Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Finally...... Something

After a few lean days for news a flurry of moves were made yesterday and today to close out 2008. The biggest move comes courtesy of the Angels as they sign Brian Fuentes to take over for K-Rod. In whats becoming a recurring theme this off-season Fuentes who is from Southern California wanted to stay close to home and pitch for the Halos. His deal is for a little less than what Kerry Wood got from the Indians. Fuentes got 2 years for 17.5 mil with a 9 million dollar option for 2011. While Fuentes makes sense as a plan B, wouldn't have made more sense to resign K-Rod? I don't believe the 4 mil difference per year was a stumbling block. The Angels were prepared to spend close to 20 mil a year on Mark Teixeira so they definitely had the money in the budget. Brian Fuentes has been fairly successful over the past 4 years with a save % of 85%. That's still lags behind K-Rod who has a 90% save rate. In addition Fuentes is 6 years older than K-Rod. Finally lets not forget when the Rockies made their playoff run Manny Corpas and not Brian Fuentes was their closer. So are the Angels a better team than they were yesterday because of this signing? Yes. Are they a better team than they were with K-Rod? No. The Angels have a very solid starting rotation and the luxury of being in the weakest division in the AL. They are still a solid favorite. But I would not be shocked if they only win about 85 games this season.

In a very low risk and potential high reward move the Red Sox signed Brad Penny to a 1 year deal for 5 mil plus a possible 3 mil more for performance incentives. I think Theo Epstein is one of the best GMs in baseball. Even though the Sox are a big market team they have not relied on signing big dollar free agents like some other team in the AL East. Unless you count Julio Lugo, JD Drew and Dice K none of their key guys are free agent signings. The Sox have done a great job with drafting, trading and player development. Think of all their home grown players, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Johnathan Papelbon and Clay Buckholtz. Also acquiring Kevin Youkliss and David Ortiz in one sided trades. Last year Penny's numbers were awful but he was also injured. This is the same guy that won 16 games in back to back seasons. He joins Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell from the championship Marlins team. The worst case scenario is Penny is not healthy and gives them nothing. If thats the case they still have Beckett, Dice K, Lester, Wakefield, Buckholtz and Masterson. Since they are so deep at starting pitcher all they are out is 5 mil. Best case scenario is Penny gives the Sox a guy who gives them 180 solid innings at the back of their rotation. Also think about this if Penny is the same guy from 2006-7 and the Red have a specific need at the trading deadline they will be able to deal one of their young starters for the possible missing piece, whatever that might be. We also know pitchers get hurt and the Red Sox will be better able to sustain an injury than the Yankees. The AL East will be alot of fun!!!!

The Cubs trade of Mark DeRosa to Cleveland today was a bit perplexing. The Cubs signed Aaron Miles to take DeRosa's role. DeRosa will make 5 mil this year. And is free agent eligible next year. While Miles comes at 4 and change for 2 years. But if I was a Cub fan I'd be disappointed if this move was made to save a few million dollars. The Cubs got back 3 minor leaguers. None of which are prospects that will ever help them. As for Cleveland they will move DeRosa over to be their starting third basemen. DeRosa is coming off the best year of his career. He is an incredibly valuable player who can play everywhere. The only part of this deal that I find odd is how quickly it appears the Tribe are giving up on Andy Marte. This guy was a huge prospect who is out of options. Burying him on the bench will only retard his growth as a player. If I was the Indians I think I'd stay with Marte and give him until the All Star break to see if he can produce. As for DeRosa he can still get 500 ABs filling in for everyone. This off season the Tribe have now added Kerry Wood, Joe Smith and Mark DeRosa. The bullpen should be improved so there is no reason why they won't be able to contend in a wide open AL Central.

I hope everyone has a very happy and healthy New Year. We are now less than 20 hours to the MLB Network. I'll write a review in the next day or two.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Theres No Place Like Home

Like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz Randy Johnson wanted to go home. So he signed with the Giants. San Francisco is only 30 minutes from where he grew up and he also has spring training right near his current house. His deal is a great one for the Giants. His base salary is 1 year for 8 mil. His incentives that could bring 5 mil more. In today's market 13 mil is a bargain. Unit joins what is arguable the best starting staff in the NL. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Johnathan Sanchez. With the NL West having 2 teams(Colorado and San Diego) rebuilding. And 2 teams that are far from dominant(LA and Arizona) this signing gives the Giants a chance to contend. It has happened many times in baseball history where a team with very little hitting but great pitching surprises. With alot of players still out there as free agents maybe the Giants can get a run producing outfielder to bolster the offense. But I'd be careful who because all 5 of their starters are either neutral of fly ball pitchers. They would need to get someone to play good defense in LF.

Randy Johnson is a good argument on why why need to look a little deeper than the traditional numbers when evaluating players especially pitchers. As Fantasy players we all know that wins and ERA are critical. Without good win totals and ERA your team does not win. But in real baseball traditional pitching numbers leave alot to be desired. For example a starters win/loss record is dependant on MANY factors outside of his control. He may have a mediocre record not because he was mediocre but because of poor run support or the bullpen blowing leads for him. You don't have to look any further than Johan Santana's entire career. Also a pitcher is a slave to how well the defense plays behind him. I'm not necessarily talking about errors either. A good defensive teams turns potential hits into outs. So what does this have to do with Randy Johnson? Last year his numbers were a pedestrian 11-10 3.91 ERA. Now lets look a little closer. One of my favorite stats is Quality Starts. Its defined as a starter going 6 or more innings and giving up 3 runs or less. Essentially it means he gave his team a very good chance to win the game. Last year Unit was 18/30 for 60%. Oliver Perez was only 50%. AJ Burnett was only a little better at 63%. Another number I like to look at his strikeouts. Simply because the defense does not have to do anything for a strikeout its all the pitcher. Even as a 44 year old Unit averaged 8.46 Ks per 9 innings. Also RJs K/BB ratio was close to 4/1. So he is not beating himself. The stat that jumped out for me that bodes well for him is this. At Chase Field for a home park, a decent hitters park he surrendured 24 HRs in 184 IPs for the season. Now my question is how many of those fly balls stay in the park in AT&T? Since opposing batters only hit around 250 against him the Home Run is his main problem if that's taken away he could be in for a very nice year.

Also quickly Willy Taveras signed with Cincinnati. Taveras's skill set is obvious. He has very little power who can steal alot bases and play good defense. I think the Reds made this move out of desperation. If you look at their team the only outfielder who is remotely a starter is Jay Bruce. Taveras's numbers last year were truly awful. Remember he played in Coors Field where is OBP was 308. In 536 plate appearances in only walked 36 times. That is an horrific number for a lead off hitter. A more damning stat is for the whole season he only had 18 extra base hits. His slugging average was 296!!!! So Dusty Baker who loves to bunt gets the best bunter in baseball. The Reds have some building blocks with Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. And a decent group of starters led by Edinson Volquez. While I truly believe defense is an underrated part of baseball Taveras speed and defense do not make up for his shortcomings. At the end of the day if Taveras bounces back he is a small improvement over Cory Patterson. And if the Reds will contend in the future Willy Taveras will not be their CF.

Hall of Fame-Part 2

This is the 2nd of 3 pieces discussing all the players on the ballot for the Hall of Fame this year. To review part 1 here is my opinions on who goes Cooperstown and who doesn't. Yes-Ricky Henderson No-Harold Baines, Jay Bell, Bert Blyleven, David Cone, Ron Gant, Mark Grace Maybe-Andre Dawson. For a full explanation check out the article called Hall of Fame part 1. Now for this week contestants

Tommy John- Tommy's is known by a generation of fans as being synonymous with the operation. While its true that the operation has extended the careers of countless pitchers that should not be enough to make him Hall worthy(maybe the surgeon). His career is similar to Bert Blyleven only not as good. He pitched for a very long time and put up very impressive career numbers like 288 wins but was rarely one of the leagues elite pitchers. He only made 4 All Star teams and only won 20 games 3 times. So if I'm not biting on Blyleven I'm not on TJ either.

Don Mattingly-From 84-89 he was the best 1st basemen in the AL. He was the best fielding 1st basemen in the AL with 9 gold gloves. Which still only made him the 2nd best fielding first basemen in New York during the 80s, Keith Hernandez was the best I ever saw. When looking at Mattingly's career ,the thing that surprised me was not how good he was, but for how short a period that he was outstanding. While he has 1 MVP to his credit he only eclipsed 25HRs in a season 3 times and also surpassed 100 RBIs only 3 times. His 222 HRs for his career leave him way short. While 307 is an impressive career average it places him in the hall of the very good.

Mark McGwire-I'm only going to invest 1 sentence talking about Big Mac's numbers. 583 HRs and a career slugging average of 588. Any other player in baseball history gets in easy with those numbers(Bonds and Sosa are not on the ballot yet). While I can probably spend hours talking about McGwire and the steroids era I'm going to try to stay brief. After the baseball strike in 1994 baseball was on life support. Fans everywhere were outraged. While a few of us junkies had to endure constant hammering by everyone saying how greedy everyone in baseball was and ask the question why should anyone care anymore. I love the game and there are alot of people out there like me . So in the years of 1995-1997 baseball was at its low point. Then 1998 and everything changed. The summer of 1998 was amazing!!! That Yankee team might have been the best team of the past 30 years and more importantly the Home Run chase between Mac and Sosa brought baseball back into the nations conscious. Yes in retrospect it was better baseball through chemistry. But in the summer of 98 most did not care. Frankly everyone involved in baseball from trainers to GMs to owners had to know players were juicing. And I'll go as far to say owners probably encouraged it since attendance and TV ratings were suddenly going through the roof. Also lets not be naive to think the only players juicing were Home Run hitters like McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and Palmeiro. Pitchers were juicing and so were many other players. C'mon Brady Anderson hit 50 HRs out of nowhere. McGwire as a human being was a good ambassador for baseball when it needed it. If you keep McGwire out you essentially have to render 10-15 of baseball history null and void. McGwire was doing what ALOT of players were doing at the time. If you keep McGwire out you must keep out Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and every player from the steroids era. So I'm voting yes for McGwire

Jack Morris-When I started doing this I probably would have voted for Morris. But when I looked at his numbers they did not match my memories. Morris had 254 career wins. He also pitched on 2 World Series teams. Like most people the memory of Morris is his historic performance in game 7 of the 1991 WS. When he threw a shutout and the Twins won 1-0. Also Morris threw the first no hitter I ever saw on TV. His stats show he was a very good pitcher but not a truly great one. His career ERA was 3.90. He made 5 All Star teams. But never won the Cy Young. He was never dominant. Though I don't have Run Support numbers for his career I'd be willing to bet Morris benefited from good offensive support. His career reminds me of Mike Mussina. So no on Morris.

Dale Murphy-A similar career to Mattingly in that they were very good but not for very long. In the early 80s Murphy won back to back MVPs. He was the best CF in baseball. From 82-87 he hit 29-44 HRs every year and knocked in 100 runs in each of those years on awful teams. He was an All Star for 6 years and won 5 gold gloves. While these numbers are all impressive he was only very good for 6 years. A longer body of work is necessary for me. No to Murphy.

Jesse Orosco-Author of one of the fondest moment in Mets history as he was on the mound when the Mets won the 86 Series. Jesse pitched for 24 seasons. In all those seasons he only logged 144 saves and 87 wins. Sorry Jesse.

Dan Pleasac-Pleasac only had 158 saves and 65 wins. A good broadcaster that will be on the MLB network. No way hall worthy.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Tears on My Keyboard

Anyone who knows me knows exactly what I think of Mark Teixeira. Simply put he is one of my favorite players. I made sure I had him last year for my team. The news the he signed with the Yankees is disappointing to say the least. But by the same time understandable. Tex is a east coast guy who wanted to play close to where he grew up in Maryland. So I applaud him for staying with his wish. Unlike CC who sold out for the most money, west coast be damned. Since I started doing this when someone signed I try to hit three things 1.a little about the player 2. a little about the contract 3.how it affects the team. I'm going to hit some high lites because my next long comparsion piece will be about Tex so I don't want to be redundant.

Firstly Tex is a standout player. There is nothing on a baseball field he does not do very well. While he is not Jose Reyes on the base paths he is a smart base runner with average speed for a first baseman. Defensively he is a gold glover. I'm sure Yankee fans will compare him to Don Mattingly and Tex is every bit as good. With the bat he is a switch hitter with terrific power numbers who does not strikeout nearly as much as most power hitters. Also he is very consistent. And finally unlike AJ Burnett he is very durable. He should play at least 150 games.

180 mil for 8 years makes him the 2nd highest paid player in the game. Since 80 mil came off the books for the Yanks they were able to afford all 3 big signings. What his deal proves to me is that the truly elite players will always get paid regardless of the economic situation. While the Pat Burrell's, Adam Dunn's, and Bobby Abreau's of the world will have to take less money the best of the best will never have a problem. Also signing with the Yankees comes with it inherent pressure but he does not have to be THE guy. The press will always go to A-Rod and Jeter first. And I believe Sabathia will have more media scrutiny than Tex. He is a quiet guy who will go out everyday play hard and put up solid numbers.

So I guess the AL East is over before the season starts right? Not so fast. Even with the big 3 free agents and the trade for Nick Swisher the Yanks still have some holes. The outfield is far from being set. The bullpen before Mariano is not that great. And the bench does not impress me a great deal. Also lets not forget the Red Sox who should have everyone back( I think Veritek will resign) and that little team here in Florida that won the AL last year. If the Rays can survive a brutal early schedule they also will be very tough. I think you can make an argument for all 3 of those teams being the favorite. That race should be alot of fun.

Sporting News Top 24

In an article dated Dec.9 the so called experts at sporting news had a mock draft of the first 2 rounds of a 12 team league. It was a typical 5x5 format. FYI the draft happened before the injury to Chase Utley was announced. So here was the top 24 picks

1.Hanley Ramirez
2.Alex Rodriguez
3.Albert Pujols
4.David Wright
5.Matt Holliday-the Oakland trade already happened
6.Chase Utley
7.Jimmy Rollins
8.Grady Sizemore
9.Jose Reyes
10.Ryan Braun
11.Ryan Howard
12.Josh Hamilton
13.Miguel Cabrera
14.Carlos Quentin
15.Johan Santana
16.Brandon Phillips
17.Tim Lincecum
18.Prince Fielder
19.Mark Teixeira
20.Ian Kinsler
21.Carlos Beltran
22.Brian McCann
23.Manny Ramirez
24.Lance Berkman

For my money the really bad picks were J-Roll at #7 was awful. Brandon Phillips at #16 was a major reach. Brian McCann at #22 is too high. And finally Manny at #23 is questionable. What do you guys think?

The Buc Stops Here

A couple of days ago the Pirates signed Ryan Doumit to a contract for 3 years with a possibility for the deal to reach 5. Doumit is a rarity in baseball nowadays a catcher who could hit. Given the opportunity to play alot last year for the first time in his career he put up very good numbers. In 431 ABs his line was 15/69/318 with a slugging of 501. His 128 OPS+ told us he was 28% better than the average player which is a very high number. Doumit is either a late bloomer or someone the Bucs finally decided to trust. Last year he was 27 which is a pretty advanced age to get your first crack at starting. If you look at his defensive numbers they are not that bad. With Ronnie Paulino being traded earlier its truly Doumit's ball game.

With the Doumit signing hopefully the Pirates are going to try to do something positive for the future. I heard they are also trying to sign Nate McLouth long term. Though I'm no economist I would think the city of Pittsburgh is being hit hard by the current sluggish economy. With Jason Bay being a free agent after the 2009 season I think they made a smart move trading him when they did. Andy LaRoche is a big time prospect who should be in Pittsburgh for quite awhile. What I'm thinking about this morning is why have the Pirates been so bad for so long. In my opinion some franchises are run alot better than others. While market size and payroll obviously have something to do with it. Its certainly not everything. Two franchises that also seem to be competitive on a small budget are Oakland and Minnesota. With the sabermetric revolution there is alot more young GMs who are much more savvy when it comes to making decisions about player evaluation. Now alot of the GMs who are running successful teams are not old player/managers they are smart young people who know how to intrepid stats and run a business. Billy Beane may have been the first but now Theo Epstein has won 2 World Series in Boston with a mix of homegrown players and guys traded for before right before they blew up. Epstein also knows when to cut bait on a vet on the backside of his career. Here in Florida Andrew Freidman has done an amazing job with the Rays. And before anyone wants to say the Rays were only successful because they has so many high draft picks take a look at their roster. Of the core guys the only high picks are Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, and BJ Upton. Yes Delmon Young was a number 1 pick but Freidman was smart enough to turn him into Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett. Which brings me back to my original thought about the Pirates. The Bucs have only won more than 75 games twice since 1993. I first looked at how they drafted since 2000 here is a list of all the players the Pirates drafted that amounted to anything thus far 2003-Paul Maholm and Tom Gorzelanny 2002-Matt Capps 2001 Jeremy Guthrie, Jeff Keppinger, Chris Duffy and Zack Duke 2000(a VERY good draft) Chris Young(pitcher unsigned) Nate McLouth and Ian Snell. So its obvious they have drafted very poorly. According to Baseball Prospectus 2008 of the top 100 prospects in baseball the Pirates only have 3 Andrew McCuthchen #24, Stephen Pearce #43 and Neil Walker #94. So the minors are pretty dry. So player development is not a strength. Being a small market team means they won't get the Mark Teixera's of the world but it does not mean they can't sign anyone. Every year there are some 2nd or 3rd tier guys that fall through the cracks that turn out to be good values. The Pirates have done an awful job finding those guys. With some young pitchers with major league experience the Bucs should try to built on that strength. Try to built a good defense behind them. For the next few years player development will have to be the key for them. Also trade established players who they are not going to sign for as many young studs as possible. Getting Andy Laroche was a very good start. By the way LaRoche was #14 on the prospects list. It won't happen overnight. But if we learned anything from the Rays it can be done if you have good young players.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas

To my family real and fantasy, from New York to California to Florida I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. If I can bring myself to it I'll talk about Mark Teixeira tomorrow.

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Kid Is Alright

Congratulations are in order as M&M Fantasy Football has a new champion, Bullet 28, Erik Hirsch. As the junior member of our league this must make the victory all the more special. Erik was a charter member of M&M Sports going back 5 years. His teams always seem to do well either in baseball or football. He always drafts well and is active on the waiver wire. With so many close finishes winning must feel really good. We are all very proud of you.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Input

Since my piece on Monday comparing Johan Santana and CC Sabbathia was very well received I'm reaching out to you guys for ideas about the two players I should compare next. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

An Angel In the Outfield or the DL

In whats been an incredibly slow couple of days the biggest signing is Juan Rivera reups with the Angels. I believe it was 3 years for about 15 mil. Thats about half of what Rual Ibanez got. The signing is similar to the AJ Burnett move in that the Angels paid for what can be, that has rarely been. Rivera has only surpassed 400 ABs once in his career. His best year was 2006 when he hit 23 HRs and drove in 85 runs. Unfortunately in 2007 he broke his leg playing winter ball and essentially lost the season and last year was a very disappointing one. Rivera regressed to 12 HRs in only 280 ABs. If you look beyond the traditional stats a disturbing number for him was only 16 BBs last year for a awful 282 OBP. If he is healthy he should certainly improve those numbers. I'm confident the Angels are not finished yet in the free agent market so where Rivera fits in is a bit of a question mark. Garrett Anderson is a free agent and probably won't return. Which leaves Vlade Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Gary Matthews Jr. all over 30 years old. And all a few years past their prime. If nothing changes I imagine Guerrero will play right, Hunter will play center and Rivera in left. I'm sure the Angels would love to deal Matthews but no one will take his contract. Kind of like Luis Castillo. As a LF Rivera is average. But Hunter is still fantastic which cuts down on the ground Rivera needs to cover. With Arte Moreno not being shy about spending money the move makes sense. At worst Rivera is an injury plagued 4th outfielder at best he is the kind of player he was in 2006.

Friday, December 19, 2008

A New Champion

The last weekend of fantasy football is upon us. And a tradition that now stretches back all of two weeks. Trying to pick these games. For the record last week I was 2-2 and I am 4-4 for the past two weeks. Since I have to go to sleep then leave for the store in 5 hours these will be very short. First in the consolation bracket
Woogie 100 4-11 vs Big Daddy 5-10 Yahoo pick Woogie 100 -6
2008 was a disappointing year for both teams. Both teams seemed to play better at the end. Lets give Woogie the win.
My pick Woogie -6

All Hail Stitch 6-9vs Joes Broadway Crew 4-11 Yahoo pick All Hail -15
Are you kidding All Hail couldn't beat anyone or anything by 15. I may win but certainly won't cover.
My pick Joes Broadway +15

Mangowranglers 11-4 vs Screamin Skizzos 11-4 Yahoo pick Mango -13
I thought this would have been for the championship. These teams definitely were the class of the regular season. Mango is looking for revenge for the defeat in week 14. Mango wins and takes 3rd but not by the number
My pick Skizzo +13

FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KC Devil Rays 9-6 vs. Bullet 28 10-5 Yahoo pick KC -6
Firstly congrats to both Erik and Ray for getting to this point. We will have a new champion. KC has better RBs. Forte and Peterson have carried him the whole season. Bullets RBs have not been as consist ant. Ray gets his 1st championship.
My pick KC-6

Everyone thanks for a fun season.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Top Ten?????? Part Last

I received the final email from fantasybaseball.com tonight giving me their top 10 relief pitchers. Without further ado here is the list

1.Jonathan Papelbon
2.Francisco Rodriguez
3.Joe Nathan
4.Jose Valverde
5.Mariano Rivera
6.Joakam Soria
7.Brad Lidge
8.Johnathan Broxton
9.Matt Capps
10.Kerry Wood

Honorable Mention
Francisco Cordero, Brian Fuentes, Carlos Marmol

As with the other two lists I have some problems with this one. I beleive the key when looking at closers are twofold 1.oppurtunity-obviously a closer on a better team gets more chances 2.competition-you don't want a guy who has someone who has someone else in their own pen who can take his job ie. Colorado last year, it was just a matter of time before Manny Corpas blew one or two then Brian Fuentes took his job. There are a few other factors but those are the 2 biggies.

California Stayin

My what a difference a day makes. Yesterday is was widely reported Rafael Furcal was all set to return to Atlanta. I had an idea to write a piece about the how logical it would have been to play musical chairs with their defense to fit him in. But alas he decided to stay in LA. Even though he had many suitors including Atlanta, Oakland, KC and Toronto his contract is speaking volumes about what a tight market it is this year for everyone except starting pitchers. Furcal's deal is for 27 mil for 3 years. The option for the 4th becomes guarenteed he gets 600 plate appearances in 2011. The option is for 12 mil. And there is something about a 3 mil vested payment. So essentially he got the same deal as Edgar Renteria except one more year. I think this is a very good move for the Dodgers. For the past couple of years they viewed Chin-lung Hu as their next SS. But up until now he has not hit nearly enough to hold down the job. Hu is the 21st century Rey Ordonez. Great glove no hit. So they keep their lead off hitter and SS for at least 3 years at a very fair price. The Dodgers are not in a rebuilding phase and money should never be an issue with them. Though Furcal was hurt last year and had a sprained ankle at the beginning of 2007 he has proved to be very durable and very consistant. He is only 31 so at the back end of his contract there should not be a big drop off. Now that Casey Blake and Rafael Furcal have resigned I imagine Ned Colletti will go about trying to replace Derek Lowe and maybe sign Manny. The NL West is the weakest division in baseball. Colorado and San Diego are rebuilding. San Fran is moving in the right direction with their terrific pitching. Which just makes the race between LA and Arizona. Furcal gives the Dogers a much better chance of making the playoffs.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Hall Of Fame Part 1

To say today was a slow news day in baseball would be a huge understatement. I really don't think anyone wants to read about Cesar Izturis signing with Baltimore. Even if the Os signed Cal Ripken in his prime they still are a last place In addition the off the field problems of Joba Chamberlain(DUI Trial) and Brian Giles(ex-Girl Friend Suing) does not interest me. One thing I do know if there is fantasy baseball in heaven Chamberlain and Giles just shot up Richards draft list. So I decided to look at this years Hall of Fame ballot and talk about each candidate. Being as old as I am I have vivid memories of just about all these guys. I'll break the list into 3 and when I get a day when nothing happens I'll talk about the candidates.

Before I get into this I have a confession. Remember when you were a kid and grown ups would ask you what do you want to be when you grow up? Well as a 44 year old, when I grow up I want to be a Baseball Historian. That probably shocks no one. Thinking about how players from different era compare is one of my all time favorite past times. If Bill James got a dollar for everytime I cracked open the Historical Abstract I'd be in need of a government bailout. Well anyway here goes. By the way I'll discuss the players in alphabetical order.

Harold Baines-Baines was one of the best pure hitters of the 80s. Over 2800 hits, a little less than 500 doubles and a BA of .289 makes him worth talking about. The downside is he was a DH. Which brings up a great baseball debate. If the Gods of the AL deem the DH as a legimate part of the game should guys like Baines be penalized? My take on Baines is simple the first DH to have a solid case is Edgar Martinez. IF Martinez is voted in then possibly we can talk about Baines.

Jay Bell-I'm shocked he is on the list. No shot.

Bert Blyleven-Byleven is probably the most debated player when it comes to the Hall. His accomplishments are amazing. 287 wins, 3701 Ks, which is 5th all time. He has more wins and strikeouts than anyone in baseball history not in Cooperstown. He was known for a tremendous curveball. Also he had the rep as a big game pitcher. His detractors point to the fact that he only made 2 All Star teams. So the argument comes down to this does a body of over average work for 22 seasons with outstanding career numbers make you Hall worthy even though you were never among the leagues elite at any time. Very close but no cigar.

David Cone-One of my favorite players on the ballot. Cone was terrific for the Mets after we stole him from the Royals. Any Met fan will remember that Loredo breaking ball. A likeabe guy who was one of the few Mets of that era who actually gave good answers to questions. Like Doc went to the darkside(the Yankees) and threw his no hitter in the Bronx. He belongs in the Hall of the very good. He just was not great for that long. Sorry.

Andre Dawson-The Hawk could do it all. Unfortunately it did it for most of his career in Montreal where no noticed. His numbers speak for themself 438 HRs 1591 RBIs 314 SBs and 8 Gold Gloves. I'll always remember Dawson getting beaned by Eric Show. Dawson was a tough player who I would have loved to have on my team. At this point I don't know if he gets my vote. Its very close. I'll let you know in Jan.

Ron Gant-Gant was an all around good player for a few season here and there. If he stayed healthy for his whole career he'd be Andre Dawson lite without the cannon arm. No way.

Mark Grace-Okay I'm partial. Gracie had a sweet swing and was a very good defensive first basemen. He has gone from a above average player to the most entertaining color man in baseball. Grace and Darren Sutton make watching D-Back broadcasts the most fun in baseball. So Grace does not get my vote now but maybe in 20 years of so he can get in the broadcasters wing.

Rickey Henderson-The best lead off hitter in baseball history. An absolute no brainer.

On a slow day I'll do part 2 next week.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Lets Hear It For The Old Guy

Lets face it watching Jamie Moyer pitch gives the rest of us 40 somethings hope. Seriously before I talk about what his signing means for the Phils I want to take a few seconds to talk about what a unique career he has enjoyed. Every year in its annual book Baseball Prospectus gives the most comparable players for each player. I won't bore you with the details but what they do is match player X's age and accomplishments and match him to players of similar accomplishments. Jamie Moyer's top 4 comparables are Hoyt Willheim, Phil Niekro, Satchiel Paige and Tommy John(yes there actually was a player named Tommy John before the surgury). Not shabby company, 3 Hall of Famers. I'm not implying Moyer is headed for Cooperstown but he has had a very special career. Phil Niekro and Hoyt Wilheim were knuckleballers. Paige was the greatest pitcher in Negro League history. And Tommy John's career was done before the radical operation we now take for granted. If you look at the careers of the above pitchers at the end of their careers they held on. Simply put they were not nearly as effective as they were in their prime. Last season Moyer notched 16 wins, the 4th most in his career. Moyer has 245 wins going into this season. I don't see any reason why he won't win 25 in the next two years pushing his win total to 260. He will also end up career with over 2600 strikeouts.

So what does this mean to the 2009 Phils? Moyer will be a solid 4th starter. He will join Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Joe Blanton and either Kyle Kendrick or JA Happ in a solid rotation. I think it will be unrealistic for him to win 16 games again. So much of a starting pitchers won-loss record is determined by factors outside of his control. Those external factors really helped Moyer last year. For example the Phils averaged 5.3 runs of support per start. And I don't have to remind anyone how good their pen was. To his credit he will do everything you want a back of the rotation starter to do. He averaged 6.0 innings per start last season and has eclipsed 185 innings pitched every year except one since 1997. In addition he averaged over 5 strikeouts per nine innings proving he has alot of ways to get hitters out. Which may be the key to his success with his experience he lets the hitters get themselves out against him. If you are not patient it will be a long 3 ABs against him.

Monday, December 15, 2008

A Pair of Aces

Last week when CC Sabathia signed a huge contract with the Yankees I thought it would be fun to do a comparasion of Sabathia and Johan Santana. After all Sabathia's contract surpassed Santana's as the richest in the game for pitchers. Also with Sabathia in the Bronx and Santana in Queens the argument can be a 21st century version of Willie, Mickey or the Duke? Doing statistical comparasions are fairly simple. But chooseing what stat and how many becomes challenging. I selected mostly tradional stats with a few of the "new" stats thrown in for the sabermetically inclined. All the numbers in the chart are for the last 4 seasons. The OBA against and OPS against are an average of the past 4 seasons. Comparing these two pitchers also is very straight foward for two reasons 1.Since they played in the same division for 3 out the 4 years and the same league for 3.5 out of 4 they faced essentially the same level of competition 2.Progressive field in Cleveland, Miller Park in Milwaukee and the Metrodome in Minnesota are all offensively nuetral parks. One one season Santana spent at Shea a pitchers park gives him a very slight advantage. But its not like comparing pitchers whose home park was like Coors (great offense) and Safeco(great pitchers). So here goes

Stat Johan Santana CC Sabathia

W-L 66-33 63-38

IP 919.3 883.3

H 755 811

K/BB 924/203 793/206

WHIP 1.04 1.15

ERA 2.87 3.61

OBA Against 266 295

HRS Yielded 102 75

Quality Starts 72% 66%



All Star Games 3 2

Cy Youngs 2 1

Win Shares 85 74

Like the commercial says past performance does not guarentee future performance. But the chart is clear Santana has been a clearly superior pitcher the past 4 seasons. The only advantage to CC is HRs allowed.

In my research I came across a few interesting things about both pitchers. As for CC ,one concern I'd have would be his weight. I ckecked 50 years of Cy Young winners and only found 2 besides CC who have comparable weight, LaMar Hoyt and Pete Vukovich. For those of us old enough to remember those guys they had a few big years but then became injury prone. Was it the weight? All I know is pitching is tough enough on the human body. Pitching at 300 lbs. is a recipe for future problems. Another interesting tidbit is the Yanks should send Cleveland a thank you note. Sabathia surpassed 200 innings for the first time in 2007. So his arm does not have the same wear and tear that other pitchers who came up to the big leagues at a young age have. Finally a big X factor is how will CC handle New York. Pretty much anyone who will read this either has lived in New York or Boston. Baseball in these cities is akin to a religion and the pressure on CC will be immense. Everytime he takes the hill people will expect a shutout. Most fans will probably have unattainable expectations for him due to his contract. Up until now he has played in small to mid market mid western cities. And he is from California. So how he deals with playing in the Bronx will be key to his success.

As for Johan the thing that stood out for me is just how consistant he has been. If you look at his numbers they are very similar from year to year. Even the two weaknesses 1.Pitching in April 2.HRs allowed are consistant from year to year. Proof of this consistantcy is he has recieved votes for Cy Young every year since he became a starter in 2003. As a comparasion Sabathia won the award in 2007 and recieved votes in 2008 but thats it. Lastly I came across an interesting stat last year in his LOSSES his ERA was still under 3. The last thing I thought about Johan is with the Mets moving into Citi Field(UGH) and there being a large fence his HRs allowed should drop.

So what can we expect in the future? Simply put the Yanks needed Sabathia. The rotation was a mess and he gives them a legimate ace. Sabathia should be a perinial contender for an All Star spot. Though I would not be suprised if he only he notches maybe 1 more Cy Young. Also towards the end of his contact in 2014 24 million dollars a year may buy you someone like Dustin McGowan or Adam Wainright. As for Santana he is the best pitcher in the game. If the bullpen was not so awful he would have just recieved in 3rd Cy Young.

If anyone likes these kinds of comparsion pieces let me know. It was fun to do.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Let the Playoffs Begin

After a grueling 14 weeks the second season is upon us. So in a tradition thats now in its second week I'll attempt to predict these matchups using the yahoo predictions for point spreads. Last week I was 2-2.

First the consolation Bracket-NIT

Big Daddy 5-9 vs Joe's Broadway Crew 3-11 Yahoo Pick Big Daddy -12
Big Daddy is hot, winners of 3 in a row. JBC has struggled all year. If the Jets play well today and they are due JBC has an excellent shot. I smell upset.
My prediction JBC +12

All Hail Stitch 5-9 vs. Woogie 100 4-10 Yahoo Pick All Hail Stitch -6
In a rematch of a contest two weeks ago I don't see the result being any different. If All Hail was a hockey team their golf clubs would be already packed with an 8 o"clock tee time. Since we've been doing this this is the worst team I've ever had. Good riddance
My Prediction Woogie 100 +6

Now for the REAL playoffs

Screamin Skizzo 11-3 vs. Bullet 28 9-5 Yahoo Pick Skizzo -19
There is no doubt Skizzo comes into the playoffs with the hottest team. His victory last week over Mango gave him a share of the regular season crown. As the junior member of this league Bullet should be congradulated on another excellent season. Skizzo wins but does not cover.
My prediction Bullet 28 +19

Mangowraglers 11-3 vs. KC Devil Rays 8-6 Yahoo Pick Mangowraglers -6
Battle of the Callahan brothers. I'm sure a fair amount of trash talking has gone on this week between Florida and California. Yahoo has this own at 108-102. If I scored triple digits and lost I'd be peeved. Mango has stumbled to the finish. But alas the playoffs are a new season.
My prediction Mango -6

Good luck to all. More baseball tomorrow.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Show Me The Money

For the second time is as many days the Yankees have thrown more money than all other teams and got their man. Without a doubt the reason for the Yanks demise last season was the starting pitching. Now with the addition of CC Sabbathia and now AJ Burnett the starters are a strong and expensive group. Sabbathia, Burnett,Wang, Chamberlain and either Hughes, Kennedy or a free agent to be named later will give the evil empire a solid chance in the ultra competitive AL East. So is AJ Burnett worth it? Being the positive guy that I am lets start with the positives. Burnett has a power arm. He also has a full arsenal of pitches that make baseball people salivate. The guy looks like an all star. But what he has actually accomplished tells a different story. In Burnett's 9 year career he has won more than 13 games only once in his career. As for durability, or lack there of he has thrown 200 innings only in 3 seasons. Two of those seasons coming in contract years. Coincidence? And he has only made 30 starts in a season 3 times in his career. As for the body of his work over the past 5 seasons he has made 133 starts and had only 84 quality starts. Thats only 63%. I present these stats not to try to convince anyone that Burnett is not a good pitcher. All I'm saying investing that much money for 5 years is a very risky investment!!!

In other news the Phillies signed Rual Ibanez to replace Pat Burrell. Even though Ibanez can be very streaky during the season his numbers at the end are always consistant. Over the past 8 seasons his BA has been between 280-304 and his OBP has been between 792-883. This was accomplished in Safeco Field one of the toughest offensive parks in all of baseball. Coming to Citizens Bank should increase his numbers. Also he is surrounded by better hitters. At 31.5 mil for 3 years the Phils have a starting outfielder without a long term commitment. Ibanez will be 39 in the last year of his deal. From a Phillies point of view the problem I have with this move is two fold. 1.Ibanez is a left handed hitter. Now with Howard,Utley and Ibanez all hitting close in the lineup that makes them vulnerable to a lefty specialist late in games. To me a righty would have made more sense. Secondly Ibanez is an AWFUL!!!!! defensive outfielder. Defense it difficult to measure statistically but it definately wins games on the field.

Finally today the Met dumped Scott Schoenweiss to the D-Backs for Connor Robertson. The bullpen is being dismantled quicker than Shea Stadium. Schoeweiss definately needs a change of sceanery. Worst case for him is he could become Arizona's LOOGY(Lefty one out guy) He still has value. Just not in New York. Connor Robertson will probably end up in Buffalo. I figure the Mets pen now looks like K-Rod,Putz, Sanchez,Feliciano, Green and whoever for the 6th slot. Prefable a lefty.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Upon Further Review

Last night I wrote I was not thrilled with the JJ Putz deal. Well after thinking about it for 24 hours I've revised my original opinion. Lets look at this deal from all three sides. First Cleveland, they gave up Franklin Gutierrez for Joe Smith. Like a certain team I know the Indians bullpen was a disaster last season. So trading a outfielder which is the strength of the team makes sense. But getting Joe Smith is strange. While Smith definately will be an asset it creates a right handed lopsided pen. The Indians top 3 releivers now are all right handed, Kerry Wood, Jensen Lewis and now Joe Smith. For Seattle they gave up Jeremy Reed, Sean Green and JJ Putz and received Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Mike Carp and Gutierrez. Apparently Gutierrez was the key to the deal. With Ibanez leaving for free agency and Reed being moved that leaves a gigantic hole in the outfield. Chavez is a terrific 4th outfield but not a starter. I'm curious to see if Aaron Heilman will finally get his wish to start. If Seattle makes no more moves they are not improved, just a little cheaper. As for the Mets it comes down to they gave up Heilman, Chavez, Smith, Carp, Vargas and minor leaguers for JJ Putz. As for the other guys in the deal, Sean Green is similar to Joe Smith. They are both extreme ground ball pitchers but Green is older and is numbers are very underwhelming. I see his role being either pitching in games when the Mets are behind or in situations when they need a double play. Jeremy Reed was a highly thought of prospect who has never really panned out. He is a line drive hitter with very little power. He will be a 5th or 6th outfielder and a pinch hitter. As for Putz when healthy he is dominating. He now turns all Mets games into 7 inning affairs. The most interesting thing I read today came from Jayson Stark who said if baseball had 7 innings the Mets would have beat the Phillies by 11 games. If baseball had 8 innings the Mets would have won by 5. Hopefully with the pen addressed the Mets will move on to getting a starting pitcher and a run producing outfielder. To be continued......

In a big shock CC Sabbathia ended up with the Yankees for enough money to bail out GM. This makes total sense on every level. Of all the teams that were pursuing CC the Yanks definately needed him the most. Think about it the Angels, Red Sox and Dodgers are all strong at the starting pitching while the Yankees rotation is in need of a serious makeover. He gives them a big time ace to compete in the AL East. In the next few days I'm going to work on a piece comparing CC to Johan and I'll talk more about him then.

The last big move was the trade between the Rays and Tigers. Edwin Jackson goes to Detroit while Matt Joyce comes to Tampa. Jackson was a highly thought of prospect going back to his days with LA. Last year everything came together and he really seem to figure it out. He earned 14 wins for the Rays last year. He falls under the very valuable categorey of an established big league pitcher who is not eligible for free agency for a few years. He will join Verlander, Galarraga, Bonderman(if healthy),Miner and Dontrelle Willis in a respectable Tiger rotation. As for the Tampa native Matt Joyce he fits into what has made the Rays successful. Firstly he is a way above average outfielder. He is still very young at 24. His slugging pct last year was .492. Baseball Prospectus 2008 has his top comparable being Ryan Church. Joyce is good, getting better, with a very high ceiling. And did I mention not eligible for free agency for 5 years. Which is very important to the Rays.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Top 10 ????? Part Deux

I closed tonight and open in a few hours so tonight will be short. Tomorrow I'll tackle the Yankees signing of CC and the Mets deal for JJ Putz(my first reaction to the Putz trade is I don't like it). Also by tomorrow there may be more signings or trades.

Last week my new friends at fantasybaseball.com send me an email giving me their top 10 hitters which I posted. Mike and Daniel threw in their two cents. Today they sent me their top 10 starting pitchers. So here is something to think about.

1.Tim Lincecum
2.Johan Santana
3.CC Sabbathia
4.Dan Haren
5.Roy Halladay
6.Jake Peavy
7.Ervin Santana
8.Brandon Webb
9.Cole Hamels
10.AJ Burnett

Honarble Mention
Josh Beckett
Scott Kazmir

In my book Johan is certainly #1. Taking nothing away from Lincecum who was fantastic last year against everyone but the Mets. Lincecum at this point in his career has had only 1 great year. Johan's luck certainly can't get any worse!! As for the rest of the list I have alot of disagreements. Though I like Haren I like Webb more. I'll take Lackey over E. Santana. And AJ Burnett is not a top 10 pitcher. Especially if he goes to the Yankees and has to face all those stacked lineups in the AL East. My personal feeling is it not so important who your ace is, is alot more important if you draft your 2,3 and 4 pitchers well. PLEASE comment on the list.

I've got to go to bed. ALOT to talk about tomorrow.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Special K-Rod

As day two of the winter meetings is coming to a close the Mets were the big winners today. K-Rod was the best closer on the market and the Mets signed him to a very good contract for both parties. The Mets get a guy who has saved 88% of his games the past 3 seasons. Also he is still young. It just seems like he's been around forever. It does not take a baseball genius to figure out the Mets collapse the past two years coincided with injuries to Billy Wagner. At 37 mil for 3 years the Mets have a guy in the prime of his career for a very economical contract. As for K-Rod he will only be 30 when his Mets contract will be up setting himself up for another big payday when the market for closers will probably be better. If he stabilizes the 9th inning now the Mets can go about reconstructed the rest of the pen. I'm hoping they can sign Juan Cruz. Cruz averaged 12.4 strikeouts per 9 innings last year. And he can pitch more than one inning. I'm fairly confident Aaron Heilman will be dealt. Reading various sources it seems he is still a valuable commodity. So hopefully Omar will take his time and make the best deal possible for him.

Staying on the closer theme Kerry Wood appears headed to Cleveland. 2 years with an option for a 3rd. No finances disclosed yet. Once Joe Borowski went down last year they went throught alot of closers. Jensen Lewis did a nice job at the end of the season. IF!!!!!!!!!!! Wood is healthy he has dominant closer written all over him. The Tribe are still close enough in the AL Central to contend. Especially since the division champion White Sox are being dismantled. Its not hard to picture Cleveland fighting for the division championship. And if thats the case Wood could be a major piece of the puzzle. A la Brad Lidge


In a minor trade. Baltimore sends Ramon Hernandez to Cincinnati for Ryan Freel and minor leaguers(no real prospects). The Reds were in desperate need of a catcher. Paul Bako is certainly not the answer. Hernandez hit 15 HRs last year. Also being a veteran should help the young Reds pitchers. As for Baltimore I don't believe this move is about getting Freel. Saying Freel is injury prone is like saying Disneyworld get tourists. If he stays healthy and Baltimore gets anything from him its a bonus. As I see it there are two positives for the Os. First the minor one is they get to dump some salery trading Hernandez. And the major moving Hernandez opens the job for Chris Wieters. If you have not heard of him yet, now will!


About the only other bit of news to discuss is Casey Blake signs with the Dodgers 3 years 17 mil. Blake is a very useful player who can play just about everywhere. He was very underrated last year after the Dodgers traded for him. Manny got all the attention but Blake was very productive. It seems all good teams have guys like Blake. The Dodgers now have to decide on Manny and if they are going to enter the CC sweepstakes. With San Diego wanting to have a payroll around 40 mil., Colorado rebuilding and the Giants with a weak linup the NL west may be a two horse race with Arizona and LA.

Is it my immagination or has the market for starting pitchers reached irrational levels? And I'm not even talking about CC. I heard Derek Lowe has a offer on the table for 67 mil for 4 years. Do the math thats over 16 mil per for a 36 year old pitcher. I like Lowe but at that price tag let the Yanks and Red Sox fight it out. Then there is AJ Burnett. When you watch him pitch he looks like he has the potential to throw a shutout on any given night. BUT his numbers are not even close to the money thats being talked about for him. And it seems everyday somebody else is interested. At last count I've got Atlanta, St. Louis, Boston ,Toronto and of course the evil empire. Now lets not forget Burnett has a career filled with injuries. He may turn out to be a 15 game winner but he may just also easily turn into Carl Pavano

Monday, December 8, 2008

All Quiet on the Western Front

As of 9PM on monday night outside the retirement of Greg Maddux nothing much has occured at the winter meetings today. Gerald Laird wes sent by Texas to Detroit. The move makes some degree of sense for both clubs. The Tigers need someone to replace Ivan Rodriguez and have no one in their farm system. Laird is a barely adequete bat and a above average defensive catcher. He is not someone to built a team around but there are certainly worse. Also the price was right. Neither of the guys they sent to Texas will be missed. As for Texas they are one of the few teams with an excess at catcher. Even trading Laird they still have Jarrod Saltamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. Saltamacchia was highly thought of going into last year. While his defense is fair its his bat that should give him a long career. Don't forget he was the key part of the trade that sent Mark Teixera to the Braves. As for Teagarden I hear he is kind of like Mickey Tettleton. Good power lots of strikeouts very little defense.

Everything else at this point is rumor. Maybe tomorrow will bring something concrete.

No Justice

The veterans committee today elected only Joe Gordon for the Hall Of Fame. My guy Ron Santo failed again to get elected. The vote was cast by the 64 living Hall of Famers. Since this group has not voted any one in since 2001 the question should be asked is this the best system. When I tried to explain the system to Jenny her response was it seems easier to be named a Saint. She may be right. If anyone read the last post you know I think Santo is a no brainer. How come I fear his election will eventully come but will probably happen after he dies. The living Hall of Famers seem to want to have there little exclusive club stay that way. I won't go on about this because I'm probably the only one who reads this that cares.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Its Time to Get it Right

Cooperstown is a magical place(unbeleivable, a magical place not in Orlando). For a baseball fan its Mecca. My family often made fun of me that I would read EVERYTHING. I'll never forget my numerous visits there. From my first family vacation to the last time there after the death of my mother. It will always be a special place to me.

Tomorrow the reults of the veterans committee will be announced. While I saw some players play like Al Oliver and Luis Tiant. Most of the players are just players I read about or guys I played with playing Strat-o-Matic. While I'd like to see Gil Hodges be elected I only have a very strong opinion about one player. First the facts. This player played in the worst offensive period since 1920 so all his stats must be looked at through that prism. He was a 9 time All Star, had 8 straight seasons of 90 RBIs,5 straight years when he was either 1st or 2nd in walks. 342 HRS and over 1300 RBIs. Let me reinerate that run scoring was so awful during this players career baseball had to change the rules to stimulate offense. One year 301 won the batting title. While Bob Gibson threw up a 1.12 ERA. So how about his defense? 5 straight Gold Gloves. And for a last piece of evidence Bill James ranks him the 5th best third baseman of all time. So how in the world is Ron Santo not in the Hall of Fame.

While his numbers are truly hall of fame quality it the fact that he played his entire career with type 1 diabetes that blows my mind. When he was diagonsed there was no Blood Sugar meters. No insulin pumps. And the needles were huge. I know what its like with all the modern tools how incredibly difficult it is to control blood sugar. Santo did not tell anyone for the first few years of his career fearing they would kick him out of baseball. Playing everyday with diabetes is a incredible accomplishment. How amazing in the time since Santo there has not been 1 single everyday player make the show(a few pitchers hear and there but never a non pitcher) If anyone has ever been around a diabetic you know the challenges they face on a day to day basis. Since he retired Santo has been a much loved radio announcer for the Cubs. And has probably raised more money for JDRF than any athlete.

As a player his accomplishments on the field made him Hall worthy years ago. And knowing what it took to be without question the best third baseman on the NL in the 1960s makes him an insperation. So at 1PM on monday I'll be watching the announcement with much anticapation.

The End is in Sight

Week 14, the final week of the FFL league is upon us. Playoff seedings and household bragging rights are at stake. Since I've only have about 10 minutes before I have to go to work these will be very short predictions. Good luck to all this week. By the way the point spreads are from yahoo's projected score

Game 1 All Hail Stitch 5-8 vs Big Daddy 4-9 Yahoo Big Daddy -5
There really is nothing to like here for All Hail. If Steven Jackson plays well maybe I can break 60 points. Law of averages say my team has to have a good game after 6 straight losses. But todays not the game, Big Daddy wins third in a row and covers
My prediction Big Daddy -5

Game 2 KC Devil Rays 7-5vs.Broadway Joes 3-10 Yahoo KC -16
LT finally had a good game on thursday which kind of makes this like cheating. KC overall is a much stronger team with a shot at 3rd place. KC wins but does not cover
My prediction Broadway Joes +16

Game 3 Bullet 28 8-5 vs Woogie 100 4-9 Yahoo Woogie -4
Woogie has been a hot team of late. With both teams having questions at RB this game may come down to the QBs. We know Phillip Rivers had a big game will Drew Brees? Okay bro three in a row for you. Since Erik has kicked your butt all year. baseball and football today is for you.
My prediction Woogie -4

Game 4 Mangowraglers 11-2 vs Scramin Skizzo 10-3 Yahoo Skizzo -5
The BIG ONE!!!!!!! Maybe even a championship preview. Both teams have certainly been the class of the league this year. Even if Skizzo wins he would need to win by about 55 to get the #1 seed. Favorable matchups on both side . It comes down to Skizzo has won 6 in a year so law of averages catches up with him this week. Mango had that kind of game 2 weeks ago.
My prediction Mango +5

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Who Knew FFL 2008?-By Mangowranglers

Who Knew FFL 2008?

Who knew that the Number 1 running back in Fantasy Football would be Michael Turner?

Or that the consensus Number 1 pick overall, LaDanian Tomlinson, would not even crack the top 10 running backs and rank 26th overall?

Or that Matt Forte would be more valuable than Adrian Peterson during the regular season?

Or that Larry Johnson would be outperformed by just about everybody - including Ricky Williams? Or that the Number 1 and MVP of the league would be the UNDRAFTED Curt Warner? Here is a breakdown of the top players by position and where they were drafted in the M&M fantasy league:

Running Back Draft Position
1. Michael Turner 25
2. Clinton Portis 12
3. Matt Forte 78
4. Marian Barber 5
5. Adrian Peterson 3
6. Thomas Jones 101
7. Brian Westbrook 4
8. Chris Johnson undrafted (free agent claim week 1)
9. Frank Gore 11
10.Brandon Jacobs 53
11. DeAngelo Williams undrafted (free agent claim week 5)
12. Maurice Jones-Drew 16
13. Marshawn Lynch 13
14.LaDanian Tomlinson 1
15.Steve Slaton 113
16.Lendale White 19
17.Ronnie Brown 56
18.Kevin Smith 95
19.Reggie Bush 43
20.Jamal Lewis 18
21.Mewelde Moore undrafted(free agent claim week 8)
22.Tim Hightower undrafted(free agent claim week 8)
23.Ryan Grant 9
24,Steven Jackson 2
25.Derrick Ward still available

Luckiest drafter Mangowraglers who netted 4 out of the top 10 backs of 2008. Unluckiest drafted Woogie whose first two picks Addai and L. Johnson currently rank 29th and 39th among RB

Wide Receiver Draft Position
1.Anquoin Boldin 39
2.Larry Fitzgerald 28
3.Calvin Johnson 57
4.Greg Jennings 40
5.Roddy White 51
6.Terrell Owens 20
7.Andre Johnson 29
8.Randy Moss 6
9..Santana Moss 66
10.Reggie Wayne 21
11.Lance Moore undrafted(free agent claim week 8)
12.Kevin Walter undrafted(free agent claim week 8)
13.Dwayne Bowe 75
14.Steve Smith 36
15. Brandon Marshall 46
16.DeSean Jackson undrafted(free agent claim week 1)
17.Vincent Jackson undrafted(free agent claim week 1)
18.Hines Ward 55
19.Lee Evans 39
20.TJ Houshmanzadeh 24
21.Laverneus Coles 84
22.Bernard Berrian 115
23.Eddie Royal undrafted(free agent claim week 1)
24.Wes Welker 35
25.Steve Breaston still available

We drafted much better here as all but three of the top 25 wide outs were drafted or picked up before the season began.

Quaterbacks Draft Position
1.Kurt Warner undrafted(free agent claim week 3)
2.Drew Brees 23
3.Phillip Rivers 86
4,Aaron Rogers 120
5.Jay Cutler 82
6.Peyton Manning 15
7.Donovan McNabb 76
8.Tony Romo 14
9.Matt Cassel undrafted(free agent claim week 8)
10.Eli Manning 90
11.Brett Favre 80
12.Tyler Thigpen still available
13.Chad Pennington undrafted(free agent claim week 5)
14.Joe Flacco still available
15.David Garrard 110
16.Jason Campbell undrafted(free agent claim week 3)
17.Matt Ryan still available

Skizzo picked everyones pocket by picking up league MVP as an undrafted free agent in week 3 to complement the fact that he also got the leagues 4th best QB with the very last pick in our draft. Also a note of interest for the future this marks the second year in a row where QBs take 6 of the top 10 points positions and not RBS.

Editors Note-Thanks Mike for the info. It was interesting to see what we got right and what we missed.

Germany Wins-Thanks Mike

With the biggest college football weekend of the year off to a great start last night with the Buffalo Bulls celebrating the biggest event in school history ( since my graduation) winning the MAC Championship beating the previosly undefeated and 12th ranked Ball St. Mike found the following article online. We both think its really funny

After determining the Big 12 championship game participants the BCS computers were put to work on other major contests and today the BCS declared Germany to be the winner of World War 2.

"Germany put together an incredible number of victories begininning with the annexation of Austria and the Sudetland and continued on into conference play with defeats of Poland, France, Norway, Sweeden, Denmark, Belguim and the Netherlands. Their only losses came against the US and Russia, however considering their entire body or work-including an incredibly tough strenght of schedule- our computer deemed them worthy of the #1 ranking"

Questioned about the #1 ranking of the United States the BCS comissioner stated "The US only had two major victories-Japan and Germany. The computer models, unlike humans weren't influenced by head to head contests- they counted each victory only as a single equally weighted event"

German chancellor AdolF Hitler said" Yes. we lost to the US, but we defeated #2 France in only 6 weeks" Herr Hitler has been criticized for seeking dramatic victories to earn style points to enhance Germany's rankings. Hitler protested "Our contest with England was in doubt until the final day and the conditions in Norway were incredibly challenging and demanded the application of additional forces."

The French ranking has come under scutuny. The BCS commented "France had a single loss against Germany and following a perseason #1 ranking they only fell to #2"

Japan was ranked #3 with victories including Manchuria, Bornio and the Phillipines.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Top 10 ????

I recieved a email from something called fantasybaseball.com. I must be on some sort of mailing list. Well anyway they listed the top 10 projected hitters for 2009 fantasy baseball in a typical 5x5


1.Alex Rodriguez
2.David Wright
3.Albert Pujols
4.Hanley Ramirez
5.Jose Reyes
6.Grady Sizemore
7.Ryan Braun
8.Ryan Howard
9.Carlos Lee
10.Dustin Pedroia

Honarable Mention

Russell Martin
Matt Holiday
Carlos Quintin


While I can't argue with numbers 1-8(except maybe I'd change the order a bit) Lee seems like a 2nd rounder to me. And Pedroia perhaps even later. We will have plenty of time to talk about fantasy rankings.

By the way they promised me a email to tell me thier top 10 pitchers next week. I'm guessing a certain Met will be number 1.

One Mans Fix

My favorite baseball website is baseballprospectus.com. It is not for everyone as some people may be turned off by the heavy use of sabermetrics. One reason why I like the site so much is when it challenges convential baseball wisdom it does with numbers. Currently they are in the middle of a seris called GM for a day. They take each team and make recommandations on how to improve the team. Yesterday they did the Mets and the recommandations were pretty interesting. Here are the highlites 1.For bullpen help DO NOT sign K-Rod instead sign both Kerry Wood and Juan Cruz. The logic being you can get both for about the same money as K-Rod and committ less years. 2.Go after Bobby Abreu. With the excess of corner outfielder on the market Abreu might be had for about 35 mil for 3 years. BP feels the Mets need a proven run producer in one of the corner outfield spots. 3.Let Pedro and Perez walk and sign Derek Lowe. The rotation would be Johan-Maine-Lowe-Pelfrey-Niese.

So what do I think. As for step 1 I agree that I don't want to invest neither 4 years or 12 mil per on a closer. The market is overflowing with candidates. Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood and Trevor Hoffman are all free agents. And depending on what you beleive Bobby Jenks and Huston Street may be available for a trade. The Mets will certainly get somebody. I like Cruz. He can pitch anywhere in the pen and can even pitch multiple innings if necessary. And his price tag should be very reasonable. As for the outfield situation I agree the Mets definately need someone else. A proven run producer. Ryan Church's health is now in question after last season. And the left field combination of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis could be improved. I'm sure one knock on Abreu is he is left handed and the Mets really don't need another lefty in their lineup. But last year Abreu hit lefties better than righties. Also no team in the division has a lefty closer. For me plan B should be Juan Rivera. He can play both left and rightfield. And when healthy has been a productive player. Also he will not be very expensive. Finally getting Derek Lowe may be easier said than done. As I see it there are 3 free agent pitchers worth signing. CC Sabathia is probably either going to the Yankees or Angels for Johan Santana money. Then comes AJ Burnett who will either go to Boston, Yankees , Atlanta or Toronto. Reports have the Braves offering him 60 mil for 4 years plus an option. That leaves Derek Lowe. I fear the Mets will be locked in a bidding war with the Yankees and Red Sox. And if the Yankees don't get CC they will certainly overpay for Lowe. As I see it there are no plan Bs. I'm not interseted Paul Byrd or Jon Garland. Maybe they can work a deal with the Rays for either Edwin Jackson or Andy Sommanstein. I know the Rays like Aaron Heilman but it will certainly take more than him to get one of those pitchers.

Anyway we should begin to see the pieces fall into place next week.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

A Tale of Two Shortstops

Todays news revolves around two shortstops, Edgar Reneteria and Khali Greene. First the news that the Giants signed Reneteria was no suprise. Rumors had them looking at Reneteria as a plan B if they could not sign Rafael Furcal. I guess it came down to Furcal wanting 4 years at about 10 mil per. And Reneteria came at 18 mil for 2 years. On the surface signing Reneteria to replace Furcal was a sound enough move. BUT!!!!!! was it what the Giants really need? For a team that was 29th in runs and dead last in homers it would have made more sense to be to try to get one of the big outfield bats that are available. Adam Dunn comes to mind. I do not know what the Giants payroll will be, but if this signing regates them getting a slugger than it does not make sense to me.

As for Khali Greene he is headed for St. Louis. In return the Padres got relieve pitcher Mark Worrell(no relation to Todd) Greene had an awful year in 2008. But he has too much talent to consistantly hit around 220. A change of scenery will probably do him a world of good. Also even in a sub par year he is a upgrade over Cesar Izturis. Mark Worrell is a 25 year old who was a closer in the low minors. I can't believe San Diego could not get anything better for Greene. It appears this is step one for the Padres rebuilding process. Next week Jake Peavy could be next. The latest has him going to the Cubs in a 3 team deal involving Baltimore as the third team. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Luke Warm Stove League

Only a few notes of interest came out of baseball today. Hopefully next week the winter meetings will provide more things to talk about. The big news is the Red Sox signed Dustin Pedroia for 6 years for 40 mil. This deal is very similar to the one the Mets gave both Jose Reyes and David Wright. The advantage to the Sox is they bought out his first 3 years of free agency. If Jason Veritek leaves for free agency Pedroia might be thier next leader. So what about Pedroia? I think he will be an above average 2nd baseman for a long time. A borderline All Star. Though right now I'd rather have Ian Kinsler. His size has to be a concern. The last guy that small to have a productive career was Fred Patek of the Royals in the late 70s and early 80s.

In minor news Bob Howry signed a 1 year deal with the Giants. If anyone really cares about this they are must be a Giant fan. Giving Howry his due he was very effective last year allowing only 18% of his inherited base runners to score. The strenght of the Giants is obvious with thier great young rotation. Also Brian Wilson did a very credible job as a rookie closer. Howry gives them a ueseful arm in the pen and a veteran presence.

I came across a rumor tonight that said the White Sox with the trade of Javier Vazquez are just getting started. Odd for a team coming off a division championship. Supposedly they have been in conversations with the Mets sending Bobby Jenks and Jermaine Dye for a package that would include Fernando Martinez and Aaron Heilman. We'll see if anything comes of this.

And finally I read the Indians may be a player for K-Rod. I'll write more about him and my feeling about the foolishness of spending 10 mil a year on a closer.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Javier Vazquez to the Braves

The Braves acquired Javier Vazquez from the White Sox tonight along with Boone Logan for a package of 4 minor leaguers. Though no names haves been confirmed two players that have been mentioned going to the White Sox are Brent Lillibridge and Tyler Flowers. Lillibridge has been one of the Braves top prospects for a couple of years now but its looking more and more like he may be nothing more than a good utility infielder. Flowers is a young catcher who played this past season in A ball. And is coming off a great showing in the AFL. I think its a terrific move for the Braves. Vazquez is a guy that has thrown over 200 innings every year except one when he pitched 196. He has struck out over 200 the last two years in a row in the AL. Also from a financial aspect he is signed for 2 more years at a very reasonable 11.75 mil a year. When he is on he has very nasty stuff. Now even if the Braves don't get Jake Peavy they are better than there were yesterday.

Bad Karma

With almost all things in baseball I'm a tradionalist. With the exception of the Wild Card I can't think of anything baseball has done to improve itself over the past 20 years. One aspect of modern sports that I don't like but can tolerate is corporate sponsorship of new stadiums. If calling a new stadium FYE ballpark and the team gets $15 million a year that they turn into a quality player that helps my team win I'll tolerate it. BUT!!!!!! with that being said calling the Mets new stadium Citi Field is playing with Karma. I fully support the idea to call the place Taxpayers field. The only thing I could think of thats close is when the park in Houston was called Enron Field. Being a Mets fan means being used to being disappointed. But we have been on the good side of two famous curses. 1969 When the black cat went in front of the Cubs dugout and 1986 when the Curse of the Bambino helped the ground ball go threw Bill Buckners legs. Okay I know I'm superstitious but calling the new Mets stadium Citi Field is like begging for a curse.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Sunday Bloody Sunday

I can't believe the news today. Oh. I can't close my eyes And make it go away. Bono wrote those words back in 1983(do you believe its been 25 years). He could have easily descibed the historically bad performance of All Hail Stitch football team. What can you say when turnovers outnumber TDs 3-1? Even if the Texans tonight turn into a reincarnation of Doug Moe's Nuggetts from the 80s I may end by with 40-50 points for the week. Wow!!!!! D'Angelo Williams beat me singlehandedly. Congrats to Woogie 100 for the victory. And congats to Mangowranglers who keeps rolling along. The other games will be decided tomight. Thankfully my group only has one game left. before our version of the NIT. You know the college basketball tournament for teams not good enough for the real tourny.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Blood is thicker than.......?????

Tomorrow All Hail Stitch takes thier 4 games losing streak into a titantic battle against Woogie(my brother). All my guys that are not hurt or suspended for various drug infractions will be ready (well kind of). So bro I hope your team is ready to go. This is a batlle that will certainly decide ......nothing. I'm sure Woogie 100 will be very happy when the calendar turns to 2009. Good luck bro.

Correction

Braves spring traing tickets go on sale on Jan.10. Not Jan 11 as previously reported. They will probably be a little on the expensive side and go fast. Seeing a game at Disney is great. It is by far the nicest Spring Training stadium I've been to. My only criticism is the park is so much bigger than others. You get alot closer to the game in Kissimmee with the Astros or Lakeland for the Tigers. For anyone in Florida hopefully we can catch a game together. As for New Yorkers there is nothing like Florida in March.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Braves Spring Training

For any Met fans in Central Florida the Mets will play the Braves @ Disney on March 17 and 21. Tix go on sale Jan. 11. Hopefully by that time Omar will have improved the Mets.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

First Entry

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

If anyone has anything to contribute feel free. This is certainly a work in progress.