MVN: Most Valuable Network

Welcome to the first week of the MLB Notebook roundtable! Something new we wanted to try out, and I hope everyone enjoys it. Each week, I'll throw out a question, and you'll get the response from each of our writers.

Picked this up from MLB Trade Rumors via Twitter.

Jack Curry of the New York Times reports that Cuban lefthander Aroldis Chapman may be 26 years old rather than the 21 he was believed to be.

"[Chapman's] age was reported Thursday as 21, but reports in March at the World Baseball Classic said he was 26."

Chapman defected on Wednesday while in the Netherlands, and is considered the best lefthanded pitcher in the world not pitching in the Major Leagues.

Like we haven't seen this before. That kid from New York playing Little League World Series two year than the age class. Miguel Tejada having an extra birthday. Half the Latin America players who who join a Major League team. One player even got a year younger.

This is crazy considering that most of those players who fake their birth certificates and lie about their age usually add only 1-3 years to make them look legit. But five years? That is like having a 21 year old pitch in high school by saying he is only 16-years old.

This doesn't hurt his status as a prospect, but this could take away some of the money he would get from the Yankees... I mean any Major League team that signs him since he falls under the free agent category (*cough* Yankees *cough*). A very interesting free agent market this winter with him in it and the economy the way it is now, only a select few teams will even have a chance to sign with the likelihood that Scott Boras will try to grab him.

Before the holiday weekend kicks into full gear, I've found enough fantasy links to compile a shortened Links list to help you get through the weekend.

Closer Links:

Pecking Order. It's broken into "Risks," closers who could lose their jobs if traded and "Rewards," relievers who might get some saves in struggling bullpens.

Hitter Links:

Chicago's Derek Lee and Geovany Soto are good fantasy players again.

Injury Links:

KFFL's updated Injury News.

Prospect Links:

In Prospects Report, Eric Mack presents his first-half all-prospect and all-disappointment teams.

Strategy Links:

Adam Dunn and Nick Johnson lead this week's Slumps and Dumps.

Jay Clemons has named his Fantasyland All-Stars.

Waiver Links:

AL and NL.

Weekend Links:

Fantasy Forecaster.
 
You'll have to trust AJ Mass and Weekend Notes in lieu of my Games of the Weekend. The guys who do the Daily Notes at ESPN are usually on top of the matchups and information.

Scott Boras continues to shake things up:

Even before talks began with the Washington Nationals, who made Strasburg the first overall pick June 9, Boras was dropping hints privately that he is preparing to explore a new frontier in his ongoing draft-busting crusade: Japan.
[...]
On the surface, baseball's rules are simple: If a player doesn't sign by Aug. 17 with the team that drafts him -- no matter what "alternative" he chooses -- he goes back into the draft the following year and the team gets a roughly equivalent compensation pick.

"Our view is simple: Until [Strasburg] signs a professional contract within our system, he is eligible for our draft and remains subject to our draft," said Rob Manfred, MLB's executive vice president for labor relations. "He can play wherever he wants. But if he doesn't sign with Washington, he goes back into the draft, and if he doesn't sign with that team [in 2010], he goes back in again."

The Pirates are in the usual Trade Deadline sell-off mode and find themselves in last place in the NL Central at 36-43 record. Outside of Andrew McCutchen's play since being called up, it's tough to find positives around the Pirates. I fully believe "Project 2011" is their next chance to become a contending team again. The current Pirates aren't too happy about that, which is understandable.

I did find one other positive, the recent play of Adam LaRoche, the elder LaRoche brother. There's a good chance you can still find him sitting on your league's waiver wire. LaRoche is a notorious slow starter. He begins to heat up as the seasons change from spring to summer. That's exactly what he's doing this season. For that reason, he's worth taking a look at as an addition to your fantasy team. LaRoche is now the power hitter in the Pirates lineup.
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We are adding another great part time writer to the site: Charlie Saponara. You may have seen his work on his site, Fantasy Baseball 365, seen his worked linked to by Jonathan in his Fantasy Links, or seen him once and awhile in our comments section. A little bit about Charlie:

Charlie runs fantasybaseball365.com in which he writes about, you guessed it, fantasy baseball 365 days a year.  He loves to write, play guitar and watch baseball.  You can contact Charlie at cs.fb365@gmail.com  

Manny Ramirez will return to the Dodgers lineup today, fresh off his 50 game suspension.

Choosing the pitchers for June's team was just as tough as making some of the decisions for the position players. Some of the players below, like Zack Greinke and Jason Frasor, are making their third straight appearance on the team. Others, like Josh Johnson, are making the team for the first time. Take a look and leave your comments. I think it's a great pitching staff.

*Stats as of 7 PM EST July 2

STARTERS:

SP: Zack Greinke, Kansas City
Yes, Greinke had a tough June going 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA and .290 batting average against. Yet he still leads all starters with a 1.95 ERA. He's also tied for the league lead in wins with 10. Greinke has given up only 25 runs. Thus, he makes the team for the third month in a row.

SP: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco
Lincecum is behind Greinke with 8 wins. But he leads all starters with 132 strikeouts. He has a 2.37 ERA, the third lowest overall, and has given up only 30 earned runs. Lincecum had his best month of the season in June. He went 4-1 with a 1.48 ERA and .202 batting average against. Lincecum is one reason why the Giants are ahead in the NL Wild Card race.

SP: Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants
Cain joins his Giants teammate on this team. Cain has 9 wins this season. He has only 88 strikeouts but has a 2.48 ERA. He also went 3-1 in June with a .192 batting average against.

SP: Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays
Yes, Halladay is currently injured. His overall production this season demonstrates why he gets a place on this team. He's 10-2 with a 1.05 WHIP and 95 strikeouts. His ERA dropped from 2.77 to 2.56 during June. Halladay makes the team for the second straight month.

SP: Josh Johnson, Florida Marlins
Johnson has "only" 7 wins this season. He also has only one loss. He went 3-0 in June with a  2.95 ERA and 30 strikeouts. Overall, he has 97 strikeouts, a 1.13 WHIP, a 2.76 ERA, and a .228 batting average against.
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The Fourth of July Weekend kicks off with a full schedule of games. The Yankees look to start a new winning streak against the Blue Jays. The Brewers and Cubs continue their seesaw NL Central battle. The Brewers need wins to stay ahead in the division because the Cardinals and Reds are battling for positioning in the division. The Mets and Phillies begin a series that will determine which team is in first in the NL East on Monday. These games, and many more, can be found in Friday's Games of the Day.

Toronto at New York Yankees: The Mariners broke the Yankees seven-game winning streak but are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They look to have A.J. Burnett and company start a new win streak against the Jays and Brian Tallet. Four of Hideki Matsui's 6 hits off Tallet have gone for extra bases, with one being a long ball.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs: The Cubs took the first game of this series on Thursday. The Brewers and Jeff Suppan look to even the season series back up at 4-4 against Carlos Zambrano. Derek Lee has 21 hits off Suppan with 11 extra base hits (4 home runs). J.J. Hardy is only 2-for-19 against Zambrano. Mike Cameron is worse, 1-for-13 against Zambrano.

New York Mets at Philadelphia: The Phillies have lost 3 straight and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They're now tied with the Marlins for first place in the NL East. The Mets find themselves only 1 game behind. This series will determine who's in first place in the division come Monday. The Phillies are relying on Rodrigo Lopez to get the win. Wonderful.
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With the holiday weekend coming up, tonight's Links are aimed at getting you ready for the weekend. There's two good strategy articles that discuss trading. I thought they might conflict at first, but they actually go hand-in-hand with one following the other.

Hitter Links:

Charlie Saponara wants you to tell Torii Hunter and Ben Zobrist goodbye. He makes a good point.

Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove adds Zobrist's teammate Jason Bartlett and Price Fielder to the list.

Hit Parade takes a look at the mid-season fantasy All-Stars. After taking a cursory glance at the list, I'm not really surprised by any name on there.

Jimmy Rollins and Magglio Ordonez lead the list of the top 10 flops of the first half.

Kyle Stack deconstructs Rafael Furcal.


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Here's a quick stat that's hard to believe ...

The rosters for the Triple-A All-Star game have been announced. Some names of note: