Junk

[DOUGHBOYS]

If you have Emilio Bonifacio rostered, do you now care where he was drafted?
Dexter Fowler?
Brad Miller?
My point is that what seems so important to us during draft season, means a lot less now.
The season is only three days old and any player including players above can John Buck us.
But we love getting the stats anytime. Especially when the season is fresh.

Closers have been the talk of the fantasy community. It seems a Closer loses his job daily, either through health or Managerial decision.
And if you're lucky enough to still have a drafted Closer with a job, you may still have a knot in your belly.
Jim Johnson has allowed more base runners than outs.
Jonathon Papelbon was lit up last night, while Rick Sutcliffe continually made excuses for him (Does anybody drool over baseball players more than Rick Sutcliffe?)
Jason Grilli got a blown Save...at home....against the Cubs.
Balfour, Romo, and Addison Reed are not looking stellar.
Sergio Santos got replaced by a lefty last night.
This brings two trains of thought...
One) Screw Closers! Never over draft a Closer!
Two) Maybe it is worth the peace of mind to draft Kimbrel, Jansen, Holland, or Rosenthal in those early rounds.
There is a lot to be said for stability.
Still, just a short time ago, Aroldis Chapman was a member of this group. So, nothing is truly stable.

Speaking of Closers, is there anything so vile as a Closer run?
I hate them and usually won't participate, mostly because they do piss me off.
Tenth round and folks are taking Nate Jones or Bobby Parnell over Coco Crisp or Will Venable.
The whole thing does not make sense!
These are one category players. Yet, it has been a mainstay of every NFBC big draft.
Is it a security issue?
We don't feel secure unless we have two Closers?
It shouldn't be. More than likely we'll lose one of those Closers after the season begins.
I think it is supply and demand.
We know that there are only 30 Closers.
Drafters pass on multi-category players like Coco Crisp, Will Venable, and Brad Miller for the likes of Nate Jones.
It doesn't make sense, but it happens.

1. Billy Hamilton
2. BJ Upton
3. Jason Castro
4. Jose Altuve
5. Russ Martin
6. Dan Uggla
7. Ishikawa
8. Andrelton Simmons

These hitters have all hit in these spots. In my mind, they shouldn't.

1. As said before, I am not on the Hamilton bandwagon. An old time scouting report can be adjusted for him.
It could be said by a fantasy scout. 'Good run, no hit'.

2. I don't know why Atlanta is doing this with Upton. They have many hitters more suited for the two-spot. Perhaps, they know their hand is a pair of deuces and they're going to bluff till they get called. It shouldn't take long.

3 and 4. This is only because of Astros personnel. Everybody knows that on any other team, Castro and Altuve would not be here.

5. This is also because of personnel. Martin is not a fifth hitter, but the Pirates went cheap after contending last year.
It's too bad.

6. Uggla should be hitting eighth. I know a lot of folks don't wanna see him in the lineup at all. Hitting eighth would help him in not going out of the strike zone. He would go up to the plate KNOWING that the pitcher would rather face the pitcher behind him. It would help his overall philosophy at the plate to see more balls then strikes. Plus, for a pitcher willing to gamble, Uggla could sting him.

7. Does anything say more about Pittsburgh not spending money than seeing a guy who normally would be out of baseball, hitting seventh?

8. What a waste. Andrelton Simmons could be helping the Braves. Instead, they put him in a place in the order where it is hard to succeed.
The Braves lineup is like a poorly-run Union. Those with seniority or money get the good spots.
With a lot to work with, the Braves have the worst lineup construction in baseball.

By the way, was it 'Old Farts Night' last night?
Tim Hudson
Aaron Harang
Mark Buehrle
The soft-throwing pudgy, aging pitchers threw better than young speedo arms like Kluber, Tyson Ross, and Ubaldo Jimenez.

[ikenbaseball]

Full Disclosure. I was considering drafting Billy Hamilton in the Main Event.
I started getting caught up in the hype. My mindset was that if you want to win the Main Events, you have to take risks.

I didn't think Hamilton would drop to me but if he did had a plan in place if he dropped to me in the 5th round.
As I write this, Billy Hamilton is 0-10 with 6 strikeouts. I know it's still very early but I feel very fortunate that he didn't fall to me.

People stated the case that he'll have a long leash because he doesn't have a viable replacement.
I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Heisey starts to steal some AB's if Hamilton continues to struggle this weekend.
If he's hitting under 200 in three weeks, he'll get sent down.




Krys