Comments on: Top 40 Starters for 2009 Fantasy Baseball

By: Lou P

Lou P — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:22:53 +0000

@Rudy & @Grey – wonderful, i just traded Santana for him. J/K of course. YES, finally, FBHOF will be back on track shortly. Tremendous kudos to you gents for having the drive, fortitude, and knowledge to make this site what it is.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:15:29 +0000

@Lou P: Hey, Lou, where the hell you been? You doing another FBHOF post or what? Rudy covered Vazquez a bit:

(http://razzball.com/20-risky-pitchers-for-2009/)

(http://razzball.com/2009-fantasy-baseball-projections-chone/)

By: Rudy Gamble

Rudy Gamble — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:13:38 +0000

@Lou P: Lou!!!!! What’s up? Yes, we definitely noticed the love for Vazquez’s shift to the NL by CHONE (i don’t think it’s as high in the others). See here..http://razzball.com/2009-fantasy-baseball-projections-chone/….’Chone’ Smith voiced in on it in the comments…

By: Lou P

Lou P — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:03:39 +0000

Hey Grey. Have you seen how high Pecota, Chone, Bill James, etc are on Javier Vazquez? They make him Top 5. Is this a case of crazy stat people on crack or do you think he can be this good.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:23:40 +0000

@James: He was 14th amongst all major league starters for his K rate at 22 years-old. He throws a 95 MPH fastball with ease and he breezed through the minors, adjusting quickly and moving on. He had a problem with HRs last year, which was new for him. He had some overworking (Damn you, Dusty!) and some walks, which he's shown he can fix. He's risky, but he can be flat-out nasty.

By: James

James — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:49:42 +0000

I made sure to keep Cueto on my radar as the season went on for next year; however, I didn’t like what I saw from him in the 2nd half. Can you give me some insight about why you like him this year?

By: Grey

Grey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:35:14 +0000

@James: Verlander just missed the cut, because besides anecdotal evidence from pitching coaches I haven't heard any concrete reason why his stats are continuing a downward trend. He will be on the top of the starters 41-60.

By: James

James — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:25:23 +0000

Any love for Verlander? I noticed last year it seemed Leyland kept him in games to long due to their terrible pen. With the addition of Lyon and hopefully a healthy Zumaya, I think he could rebound. Plus, I heard a report that Rick Knapp, a well respected pitching coach, has spotted a few flaws that he plans to iron out.

By: Grey

Grey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:21:33 +0000

@Brian: I put Nolasco down for 25 starts and I put him in the tier labeled, "Um, Reservations." I'm worried about Nolasco too, but his K/BB rate was too tantalizing for me to leave off completely. Greinke would be near the top on the 41-60 starter and he's not far off from Nolasco and as I said in the post above I almost listed him instead of Slowey.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:58:17 +0000

But Nolasco going from 55 IP to 212 IP, does’t bother you? I get what your saying, I just think you have a bit of a double standard going. Maybe your two worried about his mental make up which helps you justify not ranking him. Which if that’s it, you may have a point. But when you say you don’t list him for a reason when you list others higher for the same thing, it draws a question mark.

By: Grey

Grey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:47:38 +0000

@Brian: Going from not pitching, to pitching relief to starting 32 games worries me the most.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:33:55 +0000

You say Greinke was left off due to him being risky this year. Yet you list Cueto, Ervin, Nolasco, plus 2 guys who you think will make 15 and 20 starts. So um I’m curious … why?

By: Grey

Grey — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:28:28 +0000

@James: Nope, 30 is pretty high when you consider each team has 5 starters. Also, I mention the 3.07 September ERA. I like Harang to a certain extent for 2009.

By: James

James — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 04:18:00 +0000

I am thinking that Harang bounces back very well. When he came back his stats were strong, and I expect no more relief appearances, which will lead to him being back to his beast like behavior. 30 on the list leads me to believe you don’t think he can be dominant again. Is this the case?

By: Fred Barker

Fred Barker — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:02:33 +0000

I play in a points league. Wainwright costs 2370, Lowe 2570, Danks 2320. Chamberlain at 1730, Kershaw 1410, and Scherzer 1370 are the comparables. Understand what you are saying about being conservative. I am. Playing time matters to me. I am just saying that Maddon is a manager that has a track record of running his pitchers and that it is really not as much risk as normal to count on that from him regarding Price. (Read the Peavy review.)

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:52:33 +0000

@Fred Barker: Nah, I welcome debate. It's more than an open forum here. I'm just simply stating that I refuse to get overhyped on a rookie, no matter who he is. I prefer Wainwright, Lowe and Danks. If Price is there, I'd gamble on him, but I'd only expect 140 innings. It's just about being conservative. Because once you start saying Price can get 180 innings, then you start saying Furcal can hit 20 home runs and Verlander is due for a bounce back, etc. It's a slippery slope.

By: Fred Barker

Fred Barker — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:46:48 +0000

Grey, I appreciate your knowledge. Not trying to get under your skin. I think I may have your attention with the Maddon comment. Please read comment #12 regarding Peavy as a sleeper. You will like it better.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:41:20 +0000

@Fred Barker: If I have to draft the guy to be on my team and produce, I hope for the over and expect the under. If you feel confident Price is a 180 IP guy, then draft him more aggressively.

By: Fred Barker

Fred Barker — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:30:27 +0000

The difference maker is the manager. The Yanks will hold down Joba. AZ will hold down Scherzer. Maddon will run Price. I will go with 160 and take the over. Do you really want the under?

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:52:08 +0000

@Fred Barker: BP gives him 102 IP, CHONE gives him 80 IP, and he had threw about 140 IP last year between minors and majors. It's safe to bump him 30 innings so that leaves him at 170 IP. But you don't go into the season assuming 180 innings, you go in assuming 120, hope for 180 and allow for 140.

By: Fred Barker

Fred Barker — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 05:25:47 +0000

Grey, the significant underestimate is playing time for Price. Maddon racked up 193.1 IP for Sonnenstine, 184.2 for Garza, and 183.1 for Jackson in 2008. So, he won’t hold back on Price. Jump your numbers to 15-6/3.50/1.10/180 for a more realistic projection.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:58:56 +0000

@Fman99: I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy it but I might need an intern to get all of this stuff done. I'd put a winking emoticon here if I were the type to use emoticons. But I'm not, I'm mustached.

By: Fman99

Fman99 — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:29:43 +0000

I’d be more than happy to get the top 41-60 starters (and outfielders!). But, you know, do your thing guy. I’ll just soak it all up.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:15:20 +0000

@GasTheObese: I like Kershaw, GTO. He's just outside the top 40. I'm beginning to think I need to take the top 40 starters to the top 80.

By: GasTheObese

GasTheObese — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:13:13 +0000

No feelings for Kershaw? Remember; it’s not gay if you beat them up afterwards.

By: Grey

Grey — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:38:21 +0000

@sean: Cool, I'm gonna have to listen to it.

By: sean

sean — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:30:29 +0000

Predictably Torre. He denied purposefully attacking any players. He said that he didn’t have any control over what Verducci wrote (ahem yeah right), but that he’s read it now six times and that he wouldn’t change a word. Nice juicy bit about Mussina bashing Mo for not being to seal the deal in 2001.

Classic Torre:
Francesa: Joe, David Wells said you’re a punk and he’d punch your lights out if he saw you.
Joe: I saw David last year and he told me he hated me, but I asked him to come to a dinner I was hosting for the kids honoring the 98 team and he came.

I mean, the guy just doesn’t get it sometimes. To his credit, he calmly disarms what would enrage most people, but sometimes I wonder if it’s because he can’t see the forest… It’s already available at wfan.com

By: Grey

Grey — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:44:44 +0000

@sean: I missed it, how was it?

By: sean

sean — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:41:01 +0000

Gentleman Joe Torre about to be live on WFAN at 4EST.
They have a free stream available…

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:24:45 +0000

Nice, i’m down