I just dont think we know anywhere near enough about ST to ascertain which performance matters and which doesnt. Dont let ST velocity be your determination. If it is the tiny push that puts you over the top, fine, but dont give it more power than its worth.

I’m hoping the velocity is a result of Ubaldo spending more time working on his breaking ball as that will be imperative to him shining this year.

We shalls ee.

Also had way too much tea yesterday

I love salt, the saltier the better….that must be why i love corned beef…god i love salt.

I don’t have much faith in the staff of the Indians to be able to coach him up. Who have they developed in recent years? I guess Masterson, but most of his development was with Boston. Besides that, the cupboards pretty bare.

As with everything, we will see who is right and who is wrong in their prognastication. What worries me is that his Spring results are right in line with his results last year: dude just gettin’ tagged. At least with Liriano, who is also a favorite bounceback candidate, we see *some* signs of recovery.

How in the world could *anyone* enjoy corned beef?

I’ve never seen people so widely split on a player as Ubaldo. Some think this piece was a no-brainer and others find Ubaldo as dead-to-me. A lot depends on whether the velocity is gone (and reports from spring training suggest he’s sitting at 91 MPHs) and whether he can still be effective at that diminished velocity. I really think if he gets back to his breaking pitches he’ll be fine, but we shall see if that’s the culprit or if it’s velocity. Pitchers do regain velo, so it’s not out-of-the-question, but do understand your and others point of view.

I’d happily eat the corned beef for you (although I havent had the stuff in a really long time, i do like it).

I’m not sure what it is exactly. Perhaps he never really knew where the ball was going but he had that elite speed that compensates for that. Now that the elite speed is dissipating, batters are starting to square him up.

If he throws up a 1.27 WHIP, I will eat a side of corned beef (and I *hate* corned beef!).

I think Mocks have value just in seeing the highs and lows. I dont really do them anymore because the people I play with do such crazy things that having a plan is rendered meaningless quickly. Other players can be more formulaic though.

Just talked about Hanley on Sirius and I wont touch him this year until pick 25 or so. Not that I’m particularly concerned about him (although he was trending down the last few seasons), but I want him to prove he’s that guy again and see how the new ballpark plays. If healthy, Hanley could absolutely challenge Tulo as top SS dog.

Regardless, I happen to like Yu a little bit more than Ubaldo, but only a couple spots higher or $1-$2 more. I think Ubaldo can be great but I’m guessing he’ll have a high WHIP and a mediocre W total for Cleveland. Yu could end up anywhere on the spectrum but I like his upside more than Ubaldo’s and even average pitchers can get 15 Ws with that Texas offense supporting them.

I’m a pretty firm believer of going with a solid GIVEN than upside. I love upside, but pablo or lawrie? i’ll take pablo 9 of 10 times….. we’ve seen a million dudes hyped over small sample sizes, i’d much rather have a guy i KNOW can hit .315 and 20+hrs…. lawrie could/should etc hit 20/20 easy, but what if he heywards 2011?

nothings guaranteed with any player, but especially not with young “upside” players.

I would not invest in YU, especially not in the 8-10th ish round where he goes..

I had a choice between Sandoval and Lawrie and in a real draft I probably would have picked Pablo.

I always have a problem supplementing the gambles with safe picks. I tend to favor young upside over aging players trending down. Lawrie scares me after I took Chris Davis early a couple years ago.

I could see myself taking Hanley in a real draft hoping his down year was injury and babip related. Batting third, a 20-30 season would put him on par with Tulo, right?

I’m not a huge Jennings and Lawrie fan for those prices though. I would prefer more established stars really. I do like Joyce a good bit and you should be fine in steals. Might need a little power help, but Reynolds could suffice.

Hanley is a tough one, he had been trending down but he’s not as bad as last year, it’s clearly a product, at least somewhat, of an injury. At 18, it makes some solid sense to grab him given the crappy nature of the SS position. Still, it’s a bit of a gamble.

C Avila 11
1B Votto 1
2B Kendrick 6
SS H. Ramirez 2
3B Lawrie 4
OF McCutchen 3
OF Jennings 5
OF Gardner 10
UTL Reynolds 15
UTL Joyce 18

B Rasmus 19
B Belt 21

SP Haren 7
SP Bumgardner 8
SP Moore 9
SP Beachy 12
SP Zimmerman 13
SP Luebke 14
SP Chacin 20
SP Minor 22

RP Betancourt
RP League
RP Thorton

I’d strongly consider based on team make-up: Garcia, Luebke, Kuroda, Cahill, Danks, Chacin, Colby Lewis, McCarthy, Buchholz, Lilly, Bud NOrris, Jonathan Sanchez, Billingsley, Edwin Jackson, Nolasco, Dempster, Henderson Alvarez,