Dreaming of the Ultimate Fantasy Baseball Gift List

Are you shopping around for the ultimate gifts to buy the fantasy baseball lover in your life? Or perhaps you just want to give your loved ones the ultimate list of gift ideas. If so then look no further than this very blog post. This giant article lists every thing the fantasy baseball needs to participate and excel in the ultimate optimum dream world. (Amazon Links - just in case you're tempted)

The HARDWARE
We are dreaming here, right? That means there is no budget or real life situations to concern us. Since that is the case I will be listing every piece of hardware I would love to have for fantasy baseball purposes.

The Ultimate Laptop: HP Pavilion TX2510US 12.1-inch Laptop Black
This thing is so hot. It has great specs (2.10 GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-80 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium) and great features. The thing I love most about it is that widescreen rotating touch screen. Man! that is beautiful. I make out great with my refurbished Think Pad but if money were no object, this would be my machine.



The Ultimate All-In-One Printer/Scanner: Canon Pixma MX700 Office All-On-One Inkjet Printer (2186B002)
Even with the ultimate laptop to take to your live drafts and auctions, you'll need a printer to print your emergency back-up lists (I've mentioned how important that is haven't I). This is one of the better ones and it isn't even all that expensive.



The Ultimate Cell Phone: The iPhone 3G
I've been dreaming about an iphone since I first heard the rumors. Unfortunately it just hasn't been possible with my non-existent budget. Like the HP it's all about the touchscreen. Other cell phones have touchscreens but they don't come close to the iphone's. For the ultimate fantasy baseball guy, constant access to the internet whether on the bus or on the can at work (courtesy flush please) is a real desire (and if you're the adventurous type you can use the iphone to connect your laptop to the internet). If you already have an iphone, check out this great selection of iphone accessories - I'll take that leather case, please.

The Ultimate Flat Screen HDTV Monitor: LG 42LG30 42-Inch 720p LCD HDTV
What is the point of watching your players in action if you aren't watching them in HD? I love the LG brand and this model has a fantastic price when you buy it through amazon.



The SUBSCRIPTIONS

The 2009 MLB.tv Season Package
Watch all of the out of market games from anywhere you can access the internet. This service has improved in leaps and bounds the last couple of seasons and I couldn't live without it. I would die for the person that got me this subscription. This includes over 2400 possible games and even 100 spring training games (when fantasy baseball scouting is at its height).

Scout.com Annual Total Access Pass
This is the best site on the planet for the very serious sports fan. For the fantasy baseball fan it is almost without par. It includes access to teams of scouts for every MLB, NLF, NCAA, and NBA team. Link your subscription to your favorite team and you'll also get a year-long subscription to your team's official magazine. Winter leagues, fall leagues, spring training, minor leagues - it is all covered. Believe me, you won't miss a thing with this site in your pocket.

The Baseball Prospectus Gift Subscription
Baseball Prospectus covers every aspect of the game from the minors to ownership issues. You also get the articles of the best baseball injury analyst in the business, Will Carroll. This site does some fantasy stuff but the real reason to subscribe is because they give you the all important context you need to understand baseball organizations and the way they think. It's relatively cheap too.

Gold Subscription to BaseballHQ.com: Fantasy Baseball Intelligence for Winners
This service is not cheap but it is the best in the business. Ron Shandler is the expert's expert. He has changed the way that smart people study baseball and he did it through our game. There is no aspect of this hobby that this subscription doesn't help you understand - from cheatsheets and draft software to contact rates and the LIMA plan. A MUST HAVE

The BOOKS

Baseball Prospectus 2009: The Essential Guide to the 2009 Baseball Season
A preseason look at all of the moves and all of the players that will shape each organization in 2009. This is like a 1000-page fantasy baseball magazine. By March 1st, I feel lost without it.



The 2009 John Sickels Baseball Prospect Book
John Sickels is one of the best minor league analysts in the business. His book includes extensive lists on all of the prospects with a letter grade to help you easily understand their level of talent.

Baseball America 2009 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars
Baseball America is the definitive source of minor league and prospect information for almost the entire baseball industry. They lean heavily to the scouting side of things which is why you also need more numbers oriented evaluations like those you get from John Sickels and Baseball Prospectus.



Ron Shandler's 2009 Baseball Forecaster
The annual publication that supplements the website. This has all the player stats and strategy tips you need to excel every season. When you buy the book you also get free updates from the HQ website.



Art McGee's How to Value Players for Rotisserie Baseball
One of the most valuable skills that the fantasy baseball owner can learn is to value his own players. Every league is unique, so the better you understand your league the more accurately you can value players. This book will help you do just that. A classic that should be in every fantasy fan's library.



The ACCESORIES

Laptop Carrying Case: Timbuk2 264-X-570 - Ballistic Commute Laptop Messenger Bag in Black
This is a great gift idea all by itself. It will hold everything, the laptop, your lunch and cheatsheets that you will need at your fantasy draft. Not to mention its pratical everyday uses. I already have one.

Fantasy Baseball Draft Software: Roto Lab
There are many different options out there when it comes to draft software. Roto Lab is the standard they all aspire to reach. This software will cheap track of every team's budget and players and even recommend players and auction values that change based on your draft's inflation on draft day. If you a subscription to Baseball HQ you can qualify for a discount on this software. A MUST HAVE

FUN STUFF

Baseball Jersey: Birmingham Black Barons Pro Jersey
I love those vintage jersey's and they even come in huge sizes for big guys like me. If the old school stuff isn't for you a MLB replica of your favorite player's jersey works. Hey, you have to look cool at the draft.



And the Matching Cap: Birmingham Black Barons Fitted Cap
No point in wearing a jersey if you don't have a lid to go with it...



That was tons of fun for me. If only Santa Claus would deliver. What's on your Ultimate Gift List?

Scouting the Dominican Republic

I am one of those fantasy baseball guys that loves to study prospects. Nothing makes me happier (and increases my hat size) more than having identified players like Jose Reyes, Nate McLouth, and Mike Piazza before anyone else in my leagues. If you are a similar sort than you need to read this series of articles by Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It follows Rene Gayo, Latin American scouting director for the Pittsburgh Pirates. It explores the entire process of scouting and signing international prospects. This is a MUST READ.

Part One: A young Dominican out duels peers who play baseball 'for food'

Part Two: New academy just one part of building talent pool

Part Three: Gayo's focus is on finding talent, but he must battle emotions in process

Emily's Fantasy Baseball Survey

There is a very popular fantasy baseball survey making its way around the internet. It was created by a NorthWestern student named Emily. She is doing research on fantasy baseball and the people who play it. Please take5-10 minutes to complete this survey and further the scholarly reach of our hobby.

Hello Fellow Fantasy Baseball Fans,

My name is Emily Stecher and I am a senior at Northwestern University writing my senior thesis on fantasy baseball. I am a fantasy baseball participant myself and an avid baseball fan. The literature on fantasy baseball is not terribly extensive so I am trying to conduct a survey to further my research. This survey takes 5 minutes and I would really appreciate all the help I can get. Plus, everyone who participates will be entered in a raffle to win a $50 VISA gift card.

Here is the link to the survey. Please take it!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=68fvy_2bS28ez0el35eRWFHQ_3d_3d

Thanks so much!,
Emily

Sleeper Alert: Khalil Greene

I posted my thoughts on shortstop Khalil Greene's trade to the St. Louis Cardinals from the San Diego Padres today on the RotoExperts.com fantasy baseball blog. It is my intention that anyone who reads this blog not miss any tidbits I might have to offer. I say this so you'll know that the many links to that site aren't purely marketing related. I get nothing for sending people to that blog or to the RotoExperts.com. I just happen to write for it and believe that it is well worth reading.

Anyway, I think Khalil Greene is a great addition for the Cardinals and he should dramatically improve his fantasy value this season. Here is a clip and a link if you are inclined to read the entire post:

Khalil has a career BABIP of .285 while the average BABIP is closer to .300. He has a career LD percentage of 19.5, which is not spectacular but certainly solid. His career FB percentage 45.8 should also indicate some solid production with a power hitter like Khalil. But Petco seems to have tanked his HR/FB to a disappointing 9.6 percent. Just for comparison’s sake, J.J. Hardy has a just a 37.9 FB percentage but a career 11.9 HR/FB percentage (14.1 percent in 2008). A “normal” HR/FB percentage is around 11 percent. Busch Stadium (still a slight pitchers’ park with its Park Factor of .943 runs) is going to seem like a Little League field to Khalil in 2009.

The Fantasy Impact of the Vazquez Trade

There are now a lot of reasons to like Javier Vazquez in 2009. Just in case you have been living in a cave or haven't bothered to scan the post directly below this one I'll fill you in on the biggest reason for that change:

Veteran right-handed starter, Javier Vazquez and left-handed reliever Boone Logan have been traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for a package of prospects that almost certainly includes a young lefty starter, Jo-Jo Reyes and infielder Brett Lillibridge. The one remaining prospect has yet to be determined but speculation by ESPN reporters suggest that it is one or two of a group that includes catcher Tyler Flowers, third baseman Jon Gilmore, and pitcher Santos Rodriguez. Most reports are assuming that the White Sox will pick Flowers and with good reason. It has also been reported more recently that the White Sox will receive all three prospects and Lillibridge leaving Reyes with the Atlanta Braves.

If this is the same package that the Braves were offering the San Diego Padres in the Jake Peavy negotiations then I now understand why they could not complete the deal. However, the Braves were rumored to be including two significantly better prospects - center fielder Jordan Schafer and right-hander Tommy Hanson. That deal would also have potentially cost them their potentially great shortstop Yunel Escobar. Instead, as a poster on the RotoJunkie forums put it, the Braves got 80 percent of the pitcher for 20 percent of the cost. Final- TRADE UPDATE

Almost every pitcher improves when he moves from the American League to the National League. This has been shown in several places. Their strikeouts increase mostly by virtue of facing other pitchers rather than designated hitters. Vazquez as an excellent strikeout pitcher should certainly benefit from this change. This alone should be enough to convince most owners to take a chance on Vazquez in 2009 but there is even more. The move from U.S. Cellular Field (+ 0.077 runs in 2008) to Turner Field which usually plays as a major pitchers' park (it didn't in 2008 probably because the Braves did not have many pitchers worthy of the starting jobs) should knock potentially almost a full run from Vazquez's performance stats.


It also helps that Vazquez has always looked statistically like a much better pitcher than his performance would suggest. His career FIP is just 3.93 compared to his career ERA of 4.32. His career K-rate is 7.99, his BB-rate is just 2.39 - a career K/BB of 3.34. He is a flyball pitcher who has allowed a career 1.19 HR/9 which is probably the biggest negative he has. Hopefully the better pitching environment in Atlanta can neutralize this.

Mark Hulet over at Fangraphs (remember those great statistical sources I told you about) has a great review of the prospects involved. Tyler Flowers is obviously the best of the lot, especially where fantasy baseball is concerned. He should be an extremely hot commodity in leagues that draft minor leaguers (there is a chance he starts the season in the majors but not a large one).

Javier Vazquez going to Atlanta for Reyes, others

Vasquez should be great in Atlanta. More when the details are firmed up.

Right-handed pitcher Javier Vazquez has been told he's headed from the Chicago White Sox to the Atlanta Braves in a deal which is likely to be finalized on Wednesday.

Vazquez is flying to Atlanta on Wednesday morning for a physical.

A baseball source told ESPN's Peter Gammons that the deal will include four other players, including reliever Boone Logan, who would also go from the White Sox to the Braves.

Among the players expected to go from Atlanta to the Chicago organization are Jo-Jo Reyes, Brett Lillibridge and another top prospect.

Would You Draft Phil Hughes

After years of hype, Phil Hughes has finally hit his low as a fantasy baseball prospect. He has had little if any value in even the deepest of leagues. Hughes is now claimingto be ready for 2009 but we've heard similar declarations before. beyond the occasional flash of talent he has done nothing for fantasy owners.

But...

Those flashes... He seems to end every season on a roll. He dominated the Arizona Fall League. In the AFL he loked exactly like the ace that the Yankees have been counting on in their rotation. Remember when he was ranked higher than Joba Chamberlain?

Tell me in the comments if you would draft him in your leagues in 2009.