Sunday evening I got the opportunity to sub for Lenny Melnick who was last seen Saturday night stuck in an airport lounge somewhere in Florida, waiting out the winds that were slamming the east coast. I joined Tony Cincotta and Rich Hill for a lively hour of discussion on the FantasyPros911 show on Blogtalkradio.

We got the ball rolling by giving Lance Berkman the once over. His recent knee surgery will likely leave him DL bound to start the 2010 season, and will obviously affect his draft status. The question is, by how much? After a rather mediocre 2009 campaign, what can be expected from the Astros’ slugger in 2010?

The San Diego Padres have recently announced their promotional schedule for 2010 and, surprisingly, neither Adrian Gonzalez nor Heath Bell will be featured as bobblehead night players for 2010. Is this a portent that both are headed to the east coast sometime prior to the trade deadline, or just an opportunity to reward the many talents of the incomparable David “Smurf” Eckstein?

Is Brandon Webb a bargain in Round 10 this season? Be careful what you wish for as sometimes those supposed bargains can just as quickly turn into busts.

The Twins recently reached agreement with Denard Span on a five-year, $16.5 million deal with a $9 million team option for 2015. Should the Twins lead-off bat be happy with the hard work of his agent?

Brian Roberts and Nolan Reimold are two of the Baltimore Orioles that are currently hurting. When your most recent news update has the word “epidural” as the main topic of discussion, the future is looking just a bit clouded. Where should these two players rank in your plans for the 2010 season in light of their health concerns?

Should Gio Gonzalez, Luke Hochevar, Kyle Blanks, and Jose Bautista be part of your Fantasy plans this season? All are high risk/high reward players, but how high should you go when looking at the corresponding risk?

For the answers to these and many more burning questions of the day, the full program can be heard by clicking the play button below.

Sunday evening I got the opportunity to sub for Lenny Melnick who was catching up on his sleep after that 24-hour talkathon on the weekend. Tony Cincotta, Rich Wilson, and yours truly spent an hour debating some of the hot topics of the day on the FantasyPros911 show over at Blogtalkradio.

We got the ball rolling with a discussion on some of the rumours concerning Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres and the White Sox’s willingness to possibly look at parting with their soon-to-be second baseman Gordon Beckham. Is Beckham a player on the rise in 2010 and what can we expect from him looking to the immediate future?

Is Drew Stubbs going to lay claim to the centrefielder job in a very crowded Cincinnati outfield, or does Chris Dickerson step it up this spring and reclaim the job?

Does Grady Sizemore have the potential to bounce back in 2010 and now that it appears he is making a move into the two-slot in the Indian batting order this year, how does that affect his value for the upcoming season?

Moving forward we examined some of the positional battles that will be shaping up this spring. Who has the inside track for the closer role in Houston this year, Matt Lindstrom or Brandon Lyon? The trifecta of Jason Frasor, Scotts Downs and Kevin Gregg are all in the mix for ninth inning duties in Toronto, and there’s an on-going battle in New York between Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain for the fifth starter job in the Yankee rotation.

For the answers to these and many more burning questions of the day, the full program can be heard by clicking the play button below.

Is there any better way to spend Super Bowl Sunday than talking some baseball? Add in a mock draft or two and it couldn’t get any better! Subbing last week for Rich Wilson, I got the opportunity to spend time talking baseball with two old friends, Lenny Melnick and Tony Cincotta of FantasyPros911 fame.

We got the ball rolling by reviewing the five-year, $80 million contract recently given to Justin Verlander of the Tigers and his status heading into the 2010 season. Will we see the 2008 or 2009 model Verlander this year?

Did the Twins make a smart move in signing Orlando Hudson and has this acquisition vaulted them to being the pre-season favourite to repeat in the AL Central?

We then took a look at the Arizona Diamondbacks outfield. Should Chris Young and Conor Jackson be included in your Fantasy plans for the 2010 season? It could be getting a bit crowded in the Arizona outfield this spring.

One of the many questions that has popped up this offseason surrounds third base. After the first level of elite corners disappears there appears to be a rather drastic fall off into that second tier. Does Aramis Ramirez report to camp healthy? Can Jorge Cantu repeat that 100-RBI season and does Adrian Beltre show up in Boston with all his equipment intact? When do we reach, and do we even have to reach to find that solid corner after the top-tier moves off the board?

For answer to these and many more burning questions, the evenings festivities can be heard by clicking the play button below.

For the third time this season, I was back on RotoRadio: Hoops Edition with Tamer and Tom to chat about hoops. But even though I am the first third-time guest of the season, for some reason the guys decided to dominate the list of topics with a bunch of pink taco players, namely Kobe Bryant, Nate Robinson and Vince Carter. Hell, it left me wanting for our usual non-stop Hedo Turkoglu banter.

But being the trooper I am, I surged through, and as always, an entertaining and enlightening dialogue emerged.

Among the topics we covered:

• Kobe Bryant’s balky ankle;
• Whether Darren Collison can keep up his torrid pace; and
• Kendrick Perkins’ recent struggles.

Click play below to hear the entire Podcast; I come in around the seven-minute mark.

On Saturday afternoon, I was once again a guest on the Alex Reimer show, only this time the wunderkind finally figured out that I could blather on about basketball just as well — if not better — than I can about baseball. Topics we covered included:

• What in the hell is wrong with the Celtics? Are they too old and beat up to compete for another NBA title?
• Is Shaquille O’Neal fitting in on the Cavs and how is the Eastern Conference race looking?
• Over in the West, are the Lakers going to run away with things again or should we be keeping an eye on some other teams?
• What’s up with the current wave of NBA referee bashing? Is there merit there, or is this a league filled with whiney beyotches like Rasheed Wallace?

As usual, Alex lobbed his series of endless questions that weren’t really questions at me, and I did my best to return his fire. Click play below to check out the interview; I come on around the 39 minute mark.

On Monday evening, I joined Tom and Tamer of RotoExperts.com on their basketball podcast. Apparently, I’m the first repeat guest of the season, yet there were no cookies to mark the occasion! But that’s okay, at least there was no Hedo Turkoglu chat for once.

At any rate, we covered a wide range of topics, among them:

• Who benefits in the Buck frontcourt with Andrew Bogut’s annual injury hitting right on schedule?
• With Tracy McGrady supposedly returning soon, should owners of other Rockets be concerned?
• Can Chris Douglas-Roberts co-exist with Courtney Lee?

We tackled all of these, plus many more fantasy basketball relevant topics with the usual panache and wit — and I wasn’t even drunk this time! Woo hoo.

Check out the entire show below. I come in around the six-minute mark.

On Monday evening, I joined the dudes at RotoExperts for some serious hoops chat. As always, it was a lively discussion, and as always, Hedo Turkoglu was front and centre in the discussions (Tom has an obvious man-crash on him).

Among the topics covered: who should you take with pick No. 4, Dwight Howard drafting strategy in H2H vs. roto leagues; the comebacks of Gilbert Arenas and Kevin Garnett; and the latest on Blake Griffin and his injuries plus crappy FT shooting.

Check out the podcast below; I come in around the seven-minute mark.

On Saturday afternoon, I was back for yet another appearance on the Alex Reimer Show on 1120 AM WBNW Boston, and this week the focus of the discussion centred on the playoff aspirations of the Boston Red Sox.

Can the back end of their rotation hold up for another month? Will the real Josh Beckett resurface? Can the Sox hold off a hard-charging Ranger squad?

Alex and I mulled these questions, while also examining what the White Sox have been thinking, if the Jim Thome to the Dodgers and Jason Giambi to Colorado moves will pay off, and the general lack of juicy Wild Card races this season.

My portion comes in around the 19:30 mark.

Press play below to check out RotoRob’s latest radio appearance now.

I appeared on the Alex Reimer Show on WBNW 1120 AM in Boston on Saturday afternoon, discussing many of the key first half stories.

Alex and I talked about how the economic downfall has affected baseball, parity in the game and how that may dim the trade market and how steroids continues to be a major issue in the game today.

Check out our latest baseball Podcast now.