It’s time to take our beginning of the month look at all the major league closers. Some closer battles have not been squared away yet. The Cubs are still holding Gregg over Marmol’s head, the Cards are still reluctant to say Perez, the A’s might split duties between Devine and Ziegler and the Mariners are looking forward to 2010. Personally, I think the Cubs will split Marmol and Gregg 75/25, taking a little value away from Marmol and adding a lot of value to Gregg. If Gregg gets any saves, he’s worth a spot on your roster. I think Devine should and will be the closer for the majority of the year. I think the Cards will go with Perez out of the gate and he’ll be the closer for the majority of the year. Though his leash will be short, making Motte a good late flier. Other good late fliers for the MR.
Please, blog, may I have some more?2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft
Want to keep your post-draft roster from being full of you-know-what? Work Razzball’s BRAN (Balanced Roster After Nine) strategy into your diet so your roster doesn’t turn out irregular!
I know I could spend an extra 20 minutes brainstorming an acronym that’s more alpha-male but combining power with our strategy’s high fiber content makes me flash back to the old SNL Colon Blow commercials.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
All of these rookies are worth grabbing at the right spot, but I wouldn’t reach for any of them. Sorry if that sounds boring, but sometimes Grey needs to instill some right-wing fantasy baseball conservatism into the equation. Longoria, Soto, Tulowitzki, Braun, Michael J.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Back in September, I said, “There’s so much to love about Fred Lewis. Let’s see… Power — check! Speed — check! A name that sounds like an 80′s sitcom character — check! I’ll take Fred Lewis in the center square for the win. Alas, Fred Lewis is about to undergo season-ending surgery on a foot bunion. (The operating podiatrist hopes his patented Toe, Hairy and Curly procedure will one day be as recognized as Tommy John surgery.) I still like Lewis for next year, but this is this year, fool!” And that’s me quoting me! Let’s see why I still like Fred Lewis as a 2009 fantasy sleeper.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
The other day I went over my fantasy baseball strategy for snake drafts. Lots of the strategy there also applies here. If you ask me — and you kinda did ask me by reading this shizz — auction drafts are where it’s at, yo! You get in a room with your best fantasy baseball buddies. The guys you haven’t seen since last year’s draft. The guys you don’t want to see until next year’s draft. One guy, and there’s always one, has his phone on vibrate just in case the missus calls about little Petey. He’s got the flu, ya know. Then you have the guy who will go the extra dollar for (fill-in favorite player from his favorite team). You have the guy who brings only Cheetos and then asks the host for some cola every 30 minutes. Then, finally, you have the guy who made plans at 5PM and begins to yell at everyone at 4PM that they’re taking too long. And, it always turns out, this day is the best day of the year. Auction draft day is better than your wedding day. As for online auction drafts, they’re not as fun. Anyway, here’s some tried and true tips to help you through your auction draft.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Ryan Zimmerman went into last year with a bum wrist, which was enough for me to be down on him — Beavis, “Hehe, Grey was down on him.” — I didn’t want any part of Zimmerman. Then when he came down with an injured shoulderitis or some shizz, I backed away slowly from him like when your friend tells you he got herpes from his cousin. It all smelled bad like a skunk in a microwave. There was no way I was drafting Ryan Zimmerman last year. And my concerns were confirmed, as Zimmerman put up some yawnstipating numbers, 51/14/51/.283/1. Those numbers look similar to the numbers Ryan Howard can put up in one month. So why am I touting Ryan Zimmerman as a 2009 fantasy sleeper?
Please, blog, may I have some more?
With the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings in the bag, we turn to strategy. Did you know your very own mustachioed ‘pert has a fantasy baseball draft strategy? It’s called Performance Enhancing Draft Strategy or PEDS. As you can see from that link, it’s in its 2nd year of existence. With a new year comes some changes. The first big change, I lost the 2nd -ing. Not sure why I was dropping gerunds like they were “tic-tacs,” but I’m a changed man. I was younger then, almost a full year. Let’s face it, I was naïve. That draft strategy was like amateur hour. And this is the first time I’m admitting this to anyone, but my cousin wrote the whole thing. I’m not going to tell you my cousin’s name or why I had him write it. I was young and stupid. Not as young or as stupid as I was the day or weeks preceding that draft strategy post, but young and naïve and stupid nevertheless. Luckily, I got all of my young, amateur hour, stupidness out in that one post and I was able to go back to being a fantasy baseball blogger without the assistance of my cousin, Tom. Okay, I am telling you his name. But that’s the last you’re ever going to hear from him or me on him or him on me. We’re through, Tom and I. This is 100% my fantasy baseball draft strategy and some that I cribbed from other people. Enjoy.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Over at FBHOF.com, I’ve been lamenting my inadequacies from the past 2+ years which resulted in an inordinate amount of time number crunching in Excel. My quest – a draft day “war room” that allowed me to keep my finger on the pulse of the league while minimizing my effort. I don’t know about you, but I prefer to keep track of more things as opposed to fewer, this path can ultimately take precious minutes away from thinking about your next pick.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Vernon Wells was primed for his ‘every 3rd year’ routine, but now he’s strained the same hamstring he hurt last year that caused him to miss 50+ games. Word out of Blue Jay camp is he’ll miss at least 4 weeks. A broken-down VW isn’t going to help your team go anywhere. Just forget about the 30/100/.300/10 guy and think of him as that 20/80/.270/5 guy. Hate to say it, but he’s a lot closer to Aaron Rowand than an elite fantasy OF. The best thing to come out of Vernon’s hammy injury is Adam Lind and Travis Snider could see more time. Anyway, here’s some other things going on during spring training that effect 2009 fantasy baseball:
Garrett Anderson – GA signed with the Braves. This does nothing for his value. And prior to this, he had no value. You do the math!
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Finally, we come to the end of the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings. (Can we start games already?) Okay, you know that I like Rickie Weeks better than Howie Kendrick in the top twenty 2nd basemen for 2009. You know I like Conor Jackson better than James Loney as seen at the top twenty 1st basemen for 2009. But you don’t know how I feel about where these guys fall in the bigger picture. Is Rickie Weeks above Conor Jackson? Nope. So to show you where I think players fall in relation to each other in 2009 fantasy baseball drafts, I’m putting together a 2009 fantasy baseball top 300. This still needs to be taken with a grain of salt because of how your team might be filling out. For instance, if you have a shortstop already and Derek Jeter is still on the board in the 12th round, you don’t draft him if you see Zimmerman and you don’t have a 3rd baseman, even though Zimmerman may be below Jeter on this list. Because of the length of the top 300, there’s no pithy comments with each name, but you kinda do need to know what I’m thinking for each name, so I advise you go over each position in the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings. Also, I already went over a Top 100 for 2009 Fantasy Baseball, so I’m not going to cover them again. This top 300 will go from 101 to 300. Finally, see our 2009 fantasy baseball player rater for 10 team leagues or for 12 team leagues. That goes up to 600 players. Or a list of all players with multiple position eligibility. Anyway, here’s the 2009 fantasy baseball top 300:
101.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
