Hey everyone's undefeated! Oops. I guess our fantasy season didn't start until today because our draft was in the middle of week 1. My apologies. But the league did have some action. (Yes. You gotsta get up to get down.)
Doug changed his team name to "Manny Being Mommy". Appropriate, after all he did waste a 12th round pick on the fertility drug user. I can't decide if it's going to be a big deal or not. His replacement is Luke Scott and he also has Raul Ibanez. If he had better back ups, I wouldn't have an issue with it. On the other hand, the other OFs taken after him in the draft include Pagan, Tabata, Lind, Markakis, Adam Jones, etc. Not exactly world beaters.
Another interesting move involved Manny Being Mommy. He used the 7th waiver priority to claim Johan Santana. He's potentially out for the season, or more likely just the first half. Innnnnteresting. Also, potentially a good pickup in Zach Britton. Nevermind he has the same last name as my dream wife Connie Britton. He does pitch in the AL East, but oh can he induce the 4-6-3.
I'm calling out my own number. Two and a half times. Yeah, winning. I clearly had the best pickup of the week, snagging the new Angels closer Jordan Walden. He's nasty and he's a closer of a decent team. If Alex Gordon lives up to the post-hype, he could be a stud FA pickup. I also dropped and re-acquired Alexi Ogando. In two starts, he has an ERA of 0.00. Pretty good. (The Ogando pick up merits the half solid pickup.) Hopefully these pickups will offset the Evan Longoria oblique injury. It hurts considering his career BA in April is .328. Ouch.
The other interesting pickup is Chris Narveson (made by Matt's Bi-Winning). Jury's still out. He's a finesse pitcher, but he'll get his fair share of the Pirates and Astros.
Sean Burnett was added by Justin's Juicers. He's currently Washington's closer. He has talent (former 1st round pick by the Pirates in 2000), but righties do hit him decently (.258 career OppBA), and Drew Storen was the Nats' first round pick a couple years ago. Storen should reclaim the job sooner or later.
By the way, there's a closer still out there on the FA market. Hint: He's not good, but he's on a good team. Who will pick him up? It might be me...by the time I finish writing this blog.
In Giants news, how about those Friday and Saturday games? That's what I've been waiting for as a fan. Unbelievable banner raising and ring ceremonies. I honestly can't name THE one person I'm the most happy for. Mike Murphy? Bruce Bochy? Lincecum? Willie McCovey? Kruk and Kuip? Eli Whiteside? Kuip had the best line of the weekend. Something along the lines of: "Just want to make one thing clear. Tuxedos. Rings. But Mike (Krukow) and I are not here to renew our wedding vows."
Don't forget to set your lineups. In July, it's understandable. No excuses in April. Good luck to everyone.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Draft review
We saw a lot of things that just fit.
1. John (Good Wood) getting the first pick of the draft. That's the way he rolls.
2. The Boston kids taking Sawx in the first round (Doug's Rockstars from Mars with A-Gonz and Matt's BiWinning with Crawford).
3. Doug Chin taking 4 Asian guys (Ichiro, Daisuke, Saito, and Kuo)...and getting mad that Tom took Nishioka.
4. Mike Stern (NOBODY CARES) picking last. Suits your team name.
5. Buster Posey and Lincecum going higher than he should have (to Peter's Huff's Thong Drawer and Evan's Go Home Zito). Time will tell if reaching for Buster will pay off.
6. Chi-Town Tom taking Carlos Marmolade in the 6th round.
7. Mr. Hawaii (Justin) presumably sleeping through the draft.
On to Draft Analysis.
1. Good Wood (John)
Balanced team, immense power, very dangerous. Probably playoff bound.
Best Pick: Jered Weaver (7th round). WHIP king (1.07 in 2010) and potential ace with the 73rd pick? Steal.
Biggest Reach: Jose Bautista (3rd round). Doubt he will hit 50+ again. Worst case scenario I see is .250, 30 hrs. For the first pick in the third round? Yuck.
Question Mark: Enough pitching depth? That could be said for everyone though. Good, potentially great, draft.
2. BustHerPosey (Chandler)
Far and away best team name. Good pitching staff, solid lineup. Several injury risks (Mauer, Morneau, Carpenter, Kendrick)
Best Pick: Matt Kemp (3rd round). He was a 1st rounder a year ago. 3rd is probably appropriate this year, but could be in for a monster year. Love his talent, hate his attitude. Shed Rhianna in the offseason. What impact will that have?
Biggest Reach: Jaime Garcia (11th round)/Phil Hughes (13th round). Garcia could be in for a sophomore slump. Early reports have Hughes clocked at 86-87 mph, instead of 93. Will he fix his mechanics, Madison Bumgarner style?
Question Mark: Does Adrian Beltre have a year like last year (.320, 84-28-102) or one like 2009 (.265, 54-8-44)?
3. WSChamps1908 (Tom)
Poor kid. Fan of a cursed team. Go Bulls though. First six picks were among the best: Miggy, Felix, Choo, Ethier, Ubaldo. Does he have the depth?
Best Pick: Gio Gonzalez (11th round). How do you win h2h matchups? Quality arms. If he made more picks like this one, he could have had the best draft. Gio's going to be good. Sanchy good.
Biggest Reach: Brian Roberts (12th round). Played in 59 games in 2010. Doubt he stays healthy, a risk because MI is so shallow.
Question Mark: Ian Desmond and Brian Roberts up the middle? Will that come back to bite him?
4. Mark it down REPEAT (Kai)
Giants fan displaced in NY. Can't be fun. OF depth is very questionable. Would be the best team in the league if Lester pitches every night. Not gonna happen.
Best Pick: Jon Lester (4th round). Bonafide Ace. Stud.
Biggest Reach: Michael Young (6th round). Career decline could come at any time. Refuses to take a walk. Texas publicly trying to trade him. Never a good thing.
Question Mark: Can he tread water while Matt Holliday is recovering from an appendectomy? If not, he may have to trade one of his studs for more depth.
5. Go Home Zito (Evan)
Most hilarious draft I think I have ever seen. Drafted 3, THREE, players who won't play an inning in a big league game this year (Wainwright, Wagner, and Bryce Harper). Pitching staff would be nasty if Wainwright was healthy. But he's not.
Best Pick: Wainwright...Wagner...no Harper...nevermind. Cole Hamels (5th round). Why did he drop? Only 10 wins a year ago. But post all-star break stats? 2.23 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 104 K's in 96 innings. Ace material.
Biggest Reach: Pablo Sandoval (8th round). Could be his end up being his best pick. If he ever learns how to swing at strikes.
Question Mark: Whenever you throw away a 4th rounder, you have no chance. Right?
6. Rockstars from Mars (Doug)
Like the draft. I'm going to name it the best. Time will tell if his team is the best.
Best Pick: Trevor Cahill (14th round). Yes, I think the A's are going to be good this year. He's the new Chien-Ming Wang. Nothing wrong with that in the 14th round. Also like the Kinsler pick. Consensus 2nd rounder for the past several years, and now that he's 28, he's a mid 3rd rounder? Nice.
Biggest Reach: Ichiro (5th round). Seattle was awful a year ago. Ichiro "only" hit .315 last year. He'll decline at some point.
Question Mark: Relying on aging vets (Ichiro, V-Mart, Manny, Rolen, Uribe). And will Ellsbury stay healthy?
7. Raging...Right Now (Ryan)
Let me introduce you to a fantasy baseball term. Saves/Steals Aint Got No Face (SAGNOF). Why draft Crawford, Ichiro, Ellsbury when you can get Tabata who does the same thing? Same with elite closers and the Fernando Rodney/Ryan Madsons.
Best Pick: Mark Reynolds (11th round). 11th rounder in 2009, 2nd rounder in 2010, and 11th rounder in 2011? His value's somewhere in between. So 30 hrs in the 11th round? Average is a flukey stat.
Biggest Reach: Chris Young (5th round). I'm a sucker for potential 30-30 guys. Good thing strikeouts don't count against me.
Question Mark: Could be vulnerable early. Teixeira a notoriously slow starter and Grienke on the DL. Also has a young team. Love me some J-Upside.
8. bombers28 (Andrew)
Maybe his friend did a better job drafting for him. Scary top 4 guys. Hanson's also good. But the Grandyman and Gardner? Homer much?
Best Pick: Tommy Hanson (8th round) His K/9 dropped last year, but velocity didn't. Not too worried.
Biggest Reach: Brett Gardner (7th round). I won't touch the Granderson pick. He "misclicked". But a guy who might hit 9th in the 7th round?
Question Mark: Has a couple post-hype guys in Nolasco and Shields. Can they fulfill their potential?
9. Justin's Juicers (Justin)
Auto-picked team. Yawn.
Best Pick: Drew Stubbs (8th round). Actually a good value. Potential 20-20 guy, maybe 30-30 in the Not So Great American Ballpark.
Biggest Reach: Chase Utley (7th round). When does he come back? A month, two or three?
Question Mark: He has some work to do. None pitching.
10. Bi-Winning (Matt)
Very solid draft. Probably playoff bound if the season ends today. Lucky for others, it doesn't. Man, don't see any weaknesses.
Best Pick: Jason Heyward (4th round). Last time we'll see him go this late in a fantasy draft in a while. At least a 2nd round guy from here on out.
Biggest Reach: Martin Prado (8th round). Nitpicking. I dunno?
Question Mark: Pitching depth. Rounding out a staff w/ AL east guys is always risky.
11. Huff's Thong Drawer (Peter)
The Buster Dread Pirates. Might not have a bonafide ace. Haren's a first half guy and Latos had a huge innings spike last year.
Best Pick: Andrew McCutchen (3rd round). The Dread Pirate. How is that not his nickname? 30-30 guy. Write it in. 1st rounder next year. Write it in.
Biggest Reach: Matt Wieters (11th round). Not necessarily a reach, but more a huh pick. Buster in the 2nd round, then another catcher?
Question Mark: Cano, McCutchen, Posey, Dunn is scary. Haren, Latos, Sanchez, Colby Lewis is not.
12. NOBODY CARES!!!! (Mike)
He has two guys that were on my team that won a league (Wright and Hamilton). I got them in the 2nd and 4th round, respectively, last year. This year? They're 1st and 2nd rounders. Point being, you win with your picks in the latter rounds.
Best Pick: Craig Kimbrel (14th round). He's scary good. Marmol good. Going to get a lot of opportunities too. SAGNOF!
Biggest Reach: Billy Butler (7th round). Only contributes to 1 category (AVG). Not worth the value here.
Question Mark: Is Hamilton going to stay healthy? Pretty much assuming he is.
Good luck to everyone this year. I'll try to update this as much as possible to encourage people to stay active.
1. John (Good Wood) getting the first pick of the draft. That's the way he rolls.
2. The Boston kids taking Sawx in the first round (Doug's Rockstars from Mars with A-Gonz and Matt's BiWinning with Crawford).
3. Doug Chin taking 4 Asian guys (Ichiro, Daisuke, Saito, and Kuo)...and getting mad that Tom took Nishioka.
4. Mike Stern (NOBODY CARES) picking last. Suits your team name.
5. Buster Posey and Lincecum going higher than he should have (to Peter's Huff's Thong Drawer and Evan's Go Home Zito). Time will tell if reaching for Buster will pay off.
6. Chi-Town Tom taking Carlos Marmolade in the 6th round.
7. Mr. Hawaii (Justin) presumably sleeping through the draft.
On to Draft Analysis.
1. Good Wood (John)
Balanced team, immense power, very dangerous. Probably playoff bound.
Best Pick: Jered Weaver (7th round). WHIP king (1.07 in 2010) and potential ace with the 73rd pick? Steal.
Biggest Reach: Jose Bautista (3rd round). Doubt he will hit 50+ again. Worst case scenario I see is .250, 30 hrs. For the first pick in the third round? Yuck.
Question Mark: Enough pitching depth? That could be said for everyone though. Good, potentially great, draft.
2. BustHerPosey (Chandler)
Far and away best team name. Good pitching staff, solid lineup. Several injury risks (Mauer, Morneau, Carpenter, Kendrick)
Best Pick: Matt Kemp (3rd round). He was a 1st rounder a year ago. 3rd is probably appropriate this year, but could be in for a monster year. Love his talent, hate his attitude. Shed Rhianna in the offseason. What impact will that have?
Biggest Reach: Jaime Garcia (11th round)/Phil Hughes (13th round). Garcia could be in for a sophomore slump. Early reports have Hughes clocked at 86-87 mph, instead of 93. Will he fix his mechanics, Madison Bumgarner style?
Question Mark: Does Adrian Beltre have a year like last year (.320, 84-28-102) or one like 2009 (.265, 54-8-44)?
3. WSChamps1908 (Tom)
Poor kid. Fan of a cursed team. Go Bulls though. First six picks were among the best: Miggy, Felix, Choo, Ethier, Ubaldo. Does he have the depth?
Best Pick: Gio Gonzalez (11th round). How do you win h2h matchups? Quality arms. If he made more picks like this one, he could have had the best draft. Gio's going to be good. Sanchy good.
Biggest Reach: Brian Roberts (12th round). Played in 59 games in 2010. Doubt he stays healthy, a risk because MI is so shallow.
Question Mark: Ian Desmond and Brian Roberts up the middle? Will that come back to bite him?
4. Mark it down REPEAT (Kai)
Giants fan displaced in NY. Can't be fun. OF depth is very questionable. Would be the best team in the league if Lester pitches every night. Not gonna happen.
Best Pick: Jon Lester (4th round). Bonafide Ace. Stud.
Biggest Reach: Michael Young (6th round). Career decline could come at any time. Refuses to take a walk. Texas publicly trying to trade him. Never a good thing.
Question Mark: Can he tread water while Matt Holliday is recovering from an appendectomy? If not, he may have to trade one of his studs for more depth.
5. Go Home Zito (Evan)
Most hilarious draft I think I have ever seen. Drafted 3, THREE, players who won't play an inning in a big league game this year (Wainwright, Wagner, and Bryce Harper). Pitching staff would be nasty if Wainwright was healthy. But he's not.
Best Pick: Wainwright...Wagner...no Harper...nevermind. Cole Hamels (5th round). Why did he drop? Only 10 wins a year ago. But post all-star break stats? 2.23 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 104 K's in 96 innings. Ace material.
Biggest Reach: Pablo Sandoval (8th round). Could be his end up being his best pick. If he ever learns how to swing at strikes.
Question Mark: Whenever you throw away a 4th rounder, you have no chance. Right?
6. Rockstars from Mars (Doug)
Like the draft. I'm going to name it the best. Time will tell if his team is the best.
Best Pick: Trevor Cahill (14th round). Yes, I think the A's are going to be good this year. He's the new Chien-Ming Wang. Nothing wrong with that in the 14th round. Also like the Kinsler pick. Consensus 2nd rounder for the past several years, and now that he's 28, he's a mid 3rd rounder? Nice.
Biggest Reach: Ichiro (5th round). Seattle was awful a year ago. Ichiro "only" hit .315 last year. He'll decline at some point.
Question Mark: Relying on aging vets (Ichiro, V-Mart, Manny, Rolen, Uribe). And will Ellsbury stay healthy?
7. Raging...Right Now (Ryan)
Let me introduce you to a fantasy baseball term. Saves/Steals Aint Got No Face (SAGNOF). Why draft Crawford, Ichiro, Ellsbury when you can get Tabata who does the same thing? Same with elite closers and the Fernando Rodney/Ryan Madsons.
Best Pick: Mark Reynolds (11th round). 11th rounder in 2009, 2nd rounder in 2010, and 11th rounder in 2011? His value's somewhere in between. So 30 hrs in the 11th round? Average is a flukey stat.
Biggest Reach: Chris Young (5th round). I'm a sucker for potential 30-30 guys. Good thing strikeouts don't count against me.
Question Mark: Could be vulnerable early. Teixeira a notoriously slow starter and Grienke on the DL. Also has a young team. Love me some J-Upside.
8. bombers28 (Andrew)
Maybe his friend did a better job drafting for him. Scary top 4 guys. Hanson's also good. But the Grandyman and Gardner? Homer much?
Best Pick: Tommy Hanson (8th round) His K/9 dropped last year, but velocity didn't. Not too worried.
Biggest Reach: Brett Gardner (7th round). I won't touch the Granderson pick. He "misclicked". But a guy who might hit 9th in the 7th round?
Question Mark: Has a couple post-hype guys in Nolasco and Shields. Can they fulfill their potential?
9. Justin's Juicers (Justin)
Auto-picked team. Yawn.
Best Pick: Drew Stubbs (8th round). Actually a good value. Potential 20-20 guy, maybe 30-30 in the Not So Great American Ballpark.
Biggest Reach: Chase Utley (7th round). When does he come back? A month, two or three?
Question Mark: He has some work to do. None pitching.
10. Bi-Winning (Matt)
Very solid draft. Probably playoff bound if the season ends today. Lucky for others, it doesn't. Man, don't see any weaknesses.
Best Pick: Jason Heyward (4th round). Last time we'll see him go this late in a fantasy draft in a while. At least a 2nd round guy from here on out.
Biggest Reach: Martin Prado (8th round). Nitpicking. I dunno?
Question Mark: Pitching depth. Rounding out a staff w/ AL east guys is always risky.
11. Huff's Thong Drawer (Peter)
The Buster Dread Pirates. Might not have a bonafide ace. Haren's a first half guy and Latos had a huge innings spike last year.
Best Pick: Andrew McCutchen (3rd round). The Dread Pirate. How is that not his nickname? 30-30 guy. Write it in. 1st rounder next year. Write it in.
Biggest Reach: Matt Wieters (11th round). Not necessarily a reach, but more a huh pick. Buster in the 2nd round, then another catcher?
Question Mark: Cano, McCutchen, Posey, Dunn is scary. Haren, Latos, Sanchez, Colby Lewis is not.
12. NOBODY CARES!!!! (Mike)
He has two guys that were on my team that won a league (Wright and Hamilton). I got them in the 2nd and 4th round, respectively, last year. This year? They're 1st and 2nd rounders. Point being, you win with your picks in the latter rounds.
Best Pick: Craig Kimbrel (14th round). He's scary good. Marmol good. Going to get a lot of opportunities too. SAGNOF!
Biggest Reach: Billy Butler (7th round). Only contributes to 1 category (AVG). Not worth the value here.
Question Mark: Is Hamilton going to stay healthy? Pretty much assuming he is.
Good luck to everyone this year. I'll try to update this as much as possible to encourage people to stay active.
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