Fantasy Baseball Advice

Chien Ming Wang is out at least 6-10 weeks with a foot sprain.  (Yes, Wang limp until September.) Drop Wang.  Drop him now.  Definitely a blow for the Yanks. (Yes, usually Wang takes blow, not dealt one.)  If you were counting on him to pitch you to the fantasy pennant, you’ve got bigger issues. (Yes, your Wang problems are “big” issues.) Who are the Yankees turning to? Dan Giese. The new Yankee starter is a 31 year old phenom who has pitched for the Phillies and Giants affiliates the past two years.  Did we say phenom?  We meant journeyman.  But he had been a reliever who was known to have good stuff.  The Yanks made him a starter and his AAA numbers this year were fantastic – 59 IP, 1.98 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 51/14 K/BB.  Maybe he’s the next Aaron Small or Shawn Chacon?  Or at least another Darrell Rasner. Anyway, here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball:

Fernando Rodney – He’s been activated and he gave up 3 ER in a third of an inning. Welcome back!

Marcus Thames – 7HR in 9 Games. A frequent commenter RT added him 6 games ago. That’s awesome (for him)! But this got me thinking, we should divvy up all of the streakiest hitters and everyone should take one. So whenever your guy goes off, you tell everyone else. Not sure how to implement this, seems like a thing for the forums.

Justin Verlander – So he should’ve got the win, but, and I know it’s of little consolation, at least he was up for a win.

Curtis Granderson – 3 steals on the year. Pudge has 6. That’s awesome. I’m so bummed I didn’t get Grandy in any league. He’s bonafide!

Fred Lewis – .326 and 2 HRs in June, but only two steals. He can steal five in a week if he gets the urge.

Ryan Howard – Made his case for the heavyweight championship with 2 HR and a triple against the Sawx.  Howard’s been hot of late with 4 HR and 12 RBI in his last four games while cutting down his Ks to once every 4 AB.   The gauntlet has been set Mr. Fielder – do you accept the challenge?

JD Drew – Everyone on the Sawx seems to be getting hurt except Drew.  Now he’s on a streak – 7 HR in 17 G.  I bet the HR in Philly so pissed off the locals.  Who’s next on the Sawx to get hot?  Sean Casey?  Julio Lugo?

Andrew Miller – 7 IP, 1 ER. The Marlins are the last team to ever play in Seattle. Marlins pitchers now understand what everyone was talking about.

Bill Bavasi – We have a guy from Seattle in our cash league that always ends up with Mariners and even he admits Bill Bavasi is god awful.  Let’s count the ways.  Sexson to a monster contract.  A rotation that includes Washburn, Batista, and a $10MM/per Carlos Silva.  Paying off Adrian Beltre after a career year.  Jose Vidro at DH.  Extension for a Japanese catcher that his pitchers don’t like throwing to.  I’d let Bill Bavasi into any of my cash leagues next year…except for a Razzball one…he’s a natural.

This is the second morning I’ve woken up to a boxscore and I’m pissed off. This has nothing to do with fantasy baseball, and everything to do with baseball baseball. I like to watch the games. The first games were 3amPST (my time). First Selig makes an exhibition game, where none of the players care about the outcome, into the deciding factor for home field advantage in the World Series, now this. The opening of the season can’t take place while I’m fast asleep. It’s just stoopid. When they premiere a huge summer blockbuster is it done at 3am? No. Midnight. Which is reasonable. I would’ve stayed awake for that. The Japanese didn’t even care about the 2nd game because their beloved Dice-K wasn’t pitching. So who are you doing a game in Japan for? Expatriates? Bobby Valentine? Gedde Watanabe?

With that said, if Brandon Moss keeps getting starts, you might have to take a look soon because JD Drew has never been the model of good health. But I would wait until the Sox are back in the US to see how much Moss will play. He does have a good eye and decent pop. Manny looks like he’s starting the season on fire, which is good for his owners, but he’ll still get bored by July/August. Harden looked good last night at 3am (at least from the clips I saw, because it was too damn early to watch the game!), but let’s see Harden stay healthy for three months before we start giving everyone who drafted him a reach around.

Here’s looking forward to Sunday and the actual start of the season.