NFBC Message Boards

The Cubs are so funny.
They proclaim immediately after the game that Carlos Marmol is their Closer.
Marmol is Milli Vanilli.
Henry Rodriguez without the fastball. The fourth best pitcher on a Little League team.
Everybody has lost faith in Carlos Marmol except for his Mom and Cubs press releases. And now, there is a text on Marmol's cell from his phone that he's afraid to read.
The Cubs aren't fooling anybody. They know the only perceived value he holds in a trade with other teams comes as a Closer.
As a mere bullpen guy, he becomes Matt Capps or Heath Bell.
As is, they can still call him a Closer.
In reality, he's worse than having Frankie Francisco on a real or fantasy roster. At least hurt, the Mets and fantasy owners know what to do with Francisco. Marmol is one of the few players in baseball that could be hurt and help everybody involved.
Harsh, but true.

I did a double take when I saw the Yankees lineup. Worst Opening Day lineup since the mid-60's.
Judy's, Has-Been's, and 'Never-were's all over the lineup.
If Cano does not re-up with the Yankees this year, the Yankees could take forever to re-build.
Who's to blame?
The New Steinbrenners. If building a team through money, money has to continuously be spent on the team. The Yankees have not bought a huge player in a long time. They're 'settling for Youkilis, Hafner, Wells, and Boesch....Ugh.
They use to dine elegantly on free agents. Now, they get scraps under the table.
New cable deals, huge ticket prices, and a reduced payroll have padded the pockets of the new Steinbrenners.
But past Yankee owners have found out the hard way that life is unbearable when the Yankees are laughed at or deemed unwatchable by their fans.
This team is getting close.

Think the Nats Management were happy with themselves today?
Number One Strasburg throws shutout innings.
Number One Harper slams two homers.
And new free agent Soriano closes.
Nice.

I have a friend with a bias against Verlander. Never wanting to draft him because of the amount of wear and tear on his body. Every year, it seems Verlander throws more than any other pitcher.
I look at this as a good thing. Verlander throws more pitches. Has thrown this way for eight years. And has never been on the disabled list.
Verlander is a refrigerator. We buy it and forget about it. Waiting for a refrigerator to break down is folly. Maybe, when he does eventually break down, somebody will have that AHA! moment. By then, many years without rostering him will have passed. Along with a lot of wasted opportunities.

As excited as I am for the baseball season to begin, a really small part of me misses the off season.
Numbers on the field replace the numbers in our minds.
Ike Davis was a can't miss just a day ago. After striking out four times while his team scored 11 runs, 'Can't miss' has turned to just plain 'can't hit'.
During the off season we build some players into Superman, only to watch them perform like Lois Lane.
It's our own faults. We drive our own expectations high.
Heck, even Harper owners were probably disappointed that he didn't hit a homer in his third at bat.
It's the nature of our beast.
Players strive for perfection. Fantasy owners are only happy when perfection is exceeded.
And that is why we never see a happy fantasy owner.

Unlike you, I have not nostalgia for Saturday, when the games didn't count. Baseball...can't get enough.

Co-worker came up to my desk after Kershaw homered and asked me who held the record for most home runs by a pitcher. I said Spahn. He's 3rd. I thought that was pretty good. Number 1 is Wes Farrell. Number two is Bob Lemon.

The A's have lost 8 straight openers. 4 times it's been to Felix Hernandez (and there have been some gems in there, let me tell you). This is Hernandez 6th opening day start. He turns 27 in a week. He's never lost on oepning day. Mariners are up
2-0. Same old.

Brett Anderson is the worst fielding pitcher I think I've ever seen. Probably puts .3 on his ERA every year by being unable to bend over an pick up a ground ball or cover 1st base on time.

Tim Hudson is 135-3 lifetime when given a 3 run lead at some point in a start. He got it tonight. No decision. But not a loss.

One more note by the way...Felix has thrown more innings than Verlander over the last 3 years. The King throws a pitch I don't think anybody else throws. They call it a two seam. Mark Ellis, the A's very fine 2nd baseman now with the Dodgers, used to say it was a circle change thrown hard. It has the same downward action and behavior as James Shields change. Dips down and away from lefties and has some deception in the arm speed. But somehow it's 91. As good as Verlander and Kershaw and other are, nobody in baseball is a better 4 pitch pitcher than Felix. He's got such a bag of tricks, man.

...one last thing. Kershaw put a hell of a swing on that ball. Quick hands.