Greg Will Have Live Chat, Tuesday, 11 a.m. EST

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:25 am

Which happens first:

We reach 390 teams for the NFBC?

OR

Our company gets our email back?

Raskol · Post by **Raskol** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:30 am

Greg-Tom

1.MDC is currently down and was for awhile yesterday. Will it be ready for tomorrow's satellites? Hmm.. back up now but it has been sluggish and this is dangerous for satellite participants....

2.Does Boof Bonser take a step forward this year and could he be a viable NFBC starter?

3.Is Beltran overvalued given his balky knees and the potential for few steals this year?

[ February 26, 2008, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Raskolnikov ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:31 am

Originally posted by fireballs:

Greg, I for one think that Reyes will approach 100 sb's this year. What are your thoughts on him coming close or eclipsing the century mark? Originally posted by fireballs:

Greg, I for one think that Reyes will approach 100 sb's this year. What are your thoughts on him coming close or eclipsing the century mark? Jeff, I don't think he will steal 100 bases, but I sure like him a lot. That second half fade doesn't scare me and if I had the second pick in the draft it would be between him and David Wright. I'd probably take Reyes and the steals. He is one of the most exciting players in baseball and he's only 25, so the best is yet to come. I think he's going to have a great, great year.

Let's look at the SB potential. He attempted 99 steals last year in 160 games, but he was caught a league-high 21 times. In the last three years, he's converted 80%, 79% and 79% of his SB attempts. The Mets will let him run 100 times, but he needs to be better in his attempts to actually steal 100 bags. So I'd say 75 this year and hope for more.

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:32 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

Which happens first:

We reach 390 teams for the NFBC?

OR

Our company gets our email back? A

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:32 am

Originally posted by Tom Kessenich:

Which happens first:

We reach 390 teams for the NFBC?

OR

Our company gets our email back? Let's just say we'd be close to selling out if we had e-mail.

Captain Hook · Post by **Captain Hook** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:36 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Okay, I'll ask a few questions:

1. Is it worth my time and effort to show you the KDS preferences from the satellite leagues? I can do a few more today if people think it's worth looking at.

2. Am I giving away too much information by revealing some of the satellite league draft picks from 3-4 leagues? Is that unfair to the owners who participated? Or is this valuable information that's worth teasing before the main event?

3. Do you think we'll sell out the NFBC perfectly in each city? We're on pace at 390 if New York would just pick up.

4. Why is New York signups slower than last year? Is it the economy? The bad weather from last year? The Yankees? 1) I doubt it - doesn't change anyone's view - UNLESS they know who it is

2)I think the first 3-4 rounds are fine - past that each draft goes in different directions/runs etc and THAT information should belong to the people in those drafts - the PAID for it

3)It will happen only IF you make it happen - and even then you may have trouble with New York.

4) Maybe they AND their wallets are just frozen.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:37 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Okay, I'll ask a few questions:

1. Is it worth my time and effort to show you the KDS preferences from the satellite leagues? I can do a few more today if people think it's worth looking at.

2. Am I giving away too much information by revealing some of the satellite league draft picks from 3-4 leagues? Is that unfair to the owners who participated? Or is this valuable information that's worth teasing before the main event?

3. Do you think we'll sell out the NFBC perfectly in each city? We're on pace at 390 if New York would just pick up.

4. Why is New York signups slower than last year? Is it the economy? The bad weather from last year? The Yankees? 1. i've seen enough to form my own opinion now.

2. i don't think you are giving away too much info when you provide it in the manner that you have used. i like it a LOT!!!

3. hopefully, but i kinda doubt it. if you are one short for chicago, maybe i can change my plans AGAIN

4. my guess is the economy. out of the 4 draft cities, that's the one that i think would be affected the most.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:38 am

Originally posted by Raskolnikov:

Greg-Tom

1.MDC is currently down and was for awhile yesterday. Will it be ready for tomorrow's satellites?

2.Does Boof Bonser take a step forward this year and could he be a viable NFBC starter?

3.Is Beltran overvalued given his balky knees and the potential for few steals this year? 1. I don't know what's going on at MDC and I can't even e-mail Geoff, but you can at [email protected]. He will respond immediately. I'm sure they will be fine for tonight's drafts.

2. Bonser will have an opportunity in Minnesota and he's a worthy late-round gamble. But I'd be surprised if he blossomed this year. He gave up 199 hits and 65 walks in just 173 innings last year and that's just too much. He also gave up 27 home runs and that park won't help his numbers any. But he is just 26 years old and you never know.

3. I had Beltran in a keeper league and liked him a lot, but the constant injuries and the last four years of averages of .267, 266, .275 and .276 have lessened his value in my eyes. He's still talented, but I'm being more careful about him this year for a number of reasons.

Richie · Post by **Richie** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:42 am

Greg

when u say you cant email Geoof, what I would do if I were you would be to set up an account on yahoo for yourself so you can at least send out emails and get answers in order to do business. I have never heard of a 6 day outage. How can hat be. you can get rid of the system and reinstall it in a day or 2.

ALL-IN JD · Post by **ALL-IN JD** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:43 am

Greg, Liriano, Lincecum and Chamberlain, whom do you like best for this year?

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:43 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

4. Why is New York signups slower than last year? Is it the economy? The bad weather from last year? The Yankees? When Gekko switched back to New York, I noticed the sign-ups there dried up pretty quickly. Could just be a coincidence, but...

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:45 am

thoughts on this breaking news...

Manager Joe Torre said Monday that he wouldn't hesitate to call Clayton Kershaw up to the majors this season despite the fact that he's just 20 years old.

what round do i need to pull the trigger to have a 99% chance at getting this kid?

Joe Sambito · Post by **Joe Sambito** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:46 am

Rank these five pitchers, and let me know which ones are worthy of the injury gamble associated with them, and which ones you wouldn't want that risk even a bit after their ADP.

Pedro

Prior

Harden

Schmidt

Unit

Geoffrey Stein · Post by **Geoffrey Stein** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:47 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

quote:Originally posted by Raskolnikov:

Greg-Tom

1.MDC is currently down and was for awhile yesterday. Will it be ready for tomorrow's satellites?

1. I don't know what's going on at MDC and I can't even e-mail Geoff, but you can at [email protected]. He will respond immediately. I'm sure they will be fine for tonight's drafts.

[/QUOTE]Looking over our files, we haven't been down at any time the past two days except for a 30-second server upgrade yesterday.

I'd suggest the original poster check his internet connection, because it wasn't on our end.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:47 am

Originally posted by Richie:

Greg

when u say you cant email Geoof, what I would do if I were you would be to set up an account on yahoo for yourself so you can at least send out emails and get answers in order to do business. I have never heard of a 6 day outage. How can hat be. you can get rid of the system and reinstall it in a day or 2. Yeah, I could do that, but the last thing I need now is to chase e-mails over the next two weeks in different spots. If we can't get our company e-mail fixed soon enough, the hell with it. It's incredible that we're in this position at all.

It's not an outage. They blew it up. They are installing a new system. I have no idea how this could take so long. Trust me, we have hundreds of employees losing money every day because of this. Just unreal.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:50 am

Originally posted by fireballs:

Greg, Liriano, Lincecum and Chamberlain, whom do you like best for this year? Lincecum. He has the strikeout pitch to dominate and he really looked more confident down the stretch. He's still just 23, but growing up fast on the mound. I think he's going to have a good, good year.

That being said, Liriano is the sleeper of the year. Remember, most pitchers are fully recovered from Tommy John surgery after 18 months and he was operated on in November of 2006. He obviously needs to build up arm strength, but I really believe he is going to come out strong and surprise folks. I'd love to see him pitch this spring before taking the jump, but if you're not afraid to take a risk this is the guy to get.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:51 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

4. Why is New York signups slower than last year? Is it the economy? The bad weather from last year? The Yankees? When Gekko switched back to New York, I noticed the sign-ups there dried up pretty quickly. Could just be a coincidence, but... [/QUOTE]I totally agree. Totally.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:55 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

thoughts on this breaking news...

Manager Joe Torre said Monday that he wouldn't hesitate to call Clayton Kershaw up to the majors this season despite the fact that he's just 20 years old.

what round do i need to pull the trigger to have a 99% chance at getting this kid? He shouldn't be afraid to make that move. At Ron Shandler's Arizona Fall League Symposium, the panel on rookies listed Kershaw like 1A among the top prospects. In just 33 minor-league starts thus far, Kershaw has gone 10-7 with a 2.72 ERA and 217 strikeouts in 159 innings. Opposing batters have hit .201 off him. The big lefty is the top prospect in the Dodgers' system and could be an impact callup during the second half of the season.

Drafting him is always risky as veteran NFBC players know that you just can't stash a prospect on your reserve roster and expect to win. It's tough to give up that spot for 13, 14 weeks when you could be using two-start pitchers on certain weeks. Now if you think he will join the Dodgers early in the season, that's another story. But I'd be surprised if he starts above Double-A this year and doesn't at least spend some significant time at Triple-A Las Vegas.

Cowboy Joe · Post by **Cowboy Joe** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:57 am

Greg,

Draft day questions from a 1st timer?

1. Boxers or briefs?

2. Who in Vegas might try to steal my beer? Lance already makes me nervous.

3. Any particular pro or college team apparel that could get me punched in the nose?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:58 am

Originally posted by Joe Sambito:

Rank these five pitchers, and let me know which ones are worthy of the injury gamble associated with them, and which ones you wouldn't want that risk even a bit after their ADP.

Pedro

Prior

Harden

Schmidt

Unit What, no Ben Sheets?

Pedro

Harden

Unit, Prior, Schmidt

I'll take a shot at Pedro and definitely Harden. I think Harden can bouce back and I've grabbed him a few times already. He didn't have surgery and he was lights out in April before he went down. He needs to be a bit tougher and figure out how to pitch through this, but he has the talent to excel.

I probably won't gamble on the last three. I did grab Schmidt for a dollar in the XFL Keeper League, but that was in November. It was a roll of the dice then.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:01 am

Originally posted by Cowboy Joe:

Greg,

Draft day questions from a 1st timer?

1. Boxers or briefs?

2. Who in Vegas might try to steal my beer? Lance already makes me nervous.

3. Any particular pro or college team apparel that could get me punched in the nose? 1. Well, I know you're drafting in Las Vegas, so definitely briefs.

2. Lance, Lance, Lance, Lance and Lance. Then me.

3. Nah, this will be conference tournament time so everyone will be playing. I wish it was March Madness weekend because that's more fun, but Easter got in the way of us. I'll have a Wisconsin Badgers' jacket with me, so wear anything other than a Minnesota Vikings' polo shirt and you'll be fine with me.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:18 am

Since you asked us, I'll throw it back on Greg. What do YOU think is the reason for the slowdown in New York sign-ups? Is it time to roll out the last batch of signed Pete Rose autographed baseballs? Perhaps a freshly minted batch of 8x10 Greg & Tom pictures (signed of course) is in order? C'mon Greg, I know you can be very persuasive when you have to be

Top Dawg · Post by **Top Dawg** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:22 am

Greg - Are you in contact with a bunch of "fence sitters" or is the well running dry? With the economy being worse this year I would not be surprised to see some of the guys/gals who have finished far out of the money deciding to take a year off. Also, I see a ton of interest in the satellite leagues. I would not be surprised to see people taking a "step back" from the $1300 payment to try again for a lot less.

Pete

freddiezee · Post by **freddiezee** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:25 am

Greg,

Given that NY has been slow, do you think you should try to do another league in Vegas?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 5:29 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Since you asked us, I'll throw it back on Greg. What do YOU think is the reason for the slowdown in New York sign-ups? Is it time to roll out the last batch of signed Pete Rose autographed baseballs? Perhaps a freshly minted batch of 8x10 Greg & Tom pictures (signed of course) is in order? C'mon Greg, I know you can be very persuasive when you have to be

I'm puzzled, but optimistic that New York signups can come in during the last week and folks can just drive to the event. I have all of last year's signups in front of me right now and there are still guys on this list that I think are coming back. But there are also a bunch from New York that are doing satellites like crazy and haven't yet signed up for the main event.

I've tried to call everyone and some I've just been unable to reach. A few said they had local league drafts that weekend because Easter made it impossible to draft the following weekend. Some had health or business reasons for not returning. Others just don't have the finances to do it this year.

I honestly felt we'd have a lower turnout this year in Las Vegas, not New York. I'm pleasantly surprised by the turnout in Las Vegas without March Madness and that bodes well for the future. And when all is said and done, we'll still finish with 8+ leagues in the Big Apple and either finish at 375 or 390 overall. With everything else that is going on with our satellites and auctions and Supers and Ultimates, it's been a good, good year.

And then of course, don't count me out with my power of persuasion. I can be pretty good when given a phone AND e-mail.

This game isn't over yet.