SportsJudge - Fantasy Dispute Resolution

SportsJudge.com - The Dispute Resolution Service of Advanced Fantasy Baseball

In today’s high paced, intensely competitive world, the constant strive for professionalism in fantasy sports is hardly uncommon. Despite this, no one is perfect, and problems do occur. With that in mind, SportsJudge prides itself on providing the most avid and intense fantasy gamers with a dispute resolution method to make sure each and every problem eventually ends with a proper solution.

SportsJudge.com brings an unsurpassed level of experience and expertise to the competitive world of fantasy sports. SportsJudge has quickly become recognized as a leading authority and resource by those who take their fantasy sports seriously.

Diamond Draft - The Official Draft Software of Advanced Fantasy Baseball

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Sleeper Alert: Daniel Murphy

New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel recently announced that rather than platoon INF/OF Fernando Tatis with Daniel Murphy in left field, he would be using Tatis in a platoon with right fielder Ryan Church.

From MLB.com:

"I don't want him to get into a strictly platoon situation," Manuel said of Murphy, who produced four hits in 10 at-bats off lefties last year. "I think he's a little better player than that. Also, with Church being left-handed, I kind of see Murphy being a better hitter right now."

Murphy is a natural third baseman in an organization with a young superstar at the position. The Mets had Murphy working out at second base in the Arizona Fall League. He shows the potential to be a solid contributor at the position. That the Mets did not manage to trade incumbent second baseman Luis Castillo to clear the position is the reason Murphy will spend 2009 in left field.

Murphy is an excellent contact hitter who had strong line drive rates. He does not draw a ton of walks but he draws enough to maintain a decent on-base percentage. He should regularly bat around .300 and may challenge for batting titles if his skills continue to develop. His homerun power is middling at best. At this point in his development 15 or so homers is about the most you can expect. Murphy has decent speed and is a fair base stealer. In full-time at-bats ten stolen bases is very possible with 15-20 not outside the realm of possibilities.

At three minor league levels, Murphy batted .305/.363/.481 with four homeruns in 131 at-bats against lefties and .320/.385/.502 with nine homeruns in 241 at-bats against right-handers. This seems to indicate that Manuel knows what he is talking about concerning Murphy's ability.

Murphy looks like a solid addition in NL-only leagues and a useful player in shallower mixed leagues. I would not hesitate to add him to my rosters

More on Dan Murphy:

Minor League Splits
The Baseball Cube
First Inning
FanGraphs

Diamond Draft - The Official Draft Software of Advanced Fantasy Baseball

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Depth Charts and Updated Rosters

One of the most common questions I've seen from owners is where can I find updated Spring Training Rosters. The rosters at MLB.com are updated by different people at different speeds and levels of accuracy. A relatively new site called MLB Depth Charts seems to be doing a good job of it. I have my quibbles with their projections but that's irrelevant as far as the rosters themselves are concerned.

MLB Depth Charts

NL EAST

* ATLANTA BRAVES
* FLORIDA MARLINS
* NEW YORK METS
* PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
* WASHINGTON NATIONALS

NL CENTRAL

* CHICAGO CUBS
* CINCINNATI REDS
* HOUSTON ASTROS
* MILWAUKEE BREWERS
* PITTSBURGH PIRATES
* ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

NL WEST

* ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
* COLORADO ROCKIES
* LOS ANGELES DODGERS
* SAN DIEGO PADRES
* SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

AL EAST

* BALTIMORE ORIOLES
* BOSTON RED SOX
* NEW YORK YANKEES
* TAMPA BAY RAYS
* TORONTO BLUE JAYS

AL CENTRAL

* CHICAGO WHITE SOX
* CLEVELAND INDIANS
* DETROIT TIGERS
* KANSAS CITY ROYALS
* MINNESOTA TWINS

AL WEST

* LOS ANGELES ANGELS
* OAKLAND ATHLETICS
* SEATTLE MARINERS
* TEXAS RANGERS

Diamond Draft - The Official Draft Software of Advanced Fantasy Baseball

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2009 Fantasy Baseball Roundtable - Week Three

Week three of the Fantasy Baseball Roundtable is hosted by Tim Dierkes of Roto Authority.

Name the player who is the worst value for his average draft position, within the first three rounds.

See how this group of experts answered

Patrick DiCaprio: Fantasy Pros 911
Jon Williams: RotoExperts
Tim Dierkes: RotoAuthority
Rudy Gamble: Razzball
Jason Collette: Fanball.com
Brett Greenfield: FantasyPhenoms.com
Adam Ronis: New York Newsday
Derek Carty: The Hardball Times
Patrick Cain: Albany Times Union
Commish:Fantasy Baseball Geeks

Diamond Draft - The Official Draft Software of Advanced Fantasy Baseball

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Saturday Morning Links

At Miami, they’re still celebrating A-Rod
Alex Rodriguez donated a few million to the University of Miami and they have named a park after him -- Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field (that was the best they could do???). I feel for A-Rod, despite my belief that he is still telling a few white lies about his steroid use. Coincidently (or maybe not so much) Selena Roberts' book about A-Rod has had its publishing schedule moved up. The book will now be out on April 14th. The worst part of this whole mess in my opinion has been the holier-than-thou act that Bud Selig has been perpetrating. Does anyone truly believe that a list of 104 steroid users did the rounds of backrooms in baseball and that Selig never saw it? Not I.

Houston Chronicle Reports problems with Manager Cecil Cooper
This is interesting.

Cecil Cooper. He was some kind of uptight at the beginning of last season and struggled both with the on-the-field and clubhouse duties of a manager. He seemed so over his head at one point that Alyson Footer telephoned Phil Garner and said, ''You need to talk to Coop.'' He did things that lost the clubhouse, and there are players he may never get back in terms of respect. On the other hand, he was the manager filling out the lineup cards and calling the shots when the Astros had that 47-27 run between June 20 and September 11. He calmed down and got comfortable. This is his second time around, and things should be easier. But he's in the last year of his contract and it's telling that the Astros didn't extend him. This is a stupid decision. Even if the Astros don't think he'll be managing in 2010, they should have signed him for 2010 to remove his job security as an issue.

Skip Schumaker's switch to second base
Tony LaRussa's latest genius plan to move outfielder Skip Schumaker to second base appears to have driven Dan of Viva El Birdos off the deep end.

1B Yadier Molina: There are few late-inning surprises I enjoy more than Yadi playing first base, because he plays it exactly like he catches: he gets his body in front of everything, and he doesn't dive after balls so much as getting into a crouch and sliding toward them. He'll provide an excellent competitive advantage when Motte is trying to pick a fastball hitter off of first base.

Laying Down the Law
The guys at Drunk Jays Fans point out an article written by Keith Law that combats the idea that steroid users benefit significantly by their use. I particularly enjoyed this bit:

Marc (Manchester, NH): Keith, I know there is no analytical way to discern how many homers were added to Bonds' totals through PED's. But, is it reasonable to assume that given the spike in his HR totals at an advanced age, maybe 10-15 HR/year were added to his totals?
Keith Law: I wouldn't argue against someone saying he had 10-15 extra in 2001. Where the argument breaks down is in trying to explain that year as an outlier in a career that is in and of itself an outlier. Did he just get better stuff in that year? He was probably using the same stuff in 2002 that he did in 2001, right? Doesn't that tell you we should be looking for another explanation for the 2001 spike?

Top Five Reasons to Sign Joe Crede
John channels John Cusack as he comes up with the top five reasons the Twins should sign third baseman Joe Crede. This is a great read if you're a High Fidelity fan or even just like reading about the Twins.

Screw Bud Selig
Once again the guys at Drunk Jays Fans have managed to put into words exactly the way I feel about Bud Selig.

It was fear of killing the golden goose that kept Selig, the owners, management, the media and the rest of the baseball world from digging deep into and asking hard questions about the drug culture pervaded the game. Now they want to punish players retroactively for something they once condoned?

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Fantasy Baseball Magazines

02/13/09 UPDATE: The Lindy's and Athlon 2009 Baseball Annuals are now on the stands. They aren't strictly fantasy mags but they both usually have interesting features on players and aspects of the game that fantasy owners can use. The Lindy's Annual is a mind blowing $9.50. The Athlon Annual is a typical $7.99.

UPDATE: The Rotoman Fantasy Baseball Guide is now available in bookstores. It has a cover price of $7.99.

Information on the 2009 fantasy baseball magazines has been very scarce. I thought I could put together a list of the expected magazines and their release dates but it has been much more difficult than expected. I'm going to share my work with you and hopefully you'll reciprocate by sharing the information you get with me. I'll keep updating this post with information as I get it.

Magazine Title	Date	Price
Rotowire 2009 Fantasy Baseball Guide	15-Feb	$8.99
The Fantasy Baseball Guide
2009 Fantasy Baseball Annual Guide	15-Jan	$7.99
2009 Fantasy Baseball Just Cheat Sheets	11-Feb	$7.99
Fantasy Baseball Index	1-Feb	$7.00
Sporting News Fantasy Baseball Owners Manual
Fantasy Sports (FW Publications)
MLB Yearbook & Fantasy Guide
Sporting News Fantasy Baseball Yearbook	Now	$7.99

Fantasy Baseball Roundtable - Week Two

Week Two of the Fantasy Baseball Roundtable is up. This week RazzBall.com is the host. Rudy Gamble asks the following question:

What sabermetric or alternative statistic (e.g., Ground Ball ratio, Contact Rate, etc.) do you find to be highly over or undervalued for fantasy baseball player valuation purposes

Check out the answers provided by these Fantasy Baseball Experts:

Patrick DiCaprio: Fantasy Pros 911
Jon Williams: RotoExperts
Tim Dierkes: RotoAuthority
Rudy Gamble: Razzball
Jason Collette: Fanball.com
Brett Greenfield: FantasyPhenoms.com
Adam Ronis: New York Newsday
Derek Carty: The Hardball Times
Patrick Cain: Albany Times Union

Diamond Draft - The Official Draft Software of Advanced Fantasy Baseball

Follow me on Twitter: @BigJonWilliams