0
0
0As I was thinking about Rudy going off and getting married, I needed a good cry, so I burned myself a sad song CD. Rather than try and find 15 songs that all had the same sentiment, I just put Why Can’t I? by Liz Phair on there 15 times. By the 12th repeat, I started to realize something, Liz Phair is talking about closers. Picking up setup men that you hope become the closer? “It’s an itch we know we are gonna scratch.” When will Matt Thornton become the closer? “Gonna take a while for this egg to hatch.” Octavio Dotel is called into the game? “Why can’t I breathe whenever I think about you?” I know exactly what you mean, Liz Phair. Frankly, I’m surprised no one else picked up on this hidden meaning. This is our Helter Skelter. Anyway, here’s all of the closers for your fantasy baseball team, as of right now:
$12 Salads
You know that restaurant your girlfriend/wife/what-have-you likes to go to that charges, like, $12 for a salad? Every time you go there, you have a thoroughly solid meal. No complaints, except you just paid $12 for a salad when you could’ve went to McDonald’s and stuffed you and your woman for ten schmools and had $2 in quarters left over to make the hotel bed vibrate. These closers are $12 salads.
1. Jonathan Papelbon (Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima)
2. Jonathan Broxton (+1) (George Sherrill, Ramon Troncoso, Hong-Chih Kuo)
3. Mariano Rivera (-1) (Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves, Damaso Marte)
4. Carlos Marmol (+2) (John Grabow, Carlos Zambrano)
Donkeycorns
Imagine you’re following a donkey, who’s wearing a wool cap, through a desert for 1700 miles. Why are you following a donkey? Because he promises you something wonderful and you just need to trust him. Does the donkey talk? Yes. Yes, he does talk. So when you and the donkey in the wool cap arrive at his destination, he removes his the wool cap to reveal a horn. The donkey is a unicorn and his gift to you for your trust is saves. These closers are Donkeycorns.
5. Joakim Soria (+2) (Kyle Farnsworth, Josh Rupe)
6. Francisco Rodriguez (Fernando Nieve, Jenrry Mejia)
7. Heath Bell (-2) (Mike Adams, Luke Gregerson)
8. Jose Valverde (Joel Zumaya, Ryan Perry)
9. Brian Wilson (+1) (Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo)
10. Francisco Cordero (+1) (Arthur Rhodes, Nick Masset)
11. David Aardsma (-2) (Mark Lowe, Brandon League)
12. Rafael Soriano (Dan Wheeler, Grant Balfour, J.P. Howell)
13. Billy Wagner (Takashi Saito, Kris Medlen)
14. Ryan Franklin (Kyle McClellan, Jason Motte)
15. Jon Rauch (+12) (Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain)
16. Andrew Bailey (+1) (Michael Wuertz, Brad Ziegler)
17. Brian Fuentes (Fernando Rodney, Kevin Jepsen, Scot Shields)
18. Leo Nunez (Dan Meyer, Brian Sanches)
19. Matt Capps (+5) (Tyler Clippard, Brian Bruney, Mike MacDougal)
20. Matt Lindstrom (+10) (Brandon Lyon, Sammy Gervacio)
Brain Freeze
I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing apples, bananas and Chad Qualls– Wait, he just gave up 12 earned runs and hit LaRoche in the head with a pickoff throw. Brain freeze! Make it stop! Use the following closers at your own risk.
21. Bobby Jenks (Matt Thornton, J.J. Putz)
22. Trevor Hoffman (-4) )(Carlos Villanueva, Todd Coffey, LaTroy Hawkins)
23. Kevin Gregg (+2) (Jason Frasor, Scott Downs)
24. Octavio Dotel (-6) (Evan Meek, Brendan Donnelly, Joel Hanrahan)
25. Brad Lidge (+4) (Danys Baez, Jose Contreras, Chad Durbin)
26. Franklin Morales (+2) (Manny Corpas, Rafael Betancourt, Huston Street)
27. Chad Qualls (-4) (Juan Gutierrez, Bob Howry)
28. Neftali Feliz (-11) (Frank Francisco, Chris Ray)
29. Chris Perez (-3) (Rafael Perez, Tony Sipp, Kerry Wood)
30. Alfredo Simon (-15) (Cla Meredith, Koji Uehara, Mike Gonzalez, Lester Freamon)
from the previous post (arrrggghhh, just missed the grey cutoff, sorry):
@Mitch & @Tony: My guess is that the Tribe gets to Romero tonight in Cleveland.
Romero’s left/right splits from minors and last year don’t look too great and he’s starting to issuing more walks.
What about Carlos Vilanueva as Hoffmans’ backup?
@Stephen: Doh
@Arthur O: dont say that
from prior post, sorry:
Strasburg promoted to 3A; for all of you in NL AAA Leagues.
Any excitement purcolating over Morrow? Last three starts (KC, Tampa, Oak) terrific & @ Clev. next. Higher upside than Cecil, Fister and all the other arms du jour?
@zombie: Over Fister, but Cecil over him. I’d own him vs. Indians.
@Grey: With a staff of Nolasco, Kershaw, Baker, Correia, CJ Wilson, Sanchez, De La Rosa, & Vazquez, is Vazquez droppable for Joba?
This is a 10 team 7 keeper with a 1300 IP limit. We have 5 SP spots and 3 RP spots active. I have Simon in an SP spot and would intend on throwing Joba in an SP spot too as he’s eligible. My RP’s would then consist of Dotel, Marmol, Morales, Simon, & Joba with Wood on the DL. I’m 2nd to last in saves with the leader having twice as many as me. I think I could easily make up some ground with 5 sucky RP’s as opposed to 3. Just dont want to jump ship on Vazquez too soon.
@Grey – I dropped Franklin Morales but he’s a FA now. My “closers” right now are Heath Bell, Frank Frank, and Alfredo Simon
I’m thinking of picking up Morales again but I need help in identifying a drop – the candidates are: Andruw Jones (who i just picked up as a plug for Granderson), and Ervin Santana
My SPs currently are – Johan Santana, Cole Hamels, Wandy Rodriguez, Clay Buchholz, AJ Burnett, and Ervin Santana
Bit of a pickle because SVs are always tricky in H2H.
@AL KOHOLIC: check out the splits for yourself! see the truth! http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=460069
i should mention that i am rooting for ricky romero, though, since i’d love to sell high.
@timSTi: If it’s me I’d drop Wilson before Javy. Do you have any offensive bench players?
Lester’s waiting out in the O’s bullpen right now sanding the edges on some dollhouse furniture, just biding his time.
@timSTi: Don’t drop Vazquez.
@William: If you drop Ervin, will he be picked up? If not, go for it. But I’d prefer SPs over RPs in H2H. H2H is tricky. Are you *the* William H.?
@Van Hammersly: Ha
@brad: Only bench player is Rollins as my DL is filled with Cruz & Wood.
how is Matt Capps a Donkeycorn when the Brain Freeze category is named after him?
@Grey – She Bang! Everytime someone asks me that question I think back to Michael Bolton from Office Space. Though I have exploited the name in accepting several ladies’ facebook friend requests…
@All
What do you think:
Give: Utley, Swisher
Rec: Pujols ,f. Lopez
sorry!
jose lopez
Mo should be No.1 easily… What’s his ERA? Yeah… What’s Paps ERA? Yeah… If you can choose one guy to close out the game for you in the 9th Inning, you’ll take Mo every single time!
I noted a couple days ago that Simon is listed as a starter at yahoo.
Noticed today that Chacin is listed as a reliever for any of you guys looking to manipulate lineup requirements.
@Grey: speaking of DL (in general), is Furcal in for a repeat of his 2008 campaign (hot start, injury, season over)?
@Grey: can you rank these pitchers in H2H for the rest of the year as you see them: J. Vazquez, E. Santana, B. Cecil, W. Davis, Strasburg, and R. Wells? Thanks.
oh…. and Ian Kennedy…
@Grey:
I’ve got Broxton, Street, C. Perez, R. Madson and A. Simon on my team. I’m clearly struggling for saves.
Out of the following set-up men who are available in my league, which TWO get the most saves by the end of the year?: Gutierrez, Hawkins, Lyon, Meyer, Wuertz, Guerrier, Lowe, Affeldt, Adams, McClellan.
Thanks in advance.
@Marqo: healthy sure, who got the save the other night, not rivera, he’s ailing….. thats why he’s not #1
LMAO….Lester Freamon. Too bad Omar’s gone, he would have been the man to beat in that bullpen.
@Grey: checked out your previous Buy/Sell on Chacin. Does he have a spot in the rotation? It looks like he might just be a fill-in for the time being. That being said, who do you like in a 16 Team H2H? D.Lowe or Chacin? I really want to get rid of D.Lowe, if people haven’t noticed…
OMG! Marmol is a $12 Salad!
I have never owned a $12 Salad before. This violates everything I stand for. I feel both giddy/dirty.
@Wilsonian: Francis, De la Rosa, and Hammels are all currently on the DL. Francis has a AA rehab start this week. The other fill-ins, Greg Smith and Esmil Rogers have looked bad. Chacin will pitch at least through May. With the Rockies injury bug, I pretty much expect him to have a rotation spot the rest of the season.
The list is Extra-Freezy this year.
is it bad that across my 3 teams i own far more of the brain freezes than i’d care to admit?
@Baron Von Vulturewins: ha, same here. got marmol for $5 in an auction league, which was cheaper than most closers.
@Terrence Mann: very good points about their injuries. Would you drop D.Lowe for him in a 16 Team H2H? He’s rotting on my bench, as I’ve only (luckily) spot started him lately – we only have a 15IP floor.
@CoreyII: I blame my copy and paster.
@William: Ha!
@keith: Take Pujols.
@Marqo: He was injured a few days ago. Last week he would’ve been #1.
@Arthur O: Could be
@nick m.: They’re all matchups at this point. Wells, Ervin, Javy, Kennedy, Cecil, Davis….
@Curse of the Goat: By the end of the year, who you should own now? I’d own Gutierrez.
@Mann of Sandd: Hehe
@Wilsonian: Chacin over Lowe, he’s starting until he explodes or Rosa returns.
@Baron Von Vulturewins: Hehe
@ThePoonTycoon: Live on the edge.
@Grey Just received a trade offer of his Scherzer for my recently picked up B. Cecil. 12 team H2H dynasty league. I’m thinking “accept”. Thoughts?
@Grey: Huff, Venable, S.Hairston, Thome, or Hart over B.Wood in a Util spot? I’m getting killed in AVG & RBI’s. Deep 10 teamer w/ 14 starting hitters.
Looking for power, and have runs to spare. Also I just lost K. suzuki for a bit. How does give Jose Reyes and get McCann sound?
What are you guy’s thoughts on Billy Butler going forward? I’m really struggling for power, and have been playing Smoak in the utility spot. Is it worth looking to deal Butler and slotting Smoak in at first?
@Grey – Ervin Santana or Shaun Marcum?
@Bill Lumbergh: Eh
@timSTi: Eh… Depends who’s currently hot. I’d stay put for now.
@JR: It’s fair, I’d try for someone with more power though if that’s where you’re hurting.
@Howard: Depends what you’re getting.
@William: Ervin
@Grey: Did you see any of Baker’s start last night?
@Rick Dempsey: No, I flew in late. Saw only a box score.
In a Yahoo League where we can start up to 4 SP’s and 1 RP at a time, Simon could be a steal. He’s got SP only eligibility at the moment. That’s potential gold. Picked him and Joba up and now could potentially get 3 saves in a night. Don’t hurry back Mariano, ya hear?
@Grey: No wedding deets? Did you give a toast? Did you reference Oscar Gamble? Is Oscar Gamble Rudy’s dad?
Did you dance the Macarena? The Mashed Potato? The Jerry Lewis?
Did you wear a tux? Powder-blue? Powder-green? Cummerbund? Speedo?
Was there a DJ? A band? Was it Sixpence None the Richer? You were in Austin, right? Was Rick Linklater there? Or that weird dude from the ‘Slacker’ poster?
Who’s your favorite Beastie Boy? Team DJ Hurricane or Team Money Mark?
I’ve been offered Aramis for Ian Stewart/Marlon Byrd. Stewart/Byrd are bench guys for me. Aramis would be too since I have Youk as my 3b but if Aramis breaks out of his slump it could give me trade flexibillity. Good one for me?
@Baron Von Vulturewins: Huh? AdRock is all you need.
You shouldn’t be sad about Rudy getting married, Grey. Someday you too may be a polyester bride.
@Baron Von Vulturewins: Yeah, I gave the best man’s speech. Quite possibly the worst speech ever given in the history of best men, according to 99% of the wedding. Audible groans and I think the grandmother booed. I was a pariah. People still couldn’t make eye contact with me the next day at breakfast. The wedding video will be me saying, “Hello, everyone–” Weird jump cut. “–Congrats!”
@Frank Rizzo: I wouldn’t.
@Grey:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tosh.0/2009/07/20/thursdays-web-redemption-best-man-fail/
@Frank Rizzo: Think I’m-a change up my style just to fit in?
@Grey: I can’t imagine that’s true, unless you went off on a long digression about Ian Stewart’s fly-ball rate. Besides, there’s always that 1%. They are the true connoisseurs.
Going forward – Joba or Bard?
@Grey – Just to let you know… I’m still on the Carlos Quentin Bandwagon. Looking at his Y! ownership trend, it seems there’s plenty of room to stretch out. You still on there with me?
Is there some modicum of good still hiding inside the shell of Ben Sheets, or is he worth cutting ties with at this point in favor of Morrow or Cecil?
@Baron Von Vulturewins: gotta kick it old school with hurricane…ad-rock for delivery and mca for the dude who’s life i wish i had
I received an offer from a guy who wanted to trade me McCutchen for S. Drew. I took it and then snagged Tejada off waivers to replace Drew at SS. My outfield now is Crawford,
J. Upton, McCutchen and Cargo. Good trade?
Is Treme making you miss The Wire Grey? Do you wish Albert Lambreaux was really Lester going back to his roots in NO after giving up on B-more?
@Grey: Hey Grey. Only got one spot to play with cause of my extensive list of disabled players, sooooooo….drop Frank-Frank for Joba? Only way that makes sense is if Mo ends up on DL, right?
In my 10 team 5×5, I just missed picking up Freese from FA by 15 minutes. I’m sure that there has gotta be a term for that, just unaware or it.
Anywho … the guy dropped Fukudome to get him. Is there any reason why I shouldn’t try picking him up from waivers??? His numbers look fine to me. Or is Swish a better long term pick up?
Is it time to bail on Span for Swisher/Franceur/JDDrew/McLouth yet ???
@Baron Von Vulturewins: I hear that and echo your shame and excitement. Maybe it’s just my Catholic guilt.
This is only semantics, but I think it runs afoul to the notion of a $12 salad to list Marmol there. He’s the perfect definition of a donkeycorn. We trust in Marmol being absurdly filthy and he has rewarded us with nothing short of a Tijuana donkey show thus far.
@Grey Love the Liz Phair reference! Why are my bullpens so full of Brain Freezes? I mean!!! It’s like an freakin’ Dairy Queen over here! Why? Because I refuse to pay for saves! SAGNOF!!!
@Buge Hoobs: Why would you bail on Denard. If you drafted him with reasonable expectations (plus in the R, AVG, and SB categories) then he’s well on his way toward delivering. The average got off to a shaky start, but he’s 6/1/5/.300/1 in his last 30 ABs.
A team rostering Span has totally different needs than the team looking for Swisher, Frenchy, etc. You have to understand your needs before you make that move…
I just wanna Qualls out on a Lidge and jump Hoffman!!!
@Buge Hoobs: do you have someone to plug in when fukudome is vs LHP? Personally I’d go swisher. Fuku’s streaks are very long and messy.
Also, who’s the better option? (5 standard cats + hits and obp)
-Nyjer/Gardner: (I say gardner)
-Smoak/Robot Jones (both on bench, hard to justify em both. I’m still devoid of opinion here)
-Alcides/no one/Pennington till rollins is rollin’ again
(Alcides- steal a base or six!!!)
@Curly Day: Treme is no Wire, but it’s still pretty damn good. It is really weird to see Wire actors not being Wire characters though.
Ugh, so I just traded Konerko straight up for Andrus. I desparately needed a SS ( Alcides just wasn’t cutting it) and the only option on waivers was Alex Gonzalez (yuck)
Thought I was getting Wandy too but that part of the deal fell apart.
Didn’t really sell as high on Konerko as I would have liked but nobody in my league was really buying his hot start.
Quentin now gets plugged back in my UT spot so hopefully he picks it up now and gives me comparable numbers to Konerko the rest of the way.
Tell me I didn’t totally just make a really bad panic move.
@grey Pierre, Rajai, Fowler, or Borbon? I need steals badly, but I don’t want my average blown up in the long term.
@Niq Castro: smoak over robot. smoak will be batting close to or above .300 by the end of may if he keeps his K and BB rates the same and keeps hitting line drives at this rate (25% line drives, only .148 babip).
My team is off to a 1-3 start in a 12 team H2H league. My pitching has been getting it done, but not my offense due to a lot of underacheiving. My offense looks like: 1B- Votto 2B-Utley SS-Reyes 3B- Stewart MI- Alcides CI- Smoak OF-Sizemore, Bay, Granderson(Now DL’d but I was benching one of Bay/Sizemore/Granderson anyway), Rasmus, and Austin Jackson.
Our league is short on pitching and I could probably pull off one of Werth or Upton if I gave either Kershaw or Price. I know it sounds like a steal, but in reality with the shortness of pitching in our league and the fact that my numbers are skewed by Ubaldo’s absurd start, do I pull the trigger on one of those guys to help my miserable OF or wait for one of the big guys to come around?
Also I’d like to sell on Austin Jackson, but everyone knows he’s gonna regress, so what’s the point of giving him up? Might as well hold on to him for the Runs and SBs he’ll still provide at the top of the Tigers lineup… unless you think it’d be worth trying to trade for some MI help over Alcides’ 0 steals.
@Sean and Niq: Thanks. My OF right now starts 4 of these: Kemp, Abreu, Span, Damon, with Granderson on DL. Willingham is my UTIL.
In my league, the owners are typically very fickle and drop some big names early. I threw the Span idea out there because I haven’t heard much of him this year and get tempted by some of those othe big names out there. I want to make sure that I’m not missing out on an obvious oversight. For instance, I wasn’t aware of Fuku’s split stats. But, as I said, I need to act quick when big’uns gets dropped and don’t always have time to sit and crunch the numbers.
My approach to the U has always been to plug in the best available all around player. Is Willingham doing that for me, or would one of the others be a better long term fit?
My needs … well I got hit by the DL bug early, so it’s tricky to deduce my true needs. Kinsler, Roberts, Cliff Lee, Montero, Granderson
Why would you bail on Denard. If you drafted him with reasonable expectations (plus in the R, AVG, and SB categories) then he’s well on his way toward delivering. The average got off to a shaky start, but he’s 6/1/5/.300/1 in his last 30 ABs.
A team rostering Span has totally different needs than the team looking for Swisher, Frenchy, etc. You have to understand your needs before you make that move…
Sorry for the repeat of your comments. Gotta get the kids out of the room next time.
@Wilsonian: Joba for vulture saves.
@William: I’m still hoping he breaks out at some point.
@Tarasco’s Secret Stash: I’d look elsewhere.
@Fletch: Nice
@Curly Day: David Simon has a free pass for me to watch the whole season, but I’m not loving Treme so far.
@mc serch: Wait until the DL.
@Buge Hoobs: Swish is not a long term pickup, ride the hot bat until he goes cold pickup.
@Howard: Ha
@Niq Castro: Gardner, Smoak, Alcides…
@KarlJ.: It’s fine.
@NukeLaDouche: Fowler
@Josh: I’d take Werth for Price.
@Grey & @brad, the Washington Post said Treme has the potential to be better than The Wire. I’m still waiting, and like you said will watch the whole season. Lester and Bunk just make me think of the good ol’ days – maybe that’s working against Treme. (Entourage is coming back soon right? to make my HBO subscription worth it.)
***16-team, H2H-POINTS League***
I could use a SP. Trade Torii Hunter for Scott Baker? It would mean starting starting your boy Maybin everyday until Blanks remembers how to hit
@Commish Cauda: no.
@ Grey: 14 team – 30 man rosters / pretty deep H2H weekly league. 6×6 (Total Bases)- need to fill a UTIL spot with Grandy DL’d — so need to choose between these bats, which do you like best going forward:
Reimold – own currently. not happy.
Snider – available, been garbage lately.
Freese – available (will have to use #1 waiver priority for him), been en fuego.
thoughts appreciated.
Callaspo or J Lopez as an infield bench option?
@mc serch: Hurricane — he’s got clout. You other DJs, he’ll put your head out.
@sean: Ha! Marmol is singlehandedly keeping my BrainFreezeBullpen together.
@Fletch: Yes. Fletch lives!
Any chance Storen closes games this season for the Nats?
@Grey: Don’t tell me you told that story about your dog. You know, THAT one.
And don’t ask me how I remember this shizz, it’s just how I roll.
I want to trade Ubaldo Jiménez for hitting – - is he as good as I think he is and I can a get a good hitter in re-turn
@Grey what is your take on Billingsley for Jones?
grey my 20 team Dynasty League we are talking about – its much easier to find pitching than hitting
@Curly Day: Yeah, not crazy about seeing Bunk and Lester in different roles. Hard to not compare.
@Commish Cauda: It’s okay.
@El Burro: Freese
@Matty D: Lopez
@Mr. Rickey: Never know, long season.
@Steve: Ha… I don’t even remember telling that story on the blog, but, no, didn’t tell that one.
@Grey Adam Jones , sorry bout that
@mrbaseball: He could win the Cy Young this year.
@Bodymore: I’d take Jones. Depends on needs.
@Mr. Rickey: I would think with the way the Nats are playing (i.e. competitive), they would stick with Capps for the entire season as opposed to trading him at the deadline and inserting Storen into the fire.
Storen could end up in a set-up role by season’s end, by Tyler Clippard has been lights out too. There’s really no reason for the Nats to bring him up…
@Grey: They were simpler times.
cool, I took Jones and need OF
@Grey: In a dynasty league, who would you want going forward? (This year and beyond) AJ Burnett or Kevin Slowey?
@Grey – Thoughts on Kevin Slowey? I traded him for Aardsma and feel a bit of buyers remorse… please reassure me!
@GopherDay: slowey
@mc serch: I’m not too sure you want MCA’s life these days. Nathaniel Hornblower came down with cancer in ’09
@Commish Cauda: I guess I’m skeptical that the Nats keep this up. Of course, I’m a Reds fan and have experienced many competitive seasons . . . . if they had ended in mid-June. Also, I’m in a keeper league so I’m inclined to hold Storen if I can without hurting myself.
@Grey: Madson is out 8 weeks with the broken toe.
Who’s a better spec stash? Joba or Contreras?
Apparently Manuel is on record saying Contreras is next in line if Lidge falters.
@William: You’ll be a’ight.
@Baron Von Vulturewins: I heard that about Contreras, but that sounds kinda bonkers to me. I’d go with Joba.
Ubaldo for Lester straight up, I’m getting Lester. Which side would you prefer ?
Possible Posada replacement if he misses more than a couple days?
AJ, Barajas, Jaso, Buck, Torrealba, Hundley
@SamYo: Keep Ubaldo. Why do people want to trade Ubaldo? Is he too good for you? Are you too happy with the results so far?
Unless you’re trading him for a first-round offensive talent like Ryan Braun, why trade him?
Hey, 7 IP, 13 Ks, 6-0 on the year. Yep, time to trade him for another, different starter.
@Kazmere: Punt.
Asdrubal out tonight with a quad injury. Not sure if it’ll need time on the DL
Anyone letting the pelotas drop and starting Ervin tonight?
@SamYo: Ubaldo. Unless you’re afraid of owning the NL CY…
@sean: Thanks for the heads up!
@john: I wouldn’t.
@Grey: Always with the safe choice…you never let me have any fun or excitement!!
@SamYo: Walk away from the computer or whatnot…. keep Ubaldo!!!
@Baron Von Vulturewins: re: Ubaldo/too good/too happy. TOO FUNNY.
@mrbaseball: Don’t trade him unless you get a TOP hitter (1st rounder or 1st/2nd best at some/not all positions).
@Arthur O:
Cabrera is out tonight. I’m even more confident now that Romero dominates. It’s Shin-Soo Choo versus the world. The Indians line-up is garbage.
Anyway, which 2 of Morales, Sandoval, Zimmerman?
And Lind or CarGo?
@Mitch: Sandoval, Zimmerman… CarGo looks like he’ll outproduce him, but he’s a bit riskier.
@ grey – thanks, appreciate the take. I thought Reimold would be much better than advertised, but his heel and wear/ tear is still lingering. Im worried Freese is flash in el pan and I hate jumping on that this early, but hes hitting 5th in a solid line-up and been producing quite well. Reimold seems like fodder, so Im ok with it. Wouldnt surprise me to see him Freese put up #’s similar to what I thought Reimold’s line would look like this year — 85/20/80/10 .290. You project the same?
Orlando Hudson v Willis or McGehee v @Kershaw?
Trust Wainwright tonight in Philly? He didn’t look so hot against them last year. I know he’s a stud, but….
@bobbo: Your aces can’t be matchup pitchers. Your back end is for matchups. You have to take whatever your aces give you.
@El Burro: Everything except the steals.
@Kazmere: McGehee
@bobbo: Agree with Sean.
my Coles Hamels for his Josh Hamilton? have loads of pitching depth
Watch… now that I benched Matusz he’ll throw a one-hitter against the FREAKIN’ Yankees! That’s just my luck…
@Wizo: That’s fair.
@longbeachyo: Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about that.
I must have drafted the wrong players – I am 1 – 10 on my teams in hitting so far
I quess I should have drafted these players who already got hits for tonight
F. Lewis-M. Grudzielanek – T. Hafner – J. Bautista-J. Baker -A. LaRoche -R. Bernadina – R. Hanigan-A. Pagan-M. Downs
I have pitching depth and am looking for a replacement for Granderson – what do you think of my Oswalt for his Robot Jones? What about Jered Weaver for his Robot?
With all the hitters the Yankees have – this is how they scored their run
R. Pena grounded out to shortstop, F. Cervelli scored
@mrbaseball: Hehe
@sifl: I’d want Oswalt or Weaver.
Man, I was looking forward to watching Lincecum for the first time this year against the Marlins. 4 IP an 9 Ks later, I want him to go away
Is it just me or does Cervelli look like the Great Gazoo in the batter’s box?
He just took one in the nads making a nice catch for the third out though.
@Mann of Sandd: I like Omar more for the starting rotation. Definitely an innings eater, 200+. Now, Brother Mouzone seems like the type of dude who could come in and close a game out cold and calculated.
@Eddy: He looks so nasty.
@Buge Hoobs: Ha!
Anybody else read lips? Looks to me like Cervelli just got to third again and greeted Tejada with a big ol’, “Hi, Dumb-Dumb!”
Hmm … these Kays got me thinking now … maybe Cervelli over Napoli??
Anybody watching Romero tonight? Second time through the lineup they really got a bead on him.
@Buge Hoobs: I think he asked Tejada where he gets his HGH. Napoli over him.
@penpen: Yeah, saw a bit of it.
@Grey: His changeup did look pretty amazing for a while there. It’s a downer though when he wild pitches all his little dinky walks and singles into doubles and triples.
my hitting is looking so bad – I am thinking of picking up The Hairston Brothers
@penpen: He still managed 8 K’s so far thru 5.
@Grey: OK, same owner just offered me his Scherzer for my Jhoulys Chacin. Again this is a 12 team H2H dynasty league. Chacin is currently occupying one of my “Minors” roster spots, so I’ll have to drop Gio to clear up a roster spot (would have to make a move anyway since Chacin has been called up). Thoughts on this offer? You ‘da man!
Interesting note: Evan Meek has already pitched an inning in the game and it’s still in the 7th. Looks like they’re standing true to their word with Dotel remaining closer. For now.
@penpen: Yup
@mrbaseball: Hehe
@Bill Lumbergh: You’re taking on someone else’s headache, not crazy about it, but in a dynasty league I could see it if you’re ready to not play Max for a bit.
@Eddy: Thanks for the heads up!
@Grey: I’m thinking with tonight’s performance, Ervin has earned himself a ‘Start until he blows up’ status.
@grey- would you trade scott baker for rasmus and clay buckholtz? I would then have to drop DLR, Cueto, Cecil, Capps, or Fragu.
I’m curious, Grey… do you own Gordon Bencham in any leagues? If so, how much more leash are you planning on allowing him? I own him in 7 of the 9 leagues I’m in and have my own idea on how much more of this I can stomach, but I’m curious to read another perspective.
What’s up with Cole Hamels either having bad games, or games where he pitches into the 8th and still doesn’t get run support? And what happened to Boston’s 17 runs from last night? A couple more couldn’t trickle over into Lester’s start? Ugh.
@Awesomus Maximus:
I’ve been meaning to say thanks for bringing “The King of Kong”, “Word Play” and “FantasyLand” to light in one of the comments you made a while ago. Loved loved loved King of Kong since I’m an avid gamer and FantasyLand was just superb. Great stuff, thanks for the heads up.
Grey, I find your lack of faith in Sniderman disturbing
@Awesomus Maximus: 7 of 9?! I thought having him in one of my two was bad enough. He’s really frustrating.
@Grey:
Currently got a 1.12 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. Sparkling SP for me tonight, albeit devoid of a couple of well-deserved wins. Do you think Kershaw will keep the ball rolling vs. Mil?
@john: I’d say that’s fair, though I don’t like guys going against the Yankees.
@Martin: Sure, drop Cueto.
@Awesomus Maximus: In one league, he’s been benched indefinitely. It’s a 20 team league too, so the choices aren’t great.
@Eddy: Hope so. My pitching has been insane today too.
@Grey:
Yea, looks like the calendar flip to May has done nothing but good. If I HAD to ask for one hitter and one SP to get it going, it’d have to be Adam Jones and Wandy. Other than that, I can’t complain too much.
Do you think Toronto could use their DH for 1B?
@Grey:
Mine has too. I’m waiting for Kersh to come ruin my WHIP still tho.
0.42 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 18 K in 21 IP, not too shabby.
@Elijah: 22 1/3 IP, 0.81 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 24 Ks.
@Awesomus Maximus – I own him in 7 of the 9 leagues Gordon Bencham – I quess it could be worse – someone wanted him worse than you in the other two leagues – I would wait them out and then you can own him in all 9 leagues – that would be the right thing to do
Hey Awesomus Maximus be the first in your league to own The Hairston Brothers
@Grey:
Lovely!! Kershaw seems to do better at home so we got that going.
@Eddy: Not a problem, glad you enjoyed them.
@Tom Emanski: Yeah, seemed to always get him at (what I thought was) a good price in my auctions, especially given the 2B/3B eligibility looming.
@Grey: Hrm… the other options in a 20-teamer certainly makes it a lot easier to hold him. I own him in 10-teamers, so I have options aplenty, but I’m not buying into the “pitchers have the book on him” rap I’ve been reading. I keep thinking, “Today is the day he turns it around”, but those days are adding up. Of course, as I write this he’s 1/1 with 2 BB and a SB, so today actually could finally be that day.
Is Heyward a beast, or what? He’s getting intentionally walked in the 5th inning. Sheesh.
@Grey – I’ve been giving you crap about Ervin Santana all day. I bow down to you tonight sir.
Leadoff walks! Hurrah!
Oswalt vs Kennedy tonight it kind of like 1963 all over again
@mrbaseball: That’s hilarious.
Juan Guiterrez still pitching setup btw.
Are Borbon and Carlos Lee going to turn it around. They got dropped in my 18 team league. I could drop Blanks for one of them.
@mrbaseball: LOL
@Grey: When I said Price or Kershaw for Upton or Werth I meant Justin Upton. You still would take Werth for Price over Upton?
@Tom Emanski: Drop Blanks for Lee.
@Josh: Take Justin.
Its becoming tradition for fans to charge the Phillies now!!
And I’m loving Jose Contreras’ rogue win!
Wow, Kershaw, really? I don’t know what in the world compelled me to start him today. Christ, he’s such a mess!
Kershaw killing me. Argh,
@mrbaseball: LOL holy crap that’s too good to be true! PLUS the game is in Texas; that’s too much. Strangely, I was watching Seinfeld last night and caught “The Boyfriend”.
KERSHAWUGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Elijah:
There goes my entire good day, crap.
Wait, how come all those Kershaw runs are unearned?
Ker-plunk
Alcides still batting 8th with Gomez 2nd….FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGRRRRRRNNNNNEUUUULLLLRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGH
@Eddy:
They arent.
Kennedy wins the rematch over Oswalt
1 – 0 – the only run in the game was by
J. Upton shot over the grassy knoll deep center
@Elijah:
Ah ok, Yahoo just hasn’t given his ERA the finishing blow then. ESPN has.
Shit, that could cost me the week man. Ridiculous.
@penpen Says:yea I notice the game was in Texas -
can i have some backing on DROPPING jose lopez from seattle? ughh disgusting, took the dude in the 10th rd of my rcl i think….
i could plug in adam rosales or orlando hudson?
or slide wiggy into that slot, and snag up a 3B/1B….
Kouz, jose bautista, casey blake…. bleh, not alot of options, but are ANY of these better than jose lopez or should i wait it out….
I could also drop Juan Rivera and BENCH J. Lopez til he MAYBE turns it around?
At least they took him out before it was a total disaster hah
Berkman + Pelfrey for Kershaw too much?
O-Dog or Alexei at MI?
@mrbaseball: Upton hits a bullet to center… it’s going back, back, back (and to the left)… it’s gone!
@Eddy: Looks like I’ll be streaming to try and save it now!
Several teams going
Hamels x 3 – check
Oswalt x 3 – check
Santana – bench – check
Lincecum – check
Burnett – Check
Kershaw x 2 – Screws a beauty outing by cole on both teams where co-owned. KERSHARRRGH!!
Vladdy with a Grand Salamy….I’m hungry now…someone make me a sandwhich!!!
I wish Kershaw was a candidate stuck on that sinking sub so that present day Kershaw couldn’t make tonights start.
@BKK:
Well the bright side for you is that you had enough good pitching tonight that it softened the blow a bit.
My decision to go with Kershaw over Ubaldo in the draft gets magnified more and more every time Ubaldo goes out and annihilates and Kershaw answers with 17 BBs.
On the plus side, Kershaw only gave up two walks.
@Eddy: Damn
@Tony: Those options are bad.
@knighttown: I’d want Kershaw.
@knighttown: Alexei
@struggler: I hope that’s not a spoiler for Lost that hasn’t even aired on the West Coast yet.
@Awesomus Maximus: Ha
glad I rolled the dice on Ervin, not so much on Kershaw. Who knew the mighty Brewers would beat him like a red-headed stepchild?
@Awesomus Maximus:
Not sure if there’s sarcasm there lol. He only pitched 1.1 innings so yea…
@Grey: Grey, why no love for O-Dog? Swinging a hot bat, SBs, good average.
@struggler:
I haven’t even seen season 6 yet, and if that’s a Lost reference to that season, I’m going to be pretty ticked!
@Grey: Do you think Borbon could be sent down or won’t get enough steals batting down in the order to have value, or just that Lee will be better? I do need steals. I have to use my waiver priority on the right one.
@Eddy: Heh… yeah, I own Kershaw in one roto league, so I’m aware. The damage he just did is going to take about 10 quality starts to undo.
@struggler: Really? You needed to crowbar spoilers for a show that many haven’t seen yet for that weak reference? I’m more annoyed with you right now than I am with Kershaw.
@struggler: @Grey: Yeah, that goes along the lines of a Lost spoiler…Pretty good episode tonight! Too bad Kershaw’s start wasn’t as good!!! I have the same sentiments as you on the part of the sub!
@Grey:
So where are we at with Kershaw right now? Hold, sell, or just bang my head on the desk and moan?
Longoria cheering me up with another Donk at least.
@Awesomus Maximus: Its everyone on the west coasts fault!! Y’all need to move east!! At least to like Mid-West…Don’t you know California is going to fall off the ocean???
@Elijah:
Make sure it’s not a metal desk.
@GopherDay: @Awesomus Maximus:
Out of all the places to have a Lost episode ruined, Razzball was one of the last ones I’d imagined. I hope I have a random bout of amnesia when I watch it on DVD in a few months.
@Eddy: To be fair, I did not ruin anything!! I just confirmed that something was in fact a spolier. It was a rather weak reference though.
@Elijah: I’d hold, but if you want to sell then check your league’s draft results and see who might have wanted him badly but had to settle for someone else. Like me, I wanted him badly but had to take Garza instead. Needless to say, I’m happy.
@GopherDay:
Naw I’m not blaming you. And it probably was, but my friend told me that the latest episode evoked a certain emotion (won’t say it to prevent any further spoiling), which led me to believe one thing, which is probably true.
Boy that sounded vague.
The more I watch this season of Lost, the more I hope that Terry O’Quinn (Locke) goes on to have a very successful acting career. He delivers every single episode.
@Eddy: That was kind of vague….
And keeping it vague, this episode didn’t really make me emote any emotion. (Like that makes any sense, right?) It wasn’t like clicking for me, but it didn’t raise any more questions, there was one part that evicted some emotion (Still staying vague). This is confusing everyone probably. I’ll stop now.
Speaking of Lost, David Wright all of a sudden looks like a legit candidate… for 30/30 .
@Nathan: He’s like a billion years old!!! No! Wait thats Alpert!! No, he’s like in his thirtys…Gah!!! I’m confusing myself!!!
Who would think that a Lost conversation would start at a Fantasy Baseball website?
@Eddy: Fortunately, I don’t have him on the team in Tony’s league who I am H2H with this week (he is a little steamed), but fair enough, on another H2H team my ERA 5.4 and WHIP is 1.7. It will take a bunch of clean innings this week to clean that mess up. My Roto team is taking a beating between him Cueto and Hamels start.
Garza or Wainwright for the rest of the year, who would you rather have?
Can I drop Jose Lopez for Juan Pierre? I got the providential Kelly Johnson manning 2B, and I need some steals.
@Tom Emanski:
I sold in one league early on and got Haren for Kersh+R Soriano. That deal seems pretty good atm. I don’t think hes worth much to sell, but I don’t really trust him to start him right now either.
Anyone have any news on Fowler? Just picked him up for SB, but this is probably going to slow him down.
***Dexter Fowler is out of the lineup on Tuesday with a sprained ankle.
@Elijah: Good trade. Make sure to trade Haren after the break. Last year I traded Haren for Wainwright straight up and got an absolutely dominant season out of that roster spot after Wainwright finished strong.
On another entertainment (but somewhat baseball related) note, someone through a perfect game in MLB 2K10 and submitted the video proof. Why does this matter?
He just won $1,000,000.
They’ll appear tomorrow on The Early Show
I see Dotel Rwanda got the save with only a walk given.
@Eddy: Dang!! Awesome!!! For them…Haha!! Who’d they pitch? Lincy?
@Curly Day: As a Garza owner, it’s gotta be Wainwright. Pitches in the NL, has a more proven track record, and he’s off to a stronger start than last year.
@Curly Day: Garza’s upside is probably Wainwright-level, but who knows if he gets there this year.
@Grey: After tonight’s start should I still prefer to keep Kershaw instead of Price? Dude got rocked.
When did the Yankees trade Vasquez to the Dodgers for Kershaw?
@GopherDay:
Not sure, they’ll probably reveal it tomorrow. In the week or so that I had time to invest hours in that game though, it was clear to me that Ubaldo was probably the best SP to play as. He reaches 100 and Lincy only reaches about 94-95.
That’d be pretty ironic if he did use Ubaldo though lol
@Tom Emanski:
Yeah I was supposed to have Dotel benched too, oh well that worked out. At least one team had a great pitching day. Kennedy, Hamels, and clean saves from the Brain Freeze Boys Dotel and Qualls.
@Mojo the Helper Monkey: yeah i knew that…major bb faux paux on my part…got the adams mixed up.
@Eddy: Yeah, I don’t have a 360 or a PS3, so I’m kind of out of luck when it comes to that. But I’ve played it a couple of times. It would be ironic though.
For those of you who play yahoo -
Looks like Yahoo changed the graphics and messed up the functionality in the process. Brilliant move making the change during the evening games
to make lineup changes – make the changes you want but instead of hitting the Submit button hit the cancel button – it seems to work untill Yahoo figures this out
@mrbaseball: Yeah, and the new graphics don’t even look all that good. Why mess up with what they had?
@mrbaseball: Hmmm…works fine for me. Weird
@Everyone: I think I know the answer to this, but which side of this trade do you prefer?
I give: Robinson Cano and Ryan Zimmerman
I get: Tex and Wright
I’ll move Kelly Johnson would take over 2B with a lineup shuffle that won’t really affect anything. I’m leaning towards taking it, but what do y’all think? Is Cano’s hot start worth keeping?
@GopherDay: Even though Johnson will cool off, you gotta do that trade.
@GopherDay: gotta make that trade
Ugh, Shields, quit shining and grant me some goddamn schadenfraude.
@Tom Emanski: @penpen: Its kind of that bitter sweet deal, if you know what I mean. These players have kept you going for so long, but the right deal comes along and BAM!
@GopherDay: yeah, I hear ya, feels a little cold, trading up and trading in
@penpen: I hear ya. This is what I traded for last year. Not the crap he continually dished up.
@Steve: yes! there are many of us on that boat and it is a resentful boat
Chances No Way Jose sticks as closer in Philly? I’m feelin’ it for some reason. Is it b/c I own him?
@Kazmere: Good average, but he’ll cool down, he doesn’t offer anything else.
@Elijah: You can’t sell him after that thrashing.
@pubscoot: Bleh
Question for people who care about holds: Why didn’t Wuertz’s outing today get scored as a hold? I can’t work it out.
Kershaw + Morales = Another Bullshit Night in Suck City
hey i have a question about Mark Reynlds. its his 3rd full year in the league and i’ve been trying to get an idea for what babip means to a players sucess. i figured out that reynolds career babip is 354 in those 3 years. obviously this is high and probably hard to repeat, but what if he only strikes out 180 ties this season? Is it possible that if he can sustain a number near his career babip or even more like a 310-320 that he could hit 280-290 with 40 homers and 100 rbis? can somone give me an answer?
ps: its also fun to say babip like a word instead of spelling t out.
@Gubbins: http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/sports/fantasysports/baseball/scoring/baseball-92.html
@dean: It is fun to say. In short, if he has a BABIP above his career rate, he’s getting lucky. If it’s below, he’s getting unlucky. No one’s hitting .290 just because they only strikeout 180 times. He could hit .190 and strikeout 180 times or he could hit .290. Not correlated. Of course, it’s harder to hit .290 if you strikeout a lot.
Missed you grey. Even so, Im a little surprised with the lack of Wade Leblanc coverage. Did I miss the memo? With that said, please pick one: Leblanc, Brandon Morrow, Masterson, Wade Davis.
@dean: Wondered about this, too. In the preseason predictions, there was a joke about Shin Soo Choo having telekinesis which affected his BABIP favorably.
But once again this season, Soo Choo is among the BABIP leaders. Maybe guys like Reynolds and Soo Choo are just better at hitting the ball in holes?
Yeah. Just was frustrated.