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Top 5 Projected MLB Holds Leaders (AL + NL) In 2016

With so much uncertainty in the air about Mark Melancon’s fate with the club, I can’t pick Tony Watson to win this category for a 2nd straight year. He was also the runner-up in the 2014 season. I say he is the Closer in the 2nd half of the year. His teammate Jared Hughes will get plenty of opportunities all year in late inning relief.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
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It is time to get our fantasy teams ready in 2016. Because of the long winter year for certain players, the Relievers market has a pile of roster moves to go down before opening weekend in April. There are some guys that could make the list, but I am itching to write my list.
For the reasons I was just talking about, Jeremy Affeldt, Matt Thornton, Casey Janssen, Manny Parra, Eric O’Flaherty, Tommy Hunter, Franklin Morales, Neal Cotts, Nathan Adcock, Wesley Wright, Matt Capps, Sergio Santos, Ryan Webb and Joe Beimel won’t appear – although only a couple of those guys are even relevant to the Holds stat.
The biggest questions to think of include trade possibilities. Will the Pirates trade Mark Melancon? If this happens, NL Leader of Holds last year, Tony Watson, may see some time as the Closer for the Bucs. Read the rest of this entry
Chicago White Sox State Of The Union For 2016

The White Sox should be decisively better in 2016, however to lump them in with the Royals right now for the Division is just not practical yet. However the team could hit on all cylinders and then add players as the year goes on. Chicago only stands to lose four player to Free Agency after 2016 in John Danks, Adam LaRoche, Al Avila and Dioner Navarro. The latter 2 were brought in on one year deals to provide the Catching tandem in 2015.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
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Chicago has finally thrown their hat into the ring for the AL Central Race. They have pulled off a trade to acquire Todd Frazier in as 3 way deal with the Reds and Dodgers.
The end result is they get 2 years from the former Reds, while parting with Trayce Thompson, Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson away from the club. It is a quality versus quantity deal.
This comes on the heels of the club picking up Brett Lawrie for 3 years worth of service for a couple of Minor Leaguers.
Before these deals, the club really only hand secured a tandem of Catchers with Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro for the offense. Now they have much more depth, and are asserting themselves with one of the better lineups in the AL Central.
If Adam LaRoche can bounce back with his usual 25 HRs and 80 RBI power, you could have 3 Infielders and the Designated Hitter all crack 20+ HRs in the 2016 campaign.
Jose Abreu also stands to benefit with bringing in a hitter like Todd Frazier. You could see a lineup that goes Adam Eaton, Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche, Frazier, Lawrie, Avisail Garcia, Avila or Navarro and Tyler Saladino. This looks a lot lengthier than a few days ago.
By the moves they made, they could also trade LaRoche to another club if they were so inclined. There is no reason to think the Avila and Navarro couldn’t see some DH action for their roles in the 2016 club. Read the rest of this entry
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo: January Man
By David Huzzard (Nationals Correspondent via Citizens of Natstown.com – view website here): Follow @davidhuzzard
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It was an innocent enough radio interview. The standard with Mike Rizzo late in the off-season with nothing happening.
He was asked if everything on the checklist had been marked off and answered in the affirmative and then was asked if there were still moves left to be made.
To this question Mike Rizzo gave the standard and cliched GM answer of anytime we can do anything to improve the club that makes sense for blah blah blah. You get the idea.
There was nothing special at all about this interview. It was a time filler between Redskins talk on a local Washington DC radio station, but there was something in Mike Rizzo’s voice.
He sounded ecstatic while talking about improving the team. Reading between the lines it was as if he was smirking into the phone and really saying watch what I’m about to do. Read the rest of this entry
The Washington Nationals State Of The Union Part 1: Fall 2013 Through Spring 2014

The Nationals failed to meet expectations as the Preseason favorites to lock down the World Series in 2013. Heck, they didn’t even qualify for the playoffs. Whether it was injury, or complacency, the talent of this team didn’t maximize their potential this year. However, the club did go 24 – 12 in their last 36 Games Played, and made a late charge at the 2nd Wild Card Spot in the Nationals League. Most of the nucleus is coming back for the 2014 year. Here are some priorities for the winter.
By David Huzzard (Nationals Correspondent via Citizens of Natstown.com – view website here): Follow @davidhuzzard
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1. Find a Manager
There are moves that can be made without a new manager in place, but this is the most important thing the Nationals have to do this off-season. Not having the leader of the team will make all the other moves more difficult.
Players want to know who they are playing for and the manager is going to have a lot of input into what free agents the Nationals go after for the bench and bullpen, which happen to be their two biggest needs personnel-wise.
It is also important to get the new manager in place early so that he has an entire off-season to communicate with the players already in the majors and to familiarize himself with the system and the minor leaguers that could help during the season.
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Jordan Zimmermann Interview
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