NFBC Message Boards

I already have a love/hate relationship with spring training.
It's wonderful seeing baseball played again. It means that the long off season is near-ending. We even get a sneak peek at some of the players coveted for when 'real' baseball begins.
But, that's where the hate enters the picture.

We are like the seasoned high stakes poker player watching a penny-ante game. We know that it's basically the same game, but for fantasy purposes, it offers little. We know that a player we want can go eight for eight with three home runs and seven rbi....and we're upset.
We're upset because that meaningless spring training hot streak could mean a rise in his adp or worse, one maverick drafter in your draft can see that eight for eight and take him two rounds before you even thought about taking him!
At the same time, we don't want to see that same player go 0 fer a week. It could mean less patience for his Manager as far as keeping his position in the batting order. Or worse, if young or thought to be a fringe player, it could lead to a platoon, a benching, or a ticket to AAA.

I've seen a player I like, who has hit three balls to the warning track in three games.
Perfect!
I know he's hitting the ball hard.
His Manager knows he's hitting the ball hard.
And in the box score, he looks like a wuss.
Perfect!

I don't pay attention to pitchers in Spring. At least until about a week before the big drafts. Until then, who cares?
They're working just a few innings and we don't know if they're working on a pitch or location or actually working on shutting out the other team.
Unless it's a young stud anxious to impress all with an arm that God created only for him and nobody else on earth, we are usually getting 60-90 percent effort from pitchers.


We want the season to be here now.
For as long as we wait during the off season for any kind of baseball, we as fantasy players want more. Now that spring training is here, we want it over. No matter how much we glean or think we're gleaning from these games, deep down, it all sucks. Sure, they're playing the game we've waited for. Waited for so long. But it's not the same.
And the WBC won't be any better.
It's supposed to mean something. And it may to their respective countries.
For us, as fantasy players, it's like being cast in a porn movie in a non-sexual part.
Not near as gratifying.

Spring numbers. Justin Morneau is hitting .467 with 3 doubles and 7 rbis this spring. He's a good player. He's fired up about the WBC I hear. I think people are going to start talking about him. There are a lot of reasons for optimism anyway. The Twins have a sneaky good player in Willingham that adds another element to Mauer/Morneau. But there's no fuel for the fire like good spring numbers.