Chris Davis was sent to the minors last night to make room for Josh Hamilton. In the preseason, Bill James’s projections for Chris Davis were 107/40/118/.302/8. I thought that was a tad optimistic. And “tad optimistic” there is like saying, “Hey, this Ben Affleck movie might be okay.” Those predictions and the proceeding hype sent Davis’s ADP through the roof. To the point where I decided to punt 3rd base in all of my drafts and take Mark Reynolds. I went over why in this preseason post. Now I’m not saying I wasn’t at fault either. Back in December, I said Davis was a sleeper when he was going after Zimmerman, Huff and Atkins. When the hype picked up, I backed off. Though I did give Davis pretty generous preseason numbers too at 75/30/95/.275/3. But I have a fantasy baseball blog; I’m not Bill James. I think someone should ping Bill James (the kids say ping, ask one what it means) and say, “Hey, Bill, big fan. Lots of great stuff through the years. Sorry to ping you this late, but a few quick rhetorical questions. Chris Davis? Seriously? Did you not follow the ruler across the paper correctly on Pujols’s name?” In the Better News Dept., David Murphy should get more time now that Davis is gone as Blalock moves to first. Though I’m not sure how long Blalock can stay healthy playing that demanding of a position. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Psyche! Before we get into today’s roundup, I just wanted to say we have an announcement coming later in the 2nd post of the day. Around 11:30 AM PST. Make sure to check back later. Some of you might enjoy it. While others may say, “Meh.” Okay, now for the roundup:
Scott Hairston – Traded to the A’s. Not sure there could be more of a lateral movement for Hairston’s value. Unless you’re in an NL-Only league and you lose his services to the best available option off waivers. Then again, maybe that’s lateral too. The Padres got Craig Italiano — I hear he makes a great chicken parm — and Ryan Webb, no relation to Brandon. If you’re not following, the Padres traded away their number three hitter for the stuff you find under your couch.
Will Venable – Will see more ABs with Hairston out of town. This could actually hurt Venable’s value.
Kyle Blanks – Rudy Gamble’s brother from the same mother could also see more time. Be nice to see The Pillsbury Fro Boy do something other than strikeout. As far as his fantasy value, we already filled in the *pinkie to mouth* Blanks.
Scott Downs – Should be back any day now. As always, I’d hold Frasor for the time being until Downs has shown he’s healthy.
Chien-Ming Wang – Something’s Wang. Hehe. Hit the DL. Peace out, Wang. Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.
Ben Sheets – May not pitch this year. No way! C’mon! Are you serious? Crazy!
Dan Haren – 6 IP, 1 ER. A good game and the Diamondbacks gave him runnage? Wow. Talk about a good day. And I didn’t have any hodgepadres ruining my ERA yesterday. Nice.
Joba Chamberlain – 3 2/3 IP, 3 ER and 8 unearned as he tied his owners to a WHIPing Post. “Joba Rules” this year are a bunch of walks, unreliable from start to start no matter the matchup and unfulfilled promise. Maybe that’s why he drinks and not, “Owen, you stupid poop!”
Ricky Nolasco – 8 IP, 0 ER, 12 Ks. When I gave you the advice in mid-May to Buy Nolasco, I sure hope some of youse listened.
Derrek Lee – Another homer yesterday. How dare you call me Lyle Overbay? But you kinda are just a rich man’s Lyle Overbay. I’ll call you Thurston Overbay, the Third.
Jake Fox – HR yesterday. Will be interesting to see how Sweet Lou flips the craft services table when Aramis returns today.
Randy Johnson – Left the game with a shoulder injury. I foresee an abbreviated spring training comeback in 2010 and then he retires.
Rich Aurilla – HR yesterday. I really thought he was retired. I’m not even joking. I’m not sure which is more despicable. That Aurilla is holding the Giants hostage by not retiring or that the Giants don’t just release him.
Miguel Olivo – Hit his 13th homer. Matt Wieters hit a homer too. Natch! Or is it reverse natch since I’m the one always cracking on his output? Hmm… I got lost in my own natchs.
Grady Sizemore – 2 homers and one steal since his return as he bats .270. Eh.
Cliff Lee – 6 IP, 3 ER. Has a 3.45 ERA on the year. That seems more in line with Lee than what we saw last year.
Gio Gonzalez – 6 IP, 2 ER. Doesn’t he sound like a haute couture jeans designer? I wouldn’t bother with Gio Gonzalez in an 18-team league that only uses Oakland A’s players.
Adam Lind/Aaron Hill – Hit their 18th and 20th homers, respectively. Lind bats .310 while Hill bats .299. Still don’t see either as a sell high candidate, but that shizz is relative. If you get the right deal, by all means.
Colby Rasmus – Hit his 10th homer as he bats .282. Little late to the party now if you pick him up, but you could be doing a lot worst for your fourth or fifth outfielder. I’m looking at you, Fred Lewis.
Chris Carpenter – 7 IP, 1 ER. This is not to say Carp isn’t solid, but right now the Reds look like they’re facing the House Committee on Un-American Activities every time out.
Ross Ohlendorf – 5 IP, 5 ER. Dorf!
Garrett Jones – Two Pirates mentioned in the same roundup. Arghh, it’s raining doubloons! Jones hit two homers in his last four games. I don’t know where this schmohawk is headed, but right now he’s on one of my teams. He may not last, but better to take the flier if you have room than to let someone else grab the hot rookie. Remember, I gave you the same advice for The Dread Pirate about a month ago. I’m still rocking him on one team. (He stole his 6th base yesterday as he bats .300).
Brandon Morrow – 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 Ks. Finally, six innings! I picked him up in a 12 team league last week, but haven’t start him yet. I’ll start him now.
Martin Prado – 4-for-4 as he starts every day. If you owned Kelly Johnson, then I’m sure the Cox yanking was suprisingly unpleasant, but Prado can ease your pain.
Derek Lowe – 5 1/3 IP, 4 ER. Right now, he’s alternating between decent start and terrible. Luckily, he gets the Rockies in Colorado next time out, so that’s an easy call to sit him. Hopefully he’s back to a reliable starter after the ASB.
Jimmy Rollins – HR yesterday and is 7 for his last 15. If he hits .400 over the next month, you’ll be glad you remained patient.
Joe Blanton – 7 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 5 Ks. He gets Pittsburgh next. All aboard!
Nick Blackburn – 9 IP, 1 ER, 6 Ks. With a name only one letter off from a porn star with chlamydia, it’s easy to stay away, right? I look at it this way. There’s so many pitchers each week that are potential spot starters, even in deep leagues, that I just don’t want any part of a guy that has 51 Ks in just over 116 innings.
Casey McGehee – 3-for-4 yesterday. On Saturday, he went 4-for-5 with a homer. Okay, this is the last I’m mentioning him. Fo realz.
Vladimir Guerrero – Two days, two homers. Was he prematurely shipped off to the glue factory? I don’t think so. I’d still be looking to sell him. Now you might actually find someone who believes he still has some giddy-up left. In related news, Brian Roberts still has twice as many homers as Vlad the ’97 Impala.
Howie Kendrick – Recalled and stole a base yesterday. Here’s what I said two weeks before Kendrick was sent down to the minors, “What do the Angels do with a 2nd baseman who has 18 homers in 179 ABs in Triple-A? Promote him and demote Howie Kendrick? Or do the Angels promote Rodriguez, demote Kendrick, wait two weeks until Kendrick starts hitting in the Coors-like PCL and then promote Kendrick right back and demote Rodriguez again like they’ve been doing with Brandon Wood for the last three years?” And that’s me blowing your mind! Let me answer 15 comments right off the bat — Beckham, McGehee, Prado, Everth then Kendrick, in that order.
Andre Ethier – HR yesterday. See, preggers Manny doesn’t even need to be in the lineup for Ethier to start hitting. I’m half-joking. This year Ethier’s been better in the power department than I thought he’d be, but I don’t buy that he’s suddenly going to be the .400 hitter we saw in the 2nd half last year just because Manny’s back.
Mark Reynolds – HR yesterday. What else is new? If any of you are fifteen-years-old, don’t vote for him for the All-Star Game. We want him to be mad in the 2nd half. Adrian slept with Clubber mad. Eye of the Tiger! Oh, and if you’re fifteen, don’t listen to your parents. You won’t need geometry. Though you may need to know how to say, “I don’t know how a dead prostitute got in my bed,” in Spanish.
