On this episode of Solid Goldschmidt, we have Neil Young performing, “I’ve Been Searchin’ For a Heart of Goldschmidt,” and later the nursery rhyme, “John Jacob Paul Goldschmidt, His Name Is On My Buy List Too,” song by Various Artists. Well, I’m just full of Goldschmidt! Goldschmidt may have Growing Pains but don’t call him Tracey. Okay, breathe, Grey, you got puns… Breathe! Remove the cigarette and put on the oxygen mask — stat!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Fantasy Baseball Buy/Sell
While balancing a book on their head, the Blue Jays were poised to call up Brett Lawrie just when he fractured his hand. That’s worst timing than the guy down at your local Chuckles nightclub doing an open mic set. But flip our Supreme Buddha In Funny Poses day calender two months later and the hand is healed. In two weeks at Triple-A since his return, he’s hitting near .350 with a homer. Or as Lawrie would say on Twitter #yabuddy. “You want to convey your emotional state while giving the most information possible, all in under 140 characters.” That’s Lawrie explaining Twitter to his Grammie. Lawrie should be up in the next two weeks. So you have to decide if a .300 hitter with good power and speed at 2nd base is worth sitting on your bench until his call up. #yabuddy Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Hideki Matsui – Hello, time travelers from 2004. You are not in 2004 anymore. You are in 2011. Hideki Matsui is just hitting again. Though that is not Madonna on your radio, that is Lady Gaga.
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Jeff Niemann has always been a sell in your eyes. The light, the heat… Your eyes. The low K-rate, the walks… Your eyes. The luck with homers per fly balls, the tough division… Your eyes. So why am I saying Niemann’s a buy? Am I sniffing the devil’s dandruff and just need to talk while I rub my gums? Am I going through my blue period filled with self-loathing and blueberries? Nay, horsey. Niemann’s cut his walks, hasn’t been getting lucky this year and his low K-rate is still low. Okay, so it’s not all peaches and cream. But the Rays are also about to go against the A’s, M’s (or the AM’s as in their bats are asleep) and peasant Royals for a few weeks. He might get the Blue Jays in the middle of that run, but you can pay that bridge toll when you get an E-Z Pass, or whatever that cliche is. I’m not Niemann’s biggest fan, but for the next month he should look good… In your eyes. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Phil Hughes – Actually pretty surprised all that Noo Yawk hype hasn’t raised Hughes over the 50% ownership mark. Ya’ll must be still basking in your dirty water dogs and Jeter’s 3,000 hit. “During Jeter’s tremendous accomplishment, when no one was looking, I chipped off a piece of the Pesci pole. Now it’s framed above the coke spoon I used with Dale Berra.”
James McDonald – Some smarter-than-thou commenter pointed out to me that McDonald has 23 Ks in his last 24 1/3 innings while lowering his ERA from 4.86 to 4.15 in the last month. We have the best commenters (except Lance Berkman; he only wants to talk about himself).
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Excellers is now a word because you added it to your dictionaries. The other day I went over some 2nd half hitters. Today, it’s time for everyone’s favorite 2nd half fantasy baseball pitchers. Or maybe these won’t be your favorite pitchers. These are decisions you have to make on your own. I can walk you to the fantasy baseball water, I cannot drink it for you. Similarly to hitters, players get in grooves or slumps. So if a pitcher has been terrible for the last month, but showed flashes in the 2nd half of last year, he’s worth considering, but he’s not suddenly going to be great, i.e., recent history should be weighed, except in CC’s case unless you have a medical scale. Anyway, here’s some 2nd half fantasy baseball pitchers for 2011:
CC Sabathia – 1.56 ERA in 2008′s 2nd half to lead the league for pitchers over 60 innings. He was ranked 7th for 2nd half ERA in 2007 with a 2.76. In 2009, Chubb rock’d a 2.74 ERA, the 9th best in the majors. Though last year his ERA went up a smidge in the 2nd half to 3.29. Though, Part II: The Return of Though, that was better than his 3.52 career ERA.
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Trading season is upon us and Leo Nunez and Heath Bell could be out while Mike Dunn or Mike Adams could be in. And K-Rod is 5 minutes ago, according to Jessica Shaw. Every time Bell seems more likely to be traded first, Jeffrey Loria whips his checkbook onto the Marlins GM’s back to trade faster. Between Dunn and Adams, Dunn is less likely to get saves between him and Adams. Dunn’s chances skyrocket if he can bake McKeon’s favorite prune cookies or if he pushes Cishek down a flight a stairs. Outside of trading, Aroldis Chapman is nipping on Francisco Cordero’s heels, but don’t forget Dusty’s penchant to stick with his incumbent. On a related note, Ancestry.com revealed earlier this week that Dusty is a direct descendent of Jim O’Rourke, the manager of the 1883 Buffalo Bisons who once pitched Pud Galvin 656 1/3 innings in one season. Your best bet for saves is to grab Mike Adams, Dunn or Chapman, in that order. Or reverse order if you’re dyslexic. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Bobby Parnell – It’s all SAGNOF, all the time today, huh? Hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich and put the SAGNOF between your knees.
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I think I made up the word excellers, but it should be a word, so add it into your Merriam-Webster, who was not a spinoff character from that Emmanuel Lewis show. Never the hoo! Here’s some 2nd half hitters for fantasy baseball who should be better than they were in the first half. To come up with this list, I scoured the last three years of post-All-Star Break numbers, ran it through a supercomputer that’s bigger than your Peugeot, pasted the supercomputer-generated names to my shirt like dollar bills on a wedding dress then went to a palm reader to help me pick ten names out of the thousands. The palm reader’s name was Erica Karabell; she said there was no relation. Anyway, here’s the best 2nd half fantasy baseball hitters for 2011:
Derrek Lee – Last year, he played the 2nd half like he was walking onto a yacht with an apricot scarf. In 2009, .336 with 18 homers. Last year, .298 with 9 homers compared to a .233 average in the 1st half. I still don’t really like Derrek Lee compared to a lot of names, but he’ll come a lot cheaper than most.
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So it’s not really the 2nd half mark in the fantasy baseball season, but it’s the All-Star Break so what else are we going to talk about? The newest The Challenge: Rivals? If this show were on E!, CT would not only have his own spinoff, but he’d be getting married to a Kardashian by now. Also, love how they seamlessly drop Real World/Road Rules from the show name, throw in people who you’re not even sure what show they were originally on and make the show better. The Real World is now just the minor leagues for The Challenge. Finally, on the last episode Mike in the water sounded like a dolphin getting f**ked by a shark. Okay, as with all of the other 2011 fantasy baseball rankings, take this list with a grain of salt. If you need a 2nd baseman, but an outfielder is above him that doesn’t mean you can’t trade the outfielder for the 2nd baseman. Also, things change in fantasy baseball.
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Despite Ronnie’s warnings, I fell in love with the Jor-Z, sure. I still like him a lot. You can totally Control-Alt-Delete this opening in keeper leagues too. But — and this is a J. Lo-sized but — Jordan Zimmermann is going to be shut down in the next month. The Nats are saying maybe another 6 or 7 starts. That’s — how do I say this?
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Jack McKeon’s got a word for players like Hanley Ramirez — lollygaggers. For 5 years, Hanley’s been riding the crest of natural ability. As I’ve said before about Hanley and Manny, insouciance doesn’t age well. Think about the hot girl who got all the guys in high school then lost her looks ten years later. She never had to develop a personality and, now at age thirty, she’s screwing guys in the bathroom of some bar with sawdust on the floor and hoping they’ll adopt her two kids, Bob Jr.
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Recently, I had the pleasure of doing karaoke with Johnny Cueto. He decided to go with Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. Here’s what he sang, “I took my ERA and I took it down…. I climbed a mountain and I turned around… And I saw my xFIP in the snow covered hills… Well, I’ve been afraid of changing… ‘Cause I’ve kicked the life out of Jason LaRue… Awh, take this ERA, and TAKE IT DOWN!…” Then I joined him on stage for Islands in the Stream. Cueto was pitch perfect with Stevie Nicks even if he did skip lines here and there to keep it related to fantasy baseball. Right now, his ERA is 1.63. Oh, c’mon. Seriously, come on. Come on, come on, come on Chameleon! His xFIP is 3.52. His K-rate is 6.23 which isn’t good and below previous season marks. He’s leaving 83% men on and has a .216 BABIP. There’s not one category he’s excelling in right now except ERA. The mouth on the left side says, “S.” The mouth on the right side says, “ell.” Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Jonathan Broxton – ‘So much junk, so much junk inside that trunk’ could be lyrics about the Dodgers bullpen or specifically about Broxton.
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