The Cardinal Rule

The most important thing to remember whenever you consider making a trade in fantasy baseball (or football, or basketball, or any fantasy sport for that matter) is to "Buy Low and Sell High." It seems pretty easy, but I swear if I had a nickel for every fantasy owner who has made a trade that directly violated that rule, I'd have enough cash to build a new Vikings stadium.

Thus, this week over at FoxSportsNorth.com, I did a two-part series of fantasy baseball articles designed to help owners identify which players were prime targets for buying low and which they should be considering selling high on.

Here are the links to the two articles from FoxSportsNorth.com: Buy Low and Sell High.

Fantasy Baseball Notes

In my latest fantasy baseball blog posts over at FoxSportsNorth.com, I examine the incredible season being turned in thus far by Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who in addition to leading the league in batting average and slugging percentage, is getting on base at nearly a .500 clip.

Find out just how rare it is to reach base 50 percent of the time by reading the full article entitled "Morneau is Always on" over at FoxSportsNorth.com.

In addition, I take a look at the surprising Vladimir Guerrero and the incredible season he is having so far for the Rangers. I did some digging on his career numbers and let's just say you won't believe what I've uncovered. He is in elite Hall of Fame company ... don't act like you're not impressed.


Read the full article entitled "Vlad's Historic Pace" over at FoxSportsNorth.com.

Fantasy Baseball Stock Watch

Not unlike Orlando Hudson’s mouth, fantasy values are always in motion. The best owners maintain a finger on the pulse of the fantasy baseball stock market in order to gauge the best time to make a trade or lineup change. In order to assist you as you endeavor to extract the most from your fantasy season, I’ve identified some players who are currently experiencing significant fluctuations in their values.

Among the players I examine is the Mets Jason Bay, who went yard twice against the Yankees last night.

Visit FoxSportsNorth.com for the full article.

The New Gig

I've been away from BoKnowz.com for a few weeks, but I've got a good excuse.

FoxSportsNorth.com has hired me to be their Fantasy Sports Insider, so I will be pouring a majority of my efforts into that site from this point on. I still plan on keeping BoKnowz.com updated and fresh with news and observations. Moreover, you will be able to find easy links to all of the fantasy baseball content I produce for FSN.com right here at BoKnowz.com.

Keep this page bookmarked and stay tuned for more announcements coming soon!

Triple Crown Trivia

Entering the 2010 season the only player that was universally given any kind of chance of winning baseball's Triple Crown for hitting was the Cardinals Albert Pujols. Given his ability to hit for both average and power, we still can't rule out the possibility of Pujols becoming the first player to lead his league in batting average, home runs, and RBI since 1967 when the Red Sox Carl Yaztrzemski accomplished the rare feat. Yaz had one of 16 Triple Crown seasons in baseball history--and three of those occurred back in the 19th century. Hall of Famers Ted Williams (1942, 1947) and Rogers Hornsby (1922, 1925) are the only two players to pull off the hallowed trifecta more than once.

Entering play on Tuesday, however, an unlikely hitter is leading the Triple Crown charge in the National League: Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier, who leads the Senior Circuit with a .365 batting average, 26 RBI, and is tied for the league lead with nine home runs with two others. There are a few interesting things to note about Ethier's candidacy for the Crown.

First, he is not even considered the best hitter on his own team; that distinction is generally given to fellow outfielder Matt Kemp or the one and only Manny Ramirez. If you had told most baseball fans that a Dodgers hitter would be contending for the Triple Crown at any point this season, nine out of 10 would have guessed Kemp, not Ethier.

The other weird thing about Ethier's contention is that only one Triple Crown winner has ever played for a losing team--Chuck Klein for the 1933 Philadelphia Phillies--and the last three winners (Yazstrzemski, Frank Robinson, and Mickey Mantle) all played for first place teams. Yet Kemp's Dodgers are currently residing in last place in the N.L. West.

Do I think we need to seriously concern ourselves with Ethier making history by winning a Triple Crown for a last place squad? No, not at all. Ethier is a nice player, but I doubt he will finish in the top 10 of more than one of the Triple Crown categories when all is said and done. As for the Dodgers, they were my preseason pick to win the West, but something is seriously amiss with this team (read: pitching). Thus, while I don't think they'll wind up in last place, there's a far better chance of that happening than there is of anyone, even Pujols, winning a Triple Crown this season.