The Fantasy Spin On The Hot Stove

Last week we took a look at what Free Agent options are out there. This week the Bear Creek FP Factory looked at the 40- Man Rosters of all MLB teams and got a pretty good feel for what teams look like as of now and what specific areas they will likely target this offseason. For the record I did not include Bullpen depth inot the mix. If a team was void of a true closer then it was included into the following list.


Orioles- Hard Hitting Corner IF, Rotation Help

Red Sox- Corner OF, Rotation Depth, Closer

Rays- Two Solid Hitting Options Regardless of Position, Potential Closer

Blue Jays- A solid two or three SP, Closer

Yankees- DH Insurance, A Solid 2 Option a SP

White Sox- One Bat Either a CI or OF, Rotation Depth

Indians- 1 Bat Either 1B or OF

Tigers- 3B, Middle INF, Rotation Depth

Royals- SP Depth, Catcher, OF

Twins- Closer, SP Depth, OF, 1 Big Bat

Angels- Catcher, 3B, SP depth

A's- Starting Pitching, One Elite Level Bat

Mariners- Two Productive Bats Regardless Of Position, SP Depth

Rangers- Starting Pitching

Braves- SS

Marlins- Closer, Starting Pitching, 3B and OF

Mets- OF Help, Middle Infield, Closer, SP

Phillies- SS, Big OF Bat

Nationals- OF Depth, Starting Pitching Depth

Cubs- 3B, 1B, OF, Starting Pitching Depth

Reds- Closer, Starting Pitching

Astros- 3B, Middle Infield, Closer

Brewers- Starting Pitching, Corner Infield, SS

Steelers- Starting Pitching, 1B, OF, SS

Cardinals- 1B, MI, OF

Diamondbacks- Starting Pitching

Rockies- Starting Pitching, OF depth

Dodgers- Two Starting Pitchers, C, one of the following: 3B or MI

Padres- Closer, Starting Pitching, Catcher, Any type of Power bat

Giants- 1 prolific bat


* D'Backs sign Willie Bloomquist to a two Year deal. Bloomquist returns to the DBacks with little Fantasy fanfare from this guy. Bloomquist may have some stretches during a 162 game season but if a players best attribute is AB's he shouldn't be targeted on draft day.

* Royals send Melky Cabrera to Giants for Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo. Don't understand the deal from the Giants perspective Cabrera performed over his head last season, as the underlying numbers indicate. Cabrera is more of a .270 hitter with 15 HR pop and perhaps 20 SB. All respectable totals but not for a hard throwing LH with some more tread on the tires to improve. The Giants depth in the rotation alloweed the deal to happen but they would have been better served sending Lincecum or Cain for a major offensive weapon. The move to the AL will likely decrease Sanchez's value somewhat but in reality your drafting for K totals more so than the actual results.

* Pirates sign Rod Barajas. Barajas should be the primary catcher and continue to be a lackluster Fantasy option that still finds his way on most league rosters.

* Phillies sign Jonathan Papelbon, four years 50M. Another bizzare move in my opinion. The rotation is the best in baseball and works deep into games. The returning bullpen arms including Bastardo and Contreras have been very effective over the last two seasons. Why not resign Madson or target a one year option and focus the finances on a much needed bat for the declining lineup? After a couple of down seasons Papelbon bounced back last year minus the late season blowups. Paps should be a good end game option however the investment should have been assigned elsewhere.

* Twins sign Jamey Carroll 2yr 7M. Carroll will primarily play 3B and has the versatiltly to play anywhere in the Inf as well as the OF. Carroll doesn't have a amazing skill set but he does get on base and hits at a .270+ clip. Carrol should be positioned near the top of the lineup and could push 90 + Runs if he remains there all season.

* D Backs sign Aaron Hill 2yr deal North of 10 Million. After averaging 31 HR's over two season from 08 and 09 it has now been a two season long struggle for Hill. Hill did hit better during his time in Arizona posting a .878 OPS however the power still didn't return hitting only 2 HR's over the same period. Without diving deep into the numbers I could see Hill once again returning to a 20 HR threat with a AVG above .270. Given Hill's postition however your likely not going to get a bargain rate price making him a risk come draft day.