7 MLB Free Agent Signings From Last Winter That Have Been Busts in 2016

While there is no excitement of actual baseball being played, there’s a different kind of excitement that keeps fans engaged during the dead of winter: the Hot Stove.

Every team is on the verge of getting a clean slate upon reporting to Spring Training, and who knows, maybe the moves made in the offseason is all that’s needed to turn a pretender into a legitimate playoff contender. It doesn’t matter what we think about those trades and free-agent signings when they happen, though. The true judgment and evaluation comes once games start counting again in April.

The following seven free agents from last winter were viewed as important pieces toward contending for the teams who acquired them. There’s still time to turn things around before their contracts expire, but 2016 has unfortunately been nothing but forgettable for them thus far. 

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MLB Fantasy Daily (DFS) Picks For DraftKings – 5/17/16

 

Cabrera has absolutely destroyed Starter Phil Hughes in his career, – with 6 Bolts in just 43 AB. He and the Tigers take their road act to Target Field again tonight. Last evening they scored 10 runs for the 1st time all season. i would not be surprised to see them turn the feat again tonight. The Tigers are also not overpriced yet as they have struggled most of the year. They are the top stacking option lineup all night.

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15 Games – ALL Day Slate (DraftKings, Tuesday May 17, 2016)

Stacking Options tonight Rank

(1) Baltimore vs Wade Miley

(2) Detroit Tigers vs Phil Hughes

(3) Houston vs Carlos Rodon

(5) LA Dodgers vs Jered Weaver

(5) Chicago Cubs vs Chase Anderson

3 Pitchers to use.

(1) Clayton Kershaw, LAA @ LAD, $13, 700

(2) Wei-Yin Chen. MIA @ PHI, $8500

(3) Juan Nicasio, ATL @ PIT, $7300

Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For DraftKings 5/11/16

If you have any questions or comments about this article or fantasy baseball, please Tweet me @dynasty_digest. I post daily DFS lineups for Draft Kings everyday, so please make sure to follow my blog (dynastydigest.sportsblog.com) and my Twitter for updates.

 

P- Francisco Liriano (@ Cincinnati Reds): $9,000. Liriano has been fairly consistent over his first few starts in 2016. He has thrown 35 innings, with a 3-1 record, 3.60 ERA, 39 strikeouts, and 19 walks. He will be facing the 25th ranked offense on Wednesday, which is a great matchup for Liriano. The Reds’ lineup has really struggled against the left-handed throughout his career. In 170 career at bats against Liriano, the Reds’ lineup is batting .224, with 5 home runs, 40 strikeouts, and a .298 OBP. These numbers are very much in favor of Liriano on Wednesday. He is currently averaging 15.8 points per game on DraftKings this season.

P- Wei-Yin Chen (vs. Milwaukee Brewers): $7,800. Chen is facing another struggling offense on Wednesday. The Milwaukee Brewers are currently ranked as the 22nd overall offense in Major League Baseball. In 62 career at bats against Chen, the Brewers’ lineup is batting .210, with 1 home run, 17 strikeouts, and a .258 OBP. There will be a 12 MPH wind blowing towards home plate, which is a great sign for Chen considering this should limit the number of potential home runs. Chen has faced the Milwaukee lineup one time this year and he got the win after throwing 6.2 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Chen is averaging 12.1 points per game on DraftKings this season.

 

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2016 MLB Preseason Power Rankings

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With just 5 weeks to the regular season – and all of the important Free Agents finally being locked up with Ian Desmond signing with the Rangers, it is time to see where all 30 MLB clubs stack up.

We are going to be running weekly power rankings once the year starts on Apr.3, 2016.

The way I compile the Power Rankings is best on confidence to win the World Series.  Some clubs may be more talented (or playing better) than a squad they are behind in the rankings,  but the Division (and strength of opponents) plays a massive factor.

It is the reason why teams like the Royals or Astros will be selected above a team like the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Pittsburgh Pirates might win 90 games (which may only see one AL club join them), but because they have to contend with the Cards and Cubs in the NL Central, it will be tough for them to receive a great ranking (at least until games are played).

New York Yankees Need To Go Full Bore To Start 2016: Seek Reinforcements Midway Through If Need Be

The Yankees were almost flawless in their 1st 33 games to start the 2015 campaign. Quick starts by Teixeira and A-Rod fueled the offense, while Miller and Betances did not yield a run in this stretch either. Pineda was 5 – 0, Tanaka was healthy, and their duo of Ellsbury and Gardner were hitting north of .300.  The club was able to coast for the last 129 games of the year when injuries and age caught up to them.  Considering they spent no real money in the winter, they should go for bore early in the season, and then bring in a boatload of people late via trade  to compensate for injuries that will probably occur to their roster.

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On May.11, 2015 – the New York Yankees had just finished an 11 – 5 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Rays – and this led to a record of 21 – 12 to start their first 33 games.  It would be important on so many levels in completing the campaign.

You see – in the next 129 games the club would go just 66 – 63 to secure the 1st Wild Card Berth.

Mark Teixeira had clubbed 11 HRs over the wall with 27 RBI.  Alex Rodriguez had 8 big fly’s with many of them giving the Bronx Bombers a shot in the arm for victory.

Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances both had not yielded a run to that point. Michael Pineda was a brilliant 5 – 0, and that was about the time that Masahiro Tanaka began having health issues.

You throw in Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner both hitting well over .300 – and it was easy to see how the Pinstripers had taken off to a great start.

Odds To Win The Overall Homer Crown In 2016 MLB Baseball: Battle Of The Big Fly’s

Stanton has light tower power – and should lead the NL and Majors in Homers if he can remain healthy for a whole year.   In just 74 Games Played last campaign, the big slugger belted 27 HRs.  The problem is always staying on the field.  There is no reason to think he can’t crack 50+ HRs if he played a full season.  To aid his efforts as the biggest favorite to win this years MLB Homer crown – is that Marlins Park is bringing in the fences and also lowering them.

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I am flat-out wondering why these guys failed to include Chris Carter on this list?  For a prolific Home Run Hitter over the last 3 years (90 bombs), this guy is getting no respect.

I mean they have Corey Seager, Matt Adams and Freddie Freeman at the +20000 clip, but no word for a guy who finished 2nd in 2014 MLB Homers?

Carter is headed to the best home run park in the Major Leagues in Milwaukee, and will not be on a competitive club, where his AB may be in question.  Sure the guy might fan 250 times in 600 AB this season, but he may crack 40 taters for all we know.

I have requested this gambling website send me the odd for Carter (you can request a player that wasn’t listed), and I will get back to you shortly.

Let me start by saying that if Giancarlo Stanton remains healthy for a full year that he should definitely lead the Majors in longballs.  Despite us predicting him to do this, his odd only is listed as our #5 value best bet on the board.

MLB Power Rankings: Early Win Total Predictions For Spring Of 2016

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There is parity in the American League and their is a growing distance between the good and the bad clubs in the National League.

One could argue that the top 6 teams (NYM/CHC/SF/WSH/STL/PIT) in all of the Majors reside in the NL right now, and you then you can counter that by saying they have the 6 worst squads as well (PHI/ATL/MIL/CIN/SD/COL).

The funny thing about this whole ordeal is that the AL is absolutely going to cream the NL in Interleague this forthcoming season.  On a 12 year win streak already,  I am predicting a 175 – 125 W – L for the games between both leagues. The AL speedbags the National League in my view.

Last year, the American League held a 167 – 133 mark over the National League so that prediction up there is not foreign by any means. 

Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series

Yoenis Cespedes led all LF for HRs with 35 on the campaign in 2015. He picked a contract year for his best season to date out of the 4 years he has been in the Major Leagues. Cespedes hit 17 HRs with the Mets in 2 months, after smacking out just 18 in the first four months with Detroit. Cespedes finished in the top 40 for both leagues in respective big fly’s, and was tied for 13th overall with Manny Machado and David Ortiz.  New York brought him back for at least another year, where he helped the Mets go 34 – 23 down the stretch.  Expect more of the same in 2016.  Mets are the best bet of the week for the ‘Fall Classic’ value wise.

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A couple of things have happened over the last week.  The Mets signed Yoenis Cespedes and no odd was changed after this.  Very strange indeed.

With adding the Cuban slugger, the Mets have almost assured their fanbase for another post season berth in 2016.  This club is more like it was in the last 2 months than it was in the 1st four months.

Even if the Nationals were to have an unbelievable year – the Mets should still make the postseason as the #1 Wild Card seed.

I have the Mets as a 96 win team after this move, with the Nats listed about 93 victories.  Had the Nats picked up Cespedes, I would have given Washington a 95 – 92 win advantage over New York.

The Miami Marlins In 2016: Contenders Or Pretenders?

The Miami Marlins have not had a winning season since finishing 87 – 75 in 2009. With some deft maneuvers and the right allocation of team salary (like the latest Chen signing) – this club could contend in the NL East with Atlanta and Philadelphia both rebuilding. With all questions pointing to how Jeffrey Loria will behave if they were in contention halfway through, it will be an entertaining season.

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The Marlins finally threw down some money on a relevant Free Agent in the past week when they signed LHP Wei-Yin Chen.  The former Oriole received a 5 YR deal worth $80 MIL – that also has a Vesting Option for a 6th year.

Financially speaking, Chen will only earn $14 MIL of that pact in 2016 – thus bringing the Fish to about $77 MIL total team salary to start the campaign.

Miami is one of the middle of the pack teams in the National League – much like the Arizona Diamondbacks are.  These teams should be predicted to be just around .500.  The rest of the clubs should be well north or south of the even record mark.

Chapman To The Yanks Means ‘New York’ is In It To Win It For 2016

Aroldis Chapman is the most dominant Left Handed Reliever in the game right now – and is heading to the Bronx with the 2 other top Strikeout Ratio artists in Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances. The Yankees will be able to hold down plenty of leads. But this deal means more than just the player coming to New York. It is the first time we have seen the brass step up to say we are going to win this thing in 2016. Look for subsequent moves to be made now that this is the mindset.  Chapman has 1 Year of Arbitration left before hitting the open market next winter).

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We have given Brian Cashman a lot of flak about how he has run the Yankees in the last half dozen year or so.  While I like the Aaron Hicks and Starlin Castro deals, this is the first deal where I felt the Pinstripers were serious about winning again.

Read about the deal for Chapman from MLB Trade Rumors

Everyone will be proclaiming them the best 1/2/3 knockout punch in late inning relief in the entire Majors.  You will also hear a ton of things about Strikeout Rates – and historical Bullpens.

You will also hear a lot about player integrity and character.  Since when do the Bronx Bombers ever care about whether a guy has some off field issues?

What I took out of yesterday’s deal is that the brass has given the green light to play ball in 2016.

With a payroll reaching $220 MIL now (easily payable with a team that makes as much as the Yankees), who cares if the team spends another $25 – $30 MIL after the Chapman deal?