Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

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Edwards Kings
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Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:05 am

VEGAS! I have participated in the events in Tampa, Orlando, Chicago, New York, but mostly Vegas. Loved each and every one, but Vegas always carries a certain panache. Trashy panache, yes…glittery, got to see it at night panache, why in the hell is there a “White Castle” on the main drag panache, but certainly panache. Love going, love leaving but the allure is always there. Whenever there, cannot help but rationalize that I am somehow…I don’t know…part of a pack…

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Yeah…that is me. Part of the Rat Pack…if they had an old fat one with a southern accent. Illusion and rationalization, where would we be without them, especially in fantasy baseball.

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Wow…what a weekend and I only did two contests. Have to get the kudo’s out of the way…stellar all around thanks to Greg, Tom, Darik, and Minnesota Mike (the brains of the outfit). It was wonderful and without what you guys do I would not be able to justify traveling to do this.

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Words cannot describe the undescribable Mike Massotto…and I am not talking just the jacket and boots (glad the gift shop at the leather and lace club had your size) from Friday night. The events and the man himself are one of the high points of the weekend for me. The Godfather in rare form….

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Always look forward to seeing you, brother. You set a high bar and do not disappoint….

And thanks again to Bob Cramutola, the reigning Main Event king, for your generosity with the Friday night party. I never got the chance to thank you personally, but certainly wanted to do so here.

We really had the opportunity to talk this weekend…about lives, families, plans, but mostly baseball. I fear leaving out all the folks I was able to have a few minutes with but here goes…Dave “My Flight is When?” Clum, Dan “No Pants Dance” Semsel, Dan “Colorado Slim” Kenyon, Glenn “This is football, right?” Lowy, Dusty “Watch Wayne Piss Away $500” Wagner, Mike “Wayne needs TWO hearing aids” Mager (seriously, thanks for your help), Don “The Ageless Wonder” Warner, Ante “I stole Seth Brown and LIKED it” Meich, Jacob “Auction by Committee” Halusker, Bob “The Champ” Mazur, Marc “Rusty Staub’s Lovechild” Winokur, Scott “Time to Kick Wayne’s Ass Again” Jenstad, Steve “Accountants ARE the Cool Kids” Jupinka, Glenn “Watch Wayne’s Face when I Steal this One!” Schroter, Kelly “Which way did Jon go?” Withrow, and Jon “If Wayne were a baseball card, he would be a PSA 1 Common” Stadtmueller. So many more and I am sure I left folks out and I apologize. In short, it was a great weekend with the rest of the inmates of the asylum.

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Now…baseball….

No excuses this year. I had all the time in the world and loved using every spare minute. Amazing how my October mind, moved to November mind, to December….you get it. Watching the waves of change over the offseason take hold, the FA movements, the saga of Correa’s medical reports...and the rule changes.

Most of the rule changes will have impact I think, but most only in lessor degrees. The time clock will not do too much…only a few pitchers were human rain delays. Batters will not be able to step out…after every bloody pitch…to adjust their batting gloves (boy, that made such good TV, right?). I do not even think the limited throws to first base nor the larger bags will have much impact. It is not like every guy who had five steals last year will suddenly go all Maury Wills on us. Stealing bases has been so under-utilized for so long, there is just no way players will be coached up quickly. Looking for who MIGHT deserve a bump, I looked at guys who had low success rates and wondered if that extra few inches will help. I just do not see it.

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If steals go up, it will be with those guys already successful and I think most boats will rise two or three. Those that do have SB spikes, I am sure the talking heads will discuss how the rule changes might have spurred the increase, but more than likely, the cause will be health, not oversized bags. We will see.

What will make a change, at least in BA and ERA, is the end of the shift. Managers will try to create shift-lites, but I think a players BA will go up (too late for Brian McCann) which means more baserunners, which means more runs score. The BA boon, such that it will be, will rest with those players with higher groundball rates and strong barrel rates, especially when playing those teams with average or worse infield defense. The flip side will be even more late-inning glove first replacements for the range-challenged infielders…your big-stick, iron-glove players may see fewer late-inning AB’s. I tried to take advantage of this to a certain extent. At least in planning. During the draft? Well….

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There are always so many paths to completing a roster in a snake draft. This year, I thought there was a fairly deep pool of #1 starter types…those that only injury would cause to underperform. But with ERA’s likely to inflate (in my opinion), I felt I really should lock in a couple of key anchors…unlike last year where I went all offense early and tried to piece the pitching together later. I was not good enough to make that happen (though Bob Mazur had put together a great team last year from my league and not only won, but had a 10th place finish in the overall), and I did not want a repeat.

That said, I felt that this might be the year for a throw-back strategy. Years ago, the rage was “75-75”…seventy-five HR and seventy-five SB in your first three batters. The decided lack of SB has made that strategy a bit anachronistic. Until now. With the rise of players like Acuna, Rodriguez, Turner, Ramirez, Tucker, Witt, Tatis and others, I think the 75-75 strategy could work. While there are exceptions, most of these proven power/speed guys (especially with 0.250+ batting averages) do not survive much past the fourth round. No big surprise there as even I can see the attraction. And last year something like only two-dozen guys stole 20+ bases, so if I can snag at least three of these top guys….

The cost is potentially missing out on the big power bats (Vladdy, Alvarez, Alonso, Riley, and others). These guys may toss in a few bags, but are going to leave you looking at Judy’s later. And the other cost is delaying pitching…not only starters, but closers as well.

Closers have never been more of a mess. With injuries (Diaz), teams with serious lack of late-inning arms, and strategy changes (using the best arm in the 7th or 8th to handle the meat of the opponents’ line-ups, the 30/40 save closer is as rare as seeing me in a Vegan restaurant. And half of the anointed closers are, in effect, introduced to La Belle Guillotine during the season to be replace by a new monarch.

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One thing about saves and speed that they have in common is the low number required to move up in the points in those categories. In the overall, ten SB over the course of the year (from 130 to 140) was 80 points in the overall last year. Ten SV’s (from 60 to 70) were 143 points. Ten HR was about half the SB increase in 2022, with K’s, R, and RBI’s even less elastic.

So having identified a strategy (75-75), needs (anchor SP’s) and market shortages (SB and “reliable” closers), I am ready for the draft. What could go wrong? Wayne…outsmarting himself perhaps? I also had in my mind (a dark and scary place) a strategy that maybe could put a little stress and disruption to the table. Risky, but fun maybe….or just….

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More later.
Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:08 am

The Draft

To the other members of my league, I truly enjoyed the event on Saturday. It was a strong group…everyone had a plan and very few players “fell”. There were no easy picks as everyone was on their game. As special shout out to Glenn Schroter and the team of Jon Stadtmueller and Kelly Withrow. I had KDS’d a straight butter preference, hoping to get any of the top-five draft picks as there were five players at the top that I think you could cover stat-wise with a cocktail napkin. As luck would have it, I got #1 with Glenn and Jon/Kelly at #2 and #3 right after me. There are no better at this madness than those guys and I was poached so much I thought I was an egg. But even while I was being screwed (metaphorically), I do not think I could have had a better time cutting it up down on our end of the table.

Final thoughts on draft strategy and probably my first mistake. I had decided to take my first pitcher at the round 2/3 turn. There I expected to have my choice of at least one and probably more of McClanahan, Woodruff, Alcantara, Javier, or Gausman (I wanted Nola, but he had climbed to mid-second round in the ADP’s during Febuary/March DC’s, so not much chance there). Any of those guys make a great anchor.

Easy. Smart. Rational. Remember illusion and rationalization? There was one player that fit into a mold perfectly with regards to 75-75 as well as that old ghost, positional scarcity. That was Jacob Realmuto. If Realmuto was available to me (he was), I would probably go with three batters first and wait on my first starter. This is risky and as it turns out, we were a pitcher happy bunch in my league. The only thing that would change that would be if Nola slipped. He did not.

Like I mentioned, there were a lot of qualified options at the #1 pick (duhhh!). No surprise I went with Ronald Acuna, that shy, reserved superstar. I honestly hate the bat-flip showboating around the bases, but I think he proved himself healthy in the off-season. I do not think anyone feels a 30/30 (30/35, 35/40?) season is out of the question. Hell, his power stroke may have been a bit MIA last year, but he stole 29 bases on a bad wheel. I think the steals is what separated him from the other top guys, even though I considered others since Acuna’s BA will top out around 0.270…I hope. Others could offer more BA, but I see no real limit for Acuna in the other categories.

In the draft, there were no big reaches. Sure, some guys were pulled forward in roster construction, but by and large there was a lot of predictability to our draft. As I mentioned, Realmuto was there (never drafted a catcher this high) and I was also at the turn to feed my man-crush on Jazz Chisholm. He is not quite Acuna, but he could get close if he figures out wrong-handers a bit. He is young, like Acuna, with a ton of upside. I left a lot of pitching on the table, but I could not find a better recipe for 75(+)-75(+) potential. Not bad on BA, not great.

At the 4/5 turn I have to try to catch up on pitching. With Clase going in the 2nd, Hader in the 3rd, and a mini run of closers in the fourth, I was not only looking at a starter, but a closer as well if I was going to get what I considered a top-tier closer. Glenn, in the first of an orgy of drafting starters, grabbed Fried who was one of what I thought were the last two potential true anchors. That left me with the last (and riskiest due to age) in Yu Darvish. With late career control and strong K’s (say 10 per 9 IP) on a contending team (SD), Darvish is probably not quite as good as those starters I passed on, but he could be. And for the closer, I also felt there was one more really top-tier in Felix Bautista. Not that I think Baltimore is a great team, but I think he should get 75-80% of their saves. He is 28, should get 80-90 K’s with a 4:1 K-BB ratio.

Next, at 6/7, I had a couple of good SP options and that would have been the smart option. Or I could try to apply some pressure (not smart). What did I do?

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At this point, only seven closers had been taken. I felt the specter of the Diaz injury (as well as Iglesias not being ready for the season) already had people concerned about scarcity of lock down closers and eight teams had not invested yet. There may not be fifteen top and second tier closers in total, so I grabbed Clay Holmes. I have been high on him since last year and I do think the Yanks are sold on him and I do not see any real challenges coming out of their present bull pen. I wanted to start draining the saves pond a bit.

Next, I felt there was one player left who may not be a 20 HR guy, but was no Judy either though he will steal a lot of bases…really one of the last two big SB guys. So I grabbed Jake McCarthy. He will hit third I think for Arizona and is not a big BA type, but again I think I am putting some pressure on the table to find steals. I reached for him a little with this gamble. I now have two solid to good closers, a plethora of steals, only OK BA… and one starter. Hmmm….I wonder what my teams weakness will turn out to be. And Glenn Schroter keeps taking starting pitchers like they were the last chicken leg on the buffet.

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:08 am

Now I have to, have to take some starting pitching. As the draft slowly (not really…I think we averaged 24 seconds for each selection…but it felt like forever), there were a three pitchers I was high on (Scott Jenstad was also spacing his pitching selections out a bit and Scott grabbed one) and surely Glenn would not draft FIVE SP in a row….wrong. Luzardo went to Glenn, but I grabbed another pitcher I really think will be big this year (again) in Lucas Giolito, one of only two pitchers I have in both my Main and Auction Leagues. Again, grabbing one more might have been smart, but I hoped for some solid selections as we moved to the first break, so I wanted add a little power and BA into the mix. I grabbed Nick Castellanos, whose only draw back is that he will probably only hit fifth in the stacked Philly line-up.

During the rest of the 9th round to my pick last in the 10th a ton of good pitchers went (May, Peralta, Detmers, Garcia, Lopez, Montgomery) which unfortunately pretty much wiped out the best of the rest in my opinion. Most of the teams were pretty much SP saturated and should be looking to shore up offenses, so I did not think waiting another cycle for pitching would put me any farther behind than I already was. The good news is I really, really liked my offense to date, so I grabbed some more. Anthony Santander is a nice power bat in his prime who should hit out of the 3 or 4 spot in Baltimore. And Jose Miranda, a young hitter on the way up who qualifies at first and third, which is nice since he is my first cornerman.

Now I am trying to fill-up my pitching and over the next few rounds I grab Jon Gray (a bit underrated in my opinion) at 12, Jack Flaherty at 13 (he CAN’T be as bad as he showed in Spring, can he?), Tony Gonsolin at 15 (late April maybe?), Noah Syndergaard (still does not have the velocity back, but at least plays for the Dodgers) at 17, do no harm (hopefully) Taijuan Walker and Kenta Maeda (could certainly do some harm) at 19/20 and end-gamers Anthony DeSclafani and Griffin Canning. Also picked up future Detroit closer Trevor Rosenthal with pick #450.

Rounding offense, I ended up scrambling a bit to close out my infield spots after I picked Keibert Ruiz as my second catcher. I got Wil Myers in the 16th, Jared Walsh in the 23rd, and the least wanted player in baseball, Eduardo Escobar in the 29th (I mean really, how many times have the Mets told him he is riding the pine or gone over the offseason I can only imagine). Luis Urias in the 18th (even a partial rebound to 2021 would be nice), Joey Wendle in the 26th (how many AB will he really get this year….will the Fish stay with him at SS?) and another no-body loves me player in Brandon Crawford in the 27th. Wendle and Urias are swiss army knife types as far as positionality goes.

I also rounded out my OFer’s with Max Kepler in the 21st (should hit in the middle of the Twin line-up and will be a player who has some BA relief from the lack of the shift), Austin Hays in the 22nd (another Oriole, but one who could get to 70/20/70), and Kevin Kiermaier in the 25th (just in case I need speed help).

Afterbirth

Just about took longer to write this than it did to draft it! Anyway, I hope you like it. I think my team has a chance but the job is less than half done. I think I am in the hunt for at least 80% of available points in most offensive categories (runs, HR, and RBI pretty solid) with upside on SB and with BA being the most risky, though the only sub 0.250 batter may be Urias. On the flip side, only Myers, Miranda and Castellanos will be in the 0.280 range. And I have a decent bench, though will be trolling for an impact MI or CM if one pops up.

So where will I be spending my FAAB….starting pitching. While also poaching any closers du jour I can just to keep them out of the hands of my league-mates, I will have to be streaming plenty of starters. Darvish, Giolito, and Jon Gray will be all right, and Walker should be solid, but the others are gas cans waiting to explode, so this area is my biggest risk and challenge.

And I streamed pitchers so well last year….

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Ultrarunner » Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:00 pm

Always enjoy your write-ups, Wayne. It was great catching up again

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by King of Queens » Tue Mar 28, 2023 6:51 pm

Great to catch up with you, Wayne. Good luck this year and sorry again about Max Fried. :lol:

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Thu Mar 30, 2023 5:09 am

HAPPY OPENING DAY!

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Sat Apr 01, 2023 9:15 am

View from the press box. First game as a Field Time Coordinator (i.e. the pitch clock) at Coolray Field for the Gwinnett Strip(p)ers. Strangely enough, more complicated that I imagined having to "see" everything rather than "watch" everything. Gwinnett won the game on a walk-off three-run homer by by Branden Shewmake (only hit following all other AB ending in K's I believe). Vaughn Grissom (who played SS) had two hits and scored three runs. I will be back out there tonight and Sunday.

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Edwards Kings
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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Sun Apr 02, 2023 4:55 pm

First game solo as an FTC in AAA. Ian Anderson started. This week in FAAB, get in on Anderson early....real early...prehistoric early. Braves looking for help can look elsewhere for a while. Couldn't get out of the first against the powerful Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Six runs in 2/3 of an inning (four earned). Gave up two or three HR...never was good a higher math.

A blow-up of epic proportions....

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Edwards Kings
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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Mon Apr 03, 2023 1:54 pm

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working as a FTC (time clock dude) for the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves AAA franchise. Went well…did pretty well overall, but did visit the foul up fairy occasionally.

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What is strange about this new part-time work experience is that they also asked me to be a part time Stringer (the guy who enters the data you see on StatCast). MLB reached out to the Stripers and asked if anyone would do 12-15 games as year at the AAA level here. I said “sure”. I got hired…officially…March 15th by MLB. Gave them all my information and then they told me to take their “anti-gambling” training. No problem…I do not bet on baseball games. But wait…in reading the policy, there is a restriction not only for daily fantasy games (which I do not do) but also season long fantasy baseball. I fessed up and told them about the NFBC. I said I had been doing it (poorly) for 20 years and was not about to stop. Could I get an exclusion since it was a Stringer role (no impact on the scoring) and at the AAA level. The answer came back no and …..

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Oh well…easy come, easy go.

Week One

Our truncated week cost me one player after one game (Luis Urias) and had the weirdest win (the only one I got) I have ever had. How can you walk seven guys…and get a win? I would not have thought it possible…not sure who has the most walks in a game and win, but Flaherty figured it out. Too early to look for trends, but after three or four games you cannot help to look at the slow starters and wonder when they will wake up (yes, I am looking at you 0-13 leadoff hitter Max Kepler).
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FAAB

Pretty limited week for me in FAAB. Looked for a replacement for Luis Urias, so why not another Urias (Ramon). He was my first choice but my second (Ji Hwan Bae) also had a bid of $13. My winning bid on Urias had a second of $8 but Bae, definitely the player with the most impact if you need stolen bases, went for $16 so I would not have won him if he was my first choice. Hope not to need steals on this team with the players I have and Bae is pretty much a Judy. Bae sure generated some interest as he was widely bid on with a broad range of winning bids.

My other try at a player was, like so many, I wanted to jump in on Michael Grove with his potential two starts this week against teams that will not be confused with the ’27 Yankees. I bid $31 but was not even the runner up. My second place bid was a for Loaisiga ($5, no runner up) with the Yanks. The other starter options were iffy streamers at best and Loaisiga might get some vulture wins and is probably the second guy up for a save out of the pen and I do have Holmes. Dropped Canning (still think Canning can be a workable option, but will have to wait until healthy).

Week Ahead.

No big roster moves. With Jared Walsh still out, I had been using Eduardo Escobar as CM, but he was sitting today versus the Brewers (slow start). Going to start Ramon Urias (now I am starting three Orioles) who should play at least three of the next four games. Using Brandon Crawford too, which I had not planned to do, but so far so good with him (HR and SB). Short starts last week, will catch up a bit this week. Darvish will have at least one as will Giolito and Syndergaard. Jon Gray and Taijuan Walker will have two though I will be butt clenched for his start tonight in Yankee Stadium. May use DeSclafini even if he will probably not go five in the first of his two. Wild man Maeda is in Miami and should be worth a streamer in place of wild man Flaherty. Bautista and Holmes as closers. I have a couple of weeks until Tony Gonsolin is back.

Will continue to troll for upgrades…too bad everyone else is as well! What could possibly go wrong?

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Edwards Kings
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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Tue Apr 11, 2023 2:47 pm

Just got back from working a 11:05 first pitch Gwinnett Stripers game….over 5,000 fans in the seats…more than attending most Oakland A’s games….and almost all students. Late school year get out of jail free card.

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The kids were more interested in the mascot (a furry by the name of “Chopper”…looks like the failed third member concept for “Chip & Dale”).

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Anyway, some thoughts on the game as my ME team has been too flat to even need a training bra (would try a funny gif here, but concerned “Alexa” would turn me in):

- Mike Soroka pitched. The line doesn’t look too bad (69 pitches in four IP, one earned run, three hits, two walks, five strikeouts) and innings two through four were fine…most of his trouble was in the first. Most of the K’s were called strike threes…didn’t see that much swing and miss. With Dodd being sent down, would surprise me if Soroka was called up soon.
- Our friend and off-season fantasy pundit wunderkind, Vaughn Grissom was 0-fer four with three K’s. Mumblings I have been hearing is that is arm strength is just not there. He is playing exclusively shortstop and there was only one play to really challenge his arm…a soft grounder he did not necessarily charge and his throw was late on a runner who I could beat down the line.

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You know you been trying to lose weight, so I thought the moobs would take you off your dinner….

- Can’t just blame Grissom…for the game, the Memphis Redbirds had as many time clock violations as the Strip(p)ers had hits. Shewmake did have a double (the only x-base hit in the entire game) and drove in the only Gwinnett run…otherwise not a lot going on.
- DeJong was on rehab with the Redbirds. 0-fer four with three K’s. Left five guys on base (given the Redbirds only had seven hits and four walks, that says a lot).

Edwards Kings – Main Event Last Week in Review

Bleech…

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Had some injuries pop up but who hasn’t. Lost formerly new lead-off man Kepler what was a minor knee boo-boo that turned into a DL stint. Acuna and Chisholm with six of my seven SB and two of my weak-ass HR carried the weight. The rest were kinda just dragging along…

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I did not get my targeted 300 AB during the week and with the lack of production, counting stats and BA are just suffering.

On pitching, I did hit some solid K and SV targets, wins/ERA lagged as a couple of my guys got unexpectedly tagged by the likes of Pittsburgh and Arizona. Darvish and Maeda pitched well enough, but only five IP each and could not secure wins.

FAAB

I had two pitchers I liked from the FAAB pool and I wanted to grab one. Pretty much in any other league my Elder bid would have won, but I ended up not even being runner up. The second was Matt Strahm, who I already have in my Auction league. My $31 bid was appropriate and had good coverage over second place $24. Not sure he has the legs for a full season, but then again there are some serious questions in the Philly rotation.

Eduardo the Unwanted has just been lousy. With the unfortunate injury Oneil Cruz, I thought Rodolfo Castro ($21/$9) will have a bigger role. Nice reserve maybe to plug holes for a week or so. Not sure how long Wendle will actually be out, so picked up Rojas…Dodgers right? $3 bucks. And Wandy Peralta ($13/none) for grins…

It is early…just keep smiling!

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Wed Apr 12, 2023 6:37 am

I do not have Woodruff, but him being placed on the DL is out of nowhere. Is it me or is this turning out to be the year of the surprise DL?

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Edwards Kings
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Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Fri May 05, 2023 11:47 am

I haven’t updated this blog in a while because quite frankly my team has hit rock bottom and started to dig.

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So at times like these, there are a few things you can do. Cuss…cry…drink heavily…eat fried foods. Done all that and still do not feel better. So I look at the team to find out what, if anything, is fixable. One surprise is my biggest concern going in was pitching. Not counting the surprise blow up by Giolito at the hands of the equally surprising Pirates, most of my pitching problems can be traced to two players no longer on my team. One, Noah Syndergaard has never and will never find his lost velocity. Without it, he is a gas can waiting to happen. No Dodger magic here, so I have dropped him…beware to any who start him (still owned by 74% of teams and started by 21%). He is OUT!

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I am sorry I gave him five starts. He is not the only one. Not quite as bad, but I have definitely had it with “Walk-the-World” Flaherty. Hence I did not have him in for his “injury” related debacle (sorry to the 60% who did not only own him but started him), but there was just nothing in his numbers that said he was worth a roster spot. His Mama may love him, but I don’t!

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On the upside, I hope, I spent big to win one of the two hot Cleveland pitchers. Tanner Bibee went for $340 and that was not me, or even in second. I did get Logan Allen for $203, which is a big bid for me (second place $161). Bibee is generally considered the better prospect, but Allen has four major league or plus pitches. It is a bit of a gamble because Civale and McKenzie will be back in the not too distant future, so odds are at least one of these guys will be optioned back. Or not, depending on how they are throwing.

I also grabbed one Tylor Megil with the Mets ($103/$47, so a bit of wasted FAAB there). Looked good for five innings against the Braves but that third time through the order was a bitch. He will have Colorado in NY next and then probably the Nats in Washington, so the match-ups should be a bit easier.

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The rest of the staff (Darvish, Giolito, Gray, DeSclafani who I sat this week dammit, Gonsolin, Walker, Strahm now unfortunately to go to the long-relief land, and Maeda) should give me positive streaming options. The bullpen with Bautista, Holmes and Michael King should be serviceable.

In short, the pitching, despite my elevated ERA and unlucky Wins history should be able to right the boat a bit.

On the bats, it is a tale of the good, the bad, and damn I drank the Kool-aid. Catching has been a story of when Realmuto will get hot and start hitting higher in the Philly line-up again and do-no-harm Keibert Ruiz, who already has moved his extreme ground-ball ways up to third in a bad Nat line-up. Overall – Good.

On corners, it is funny that Harper has made it back to the majors off TJS probably more quickly than Jared Walsh. I will never make fun of any mental issues other than my own, but damn dog…lets get it together! Bad. I thought Hose-me Miranda had turned the corner a bit last year, but it turns out if I am lucky, he will be one of those chronically consistent second half players. Minnesota has been hitting him 6th while giving him rest to the benefit of Willi Castro. With Wil Myers and his magical mystery disease(s) and limited production, give this “Drank the Kool-aid”. I did pick up Rodolfo Castro (a nice $21 FA pick-up) who has given me decent production out of the back third of the Pirate line-up.

Notice a trend that is killing me…started out with most of my guys hitting up in the line-up, and now I get excited if some guys hit sixth!
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In the middle, my anchor is Jazz Chisholm. The 11 SB to date are not bad, but other-wise he has been more mouth than results. Showboating is fine, but you need to back it up or you are just a clown. I thought Joey Wendle and Luis Urias would be solid if not special, but no…Urias went on the 60-Day DL and Wendle has been on more roads to recovery than Hope/Crosby were in “Road to…” movies.

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I had Brandon Crawford as a fill-in for a while, but he is definitely below replacement level now. Rolling the dice on Ezequiel Tovar and Urias-version Ramon. Wendle may be back as soon as this weekend for a possible, maybe slight upgrade.

In the outfield, Acuna had been both a full-on #1 and drama-queen. Every ding looks like a case for “House” during the game, then somehow is well enough to play. OK…I want him to play, so no jinxes.

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Castellanos has quietly been getting the job done, though a bit more power is required. Austin Hays has been good but Anthony Santander has been decidedly un-powerful. Sandandy has still been hitting fourth due to lack of Baltimore options and Hays had been hitting up more until dinging his finger. Kepler is leading off for Minnesota, which does not really make sense to me…decent OBP but still think his value would be better for the Twinkies lower in the line-up over the likes of Polanco and Larnach. Rounding out is filler Kiermaier and toothless Diamondback Jake McCarthy. I went for him big-time in a stolen-base gulping frenzy and boy do I regret it.

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I’ve held onto McCarthy to see if Corbin was going on the DL…doesn’t look like it, so a decision had to be made…too many DL’s to hold onto too many projects.

So in general, the bats have been a major disappointment and honestly, the upside appears more limited that it did in Vegas. I still have FA bucks to spend so we will see what shiny new penny I can pick up!

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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Edwards Kings
Posts: 5878
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:00 pm
Location: Duluth, Georgia

Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Wed May 10, 2023 2:54 pm

King of Queens wrote:
Tue Mar 28, 2023 6:51 pm
Great to catch up with you, Wayne. Good luck this year and sorry again about Max Fried. :lol:
Fried probably out until after the ASB, which sucks for the Braves, but Glenn...we're cool! :lol:

Seriously, this sucks....

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

User avatar
Edwards Kings
Posts: 5878
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:00 pm
Location: Duluth, Georgia

Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Thu May 11, 2023 12:36 pm

So, watching the Padre's/Twins game. Odor hits a HR (shock, I know), and then runs into the dugout, gets the Padre version of the unliscensed, but acceptable to MLB funny hat, then procedes to dance down the dugout.

And I saze to myself for the millioneth time "What a manly thing to do!'"

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C'MON! :roll:
Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

User avatar
Edwards Kings
Posts: 5878
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:00 pm
Location: Duluth, Georgia

Re: Edwards Kings 2023 Blog...Dinks, Drips, and Drabs

Post by Edwards Kings » Wed May 24, 2023 8:59 am

Not been posting much as my team is pretty much an also ran at the one-third mark of the season...my moves have been expensive and un-productive. One of my best players is out for weeks because he stubbed his toe...same story, different year. May switch to my Auction league team there as it seems to have a chance.

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OK, ok...enough sniffles.

Worked the Gwinnett Strip(p)ers game last night...for the unimformed, this is the AAA franchise of the Braves. Mike Soroka pitched. For those that have bought and held him, he is coming. The Braves will likely need a starter next Tuesday in Oakland, so do not be surprised.

I saw him pitch earlier in the year and really this was a play-dough-ish work in progress. Very little to be happy about. His last two starts (on the road last week, a not terribly efficient 84-pitch, 4 2/3 IP outing with good results otherwise) and last night (6.0 IP, 96 pitches) was even better. He generated eight strike-outs and showed some real swing-and-miss on his 80-82 MPH slider (could not from my vantage point, but some could have been change-ups and I did not get a chance to query the others in the Press Box on the rotation...I may ask tonight). The pitch count did get high, mainly during a four-batter stretch splitting an inning where he walked three. Seems for a moment to lose his fastball (low-90's) control. But the thing that struck me the most, as especially different from what I saw earlier, was focus, plan, and comfort. He just went out their and was quick and business-like...he was in control of the game and it showed. The one run that scored was on a first-pitch, first inning hard hit grounder that got through the left side of the infield (by Durham Bull Osleivis Basabe who looked really good). Should have been a single, but Nick Solak in left field was a bit asleep and Basabe's wheels turned it into a double. Two sacrifices later, the run scored. Other than that, I only remember one other hard hit fair ball in the sixth that with a bit more loft would have been out. Solak redeemed himself a bit and made a nice play.

Anyway, I think Soroka was saying...

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Baseball is a slow, boring, complex, cerebral game that doesn't lend itself to histrionics. You 'take in' a baseball game, something odd to say about a football or basketball game, with the clock running and the bodies flying.
Charles Krauthammer

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