RotoScoop.com

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer

Whether you’re in first or last place, some roster tinkering is almost a necessity this time of year. Don’t rest on your laurels, as your bench can never be deep enough. Also, don’t give up if your squad is floundering, there’s no need to panic. You don’t need me to tell you not to put too much stock in one week of baseball. With that said, let’s take a look at some possible options lurking on your waiver wire just waiting to be scooped up.

Scott Hairston – Not off to a scorching start and likely a fourth outfielder once Carlos Quentin returns, Hairston is a solid short-term option and would fast become a long-term alternative if traded. Quentin is still a couple of weeks away from returning, so treat Hairston as an OF4 or OF5 in the meantime, as he clubbed seven homers this spring. If 500 at-bats were to present itself one way or the other, a 30-homer campaign isn’t out of the question.

Randy Wolf – After a poor first start, Wolf is likely available in even deeper leagues. A lefty with a solid career strikeout rate (7.4 Ks per nine innings), Wolf is 22 months recovered from Tommy John surgery, so a full return to velocity should be in short order. The NL West and Dodger Stadium are also plusses. His next scheduled start at home against the light-hitting Giants is a fine spot start as well.

Elijah Dukes – Word is, once Rocco Baldelli returns to center field, Dukes will receive most of the playing time at DH, not Jonny Gomes. His past behavioral problems are of some concern, but Dukes ranks as a legit prospect and could be good for 25 homers and 90 RBI as soon as this year.

Melky Cabrera – Although Johnny Damon looks likely to return to the lineup as soon as Sunday, Cabrera could still be a short-term option because of Hideki Matsui’s recent injury. Cabrera hasn’t hit in the early going, but anyone in that Yankee lineup is worth consideration, especially those in deep leagues.

Casey Kotchman – He’s probably only available in shallow leagues, but don’t forget about Kotchman’s ability before mono ruined his season last year. He’s a legitimate .300 hitter.

Zack Greinke – While wins won’t be plentiful, Greinke could be of use in deeper leagues. Remember, before last year’s troubles, he finished the 2004 season with a remarkable 100:26 K:BB ratio.

Josh Phelps – This recommendation isn’t for the faint of heart, as you’d need to be an astute owner in a daily league, starting Phelps exclusively against southpaws. Still, he’s in a potent Yankee lineup and can be extremely effective in the limited role, as he has a career .859 OPS against lefties while smacking 21 HRs in just 403 at-bats.

Kyle Davies – Despite an impressive spring, it took a Lance Cormier injury to get Davies into the rotation to begin the year. While a first start against the red-hot Mets means he should be benched, Davies has solid long-term potential. If he can decrease his walk totals this season, a 4.10 ERA and 12-15 win campaign is possible.

Also, if this guy were to switch professions, he’d immediately become worthy of all of your FAAB. I know that clip is old news by now, but I’ve watched it 100 times, and it never gets old.

By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer

While it is far too early to start worrying about your players’ stats over the first few games, one category that merits monitoring early on is stolen bases. Unlike other hitting categories, stolen bases are all about effort and opportunity; David Ortiz could probably swipe 40 bags if he were so inclined. Steals early on in the year can simply be flukes or, may portend monster steal totals at the end of the year. Let’s try and sort out the most precious of all fantasy baseball commodities.

Kenny Lofton – Lofton has a plum spot atop the Rangers lineup and with two steals on Opening Day, not to mention a 32 out of 37 success rate last season, it appears that the old man still has it. Look for Lofton to approach 40 swipes.

Willy Taveras – For some reason, the Rockies love to run, which is good for Taveras since that is all the guy can do. Assuming that he doesn’t lose too much playing time to Steve Finley, and he shouldn’t, Taveras is my dark horse candidate to lead the majors in SBs.

Vernon Wells – Wells had some unprecedented success running last year and is off to a fast start. This very well may be the year he cracks 20.

Darin Erstad – Apparently Darin Erstad is still playing. While most people remain skeptical of the North Dakotan, he was a consistent 20 steals guy in his prime. 15 steals seems reasonable.

B.J. Upton – The Rays love to run, and Upton should be able to take advantage of that this season. A full workload should yield 30-40 swipes.

Corey Patterson – Patterson’s value is rooted in his ability to run and hit jacks. An early steal bodes well for Patterson owners, as he usually gets them in bunches. He has a decent shot of reaching 40 SBs this year.

Alex Rodriguez – A-Rod has shed some extra poundage and could get back to the mid 20 range this year.

Barry Bonds – Bonds is back and better than ever! From circus catches in left, to opposite field jacks and stolen bases, I expect Barry to have his best season yet. A 70/70 campaign is not out of the question.

By Dalton Del Don

NL MVP – Albert Pujols

I know, what a boring pick. Still, Albert the Great has only won one MVP award thus far in his career, which is hard to believe. He’s likely to be pitched around more frequently this year, and he bats in the weakest lineup off all other contenders. Jose Reyes could be one of those contenders, as could Miguel Cabrera if Florida hangs around the playoff picture long enough. Barry Bonds is a dark horse candidate, but San Francisco is more likely to finish in last place than they are first. Ryan Howard can’t be discounted as a possible repeat winner, especially since the media love home runs. In the end, Pujols wins it.

NL Cy Young – Jake Peavy

Chris Carpenter is probably the favorite entering the year, as he has shown good durability and has a terrific defense playing behind him. Carlos Zambrano is pitching for a big contract, and if he can improve his walk rate, this award could follow. Ben Sheets, John Smoltz, Brett Myers and Cole Hamels are all threats as well, but Jake Peavy ultimately beats them out for the hardware.

NL ROY – Chris B. Young

Fellow teammate Stephen Drew is a challenger, especially since he’s the one that won the leadoff spot in the order. Kevin Kouzmanoff is a legitimate contender as well, and if Tim Lincecum gets an early call up, he has the stuff to make an immediate impact. Young, however, can take advantage of hitting at Chase Field and approach a 20/20 campaign.

AL MVP – Travis Hafner

The Yankees employ about five candidates and of course Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz figure to be in the picture. Vladimir Guerrero could stand out as a playoff-bound team’s clear top hitter, and Grady Sizemore might throw his name into the balloting as well. When Cleveland ends the season on top of a highly competitive division, hopefully voters can look past the DH role and mark down Hafner’s name. Quietly, he’s one of baseball’s very best hitters.

AL Cy Young – Johan Santana

Trying not to be too Captain Obvious with these picks is one thing, not choosing Santana to take home the AL hardware is another. Although pitching for a likely fourth place finishing team could really hamper his chances. Felix Hernandez, Rich Harden, Roy Halladay and C.C. Sabathia are the only guys I see as alternatives.

AL ROY – Daisuke Matsuzaka

There are far stronger options in the AL than the NL this year when it comes to first-year players. Namely, three legitimate options in Dice-K, Alex Gordon and Delmon Young. One must have fewer than 130 at-bats the previous season to qualify for ROY, so you better believe Tampa Bay realized this when Young finished with 126 at-bats last season. As good as Alex “The Hammer” Gordon is, and I think he might actually have the most long-term potential out of the three, Young is my pick as the runner-up. Which brings us back to Dice-K, whom I didn’t go crazy with in my fantasy rankings this year. Despite currently dealing with arm fatigue, Matsuzaka proved difficult to hit this spring, allowing just 11 hits over 21 1/3 innings. His control will come around. While pitching in the AL East should make an ERA better than 3.50 unlikely, 15-18 wins and a strong WHIP are both reachable for the future AL Rookie of the Year.

Here’s a recap of my divisional previews, followed by my postseason predictions:

NL West
1. San Diego Padres
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. San Francisco Giants
5. Colorado Rockies

NL East
1. New York Mets
2. Atlanta Braves (Wild Card Winner)
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals

NL Central
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Chicago Cubs
3. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Houston Astros
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

AL West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Oakland A’s
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Texas Rangers

AL East
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox (Wild Card Winner)
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

AL Central
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Kansas City Royals

NLDS – Mets over Padres, Cardinals over Braves
ALDS – Yankees over Indians, Red Sox over Angels

NLCS – Mets over Cardinals
ALCS – Yankees over Red Sox

World Series – Yankees over Mets

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer

1. Cleveland Indians 88-74

Overview: Over the last two seasons, the Indians are 40-62 in one-run games. Part of this was bullpen troubles, as they had the worst save conversion rate in the game last season. In fact, Cleveland relievers converted just 24-of-47 saves. The 2006 Indians bullpen was among the worst 3 percent of all teams since 1959, according to Baseball Prospectus. Another problem was defense, as they allowed the most unearned runs (84) in baseball last year as well. However, plain old bad luck can also be to blame, as the Tribe scored the second most runs in the AL and gave up the sixth fewest runs. Based on those numbers, the Indians should have had 11 more wins last year when adjusting the standings. Cleveland has outscored its opponents by 236 runs over the last two seasons, the second highest in the majors. And yet, they failed to reach the postseason in either campaign; things even out this time around.

Hitting: Grady Sizemore had 92 extra base hits while playing half his games at Jacobs Field (slight pitcher’s park) at age 23 last season. Folks, that’s unreal. Once he starts turning those doubles and triples into long balls, a legitimate run at a 40/40 season may follow. Half project, half donkey, Travis Hafner is my favorite to win the MVP award this year. Fluke injuries have derailed his previous two seasons, but a full-time DH role increases the likelihood of a 600 at-bat year. He was the American League’s best hitter last year, posting a 1.097 OPS with 42 homers in just 454 at-bats. He also walked 100 times. In fantasy, I see him worthy of a top-10 pick. The rest of the lineup does have some holes, but Josh Barfield, Andy Marte and Ryan Garko give the team plenty of young bats with upside.

Pitching: C.C. Sabathia is a legitimate Cy Young contender, although his inability to stay healthy is concerning; he’s only thrown 200 innings once during his career. Still, he’s never suffered a major injury and is showing signs of a true breakthrough coming this year, as he finished the second half of last season with a 2.97 ERA and a 91/21 K/BB ratio over 103 innings. Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee, Paul Byrd and Jeremy Sowers can best be described as innings eaters, but with that lineup, ERAs in the 4.20 range should be sufficient. Fausto Carmona and Adam Miller are decent alternatives as well. Defense could remain a problem with the Tribe, but the bullpen should be leaps and bounds better than last year, with the addition of Joe Borowski and the continued maturation of Fernando Cabrera and Rafael Betancourt.

2. Chicago White Sox 87-75

Overview: It’s tough betting against Ozzie Guillen, who is the most entertaining manager of all-time.

Hitting: With Scott Podsednik and Darin Erstad slated to hit atop the White Sox’s order, Jim Thome is going to be batting with the bases empty an awful lot. With Paul Konerko, Jermaine Dye and Joe Crede all coming off career-seasons, Chicago doesn’t figure to put quite as many runs on the board this year. I’m especially concerned with Dye, who figures to go too early in most fantasy drafts. He hasn’t played in 150 games since 2000 and hit an unsustainable .351 with RISP last season. He also hit better than .300 for just the second time in his career, and it’s not like his contact rate improved. Playing in Cellular Field certainly helps, but banking on a guy repeating career-bests in all three triple crown categories at age 33 is not recommended. Still, Tadahito Iguchi and AJ Pierzynski are decent bats at the bottom of the order, and the lineup is solid overall.

Pitching: The team needs Jose Contreras to act as an ace, because there’s not much to like after him in the rotation. Javier Vazquez continuously shows great peripherals, but he’s yet to figure out how to translate that into the ERA category. His strikeout rate and WHIP are consistently strong, but he’s too erratic and serves up too many long balls to finish with an ERA less than 4.0. Mark Buehrle is pitching for a new contract, but it looks like his days as being anything more than a No. 3 or No. 4 starter are finished. Jon Garland and John Danks form an average at best back half of the rotation. The bullpen isn’t anything special either, and Bobby Jenks’ lack of velocity this spring is a major concern heading into the season.

3. Detroit Tigers 86-76

Overview: I consistently underrated this team last season, and with full awareness that this is a solid club, Detroit won’t be quite as lucky this time around. They were remarkably healthy last season and went 19-31 over their final 50 games. The AL Central is also extremely competitive.

Hitting: The Gary Sheffield addition was huge, as the slugger will no doubt be motivated to prove he’s not done. Placido Polanco may be the toughest batter to strikeout in the game, but he does little else than single. Pudge Rodriguez is a player in decline, evidenced by his eroding plate discipline; he’s walked a total of 37 times over his last 1,051 at-bats. Plus, last year’s .437 slugging percentage was his lowest mark since the 1993 season. The chances are slim that you’ll get back-to-back healthy seasons from Carlos Guillen and even slimmer that Brandon Inge hits 27 homers again.

Pitching: Jeremy Bonderman has improved each year he’s pitched in the majors. While a true breakthrough has yet to occur, the peripherals suggest its immanency. Justin Verlander is going to have a nice career, but a repeat of last year’s 17 wins and 3.63 ERA are unlikely this season. He needs to utilize that terrific fastball better and miss some bats, as 124 strikeouts won’t get it done. I’ve been skeptical of Kenny Rogers’ ability to keep getting hitters out, but his injury is a major blow to the team’s hopes this year. The 3.94 batters Todd Jones struck out per nine innings last year was historically bad for someone who reached 30 saves. History isn’t kind in these situations the following year. Joel Zumaya is the No. 1 setup man to target in fantasy drafts, and you can count on him closing by June 1. In fact, I’d actually rather own Zumaya than Jones at this point.

4. Minnesota Twins 80-82

Overview: The Twins sure looked a whole lot better entering last year, before losing Francisco Liriano to injury and Brad Radke to retirement. There isn’t a worse No. 2-5 starting rotation in the league.

Hitting: Manager Ron Gardenhire is not very good at lineup arrangements and extremely inflexible once a decision is made. Still, it’s a lineup that won’t struggle to score runs like in year’s past. Mauer, Cuddyer and Morneau form a productive heart of the order and Jason Kubel should start hitting this year as well.

Pitching: After Johan Santana, things get ugly. Not sure why Minnesota’s brass is so reluctant to insert Matt Garza into the rotation, but you have to figure he’ll be up sooner rather than later. In Ramon Ortiz, Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser and Sidney Ponson, there’s a good chance none finish with an ERA better than 4.50. The bullpen remains a strength, but they figure to get overworked with such a decrepit starting five.

5. Kansas City Royals 57-105

Overview: Bringing in up and coming Dayton Moore looked like the franchise was finally moving in the right direction, but every decision the young GM has made since then has suggested otherwise.

Hitting: David DeJesus, Mark Grudzielanek and Mike Sweeney give the Royals a triumvirate of the most injury-prone players in the game. Mark Teahen, Ryan Shealy and Alex Gordon, however, are an exciting young trio. Especially Gordon, who represents the first reason a Kansas City fan has had to get excited in years. Angel Berroa was one of the bigger ROY flameouts in memory.

Pitching: You don’t need me to tell you the Gil Meche signing was egregious, but at least it looks like Zack Greinke has turned his career around. He’s the early favorite for Comeback Player of the Year and could even have some fantasy value at some point. Yep, Odalis Perez is still in the league. Octavio Dotel is a solid ninth-inning option (one of the biggest baseball fallacies is people thinking last-place teams don’t generate enough save opportunities), but don’t forget about past prospect David Riske if Dotel should suffer another injury.