Kuzul

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Ted Lilly has been charged with three felony counts of insurance fraud in the state of California.

According to a report by Alexandra Pierce of KSBY News, Lilly pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from an insurance claim he filed following an accident with his RV:

Lilly, who lives in Edna Valley in San Luis Obispo County, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three separate charges filed by the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.

All involve vehicle insurance fraud.

According to the California Department of Insurance, Lilly damaged his RV worth around $200,000 but did not file a claim until after he purchased insurance on the vehicle. The amount of the claim is not known at this time.

Assistant District Attorney Lee Cunningham is also quoted in the report describing exactly what the felony charges are for.

“I can tell you that he’s charged with three different felony counts. The first is filing a false insurance claim. The second one is a false statement in support of a claim and the third one has to do with failing to disclose a material fact in connection with an insurance claim,” Cunningham said.

Pierce notes that if Lilly is convicted, he will face a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Lilly spent 15 years in MLB and pitched for six teams, including the New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs. He made two All-Star Game appearances (2004, 2009) and retired following the 2013 season due to injuries.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Baseball is a great sport for fantasy owners because everything can be quantified. Every at bat is an individual event and can be meticulously scrutinized to the point where we can use sabermetric statistics to predict future success or failures.

Using some of these principles, we’re going to look at two players that are good “buy low” candidates and two pitchers that are good “sell high” candidates.

Begin Slideshow

This is sort of like last minute Christmas shopping. Here is one final tip for you before you have your fantasy baseball league draft. Sorry but I can’t stop you from picking a bunch of stiffs. What I can do is give you a few ideas as to which “sleepers” might be able to help your team in spite of your other draft picks.

There have been a ton of injuries this Spring, so some of these sleepers may get an early start. I have my own draft on Sunday, so I’ll be reading this too when I’m done writing it. I’ve heard the phrase, “maybe you should take your own advice” before, so I just may have to do that.

None of these guys are Rumpelstiltskin sleepers, but they will probably go late in your draft and a few maybe not at all. I listed the teams by division starting with the National League. Without further ado, here they are.

Begin Slideshow

When thinking of pitching rotations with a lot of depth, the Phillies, Red Sox and Giants are—rightfully so—the first teams to come to mind. However, one could argue that the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation is underrated and belongs in that discussion.

The biggest distinction between the Dodgers and the other three teams may be the perceived lack of a true ace. We all know that the Phillies have two premier aces in Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, the Sox have Jon Lester, and the Giants have Tim Lincecum, but the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw has not yet achieved that true “ace” perception.

Is it time he should?

There is no doubt that Kershaw is an elite strikeout pitcher. In his first two full seasons, he struck out well over a batter per inning. His ability to miss that many bats (combined with a nice home ballpark for pitchers) has also helped him post an ERA under three in both seasons.  

Kershaw’s strikeout ability has even helped him post WHIP’s of 1.23 and 1.18 despite his habit of issuing walks. Where the walks have hurt his roto numbers is in the wins category. Obviously, walks lead to high pitch counts, and high pitch counts lead to early exits from the mound. As a result, Kershaw averaged only 5.2 innings per start in 2009 (eight wins) and 6.1 innings per start in 2010 (13 wins).  

As you can see, Kershaw won more games while pitching deeper into games last season, indicative of the significant drop in his walk rate. If the young pitcher continues to improve (as he should), he may be considered a no-doubt, top-ten, fantasy pitching ace by the All-Star break.  

Just in case he takes a turn away from becoming a Lester/Lincecum type towards being a Jonathan Sanchez type, I am heading into the season slightly cautious with Kershaw just outside my top-ten pitchers at no. 13.

The second starter in LA is also a guy who is probably underrated. Chad Billingsley was very impressive in 2008—his first full season as a starter—when he won 16 games with an ERA of 3.14 while posting a 9.01 K/9.  

Chad then “disappointed” in 2009 (12 W, 4.03 ERA, 8.21 K/9) and 2008 (12 W, 3.57 ERA, 8.03 K/9). However, he showed some positive signs last year by cutting down on the walks issued and having a FIP of 3.07.  

Maybe Billingsley’s first year was a bit of an overachievement, but you should not let what he was color your evaluation of what he now is.

This a guy that seems pretty sure to win at least 12 games, have an ERA in the mid-threes, keep the WHIP at or under 1.30, and be a very nice strikeout-producer. In my estimation, that type of certainty makes him a definite top-30 and borderline top-25 pitcher. It is likely he will be drafted a little lower than that and could be a very nice value on draft day.

Ted Lilly is another LA pitcher of whom you can know what to expect. From 2004-2006, Lilly struggled with his control, walking over four batters per nine innings in each of those years. However, Lilly seems to have found his command in the National League as he walked only 2.3 batters per nine innings over the last four seasons. Thanks to that, Lilly has become an excellent source of WHIP help for the fantasy baseball player with WHIP’s of 1.14, 1.23, 1.06, and 1.08. Combined with four straight K/9’s over 7.50, all these numbers make Lilly a reliable, top-40 starting pitcher.

The next guy in line for the Dodgers is another who may be underrated. In two and a half seasons (he missed time in 2009 due to an injury), Hiroki Kuroda has had a cumulative 3.60 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. He is not a huge contributor in the K’s category, but he should chip in a K/9 somewhere between six and seven. Because he is a little older (36) and because he spent the majority of his career playing in Japan, Kuroda is not a very sexy option who is likely to be undervalued in many drafts. I would recommend treating Kuroda as a top-50 pitcher because he is a safe bet to help and not hurt in every category.

After the four guys who are usable in mixed leagues, Jon Garland is a pretty decent fifth starter who should be a decent NL-only play.  He is a solid innings-eater who consistently produces a four-ish ERA. He does not contribute much in the strikeout department and has the potential to be a bit of a WHIP liability, but Garland is still a reliable contributor for deeper leagues.

[Original Article Location]

Written by Brett Talley exclusively for http://www.thefantasyfix.com

Leave a comment and let us know, or hit us up on  Twitter @TheFantasyFix. Don’t forget to use our Quick Fix for any questions about your fantasy lineups or trades

Read More of Brett’s National League West Previews:

Mat Latos & the San Diego Padres

Daniel Hudson & the Arizona Diamondbacks

Ubaldo Jimenez & the Colorado Rockies

2011 Fantasy Baseball Great Debate: Mark Teixeira vs. Adrian Gonzalez

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been busy this offseason, locking up several players already and in the hunt for even more.

General manager Ned Colletti has been aggressive following a disappointing fourth-place finish for the Dodgers in the NL West. The team, picked by many to win the division, managed only an 80-82 record and was never really in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Colletti is determined to change that, building a roster around young studs Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.

But will the new additions be enough to vault the Dodgers past the defending world champions, the San Francisco Giants?

Here’s an early look at what the Dodgers have done so far and a grade for each of their moves. 

Begin Slideshow

Is anyone else a little skeptical of one of the latest releases on the Dodgers’ website? According to General Manager Ned Colletti, the Dodgers are actually planning on increasing the $93 million payroll from 2010.

The Dodgers still have seven players eligible for free agency (not counting the recently signed Lilly or retiring Ausmus). While it is understandable the Dodgers would like to bring back players like Vicente Padilla, Rod Barajas and Scott Podsednik, the looming ownership divorce is the Debbie Downer in the organization.

The article, written by MLB.com writer Ken Gurnick, outlines the Dodgers’ needs based on observations from Colletti, and it is a pretty tall order.

Starting pitching is obviously tops on the GM’s list. He plans to resign at least one of the two remaining starters from 2010, either Vicente Padilla or the more expensive Hiroki Kuroda. Those two pitchers combined for over $20M last season, a very large portion of the payroll.

A power bat, some solid infield defense or position players, and a relief pitcher have also been mentioned. 

If Frank McCourt were to settle and hand Jamie a very large compensatory check, where would this money come from? Frank has said repeatedly he plans to keep the team, and the Dodgers are not for sale.

Something just isn’t adding up here. The Dodgers were largely silent at the trade deadline this year, acquiring a solid pitcher and second baseman that fit into 2011 rather than a playoff run. Other than that, the Dodgers were bystanders, and there seems to be no significant changes to justify change. 

With the revelations of botched documents and secrets, one can only imagine what Ned Colletti is talking about.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Starting pitcher Ted Lilly has signed a three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has also been reporting on Lilly’s new deal. The dollar amount for the three-year contract has not yet been disclosed.

After being acquired from the Chicago Cubs just before the 2010 trade deadline, Lilly recorded a 7-4 record for the Dodgers while posting a 3.52 ERA and a 9.0 K/9 ratio. While pitching for the Cubs in 2010, he went 3-8 with a 3.69 ERA.

Lilly was projected to be a Type-A free agent, and was assumed to be one of the best available starters on the market this offseason. Lilly was expected to be courted by most of the clubs in need of starting pitching, and was expected to sign a two or three year deal worth at least $10 million annually.

Starting pitching is one of several areas needing to be addressed by Los Angeles in the offseason, and with the Lilly signing, the Dodgers took a small step in the right direction.

The only other returning starters under team control are Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley. Both are expected to sign contract extensions this winter.

Hiroki Kuroda, who was third on the team with 11 wins, and second on the team with over 196 innings pitched, is still undecided about his future in the Majors. Early signs from Kuroda revealed that he may have plans to return to his native Japan to finish his career. Kuroda also stated that we would like to pitch for a playoff contender if he indeed decides to enter the free-agent market.

Vicente Padilla, who completed a one-year, $5,025,000 contract in 2010 with Los Angeles, is also eligible for free agency. Former Dodgers manager Joe Torre had recommended for management to re-sign Padilla, but there have been no talks reported to date. 

Owner Frank McCourt and general manager Ned Colletti have yet to disclose payroll parameters for next season, and with McCourt’s accrued debt and legal fees from the divorce trial, the Dodger fan base isn’t sure which direction the team is heading.

The Dodgers announced season ticket prices last week, and although disguised in several scenarios, the result was an overall increase in cost.

The first installment of five for season tickets is due on October 29, and perhaps the Lilly deal is a sign of good faith from Los Angeles management to the fans.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

While the playoffs are now on the front burner, in the back of every baseball fan’s mind, or the front if your team has been eliminated from contention, is what moves the team will make this offseason.

Free agency is always a hot bed for debate, and every year there will be a fair share of diamonds in the rough as well as big time busts. Often times, contracts are a sign of the free agent class as a whole and not necessarily what the player is worth. Once the top tier guys start to get signed, teams that missed out often overpay for second tier guys, and so on.

So here are 10 players that I think have set themselves up to earn a big payday this off seasons, thanks to big seasons in 2010, or simply for lack of better options at their position, but will fall short of expectations not live up to their contract.

Begin Slideshow

The Los Angeles Dodgers, hoping to somehow come back next season with a decent team, will try to re-sign left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly this winter. Lilly was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a trade deadline deal that also moved Ryan Theriot to L.A. as well.

With the Dodgers, Lilly has posted a 5-3 record and a less than stellar 4.12 ERA. During the waiver period, it was also noted the New York Yankees were also trying to re-acquire the 34 year old. If Lilly were to test free agent waters, the Yankees may want to go after him too in case Andy Pettitte retires after this season.

Do not expect the Dodgers to go all out in a bidding war, since money is tight right now in within the organization due to the McCourt family divorce.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Amidst a failing 2010 campaign, a messy divorce between owners, and uncertainty regarding funds for next season, the Los Angeles Dodgers have several key players that will be eligible for free agency next season.

Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti has said that, given a likely lack of funds stemming from the McCourt divorce, he is uncertain regarding the approaching free agency period.

Given the circumstances, here are possible outcomes for all of the possible 2011 Dodgers free agents.

Begin Slideshow