Slowly, but surely, fantasy owners are plucking two of our free agent fixtures — Rangers’ designated hitter Hank Blalock and Twins’ outfielder Denard Span — off the waiver wire. Neither has made the huge splash it takes to drastically increase ownership in standard leagues, but both have been, and will continue to be, steady and solid.

Upside is always a theme in the hunt for viable waiver wire candidates, and that pursuit is noted below with the inclusion of young outfielders Dexter Fowler and Matt Laporta and third baseman Mat Gamel, who has yet to even make his 2009 debut.

Those young, risky candidates are countered with veterans Cristian Guzman and Russell Branyan, who are backing up their respective reputations with solid starts to the ‘09 season. Guzman is hitting for average (.368), and Branyan is swinging for the fences (7 HRs in 20 games). Read more »

Scouring the waiver wire for free agent recommendations is a task. There are a few distinct groups of hitters, and we’re charged with finding 10 who are not just quality players, but who comprise a well-rounded group to help as many fantasy owners as possible. Cry for us - it’s not easy being fake fantasy baseball experts.

The first group of hitters is the obvious, guys who should be owned in all leagues but, for some reason, are not. Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill anchors this group, but actually just crossed the 50 percent ownership threshold today. Read more »

It’s hard to make sense of statistics this early in the season because any Tom, Dick or Harry can heat up for three-game stretches. It happens all the time. Figuring out who’s legit and who’s not is usually a longer term process, so lots of times it pays to jump on board with hot streaks and just see how far they take you.

At the same time, there are proven commodities and exciting young players sitting on the waiver wire, ripe for the taking. Waiting for them to heat up is a good way to lose out to rival managers waiting for the very same thing. To stay on the cutting edge, it’s imperative to take leaps of faith on players you believe will be good sooner rather than later. 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 »

Shortstop Michael Young is not playing along, but the Texas Rangers have ideas of a grand position shuffle in 2009. Young, a five-time All-Star at short, is unhappy that the organization has “told” him to move to third base, according to the Dallas Morning News, and is demanding a trade. Young’s discontent puts a damper on moves that could work quite well for fantasy owners.

Young inexplicably won his first Gold Glove at shortstop last season, despite defensive statistics suggesting he was one of the most stationary in the game. A move to third would give the Rangers more range, but with inexperienced Elvis Andrus at short. Read more »