Underrated Baseball Players of the Season

There are a number of players who manage to prove themselves as highly productive in Major League Baseball when they have been underrated all along. From rookies to veterans, this season saw a number of underrated veterans outshine themselves. While not all of the players we mention here are stars or franchise players, they have managed to fly under the radar while being part of the more exciting seasons of MLB.

Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt

This young 25 year old first baseman was one of the most underrated players this season. Goldschmidt from Diamondbacks batted 286 with 20 homeruns, 18 stolen bases, 82 RBI as well as an on base percentage of .359. His fielding percentage too was clocked at .995. Goldschmidt was picked out from Texas State University and rose quickly through the minors to the majors with unbelievable numbers. He is a true five tool player, something that we don’t get to see in the game these days. If you ask us, he will soon rise to the ranks of Jason Kubel, Justin Upton, Aaron Hill and Cody Ross.

Cincinnati Reds’ Homer Bailey

2012 was Bailey’s breakout season where he made a record of 13 – 10 with 168 strikeouts and a 3.68 ERA. Not only that, he performed consistently through the season. Pitching his way to the first no hitter who happened to be one of the best, Bailey fanned 10 in only 115 pitches, bringing in a victory for the Reds.

Oakland Athletics’ Josh Reddick

Unless this 25 year old performed the way he did, we have our doubts about Athletics’ victory in this American League West. After getting his first chance with Oakland Athletics as a regular starter, Reddick shined unexpectedly batting 242 with 85 RBI and 32 homeruns. He didn’t just do wonders with his bat but he also won the Gold Glove as an outfielder. He is undoubtedly one of the rising stars in MLB.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Brandon Morrow

Even though he is mostly on the injured list, when healthy, Morrow proves to be a true asset for the Toronto Blue Jays. This 28 year old has gone 10 – 7 with 108 strikeouts and a 2.96 ERA. He also averaged six innings a start through three complete games. While playing against Tampa Bay, Baltimore, New York and Oakland that are considered to bethe best teams in baseball, Morrow’s performance can be referred to as nasty. The poor chap has suffered a number of injuries since he started playing in 2007 but his career high was seen in 2011 where he pitches 179 innings.

Milwaukee Brewers’ Norichika Aoki

Despite ending up as the fifth Rookie of the Year, this 31 year old Japanese player was highly underrated even in 2013. Norichika ended his rookie career with 10 homeruns, a .288 average, 50 RBI and an on base percentage of .355 after giving the Brewers 520 at bats. He seems to be a valuable asset to the team, especially after reporting only 3 mistakes and 30 stolen bases. This makes Norichika just short of being called a five tool player.

Pittsburg Pirates’ Wandy Rodriguez

This 33 year old Pittsburg Pirates player is perhaps the most underrated pitcher we have seen in the last ten years. Never having won a major MLB award, he has never even been voted into an All Star Game. You will be shocked to learn that in his last five seasons, Wandy Rodriguez posted a sub four ERA, managing a record more than 500 only once. For the most part of his career, he played with Houston who has to their credit some of the worst rosters we have seen in the last decade. In 2012 however, Rodriguez ended with a sub four ERA under 500 and was also tied for second place in the games while pitching 205 innings.

Seattle Mariners’ Jason Vargas

Vargas was so underrated that he was even traded for Kendrys Morales by Los Angeles Angels. In 2012, he was part of the Seattle Mariners who ended up with the most disappointing team batting averages in Major League Baseball’s history. With no backing whatsoever, Vargas still managed an ERA of 3.85 and 14 wins while playing in the tough offensive division.

San Francisco Giants’ Marco Scutaro

Scutaro is known to be one of the best fielders and most versatile players of baseball. He can play in a range of positions and plays them really well. After starting off in 2012 Scutaro was taken into his current team when they gave up a minor league infielder Charlie Culberson. Since then, Scutaro has played a beautiful second and third base having batted .362 with 22 RBI.

A recent article by Forbes is just another indication of the growing popularity of Fantasy Leagues and given financing by major American players is further proof it is in a different category of gambling sites.

The Daily Fantasy sports industry industry is a bustling business, with a variety of companies in the growing space.  A few of the most well known companies in that sector are DraftDay, Draftstreet and FanDuel.  The latter is the industry leader (with roughly 60% of the market share) and just separated itself even further from the competition with the announcement of a new round of financing in the amount of $11 million.

The $11 million Series C financing for FanDuel was closed with a brand new investor in Comcast Ventures (the venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation), along with existing investors Piton Capital, Pentech Ventures, Bullpen Capital and serial investor Richard Koch.  In addition to establishing an equity interest in FanDuel, Comcast Ventures will have its partner, Andrew Cleland, join FanDuel’s board of directors.

“FanDuel has done an exceptional job in establishing itself as the leading player in the next generation of fantasy sports,” said Cleland.  ”We see a clear opportunity to introduce the game to a broader set of sports fans and I’m excited to begin working with the company.”

In 2011, FanDuel paid out $10 million in winnings to its users.  Last year, the payout grew to a total of $50 million.  During this past NFL season, FanDuel was paying out approximately $2 million per week.  Now that the season has concluded, the average weekly payout has dropped roughly $500,000, but it is expected to rebound again once the 2013 MLB season begins.

FanDuel will use some of the funds from its latest round of financing to grow its teams in New York and Edinburgh.  ”Our team has grown from 20 to 40 people in the last 12 months,” explained Lesley Eccles, Co-Founder and Marketing Director at FanDuel to Forbes.com.  ”We plan to expand that even further to deal with the growing demand for FanDuel.”

The daily fantasy sports site also intends on introducing new features to its daily fantasy games, which last 1 day and pay out prizes to participators as soon as games finish.  Those games are currently experiencing an average of over 250,000 line-up entries per week.

FULL ARTICLE:  :  http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2013/01/30/fantasy-sports-service-fanduel-secures-11-million-investment-includes-money-from-comcast-ventures/

Fantasy football drafts for the recent NFL season may be an indication of where this industry is headed.  The intense competition amongst friends, colleagues and strangers has grown into a lucrative business, generating profits in excess of $1 billion through cable deals, advertisements, draft guides, buy-in fees and various endorsements.

Fantasy football has been around since 1962, becoming more popular in the 1980s and 1990s before booming with the growth of the internet over the last 10 years.  The soaring number of participants and growing profitability of fantasy football is leading some to say the industry is “recession-proof.”

“Our recent survey says we gained another 2 million players from last year,” said Paul Charchian, Fantasy Sports Trade Association President.  “The numbers keep growing and it’s a pace we’ve been keeping up for years.”

A recent report from Fantasy Sports Trade Association estimates 75% of the 34 million fantasy sports participants will be fantasy football owners this year.

Fantasy football participants draft and manage a team of players throughout the NFL season. Each week, managers can shuffle their starting lineup and shake up rosters in attempt to form the strongest team for the week’s matchup.  Hurt players will be benched and the week’s underperformers can be used as backups. Specific rules vary by league, but generally speaking each participant selects position players, a defensive team and one kicker.

While the average fantasy football participant is in their mid-30s, teenagers are fueling the industry’s recent growth.

“A lot of fantasy football’s growth is coming from the younger generation,” said Charchian.  “Parents are playing with their kids. The growth is happening organically. We’re not targeting a specific demographic; rather it’s what families want to happen in their living rooms on Sundays.”

And fantasy football is changing the way fans watch the sport, prompting cable-TV providers to strike pricey deals.  Specific programming such as NFL RedZone is significantly benefiting from the booming industry.

“[NFL RedZone] is crack for fantasy players,” said Charchian.  “The NFL RedZone channel is specifically targeting us, the fantasy crowd.  It’s a huge program.”

NFL RedZone airs on Sunday afternoons and alternates between the league’s games, showing plays only when teams go inside the 20-yard line.

In late 2012, Cablevision reached an agreement to carry the NFL Network. SNL Kagan estimates the NFL Network charges a carriage fee of 81 cents per-subscriber, per-month, making it the fourth most expensive national cable channel.

And cable companies aren’t the only businesses looking to cash in on fantasy fans.  Small businesses nationwide are profiting from participants quests to financially protect their prized rosters.  FantasyDispute.com claims to resolve fantasy sports disagreements for $14.95.  The firm pledges to keep the integrity of each fantasy league at the highest degree.

Other firms like Fantasy Sports Insurance (FSI) provide disability coverage on star players, financially protecting fantasy managers when players suffer “season changing” injuries.  FSI vows to reimburse participants of all expenditures associated with fielding a fantasy team, and calculates its costs at a 10% rate of the insured value plus fees.

However, not all firms benefit from the hours spent fielding players and analyzing injuries.  A report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas estimates the nation’s more than 22 million employed fantasy football participants may be costing employers up to $6.5 billion this year. The outplacement firm reached its figure by estimating each fantasy football manager will spend one hour at work every week on their teams during a 15-week season.