Monthly Archives: March 2011

Grey / Rudy

2011 Baseball Predictions

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Now’s the time when we put all of our 2011 baseball predictions in one place.  Then in October we can look back at this and laugh.  Oh, and we will laugh.  Big, bellowing, seat of your pants laughs.  Hindsight is indeed 20/20.  But where’s the harm in setting ourselves to look like jackasses?  We run a fantasy baseball blog, after all.  Grey’s picks in RED.  Rudy’s picks in BLUE.  Anyway, here’s our predictions for baseball’s post-season awards and whatnot:

AL Pennant Winner – Detroit Tigers – The Yankees would’ve been the easy choice here, but I’m a small market kind of guy.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Giant Suits Buckle, Add Belt

| Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 145 Comments

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ESPN tells me the Yankees and Red Sox seasons are about to begin.  I’m gonna infer it’s Opening Day for the entire league since my six month egg timer is buzzing, my closet gimp is mumbling, “Baseball time…Baseball time…” and my desktop widget of Ron Jeremy shooting fireworks over Petco is exploding.  At least I think those are fireworks shooting across my computer monitor.  Spring has sprung, snitches!  Bask in that for a moment.  Okay, moment over.  Brandon Belt is going to start at first for the Giants.  Ain’t that the meow’s cat?  I really thought the Giants would hold off until June with Belt.  With this Belt news, everyone seems to be *pinkie to mouth* panting.  He’s still pretty raw in terms of his time in the high minors.  Though I wouldn’t let that stop me from adding him.  You take the flyer for the upside because if he pans out, he’ll be worth a lot more in name value.  To go with a current 1st baseman who is around his level, between Moreland and Belt, Moreland will have better stats but Belt will have better name appeal for now.  I’d give Belt the line of 60/15/70/.270/8.  There’s room for more, and there’s room for a lot less.  A lot less would be Belt struggling for the first month, Ross returning and Belt being demoted.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball:

Jake McGee – Rays kept him for their bullpen.  This shituation should be a closerousel all year until McGee wins the job.  Now whether he wins the job by May or August is the pickle.  I think it’s by June/July to get all hedgy on you.  My over/unders are Farnsworth with 20 and McGee with 15 saves.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Stephen

Boston Red Sox, 2010 Minor League Review

| Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 28 Comments

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Boston Red Sox 2010 Minor League Review
Overall farm rankings via Baseball America (2010)
2010 (6) | 2009 (13) | 2008 (2) | 2007 (9) | 2006 (8) | 2005 (21) | 2004 (23)

Record of Major and Minor League Teams
MLB: [89 – 73] AL East
AAA: [66 – 78] International League – Pawtucket
AA: [70 – 71 Eastern League – Portland
A+: [73 – 65] Carolina League – Salem
A: [77 – 62] South Atlantic League – Greenville
A(ss): [24 – 50] New York – Pennsylvania League – Lowell
R: [31 – 28] Gulf League

The Run Down
Not only did the Red Sox deplete their high end talent in acquiring Adrian Gonzalez (Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, and Reymond Fuentes), their 2010 number one ranked prospect (Ryan Westmoreland) had a cavernous malformation (abnormal cluster of blood vessels) in his brain causing his future in baseball to be uncertain.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Sitting On The DL Of The Bay

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Jason Bay has a strained intercostal, which is the highway that runs along Florida’s coast.  Specifically, by Palm Beach where people are old and this strained whatever-the-shizz-is happens.  If you were counting on a bounce back from J-Bay, you might want to count to yourself so you don’t annoy your cubicle neighbor.  (Neighboricle?  Who might’ve also been the person who lived next to that nice black lady in The Matrix.)  These injuries tend to linger — see Braun, Ryan for further reading — and Bay already had Metco and age to deal with.  I’m not optimistic about him being at full strength until May and even then I have my doubts about how much we’re gonna see from him.  Rudy and I are betting Scott Hairston sees time in our deep leagues, but Duda could, as well.  Though I wouldn’t Camptown Race to pick him up.  Anyway, here’s what else is going on in fantasy baseball:

Edwin Encarnacion – Will start at 3rd base with Bautista moving to the outfield.  Encarnacion is a Latin 28, and I have little faith in him hitting over .260 but he could hit 25 homers with everyday ABs.  The only problem he seems to ever have is staying healthy.  The way randoms come out of the woodwork to hit bombs in Toronto every year, I wouldn’t be surprised if this year it’s Edwin’s turn.  Not saying he’s going to hit 50 homers like some schmohawk, but if he hit 30 homers in 500 ABs it wouldn’t surprise me.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Smokey

A.J. Burnett, Fantasy Bounce Back

| 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 67 Comments

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The reason for this fantasy baseball bounce back candidate is simple.  If he doesn’t pitch well, the real life baseball team is in trouble (barring a trade).  Last year, A.J. Burnett pitched like everyday was Monday and Thursday, because that’s when my garbage gets picked up.  The days could vary in your local area, check when your significant other yells at you to take yours out.  Burnett was awful, and there have been stories abound about family distractions.  I believe his wife got a second opinion on some plumbing.  His K/9 of 6.99 was at its lowest since 2001, which is crazy forever in fantasy worlds and his first full season in the land of cups of coffee.  I don’t think that repeats itself.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Mondo Ogando

| Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes | 164 Comments

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From human trafficker to Rangers fifth starter, Alexi Ogando throws gas.  (Maybe that’s how he got caught trafficking humans.  He was mule-ing a human in his colon and accidentally threw gas.  Not sure.)  I say, mootie lootie doo to all of that, which means nothing, though it might in another language.  Once an outfielder, but Ogando’s no herbathrowdite.  Ogando tops out at 97 MPH, strikes people out and throws ground balls.  That’s a yes, please and thank you.   Unfortunately, he has a few things going against him.  His home park, his control and he has no experience starting in the major leagues.  In AL-Only leagues, I’d absolutely take a flyer to see if he can run with the rotation spot and force his way into the rotation even after Hunter returns.  In mixed leagues, I’m taking a wait and see approach.  In general, getting roofied is no fun, but it feels like it hurts more in April.  Anyway, here’s what else is going on in fantasy baseball:

Mat Latos – Will start the year on the DL.  Thanks a Latos, Mat!  That’s you.  I told you yesterday to trade him for sixty-five cents on the dollar.  I might lower that to fifty-five cents today.  It could be thirty-five cents by mid-April.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Rudy Gamble

2011 Yahoo! Friends and Family Draft – Team Razzball

| 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Our Leagues, Rudy Gamble | 86 Comments

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Grey and I were invited back for Yahoo’s most prestigious expert league – the Yahoo! Friends & Family League (the other Yahoo!-sponsored leagues we’re in include acquaintances and hoi polloi).  The league has 14 teams consisting of 7 Yahooligans, 3 guys from Rotowire.com, 2 from Hardball Times, and one from Wall Street Journal and Razzball (two sites with a ton of audience overlap).

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Best Hitters for April, Fantasy Baseball

| 2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 112 Comments

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These are the leading hitters in the major leagues for April.  Do I think every hitter does the same thing every year?  No, I don’t.  But hitters do tend to follow patterns.  If these players were good in April last year, there’s at least a chance they will be good this year.  Also, as I went over in this spring training stats post, just because a hitter isn’t hitting in March doesn’t preclude a big April.  Anyway, here’s some top fantasy baseball hitters for the month of April:

Adrian Gonzalez – 22 homers pre-ASB in 2008, 24 homers in 2009, 18 homers in 2010.  Just wait until A-Gon starts getting crap in September and October for not being “clutch.”  Yeah, I put douchey quotes around a word, sue me.

Please, blog, may I have some more?