As if our last collection of MLB Rumors wasn’t enough, some four days later and already there is enough fantasy baseball news to swallow for all.
In the news today is the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Oakland Athletics once again, along with some other little tidbits for you to naw on, so let’s get busy, shall we?
Adrian Beltre – 3B – Boston RedSox: The Oakland A’s have offered Beltre a five-year 64 million dollar contract signifying they are for real when it comes to possibly landing the stout third baseman.
Since the A’s will not tender Kevin Kouzmanoff, the chances of making this deal is about 50/50, but for the A’s, it’s sort of along the lines of the same deal Beltre was given by the Mariners after his MVP season as a Dodger.
Beltre hit.321/.365/.553 with 28 HR and 102 RBI with a career high 49 doubles and only 82 whiffs, so regardless of whether he stays in Boston or heads to Oakland, he’s an elite third baseman to consider come draft time.
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OF – Rajai Davis – Toronto Blue Jays: Yup, that’s right Davis is a member of the Blue Jays, and the only thing you must remember at draft time is to keep this guy in your forward radar screen.
Rajai Davis is a total package when it comes to fantasy outfielders hitting .284/.320/.377 while stealing 50 bags in 61 attempts.
He won’t offer you much in the way of power, but that’s not what he is designed to do, if you know how to build a good team, then you’ll make a run for Davis early.
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OF – Justin Upton – Arizona Diamondbacks: Fox Sports.com is reporting that the Red Sox are on the “backburner” for Upton despite little activity actually going into talks regarding his trade or acquisition.
Upton is the kind of fantasy player that should be targeted late in the draft as an inexpensive alternative to your starting outfielders but that will also depend on where he winds up.
Boston is unlikely to bring him in, and there have been mention of up to 15 teams “interested” in him, despite no real documentation of who those teams are.
Last year Upton hit .273/.356/.442 with 17 homeruns and 69 RBI, but also struck out a career high 152 times, so if he does land in the wrong park, he may not even hold bench value. We’ll keep you posted.
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Rounding the Bases: A quick look at what’s running around the news wire this week.
- Pablo Sandoval could start the season a bench player rather than a starter if he fails to drop weight reports Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Sandoval’s stock plummeted this year and the San Francisco brass isn’t happy.
- The Cubs are thinking about holding onto outfielder Kosuke Fukudome instead of the rumors of the organization shopping him. This doesn’t come as a surprise considering Tyler Colvin is coming up through the ranks, because it is expected that Colvin will assume duties at first base rather than the outfield, so the Cubs basically have to hold onto Fukudome for the interim.
- And finally, the White Sox may be without the services of starting pitcher Jake Peavey until June or later as he is still healing from a detached latissimus dorsi muscle; a very rare injury. The White Sox are making a lot of noise in the free agency market already with serious talks surrounding Adam Dunn, the signing of Joaquin Benoit and others, so don’t be surprised if Peavey is out beyond June, and don’t be surprised if the White Sox go after another pitcher in his place.
Dunn, Benoit and Colvin as three players to keep on your radar while Sandoval, Peavey, and Kukudome are nothing more than waiver wire fodder.
