Verlander Pushes Leyland to Three Packs a Day
May 08, 2008
Category: May's Daily Notes
Today, Verlander is buying the next round of Camels for Leyland and his fantasy baseball owners. If it wasn’t for a great catch by Joyce and Big Papi swinging on 3-0, Youk’s home run would’ve been of the grand slam variety. As I told a frequent commenter who lurks off the homepage, “Everything on (Verlander’s) charts is wrong. His walks up, fly balls up (metaphorically and literally), BABIP (showing he’s not just getting unlucky), etc. I’m worried, frankly. I would not trade for him, but I also don’t think you can trade him away. His value is too low.” What a pickle! So what do you do with Verlander? Well, you have to start sending out feelers to see what he can garner in a trade. If offers come back for Renteria and Sherrill, you pass and hope Verlander steps his game up. If you get offered Votto, you have to seriously consider it. Otherwise, you and Leyland may be talking with a tracheotomy soon. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday:
Brett Myers – I’m officially worried about Myers. Maybe moving him to the bullpen last year wasn’t such a great idea (not that anyone besides Charlie Manual’s closest family actually thought it ever was a good idea). I wouldn’t drop him, but you can’t start him at this point.
Jo-Jo Reyes – I saw nothing that would tell me to drop him. Then again, I didn’t see much because he was pulled with a blister. No word if he misses his next start.
Carlos Villanueva – Two runs in the first should’ve been unearned. Bill Hall pulled a Ryan Braun and let a Hanley grounder get past him. Bad official scorer, bad. Then in the third inning, Braun pulled a Braun and slid for a blop single and turned into a double. Then Treanor hits the foul pole with a three run homer. I know, all of this is little consolation, but Villanueva wasn’t as bad as the line. On a separate but related note, I’m actually really annoyed with the Brewers in general. Okay, whether you asked or not…
Joe Dillon – Is Ned Yost stupid? Seriously, just because he sits Fielder he has to bat Dillon in Prince’s spot in the lineup? This might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen some dumb things, remember I watch reality TV). I mean, Dillon’s not an awful player, but Yost bats him third? Why not put names into a hat? This would be reason enough for me to fire a manager. I don’t even like Braun and I think it’s absolutely whatupid (whack/stupid). People in Milwaukee, put down your frozen custard and rise up! Dillon could go 4-for-3 (if that were possible) with six home runs and 30 RBIs in this game alone and it would be whatupid. /rant
Ryan Braun – .257 after an 0-for-5. Didn’t like him coming into the year, still don’t like him. And I like the Brewers. I like their announcers. I like Milwaukee. Great city. Good people. Okay, I’m ranting again, but this is really frustrating me. If I were the type to do emoticons, and if I knew the emoticon for frustrated, I would do it. Argh.
Edwin Jackson – I like Jackson to a certain extent. He was a big name prospect that floundered in the Dodgers organization for a while. He’s been pretty uneven this year, so unless your leagues deep I’d be careful.
Doug Davis – He’s been cleared to begin rehab. Good for Doug. Stay away in fantasy baseball.
Ryan Ludwick – Vincent aka The Queen’s Assassin hit two home runs yesterday. Whatever, I guess you don’t need that on your team. Now I must kill… the Queen.
Dioner Navarro – Okay, so I’m the only one talking about him. That’s reason to not pick him up? Seriously, what are you people doing? Are you looking at the fact he’s only owned on 2% of all teams and saying, “Grey’s effin’ bonkers. Nobody wants this guy. I’m grabbing Pudge.” Is it because you don’t know how to pronounce his first name? Dioner (for lack of any nickname) hit a grand slam yesterday.
Shane Victorino – Last five games, batting .363, 8 runs, 2 steals. Werth, one start and that was against a lefty, which makes sense.
Nick Markakis – I’m going to touch on this in the next week or so, but in ESPN’s ‘new’ rankings they’ve moved both Markakis and Rios up to 21 and 23 respectively. Maybe they’ve crawled out of their caves over there in Bristol, Conn.
Miguel Tejada – I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m really hard on guys that are suspected of steroids, but Tejada I love. I can’t give you a reason why. I just thought you needed to know that.
Wilfredo Ledezma – He looked fine, until he was pulled after 63 pitches. The Braves announcers said he might have hurt himself going after a popup. (The Padres didn’t broadcast the game. Word on the street is they’re contemplating not showing the Padres when they’re batting either.) I couldn’t get confirmation on this injury, so, ya know, stay tuned. Or not. You do what you do.
Troy Percival – The most surprising thing to me is that he’s still the closer. Okay, the most surprising thing is these were his first earned runs all year.
Eugenio Velez – He’s 1 for his last 19 with two steals. He could end the year with more steals than hits. He could go 30/30. Thirty hits, thirty steals. On any other team, he’s platooning with Willie Mays Hayes.
Tags: Brett Myers, Doug Davis, Edwin Jackson, fantasy baseball advice, fantasy baseball verlander, Ledezma, ludwick, markakis, percival, Ryan Braun, tejada, velez, victorino, villanueva
May 8th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Willie Mays Hayes is available in Y! leagues. He changed his name to Michael Bourn.
May 9th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Would you drop Maddux or Snell for Scott Olsen, Gavin Floyd or Armando Galarraagggggaa?
May 9th, 2008 at 12:18 am
I’m starting to love this shallow league thing. I mean, you’d trade Verlander for Votto..I can just pick him up off the waiver wire, if I so desired
May 9th, 2008 at 5:06 am
My team sucks. A lot. And it’s pissing me off.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:48 am
The one dude in my league that I actively dislike has both Sabathia and Verlander, so this fills me with glee. I offered him Matt Cain and Alex Gordon (he has Crede at 3B) for Verlander a couple of weeks ago. Low-ball offer, I know, and yet I’m starting to get very glad he turned it down. And Cain hasn’t even been that good.
Suck it, dude-I-actively-dislike.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Verlander was dealt in my league for Gregg and Valverde, point to the closers.
I see Villanueva as a top tier streamer… However much value that is.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Current waiver wire has Jeff Francis and James Shields. My pitching staff currently is Beckett, Bedard, Hudson, Myers, Cueto, Volquez (until the trade for Rollins goes through), Papelbon, Ryan, and Fuentes. Add Francis, Shields, or no change?
May 9th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Actually, with Willie Mays Hayes currently serving 3 years for tax evasion, Eugenio Velez may be starting regularly.
@Freak – I definitely wouldn’t drop Snell. I don’t love Maddux but I’d keep him over those guys given the friendly confines of Petco Park.
@Russ – You might want to comment on the ‘You know your team sucks…” post…
@Baron – Nice. What fun is fantasy baseball if you don’t have rivalries. I’m loving the fact I’m trashing Grey in our league and his only solace is that I traded him Zach Attack for Melky.
@Jeff – Top tier streamer doesn’t have much value now, does it? That’s like calling a girl a high-class ho’. You pick Charlie V up when you need him and then throw his ass to the curb when you’re done…
@BSA – I like J-Shields better than Brett Myers at this point. While I think he should be owned, it’s the same with J-Shields. I’m making the swap. Let Francis be.
Every time I start Velez in my 12-team league (weak 2B offerings in FA, need the SB), I do 20 push-ups as penance.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I used my first round pick on Braun in my one and only league even though every instinct in my body told me not to. Shame on me for taking on risk with my first selection, in this case the absence of a track record. I convinced myself it was OK because Bill James, Ron Shandler, and the Prospectus all did not see this disappointment coming. I think I will listen to you guys next time.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:41 am
I continue to be amazed at just how undervalued James Shields is in the fantasy world. Waiver wire?? People just don’t understand how good he is. He was the first pitcher I drafted, albeit a 9th round pick.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:58 am
James Shields on the wire is pretty rediculous. You def add him dude.
@Kevin –
I hear you on Shields. I didn’t draft him but surprised to hear he’s available on waivers. It’s frustrating to be in a league like that because it keeps giving 2nd/3rd chances to the teams that didn’t draft or trade well. At least when you rebuy in a poker tournament, it adds more money to the pot…
As for Braun, Grey was hating on him more than me. But I drafted a pitcher in the first round of all my drafts and a power 1B with my 2nd. My only regret with Santana/Peavy is that I had Webb #3 and could’ve gotten him later. That said, those guys are performing better than many consensus 1st rounders….(A-Rod, Reyes, Rollins, Braun, etc.)
May 9th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Okay razzers… I’m going to be that guy who asks for excruciatingly long winded answers in the comments section so that I can get your almighty advice. This is not for me… it’s for a friend of mine we’ll just call “Farney” (a friend I’m borrowing from Ryan Freel).
Trade… NL Only 6×6 keeper (doubles+triples and holds are categories for some reason).
(opposing team’s offer) Mark DeRosa, Ronny Paulino and Johan Santana
for
(Team Farney) Francisco Cordero, Brian Fuentes, Juan Pierre and Geovany Soto.
Farney is like 2nd to last in every pitching category except holds and his hitting is 1st in almost every category. So basically it’s Santana for all those other dudes.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:40 am
@IowaCubs: One more thing… he has Saito and Torres, so he’s not exactly punting.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I actually just traded FOR Verlander. I gave Huston Street. I think it’s quite likely that Street gets traded or hurt this summer, and I didn’t see him as much more of an asset for my team than, say, Jon Rauch.
I figure that Verlander’s only 25, and it’s not like he’s completely out of control (e.g., he’s not giving up a ton of BB – not like my boy Carmona). If he turns things around a little, this trade was a steal. Even if he doesn’t, I’m content with the risk I took given my lack of confidence in Street (let alone all closers).
@peter: I think that’s a tremendous trade. He’s way more valuable than Street.
@IowaCubs: I like the trade for Team Farney. I think he should immediately drop Paulino for a better catcher (assuming it’s a one catcher league).
@Kevin: Shields is in my top twenty pitchers for the year for a reason. He’s money.
re: Braun — He was infuriating me this offseason. Not because I just like to take a contrary opinion, but because it seemed like everyone was ignoring this –
a) With all sophomores you run the risk of a slump as scouting comes out.
b) He doesn’t hit righties well. There’s a lot of righties.
c) He had the Lee Gene (which is a Rudy thing, it’s basically named after Carlos Lee and Derrek Lee and it means guys that aren’t built for speed, can go from 15 steals to 7 steals real quick. Example, You look at Pence and you say, ‘Yeah, he could steal 25-30.’ You look at Braun, ‘He’s got the Lee Gene.’ He might steal 20 if everything breaks right, but I would not count on that. He just doesn’t look fast.
For more on what I said this offseason about Braun’s hype:
http://razzball.com/will-ryan-braun-suck-in-2008/
EDIT: Cuz.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:19 am
@Grey: It’s a two catcher league (NL Only… WHY? I haven’t a clue). He has Doumit at catcher, so he’s fine there, methinks. A sub-adequate platoon, but Santana makes up for the points lost from Soto.
@IowaCubs: Paulino wouldn’t have been good enough for a one catcher league, but in a two catcher NL-only league, he’s fine.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:25 am
@Grey: Also, I don’t know why people are still hating on Braun. Once Prince heats up again, he’s going to have mucho pitches to hit. He’s never again a first rounder, but I don’t see how his numbers are any worse than Aramis Ramirez. Plus, he’ll end up with 12 steals.
@IowaCubs: I think you answered your own question. He’s not a first rounder. You know when I’ll like Braun again? In ‘09, when everyone’s annoyed with him. BTW, I only ranked him right outside the top twenty, it’s not I think he’s going to be worthless.
@IowaCubs – That’s a tough trade to pull the trigger on in an NL-only league. I’m a big fan of Santana but depth is important for a single-league.
But if you look at it as you’re sacrificing Saves, SB (Pierre), and some catcher-driver HR/RBI (Soto) but gaining in W/K/ERA/WHIP, it’s probably worth it. The marginal gains in those categories from Santana will help you more than what you’ll lose in the other areas.
My guess is that none of these guys except for maybe Soto is priced attractively for keeping…that would play a role in it….
May 9th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Sry Grey but I had to pull the trigger on a Verlander deal. I delt Carmona for him. Here was my logic for doing the deal. I recently traded hafner,vazquez,greinke for aramis,carmona. I figured i was losing some k’s regarding the pitchers i delt. Verlander will make those k’s up for me. Carmona has also been very wild although it hasnt shown up in his ERA, but a 1.80 WHIP tells the tale. I think Verlander has also gotten a little unlucky with his 6.50 ERA, as every base runner he left on base when he was taken out of games his bullpen let score. In all i figured both pitchers are risky, however if Verlander straightens himself out his upside is top 10-15 pitcher worthy. Carmona’s upside is not on that level.
@mike: That’s understandable. Hope it works out for you.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:22 am
yeah, me too…crossing fingers
May 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
[...] Justin Verlander – See this morning’s post. [...]
May 9th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
See what I mean about James Shields? I hope the guy that dropped him feels like the idiot he is.
@Kevin: Yeah, that was just stupid to drop Shields. Send him to the site so we can lambast him.