Time for Morrow to step up: The Sports Xchange reports it is time for Brandon Morrow to live up to his potential. The right-handed starter has given tantalizing glimpses at what he can do, but has yet to do so consistently. Last year, he was 11-11 with a 4.72 ERA. This year, the 27-year-old will enter the season armed with a three-year contract that guarantees him $20 million. Last year, Morrow did finish strong going 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in his final three starts when he became more aggressive. "I think that's the difference between an everyday player and an All-Star -- the consistency," he said. "There's days where I've gone out there and pitched like Cy Young, and days when I've gone out and there and looked like I should have been in Single A." (Updated 01/29/2012)
Injury Report
No information available at this time (Updated 2/11/12).
Fantasy Analysis
Despite the inconsistencies, general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who acquired him in a trade with the Mariners two years ago, had the confidence in his ability to offer the three-year deal with a club option for a fourth season. "I think our outfield defense last year certainly didn't help him, being a fly ball guy," Anthopoulos said. "And I think he continues to get better. I think he's going to get better and there's tremendous upside and tremendous ceiling." Given his steadily increasing workload, he's at a point now where he might be able to put together a 200-inning season, which would obviously lead to huge strikeout totals. Morrow remains a pitcher on the rise, and he's worth targeting with a middle-round pick in 2012. (Updated 01/29/2012).
02/10/2012 13:27 2012 Draft Prep: 12-team, mixed H2H draft
Which picks stood out in our initial 12-team Head-to-Head mock draft for 2012? Check out the results and read what Scott White has to say about some of the more interesting selections.
02/02/2012 12:21 2012 Draft Prep: Our 12-team, mixed Rotisserie draft
It's time for owners to start looking ahead to Draft Day. We get you off and running with our 12-team Rotisserie mock draft. Check out the results!
01/30/2012 12:03 2012 Draft Prep: Rotisserie strategies
If Rotisserie success is based solely on numbers, why not focus on the stats that matter instead of the names in the draft room? Scott White helps you capitalize on the subtleties of drafting for Roto formats.
The easy reaction to Brandon Morrow's 2011 season would be to call it a disappointment. He didn't break through as the ace so many Fantasy owners believed he could be. In fact, his ERA ballooned to 4.72. But just because that's the easy reaction doesn't mean it's the correct one. True, he disappointed the many Fantasy owners who bought into him as a top-30 starting pitcher, but maybe their expectations were too high to begin with. After all, he didn't even pitch 150 innings in 2010. How many more was he going to get in 2011? Of course, most Fantasy owners probably could have lived with the low innings total if he produced better percentages, but ... well, look at that. He did. Yeah, the ERA wasn't great, but he lowered his WHIP to a respectable 1.29 and overcame his biggest shortcoming of all by producing a career-low walk rate. And he did it while still leading the AL in strikeout rate. By every indication but the ERA, 2011 was a step forward for the 27-year-old right-hander, which means maybe the ERA isn't the best way to assess him. Now that he's within striking distance of 200 innings, Morrow could still have the breakout season that everyone was predicting for him last year. Only now, he's available outside the top 40 starting pitchers. (Updated 2/1/12)
Actual 
AccuScore Projections) Note: Points are rounded down.
= probable start