Every so often I like to just ramble about things in fantasy Baseball. So here are my random thoughts on….

The Mitchell report is actually the best thing that happened to baseball. Everyone in America loves a good juicy controversy. On Thursday, ESPN News had coverage all afternoon, and more people tuned in on the Mitchell report then watched some football team play on Thursday night. In fact, I am not sure who even played that night. The story is still getting plenty of media coverage right in the middle of the playoff race in football. So how can that be bad for the sport?

The trade of Dan Haren officially marks the start of fantasy owners jumping too high for pitching in the draft. Sure his value has just increased, (ok, really increased) but I wonder who is going to be the first person to try to take him in the 3rd round.

Once again the closer market is ever changing. First Brad Lidge went to the Phillies, Francisco Cordero went to the Reds, Gagne went to the Brewers, and now Jose Valverde is going to the Astros. So what does this mean for fantasy owners? It means that Troy Percival will have as much value in Tampa Bay as Valverde has in Houston. Don’t believe me? Tejada has “jumped the shark” and the Rays starting lineup can produce just as many runs as the Astros. Conversely, the Rays starting pitching is far better then Houston, and even their bullpen is better.

The Valverde trade has just opened the door for the hard throwing Tony Pena to be the closer for a solid Arizona team. He would be a fantastic speculative pick deep in the draft.

The Aaron Rowand signing in San Francisco is awful. His power numbers are going to drop, and who is there around him in the lineup? The Giants have great pitching, but absolutely no offense.

With the signing of Aaron Rowand, it looks like the Phillies will go with Jayson Werth in right field, and move Shane Victorino to center. Moving Victorino to center is a great move, and Werth can put up similar numbers to Rowand. I think Werth could post a 20/20 season and a .280 batting average, and would be a great end of the draft gamble in deep leagues.

Jim Edmonds was traded to San Diego, and this might open the door for Colby Rasmus. Owners in dynasty and deep NL Only keeper leagues should take note of this.

Baseball prospectus posted a great article on Mark Teahen. They seem to think that his “regression” last year was a move back to his old approach at the plate. They do not see his power numbers climbing for 2008.

Those are my thoughts on a few things. Any comments?