Once again, we gather here to pay tribute to the players of the week.  All of the celebs are out in their crazy outfits walking the red carpet giving interviews and saying stupid things.  The numbers have been analyzed, the votes have been tallied, and little statues are abundant.  I have here in my hot little hand the envelope with this week’s Buzzie awards.  And this week’s Player of the Week Buzzie goes to. . . . (more…)

It looks like time is running out on Flash Gordon.  Props to Howard for seeing this one coming so clearly.  It appears as though the Phillies are going to ease Bret Myers into the closer role.  It may not happen overnight, but it looks like it really will happen. Hunter Pence (hey, that’s just a great name right?) has been called up to the Astros to perhaps take over duties in center field.  I am among the Chris Burke owners who are shaking in our shoes right now, since he has done nothing to hold the job.  (more…)

Well, the Roger Clemens saga continues. Sort of. He says he’ll make his decision by the end of May. You know, half of me (the fantasy baseball half) is pretty anxious about him coming back again. The other half of me says “Who gives a shit?” I have to tell you, I’m getting pretty sick of this. It’s almost as annoying as those ridiculous fans who sit in the stadium screaming “steroids!!” when Bonds or Giambi or Sheffield come to the plate. Enough already. I’m getting tired of hearing about him and his wanting to be close to home. If that’s the case, then sign with Houston again already. But this waiting until mid-season to see if the Astros are going to be in contention or not is ridiculous. What if they’re not? Are you flushing the “family man” image and going back to the northeast if the Astros are in 4th, 17 games back? Just shit or get off the pot Roger. The fantasy leaguers who took a flier on you at the draft are waiting. (more…)

Arizona Diamondbacks — Rookie OF Carlos Quentin came back finally and started off hot in his first two games. He subsequently fell into an 0-17 skid and is hitless in his last 6 games. But fear not!! He will rebound. Both he and Chris Young have started off cold, but should soon heat up. I see big May rebounds for both. The Big Unit is coming back this week. Expect a rested Randy Johnson to start off well as he returns to the NL and watch the D-Backs bump Yusmiero Petit from the rotation when it really should be Doug Davis. But that’s for another day.
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Houston Astros — Still no word on whether or not Brad Lidge will: A. return to the closer’s role or B. get traded. No word on whether or not Lance Berkman will work his way into being worth where he was drafted in most leagues. But there is word on Hunter Pence. Word out of Houston is that between the relatively uninspiring performances of oufielders Chris Burke and Luke Scott (and Jason Lane for that matter) and the solid start in Triple-A (after a monster spring), Pence could be called up sometime in May. Keep him on your radar. Once he’s up, you’ll want to grab him for a look before your competition does.
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Atlanta Braves – So it looks like those that took a shot on 2B Kelly Johnson are all sorts of happy these days. His average is close to .300 right now with a .423 OBP, he’s playing a solid second base defensively and just put up his first career multi-homer game. If he’s available and you’ve got needs in the middle infield, you should grab him. He could turn out to be this year’s Dan Uggla. The team seems to be on the right track to fixing some of their other issues as they’ve explored the benching of Ryan Langerhans in favor of Craig Wilson in an effort to keep Scott Thorman at first. A lot of tweaking still going on as Bobby Cox still insists on getting Matt Diaz at bats instead of going with some consistency. Hopefully he’ll have it solved by May.
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Could there be any doubt that the Alex Rodriguez (.423-5-14) would win the ever coveted Rotobuzz Player of the Week Award, or as they have commonly come to be known, The Buzzies.  With an outstanding week in the midst of a record setting month, he won 98% of the first place votes and sailed through to a win.  This kind of production has vaulted his owners to the top of the standings in many leagues.  But what about the rest?  Who won your team’s weekly MVP?  They come in all shapes and sizes, all types of production, from all different positions.  So there are many different categories for which a player can win an award.  Here are some guys that may not be A-Rod, but still carried fantasy teams for the week. (more…)

Los Angeles Angels – Even with Kelvim Escobar slated to come back this week, you might want to keep an eye on SP Joe Saunders. You’ve got a very injury prone starting rotation here and Saunders was 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 3 starts. He’s going to be filling in a lot this season and could be a valuable asset for you down the road. I won’t even pull the Virginia Tech card….no need….he was a decent prospect last year too. Unless current 2B Erik Aybar has to do some sort of major intervention for brother Willy (of the Braves), don’t expect to see Brandon Wood called up anytime soon. With Howie Kendrick on the DL, Aybar will take over at second with Maicier Izturis at third. This should suffice until Chone Figgins comes back in a few weeks. In the meantime, the club brought up Kendry Morales, but he won’t grab any significant time, especially if Casey Kotchman starts to put things together.
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Cleveland Indians – It looks like Cliff Lee should be back by the end of the week. The team was still deciding whether or not another rehab start would be useful, but he should be ready to go. Fausto Carmona should eb bumpred to the pen which is great news for Jeremy Sowers’ owners. He was supposed to be the one to go, but he’s proven himself, so far, to be a reliable starter. His K rate won’t be that good, but he’ll definitely grab you some wins while keeping his ratios in check. The latest injury to 3B Andy Marte couldn’t be worse timed for him. He’s been off to a slow start and could find himself in trouble if the team goes with Casey Blake at third with Ryan Garko taking over full time at first. Keep your eyes on this one.
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Welcome to the first weekly installment of Fantasy Notes. Each week, I’ll be running down some important info, rumors, and speculation all of which will have a significant impact in the fantasy world. I’ll start it today, but it will probably continue to pop up at the beginning of the weekend, so that you can take a few days to analyze and digest before weekly lineups/transactions take place. Thanks for reading!

New York Yankees – The rotation is coming! The rotation is coming!! That’s right, we’re soon to be without the likes of Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright, although they did fill in admirably. Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang are due back this week, as is maybe Carl Pavano. (more…)