A Lot of Junk

[DOUGHBOYS]

'Pablo Sandoval (forearm) belted a solo homer in one of his four plate appearances in his return to the lineup Tuesday.'

Nobody, but nobody ever 'belts' a single. It can be accidentally said...
'Brandon Belts single to left field was just in front of the fielder...
But nobody ever belts a single.
Singles are slammed, rammed, bam'd, raked, baked, snaked, sneaked, scalded, blistered, lined, looped, blooped, seeing eye, texas leagued, dying quailed, ducksnorted, ripped, grounded, infield, bunted, swinging bunted, chopped, popped, bopped, Baltimore chopped, hit 'em where they ain't
(which would be a great description for homers),
hit slowly (how do you hit a ball slowly?),
dinked, dunked, doinked, slipped, clipped, driven, lasered, sent back where it came from, drilled, cranked, hammered, plastered, on the screws...
But never, belted.
Belted can be used on doubles and homers, and only some triples.
It's a rule...

Somebody told me this week is 'National Breastfeeding Week'
I checked to see if he was messing with me or not.
Sure enough, he was right.
ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA?
It is like all these differnt forms of cancer awareness weeks, only worse.
We get it and we are well aware of cancer!
If there is one thing men do not need, it is breast awareness. We come equipped with that.
Do we need a toilet paper awareness campaign?
'National Asswipe Week' ?
Will players who are new fathers want to go home to celebrate this week with their wives this week?
Omigosh!
They can just take a week out of the year and call it National breastfeeding week?
Really?
Watch out for falling breasts, subway riders!
Keep your eyes on the road, bus driver!
It's their week!
I'll bet those that are still pregnant will be suing for their own week!
Wow. Only America.
Please insert your own jokes here...

Sorry, got off track with that last blurb...but seriously.
Ok, it's August 5.
If you're 30 points back of cashing, your team is done.
For those that are still battling for first place or other cash spots, we now know who our enemies are.
We never know our real enemies until July.August solidifies that thought.
Now, we can't have a real bad night and shrug our shoulders and mutter, 'We still got lots of time'.
Because we don't. We have less than 60 days.
A blip in the fantasy season long game.
Now, not only is it important to pick up the right players from faab, it is important in who gets the players we don't.
For instance, if we have a pitching dominated team and are standing above most in those five pitching categories, we want good pitchers to be picked up by fantasy teams who can pass our nearest competition.
Same thing if having a hitter dominated team.

A balanced team is harder in some cases. A bad week for a hitting or pitching dominated team is not as bad as being the balanced team. The hitting and pitching dominated teams can build insurmountable leads in three or four categories.
A balanced team can plummet with a bad week, only because there are teams close to them in most categories.
We are not talking about the Overall competition, just leagues.
Most Overall competitors are teams that are running on all cylinders and are too good for their leagues, focusing more on the big cash.
Anyway, getting back to my point about being out of it in being 30 points behind...
I use this formula.
If 30 points out of cash with 60 days to go, you're out
If 29 points out of cash with 58 days to go, you're out
If 28 points out of cash with 56 days to go, you're out
etc.
I use this till four weeks to go. If I can be within 14 points with four weeks to go. There's a chance.
Sometimes slight, depending on each category...but a chance.

Ok, here's something that will probably have you think I am crazy.
I don't think Andrew McCutchen is a first round player anymore.
I don't.
He is a nice baseball player who is fun to watch.
This nice player has 'belted' 30 homers once in his career.
He has stolen 30 bases once in his career.
He has never had 100 rbi. Never.
McCutchen is A LOT better baseball player than fantasy player.
This year, he has battled some injuries.
The result is that he doesn't run anymore. Five stolen bases!
Also rans like Aaron Hill and Nick Hundley have five stolen bases!
McCutchen HAS to run to keep him a first rounder.
If not he gets comparisons like this....

McCutchen- .290/57/15/66/5
Reddick - .283/45/13/58/5

Now, we all know that McCutchen is better, more consistent, and more blah blah better than Josh Reddick.
I get that.
But if I can get numbers that are similar in a much later round from a Josh Reddick-type, I have to think that Andrew McCutchen is not a first round pick.
By definition, a first rounder should give numbers across the board in hitting/pitching categories, or at the least, give us a large advantage in 3/4 categories.
McCutchen does not do that.
Feel free to disagree...especially in drafts

'Huston Street could be unavailable to pitch Wednesday, as he's with his wife while she gives birth.'

Well played, Mrs. Street, well played.

[DOUGHBOYS]

One more piece of junk to add.
I heard Even Longoria called a 'Superstar' today.
Longoria burst onto the scene with Ryan Braun type notoriety. He was the sexy pick for a couple of years.
Since those young years, Longoria has settled into a non/sexy 20/90/.265 type hitter.
Not a superstar by any stretch of the imagination.
Now that Chris Archer has established himself as an All-Star pitcher, it is questionable if Longoria is even the best player on his own team.

In fantasy, alot of us assume that a player will get better as the years go by. It doesn't always work that way.
Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Braun, Chris Young, Troy Tulowitzki, and others can't seem to match their younger years.
Same for Evan Longoria.

[JohnP]

'
Ok, here's something that will probably have you think I am crazy.
I don't think Andrew McCutchen is a first round player anymore.
I don't.
He is a nice baseball player who is fun to watch.
This nice player has 'belted' 30 homers once in his career.
He has stolen 30 bases once in his career.
He has never had 100 rbi. Never.
McCutchen is A LOT better baseball player than fantasy player.
This year, he has battled some injuries.
The result is that he doesn't run anymore. Five stolen bases!
Also rans like Aaron Hill and Nick Hundley have five stolen bases!
McCutchen HAS to run to keep him a first rounder.
If not he gets comparisons like this....

McCutchen- .290/57/15/66/5
Reddick - .283/45/13/58/5

Now, we all know that McCutchen is better, more consistent, and more blah blah better than Josh Reddick.
I get that.
But if I can get numbers that are similar in a much later round from a Josh Reddick-type, I have to think that Andrew McCutchen is not a first round pick.
By definition, a first rounder should give numbers across the board in hitting/pitching categories, or at the least, give us a large advantage in 3/4 categories.
McCutchen does not do that.
Feel free to disagree...especially in drafts

The recent McCutchen surge had me thinking about your post Dan. Despite playing hobbled early on, I think he is going to end up pretty close to a 25 hr / 100 r / 100 rbi / 10 sb / .300 guy. The bags are for sure down but how much of that can be attributed to his early injury situation? I'm guessing he still is a first rounder next year. In my mind he has distanced himself from Josh Reddick .

[DOUGHBOYS]

When you're right, you're right.
And you are right, John!

[Bronx Yankees]

Love Cutch! A definite first round player for me. While I probably will have him ranked a little lower next year than I did this year, I'll happily snatch him up in the middle or back half of the first round next year. To me, he is a great example of a risk v. reward type pick. He may never finish at the top of the player rater, but barring a fluke injury he should return high value every year. Some like to say you can't win a league in the first round (or two or three) of drafts, but you can lose a league. Cutch is one of those players that will not cost you a league. I see a guy that should hit around .300 with at least 20 homers, 90 runs, and 90 RBIs. If healthy all season, he could go .310/25/110/110. The SBs are the question mark. If he can steal 20+ bases, then you have a true five-category stud. If he is settling into a 10-15 SB range, that, plus the other categories, looks like a safe first round pick to me. I'll take that and save my gambles for a little later in the draft.

There are some guys that we gravitate to, and others we shy away from. McCutchen is one of those guys that seem to wind up on multiple teams of mine year after year. I'm not saying he is a top three pick next year - I do not think he is - but I suspect I'll have him ranked higher than most again next year. In fact, even with his surge after the first six weeks of this season, I still think he has some upside next year, especially if Marte and Polanco continue to develop. We'll see.

Mike