Kuzul

Did anything happen at the MLB winter meetings that could impact 2015 fantasy baseball leagues?

I don’t know, it seemed like a pretty slow week in San Diego. Besides Jeff Samardzija, Brandon Moss, Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins, Dee Gordon, Andrew Heaney (twice!), Antonio Bastardo, Mat Latos, Rick Porcello, Yoenis Cespedes, Miguel Montero, Alfredo Simon and Matt Kemp, nearly everyone stayed put during the yearly summoning of general managers.

Oh, and don’t forget the free-agent signings. Jon Lester, David Robertson, Luke Gregerson, Brandon McCarthy, Ervin Santana…you get the point. There’s a lot of lineup reconstruction to process after an armada of transactions stormed the majors this week.

Now that the action has simmered down, let’s funnel through some maneuvers that will alter players’ fantasy stock next season.

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For every fantasy owner, there comes a point in the season when a should-be stud just isn’t cutting it—so it’s time to cut him. That’s what this is all about: letting you know it’s OK to let go.

Difficult late-season drops can come in all shapes and sizes, from that third-rounder not living up to expectations to the injury-prone star who just can’t get and stay healthy to a midseason pickup who broke out then flamed out.

We get it: Once you’ve invested in a player and become attached, it’s not so simple to say so long. But sometimes it’s for the best. After all, the stakes only get higher and the standings more solidified the longer you wait for a turnaround or rebound that might never come.

With owners everywhere making a push for the playoffs—and a shot to win it all—numbers become more important than names. Even the big ones.

What follows is a batch of players who remain rostered in many leagues, largely because they either were selected as early draft picks or looked like surefire starters at one time only to have since become cut candidates for one reason or another.

But don’t worry: Each player comes complete with suggestions for readily available replacement options. Because as science says, for every drop, there should be an equal and opposite addition.

Begin Slideshow

For every fantasy owner, there comes a point in the season when a should-be stud just isn’t cutting it—so it’s time to cut him. That’s what this is all about: Letting you know it’s OK to let go.

Difficult late-season drops can come in all shapes and sizes, from that third-rounder not living up to expectations to the injury-prone star who just can’t get and stay healthy to a midseason pick-up who broke out then flamed out.

We get it: Once you’ve invested in a player and become attached, it’s not so simple to say so long. But sometimes, it’s for the best. After all, the stakes only get higher and the standings more solidified the longer you wait for a turnaround or rebound that might never come.

With owners everywhere making a push for the playoffs—and a shot to win it all—numbers become more important than names. Even the big ones.

What follows is a batch of players who either were selected as early draft picks or looked like surefire starters at one time, only to have since become cut candidates for one reason or another.

But don’t worry: Each player comes complete with suggestions for readily-available replacement options. Because as science says, for every drop, there should be an equal and opposite addition.

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There’s seldom good news when a player is ruled out for the rest of the season. For CC Sabathia and the New York Yankees, there’s actually very good news in the announcement that he’ll miss the remainder of the 2014 season due to impending knee surgery, as noted by Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Sabathia has been out since mid-May with knee problems. He made a rehab start and had a setback. Instead of heading back to Dr. James Andrews, Sabathia checked in with several surgeons, leading many to expect Sabathia to have microfracture surgery. Instead, the Yankees announced that Sabathia will have an articular cartilage debridement, which is a cleanup and smoothing. This type of procedure is far less problematic than microfracture. 

Sabathia saw several surgeons, but when it was announced he was seeing doctors that did not specialize in microfracture, such as Dr. Dick Steadman, who pioneered the procedure, there was some hope. After seeing Yankees team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad and Rangers physician Dr. Keith Meister, Sabathia chose to go with Dr. Neal ElAttrache. 

All are qualified surgeons, but ElAttrache has a great track record with knees. One of ElAttrache‘s best known cases is not in baseball, but the return of Tom Brady after an ACL reconstruction is one of the best results we’ve seen. ElAttrache also put Zack Greinke’s collarbone back together aggressively, getting him back on the mound quickly, and repaired Kobe Bryant’s ruptured Achilles.

The normal recovery period for this type of surgery is varied. In some situations, a player could return in as little as two months, but the Yankees realize that Sabathia’s size and the internal damage in his knee are significant enough that rushing him back for this season would be counterproductive. Instead, they’ll focus on getting him ready for next season, much as they did with Derek Jeter late in 2013.

“Because we’re in July, I think he’ll come into spring training, in theory, ready to go,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said via Hoch of MLB.com. “Given the number of things that have gone on, we’ll have to be careful with him nonetheless.”

The rehab for this type of operation is relatively straightforward. Sabathia will have around eight weeks of normal therapy as they focus on making sure the knee heals up well after the procedure. There will likely be a focus on making sure his secondary stabilizers are strong and that his pitching mechanics will not put an undue stress on the repaired portion of the knee. 

Past that, the Yankees will focus on maintenance. Making sure Sabathia doesn’t have problems between starts or at least making sure the problems are manageable will be key. Overall conditioning is not likely to be a major concern, but if any specific mechanical changes are needed, the Yankees want to give Sabathia plenty of time to adjust.

The fact that Sabathia has avoided microfracture is a major positive. While the procedure has been used for nearly 20 years in helping certain knee issues, it still has a very low percentage of success in baseball. There’s really no explanation for that, but the fact remains that there are few successes. Avoiding the procedure, at least for now, gives the Yankees one less thing to worry about heading into 2015. 

The best comparable situation in baseball is not a pitcher. Instead, it’s Chase Utley, the Philadelphia Phillies second baseman who had two straight years of problems with damage inside his knees. The Phillies struggled to get Utley back to function, unable to find a maintenance program that would keep him on the field without significant swelling.

It took some time, but Utley has been very solid since coming back. Utley faces a different situation than Sabathia. He has less specific demands on his knees, but he has to play every day in the field. Sabathia will have the normal off time between starts, so some swelling wouldn’t be devastating, though it would indicate that there are further issues.

While the Yankees can’t count on having Sabathia back for 2014, they certainly have to feel better about the chance of having him take his turns in 2015. If they can get Sabathia at the top of the rotation alongside Masahiro Tanaka (who is still hoping to avoid Tommy John surgery, per Howie Kussoy of the New York Post) and keep them both healthy, they’ll be a far better team.

To do so, New York’s medical staff will have to overcome a lot of challenges and show better results with maintenance than it has in the past. As Mike Axisa of RiverAveBlues suggests, Cashman and the Yankees should take a hard look at their plan for 2015.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What good is talent to a fantasy owner who lacks timing?

Fantasy baseball—just like the real thing—is a game of skill, luck and timing. That last trait, in particular, comes in handy with regard to getting value in the trading game.

Knowing which player(s) to trade away and which to deal for—and knowing just the right time to do so—can make all the difference.

After all, it doesn’t get much better than making a move to unload a hot flavor-of-the-week type who’s about to cool off in exchange for a slumping stud who’s ready to take off. And now that we’re more than halfway through the season, repeat names are fair game going forward.

Speaking of timing, let’s get to some players to sell high and buy low.

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Like all fantasy sports, the key to success in fantasy baseball is understanding value. Failure to understand value can lead an owner to mislabel a player as a disappointment, while understanding value can give an owner a late-round steal.

To determine value, you must consider what you gave up when you selected a certain player in the draft. Did you grab an elite catcher early because of the scarcity of that position? Or did you simply draft the best players, regardless of position? 

Jose Abreu, whose ESPN average draft position was 134th (only five spots ahead of Alfonso Soriano), has obviously exceeded the expectations of a 13th-round pick. Yet Yadier Molina and Dustin Pedroia, players considered to be the class of their positions, have vastly underwhelmed. The price paid to grab these players early in drafts has been far higher than their actual production.

For the sake of clarity, the following list of disappointments is composed only of position players. A player can only be considered a “disappointment” if his current ESPN Player Rater ranking is at least 100 spots worse than his average draft position. Also, all players must currently be owned in 100 percent of standard ESPN fantasy baseball leagues. Players who have missed time due to injury, such as Carlos Gonzalez, Jay Bruce and Bryce Harper, are excluded.  

Here are the top five fantasy disappointments as we approach the halfway point of the 2014 season.

Statistics are accurate through June 19 and are obtained from MLB.com, ESPN.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com.

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What good is talent to a fantasy owner who lacks timing?

Fantasy baseball—just like the real thing—is a game of skill, luck and timing. That last trait, in particular, comes in handy with regard to getting value in the trading game.

Knowing which player(s) to trade away and which to deal for—and knowing just the right time to do so—can make all the difference.

After all, it doesn’t get much better than making a move to unload a hot flavor-of-the-week type who’s about to cool off in exchange for a slumping stud who’s ready to take off.

Now, speaking of timing, let’s get to some players to sell high and buy low.

Statistics are accurate through June 19 and come from MLB.com, Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs, except where otherwise noted.

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Bryce Harper is making progress. Nationals fans should be paying attention to Josh Hamilton, who’s had a relatively simple return from his similar thumb surgery. Hamilton has made it through this process normally and not much is ever normal for Hamilton. News today from Dan Kolko of MASN was very positive, with Harper progressing to soft toss and two-handed swings. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a big step. 

Most clearly it shows that Harper is advancing quickly after surgery. He’s able to grip the bat, meaning he’s been able to keep muscle tone and that his thumb is healing well. Assuming all goes well over the next few days and no setbacks for the thumb, Harper will likely progress to batting practice and live hitting quickly.

That could put him on track for a rehab assignment within the next 10 days. He shouldn’t need much time there, just enough to get his confidence back and show Nats officials that he’s ready to be back in the bigs. The key is bat control.

For any hand injury, a loss of grip strength and fine muscle control will often lead to more swing-and-misses. Hamilton’s done well with this, so there’s a chance that Harper can as well, especially if there’s been some change in the rehab process. (No, I don’t think PlayStation is that change.) 

Look for Harper to start at a low level, but for the Nats to show less restraint with him than they have with others. Harper is tougher to hold back, and the team knows that his bat can be a difference-maker. They will have some questions regarding what happens with Ryan Zimmerman once Harper is back, but no one’s going to hold Harper back because Zimmerman’s looked decent in the outfield. Once Harper shows any signs of power, get him back in your lineup if not before.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What good is talent to a fantasy owner who lacks timing?

Fantasy baseball—just like the real thing—is a game of skill, luck and timing. That last trait, in particular, comes in handy in regard to getting value in the trading game.

Knowing which player(s) to trade away and which to deal for—and knowing just the right time to do so—can make all the difference.

After all, it doesn’t get much better than making a move to unload a hot flavor-of-the-week type who’s about to cool off in exchange for a slumping stud who’s ready to take off.

Now, speaking of timing, let’s get to some players to sell high and buy low.

Statistics are accurate through June 12 and come from MLB.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com, except where otherwise noted.

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