Along with the corner outfield positions, first base is a premium run-producing position. Significant home run, RBIs, runs scored and walk numbers accompany the first few tiers of first basemen.

Unlike most other positions, there isn’t a huge drop off between the first two tiers. Most teams put their big, strong defensive liability at first, making it a predominantly offensive position. Read more »

Last week, we took a look at the pleasant surprises in baseball. “The All-Overachievement Team” featured players in the midst of career seasons; the kinds of guys who step up and make huge differences in their teams’ pennant chases. This week, we go in the opposite direction and make mention of the not-so-hot players who are going in the tank and taking their real-life and fantasy teams with them.

Just as timely late fliers on Raul Ibanez or Mark Reynolds can push fantasy teams to the top of the standings, early picks on Josh Hamilton or Matt Holliday can anchor them to the bottom. Either through injury, ineffectiveness or some combination of both, underachievers put fantasy teams permanently behind the eight-ball.

Fantasy owners often recover from bad draft days, but can rarely bounce back from drafts that feature multiple swings and misses in the early rounds. The following lineup consists of those kinds of players - highly acclaimed busts and sleepers who have yet to wake up. Read more »

Having gone through a couple of early mock drafts, a few facts — some specific to 2009, others not — have become more clear. Even in the heart of winter, with spring training updates still to come, players are settling into slot positions and trends are beginning to develop.

For starters …

After the top seven players — Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Grady Sizemore and Miguel Cabrera — drafts are wide open. The eighth pick is as good as the 14th, which makes late first-round decisions as hard as ever. Read more »

Michael Young didn’t have to like it, but he accepted the Texas Rangers’ plan to move him to third base, the Dallas Morning News reported on its blog Thursday. This clears the way for young Elvis Andrus to debut at shortstop and for Hank Blalock to shift into the primary designated hitter role. 

A very professional move by Young, who came to terms with a position change after taking an adamant stance against it. He cited pride for his initial resistance to the idea, then duties to his teammates and talks with team president Nolan Ryan as reasons for coming around. 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 »

Chances are, you have made some key free agent pickups throughout the regular season that have catapulted you into championship contention. Don’t let that keen eye for the undervalued free agent get away from you just because it’s September.

There are plenty of quality hitters left on the market that can put you over the top and into the winner’s circle. Here are the top 10 free agent hitters that you should consider picking up. Read more »

As the season wears on, the Texas Rangers have seemed to get younger and younger. They had four rookies in their starting lineup in Sunday’s 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, including starting pitcher Eric Hurley who picked up his first win. Both Hurley and first baseman Chris Davis have made splashes in their big league debuts, and both have the talent to sustain the momentum.

Davis will be especially interesting to watch for the remainder of the year. One of the best power hitting prospects in the minors, he became the first Rangers player ever to homer in his first two games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. At the time of his June 24 callup, Davis was hitting .333 with 23 homers in 77 games between stops at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma. Read more »