NFBC Message Boards

We're happy to welcome our friend Mike Sheets from RotoTimes.com to the NFBC boards for a chat session today. Bring your questions for Mike today and let's have some fun.

Hi Mike-

Thanks for the chat...a couple of questions:



1) How many games do you think Sheffield lasts this year?



2) How many at bats for Carlos Gomez, and where does his BA and OBP end up?

Hi Mike,



Carpal tunnel, finger cramps, writers block are pretty common in your profession, are you as injury prone as your brother, Ben?

Speaking of Ben, does he get 180 innings this year? Can he go through the year without another mysterious and prolonged injury?

mike - catcher brian mccann underwent laser eye surgery this offseason. would you be surprised to see an increase in his offensive numbers this year (most notably his batting average)?

Hi Mike! So what do you really do for a living?

Hi Mike, thanks for the Q&A session. Three quick hits for you:



(1) over/under for Michael Bourn's stolen base total?



(2) more HRs -- Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder?



(3) AL Rookie of the Year -- Buchholz, or someone else?

Clemens or McNamee?

What is the differince between Pierre, Ellsbury, Tavarez, and Bourn?

what separates RotoTimes.com from all the other on-line baseball sites?

Hey Ben's brother!



Do you believe that a hitter like Ryan Howard or Adam Dunn or BJ Upton benefits from their reputation for free swinging (and lots of K's) when a Pitcher knows this and tends to go after these guys rather than walking/dancing around them...thus giving them more "strike-zone" pitches to hit out of the park?



I know Avg. has more of an impact in fantasy baseball than real baseball...nobody care so much in reality if a guy hits .260, yet has 50HR and 110R, 110RBI to go along with it.



~Lance

In your experience...can you name some players that really pay attention to their fantasy baseball rankings. (actually speaking of it in interviews)



You KNOW they are out there.



~Lance

Hey Mike, is Billingsley truly poised for a breakout type season?



"what separates RotoTimes.com from all the other on-line baseball sites?"



They tell you a staff of Johan, Beckett, Lackey and Bedard isn't that strong. I kid of course, but that hurt last April.

Could we have another Rick Ankiel in Micah Owings?



It would be a shame if he ever got traded to an AL team...the guy can MASH!



In 60 AB (a reasonable amount) he Slugged .683 with 7 doubles and 4 HR!!!



Should he ever lose his command...we have an OF spot ready for him in SF!!!



~Lance

Sabaen believes that players hit their prime when they're 33, Lance. Ankiel and Owings will have to wait.

What round does the first SF hitter get selected, Mike?

Originally posted by Scavenger:

Hi Mike-

Thanks for the chat...a couple of questions:



1) How many games do you think Sheffield lasts this year?



2) How many at bats for Carlos Gomez, and where does his BA and OBP end up? Hello, everybody. Thanks for having me. Let's get started.



1. Sheffield is reportedly swinging pain-free, which is a good sign, but I have hard time thinking he won't deal with more issues during the season. Right now, I'll put him at about 125 games.



2. I have Gomez down for about 420 at-bats. Given that he's still so raw, I don't know we'll see him bat much over .260-270.

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Hi Mike,



Carpal tunnel, finger cramps, writers block are pretty common in your profession, are you as injury prone as your brother, Ben?

Speaking of Ben, does he get 180 innings this year? Can he go through the year without another mysterious and prolonged injury? I broke my clavicle once (while skiing, not writing), so I guess somehow Ben got the raw end of the deal.



Given his history, we just can't count on 180 innings from Sheets. If he gets there, great, but I think we should bank on 140 or so and consider anything above that icing on the cake.

Is Ryan Braun GOD?



How about God of Baseball?



Even if his sophomore slump chops 20 points off his AVG, and drops 15% in all of his categories...he still would be on pace (using 2007 numbers at 590AB) for a season like this...



.304 AVG

101 R

107 RBI

37 HR

17 SB



If he doesn't regress 15%...the numbers will rock!



~Lance

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

mike - catcher brian mccann underwent laser eye surgery this offseason. would you be surprised to see an increase in his offensive numbers this year (most notably his batting average)? We've seen other guys do this in the past. Peralta was a guy who did it last offseason. While I'm sure it will help, I'm not convinced we're going to see big upswing in his numbers because of it. After all, he hit .333 in '06 when he apparently couldn't see too well. That said, I do expect slightly better year in '08. Perhaps somewhere in between the last two seasons.

Originally posted by Walla Walla:

Hi Mike! So what do you really do for a living? I'm the Executive Editor for both Rototimes.com and Fanballnews.com. Some of my day-to-day includes editing, writing, managing a team of full-time writers, freelancers, incorporating a content plan, leading the development of our magazines, and a bunch of other good stuff. It's a good gig.

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Hi Mike, thanks for the Q&A session. Three quick hits for you:



(1) over/under for Michael Bourn's stolen base total?



(2) more HRs -- Ryan Howard or Prince Fielder?



(3) AL Rookie of the Year -- Buchholz, or someone else? 1. I'll say the over/under is 30, and I'll take the over.



2. Howard will have more home runs, but I think Fielder will be slightly more valuable.



3. Buchholz should be there at the end, but I'm going with Ellsbury.

Mike



What is it like to constantly live in the shadow of Nate Ravitz?



I joke but Nate is a pretty bright guy if you ask me. Did he start rototimes?

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

Clemens or McNamee? Ummm, can I take neither? It often seems sometimes as if both are lying, doesn't it?

Would you guess Jeter...



a) continues to show age...slightly worse numbers in 2008 than 2007.



b) repeats 2007 more or less.



c) rebounds to better overall numbers in '08



~Lance

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

What is the differince between Pierre, Ellsbury, Tavarez, and Bourn? Of the bunch, Ellsbury sticks out the most, given that he has the power to hit double-digit homers while the others don't.



But it's true that the rest of the group has a similar skill set. Pierre is probably worth paying a little more for, just because of his track record, but the Taveras and Bourn are better values.

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

what separates RotoTimes.com from all the other on-line baseball sites? Thanks for asking. We're in the process of revamping our notes coverage to give readers the most comprehensive and up-to-date on the web. We offer fantasy chats every day of the week during the baseball season. We offer many tools, such as our MLB player rater, which many free sites do not offer. And finally, I will say that there are several new site changes on the horizon which will be something to look forward to.