“The sophomore slump”.

No one will ever actually admit to being a second-year player going through a mysterious curse that makes the best hitters and pitchers suffer tremendously following an impressive rookie year outing. Some say it’s just a lack of concentration, or raising the expectations too high for themselves, or just plain old nerves. Newsflash: Those three excuses are just better ways of saying, “I’m in the sophomore slump and I don’t think there’s any way out of it.” Read more »

The ship has sailed for the Tampa Bay Rays on a potential World Series championship. The Rays had their opportunities early in the series, and by failing to cash in, they gave the Phillies more than enough time to get comfortable and find their rhythm.

This series turned out to be a race to that point. Who would break out of their funks first, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria or Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins?

While Howard and Rollins emerged in big ways the last two games, Pena and Longoria may not wake up until spring training. Both players are in search of their first hits in the series — they are a combined 0-for-29 — and Phillies pitchers are searching for threats in the rest of the Rays lineup. Read more »

All season long, the Tampa Bay Rays won with balance. Hitting in the clutch, strong team defense, and solid pitching led the team to 97 victories. But, in the Game 1 loss to Philadephia in the World Series, the hitting faltered and all sense of balance was off.

Compiling only five team hits, the Rays lineup was stifled by opposing pitcher Cole Hamels all game long. The meat of the Ray’s order - B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena - were held without a hit in 12 at bats.

In attempt to offset the struggles of their teammates, Akinori Iwamura and Carl Crawford gave their best efforts to pick up the slack. Iwamura went 3-for-4, while Crawford added a home run. However, their effots were not enough to carry the team to victory, as the Rays fell into a 1-0 series deficit. Read more »

After a grueling 162 game regular season and weeks of playoff baseball in rigorous cold weather, the World Series has finally arrived pitting the Philadelphia Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hold onto your hats because history is about to be made, regardless of who wins.

Can the Phillies bring Philadelphia its first major sports championship since 1983, or do the Tampa Bay Rays win their first World Series in franchise history? ImaginaryDiamond.com is here to break down both teams, and tell you who is going to raise the hardware at series end. 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 »

Every season it happens. At least one player goes on such a tear through the postseason, gets so much attention that his fantasy stock soars the following season. That kind of buzz, of course, factors into a player’s value on draft day, but does a breakout playoff performance really change who that player is? The answer, in my opinion, is: sometimes.

Two types of players can grow from playoff experience to the point where a career season will immediately follow. Others can use good postseason play to cash in via free agency — Carlos Beltran, then with Houston, and Jeff Suppan, then with St. Louis, are recent examples — but they fool fantasy owners into thinking their games have changed. Read more »

Before there were saves, five-man rotations, designated hitters, wild cards, steroids, multi-million dollar contracts, there was a pitcher who dominated the game of baseball like no man had ever done before. He did not tire after just 100 pitches, but pushed himself past 150 on a regular basis. In his 22-year career, Cy Young dominated Major League Baseball, setting an unbreakable record of 511 wins. While Young has long since past away, his legacy still lives on.

Major League Baseball has been awarding the Cy Young Award” since 1967 to the top pitcher in both the American and National League. Due to major midseason acquisitions, the Cy Young Award, along with MVP and Rookie of the Year Awards, have garnered much debate in 2008. Can a player acquired midseason be considered for MVP or Cy Young? Should Japanese players qualify for Rookie of the Year? Should a player win the MVP Award if his team did not make the playoffs? Where does a record breaking closer fit in the Cy Young race? Read more »

Over the course of a 162 game season, Major League teams change their lineups countless times, promote prospects from the minor leagues, make trades, and face constant struggles about what to do with certain players. Fantasy owners are no different.

Injuries, slumps, and platoons have owners throwing fits over the course of a season. Players get benched, get traded and catch fire. Through hot streaks and slumps, good games and bad, fantasy owners are there to stomach it all.

Beginning on draft day, fantasy managers have tough decisions to make. When do you draft your first closer? Should you take a risk on that rookie or go with the proven veteran? How do you avoid getting stuck with weak players at the shallow positions? ImaginaryDiamond.com is here to address some of the lessons you should have learned regarding these situations and more in 2008. Read more »

Some say the sophomore slump is a myth, but a documented list of players has suffered its full effects.

Just ask Eric Hinske. Coming off a rookie season in which he won the American League Rookie of the Year award with 24 home runs, 13 stolen bases and 99 runs, Hinske faded into relative mediocrity and never played at the same level. Past award winners Dontrelle Willis, Jason Jennings, Angel Berroa and Bobby Crosby have equally suffered from this tragic disease.

With the 2008 Major League Baseball season coming to a close this weekend, fantasy owners, specifically keeper leaguers, can start to think about 2009. This season’s exceptionally deep rookie class will give owners several second-year players to consider as keepers and early draftees next season. Read more »

What a week it has been so far. The amazing part of this is that we haven’t even entered the crucial weekend series yet. Just about every game counts, for both MLB and fantasy managers. Fantasy owners have probably been tracking the status of Chris Carpenter and are probably highly disappointed as he is now done for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Now may be the time to pick up those free agents that are contributing to teams in the final playoff push. The Marlins have plenty of overlooked, young talent and they will be fighting for their playoff lives against the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies this weekend. Keep an eye on that Rays and Twins series this weekend as well. The Twins have more to fight for as they are still trailing the White Sox in the AL Central and may have some key contributors that are free agents in your league.  Read more »