Steve Kwan Fantasy Sports 101 Baseball This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

March 26, 2008 - The 2008 MLB season is officially underway! And by the looks of the season opener between Boston and Oakland, we are already seeing some early trends play out. Those trends, plus other fantasy headlines generated by baseball's opening series in Japan.

Three Quick Trends
1. Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn’t fixed his control problems yet, so fingers are crossed that we will see a bird get pulverized by a fastball for the first time since 2001.
2. Huston Street leads the league in blown saves after one whole game. On a side note, Keith Foulke looked fine in his inning of work, so if Street is traded, Foulke may be ready to be a fantasy impact player again.
3. Manny Ramirez is still being Manny; go to Yahoo! Sports and read all about how Manny fell in love with a giant check after the game.

Now, onto other fantasy noteworthy news.

Ellsbury's Role In Flux
Bad news for Jacoby Ellsbury owners; the Boston Globe reported on Monday morning that Ellsbury will not be hitting leadoff for Boston after all. Ellsbury batted eight during the season opener in Japan in front of Julio Lugo and behind Jason Varitek. Dustin Pedrioa appears to have claimed the leadoff role, while Ellsbury hasn't been a lock to start in center field. Coco Crisp started Boston's second game vs. Oakland and went 1-for-3 with a double.

Despite his lofty numbers from late last season, Red Sox manager Terry Francona said that Ellsbury was still developing and that putting Ellsbury at the top of the order permanently would be an unnecessary risk.
 
In terms of real life, it’s hard to argue with Francona; Boston’s lineup is stacked enough that Ellsbury isn’t a must at the top of it. Fantasy-wise, the move lowers expectations He will likely still hit for a high average, but his RBI and steals numbers will likely suffer. Now might be a good time for fantasy owners to take a long look at other elite young players if they don’t like Ellsbury’s prospects. Then again, there’s plenty of time for Ellsbury to get back to the summit.

Chavez lands on the DL to start season
Any hope that Eric Chavez would put his two miserable seasons behind him in 2008 seems to have stalled before the season began. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Chavez has been feeling pain in his oft-repaired back and is being shut down until he is certified to be pain-free. Until then, he’ll be sitting on the disabled list when the season starts.

Since signing his six-year, $66-million contract extension in 2004, Chavez has been in a statistical freefall every season. In 2007, he batted .240 with 15 home runs and 46 RBIs, hardly a good return on an annual $11 million investment.

In terms of value, Chavez's fantasy stock has dropped appropriately one disappointing season after another. This year, he is being drafted in the last rounds, behind Evan Longoria and usually in front of Troy Glaus and Scott Rolen. With yet another injury worry about his back, it’s become painfully obvious that guys like Glaus and talented youngster Kevin Kouzmanoff are better picks than Chavez.