“Positional Purgatory” is where we would say shortstops are going in fantasy. A group of fading stars is giving way to emerging youngsters, but very few of either kind can be viewed as real difference makers. Beyond the top three, there’s not a ton of speed or power in the group, leaving fantasy owners with a bunch of 10 HR-10 SB types and little else.

If a player is to break that ordinary mold and excel in either power or speed categories, a toll will be taken on at least one other category. Cleveland’s Jhonny Peralta has considerable pop, hitting .276-23-89-103 in 2008, but will be hard-pressed to break the .270 average mark once again. Ryan Theriot is a virtual lock to hit .300 and steal 25 bases, but has zero power and doesn’t drive in any runs. Read more »

Drafting outfielders can be a tricky task. At the least, an owner must have three competent starters, which creates challenging depth issues. Seeking a balance between strength and weakness in your outfield also leads to discrepancies in how you go about building the rest of your team. No matter your approach, how and when to address your outfield will be at the heart of a good draft strategy.

Plan to build a strong pitching staff? Draft a great outfielder high, take balanced pitchers, and target underrated hitters later in the draft. Want to build a Murderer’s Row lineup? Go Holliday, Ludwick and Beltran and lock in your league’s deepest, most talented outfield. Have five starting outfielders to draft? Adding excellent No. 4 and No. 5 outfielders can give you a big-time edge on your opponents. Read more »

It is Week 5 in fantasy football and chances and time to get an objective evaluation on how your team will perform this season. For some of you, however, fantasy football just does not quite feed your craving. Bored of adjusting your lineups just once a week? Lack of free agent activity not enough of a challenge? If you live for the daily waiver wire pickups, constant lineup adjusting, and buying peanuts and cracker jacks, then you are already counting down the days until fantasy baseball 2009 kicks off.

In the meantime, we are here to bring you some early previews for the 2009 season. The “Fast Forward to ‘09” series has already given you inside analysis on who to acquire at the second base and starting pitcher positions as well as keepers and this year’s rookies. We now shift across the diamond to third base, which appears to be a loaded position once again.  Read more »

The year was 1908. William Taft had control of the white house, Ford’s Model T was the popular choice of automobile, and the ball dropped in New York City for the first time. The National Basketball Association and National Football League would not be founded in their current form for several decades, but Major League Baseball was in full swing.

Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford were the toughest outs at the plate, and Christy Matthewson and Cy Young dominated on the mound. Above all else, the Chicago Cubs ruled supreme. Winning back-to-back World Series, and appearing in three of the them in the five-year existence of the event, the Chicago Cubs were the league’s most dominant team. With such a high degree of dominance, how can the Chicago Cubs fans not expect a great future ahead filled with World Series Championships? Read more »