I thought I'd just jot down whatever comes to mind for the next few minutes. If it doesn't make sense, it's not you, it's me.
If it does make sense, I'll be as surprised as you....Let's see what happens....
We're getting to the portion of our show where we are forgetting our drafts.
The season has become the focus. Who's playing well. Who isn't. Who's gimpy. Who's playing through something. Who's hurt and dl'ed. The under performers. The over achievers.
Where you got players in the draft is getting harder to remember. You're just glad you got Rivera and not Wilson. You're glad you waited on Capps or Perez and not have Santos. Glad you passed over Ellsbury for the more reliable Votto.
In Slow Drafts, it's a war of attrition. There are only so many back ups. The prospects are not close to being called up.
Injuries at this time of year, for Slow Drafts, are much more difficult than leagues with faab. The Drafts for these slo-drafts are further removed than faab drafts. If you're like me, you're already questioning your fantasy iq for selecting certain players.
I run the first league that starts drafting immediately after the last season closes. Those 'smart' picks in October make even the Yahoo Kid look good in March.
I'm not an 'It's early in the season, everything regresses to the mean' type of guy. I want stats. And I want them NOW. I don't care if others say Pujols is going to hit a home run, as an owner, I just know that he has NOT hit one. And I want them.
The Jurrjens demotion is a kick in the nuts to those that drafted him. He ruins four categories and then is sent down and will most surely be dropped in most leagues. At least upon losing a well performing player to injury, we already have his stats in the bank. Jurrjens toilet papered his owners lawns than ran away while the owners got a ticket for littering.
Matt Kemp has only stolen one base this year. That would worry me a little as a Kemp owner. In my mind, he is the only player that can possibly go 50-50 this year. He even talked about it during spring training.
Kemp has been one of the best players in baseball coming out of the gate, don't get me wrong.
But, I thought he would have already been on the backend of a couple of double steals with Dee Gordon. Last year, Kemp had at least five steals every month of the season. Maybe it's that Ethier is hitting so well behind him. I don't know.
But, even with the great start, I would have that stolen base thought in the back of my mind.
There are all times we wish we were managing. Just some thoughts if I had the magic wand of managing....
Goldschmidt plays every day....In two or three weeks, his bat tells me whether he should be at the major league level or AAA
Overbay is a security system, what Gibson is doing there is plain wrong....and I don't even own the guy.
Bat Hosmer down in the lineup. He'll hit of course, but putting him sixth in the lineup will give him a little jolt till he does.
Dayton Moore has no real veteran leadership on that team. Having just a bunch of good kids coming up at once is not the answer. We knew it two-three years ago and we know it now. Moore seems to think his job is done by having good kids make the Top Club. It's not, and Kansas City fans, hopefully, will start to realize that. These kids have to be greeted by at least two or three savvy veterans. The Royals have two players over the age of 30, Chen and Quintero. Neither are leaders and I don't even know if Chen speaks the language, a helpful character in being a leader. Kansas City will have spurts of greatness from their young, but their leadership has failed them once again. The talent is here, the window is open for a pennant, but, it is being wasted.....Another great year for Omaha though.
Anyway, bat Hosmer down and make him feel like he has to be the Man again. Batting him third or fourth puts to much of a burden for a kid his age. Don't make him pay because of the GM's faults.
Texas will be one of the best teams in baseball this year....Quick, who is their first baseman?
If you said Napoli, you're right.
If you said Young, you're right.
If you said Moreland, you're right.
The Rangers have all the hitting in the world, all without a steady first baseman. The best positional source of hitting for most other teams. Yet, for Texas, first base is like a modified dh position. They are the only team in the Majors to essentially have two dh slots.
It's a great system if you've got Kinsler, Andrus, and Beltre around the infield.
That Beltre signing still haunts the Angels.
I'm stopping. Not the thinking, the typing.
Sorry if this wasn't as 'cohesive' as usual....
If you like this, I'll do it again soon.
Let me know.
Thanks.
Thoughts And Junk
Thoughts And Junk
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
Re: Thoughts And Junk
Keep 'em coming, Dan.
Can't fault Kemp for the lack of SB's so far, imo. I've watched a number of their games to date. At this point, I'd chalk it up to a combination of factors including poor situations to run in, Ethier being as hot as him, and not too many opportunities to run with 2nd base open in a meaningful situation. 50 is hilariously unrealistic, but I say he gets his 30. Plus, it's hard to steal when all you do is hit HR's. That'll correct itself as well. Let's see where he's at on Memorial Day to get a better idea.
Can't fault Kemp for the lack of SB's so far, imo. I've watched a number of their games to date. At this point, I'd chalk it up to a combination of factors including poor situations to run in, Ethier being as hot as him, and not too many opportunities to run with 2nd base open in a meaningful situation. 50 is hilariously unrealistic, but I say he gets his 30. Plus, it's hard to steal when all you do is hit HR's. That'll correct itself as well. Let's see where he's at on Memorial Day to get a better idea.
"Luck is the residue of design."
-Branch Rickey
-Branch Rickey
Re: Thoughts And Junk
I had him projected at 36/36, but the way he's swinging, I'd lean towards something closer to 45/25. He's had a nice easy opposite field HR swing on a lot of the long balls so far. If he keeps that up he'll easily surpass last year's total.Ando wrote:Keep 'em coming, Dan.
Can't fault Kemp for the lack of SB's so far, imo. I've watched a number of their games to date. At this point, I'd chalk it up to a combination of factors including poor situations to run in, Ethier being as hot as him, and not too many opportunities to run with 2nd base open in a meaningful situation. 50 is hilariously unrealistic, but I say he gets his 30. Plus, it's hard to steal when all you do is hit HR's. That'll correct itself as well. Let's see where he's at on Memorial Day to get a better idea.
This assumes he doesn't hit my 75/75 upside projections (for those of you in my XII league).
Re: Thoughts And Junk
Just more stuff off the top of my head....
We all have players we won't take. A player can drop and drop and we still won't take him. Either we expect little, we dislike him for his past, or it could be any reason.
For me, that player this year was Carl Crawford. I couldn't give myself one reason to take him. When he wasn't hurt last year, he under performed. This season, we all knew he'd start out on the disabled list. Before knowing this, he was going in the third round. That was not enough of a discount for having such a horrible year last year. I thought the bidding would start in round five. But round five is where he was taken, even with knowledge of his injury.
Uhh, no thanks.
I like Crawford as a player. The injuries are bad luck. And he's a hard worker who only wants to succeed. Signing with the Red Sox was his mistake. From the beginning he was a square peg to the Red Sox round hole.
Now, he has an appointment with Dr. Andrews and his season is in doubt.
Already I don't like him for next year either. He's gonna have to be one of those players that shows me he can succeed in his 'new' surroundings.
Speaking of injuries, does anybody else think of Ryan Zimmerman as a young Scott Rolen?
All that talent and we can't trust it to stay on the field. Like Rolen, and JD Drew and players like them, Zimmerman will have a monster year sometime during his career, but it won't help me. I won't be gambling on him that THIS is the year.
For some reason, I have a problem with players that go from the National League to the American League. Maybe I think that the American League is a little tougher. Maybe it's that others have gone there and not done as well. Last year, Adam Dunn's failure's after moving to the American League was epic.
This year, I didn't draft Albert Pujols because of it. He's a first round pick and I couldn't get it out of my mind about the whole NL-AL thing.
I didn't draft Prince Fielder because of the same thing. But in my mind, I thought the switch would hurt Fielder more than Pujols. It may after all is said and done. But, until somebody goes from the NL to the AL and dominates, I'll keep my phobia.
The best pitcher I've seen this year is hardly fantasy relevant. I don't know how much longer that'll last. Even Dusty Baker will have to realize that they have more in Aroldis Chapman than a mere set up guy.
Stupid Baker.
With the new lineup change this year, I may have to alter my thinking on west coast players. I have a Main team with Coco Crisp. Crisp has Chipper Disease so it's never known if he'll play until the starting lineup is released. If not in the lineup, unless having another west coast guy to insert for him, I'm S.O.L. since the other games have started.
Ever have your lineup set and as soon as the games start somebody on your bench hits a home run or has a base clearing double?
I think about that hit for three-four days...
While the press goes gaga over Yu Darvish, I think of the fantasy side. He'll be inconsistent. He'll shut out the mighty Yankees one night and give up a bunch to Seattle his next outing. One of those pitchers his owners will have to ride each outing and take the bad with the good.
I smirk when somebody uses his first name in another way.
I roll my eyes when they laugh at their own joke thinking it's the first time its been done.
The Angels need an injury. Or maybe they should just shitcan Bobby Abreu. They have a different lineup each day trying to appease all their players. Trumbo looks horrible at third, but hits a lot better than Callaspo or Izturis. Morales can't play anywhere and if you've seen him run this year, you'd know that he may be the first to hit the injured list opening the dh spot for Trumbo.
There's no room for Abreu on this team and the starts he gets have become mere favors.
Admit that the contract was too long and drop him. It'll be better for the Angels in the long run.
Why is it so seemingly easy for a team to sign somebody for millions of dollars for too long of a contract...
Yet, so hard for a team to let go at the end of that contract after a player clearly has outlived his contract?
I just realized that all the feisty Managers in baseball are gone. Billy Martin, Lou Pineilla, Earl Weaver....the types that weren't afraid to put on a little show for the fans and kick a little dirt.
Ozzie Guillen isn't even aa antagonist.
Now, when Misters Girardi, Ventura, Matheny, or Washington types go out to 'argue', you can almost hear them say, 'Sir, I believe you were mistaken in that last judgment, can you possibly enlist the aid of one of your brethren to insure that he indeed saw what you saw? Thank you ever so much'.
Bah!
In Tampa, Matt Geiger may have interfered with Carlos Pena on a pop fly near the seats. It made all the sports shows. What angered me is that Tampa ushers made him go to a video room to see if he was indeed over the playing field.
THAT IS CRAP!
If it were me, I wouldn't have gone with them. I would have told them, do what you gotta do but YOU go look at the video tape, I paid to watch a ball game. It was revealed on video that Geiger was not over the field of play, but missed an inning of play.
This is the year of the purge for the Cubs. They'll try and get rid of every big contact by years end. Garza will be easy and they can afford to get a little greedy with him. If any body even sniffs Soriano's way, he'll be gone. Marmol and Dempster too. Besides Starlin Castro, I would be surprised to see any of the current Cubs on this same club in three years. It'll be brutal for their fans as they go from little hope to none.
Will it be better for the future?
Who knows?
Epstein has not given one clue as to how he'll construct the team.
For now, it is a team like the Pirates, Mets, and Royals....a team only their fans can love.
I'd better stop, some Rockies fans asked me about their chances yesterday, 10 minutes later, I was getting the 'Uh, ok Dan, I really gotta run'....oh well...
We all have players we won't take. A player can drop and drop and we still won't take him. Either we expect little, we dislike him for his past, or it could be any reason.
For me, that player this year was Carl Crawford. I couldn't give myself one reason to take him. When he wasn't hurt last year, he under performed. This season, we all knew he'd start out on the disabled list. Before knowing this, he was going in the third round. That was not enough of a discount for having such a horrible year last year. I thought the bidding would start in round five. But round five is where he was taken, even with knowledge of his injury.
Uhh, no thanks.
I like Crawford as a player. The injuries are bad luck. And he's a hard worker who only wants to succeed. Signing with the Red Sox was his mistake. From the beginning he was a square peg to the Red Sox round hole.
Now, he has an appointment with Dr. Andrews and his season is in doubt.
Already I don't like him for next year either. He's gonna have to be one of those players that shows me he can succeed in his 'new' surroundings.
Speaking of injuries, does anybody else think of Ryan Zimmerman as a young Scott Rolen?
All that talent and we can't trust it to stay on the field. Like Rolen, and JD Drew and players like them, Zimmerman will have a monster year sometime during his career, but it won't help me. I won't be gambling on him that THIS is the year.
For some reason, I have a problem with players that go from the National League to the American League. Maybe I think that the American League is a little tougher. Maybe it's that others have gone there and not done as well. Last year, Adam Dunn's failure's after moving to the American League was epic.
This year, I didn't draft Albert Pujols because of it. He's a first round pick and I couldn't get it out of my mind about the whole NL-AL thing.
I didn't draft Prince Fielder because of the same thing. But in my mind, I thought the switch would hurt Fielder more than Pujols. It may after all is said and done. But, until somebody goes from the NL to the AL and dominates, I'll keep my phobia.
The best pitcher I've seen this year is hardly fantasy relevant. I don't know how much longer that'll last. Even Dusty Baker will have to realize that they have more in Aroldis Chapman than a mere set up guy.
Stupid Baker.
With the new lineup change this year, I may have to alter my thinking on west coast players. I have a Main team with Coco Crisp. Crisp has Chipper Disease so it's never known if he'll play until the starting lineup is released. If not in the lineup, unless having another west coast guy to insert for him, I'm S.O.L. since the other games have started.
Ever have your lineup set and as soon as the games start somebody on your bench hits a home run or has a base clearing double?
I think about that hit for three-four days...
While the press goes gaga over Yu Darvish, I think of the fantasy side. He'll be inconsistent. He'll shut out the mighty Yankees one night and give up a bunch to Seattle his next outing. One of those pitchers his owners will have to ride each outing and take the bad with the good.
I smirk when somebody uses his first name in another way.
I roll my eyes when they laugh at their own joke thinking it's the first time its been done.
The Angels need an injury. Or maybe they should just shitcan Bobby Abreu. They have a different lineup each day trying to appease all their players. Trumbo looks horrible at third, but hits a lot better than Callaspo or Izturis. Morales can't play anywhere and if you've seen him run this year, you'd know that he may be the first to hit the injured list opening the dh spot for Trumbo.
There's no room for Abreu on this team and the starts he gets have become mere favors.
Admit that the contract was too long and drop him. It'll be better for the Angels in the long run.
Why is it so seemingly easy for a team to sign somebody for millions of dollars for too long of a contract...
Yet, so hard for a team to let go at the end of that contract after a player clearly has outlived his contract?
I just realized that all the feisty Managers in baseball are gone. Billy Martin, Lou Pineilla, Earl Weaver....the types that weren't afraid to put on a little show for the fans and kick a little dirt.
Ozzie Guillen isn't even aa antagonist.
Now, when Misters Girardi, Ventura, Matheny, or Washington types go out to 'argue', you can almost hear them say, 'Sir, I believe you were mistaken in that last judgment, can you possibly enlist the aid of one of your brethren to insure that he indeed saw what you saw? Thank you ever so much'.
Bah!
In Tampa, Matt Geiger may have interfered with Carlos Pena on a pop fly near the seats. It made all the sports shows. What angered me is that Tampa ushers made him go to a video room to see if he was indeed over the playing field.
THAT IS CRAP!
If it were me, I wouldn't have gone with them. I would have told them, do what you gotta do but YOU go look at the video tape, I paid to watch a ball game. It was revealed on video that Geiger was not over the field of play, but missed an inning of play.
This is the year of the purge for the Cubs. They'll try and get rid of every big contact by years end. Garza will be easy and they can afford to get a little greedy with him. If any body even sniffs Soriano's way, he'll be gone. Marmol and Dempster too. Besides Starlin Castro, I would be surprised to see any of the current Cubs on this same club in three years. It'll be brutal for their fans as they go from little hope to none.
Will it be better for the future?
Who knows?
Epstein has not given one clue as to how he'll construct the team.
For now, it is a team like the Pirates, Mets, and Royals....a team only their fans can love.
I'd better stop, some Rockies fans asked me about their chances yesterday, 10 minutes later, I was getting the 'Uh, ok Dan, I really gotta run'....oh well...
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
-
headhunters
- Posts: 1976
- Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:00 pm
Re: Thoughts And Junk
the cubs may have a nice 3-4-5 for many years if lahair and rizzo can hit- but who is gonna pitch? i am a little unclear as to why they would trade garza. if they trade garza they are announcing they aren't planning on contending for around 7 years. they will be on the kc plan. good hitting up in the bigs- but no pitching in sight. i think they keep garza- or these owners are just trying to make $ by cutting payroll.
Re: Thoughts And Junk
headhunters wrote:the cubs may have a nice 3-4-5 for many years if lahair and rizzo can hit- but who is gonna pitch? i am a little unclear as to why they would trade garza. if they trade garza they are announcing they aren't planning on contending for around 7 years. they will be on the kc plan. good hitting up in the bigs- but no pitching in sight. i think they keep garza- or these owners are just trying to make $ by cutting payroll.
LaHair will already be 30 this year. I think of him as a Jeremy Burnitz type who is nice to have, but not a bankable player.
Garza will be 29 and will probably be worth more in compensation now than being the best pitcher on a poor team over the next three years.
The Cubs have a chance to be more than KC, if they do it right. Or even if they don't do it right.
They'll be more flush so free agency is accessible. They can continue to stockpile kids with their poor finishes as long as they are smart about who they draft.
Rizzo is an unknown. It's always scary to see a kid being so over matched by MLB pitching. He could improve his swing, or he could simply be yet another AAAA player.
Nail on the head about pitching.
In the next two or three years, I'm guessing that Theo will have to buy a couple of arms via free agency. But, it was his idea to sign Lackey long term, so he doesn't have a Midas touch in that area.
Once the demolition ends with the Cubs, It should be interesting to see the direction they head in.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
-
headhunters
- Posts: 1976
- Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:00 pm
Re: Thoughts And Junk
hey- i did say "might". as a sox fan- i hope they lose 120 games every year till i die. i feel sorry for my 93 year old mother in law. big cub fan. her late husbands nick name was jocko or wrigley. i told him jocko was gonna be it for me. 93- never saw a winner. geez.
Re: Thoughts And Junk
I'm not so sure Yu will be wildly inconsistent this year. Lots of hype and added pressure to start the year, of course. He's faced some very good teams early. I'm anxiously awaiting those starts against the AL west. Call me crazy but I'm still thinking it's verlander or Yu for AL cy young. Sorry Felix owners. Jason hammel finishes a close 3rd 
Richard Kulaski
Fairview, TN
Fairview, TN
Re: Thoughts And Junk
I don't see any reason why Yu'll (Dough?rkulaski wrote:I'm not so sure Yu will be wildly inconsistent this year. Lots of hype and added pressure to start the year, of course. He's faced some very good teams early. I'm anxiously awaiting those starts against the AL west. Call me crazy but I'm still thinking it's verlander or Yu for AL cy young. Sorry Felix owners. Jason hammel finishes a close 3rd
) be more inconsistent than most of the #1~#2s out there.Re: Thoughts And Junk
It's all Junk. My opinion vs. everybody else opinion, but here are my thoughts on Darvish....
A small look since it's only been four starts, but he has had his toughest games vs. weaker opponents. Fans of Darvish can say great, he pitches well in big games. Fantasy-wise, he could be tough to figure out.
Truth is, I've only seen him pitch for three innings. He is on one of my Main teams and it takes all I can muster to watch any of my pitchers.
But, from what I've seen in those innings and from most of his spring training is that he suffers from 'Asian Spotting Disease'. Matsuzaka came from Japan with great stuff too. But when he got here it looked like he was intimidated by American hitters and felt like he had to spot every pitch on a corner. Darvish is guilty of the same.
Already, besides those OAK/SEA pitchers who have extra games, Darvish has thrown more pitches than every pitcher but Verlander and he is only three behind him. Maybe Darvish found out during the Yankee game that he doesn't have to be so fine. Dice BB never came to that realization, but being younger helps Darvish. He still has a sense of cockiness that will allow him to think that my best stuff can beat your best swing. At least I hope so.
By the way, watching the Rangers-Yankees series, we were likely seeing the best hitting teams in baseball. That said, they go about it in almost totally opposite ways. The Yankees wear pitchers down by taking pitches till they get their pitch to hit.
The Rangers attack early in the count. Seemingly not allowing counts to get to a two strike count. This is backed up by Josh Hamilton leading baseball in first pitch swings.
The Yankee way can lead to a starter having 100 pitches by the fifth inning, forcing the other team to delve into their bullpen earlier than wanted.
The Rangers way can lead to a starter only throwing 60 pitches by the fourth inning. But already has given up seven hits, forcing his Manager to take him out of the game and go to his bullpen earlier than wanted.
Both approaches work well, especially when having those types of hitters executing.
A small look since it's only been four starts, but he has had his toughest games vs. weaker opponents. Fans of Darvish can say great, he pitches well in big games. Fantasy-wise, he could be tough to figure out.
Truth is, I've only seen him pitch for three innings. He is on one of my Main teams and it takes all I can muster to watch any of my pitchers.
But, from what I've seen in those innings and from most of his spring training is that he suffers from 'Asian Spotting Disease'. Matsuzaka came from Japan with great stuff too. But when he got here it looked like he was intimidated by American hitters and felt like he had to spot every pitch on a corner. Darvish is guilty of the same.
Already, besides those OAK/SEA pitchers who have extra games, Darvish has thrown more pitches than every pitcher but Verlander and he is only three behind him. Maybe Darvish found out during the Yankee game that he doesn't have to be so fine. Dice BB never came to that realization, but being younger helps Darvish. He still has a sense of cockiness that will allow him to think that my best stuff can beat your best swing. At least I hope so.
By the way, watching the Rangers-Yankees series, we were likely seeing the best hitting teams in baseball. That said, they go about it in almost totally opposite ways. The Yankees wear pitchers down by taking pitches till they get their pitch to hit.
The Rangers attack early in the count. Seemingly not allowing counts to get to a two strike count. This is backed up by Josh Hamilton leading baseball in first pitch swings.
The Yankee way can lead to a starter having 100 pitches by the fifth inning, forcing the other team to delve into their bullpen earlier than wanted.
The Rangers way can lead to a starter only throwing 60 pitches by the fourth inning. But already has given up seven hits, forcing his Manager to take him out of the game and go to his bullpen earlier than wanted.
Both approaches work well, especially when having those types of hitters executing.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
-
headhunters
- Posts: 1976
- Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:00 pm
Re: Thoughts And Junk
sadly- it took me a few years to catch on to this "boston media" thing. dice k was part of it. darvish is not. dice k was waaaay over rated by boston ( and the boy genius now running the cubs). darvish is not. when i drafted dice k and watched him - i thought- what is so special about this guy? i did not draft darvish- but after watching him i wish i had. he has waaaay better stuff than dice k. he will be fine. ps- boston is starting a guy at ss that was dumped by kc - they of the 100-600 record the last 5 years. their outfield is a guy dumped by the giants who scored 80 runs in 162 games last year, a guy dumped by the cubs who can't score this year and the guy was hitting ..080 when he left, and a guy dumped by oakland with a combination of all of the above. catcher- dumped. 3 base- doesn't play. starters 3-4-5- do they have winning records in majors? and the closer- does not want to throw the ball. he holds it and holds it and holds it. bobby v. thinks he is a competitor? if so- why won't he throw the ball? and the boston media thinks they are a great team? yikes. i know pedroia is good- but not that good.
Re: Thoughts And Junk
KC went out of their way to get Yuni Betancourt......TWICE! 
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!
-
rockitsauce
- Posts: 1095
- Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2007 6:00 pm
Re: Thoughts And Junk
this is not a good argument that Boston doesn't know what they're doing...in fact it just highlights why KC has the record you mentioned. Aviles may not be Ozzie Smith, but dude can rake! (and he's elig at 2B/3B/SS, YES !headhunters wrote:ps- boston is starting a guy at ss that was dumped by kc - they of the 100-600 record the last 5 years.
)Always be closing.
-
headhunters
- Posts: 1976
- Joined: Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:00 pm
Re: Thoughts And Junk
i wasn't saying they did not know what they are doing with aviles- my point was about the boston media making it sound like they have this stacked team. just what do you think happens to all these hitters if they play for san diego? aviles will hit well- fly ball hitter in fenway-but he is not avery good short stop.