Pablo Sandoval swings at everything. Every. Thing. 25% is around the average that a player will swing outside of the zone. Pablo’s around 43%. The amount he swings at inside the strike zone is around 82%, league average is just off 45%. Thankfully, he makes contact with over 75% of pitches outside the strike zone vs. around the average of 62%. Grey, I had two Vicodins for breakfast. Can we skip the percentages? Thanks! Okay, as Sandoval gets older, his glove and his free swinging ways could become an issue. But right now, Pablo Sandoval is only 23. Even if he’s a Latin 23 that only puts him at 27. Still safe. In 2010, Sandoval can hit another 20+ homers and continue to bat around .315. In most leagues, he’ll lose his catcher eligibility, but I still think he can be a keeper at a corner position. Just keep in mind, Sandoval doesn’t only share a body type with Billy Butler, he also shares his lack of big boy power. Sandoval might approach 30 homers, but I wouldn’t expect much more than that. He’s not inside Prince Fielder’s Russian nesting doll waiting to explode. Anyway, here’s some more fantasy baseball keepers for 2010:
Ian Stewart – I’m not saying keep him over Utley or Hill, but he’ll be eligible at 2nd next year and he’ll only be 25. Your apprehension with low averages already cost you Mark Reynolds this year. “Those who something or something are destined to repeat it.”
Troy Tulowitzki – Confusing metaphor in 3, 2, 1… Tulo’s gritty and hard-nosed like a dock worker that only eats kielbasa. Maybe that’s why he feels like he’s been around forever. Like you expect him to show up in one of those black and white scratchy films where all the players toss the ball around like they’re on speed. Whatever the case, he’s only going to be 25 next year. A 30/20 season is not out of the question.
going to be a few rockies kept or drafted fairly high next year,hopefully they trade an outfielder,keep spillborghs for your 4th,where does hawpe stand contract wise?
@AL KOHOLIC: I think Hawpe’s days are numbered.
@AL KOHOLIC: In Colorado, that is.
@Grey: thats what i were a thinkin,whilst i was a drinkin,this rebuilding gives me a good excuse to have a nip
@Marshlands: Podsednik tops in my points league at 3.46 per game.
Thome and Beckham at 3.35.
Konerko and Dye at 3.25
Pierzynski @ 2.64.
cust kayin’
Did Hill take some of Manny’s Kool-Aid so that he is now breast feeding? Toronto is at home. Can’t he bring the kid to the dugout?
@Simply Fred: Come again, not following…
@Grey: Sep. 7: “Hill’s wife had gone into labor, so he left the game to be with her. He isn’t expected to miss much time, assuming every goes well with the birth of his child.”
Aaron: You can bring a towel. I promise not to peak.
@Simply Fred: Or, peek.
@Simply Fred: wheres the guys prioities
@Simply Fred: Hehe
@AL KOHOLIC: Good point.
@AL KOHOLIC: Exactly. Which comes first, loving a new child or getting a walk for Fantasy?
@Simply Fred: Well, since you put it that way. He can have another day off.
@Simply Fred: im in a tight race in my money league,i have 97.5 the leader at 103 another at 102,going to be tough,gets down to a week left then ill pull out all the stops,dropping anyone that isnt needed in a special area
@Simply Fred: yeah and its already a hald schedule today
@AL KOHOLIC: a half schedule
@AL KOHOLIC: Paulie says you ain’t that close. Oh, that’s not the money league. Pulling for you.
@grey: Stewart gusher!
@cws05nuts: Ha! They can’t all be about Beckham.
@Simply Fred: no ,in th rcl im in 4th,should be 3rd but espn didnt have a PP next to hansons name,cost me a point in era and a point i whip,
@Grey: the 2010 white sox could be an endless conversation. Rios, missile, getz, jd, blech. You know who has the highest wins above replacement for the ole cws? Give up? AJ. scary.
@cws05nuts: I was looking at AJ recently for a postseason post and I couldn’t believe how well he did this year compared to other catchers, but how poorly he’s done in the grand scheme of things.
@AL KOHOLIC: ah,still would be 4th even with the 2 points,
@Grey: Calls a great game but yeah… 40 rbis from an everyday player in the AL is rough. 50 runs isn’t much better. But I think it is more a reflection of the station to station ball the cws practice. One more go around in 2010 and then it is the Tyler Flowers show. But he makes me nervous. I can’t remember the Braves ever dishing out the goods.
Keeper Question!
Get to keep 4
Wright – 1st
Reyes – 1st
Hamilton – 9th
Zimmerman – 7th
Verlander – 12th
Ian Stewart – 16th
Wandy – 20th
leaning Zimm, Verl, Stew, Hambone…throwin the 1st rounders back and hopefully redrafting one.
could also keep reyes and wright in the 1st and 2nd respectfully.
Thanks Grey
@cws05nuts: Flowers will be owned by more teams than he should when he gets the call. Everyone will be annoyed he didn’t, um, bloom, then he’ll be underrated, move to DH and perform in 2012.
@Grey Poop On: Nice username. I agree with who you’re keeping.
@Grey: Yeah that’s a problem the cws are falling into the NL farm team pattern with too many DHs. Dayan Cuban experiment #3, jd, carlos, flowers. And this Rios thing is killing me. It is like they gave Brian Anderson a huge raise. I love the defensive capabilities, he tracks down balls like an antelope, and he helps shore up the outfield with Carlos, Scotty, or JD patrolling… But outside the metrics Rios’ swing is ungodly long and slow. It makes me thinks he can shatter the regression to the mean rule.
You think Figgins will command a huge pay day this offseason? He would help my cause. Get Beckham off 3b and get the missile out of the infield.
Love the notion of a Pablo or Fielder Russian nesting doll… It reminded me of the Gywnn doll the Padres gave away in 2003 (http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/sports/baseball/images/memorabilia/tonygwynne-babushkas.JPG)
The Padres got it all wrong, though. They should have reversed the order of the jerseys. Gwynn most certainly has not gotten smaller as time has gone on.
When I googled “gwynn nesting doll”, I learned this: “It is the biggest Babooshkah giveaway in the history of Major League Baseball.” Or i guess it was in August of 2003. Learnin new things every day!
Does anyone have a guess as to how many games Eric Young Jr. will play next week? I would drop Stubbs for him if I could count on him for 5 or more games. Especially now that Stubbs realized that he doesn’t hit for power and he strikes out a lot, and adapted his game to reflect these truths.
@Grey Poop On: How did Hamilton go in the 9th round?
woa,2 sb by young and a hr from atkins
@cws05nuts: Figgins could end up there, but I think he’ll go somewhere in the NL or stay with the Angels.
@royce!: The Babooshkah craze gets smaller every day.
My guess is Young won’t play more than 4 games. Could steal 4 bases more than Stubbs in that time though.
@cws05nuts: Braves certainly gave the goods away when they sent Wainwright to the Cards and that boatload of talent to Texas: Andrus, Feliz et al…
@Grey: Grey, any more under the radar potential breakouts for next year. Someone who is playing well, but will explode like Werth did this year. I’d nominate Fox if i thought Pinella would retire.
@Telemachus: Oh, man, huge question. I’ll be going over guys all winter.
Yeah, and I’ll be reading that…but trying to get a jump because I have until the end of the season for adds…you can keep as many as you want from your 28 man roster in this league, so I like to add a potential March breakout before he gets bid up in the auction. I’ve got Fox already, and a lot of candidates are gone already…Another cub on waivers is Milton Bradley (rebound?)…I’m also thinking about stashing Meche…I am still competing though…12 pt lead, but every category is a nail biter…Thinking about Pavano for his 2 starts next week?
@Telemachus: I’d stash Bradley, for sure. Pavano’s worth a try. Who else is out there? E. Young?
@Grey: almost no prospects available, 2 of the 14 teams were rebuilding. Holland just got dropped, that’s why I asked about him earlier this week. I am weak up the middle, so I’m hoping that Scott Sizemore will be available in a week or two when I have space and time (only allowed two moves a week) to add him. But everyone like Stras, Bum, Matusz, Jennings etc are long gone…
@Telemachus: Ah… Gotcha. Okay, so who is out there?
Vernon Wells, Bradley…it’s limited…Seth Smith, Delgado, Nick Johnson, Franklin Morales (just looking at the most owned FAs)
Tazawa, Rondon and Bowden might be the best pitching prospects available…
MI there is nothing…Velez (I’m starting EverCab, Furcal and Ryan Roberts at the moment – thinking of switching to Velez or uribe and dumping Roberts) — that’s why I want Sizemore as a possible upgrade for next year.
hardy is available, how good would he be on Boston next year? (.270 and 20 HR?)
@Grey: If you happen to put out an early list before the season ends, hopefully there will be one hit for me…that’s all, I was just hoping to dig a little deeper than sandoval, stewart and tulo who are all owned and cheap in the league…
@Telemachus: In a league where you can keep as many players as you want Delgado, Wells, Bradley and Smith aren’t owned? They seem like they should be. Wells is only 30 years old, Smith’s been crazy hot lately, Bradley can bounce back big time out of Chitown…
Roberts is a pretty boring player who’s batting .200 in the last week. I’d switch them.
Hardy’s not a great player no matter where he is. .270-.250/20-25 HRs seems about right.
Just a couple HR & RBI out of 1st place. SS is the only place to swap a player. Who’s more donkalicious the last few weeks of the season? Alex Gonzalez, S. Drew, or Barmes?
@Razzin: I’d go with Drew.
@Grey: Wells was just dropped, but the reason they are available is the limit of 28 roster spots, 5 bench and no DL. 2 teams are basically all prospects and a few others recently gave up their pursuit of the money. You can keep everyone but each player goes $2 during the off-season and we have a hard cap at $265. So keeping everyone raises your entire roster $56 each winter. It all depends on when you get a guy (that is before everyone knows about him). A-rod is $54, Manny is $44, but Hanley is only $7. It’s an interesting league, I took over the last place team 3 seasons ago and have really enjoyed the format. We also use IP instead of WHIP, which greatly devalues closers and guys with high K but bad WHIP don’t hurt you.
Anyway, thanks as always. I think I’ll try and stash Bradley or Smith for $1 before the season ends.
@Telemachus: in case it wasn’t clear the 5 bench are part of the 28.
@Telemachus: Ah… Okay, makes sense.
Waiver 1 – Sep 11: Madison Bumgarner dropping Brett Cecil
this is my setup in my 20 team dynasty keeper league – Do you agree
@mr baseball: I like Cecil for next year, but Bumgarner can be something very special.
I am considering starting Sean West tonight in Metco. Acceptable or horrible idea?
@anon: He got shellacked in his last start, but it’s a decent risk if you need to take it.
From Rotoworld:
Brad Lidge is no longer the Phillies’ closer.
Manager Charlie Manuel said that Lidge will pitch in “low-stress” situations moving forward. That could include non-pressure save opportunities, but, either way, Ryan Madson looks to be the new primary ninth-inning man in Philadelphia.
“Tulo’s gritty and hard-nosed like a dock worker that only eats kielbasa.”
Ha! Yeah, he reminds me of Nick Sobotka.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTkV-eoZsTE
@Razzin: Thanks for the heads up!
@ScoutAbout: Ha! Nice.
mr baseball: I like Cecil for next year, but Bumgarner can be something very special.
I can’t pass up a special !
I can use hitting more than pitching hoping that Bumgarner THE NAME – might get me something in return – I am at waiver number 2 in the league – its late in the season and I know there is a small chance of one or two more big names coming up but – if one doesn’t jump on him then I am still 2
Oswalt you whore I thought you were benched.
Allright, come on Sean West, just induce a triple play here for me buddy
Ok, I’ll take it!
@Grey:
today’s headline acronym popped right off the page .
the lincecum shot took a bit longer .
don’t know if it’s cuz you left-coasters placed the emphasis on the wrong syllable , or if it’s a life-style thing .
@Grey:
@royce!:
my kid was at that game , and brought me back the smaller 2/3rds , because i was a tg fan . don’t know what happened to / or what he did with the larger doll , but i use mine for , (as luck would have it , ironically) my “hidden” vicodins … you know , the ones you save to do for that special day when the pain actually goes away .
@Grey:
who the hell is carlos rosa , and why is he closing games ??
@mr baseball: Makes sense.
@Dumbmutt: Ha!
@anon: Hehe
@big o: Soria had just been used a bunch of games in a row.
ha,grabbed matsui(houston)for tonight only 2-3 2 runs 2 sb`s
wtf everone watching the football game,overtime steeler win
hey al – sherlock homes looks really good – he gets open and makes the tough catches in the middle of the field – its going to be real tough to run agianst these clubs – short yardage the steelers will have to pass
@ Grey
What do you know of Ian Desmond..3rd round pick a few years back, pretty big guy, Shortstop…. any last 3 week upside?
Lackey Owns
@AL KOHOLIC: Sorry, I lost internet for almost three hours. I need to write tomorrow’s post now.
@Grey Poop On: I like him. Decent flier. I’ll talk about him in tomorrow morning’s post.
drop Frasor for Madson?
@penpen: Madson
@Grey:
Guess that answer’s my question before I asked…
@Grey:
Btw, Russian Nesting Dolls? You are officially on the Dennis Miller list of Left-Field References!