New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez hasn’t just stumbled on his path to career home run No. 600.

Rodriguez hasn’t been his usual, powerful self all season, starting with the home runs and including a career-low .471 slugging percentage. He’s productive, but isn’t the roto star we’ve all come to know. Read more »

The new generation of third basemen is making its mark on baseball, with possibly more young superstars than any other position in the game. Evan Longoria and David Wright are perennial All-Stars, and youngsters Gordon Beckham (who will play second base this season for the White Sox), Mark Reynolds and Ryan Zimmerman are well on their way.

The top 10 at the position is pretty sound, but anything after that and you’re wishing on a star with nearly no breakout prospects. Read more »

Little was made of Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds this winter. He came off a season in which he hit just .239 and struck out 204 times and entered a situation where playing time was no guarantee in the Arizona infield. Too many variables and not enough certainty justified fantasy owners who passed him over, on average, 200-plus times in preseason drafts.

But, what Reynolds has done is helped turn the third base position in fantasy on its ear. He has led a new wave of young talent at the hot corner while familiar names Alex Rodriguez and David Wright, for their own reasons, have drifted back to the pack. The power structure and dynamic at the position have changed as names like Reynolds, Evan Longoria, Pablo Sandoval and Ryan Zimmerman have made it one of the most talent-rich in the game. Read more »

The New York Yankees are putting wins on the board a little differently these days. The Bronx Bombers are still lighting up the outfield bleachers, but they have also made better use of smaller ball tactics to scratch out runs and win games.

The Major League leaders with 112 home runs, the Yankees have fallen just off the pace in June, hitting the seventh-most homers (32) in baseball. But in the place of overwhelming power, baseball’s most star-studded, veteran-laden and patient lineup has worked over opposing pitchers and scored runs the old-fashioned way. Read more »

A position-by-position look at the New York Yankees with quick-hitting news and notes for each player. We’ll try and take a look at a couple of teams each week, just to give fantasy owners the full scope of what their players are doing in the context of their real-life lineups. Read more »

Our condolences to those early drafters who used a first overall pick or paid $30+ on New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez in auction drafts.

First, he picked up some serious emotional baggage in February. Now, his immediate future is in doubt with reports of a cyst and torn labrum in his right hip. While his 2009 season can’t be qualified as “lost” just yet, his outlook is far from bright. Read more »

Pitchers and catchers reporting to camp is always an anticipated day, but coming off one of the most depressing offseasons in recent baseball history, Feb. 14 was particularly refreshing. Even if it’s just for a little while, baseball fans can shift their attention back to the field, rather than a struggling economy and three powerful stories on performance-enhancing drugs.

The trials and tribulations of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez won’t be in our rearview mirrors anytime soon, but at least they have competition for news headlines. Manny Ramirez will remain in the spotlight, but the opening of spring camp means that an ending is finally in sight for that story. We can finally start to replace some of the more bizarre and borderline depressing stories with a little bit of optimism. Read more »

We’re seeing a lot of different reactions to Alex Rodriguez’s admission that he used performance-enhancing drugs. The interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons has been called an undetailed version of the truth, a ploy by A-Rod to control the damage, and a disingenuous attempt to further fleece baseball fans everywhere.

It was also called, by SI.com’s Jon Heyman, a good first step for the slugger. And it was. We didn’t have to buy the sappy charade or the fact that A-Rod never knew what he was ingesting or that he never knew he tested positive. Rodriguez still laid himself at the mercy of the court and gave us some kind of confession and apology, and that’s enough for now. Read more »

Dammit. Forced to say it one more time. Jose Canseco was right.

He said his peace about Alex Rodriguez in his second book, Vindicated, but had zero credible evidence so the accusation was brushed aside. Canseco may be an idiot who’s shamelessly chasing dollars, but again he’s been proven right when it comes to the players he’s named. Read more »

As the Major League Baseball season draws to a close, fantasy owners are starting to separate themselves into two categories: “pushing for a championship” or “looking ahead to 2009.” The final three weeks are among the trickiest, as rookies invade team clubhouses, players run out of gas, and playoff clinchers like the Angels begin exercising caution with their veterans.

Here at Imaginary Diamond, we re-emerge from the doldrums to piece together some overall player rankings, a list we believe to be the largest and most comprehensive on the Web. Three of us contribue to the rankings - myself, Stan Whyte and Ryan Staloff - which leaves them up for fragmented opinions, but allows us to better provide news and notes for 101 different players. Read more »