Sweet swing of success (USAT)

The outfield is the fun place to go shopping in fantasy baseball. Power, sure, you'll find it here. Plenty of guys run. A few players do everything. And the two most exciting young position players in the game happen to reside here, too. Everyone likes picking out their outfield.

The goal today is to rank all the mixed-league worthy outfielders going forward in 5x5 fantasy value, 2013 only. Don't read too much into the dollar values in a vacuum - they're merely used as a tool to compare players. And when commodities share the same price, they're considered even. (Players on the DL and minor-league prospects are not eligible for ranking.)

I reserve the right to tweak this list as the day goes along, and I'll add extra commentary as the day goes along. You're welcome to offer intelligent disagreement anywhere you see fit, just respect the room and defend your arguments and viewpoints. Win the debate, win the rank.

And as always, remember the golden rule: a player doesn't gain 15-20 percent of bonus value merely because you roster him. Game on.

Appointment Television: Yu Darvish 2.0 (USAST)

No-hit bids have become fairly common in the post-juice world we live in, but all bids are not created equal. It's possible for a pitcher to carry a late bid through a combination of luck and good fortune, with defense and timing lugging most of the mail.

And then there was Yu Darvish's start Tuesday night in Houston, where anyone could see early on he had no-hit stuff. Sometimes the electricity simply jumps off the screen.

Darvish commandeered the spotlight on baseball's third day of the season, setting down 26 Astros in a row before Marwin Gonzalez snapped the perfect-game bid with a clean single up the middle. Darvish struck out 14, walked no one, and was in complete control throughout. His nasty slider (which he surely learned from Kerry Wood and Bugs Bunny) resulted in a number of awkward cuts and easy outs. He only needed 111 pitches (78 strikes) in all, though the Rangers judiciously removed him after the Gonzalez hit.

After viewing a performance like that, fantasy owners are left with two clear questions:

Just how good is this Yu Darvish?

Just how bad are these 2013 Houston Astros?

Let's try to get a handle on both answers.

CC, pick up that declining velocity and talk to me (USAT)

Settle in, settlers, and welcome back. It's time to kick off the sixth season of Closing Time, the regular wrap we've been giving to you since 2008. Where does the time go?

Let's establish some of the ground rules up front; there are types of players we will and won't discuss here as a rule of thumb. When a big-name star does something nifty, he probably won't be in this space. You already know how terrific Clayton Kershaw is and there's little utility to further underscoring that fact (though I might occasionally do it anyway in a Shuffle Up). Similarly, when a scrub goes through a .157 month, we're probably not going to discuss it, either. Nothing to see, keep moving right along.

[Also: Robinson Cano replaces agent with Jay-Z | Bodes well for Yankees]

You'll generally find four types of items in this space:

-- Underappreciated fantasy assets playing well (perhaps worthy of a pickup)
-- Name players struggling (perhaps worthy of a sell-high before things get worse)
-- Closing situations dissected (you know how volatile that position and category can be)
-- Random silliness and snark (if you're not having fun in this game, you're playing it all wrong)

Sometimes a big-name player can push his way into the column if his value seems to be fundamentally changing, and occasionally we'll do a name drop just to celebrate a terrific performance (waving at you, Bryce Harper). But if you're looking for a column to show you how wonderful Justin Verlander is, you've got the wrong space. The kiddie game is down the street.

All that preamble out of the way, let's examine one of the name-brand stars who did not pitch well Monday. All you homeboys in the Bronx, this one's for you. CC Sabathia, please report to customer service – and bring your declining velocity with you. You apparently weren't invited to Monday's Parade of Bagels.

Closer in trouble (USAT)

The Cubs would love to trade embattled closer Carlos Marmol. Fantasy owners feel the same way. But come on now, who's kidding whom?

Chicago's opening-day victory at Pittsburgh on Monday was a walk in the park for eight innings; the Cubs pushed across three runs while the Pirates couldn't do a thing against dominating Jeff Samardzija (2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K). It seemed like a perfect setup for Marmol to work, a three-run lead against an ordinary opponent. Just avoid a total meltdown, then shake hands. Start the year with a rocking-chair save.

Alas, Marmol was born under a bad sign (and probably with a three-ball count). He fell behind all four batters he faced and only retired one man; Garrett Jones gratuitously swung at a terrible 3-2 pitch in the dirt to open the inning. The Bucs followed with a hit batsman and stolen base (Andrew McCutchen, fake-baseball hero), an RBI single and a walk. Marmol missed the zone on 10 of his 19 pitches, par for the course; the ball moves plenty, but he has no idea where it's going.

With the victory hanging in the balance, manager Dale Sveum didn't fool around. He summoned lefty James Russell to record the second out (forcing Neil Walker to bat right handed), then called on Japanese rookie Kyuji Fujikawa to get the final man. Fujikawa, the expected closer-in-waiting behind Marmol, threw two tidy strikes to Russell Martin, ending the game on a routine fly to center field. Cubs win, Cubs win.

Big expectations in the YYZ (USAT)

Predictions are silly. Predictions are fun.

Today we collect the Yahoo! Five (Funston, Behrens, Evans, Del Don, Pianowski) and we invite Michael Salfino to sit in. It's Crystal Ball time, 2013 MLB season. We've seen the future, and this all works out reasonably well.

Share your predictions in the comments, and Happy Opening Day, gamers.

Brandon Funston, Lead Singer

NL Playoffs
Washington
Atlanta
St. Louis
Cincinnati
San Francisco

AL Playoffs
Toronto
Detroit
Kansas City
LA Angels
Oakland

World Series – Washington over Toronto

NL MVP – Joey Votto (Dark Horse: Jason Heyward)
AL MVP – Mike Trout (Dark Horse: Yoenis Cespedes)

NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw (Dark Horse: Madison Bumgarner)
AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander (Dark Horse: Josh Johnson)

NL ROY – Julio Teheran (Dark Horse: Christian Yelich)
AL ROY – Wil Myers (Dark Horse: Mike Zunino)

A working-class Prado is something to be (AP)

The snarky comments will have to wait for another day. The red pens won't come out of the desk drawer today. It's time to get shiny, happy and target-driven on blog, unveiling a handful of players we can't wait to point-and-click on. Make sure you've got these guys queued up.

Thursday we didn't care about you, but Friday we're in love.

[Baseball 2013 from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports: Join a league today!]

In the Infield

Martin Prado – If Prado stays healthy, he's going to score 90-100 runs leading off for the D-Backs. You can count on him to push .300 (.295 career hitter) and deliver somewhere around a dozen home runs. Whether he steals another 17 bases (his '12 total, which was 12 more than his previous career high), is the difference between a sundae with a cherry on top and one without a cherry – the sundae's going to be good either way. But that you can use him at four different positions, including shortstop, is really the cherry on top. -Funston

Michael Bourn gets the bad news: he's on the avoid list (USAT)

The good cops had their say, the optimistic spins are already out there. Today I'm here to play bad cop, throw some red ink around. Let's get ready for the Anti-Value team, the names to avoid.

There's a sneaky industry secret when it comes to target and avoid lists; the second group generally gets the short end of the stick. It's common for many a fantasy pundit to wax poetic about sleepers and pet players, on and on and on - and then go to the short script for the other side of the ledger. Maybe there's more payoff or post-facto marketing potential when a target player makes good. Perhaps it's simply not fun to say bad things about name players; when you tell the fantasy world to avoid a star commodity, you're essentially picking a fight, asking for a never-ending argument.

[Baseball 2013 from Yahoo! Fantasy Sports: Join a league today!]

Heck, I'm sure I've fallen into the upgrade/downgrade trap before, at some point. But today, we intrepidly attack the assignment at hand. For better or for worse here are players I'm avoiding in 2013, marked as such because I don't like the combination of likely return against expected price. You'll find known and intriguing names on the list, perhaps some of your favorites; issuing a Jarrod Saltalamacchia pan or Omar Infante advisory isn't particularly useful. You're welcome to agree or disagree, and I'm sure we'll have some passionate defenses in the comments.

Got the red pen handy? Let's take a stroll down Avoidance Avenue. It's nothing personal, gamers, just business. I'll collect the players with the themes they fit, so you can add your own possible overpays to the discussion.

Arizona getaway, getaway

Alright, amigos, let's get to the prices on the mound. Here's how I rank the Top 90 arms or so for the 2013 season, 5x5.

Players at the same prices are considered even. Don't worry about the numbers in an isolated sense; what matters is how the players relate to one another. I reserve the right to tweak the list as the evening goes along. Win the debate, win the rank.

[Bracket busted? Try again with Second Chance Tourney Pick'em!]

And remember the golden rule: a player doesn't gain 15-20 percent of bonus value simply because you roster him.

I'm sure there's more to the preamble but it's not coming to mind right now. Let's get to it.