Chad Billingsley was a fave on mine coming into the year, and he pitched great for maybe a third of a season, passable for a third and pretty forgettable for the other third. It’s with great regret I tell you to sell him for fifty cents on the dollar in one year leagues. He wasn’t pitching all that well for a while now and now he’s dealing with a hamstring injury. (This injury may actually save his arm from falling off.) In one year leagues, you need guys that are going to help you right now. It’s August, ya’ll — thanks, Mr.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Wladimir Balentien
Carlos Ruiz and angry Philly fans have a new battery mate in Cliff Lee, as he was traded from the Indians along with Ben Francisco. Going the other way were a slew of prospects, including my fave, Carlos Carrasco. J.P.
Please, blog, may I have some more?With Wakefield headed to the DL with a bad back (can’t he throw his knuckleball while sitting down?), Clay Buchholz will step into the Sawx rotation. In 99 innings of Triple-A, Buchholz had a line of 2.36/.98 and 89 Ks. His walks were down this year in the minors, though he did walk 3 in his only major league start this year vs.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Was talking to some friends the other day and one of them thought Ichiro Suzuki was the best all around player he had ever seen. No, he wasn’t Asian or wearing a Buhner jersey. He made his case — defense, cannon arm, can hit any pitch to any field, speed, etc. I countered Rickey Henderson was better. Then somehow it dissolved into how did Bud Selig let steroids ruin baseball. But when he said Ichiro, it wasn’t a slam dunk, “We’re only on our second pitcher of Molson. How are you already drunk?” It was a point to consider. I guess in fantasy baseball sometimes we forget about how great players were or are and only concern ourselves with the numbers. Ah… Nostalgia, I remember you! Well, the numbers say Ichiro is currently ranked 56th for Runs for all outfielders. Behind some stalwarts as Fukudome, Teahen and Skip Schumaker. He’s currently ranked 100th in RBIs just behind Joe Thurston. Hey, he’s got speed though, right? He has 12 steals. The same as Vernon Wells. Ichiro is terrific for average, but that’s only getting you so far. He’s extremely valuable for average. If you need a boost there, then by all means trade for him. But if you’re fine on average or hurting elsewhere, I’d look to trade away Ichiro. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Chad Gaudin – NL West starter? Oh, Grey must own him.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Given the plum matchup of the Nationals for his first Sawx start, John Smoltz turned the opportunity into prunes with a 4-run 1st inning. But then he started shaking off the rust and gave up only 1 ER and 3 hits in the next 4 innings.
Please, blog, may I have some more?This was, as they say in Italy, an Experto Callaspo AL-Only draft. What AL-Only means to me? Thanks for asking, random italicized voice. It means I probably won’t have one pitcher that I would usually have in a mixed league. I contemplated about how I wanted to go about this draft. It’s good to have a game plan, ya know? So I decided, since I don’t really like AL pitchers, I would get solid pitchers anyway. Zoinks! I figured that solid pitchers would be at a premium and if I got my share, I’d be in good shape. Also, from my knowledge of other ‘pert drafts, no one drafts starters early, so while they’re zigging, I decided to zag. “Knowing your opponents’ weaknesses is half the duel,” Aaron Burr. When you see my pitchers, you’ll see I didn’t really get that many great ones, but for AL-Only I have a top three pitching staff going into the season. Then there’s the strategy I employed for hitters. I decided to punt catchers, of course, and up the middle. Punting the MIs was because I knew who I wanted late and I knew guys like Alexei Ramirez would go way early (He went in the 2nd round.) Okay, before I get to my thoughts I jotted down during the AL-Only draft, here’s my co-conspirators:
Fantasy Baseball Dugout
The Fantasy Man
Fantasy Sports Commissioner Training Institute
Rotohelp
Sporting News
ProFantasy Baseball
Roto Central
Advanced Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy Sports R Us
Fantasy Baseball Sherpa
Fanball
Here’s my team:
C: Taylor Teagarden (19)
1B: Carlos Pena (3)
2B: Asdrubal Cabrera (15)
SS: Jed Lowrie (11)
3B: Brandon Wood (12)
MI: Wilson Betemit (23)
CI: Jason Giambi (10)
OF: Carlos Quentin (1)
OF: Carl Crawford (2)
OF: Vernon Wells (5)
OF: Franklin Gutierrez (14)
OF: Brett Gardner (16)
UT: DeWayne Wise (25)
P: James Shields (4)
P: Joba Chamberlain (6)
P: John Danks (7)
P: Brad Ziegler (8)
P: Brandon Lyon (9)
P: Anthony Reyes (13)
P: Dan Wheeler (17)
P: Kevin Millwood (18)
P: Rafael Betancourt (22)
Bench: Melky Cabrera (20), Wladimir Balentien (21), Matt Thornton (24), Jeremy Sowers (26), Damaso Marte (27)
Notes I jotted down during the draft:
ROUND 1 & 2 – I get Carlos N Carl with my first two picks. Yuck. Seriously, I hate AL-Only. I have no idea where all the good players have gone, but I think it’s into the NL.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Here we are at the last of the 2009 fantasy baseball rankings before we get to the top 300 for 2009 fantasy baseball. Some of these top 80 outfielders are really only worth owning in deep leagues or NL- or AL-Only leagues. But in those leagues, they could make a big difference and could become fantasy relevant in more shallow leagues. I probably won’t have a lot of these guys on any of my 12 team league teams, because I like to shore up OF earlier than these guys would be drafted, but that’s not to say I have no love for them. Oh, I do. Anyway, here’s the top 80 outfielders for 2009 fantasy baseball:
61.
Please, blog, may I have some more?