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.

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.

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.

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.

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.