Injury Report: Joe Mauer Not Likely for Opening Day

According to La Velle E. Neal's Twins Insider Blog, Joe Mauer is very questionable for opening day. After multiple consultations there is consensus that the problem is indeed inflammation of the sacroiliac joint - the joint that connects the bottom of the spine to the top of the pelvis. However, no one seems to have any idea how the problem arose in the first place.

Fantasy owners should avoid drafting Mauer unless they are receiving a deep discount on his usual price. Owners in non-keeper leagues would be wise to avoid him altogether at this point. I would not project more than 350 at-bats just to be on the safe side. If this means Mauer is undraftable then so be it.

Paper Sports: Short Fantasy Baseball Tournaments

A couple of weeks ago I was approached by Rod Yancy, the founder of PaperSports.com about reviewing his site's short season fantasy baseball tournaments. He provided an account with enough in it to enter a few of the games. I came away pretty impressed with the product despite not being able to truly test the system due to baseball season still being weeks away. It feels a lot like playing poker but with baseball players instead of cards. So, if you love fantasy baseball and you're also the type to participate in online poker tournaments this will be right up your alley.

This would probably be a blast to play in sports bars while you watch games. I haven't tried creating a custom tournament yet but I imagine you could use just one specific game for the contest. That would make watching the games an intense blast. Kinda like that old bar game for football for which I cannot think of the name. I encourage everyone to check it out.

Here's how it works:

1. Open an Account - Get $5 Free

Sign up and deposit money into your account with a credit card or PayPal. If you sign up now, we'll start you with $5 and you have to deposit nothing. This is a limited time offer and will end soon.

2. Pick Your Tournament

You will never have to wait to play. Tournaments generally last one day and there are multiple entry levels.You pick the tournaments you want to play when you want to play. Tournaments start 24/7 You can play for as little as $1. There are multiple tournament types, like head to head, four man, six man, and ten man. You can test your skills in public tournaments, or create a custom tournament and invite your friends.

3. Pick a Fantasy Baseball Team

Pick your team for one day's worth of match-ups. Your roster will include: 1-1st, 1-2nd, 1-SS, 1-3rd, 1-Catcher, 3-Outfield, 3-Pitchers.

4. Watch The Games

While you watch the games, the PaperSports game engine will score your fantasy tournament. Your fantasy team will earn points based on standard fantasy baseball rules.

5. Win Cash Fast

If your fantasy team earns the most points, we put your guaranteed cash prize into your account. You can withdraw from your account anytime via credit card, PayPal, or we will even mail you a check.

Future Tense: Top 50 Prospects

Mark Haverty has written the Sporting News Annual Top 50 Prospects reports for years. This year the report is exclusive to Crucial Sports - Haverty's own website. This is a great list whether for fantasy purposes or just a general love of prospects because it helps readers understand the true value of prospects. The prospect with years of experience in the minors is usually rated higher than the prospect with awesome tools but no track record. Check out a sample below and check out the full report and the write-ups at the link below.

Check out the Full Top 50 Prospect Report

1. Matt Wieters, Catcher, Baltimore Orioles

The best catching prospect in the minors, Wieters possesses not only plus power potential but also impeccable plate discipline. Wieters barely struck out more than he walked in High-A Frederick (44 walks, 47 strikeouts), and he drew more walks than strikeouts (38:29) while in Double-A Bowie. The trading of Ramon Hernandez by the Orioles this offseason was one with one thing in mind – clearing room for Wieters to be the starting catcher in 2009.

2. David Price, Starting Pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays

3. Tommy Hanson, Starting Pitcher, Atlanta Braves

4. Madison Bumgarner, Starting Pitcher, San Francisco Giants

5. Jason Heyward, Outfielder, Atlanta Braves

6. Colby Rasmus, Outfielder, St. Louis Cardinals

7. Travis Snider, Outfielder, St. Louis Cardinals

8. Cameron Maybin, Outfielder, Florida Marlins

9. Brett Anderson, Starting Pitcher, Oakland Athletics

10. Trevor Cahill, Starting Pitcher, Oakland Athletics

Check out the Full Top 50 Prospect Report

Sleeper Alert: Gordon Beckham (from the Waiver Wire)

The Waiver (Wire) is a column I will be writing for Crucial Sports this season. It should appear on Mondays. It will feature write-ups of players that are available in a lot of leagues. I think you'll find it very useful. You can click the link above to check out the most recent version.

This week one of the player's featured is Gordon Beckham. His performance this spring is making it difficult for the Chicago White Sox to settle for one of their more mediocre options. This is just a small sample from a much larger article.

Gordon Beckham 2B Chicago White Sox

He belongs in the big leagues. Every scout and general manager that has seen Gordon Beckham play this spring has said that he looks ready. He has just 56 at-bats at single-A but White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams would love him to begin the season as the starting second baseman. Though it seems unlikely, Beckham only has to be a better option that the underwhelming group of Chris Getz, Jayson Nix, and Brent Lillibridge. Beckham came from the University of Georgia, which has a level of play comparable to the lower minors. He projects to hit for average and power with the speed to steal bases. He was a shortstop at the University of Georgia but the switch to second should not be a problem. Beckham hit .411 with 28 homers and 77 RBI in 71 games for the Bulldogs. He also stole 17 bases. In 14 games at Class A for the White Sox he hit .310 with 3 homers and 8 RBI. He then went on to the Arizona Fall League where he hit .394 with 3 homers and 13 RBI in 18 games. As of his first ten appearances this spring, he has hit .364 with two homers, five doubles, and six RBI. He belongs in the big leagues.

Spring Training Things (lotsa links)

Lots of leg room at New Yankee Stadium
Wherever you are sitting this morning, be happy it is not in those seats. Obviously, they are not in their permanent home (we hope!), but with how this new stadium relocation process has been going, anything is possible. After all, the Yankees did build a restaurant that blocks the view for half of the people in the bleachers!

Joe Mauer diagnosed with inflammation
Catcher Joe Mauer has inflammation in his right sacroiliac joint, the Twins said Wednesday, but the team is waiting to consult with other doctors before determining a course of action to treat it.

Dustin McGowan is now out indefinitely
McGowan, who underwent season-ending surgery on his right shoulder in July, complained of discomfort in his arm this past week and visited his surgeon, Dr. Timothy Kremchek, on Sunday in Sarasota, Fla. According to Blue Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, Kremchek didn't find anything wrong besides the expected wear and tear.

Free Emerald Guide to Baseball from SABR
Edited by accomplished and acclaimed baseball historians Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer and published by SABR, The Emerald Guide distills the 2008 season down to 586 fact-filled pages that contain the pitching, fielding, and hitting statistics for every player active in the major and minor leagues in 2008. A bound version is available via print on demand at Lulu.com for $23.94. .Every page in the bound edition is in the PDF.

Posada Sets Joba Chamberlain Straight
"I caught him in the bullpen after that and I told him what I saw was embarrassing," Posada said yesterday before being used as the designated hitter against the Tigers in a 7-4 loss at Joker Marchant Stadium. "I told him to throw the fastball and stop waiting for things to happen. I told him he has to pitch like he can every time no matter what. Whether it's as a starter, reliever or even in the bullpen, people are watching."

The THT Guide to Tiered Drafting
The ranking part of the tier system recommends paying more time and attention to slotting players into tiers, both overall and by position, rather than worrying too much about rankings within tiers (i.e. getting more exact dollar values or rankings). In general, I think this is useful. I would rather have system that put all of the players into their actual, true tiers but then got the ordering within the tiers somewhat wrong, than a system that got many of the exact rankings rights but messed up on some players' tiering. In other words, many small mistakes are usually better than several big ones.

Is Cashman bluffing about starting Cody Ransom?
I e-mailed with a major league GM, who has a third baseman very available, who said he has not been contacted by Brian Cashman. This could mean the Yankees aren't looking around, don't like this particular third baseman or something in between.

J.A. Happ is impressing the Philadelphia Phillies
Happ, who had a lengthy discussion about pitching with Jamie Moyer during Wednesday's game against the Braves at Bright House Field, had his mind turning in the visitors' clubhouse afterward. He allowed a home run to Gape Kapler on a first-pitch fastball in the sixth, and he issued a two-out walk to Morgan Ensberg in the seventh.

Cleveland Indians Camp
Still, I'm not completely sold on Cabrera, and neither, apparently, are the Indians. I think part of the reason they didn't keep Mark DeRosa at second base and shift Jhonny Peralta to third to move Cabrera to short is because they want to see if Cabrera can contribute offensively for the duration of a season first. But there's no reason Cabrera should have to compete with Barfield for a starting spot here in Spring Training.

Sleeper Alert: Joe Mather

The St. Louis Cardinals have sent both David Freese and Brett Wallace (their two best third base prospects) to minor league camp. This leaves Joe Mather, a converted outfielder, as the favorite to begin the season at third base. As I am certain most of you realize that the Cardinals expected third baseman, Troy Glaus, will begin the season on the disabled list and miss at least the first month of the season recovering from shoulder surgery. This will be the winner's chance to shine in the eyes of Tony LaRussa who already seems to have a slight man-crush on Mather.

"But", you might say. It will only be for a month or so and then Glaus will be back and our man will be out of a job. "Well", I would answer, "not exactly."

If Joe Mather impresses Tony LaRussa (and I obviously believe that he will), he is very likely to favor him coming off the bench as an extra infielder and outfielder. This is easily a recipe for finding 350-400 at-bats. I also happen to think Mather is a 30-plus homerun hitter waiting to break out.

Mather was drafted in the third round out of Mountain Pointe high school in Phoenix, Arizona - as a shortstop. He spent way too long in short season leagues and did not develop as quickly as the cards would have liked. But for two years he has been solid (if a little old in AA and AAA). He did not embarass himself in short stents in the major leagues either.

The best news for fantasy owners is that you're likely to get him for just a few bucks in even the deepest leagues. The Cardinals have another guy who began his major league career playing out of position as a temporary replacement for a more established but injury prone player. Damn, I wonder who that was???

Season	Team	AB	PA	2B	HR	R	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	wOBA
Total	- - -	133	147	7	8	20	18	12	32	1	0	0.241	0.335
2006	Cardinals (A+)	432	482	33	15	63	71	36	89	9	0	0.266	0.359
2007	Cardinals (AA)	234	272	17	18	48	46	29	32	4	0	0.303	0.426
2007	Cardinals (AAA)	249	283	10	12	30	29	22	51	5	0	0.237	0.337
2008	Cardinals (AAA)	211	254	14	17	45	41	32	36	7	2	0.303	0.44
2008	Cardinals	133	147	7	8	20	18	12	32	1	0	0.241	0.335
2009	Bill James	162		9	10	26	24	17	28	3	1	0.253	0.354
2009	CHONE	415		22	19	63	61	41	88	6	2	0.253	0.343
2009	Marcel	245	274	13	10	35	33	24	51	3	1	0.261	0.334
2009	Oliver	360	401	22	19			30	77			0.253	0.343
2009	ZiPS	428		22	18	53	63	34	79	7	1	0.243	0.325

More on Joe Mather:

Sportsnet.com Scouting Report
Future RedBirds Profile
FanGraphs.com Statistics Page
The Baseball Cube Report
WikiPedia Page

Book Reviews by Alex Patton

Anyone that receives BaseballHQ's Free Friday Newsletter has likely seen this already. Alex Patton, one of my favorite fantasy baseball analysts and one of the longest lasting, wrote a piece for the newsletter reviewing a few Fantasy Baseball publications. For those that did not see it you can find it here.

Here are the books he reviewed and a very brief sample of the reviews:

The Bill James Handbook 2009 $23.95

This is the first stat book that appears in print each fall, and everyone who's even remotely into fantasy baseball snaps it up immediately, so there's no reason to dwell on it. I'll just point out some of the very cool things that are new...

Ron Shandler's 2009 Baseball Forecaster $24.95

It's probably fair to say that more people reading this article buy the Forecaster than the Bill James Handbook, so there's no point in me praising it too lavishly. I'll praise it briefly, then offer just a couple of criticisms.

Baseball Prospectus 2009 $21.95

This is the other publication that throws a ton of fancier metrics in with the standard stats in the stat scans. At more than 600 pages, space is no object. Thus, while the Forecaster combines Aviles Triple-A and MLB stats last year into a combined 633 AB, BP gives Aviles two lines of stats. In fewer than 50 words, the Forecaster basically says, Beware. In approximately 180 words, BP says beware.

Graphical Player 2009 $21.95

I bought this annual for the first time this winter, and so far, to tell the truth, have been finding it a tough go.

Fantasy Baseball Magazines

The Fantasy Baseball Guide 2009 $6.99

Gets check marks ahead of all the other ones out there, except, well, it's not all that pretty. Reluctance to say so is based on the fairly well-known fact that my friend Peter Kreutzer (aka Rotoman) is the editor.

Sporting News Fantasy Baseball '09 $7.99

Here I have paid the extra dollar for glossy pages and wider columns, and I love it! Only one problem: 700+ profiles.Are they kidding me? What am I supposed to do when someone says Gil Velazquez in the end game and I go speed-dialing down to the V's and he's not there?

Fanball Fantasy Baseball 2009 $7.99

The big thing here is multiple cheat sheets, each clearly spelling out what the prices are based on. There are three sets of prices: 5x5 AL-only, 5x5 NL-only, and 5x5 mixed. It's hard to figure what the reasoning is for the prices in the mixed leagues. Hanley Ramirez costs more in mixed than in NL-only, which I happen to agree with. But Grady Sizemore costs less in mixed than in AL-only, which I don't agree with and is totally inconsistent.

Fantasy Sports $5.99

I'm looking at the April issue, the one with (at least in New York) David Wright on the cover. Kind of ironic that this is the cheapest of the magazines, since the editor, Greg Ambrosius, is the driving force behind the high-stakes National Fantasy Baseball Championship. Greg has opted to deal with the pricing issue by offering AL-only dollar values by position, NL-only dollar values by position, and mixed-league rankings by position. All for 5x5 leagues.

2009 Major League Baseball Yearbook & Fantasy Guide $9.95

Almost ten bucks?? Yes, I admit it. I can't resist any of them. This one's got a lot of things going for it. 850+ players in the profiles. Hitters alphabetized, pitchers alphabetized. Three-year stat scans, with 2008 also broken into first half, second half. Prices for 5x5 AL-only, NL-only and mixed leagues. That's good. They are the same for all three, though, and that's not right.

Wise Guy Baseball 2009

Not sure what the price is. Gene McCaffrey sent it to me. He doesn't even give contact information, but I'll give you his email address anyway: GenetheM@aol.com. Gene is the original wise guy of the title. John Menna and Ken Magna are his "special guests." Tom Zownir contributes something called The Hitmen. It's basically a crank-press item directed at the CDM contest leagues. But baseball is baseball and good comments are good comments.