Helllloooo Newman!

Feel free to email me any baseball related questions you may have for SFB's mailbag: sciencefictionbaseball@hotmail.com

Will Alexei Ramirez get significant playing time with the White Sox? I see that you've projected Uribe and Richar to play second, where does Ramirez fit in? Thanks,

Marc.

No, I don't think Ramirez will get significant MLB playing time in '08. It appeared, for a while, that he would be given an opportunity to compete for the starting CF job, but Chicago's acquisition of Nick Swisher has filled up any previously existing OF vacancies. Expect Alexei to start out the year in A+, or AA, and work his way through the minors. We'll get a better feel for his fantasy value after a couple of hundred minor league AB's.

How much of an impact will Washington's new ball park be on fantasy players? Thanks! Gary C. Florida

RFK Stadium had dimensions of 335 ft in Left, 380 ft in Left Center, 410 ft in Center, 380 ft in Right Center, and 335 ft to Right. The outfield dimensions were very symmetrical. The new Nationals Park, has dimensions of 336 ft in Left, 377 ft in Left Center, 403 ft in Center, 370 ft in Right Center, and 335 ft to Right. Officials are saying that Nationals Park’s asymmetrical playing field geometry is intended to create more exciting plays, so we should see the ball bouncing around a little bit more out there, to the aid of speedy hitters. By the footage, you can see that the largest disparagement between old and new stadiums, is in Right Center, where the new park is 10 ft smaller, and in Center, where the new park is 7 ft smaller. This obviously will benefit (as mentioned here) Left handed power hitters. Things of note: Swirling winds could in fact keep the ball in the park more; There is much less foul territory, resulting in less foul pop-outs for pitchers, and more second chances for hitters. I personally won't let the move from a pitcher's park to a neutral stadium effect my bidding on draft day. Much of the reason the Nat's didn't score many runs at home was their anemic offense, as opposed to park effects. Also remember, anything right now is purely speculation. Until a full seasons worth of data has been collected, no one really knows how the new Nationals Park will play out.

Hello, I'm a big fan of fantasy baseball and always on the prowl for sleepers. It seems like names such as Jay Bruce, Evan Longoria and Cameron Maybin are grabbing all the headlines. Who are the potential impact sleepers that aren't capturing attention....yet?
Thanks!

PG

I'm not quite finished all of my projections, so this is a question that I will definitely be re-visiting. Sleepers are nearly as difficult to define, as they are to pick out. Generally, a sleeper is considered to be a player who will fall under the radar, and perform at a level most people weren't expecting. I feel there are a few classes of players that fall under that definition. The first one, as you point out, are top notch prospects. Secondly, there are players who sneak up and grab way more AB's (or IP) than anyone was anticipating. Third on the list, are players who performed very well in 2007, to the point that most fantasy players don't feel a repeat is possible. And finally, players who performed so poorly in 2007, that fantasy players are expecting a repeat performance. SO FAR, looking at my projections, I would say the following players are sleepers for 2008: J.R. Towles, Ronny Paulino, Ryan Doumit, Kenji Johjima, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia at C. Travis Hafner and Billy Butler at DH. Joey Votto, James Loney, Wilson Betemit, Carlos Pena, Ryan Garko, and Richie Sexson at first base. Kelly Johnson, Felipe Lopez, Mark DeRosa, Brandon Phillips, Ian Stewart, Jeff Kent, Brendan Harris, and Howie Kendrick at second base. Ryan Theriot, Miguel Tejada, and Jason Bartlett at SS. I will update this list as I post projections. Obviously there are varying degrees of sleepers here, not to mention various reasons for why some of these guys are categorized as a sleeper. As a side note, second base looks terribly deep this year.

Is this website just a source for fantasy projections, or is there more coming? -Team A.

There is definitely more coming. I started up the site in mid-January, so completing all of the projections has been a major priority, in order to finish them up before most people draft. The mailbag will be a regular feature, I hope to conduct more interviews with people in the fantasy baseball business, and articles and analysis will be a daily thing once the projections are completed.