NFBC Message Boards

I have a friend who is always in my ear about his brilliance in drafting David Price this year.

He's right, Price is having a great year.

But, to me, brilliance would have been garnered from me had he extolled Price's virtues before the draft and overpicked him, not having him fall in his lap and then claim fantasy smarts.

And I wouldn't even bring it up at all if it weren't for his constant self-back slapping. Anyway, he brought me his printed standings and rosters yesterday showing his team in second place. In first place was a team with a pitcher whose stats are eerily similar to Price, yet I am sure, taken much later. Here are their lines-



Price 17 gs-115 ip-100k-12 w's-2.42- 1.20



Other 17 gs-113 ip- 87 k-11w's-2.70- 1.15



Since the other pitcher resides in the same division as Price, it is an absolutely fair comparison. In fact, Andy Pettitte and Price square off against each other today. It should be a great game.

After pointing out that Pettitte has virtually matched Price this year, my buddy has called this, 'the game of the year' for his team.



There are nine pitchers with more wins than Roy Halladay, Price and Pettitte are two of them. It was thought that Halladay would sweep through the NL and garner more victories than most pitchers. Halladay has held up his end, the Phillies haven't held up theirs. Halladay has a 2.19/1.05, yet has more losses than all the pitchers with more wins than him. By the way, when trying to get 'easy' wins from a pitcher next year, consider this, seven of the nine pitchers that have more wins than Halladay come from the AL.



Ubaldo Jimenez, at the top of the heap in wins has been helped by brilliant defense in his starts as well. In his games, there has been zero unearned runs allowed. A good recipe for more wins.



Chad Billingsley is not even averaging six innings per start. Clayton Kershaw, just a little more. With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.



Only two pitchers with 100 k's have less than six wins. Zack Greinke has five, Ian Kennedy has four.



Milton Bradley has more home runs than Jason Bay. Jason bay has more rbi that Derek Lee. Derek Lee has more rbi than Nick Markakis. But then again, Scott Podsednik has more rbi than Nick Markakis.



Austin Jackson has one home run. Judy Jackson?



How hard is it to hit .400?

Right now, there are only eight players with an on base percentage over .400



Rickie Weeks is an interesting case. Despite Aubrey Huff having a banner year in the middle of the Giants lineup, Weeks has more rbi than Huff.

This is a misleading stat though. Weeks leads the world in plate appearances and has 64 more plate appearances than Huff.

With those 436 plate appearances, interestingly, Weeks has only grounded into one double play.

Weeks also leads the league being hit by pitch.

He has been hit 17 times.



Many plate appearances doesn't necessarily mean great stats. Ichiro is in the top 10 in plate appearances, but suffers from a bad supporting cast.

Ichiro has 120 hits, 28 bb's, 22 sb's, yet, has scored just 35 runs. Three of those by his own home run.



Small ball is an NL feature, yet eight of the top 10 base stealers are in the AL



Juan Pierre has 103 total bases, 20 players have more hits than that.



Jonathon Niese has not allowed a stolen base this year.



Carlos Silva and Milton Bradley's k/bb ratios are very close.

Silva- 72/19

Bradley- 66/23

Advantage Silva



Of the top 60 rbi guys in baseball, only two have less than 10 home runs.

James Loney ranks 10th despite just six home runs.

Howie Kendrick is down the list with seven home runs.



Nobody is 'on pace' for a 30-30 year. However, a hot week can change 'on pace' very easily.

Here is a look at five players that have hopes for a 30-30 year-



Chris Young 16/17

Carlos Gonzalez 17/13

Alex Rios 15/23

Matt Kemp 16/15

Shane Victorino 15/17





Congrats to King of Queens!!

I know it was a football issue, but to see any NFBC'er in the pages of ESPN the Magazine is a pleasure to see. Way to go, Glenn!

You "Tall, round guy"!

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:





Congrats to King of Queens!!

I know it was a football issue, but to see any NFBC'er in the pages of ESPN the Magazine is a pleasure to see. Way to go, Glenn!

You "Tall, round guy"! Good Stuff Dough. Eddie's picture is in ESPN The Mag as well...it's not as prominant as KOQ, but it's pretty cool. Congrats to both.

Very cool post Doughboys.





What is the fascination with Milton Bradley? I'm wondering what the comparison to Silva means about each player. Silva pitches to contact but there are bigger K and BB guys than Bradley, like Adam Dunn. Was he just the closest to Silva?



-Craig

Originally posted by Sebadiah23:

Very cool post Doughboys.





What is the fascination with Milton Bradley? I'm wondering what the comparison to Silva means about each player. Silva pitches to contact but there are bigger K and BB guys than Bradley, like Adam Dunn. Was he just the closest to Silva?



-Craig I'm pretty sure he chose that comparison because they were traded for each other this past offseason.

Correct, as usual, Ryan.

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995.

Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995. [/QUOTE]True. Harsh.

I like Torre. I like him as a man, and loved him as a player.

As a Manager, he'll get his share of accolades, and he'll be deserving of most.

But, for the the present,Torre manages like a commander going into battle prepared to lose all troops, as long as the battle is won. Especially in regards to his bullpen. It worked last year and in years past because he managed teams with resources to enable his philosophy. When his troops go down, they've been replaced by comparable or even better troops.

It's Torre's style, and with a franchise that is flush, a style with merit.

Given the Dodgers circumstances this year, it will be an uphill battle......

I hate to say it, but what a combo Price/Pettitte hex. Yikes.



-Craig

Originally posted by Sebadiah23:

I hate to say it, but what a combo Price/Pettitte hex. Yikes.



-Craig

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

quote:Originally posted by Sebadiah23:

I hate to say it, but what a combo Price/Pettitte hex. Yikes.



-Craig [/QUOTE]The hex continues with Jimenez giving up unearned runs and not getting the W.

Pedro Alvarez has just announced his arrival to the bigs.

Mattingly just f'd up. Is he as dumb as Torre?



Could cost them the game. I kinda hope it does.



EDIT: Hilarious. Mattingly filling in for Torre visits Broxton on the mound, walks off by a step turns around and steps back on the mound to say something else. Bochy catches it, the umps confer and says it counts as 2 trips so he must pull Broxton with the bases loaded. One pitch later Sherrill gives us a based-loaded double to blow the save.



[ July 21, 2010, 12:09 AM: Message edited by: KJ Duke ]

Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995. [/QUOTE]Torre got most of his managerial rep while with the Yankees. It is amazing how smart Torre got to be as a manager when he had baseball's largest payroll to play with.



Torre managed teams never won more than 67 games as manager of the Mets (3 seasons and change).



The year he took over the Braves, he finished first with, in essence, Bobby Cox's team. The next year, the Braves finished second. The next year the Braves finished third. Under him, the Braves had losing records in the second half of the season.



So good, he was not a baseball manager for the 1985 to 1989 seasons.



With St. Louis, never won the division, I do not believe they ever had a winning record in the second half of the season (could be wrong) in four years plus two partials.



Goes to the Yankee's, gets smart. Oh, and had Zimmer on the bench from 1996 to 2003.



Yep. One of the best.

Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

quote:Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995. [/QUOTE]Torre got most of his managerial rep while with the Yankees. It is amazing how smart Torre got to be as a manager when he had baseball's largest payroll to play with.



Torre managed teams never won more than 67 games as manager of the Mets (3 seasons and change).



The year he took over the Braves, he finished first with, in essence, Bobby Cox's team. The next year, the Braves finished second. The next year the Braves finished third. Under him, the Braves had losing records in the second half of the season.



So good, he was not a baseball manager for the 1985 to 1989 seasons.



With St. Louis, never won the division, I do not believe they ever had a winning record in the second half of the season (could be wrong) in four years plus two partials.



Goes to the Yankee's, gets smart. Oh, and had Zimmer on the bench from 1996 to 2003.



Yep. One of the best.



[/QUOTE]Will you stop, you sound silly. Its hard to win- period. Payroll helps but ensures nothing! Yes, he clicked late, so what? But let's not re-write history. Last I looked Torre never took PEDs



PS: BTW, its Stick Michael not, dollars.

Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

quote:Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995. [/QUOTE]Torre got most of his managerial rep while with the Yankees. It is amazing how smart Torre got to be as a manager when he had baseball's largest payroll to play with.



[/QUOTE]Having watched the MLB Network special on Don Zimmer, it's clear that his presence as bench coach made a huge impact on Torre as a manager.

Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

quote:Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995. [/QUOTE]Torre got most of his managerial rep while with the Yankees. It is amazing how smart Torre got to be as a manager when he had baseball's largest payroll to play with.



Torre managed teams never won more than 67 games as manager of the Mets (3 seasons and change).



The year he took over the Braves, he finished first with, in essence, Bobby Cox's team. The next year, the Braves finished second. The next year the Braves finished third. Under him, the Braves had losing records in the second half of the season.



So good, he was not a baseball manager for the 1985 to 1989 seasons.



With St. Louis, never won the division, I do not believe they ever had a winning record in the second half of the season (could be wrong) in four years plus two partials.



Goes to the Yankee's, gets smart. Oh, and had Zimmer on the bench from 1996 to 2003.



Yep. One of the best.



[/QUOTE]Will you stop, you sound silly. Its hard to win- period. Payroll helps but ensures nothing! Yes, he clicked late, so what? But let's not re-write history. Last I looked Torre never took PEDs



PS: BTW, its Stick Michael not, dollars. [/QUOTE]True. No PED's, but he did get hair plugs!



We are going to have to agree to disagree. In my (silly) mind, Torre gets points for longevity, luck in finding a benefactor like "Loose-wallet" George, and being able to get credit for the work/skills of others (Popeye). All of that earns him a five-spot on the list.

Wouldn't you add Hanley with a shot at a 30/30 year? Please say yes as it would help my team in St. Louis.



Don

Originally posted by Navel Lint:

quote:Originally posted by Edwards Kings:

quote:Originally posted by Dub:

quote:Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

With the way Joe Torre manages a bullpen, I give the Dodgers little chance in their division.

Harsh considering 5th in MLB for all time managerial wins and hasn't had a losing season since 1995. [/QUOTE]Torre got most of his managerial rep while with the Yankees. It is amazing how smart Torre got to be as a manager when he had baseball's largest payroll to play with.



[/QUOTE]Having watched the MLB Network special on Don Zimmer, it's clear that his presence as bench coach made a huge impact on Torre as a manager. [/QUOTE]Nothing wrong with learning from Zimm. We all got to learn from somebody. Ask Zimm how he feels about Joe as a manager.

Originally posted by Edwards Kings:





We are going to have to agree to disagree. I agree with that

Originally posted by bradybros:

Wouldn't you add Hanley with a shot at a 30/30 year? Please say yes as it would help my team in St. Louis.



Don I only put down the top 5 players at that moment. Hanley was in the second handfull.



Don, you don't need any help with that St Louis team.

Dan:



I play all my teams even through the last week not because I believe that all have a chance but because I believe that is what is right and fair to all the owners and it is what I would want others to do for me if I am in first. My question to you as someone whose opinion I respect- when is a team realistically out in your opinion? Stated another way, what is the largest jump in standings that you have witnessed over the last two months of the season.



Don

Originally posted by bradybros:

Dan:



I play all my teams even through the last week not because I believe that all have a chance but because I believe that is what is right and fair to all the owners and it is what I would want others to do for me if I am in first. My question to you as someone whose opinion I respect- when is a team realistically out in your opinion? Stated another way, what is the largest jump in standings that you have witnessed over the last two months of the season.



Don You're probably asking the wrong guy, Don.

I have had so many fantasy teams over the years and take each one personally.

I thought it was about money, at first. It's not. During the off season, I am reminded how each team did as I dissect them to address the mistakes and good moves over the course of the last season.



In leagues where I am 11th in my league and it's the last week of the season and see a way where I can gain points and finish ninth, I do it.



Of course, more attention is given to teams in the higher echelon, especially when money is on the line. But,I can honestly say, I have never given up on a fantasy baseball team at any stage of the season.



I'm not beating the drum for others to play it to the end. We're all different. Some see the writing on the wall and have other things to focus on. I can understand that.

I've never felt we 'owe it to the other teams to play it to the end'. It is your team(s)and you get to manage them in a way that best suits you.

For me, playing it to the end with all my teams is what works for me.



That all said, I have seen teams go from 10th to first with eight weeks left in the season. Remember some of those teams that were first for the first four or five weeks and now are near the bottom? The same thing happens in reverse sometimes.

Looking at where you can garner points and having players play up to previously-thought potential are the two 'musts'. But, it can happen.

When is the last time a knuckleballer got hurt ?