The Orioles love their ex-Cubbies so they decided to sample some of their Pecan’t Pie rather than just hand the LF job to Nolan Reimold. As with most of these rookies, a lot depends on starting jobs. And Reimold doesn’t have one. Yet. So who’s blocking Reimold? Luke Scott? Who are you, Luke Scott? A 30-something prospect? Luke Scott must’ve called Matt Stairs for advice on how to prolong a major league career that should’ve ended years ago. Go to the DL, Luke. (He’s not there yet, but maybe if we all hold our breath. What Razzballers want, Razzballers get!) Then there’s Felix Pee-ay, who is crap-ay. He was hurt in yesterday’s game. Not to mention, many think his ship has already come and gone for prospect status. If Reimold emerges from this O’s left fielder mess, he’s a slugger who we think could hit for power without costing you too much in the average department. The nice thing about Reimold compared to a rookie pitcher — say, I don’t know, Hochevar!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Manny Parra
I was alerted yesterday in our fantasy baseball forums that Ozzie Guillen will be sitting Alexei Ramirez for Jayson Nix. And it may not be for just one game. This makes perfect sense. A guy who has never played a game at shortstop in the major leagues. A guy who got the Rockies starting job at 2nd last year and hit .125 and 2 extra-base hits in 56 ABs. A guy who couldn’t hold off Omar Quintanilla for the utility man role in Colorado. A guy whose last name says it all.
Please, blog, may I have some more?As Stephen Drew tried to take that step forward in 2009 that fantasy baseball owners craved, he hurt his hamstring. Wonder what a Drew family vacation is like… “J.D., you wanna go see the world’s largest bottle cap? It’s supposedly 17 inches in circumference!” “Sure, I’ll go tell Mom and Pop.” On the way to the Sequoia, two hamstring pulls, a fractured hip and the Mom needs Tommy John surgery. Pretty sure no one’s giving them joint family coverage. The MDs in AZ say Drew’s injury shouldn’t knock him out longer than the 15 days. When you consider he hadn’t even started to hit yet, looks like Drew’ll begin his season mid-May. All in all, this is a decent buy low guy right now. If you can trade some spare parts for him (closer-du-jour, extra OF, etc.), he should prove worth stashing. He’s still talented and he can have a solid three-quarters of a season. Hopefully, he spent the first quarter on someone else’s team. Anyway, here’s what else we saw yesterday for fantasy baseball:
Brandon Webb – Earliest return date is late-May. Still a long season so you can’t really sell him short, but with the trouble coming in his right shoulder, I’d be worried this doesn’t become a worst situation before it gets better.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Ryan Doumit went from sleeper to 2nd tier fantasy catcher last year after he managed to take a year off from his Glass Joe impersonation that dogged him throughout 2006-2007 (2006 = 89 games missed w/ hamstring issues, 2007 = 26 games missed with wrist, and then 20 games with ankle). Actually, he missed 27 games last year with thumb (20), concussion ( 5 ) and the flu (two separate days), so even when he’s healthy he’s “merely a flesh wound” away from the DL. He’s now out for 8-10 weeks. Punt! (Or stash him on your DL if it’s empty.) I’d look at Baker, Salty, Shoppach or Hundley, all those names depend on league depth, of course. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Ian Stewart – Has played 5 games in OF (3 started). He’s 5 games played away from OF eligibility in Yahoo!
Please, blog, may I have some more?Lastings Milledge was sent to the minors yesterday clearing room for Elijah Dukes to cover for him in center and probationary hearings. Luckily, on his way out of town, Milledge stopped by Razzball HQ with some “word science.” After you read the rhymes Milledge dropped, feel free to drop him.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The title was part of a special Simpsons that Kim Jong Il commissioned where Ralph Wiggum’s mouth is jammed shut full of Korean bean paste. Stupid American! Last year in 317 ABs, Shin-Soo Choo had 14 HRs and 4 steals while batting .309. Though, as I used to say to one ex-girlfriend, “Beware the small sample size.” Hmm… Maybe that’s oversharing. Choo’s last two months were a bit-torrent, to incorrectly use the slang of the kids. If you were to project Choo’s last year stats out over a full season with a full-time job, you get the wrong idea. He’s not a 25+ home run guy. The good thing (as of right now), he does have the full time job. In 2009, we should expect Shin-Soo Choo to have less power than he showed, but more speed.
Please, blog, may I have some more?We’ve gone over whether or not you should grab a starter early, Rudy’s fantasy baseball strategy says sure, why not? My fantasy baseball strategy says not so much. Whichever strategy you subscribe to, you’re still going to need some late round value. The top 20, 40, 60 and 80 starters for 2009 fantasy baseball can be found under the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings. As I used to call Cliff Notes in college, this is a companion piece. If you click on some of the player’s names, you’ll see whole posts dedicated to these doodes with 2009 fantasy baseball projections. Anyway, here’s some starters to target for 2009 fantasy baseball:
Manny Parra – I hesitated to put Kershaw on this list because of his walks, but the same could be said about Parra, and, in a roundabout way, I just did. The deciding factor was Kershaw is a bit more expensive at drafts than Parra.
Please, blog, may I have some more?My 2008 preseason pick to win the NL Rookie of the Year award was Manny Parra. Aren’t you glad you’re listening to me for fantasy baseball advice? In Rudy’s top 20 risky pitchers post, he didn’t label Manny Parra an injury risk for 2009. He said, “Throws five pitches (Fastball, Curveball, Changeup, Split-Finger, and Slider) all for balls (4.07 BB/9 IP). Big spike in MLB pitch count (2,403) but only 323 if you factor in Minors. 20% breaking ball rate is fair. Feel like his bigger issue will be throwing strikes in 2009 vs.
Please, blog, may I have some more?In our 2009 fantasy baseball rankings, we’ve gone to the top 60 starters and top 60 outfielders thus far. But since it’s advisable by me and everyone else that has every wielded a fantasy baseball quill to draft pitching late, I figured I needed to give you twenty or so more to bring the tally to the top 80. There will be a top 80 outfielder post too. Christmas came late, ya’ll! In mixed leagues, if I’m drafting this late and I have a choice between an NL pitcher and an AL pitcher, I’d prefer to go for the NL pitcher. They pitch to other pitchers and mostly weaker offenses. That is a post in itself. Also, a lot of these pitchers (and others which will be highlighted during the season) will be smart pickups for some match-ups but aren’t worth starting every game unless they get on a roll. Anyway, here’s the top 80 starters for 2009 fantasy baseball:
61.
Please, blog, may I have some more?We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2009 Brewers Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Chuckie Hacks.
Please, blog, may I have some more?