Don Mattingly said that Kenley Jansen is now his closer.  His exact words were, “There was a time and a place to put a closer in the setup role and an inferior pitcher in the closer role and that time has past.  I will know try to figure out why I ever shaved my mustache.  Things were much easier when Joe Torre was in the dugout managing the team and not on speed dial.  ‘Ooh, I’m Joe Torre, I take twenty minutes to return a text.’  C’mon, man, I can only ask for a replay review so many times!  I wonder if I can get Paul Sorvino to be my bench coach.  Or Joe Mantegna, he also kinda looks like Torre.”  Jansen will be a $12 Salad in all leagues by July, if not sooner.  Yes, he should be owned in all leagues, if he isn’t already.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Jhoulys Chacin – Went to the Disgraceful List when he refused his assignment to Triple-A.  If you are gonna suck in your first 5 MLB starts of the year, Jhoulys you can do is report to AAA.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

I have a secret to share with you (You: ‘Despite being the producer of Entourage, you still call Mark Wahlberg Marky Mark?’‘ Me: ‘Yes, but that wasn’t the secret I was referring to’).  My secret is 2B is chalk full of value plays this year.  There were so many overvalued players going into 2011 that busted, we’re left to buy low on multiple candidates this year.  A look over at Mock Draft Central tells me that a guy that gave us 21/16 and a bad average last year is worth 7 rounds less than a guy that went 21/17 with a bad average.  We’re talking about Kelly Johnson (ADP: 236) vs Danny Espinosa (ADP: 148).  That’s crazy glazed with a WTF and garnished with an LOL.  I can only guess having a girl’s name is the reason for the price tag difference.  In a perfect draft, I have Dan Uggla on my team and am taking either Johnson or Espinosa but would settle for a BA friendly Brandon Phillips over Uggla in that situation as well.  Because of the depth, I’m most likely avoiding the top tier 2Bs unless they fell to me.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Oakland Athletics 2011 Minor League Review
Overall farm rankings via Baseball America (2011)
2011 (28) | 2010 (12) | 2009 (3) | 2008 (27) | 2007 (27) | 2006 (26) | 2005 (8) | 2004 (17)

Record of Major and Minor League Teams
MLB: [74-82] AL West
AAA: [88-56] Pacific Coast League – Sacramento
AA: [63-77] Texas League – Midland
A+: [75-65] California League – Stockton
A: [76-62] Midwest League – Burlington, Iowa
A(ss): [39-35] Northwest League – Vermont Lake
R: [27-29] Arizona Rookie League

The Run Down
Once again, the Oakland Athletics farm system is rather top heavy, lacks pitching depth and several of their “future” studs have struggled.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Oakland Athletics 2010 Minor League Review
Overall farm rankings via Baseball America (2010)
2010 (12) | 2009 (3) | 2008 (27) | 2007 (27) | 2006 (26) | 2005 (8) | 2004 (17)

Record of Major and Minor League Teams
MLB: [81 – 81] AL West
AAA: [79 – 65] Pacific Coast League – Sacramento
AA: [70 – 70] Texas League – Midland
A+: [74 – 66] California League – Stockton
A: [71 – 67] Midwest League – Kane County
A(ss): [42 – 36] Northwest League – Vancouver
R: [30 – 26] Arizona Rookie League

The Run Down
After the 2009 season in which the A’s saw eight prospects graduate, the 2010 season saw only one – Tyson Ross.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Oakland Athletics 2009 Minor League Review
Overall farm rankings via Baseball America (2009)
2009 (3) | 2008 (27) | 2007 (27) | 2006 (26) | 2005 (8) | 2004 (17)

Record of Major and Minor League Teams
MLB: [75 – 87] AL West
AAA: [86 – 57] Pacific Coast League
AA: [78 – 62] Texas League
A+: [61 – 79] California League
A: [76 – 64] Midwest League
A(ss): [36 – 40] Northwest League
R: [22 – 34] Arizona Rookie League

The Run Down
With one of the largest graduating classes in 2009, the A’s would seem to have a depleted system.

Please, blog, may I have some more?