Weeks Consecutive Game Streak Ends at 4
June 09, 2008
Category: June's Daily Notes
In the last few days, a dark cloud moved over Razzball. Rudy just traded for Weeks, Wainwright hit the DL and I had to sit through Sex and the City, the Movie. Hopefully, my masculinity returns before Weeks. Does anyone remember Weeks coming back quickly from injury? Ever? Okay, Rickie Weeks, Rocco Baldelli and Chipper Jones get onto your cross country flight, do you get off? It’s like Weeks should be on the 15-day Activated List, then when he’s injured he’s taken off the Activated list. Makes more sense to me. Less paperwork. I can’t imagine he returns before the All-Star Break. There’s always the Alex(e)i Twins. I’ll mention someone later that I think you should look at, too. (Hint: His Dad has Ernie Whitt’s phone number.) As for Wainwright, I really hope this is just a matter of him missing three starts then returning fine. My gut says that might not be the case. At least, I hope that’s my gut. It’s either a hairy bellybutton or I’ve grown a vagina from seeing SATC. Mercy me, I abbreviated it SATC! Oh my God, I said mercy me. Anyway, here’s what I saw yesterday:
Ryan Zimmerman – Says he thinks he can play through his shoulder tear. I think he says this all the way up to next April, then he reinjures it next year and finds himself having surgery that has him out until 2010. Ryan, “I’m completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfect!”
Jerry Hairston – Fractured thumb, will be out at least a month. Time to make other MI plans. (Or IM snalp, if you’re dyslexic. We care here at Razzball!)
Ken Griffey Jr. – 600th! I was kinda surprised the Reds didn’t trade Griffey as he was taking the field after he hit the home run. I guess they want to dedicate a street to him back in Cincy first, then trade him next week to the AL.
Jay Bruce – He’s showing that penchant for striking out (7 times in last three games) that everyone (maybe just me) tried to warn you about.
Edinson Volquez – Jose aka Edison aka Edinson was very wild again and only effectively so because it was the Marlins. He does have a certain swagger to him that I do appreciate. Now if only he would grow a mustache.
Jose Guillen/Nick Swisher/Mark Reynolds – Said yesterday these guys were insanely hot right now. They all homered yesterday, Swisher twice. Should not be on any league’s waivers.
Josh Barfield – Was just called back up to replace Asdrubal (BTW, WebMD has good information for you, if you suffer from Asdrubal). If you lost Hairston or Weeks, Barfield is worth a flier. At future family functions, Jesse may not have to keep making up excuses for what Josh has been up to since last year. “Yeah, well, he’s thinking about going back to school. This place called…. University of Phoenix.”
Matt Holliday – Has torn up pitching in his minor league rehab. Get him in there immediately.
Mike Mussina – He could pitch back to back Vander Meer’s and I wouldn’t pick him up.
Mariano Rivera – Mo Knows Nothing, Mo Better Get Better, Mo Blues, Mo Better Meaty Meat Burger, Mo Losses Than Royals… Sorry, I was just trying to figure out tomorrow’s NY Post headline.
Matt Cain – I forget if I’ve put anyone in Cain as a Buy Low, but I will. I like him a lot and have been waiting for signs. I think yesterday was a sign.
Joe Saunders – Joe Meet Correction. Correction, you know Joe.
June 10th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I got offered Harang for Billingsley. Before the season this was a no brainer. Is it still a good move?
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June 10th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Also, never thought Id say this but dare I start Roy Oswalt @ home VS. Mil??
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June 10th, 2008 at 5:13 am
Say what you will about Mussina, but I’ve got no problem with the guy. Picked him up Sunday, spot started him Monday, dropped on Tuesday…worked out pretty nicely. Only 3 K’s but a low era and whip from 8 innings of work is a great way to start off the week. It was just too tempting with him starting at home against KC and he did not let his owners down.
My league had Swisher, Thome, and Konerko sitting on the wire until a guy picked up Konerko last night. No respect for the Sox. But are they going to be hot now for awhile or will they hit a HR twice per week and give me a bunch of K’s and O’fors the rest of the week. My lineup is good as is right now and I only can really play with the Utility spot. I’ve been picking up hot players for that spot like Glaus and Giambi. It’s tough to justify dropping a Giambi for a Swisher or a Glaus for a Thome. Know what I’m kayin?
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June 10th, 2008 at 5:15 am
@wakeNbake: Personal opinion…..not with a gun to my head.
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June 10th, 2008 at 5:43 am
@Frank – Mussina is looking pretty good right now but like I told a guy in my league last night that was killin’ me for dropping Damon for Victorino. They’ll go through hot spots and that’s OK, there are probably better options available. I liked, at Grey’s suggestion, Victorino and made the move. In a H2H over the last 28 days Victo 48 AB, 17 hits, 9 BB, 5 sb while Damon had 100 AB, 40 hits, 7 BB, and 5 sb.
Now that other guy picked up Jared Weaver for Jesse Litsch (sp?), now I think Weaver will be better than Mussina and I would drop Mussina after his next poop on the hill.
Public Service announcement:
A leaguemate (any guess which place he is in?) dropped Saito for Percival.
Everyone in my league let Saito go through waivers and drop to little old ME. To round out my closers as Papelbon, Ryan, Rauch, and Saito. I like!
BVV would be proud!! (see the tear in my eye)
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June 10th, 2008 at 6:04 am
@BSA: I’m not following on the Damon vs. Victorino point you’re making. According to your stats dropping Damon for Victorino was a pretty bad move. Damon is batting .400 and would have given someone much more over the last 28 days than Victrorino would have.
I picked up Mussina as a spot start because all signs pointed to success for him…..and he did not let down. He was used, abused, and is no longer on my roster.
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June 10th, 2008 at 6:29 am
@Frank – Missed the spot start part of your post. As to Damon/Victorino point Victorino has filled in a lot steadier than Damon was. Also Victorino has been trending upwards – Since the beginning of the year Damon has been worth 12% more than Victo, yet since dropping him a month ago Victo has been worth 12% more showing he picked up around 80 points with less at bats.
I am not good enough yet at add/dropping ahead of the curve so I know I lose a little on hot/cold spot starts.
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@wakeNbake: re: trade It’s apples for apples. I wouldn’t do it at this point.
re: Oswalt — I would, but he’s on a pretty short leash. ANd I don’t really trust him and wouldn’t feel good about starting him.
@Frank Rizzo: Personally, I would try and find a way to get Swisher on my team right now.
@BSA: Saito! Nice.
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June 10th, 2008 at 8:27 am
@Grey: I understand that Swisher’s hot at this moment but has been at the .200 BA mark up until now. Why suddenly do you make room for a guy like this on your roster? Is there something for how Swisher hits in the past that makes him a must add now? Why over a Glaus or a Giambi?
What makes you push Swisher so hard?
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@Frank Rizzo: Swisher’s streaky and right now he’s streaking for the better. Glaus and Giambi are also hitting but I would think there’s got to be some way to get Swisher onto your team.
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June 10th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Reactivating Holliday*: who to drop?
Wheeler, Parra, Garza, Glaus/.
*Wasn’t this a 1980s movie with Bronson Pinchot?
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@Baron Von Vulturewins: Think it was a 50s movie with one of the Hepburn broads.
Garza, unless Glaus becomes obsolete with Holliday.
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June 10th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Grey, Joe from Ireland here, you might remember i sent you guys an e-mail at the start of the year about my team. I’ve been a regular visitor to razzball since then, best site i’ve found since i started playing fantasy baseball four or five years ago, keep up the great work. I’ve registered for the forums.
Anyway, my team has got off to a pretty bad start, i lie in 10th in a 14 team mixed, due to Cabrera and Sabathia’s slow starts, and Hill and Liriano’s demotions, amongst other things.
I got offered a trade today, i’m leaning towards doing it, but would like to hear the thoughts of monsieurs Grey and Rudy.
I trade Carlos Lee and Brian Roberts
I get Matt Holliday and Robinson Cano
Holliday’s coming back and will once again be a monster, and Cano is starting to come around and should have a strong second half. Roberts’ steals are valuable to me but i have Carlos Gomez who i could slot in at utility to offset that. I have a feeling you’ll recommend pulling the trigger, as i know Grey was keen for me to ship Roberts at the start of the season.
Regards,
Joe
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@Joe: Joe from Ireland! I like this trade a lot for you. I’d do it.
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June 10th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I know, I know Saves are a crapshoot – maybe even like saltwater fishing during slacktide – good luck.
Question when looking at closers to start – shouldn’t I be looking at the combination of pitching opportunities and strikeout rates versus just how many saves someone earned?
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@BSA: I tend to only look at K rates for closers. If they can strikeout someone in the ninth innings it makes things much easier. Probably why I have Lidge on three teams and Jones/Borowski on no teams.
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June 10th, 2008 at 10:34 am
@ Irish Joe
Pull the trigger. Holliday will without question outperform C. Lee the rest of the way. Cano… well, its a crapshoot but I like his chances of staying close to the value that Roberts has.
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June 10th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Yeah looking at K rates has me pretty excited for two reasons – I got Saito for nothing and Rauch at your recomnedation. Now looking at things I can see where Ryan becomes expendable or at least sitting on my bench.
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June 10th, 2008 at 10:44 am
I also like my moves this past week and a half for k numbers with my closers as well as Lincecum, Bedard, Harden, and Shields propensity for high strikeout numbers.
OK – a positive out of my CBS league – I can prepare for the draft, even though I may not be there, by using CBS custom report maker, free, with the scoring system of the razzball commenter league.
See if it helps keep me out of last place.
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June 10th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I thought I should announce that I am White Lightning on the forum.
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@BSA: I love CBS’s leagues. Best by far.
@Chase: I know.
But who is Baron?
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June 10th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Ok, so I needed K’s (desperately) and a SP with Marcum, Rasner, Burnett
How does this look…
Granderson, Qualls for Marmol, Sanchez, Alou
OF is Bruce, McLouth, Hamilton, Drew, Headley (stashed) and I have Arrendondo rapidly grabbing holds in my bullpen.
Deep league (18 teams).
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@RT: I think you’re giving up a bit too much. Will they not go for Bruce/Qualls for Marmol/Sanchez?
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June 10th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Oh, and I am leading the league in most Offensive categories. Sucking the hind one in most pitching categories.
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June 10th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Yeah, me too but I tried that without any luck.
I tried to calculate what the difference would be in Grandy/Bruce (and some Alou) for the remainder of the year. Also, I have Tulo coming back to fill the black hole that is my SS. Personally, I think Granderson is still hurt. He’s hitting fastballs, but his swing still looks awkward.
Maybe I am just trying to justify it all as I am last in K’s and WHIP.
The other issue is that Marmol has pitched a tonne of innings in the first half which worries me.
And finally, I have offered Grandy to everyone with no luck (Lackey, Sabathia, King Felix and Volquez)
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June 10th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
@Grey: Doumit has been hitless since his comeback, is this cause for concern?
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@Zebo: It’s not ideal. I think I said last week that it takes hitters (Doumit) a little while to get back up to speed. Might be a week or two and let’s not forget he wasn’t exactly a guarantee to produce coming into the year. He might take a while to get back on track.
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June 10th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
grey,
i’ve been wondering when or if to shop volquez, and just got this offer…
i get hanley ramirez and jason kendall (whom i would promptly drop for either navarro or martinez, both FAs)
i give volquez and mccann.
i currently am in 1st by a 10 game lead. trader is in last, like 20 something behind me. i have a huge hole at SS (starting hardy, waiting for tulo to recover).
10 team weekly h2h
my other starters are lackey, harang, sheets, kershaw, litsch, dempster, so my SP stats would take a hit, but there are a lot of decent SPs on the wire.
thanks for all the great info.
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@royce!: That’s a great trade for you and would do it immediately.
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June 10th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
sorry, i should have addressed the last comment to “anyone who can help”…
as sort of a follow up Q, i have too many OFs- hamilton, quentin, markakis, victorino, david murphy, crawford, and matt kemp. i would like to pick up parra but can’t decide if parra’s upside is worth dropping anyone. any thoughts?
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@royce!: Why don’t you trade one of those OFs for a starter?
BTW, there’s also forums to solicit others’ opinions:
http://razzball.com/forums
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June 10th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
What is your take on Casilla in Oakland? Looks like he is 100% and ready to return. He has been the best relief pitcher in baseball this year as far as I can tell. He is available in my league.
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June 10th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
@Zebo: Not taking my own advice, I dropped Olivo when Doumit returned. Now I’ve dropped Glaus to pick up Navarro, while Doumit will rediscover his swing on my bench, where it may have fallen between the bench cushions.
@royce!: Drop Murphy for Parra. In fact, you could Dropkick Murphy, in which case you will also get to hear some excellent music.
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@Kevin: Casilla fell off bad last year after pitching very well. I’d let him come back and show he’s okay for a while before reinvesting. Too many MRs out there to worry about him.
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June 10th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Thanks Grey, i pulled the trigger on that deal.
Another question for you regarding the number of useful-looking FA’s in my league—Edwin Encarnacion, Adam LaRoche(sure to turn it around soon?), Wandy Rodriguez(excellent at home last year, didn’t give up an ER in past two starts), Joel Zumaya, Randy Wolf(been great at Petco), Alexi Casilla(now have Cano at 2B) and Moises Alou are all available—Any of them worth dropping Swisher(doubt i will, as he’s finally showing signs of life), Gomez, Justin Upton, Kouzmanoff, Parra, Baker, Maddux or Foulke for? I picked up Foulke for Justin Masterson earlier after reading about Street’s tendinitis…
Any of your thoughts would be much appreciated.
I also dropped Miguel Olivo when Doumit came back from the DL and am slightly concerned about his 1-12 start…
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June 10th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
BVV – You may be taking classes in NY but a reference to the “Idiots” band or maybe I should say Pap’s dancing buddies suggests you might had some time running In the Streets of Boston with Tessie whispering sweet nothings in your ear.
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@Joe: Foulke’s a good pickup right now.
I’d drop Maddux for Wolf and watch out for road games.
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June 10th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Yeah, i picked up Casilla simultaneously and stashed him on my empty DL spot. I have Gonzalez manning the other, cheap saves on the horizon!
I only picked up Maddux yesterday to start against the Dodgers, he’s been pitching well recently with no run support. We’ll see how he does. I’m about -80 in IP so i’ve got to start making up some of that ground.
Should i be selling high on Adrian Gonzalez and Ervin Santana? Is Matt Kemp’s AVG sustainable with his K rate? I’ve been thinking about shopping those guys as well. I only acquired Santana and Justin Upton a few days ago for Quentin and Jurrjens, my team is/was very light on pitching, and particularly K’s.
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June 10th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
@BSA: Sadly, my late-in-life intro to the Dropkick Murphys came via the theme song of “The Departed.”
I’ve been away for a week — what’s the deal with Foulke? Is it 2004 again? Is Huston Street’s groin acting up again? Is it time for another inevitable run of “Huston, We Have A Problem” headlines?
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June 10th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
The latest on Street is elbow tendinitis(i think) and he’s losing velocity because of it. Foulke is said to be next in line if he does end up on the DL.
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June 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Oh and the theme tune to the Departed is quality, i didn’t know who it was but it’s got a nice Irish flavour to it!!
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@Joe: “Should i be selling high on Adrian Gonzalez and Ervin Santana? Is Matt Kemp’s AVG sustainable with his K rate? ”
Depends what you’re getting.
You sold Quentin and Jurrjens for Ervin and Justin Upton? That’s not so great.
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June 10th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
@Joe:
Are you sure about that Joe? Where did you hear/read?
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http://razzball.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=75&sid=bddbde827f70117c99766fdc4a1b5a38
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June 10th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Yup I read the same Yahoo article about Huston Street. They are saying he heart his groin last week and is losing velocity. Would it def be Foulke that takes over? Casilla any shot?
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June 10th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
*hurt
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@wakeNbake: Casilla’s not back yet, and I don’t think he’s guaranteed of anything. I’d say right now he’s second in line, but he needs to return and be effective again.
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@wakeNbake: He hearts his groin could also be true.
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June 10th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
think i should drop Chris Perez for Foulke?
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June 10th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
haha ditto
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@wakeNbake: Perez is not taking over for Franklin and Izzy will be replacing Franklin so if saves are your objective. Foulke’s better than Perez.
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June 10th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Boy am I glad I started Oswalt, if I benched him for his 1 good start that woulda been rough.
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