In my fantasy baseball prospects series this year, I had how many Padres rookies? Seventeen? (Three.) Luis Urias makes it twenty? (Still three.) It was at least twenty-five (nope, three). More fantasy baseball prospects than I care to recount here (it was seriously three). More than any of us can count (if you can’t count above two). This is good news for Padres fans if there are any. *calls up Petco* “Can you put me on the phone with a Padres fan?” “Hello?” “Is this the San Diego Chicken?” “Yeah, who dis?” So, the Padres will be good (in theory) soon, and unlike some of the other rookies I’ve outlined this month, Urias actually has the starting job and the lead for the lead-off spot in the lineup. What could go wrong? Or more seguey: So, what can we expect from Luis Urias for 2019 fantasy baseball?
It really is all about the Padres, isn’t it? I hate to go down this tangential path that does naturally relate to Urias, but what do Austin Hedges, Yonder Alonso, Anthony Rizzo, Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe have in common? They were as good on the Padres as I imagine Jon Cryer will be as Lex Luthor. I know, I know, Rizzo’s unfair — he was young, and quickly traded away for no reason. Also, Renfroe’s partially unfair — he’s showed signs and might still be something. Maybe Hedges and Margot will too. And Francisco Mejia seems like all kind of promising. Urias could be on top of a lineup that could make us totally forget the last twelve years of San Diego shizz. As of right now, I see no reason why Urias won’t be on top of the lineup. At the end of the year, I said, “Urias is a solid all-around bat, think .300 hitter, without huge power or speed. He’s young though, which means he could blossom, so remain calm. For now, I will call you, Zen Bobrist. I would grab him if you’re struggling at MI to see if he can catch fire and master Zen and the Art of MI Maintenance.” And that’s me quoting me! I still like him for 2019, if you’re at all *pinkie to mouth* Urias. Also, I love me some late-round MI flyers. Of course, sometimes I like to draft them in the first ten rounds. Hey, Josh Rutledge! Steamer projects Urias for 9/5/.247, which seems way too low. I’d say his line is anywhere from 8-15 HRs, 8-15 SBs and .260-.300. As you can see, there’s not a ton of power or speed, but if he can hit .290+ at leadoff, he might be one of those super cheap MIs that turns out extremely valuable in deep mixed and Only leagues. For 2019, I’ll give him the line of 79/12/42/.279/8 in 582 ABs, which isn’t quite a snooze, so mow that yawn!
The fans want a christin stewart comp. 2019 projections wouldnt hurt either. Is he more valuable in points leagues?
Grey,
12 Team Keeper league. H2H. We keep 10 guys.
I trade belinger Trea 4 Serevino Blackmond – What scares me is the age in blackmond. How many years does he have left at being elite?
As of right now these are my keepers
Sano
Moncada
Trea
Suarez
belinger
Hicks
Mazara
Torres (NYY)
Albies
Snell
Nah, not a good trade
Yeah, getting the right roster ratios in DC is vital since no FA’s. Admittedly I’m better in leagues at using FA in season. That’s a strength for me. Strategy wise I’m planning on going with 18-20 pitchers. I’d like to try for 14 SP’s so I have a lot of flexibility on match-ups. Obviously I have a lot more good decisions ahead to make next few rounds and in-season for that to work. But I’ve seen it done and that’s what I’m vying for…
BTW- I forgot to mention the English Beat the other day. How could I overlook them?
I imagine it might be slightly easier to get ABs and IP in the later rounds this early in the drafting season, since playing time is still so influx…. Keep an eye on any Mariners prospects that could sneak into playing time as they sell off hardcore…
Great band too!
Well, Grey, Ive stuck with the plan and finally got me a full roster 32 rounds in. I even drafted two catchers with picks 455 and 485. Here’s the roster. I’m going to be playing match ups heavily with SP:
C- Maldonado, Swihart
1B- Goldy, Healy
2B- Albies, Dozier, B.Lowe
SS-C. Taylor, Kingery
3B- Bregman, T. Frazier
OF- Springer, Pham, J. Upton, Eaton, I. Happ, Pillar, Ass-veil Garcia
SP- J.A. Happ, Pivetta, Glasnow, Teheran, M. Fulmer, Poncedeleon, J.Barria, Odorizzi, Jose Urine-ah, Honeywell, Mengden
RP- W. Davis, T. May, S. Greene
You got Urine, nice! I’ve drafted Pillar in an NFBC league for the last three years, he’s so great in NFBC, and always cheap… I like the hitting a lot, the pitching could hold together, but obviously you need some things to break right there
@Grey:
I’m not at all pissed about it anymore, but I didn’t approve when Urine-ah plunked Tildaddy with a 98 mph heater, but at least he could dial that high and had good aim! I like controlling the “zone”. I also like how he pitched after the suspension. It seemed like he had something to prove. It might bode well for future success. He seems to have upside and I bought low. He’s more interesting than his K and ERA would indicate with a casual glass. Pretty good WHIP and better ability than numbers indicate IMO.
And Pillar, yes, sneaky value.
Yeah, totally agree, I don’t mind Urine at all, worst case scenario, you pissed away a late round pick
Grey need an opinion on a dynasty league trade:
I trade MadBum and Jose Abreu
Return is Cody Bellinger and Peter Alonso
I have to make that trade if the other guy agrees, right?
I like it for you
I need your opinion to tip the scales here (5×5 mixed roto keeper), keep 4 of this crue:
Devers
Puig
Conforto
Villar
Amed Rosario
Muncy
Conforto
Villar
Muncy
then a toss up between Devers and Amed, prolly go Devers, but teams are still signing guys so that could change
Kinda liking the Donaldson for one year in ATL.
Bleh, I don’t know, Grimey… Don’t think there’s any way he stays healthy, or will be too expensive in drafts to find out
So he’s basically Cesar Hernandez but 10 round later? Interesting.
There ya go, Dr. Easy!
I’m in Jersey again. It makes me miss your musk.
There’s no musk like a Jersey musk because a Jersey musk don’t stop
Grey!!!
Great write-up, but you knew that didn’t you? Like you’re not gonna just sell us a pound of lemons are you? Rhetorical!
a. Had Urias for a few ABs in ’18. Boring as paint. Don’t think much of him but I think it’s my sub-conscience aversion for Padres in general and that cavernous park.
b. Mark Twain quote of the day for November 27
For a long time I was on a boat that was so slow, we used to forget what year it was before we left port. Ferry boats used to lose valuable trips because their passengers grew old and died waiting for us to get by, This boat the John J Rowe was dismally slow. Still, we often had pretty exciting times, racing with islands and such things.
When I retired from the rebel army in ’61, I retired in good order. It seemed to me that for a first attempt at a retreat it was not badly done. I had done no advancing in all that campaign that was at all equal to it.
We jumped into the stage, the driver cracked his whip and we bowled away and left the States behind us. There was a freshness and breeziness and an exhilarating sense of emancipation.
Cheers,
Ante
Haha, yeah, I kinda knew… A. Padres in general are so bleh B. On the last day, you’re just going to hyperlink to Twain’s masterworks and say, “Is your quote here?”
@Grey: Grey!!!
Haha!!!
No, I will not hyperlink here on the last day.
So, I guess I have to keep trying! Damn, you are a tough slave master! Am still smiling!
Cheers,
Ante
*cracks whip, accidentally hits self from back snap of whip* Damn it!
@Grey: Grey!!
Haha! You got everything boxed up yet or are you waiting for midnight on November 30? Just kidding, my wife would be all boxed up by now except for the stuff in the fridge and deep freezer.
If it were up to me I’d be waiting for midnight on November 30. I hate moving more than anything. I lost like countless amounts of
1. John Coltrane tenor saxophone jazz sheet music;
These were all hand transcribed by a brother named Andrew White who lived in the DC area. He transcribed note for note all of John Coltrane’s music. All of it!! I think there were around 4778 or so solos that he transcribed.
2. 4 or 5 Bill Evans jazz piano books;
Note for note transcriptions.
3. My Chinese books of changes (I Ching) with the coins.
You ask a very deep question about life or whatever (not the numbers for the power jackpot lottery) then throw the three coins up in the area three times and depending on how they land you record the result. There are 6 possible outcomes of the three coins being thrown up. This leads to a hexagon formation of 2 triangles on top of each other. The order of the six lines are very important. Each hexagon of 6 lines produces a unique result with a very deep analysis / understanding of the result. Like if there is a weak (ying) line at the bottom of 5 strong (yang) lines on top of that weak line, that is a bad situation. It’s like building a house on a small twig that could break at any moment, leading the house to collapse and get damaged. Can you tell I’m passionate about I Ching?
All on moving day. My wife had, has and will have no mercy for me on the subject of packing before the move or packing the luggage before a trip. The books and music is somewhere…over the rainbow I guess.
Cheers,
Ante
I boxed all my stuff two weekends ago… I’m always way ahead of things… Have you not been reading for years? I have posts written for January already done! Cougs is like you, she hasn’t packed anything…She will be packing the day we move (next Wednesday)… I will be unpacked at new house while she’s still packing our old place…That sucks you lost stuff, maybe you should’ve started packing earlier! Sorry, I sound like your wife, I’m sure…
@Grey: Grey!!
No, it’s fine. In fact I was in Africa when they did the move. It’s in the storage area of our old apartment but it’s buried under God knows what.
Thanks for everything you do, man!
Cheers,
Ante
Buried under the mummified remains of my Josh Rutledge sleeper posts you printed out?
@Grey: Grey!!
Didn’t want to discuss it but apparently rats infested that part of the underground storage area, I guess they got hungry for some Trane notes – especially the black ones – lol. So you’re not far off on the mummified remains aspect. Rutledge in the 5X5 RCL format was a bit ahead of my time but definitely would be there if I was around like 7 years ago.
Cheers,
Ante
Haha, wow, your rats have musical poops!
Basically, he’s Macier Izturis.
My heart rate is unchanged over the last two minutes of reading. I guess that is Zen. You accomplished your goal.
Haha, you’re flatlining!
@Grey:
Hehe, well I could have said “You or I are an ass” and I’d probably be like a broken clock. Or I could just quote that Bush song, but that singer dude is an ass for blowing it with Gwen Stefani. I’m not sure what she saw in him anyway. Some might wonder the same thing about many of us and our ladies however…
Haha, you’re such an Orange County guy you are even secretly crushing on Gwen Stefani! I love it… Best ska band of all time? Rhymes with Subprime
@Grey:
I loved Sublime too. THey were transcendent of genre. Sure they had ska influences but as much surf music and punk too. Real dynamic bandthat combined many sounds I grew up on. For straight ska its hard to beat the Specials or Madness. I basically love everything from that era. KROQ back then was amazing and independent.
Haha, I knew it! Kidding aside, I loved Sublime too, and Madness and The Specials were amazing (are amazing? Are they still around?)…
@Grey:
I have no idea. The only live performances I’ve been able to see lately have been my daughters’ ballet recitals. They might be better than watching 60 year old musicians anyway though.
Ha, yeah, I imagine they are
“And that’s me quoting me!” … Hahahahaha!!!
Man, I just don’t know about a guy who can hit .290 but does nothing else besides score runs. I had a chance at this guy and passed. I don’t think I’ll ever regret that decision either. But hey, I regret the day I dropped Jacob DeGrom his rookie season after he got rocked by the Cubs. If I only knew he’d be the Cy Young winner four years later. This game hates me.
Ouch…You dropped deGrom after one game in a dynasty league? You’re taking it so well!
@Grey: DeGrom was a no-name prospect when he came up. He was waiver wire fodder for about 6 weeks in my league. I was the third or fourth team to pick him up.
I gave him a tryout, he got bombed, so I figured all the “expert” opinions on him that he was just a mediocre nobody was correct. There was nothing in his minor league career that indicated he had ace ability, much less Cy Young ability. I dropped him and he took off about a week later pitching like a beast. Just part of the learning process that sometimes these so-called “experts” don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.
So, Yeah, I feel bad that I dropped him but nobody expected him to do what happened. He pretty much came out of nowhere. So I don’t look at it as if I were an idiot. Just a painful drop.
Wanna talk about idiots? Talk to the guy in my league that dropped Mike Trout after his first brief call-up. Or the guy who dropped Anthony Rizzo. Those guys had major prospect pedigrees and they got dropped like they were garbage after only a couple of weeks up.
Yeah, as I said yesterday, prospects are such crapshoots and non-prospects are same… I don’t remember anyone talking up Kluber for instance… Trout drop is a real, solid OUCH… Damn, that hurts…
@Grey: Funny thing was, the next year we had our annual preseason draft and Trout sat there through the first five picks.
Guy with #6 pick takes Trout and I’ve got #7 pick. I was dying to get Trout. Ended up with Shelby Miller.
Story of my life!
Damn, so close!