0.314
David Eckstein	0.343	0.349	0.29	0.313
Edgar Gonzalez	0.329	0.385	0.339	0.313
Damion Easley	0.322	0.37	0.29	0.308
Robinson Cano	0.305	0.41	0.286	0.307
Aaron Hill	0.324	0.361	0.302	0.307
David Newhan	0.297	0.404	0.338	0.307
Adam Kennedy	0.321	0.372	0.316	0.305
Ronny Cedeno	0.328	0.352	0.324	0.304
Clifton Pennington	0.339	0.293	0.296	0.299
Eugenio Velez	0.299	0.382	0.303	0.297
Augie Ojeda	0.343	0.299	0.271	0.297
Juan Uribe	0.296	0.386	0.289	0.296
Chris Gomez	0.322	0.333	0.322	0.293
Freddy Sanchez	0.298	0.371	0.292	0.292
Esteban German	0.303	0.338	0.305	0.285
Emilio Bonifacio	0.296	0.337	0.333	0.279
Brendan Ryan	0.307	0.289	0.289	0.277
Omar Quintanilla	0.288	0.348	0.296	0.276
Tadahito Iguchi	0.292	0.306	0.3	0.275
German Duran	0.275	0.35	0.278	0.274
Sean Rodriguez	0.276	0.317	0.284	0.269
Pablo Ozuna	0.29	0.344	0.276	0.268
Eric Patterson	0.284	0.246	0.258	0.262
Chris Burke	0.31	0.273	0.231	0.262
Luis Rivas	0.267	0.311	0.239	0.257
Argenis Reyes	0.259	0.245	0.258	0.236
Chin-Lung Hu	0.252	0.233	0.226	0.214