5teamparlay
07-22-2005, 08:25 AM
FRIDAY, July 22, 2005 – Pete Becker
Hi, Pete here, switching off with the TMR. Schedules? We don’t need no stinkin’ schedules. We’re two wild and crazy guys! May the force be with you.
Hmm… seem to be mis-matching my pop culture references. You’ll have to excuse the last one, but two nights ago, I officially ended my tenure as the only male in North America to have seen all five previous Star Wars movies in theatre (I’m counting the re-release. I was 1 in 1977. Not quite that precocious) but who had not yet had made time to go see “Revenge of the Sith.” So now I have. And now I know. And once again, I will put “light saber” on my Christmas list, and once again, Santa Claus will disappoint me. One of these days, Santa, I’m going to stop believing in you. Just like I had to stop believing in Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds and NHL hockey.
Okay, NHL… I can’t really ignore it much longer. It’s like it’s one of my kids, and it’s been bad and sent to its room and now it’s coming down, shuffling it’s feet and batting its eyelashes at me and I just can’t stay mad. What the NHL needs is an ice cream cone so we can make peace and lift our spirits. Sidney Crosby will be that ice cream cone, and tomorrow, his fate will be decided.
Yes, the NHL will hold a real draft lottery. Every team in the league has a shot at getting the first overall pick, including the Stanley Cup Champs, the Tampa Bay Lightening. Did I just write that? It wasn’t a dream, was it?
Anyway, we will have hockey coverage here in TalentedMrRoto.com. Don’t everybody all cheer at once. Hockey is a great pool sport, and it will not be ignored, not as long as I have anything to say about it. I’m Canadian. It’s part of our oath to the Queen. “I pledge to be a loyal subject, yade, yade, yada, … hockey.”
Okay, considering I’m writing this in shorts, maybe hockey talk is a bit premature, but hey, it’s been a LONG offseason. Let’s talk baseball, where the word of the day is “Suspension”. Kyle Farnsworth, Runelvys Hernandez, Brad Penny … I figure all will appeal, but make sure you check on their status for your next transaction deadlines, okay? This is the sort of little thing that sets a good fantasy manager apart; never start an empty boxscore if you can help it.
Penny’s suspension is a five-gamer, which I’ve never really understood for starting pitchers, since they can just go on an extra day’s rest and be done with it. Runelvys’ 10-gamer makes more sense to me, in that he will have to skip a start on top of taking an extra day’s rest, if he serves the full term. Farnsworth’s impact will be purely up to the winds of fate; how many save opps he misses is much more important than how many games. Pay attention, because if the Tigers get some leads, the way Alan Trammel uses his bullpen will give us a good indication of who the new “Closer in Waiting” is. Is it Fernando Rodney? Is it Franklyn German? Does he throw Jamie Walker in there against a lefty? All fun stuff, and much more useful than my speculating. I may think Rodney is the man, but Alan rarely calls me for roster decisions anymore.
Another Indians game, another boxscore devoid of Travis Hafner. V-Mart’s tried to pick up the slack over the last seven games, hitting .429 with seven walks, translating to an insane .619 OBP… but only has three runs to show for it. And no RBIs … until yesterday, when he hit that 3-run shot. Regardless, this lineup NEEDS Pronk. And so does mine, dammit. It’s getting to the point where they might as well put him on the DL.
Jake Westbrook looks like he had a nice line, but he still gave up 9 hits to the Royals. My sister’s never given up 9 hits to the Royals. (Well, she hasn’t.)
Johan’s 9 hits given up to the Tigers, however, I’m willing to forgive. Because this qualifies as a disappointing start for him. And I love a pitcher who disappoints you by falling one IP short of a quality start. Really, it’s the fact that these are Johan’s “bad” starts that make his final numbers look so good, just as much as it’s the complete game 3-hitters with 12 Ks.
Matt Guerrier picked up Johan with three perfect innings of relief. If you’re looking for a pitcher who might make the leap to average starter with upside next season, there’s your guy.
Fun with Numbers time!
Adrian Beltre: .261, 10 HR, 46 RBI. Shea Hillenbrand: .297, 12 HR, 51 RBI.
This is why I don’t pay much mind to “projections” and focus instead on players who are poised to do well, such as a mid-to-late round doubles hitter coming into a hitter’s ballpark where he’ll be placed near the middle of the lineup, rather than those poised to fail, such as a contract-year fluke going into a pitcher’s park where he’ll have to play almost over his head just to meet expectations. For the record, I took Hillenbrand in the TMRX AL league and in FLEX H2H. I didn’t even consider Beltre in either.
Miguel Batista notched another save, but it was against Seattle. It’s kind of like picking on your wife’s sister’s romantic life. It’s easy, but you shouldn’t brag about it.
Nothing’s easy for the Red Sox. They brought in Schilling in the 8th with a 5-4 lead. They won it in the bottom of the 9th, 6-5, making Schilling the winner. The end result is a win for the Red Sox, a cheapie for Schill, no save, and Clement owners feeling somewhat screwed in the deal.
Eric Young got caught stealing, but at least he was trying to steal. Just about the cheapest speed there is for NL Only.
Every night, I look at the Cinci boxscore, and every night, I’m a bit surprised to see Ken Griffey Jr.’s name. Seriously, he’s due. Expect a season-ending injury about 2 games after the Reds trade Dunn or Kearns. It’s Murphy, baby, and he wants to have a little fun.
Been waiting for my chance to say this… Yes, Duanner Sanchez is good insurance, but no, I don’t think Yhency Brazoban loses his job. Why? Because Paul DePodesta studied under Billy Beane, and Billy Beane made a career out of creating closers and trading them away. And the team that trades for Brazoba, THEY might not use him as a closer, but they’ll have to give up more than if he’d already not been a closer, know what I mean? It’s the whole buy low/sell high thing. All of which is to say, Brazoban got save number 17 last night. Yes, 17. That number looks good in July for a guy who was stuck behind the top closer in the game, doesn’t it?
When Geoff Jenkins gets hot, he’s scorching. The temperature is rising. Next week he’s at home vs. Arizona and the Giants. If you’re in a cap game, take a shot.
11 hits and just 2 Ks in 7 IP? Yeah, that’s the Loaiza I remember. The 6-6 record looks about where it should be. All is right with the world.
Do you think Randy Johnson should have had a clause in his contract that said that only Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera are allowed to share games with him? Leaving a Randy Johnson lead, even not a vintage one, to the tender ministrations of Scott Proctor and Buddy Groom is akin to handing a teenager the keys to the Porsche. What possible good could come of it is drastically outweighed by the inevitable disaster. And yes, I know Tom Gordon gave up the go-ahead run. He gets the benefit of the doubt. Proctor and Groom? Not so much. Proctor and Groom… sounds like a Cincinnati based parody of The Producers.
Hi, Pete here, switching off with the TMR. Schedules? We don’t need no stinkin’ schedules. We’re two wild and crazy guys! May the force be with you.
Hmm… seem to be mis-matching my pop culture references. You’ll have to excuse the last one, but two nights ago, I officially ended my tenure as the only male in North America to have seen all five previous Star Wars movies in theatre (I’m counting the re-release. I was 1 in 1977. Not quite that precocious) but who had not yet had made time to go see “Revenge of the Sith.” So now I have. And now I know. And once again, I will put “light saber” on my Christmas list, and once again, Santa Claus will disappoint me. One of these days, Santa, I’m going to stop believing in you. Just like I had to stop believing in Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds and NHL hockey.
Okay, NHL… I can’t really ignore it much longer. It’s like it’s one of my kids, and it’s been bad and sent to its room and now it’s coming down, shuffling it’s feet and batting its eyelashes at me and I just can’t stay mad. What the NHL needs is an ice cream cone so we can make peace and lift our spirits. Sidney Crosby will be that ice cream cone, and tomorrow, his fate will be decided.
Yes, the NHL will hold a real draft lottery. Every team in the league has a shot at getting the first overall pick, including the Stanley Cup Champs, the Tampa Bay Lightening. Did I just write that? It wasn’t a dream, was it?
Anyway, we will have hockey coverage here in TalentedMrRoto.com. Don’t everybody all cheer at once. Hockey is a great pool sport, and it will not be ignored, not as long as I have anything to say about it. I’m Canadian. It’s part of our oath to the Queen. “I pledge to be a loyal subject, yade, yade, yada, … hockey.”
Okay, considering I’m writing this in shorts, maybe hockey talk is a bit premature, but hey, it’s been a LONG offseason. Let’s talk baseball, where the word of the day is “Suspension”. Kyle Farnsworth, Runelvys Hernandez, Brad Penny … I figure all will appeal, but make sure you check on their status for your next transaction deadlines, okay? This is the sort of little thing that sets a good fantasy manager apart; never start an empty boxscore if you can help it.
Penny’s suspension is a five-gamer, which I’ve never really understood for starting pitchers, since they can just go on an extra day’s rest and be done with it. Runelvys’ 10-gamer makes more sense to me, in that he will have to skip a start on top of taking an extra day’s rest, if he serves the full term. Farnsworth’s impact will be purely up to the winds of fate; how many save opps he misses is much more important than how many games. Pay attention, because if the Tigers get some leads, the way Alan Trammel uses his bullpen will give us a good indication of who the new “Closer in Waiting” is. Is it Fernando Rodney? Is it Franklyn German? Does he throw Jamie Walker in there against a lefty? All fun stuff, and much more useful than my speculating. I may think Rodney is the man, but Alan rarely calls me for roster decisions anymore.
Another Indians game, another boxscore devoid of Travis Hafner. V-Mart’s tried to pick up the slack over the last seven games, hitting .429 with seven walks, translating to an insane .619 OBP… but only has three runs to show for it. And no RBIs … until yesterday, when he hit that 3-run shot. Regardless, this lineup NEEDS Pronk. And so does mine, dammit. It’s getting to the point where they might as well put him on the DL.
Jake Westbrook looks like he had a nice line, but he still gave up 9 hits to the Royals. My sister’s never given up 9 hits to the Royals. (Well, she hasn’t.)
Johan’s 9 hits given up to the Tigers, however, I’m willing to forgive. Because this qualifies as a disappointing start for him. And I love a pitcher who disappoints you by falling one IP short of a quality start. Really, it’s the fact that these are Johan’s “bad” starts that make his final numbers look so good, just as much as it’s the complete game 3-hitters with 12 Ks.
Matt Guerrier picked up Johan with three perfect innings of relief. If you’re looking for a pitcher who might make the leap to average starter with upside next season, there’s your guy.
Fun with Numbers time!
Adrian Beltre: .261, 10 HR, 46 RBI. Shea Hillenbrand: .297, 12 HR, 51 RBI.
This is why I don’t pay much mind to “projections” and focus instead on players who are poised to do well, such as a mid-to-late round doubles hitter coming into a hitter’s ballpark where he’ll be placed near the middle of the lineup, rather than those poised to fail, such as a contract-year fluke going into a pitcher’s park where he’ll have to play almost over his head just to meet expectations. For the record, I took Hillenbrand in the TMRX AL league and in FLEX H2H. I didn’t even consider Beltre in either.
Miguel Batista notched another save, but it was against Seattle. It’s kind of like picking on your wife’s sister’s romantic life. It’s easy, but you shouldn’t brag about it.
Nothing’s easy for the Red Sox. They brought in Schilling in the 8th with a 5-4 lead. They won it in the bottom of the 9th, 6-5, making Schilling the winner. The end result is a win for the Red Sox, a cheapie for Schill, no save, and Clement owners feeling somewhat screwed in the deal.
Eric Young got caught stealing, but at least he was trying to steal. Just about the cheapest speed there is for NL Only.
Every night, I look at the Cinci boxscore, and every night, I’m a bit surprised to see Ken Griffey Jr.’s name. Seriously, he’s due. Expect a season-ending injury about 2 games after the Reds trade Dunn or Kearns. It’s Murphy, baby, and he wants to have a little fun.
Been waiting for my chance to say this… Yes, Duanner Sanchez is good insurance, but no, I don’t think Yhency Brazoban loses his job. Why? Because Paul DePodesta studied under Billy Beane, and Billy Beane made a career out of creating closers and trading them away. And the team that trades for Brazoba, THEY might not use him as a closer, but they’ll have to give up more than if he’d already not been a closer, know what I mean? It’s the whole buy low/sell high thing. All of which is to say, Brazoban got save number 17 last night. Yes, 17. That number looks good in July for a guy who was stuck behind the top closer in the game, doesn’t it?
When Geoff Jenkins gets hot, he’s scorching. The temperature is rising. Next week he’s at home vs. Arizona and the Giants. If you’re in a cap game, take a shot.
11 hits and just 2 Ks in 7 IP? Yeah, that’s the Loaiza I remember. The 6-6 record looks about where it should be. All is right with the world.
Do you think Randy Johnson should have had a clause in his contract that said that only Tom Gordon and Mariano Rivera are allowed to share games with him? Leaving a Randy Johnson lead, even not a vintage one, to the tender ministrations of Scott Proctor and Buddy Groom is akin to handing a teenager the keys to the Porsche. What possible good could come of it is drastically outweighed by the inevitable disaster. And yes, I know Tom Gordon gave up the go-ahead run. He gets the benefit of the doubt. Proctor and Groom? Not so much. Proctor and Groom… sounds like a Cincinnati based parody of The Producers.