Joe Mauer: Mauer was diagnosed with a possible stress reaction in his leg, which is the pre-cursor to a stress fracture, which obviously would have sidelined him for some time, especially as a catcher. Luckily the Twins caught it early and it appears to be be nothing as he slugged a HR and a double in a spring training game this morning, along with catching 3 innings.
On a side note concerning Mauer, I feel he's being overrated in drafts as a 2nd and 3rd round pick. There's no question that he's got the skills to be the best fantasy catcher in all of baseball with .320, 100 R, 25 HR, 100 RBI, 10 SB potential, but that's likely his career season, and even then a 2nd round pick on those numbers is stretching it. He must post those numbers to justify taking him where he's going. Position scarcity definitely increases the value of players like Jose Reyes (who's basically Carl Crawford at SS), Chase Utley, and Joe Mauer, but when you draft, you have to understand that taking Joe Mauer in the 2nd round over a player like Travis Hafner is just dumb. Hafner is going to give you .300/100/40/110 pretty much guaranteed, and that's a much wiser investment. If you still have a draft coming up and want Mauer, keep an eye on who else is available and don't pass up bigger, more guaranteed numbers at another position just to have the best catcher. His best value is when he's being drafted right before guys slated to post similar or slightly superior numbers at other deeper positions, not when he's being taken ahead of guys that will post similar to superior numbers to his projected career season.
C.C. Sabathia: Sabathia took a line drive off of his left wrist (his pitching wrist) in a spring training game today. There's no prognosis on his injury as of yet. If you've already drafted him you can hope for the best, but if you haven't drafted yet, I'd drop him in your tier a bit in case he's forced to miss potentially significant time.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Florida Marlins Trade For Jorge Julio
The Florida Marlins traded SP Yusmeiro Petit to the Arizona Diamondbacks for RP Jorge Julio.
Julio was Arizona's closer last season between Valverde's implosion/demotion and then his promotion back to the majors. After his excellent 2002 season as a setup man/closer for the Orioles, he's progressively gotten worse, although his numbers last year in Arizona were the best since his 2002 season. He's a big strikeout guy, but he's also a big walk guy as well, and he's not exactly a reliable reliever. He's been officially declared as the Marlins' closer.
Fantasy Impact: Go ahead and pick him up as a closer, but don't expect great numbers. He should have fairly good job security until Taylor Tankersley gets healthy, and then it'll depend on how he's pitching versus how Tankersley is pitching as far as who ends the season as Florida's closer. Florida's bigger ballpark might help aid his numbers a bit over last season, and there's a chance he could emerge as a middle tier closer this season. I just wouldn't bet a high waiver priority or a quality hitter/pitcher on it.
Julio was Arizona's closer last season between Valverde's implosion/demotion and then his promotion back to the majors. After his excellent 2002 season as a setup man/closer for the Orioles, he's progressively gotten worse, although his numbers last year in Arizona were the best since his 2002 season. He's a big strikeout guy, but he's also a big walk guy as well, and he's not exactly a reliable reliever. He's been officially declared as the Marlins' closer.
Fantasy Impact: Go ahead and pick him up as a closer, but don't expect great numbers. He should have fairly good job security until Taylor Tankersley gets healthy, and then it'll depend on how he's pitching versus how Tankersley is pitching as far as who ends the season as Florida's closer. Florida's bigger ballpark might help aid his numbers a bit over last season, and there's a chance he could emerge as a middle tier closer this season. I just wouldn't bet a high waiver priority or a quality hitter/pitcher on it.
Fantasy Baseball Draft #2
I had been playing in a local league with some friends in my area for the past 4-5 years, but after most of the people who played last year welched on the $20 buy in (no thanks to the commissioner trying to collect the fees after season ended), I decided not to play in that league anymore. So, I joined another 12 team, 5x5 rotisserie league and ended up with the following team:
C - Mike Piazza (10th round)
1B - David Ortiz (2nd round)
2B - Howie Kendrick (9th round)
SS - Felipe Lopez (12th round)
3B - Alex Rodriguez (1st round)
OF - Jason Bay (3rd round)
OF - Nick Markakis (8th round)
OF - Jeff Francoeur (11th round)
UTIL - Jim Thome (7th round)
Bench - Willy Taveras (13th round)
Bench - Eric Byrnes (20th round)
SP - Brandon Webb (4th round)
SP - Felix Hernandez (6th round)
SP - Anthony Reyes (15th round)
SP - John Patterson (16th round)
SP - Kelvim Escobar (19th round)
SP - Roger Clemens (14th round)
RP - Francisco Rodriguez (5th round)
RP - Jonathan Broxton (17th round)
RP - Dan Wheeler (18th round)
RP - Scot Shields (21st round)
Offense: My offense is stacked with loads of talent. I'm a bit weak in batting average given I don't have anyone that will contend for the batting crown, but on the other hand, Francoeur and Lopez are really the only sub .280 hitters on this squad. I have a lot of HR power, a lot of guys that will see 100+ RBIs and Rs, and 2 SB machines in Lopez and Taveras. Taveras is my favorite "empty speed" player this year in terms of draft value, although he should hit for a decent average in spacious Colorado and score plenty of runs. Piazza is my favorite catcher in redraft leagues this year. His numbers last year aren't terrific, but he still managed a .283 average, 22 HRs, and 68 RBIs playing most of his games in one of the worst hitters ballparks in baseball (Petco Park). He's now the fulltime DH, which means he'll play every day, he's hitting in a better ballpark (Oakland), surrounded by a much better lineup. He's not Mauer/VMart/McCann, but he'll come close (he might even put up the best power numbers of the group), and can be drafted much later. Eric Byrnes, a 25/25 candidate, in the 20th round, is ridiculous value.
Starting Pitching: My starting pitching gets pretty hazy after Brandon Webb. Felix Hernandez was a fantasy baseball disappointment last year thanks to obscene hype, but he's a good value this season with a full major league season under his belt. He's only 21 years old still. He'll be more familiar with his catcher Johjima, which will lead to better called games. He has insane talent and posted solid peripherals after the All-Star break last year. I expect another step forward from the 2nd half of last year. Anthony Reyes has been lights out this spring, and is one of the more unheralded pitching prospects thanks to not having a high 90s fastball. I knew with a big Cardinals fan having two picks after where I grabbed Reyes, I wouldn't get him if I waited. John Patterson is more my #3 starter, and as I stated on my other team, he's a good bounceback candidate this year. He won't win many games, but he'll have great ratios and lots of Ks when healthy. Kelvim Escobar is still a rather underrated pitcher, and while he has plenty of health concerns as well, he's a very good starter when healthy. I took Clemens entirely too high, but since we drafted on Yahoo, I didn't have much time to come up with an emergency plan since I was set on taking Randy Johnson there instead. I panicked.
Relief Pitching: Oops. Well, after I drafted my ace reliever K-Rod, I just gave up on the saves catagory because the entire league completely overvalued closers. The lesser closers were being drafted 3-4 rounds where they should be, and with as much turnover as there is at the position, I had no problem drafting all the other players that fell through the cracks while everyone raced to grab closers. I have no problem grinding out the first month with just K-Rod and seeing what happens with all the other questionable closer positions. Dan Wheeler is my 2nd closer, I guess, because I see no reason why Brad Lidge won't lose his job. He was terrible most of last season, and he's been terrible most of the spring. I could have seen him pulling a 180 degree turnaround if he composed himself this offseason and started strong this spring, but he's still a mess. Broxton and Shields are top notch MRs, and they don't get enough love in rotisserie scoring thanks to the random wins, low ratios, and strong K numbers they offer your team. They're especially helpful if you're worried about some of your starters, as I am.
C - Mike Piazza (10th round)
1B - David Ortiz (2nd round)
2B - Howie Kendrick (9th round)
SS - Felipe Lopez (12th round)
3B - Alex Rodriguez (1st round)
OF - Jason Bay (3rd round)
OF - Nick Markakis (8th round)
OF - Jeff Francoeur (11th round)
UTIL - Jim Thome (7th round)
Bench - Willy Taveras (13th round)
Bench - Eric Byrnes (20th round)
SP - Brandon Webb (4th round)
SP - Felix Hernandez (6th round)
SP - Anthony Reyes (15th round)
SP - John Patterson (16th round)
SP - Kelvim Escobar (19th round)
SP - Roger Clemens (14th round)
RP - Francisco Rodriguez (5th round)
RP - Jonathan Broxton (17th round)
RP - Dan Wheeler (18th round)
RP - Scot Shields (21st round)
Offense: My offense is stacked with loads of talent. I'm a bit weak in batting average given I don't have anyone that will contend for the batting crown, but on the other hand, Francoeur and Lopez are really the only sub .280 hitters on this squad. I have a lot of HR power, a lot of guys that will see 100+ RBIs and Rs, and 2 SB machines in Lopez and Taveras. Taveras is my favorite "empty speed" player this year in terms of draft value, although he should hit for a decent average in spacious Colorado and score plenty of runs. Piazza is my favorite catcher in redraft leagues this year. His numbers last year aren't terrific, but he still managed a .283 average, 22 HRs, and 68 RBIs playing most of his games in one of the worst hitters ballparks in baseball (Petco Park). He's now the fulltime DH, which means he'll play every day, he's hitting in a better ballpark (Oakland), surrounded by a much better lineup. He's not Mauer/VMart/McCann, but he'll come close (he might even put up the best power numbers of the group), and can be drafted much later. Eric Byrnes, a 25/25 candidate, in the 20th round, is ridiculous value.
Starting Pitching: My starting pitching gets pretty hazy after Brandon Webb. Felix Hernandez was a fantasy baseball disappointment last year thanks to obscene hype, but he's a good value this season with a full major league season under his belt. He's only 21 years old still. He'll be more familiar with his catcher Johjima, which will lead to better called games. He has insane talent and posted solid peripherals after the All-Star break last year. I expect another step forward from the 2nd half of last year. Anthony Reyes has been lights out this spring, and is one of the more unheralded pitching prospects thanks to not having a high 90s fastball. I knew with a big Cardinals fan having two picks after where I grabbed Reyes, I wouldn't get him if I waited. John Patterson is more my #3 starter, and as I stated on my other team, he's a good bounceback candidate this year. He won't win many games, but he'll have great ratios and lots of Ks when healthy. Kelvim Escobar is still a rather underrated pitcher, and while he has plenty of health concerns as well, he's a very good starter when healthy. I took Clemens entirely too high, but since we drafted on Yahoo, I didn't have much time to come up with an emergency plan since I was set on taking Randy Johnson there instead. I panicked.
Relief Pitching: Oops. Well, after I drafted my ace reliever K-Rod, I just gave up on the saves catagory because the entire league completely overvalued closers. The lesser closers were being drafted 3-4 rounds where they should be, and with as much turnover as there is at the position, I had no problem drafting all the other players that fell through the cracks while everyone raced to grab closers. I have no problem grinding out the first month with just K-Rod and seeing what happens with all the other questionable closer positions. Dan Wheeler is my 2nd closer, I guess, because I see no reason why Brad Lidge won't lose his job. He was terrible most of last season, and he's been terrible most of the spring. I could have seen him pulling a 180 degree turnaround if he composed himself this offseason and started strong this spring, but he's still a mess. Broxton and Shields are top notch MRs, and they don't get enough love in rotisserie scoring thanks to the random wins, low ratios, and strong K numbers they offer your team. They're especially helpful if you're worried about some of your starters, as I am.
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