Imagine if you never had to see Mike Pelfrey pitch again……in your entire lifetime….Pelfrey-free….aahh.
But this won’t be about the Mets. After all, what can anybody really say? Just, please God, don’t make me watch any more Mets wheel-plays. And the latest highlight of the Mets fortunes was Jason Bay’s arm-less lunge for home plate with his arms pinned to the ground under his body.
The Mets won that one so Jason gets a pass, but it was the most ridiculous slide I’ve ever seen.
Enough said about the Mets. Even if David Wright had a really nice night and Tejada made the tough play he had to make to close the game out. It was like old times. Reyes was back smiling and Wright was playin’ energized and Duda came through with a nicely- measured swing to win it. I could really get used to watching baseball like that.
I just watched a replay of the Jets-Giants exhibition game from Monday night. I thought it was bad the first time around. It was worse in Round 2. The Giants, who lost 17-3 to their Green rivals, looked ordinary at best. The Jets were just a little more impressive.
If it seemed to you that Eli Manning had no clue as to where his receivers might be going, join the club. If it seemed to you as if nobody ever came open for him, you’re not alone.
The Jets actually looked better defensively to me than they were last year. The offense needs a little work right now but that could be said of a number of teams. They can still run the ball, especially if Shonn Green stays healthy. Once again, their only fly in the ointment might be New England. The Pats will be a huge fly to swallow.
But most people here are just getting over the wrath of Irene, the raging waters, the dump from the sky. Trees down, power lines down, rivers swelling, politicians swaggering, and Weather-Channel scaring the life out of you every step of the way, but especially before the event . Irene was a big fat girl wagging her fatt butt all the way up the Jersey coast.
But I stood ready for her, pump ready for the onslaught. Around 2 PM on Saturday, the pumping began. But its little 1/6 HP heart couldn’t keep the waters below the 18” retaining wall between the garage and house proper, could it? Well, it pumped its little brains out for about 27 hours straight and saved our butts from a watery ending.
The power held up for me. There’ll be a generator in my future. The worst wind I got was as Irene was dragging her disgusting ass out of here. She was worn out by then, all that torrential rain for all that time having dragged the venom out of her. Her home invasion was finally over by mid-afternoon Sunday.
I’m thinking about giving my pump a name.
But right before the deluge, that would be Saturday morning, we had our fantasy draft. That was fun. Once again, I tested my QB-first strategy with a guy everybody seems to have forgotten about, Drew Brees. He had no running game last year at all and still managed to have himself a nice year.
But it’s all about risk. The first pick should offer the highest risk-reward. If running backs get hurt waaay more often than QB’s, how can you pick a RB first? There were four who loomed over the rest of the ball-carriers, Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson and, arguably, Rrrray Rrrrrice. In our new world of two-back systems, you could throw a blanket around many of the rest.
I should point out too that passing TD’s count as much as running TD’s in our league and QB’s fantasy scores vs. RB scores are always a lot higher overall.
Then there is the matter of variability, week to week adherence to a standard. Drew Brees is like a machine. The opponent doesn’t matter that much, he’ll score against Green Bay and Buffalo too. He won’t be a target like Vick or slide around a lot like Rodgers or have a Manning neck or a Brady benching in Week 13.
He’ll just be cruisin’ this year, handin’ the rock to Mark Ingram, making the play-action go. And there’ll be the same guys on the other end, Colston and Meachem and Henderson and Mohr. His line is good, his coach is smart and they like to score points….every week.
I could have had RB Jamaal Charles, as things turned out. He was one of the four leading the pack and perhaps my favorite among those. But will all of those four guys finish the season? Would Jamaal Charles have been the odd man out?
Anyway, my second pick was 21 overall and I still didn’t particularly like any of the running backs there so why not grab a top wideout? And if you could get yourself a Giant at the same time, why wouldn’t Hakeem Nicks be the logical choice? Then at 28 overall, there was Jersey-boy Miles Austin edging out DeSean Jackson and the possibly resurgent JET Shonn Greene. I see lots of catches in my future.
A lot of nice players disappeared from the board before my next pick. Fearing a run on tight ends, I jumped on Jermichael Finley, Rodgers’s favorite target most Green Bay days. I could finally select a running back so I jumped on Knowshon Moreno of the Broncos, who does a little bit of everything pretty much all by himself in Denver.
I may have actually taken a risk with Julio Jones, Atlanta’s multi-pick alleged wonder, but I still wasn’t sold on any particular RB. I did get a nice reliable guy in Fred Jackson of Buffalo, who got them his thousand yards last year and seems to be the star in lowly Buffalo. And, um, circle the wagons.
And Detroit will be my defense. Good Luck.
Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy. Show all posts
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Too Many Variables
It’s hard to figure, professional football outcomes. There are just too many variables.
For the Giants, it was another bad day at the office. A left-handed pass, a fumble down low, a bunch of penalties….geez, I expected them to lose, but who could have predicted that they would lose the way they did?
Let’s face it, their offensive tackles stunk last week, and now they came in without their center. Their tight end had been out. That they were favored in that game was ridiculous. The Titans are a pretty damned good team, year after year, and especially with their line play.
But it didn’t turn out the way I figured. The O-line was good and would have been great if not for their stupid penalties later in the game. Their defensive line, in fact, their whole defense, played admirably. But the Giants did lose anyway. Their special teams, and especially their new punter, Dodge, were awful.
Injuries are the order of the day in professional football. How a team weathers them determines their success. If the Giants had a backup center who was any good, if they had a better punter, they would have played. I didn’t see them, did you?
The Giants need some changes. Will they make them? No. They don’t make in-season changes. Almost every other team does. So they have a built-in disadvantage. They’re living in a different century.
Coughlin takes responsibility though….again. That makes me feel a whole lot better.
The Jets surprised me in a good way, showing me some unexpected toughness, not to mention skill, down in Miami. Mark Sanchez was great….again. He made some awfully nice passes. So was their tight end, Dustin Keller. So was Braylon Edwards, who scored on a cornerback slip, proving there really is no justice in this world. Ask Michael Vick.
But the Jets defense forced the Fish to pass. Ronnie Brown had 54 yards. Ricky Williams had 28. The Jets offense put the Fish in a hole, which forced them to pass. And pass they did, but it wasn’t enough and it’s really not their game. They’re used to running and wearing out the other team, keeping the opposing offense off the field.
The Jets overcame their defensive liabilities, their loss of run-stopper Kris Jenkins, their loss of pass-stopper Darrelle Revis. And they just scored more points than they usually do, even without Leon Washington, the running back they let go to Seattle, who scored twice yesterday to beat the Chargers.
It didn’t have to turn out that way. But the Jets have reserves all over the place. A fellow named Sione Pouha manned the center of the defense, just as capably as he did last year. A fellow named Antonio Cromartie partially made up for the loss of Revis. All their acquisitions were all too visible; LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor played key roles in the win too.
But in professional football, there are just too many variables to determine outcomes of games. Injuries are only the most glaring example. There is coaching, the game plan, the scheme and how it works against a particular matchup, and just plain luck.
But coaching is huge, not just for game-planning but for motivation as well. The Jets play the game as if it were fun, the Giants play as if it were a forced march, much as the Jets used to play under Mangini.
But the Giants won’t change coaches. They did win it all a few years ago. But that was before the departure of Steve Spagnola to the Rams, an organization on the upswing for sure. That team also had a fellow named Strahan, a leader on and off the field, and a younger offensive line.
The Forty- Niners, who had played like a team on a mission just last week against the Super Bowl champion Saints, lost yesterday to the uncharacteristically good Kansas City Chiefs 31-10. They fired their offensive coordinator today. The Giants will react to their problems sometime next year.
The quarterback sets the tone. Eli Manning, as good as his numbers may be, set the tone yesterday for the Giants and that tone was stupid. Throwing left-handed in the red zone just isn’t smart. Everybody worked too hard to get there. Maybe he hangs around with Favre too much.
Backup quarterback is arguably the second most important position on a football team. When the starter is injured, the backup becomes all-important. The Eagles and Steelers weathered the loss of their first-string guys quite nicely.
Their names were Michael Vick for the Eagles and Dennis Dixon, and then Charlie Batch for the Steelers. They all played great. The Lions just had backup QB Shawn Hill. They haven’t won yet. The Raiders had a fellow named Gradkowski backing up the disappointing Jason Campbell, and he lead them to what should have been a victory.
But then kickers can lose a game for you too. It happened in the Big Easy yesterday. And it happened in Arizona against the Raiders. Sebastian Janikowski, one of the best kickers in the league, missed the game-winner and so did Garrett Hartley for the Saints.
There are just too many variables. With around 50 players and 15 coaches, and an infinite number of game situations, just about anything can happen, and often does.
For example, the Jets just finished beating the Patriots and the Dolphins, both front-runners for playoff bids. They go to lowly Buffalo next week. But Buffalo just rid themselves of their former Number 1 quarterback, and are now involving talented running back C.J. Spiller into the game plan.
The Jets are riding high. How will that affect their attitude?
Those variables, especially injuries, affect fantasy teams too. My team continued its streak of good luck yesterday against a tough opponent despite the loss of its leading scorer, Jahvid Best, who injured a toe. Who could have foreseen a 12-catch performance out of Austin Collie while my opponent’s QB Matt Schaub had his worst game ever?
For the Giants, it was another bad day at the office. A left-handed pass, a fumble down low, a bunch of penalties….geez, I expected them to lose, but who could have predicted that they would lose the way they did?
Let’s face it, their offensive tackles stunk last week, and now they came in without their center. Their tight end had been out. That they were favored in that game was ridiculous. The Titans are a pretty damned good team, year after year, and especially with their line play.
But it didn’t turn out the way I figured. The O-line was good and would have been great if not for their stupid penalties later in the game. Their defensive line, in fact, their whole defense, played admirably. But the Giants did lose anyway. Their special teams, and especially their new punter, Dodge, were awful.
Injuries are the order of the day in professional football. How a team weathers them determines their success. If the Giants had a backup center who was any good, if they had a better punter, they would have played. I didn’t see them, did you?
The Giants need some changes. Will they make them? No. They don’t make in-season changes. Almost every other team does. So they have a built-in disadvantage. They’re living in a different century.
Coughlin takes responsibility though….again. That makes me feel a whole lot better.
The Jets surprised me in a good way, showing me some unexpected toughness, not to mention skill, down in Miami. Mark Sanchez was great….again. He made some awfully nice passes. So was their tight end, Dustin Keller. So was Braylon Edwards, who scored on a cornerback slip, proving there really is no justice in this world. Ask Michael Vick.
But the Jets defense forced the Fish to pass. Ronnie Brown had 54 yards. Ricky Williams had 28. The Jets offense put the Fish in a hole, which forced them to pass. And pass they did, but it wasn’t enough and it’s really not their game. They’re used to running and wearing out the other team, keeping the opposing offense off the field.
The Jets overcame their defensive liabilities, their loss of run-stopper Kris Jenkins, their loss of pass-stopper Darrelle Revis. And they just scored more points than they usually do, even without Leon Washington, the running back they let go to Seattle, who scored twice yesterday to beat the Chargers.
It didn’t have to turn out that way. But the Jets have reserves all over the place. A fellow named Sione Pouha manned the center of the defense, just as capably as he did last year. A fellow named Antonio Cromartie partially made up for the loss of Revis. All their acquisitions were all too visible; LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor played key roles in the win too.
But in professional football, there are just too many variables to determine outcomes of games. Injuries are only the most glaring example. There is coaching, the game plan, the scheme and how it works against a particular matchup, and just plain luck.
But coaching is huge, not just for game-planning but for motivation as well. The Jets play the game as if it were fun, the Giants play as if it were a forced march, much as the Jets used to play under Mangini.
But the Giants won’t change coaches. They did win it all a few years ago. But that was before the departure of Steve Spagnola to the Rams, an organization on the upswing for sure. That team also had a fellow named Strahan, a leader on and off the field, and a younger offensive line.
The Forty- Niners, who had played like a team on a mission just last week against the Super Bowl champion Saints, lost yesterday to the uncharacteristically good Kansas City Chiefs 31-10. They fired their offensive coordinator today. The Giants will react to their problems sometime next year.
The quarterback sets the tone. Eli Manning, as good as his numbers may be, set the tone yesterday for the Giants and that tone was stupid. Throwing left-handed in the red zone just isn’t smart. Everybody worked too hard to get there. Maybe he hangs around with Favre too much.
Backup quarterback is arguably the second most important position on a football team. When the starter is injured, the backup becomes all-important. The Eagles and Steelers weathered the loss of their first-string guys quite nicely.
Their names were Michael Vick for the Eagles and Dennis Dixon, and then Charlie Batch for the Steelers. They all played great. The Lions just had backup QB Shawn Hill. They haven’t won yet. The Raiders had a fellow named Gradkowski backing up the disappointing Jason Campbell, and he lead them to what should have been a victory.
But then kickers can lose a game for you too. It happened in the Big Easy yesterday. And it happened in Arizona against the Raiders. Sebastian Janikowski, one of the best kickers in the league, missed the game-winner and so did Garrett Hartley for the Saints.
There are just too many variables. With around 50 players and 15 coaches, and an infinite number of game situations, just about anything can happen, and often does.
For example, the Jets just finished beating the Patriots and the Dolphins, both front-runners for playoff bids. They go to lowly Buffalo next week. But Buffalo just rid themselves of their former Number 1 quarterback, and are now involving talented running back C.J. Spiller into the game plan.
The Jets are riding high. How will that affect their attitude?
Those variables, especially injuries, affect fantasy teams too. My team continued its streak of good luck yesterday against a tough opponent despite the loss of its leading scorer, Jahvid Best, who injured a toe. Who could have foreseen a 12-catch performance out of Austin Collie while my opponent’s QB Matt Schaub had his worst game ever?
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Dumb Luck and Just Dumb
What’s better than this? It’s 70 degrees, and the Mets got a complete game out of a really nice guy, it would seem anyway, a fellow named Dickey. He’s 35, he’d been in the minors forever, nobody really noticed, and then he figured out how to throw a knuckleball.
Anyway, this guy Dickey has a weird knuckleball, a harder than “normal” one, and it only gets hit when it decides to do nothing, to just sit there and say, “hit me”. But that isn’t very often. Most times, the batter will be out, in spectacularly boring ways.
Anyway, this Dickey guy won his 11th game last night, and he should be up to at least 15 by now. He’s unassuming, he has no attitude except for a refreshing positive nature, he’s high on his team, and naturally, the Mets will probably wind up losing him some way, or pissing him off, or making him crazy.
Naturally I’m reminded of Carlos Beltran, who FINALLY is looking something like himself. But I don’t think he’s trying very hard. I saw him on the front end of a double play and he just ducked. Oh well. Tendinitis, operations the management gave him trouble for, in the last year of his contract, who could expect anything more.
He’ll get his numbers if he can but, until someone talks to him about an extension or a trade, he’ll hit his long balls, he’ll play a pretty good outfield (meaning fast and smart if uninspired), and be scary to opponents. That’ll be good enough for me, even at 16 million, given our Jason Bay experience.
But one again, it’s a beautiful day. Why sully it with Mets talk. It’s just depressing. They coulda been a contender, as Marlon might have said.
The Giants, on the other hand, were great on Sunday, much to my delighted surprise. That Carolina team killed them last year. Even with all the new guys, that whole infusion of talent, I never expected them to come together as a unit. They didn’t really show much in the exhibitions.
The Giants stopped the run, they covered receivers pretty well, they rushed the passer. Hell, they did everything a defense is supposed to do. Manning to Nicks was there all day. The running game didn’t look that good but it’s early yet. But defense will not be absent this year.
For whatever reason, whether it was Sheridan, or guys who couldn’t cover, or just a general malaise, the Giants stunk it up last year on defense. And it took the management all year to figure it out. The Giants almost never make big in-season moves. They should have. This isn’t 1956, it’s 2010, the era of just in time inventory systems. Gimme a break.
But it’s really nice to have football back. That’s for sure. Aside from the Giants and Jets, there’s all the action around the league. I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday if just because my fantasy opponent had some of the most horrendous luck I’ve ever seen.
Kevin Kolb was his quarterback and, ordinarily, he could put up some big numbers. He got hurt very early in that Packers game. His most dangerous wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, got totally screwed, along with his Detroit Lions team, on a sure touchdown pass that didn’t fulfill all the “process” requirements for a TD in today’s NFL. Who’s making the rules, Eric Mangini?
Another fantasy opponent who scared me was none other than MJD, Marcus Jones Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars. MJD did quite creditably with 98 yards rushing, but that’s all he had. Jags quarterback David Garrard decided to have the best game of his career, throwing three TD passes on the day.
So my fantasy team survived a rather moribund performance from its quarterback, Drew Brees, and a horrendous effort thrown in by Percy Harvin, who couldn’t connect with Bret Favre all day long. Instead I got lucky, saved by touchdowns scored by players having just average days or worse.
Jahvid Best had two scores but just hadf 20 yards rushing. Knowshon Moreno managed to get one by the Jags and Ahmad Bradshaw and the G-men came on in the second half of their game to start rushing effectively.
The Jets were horrible on offense and no team ever deserved defeat more than that bunch against Ryan’s former team, the Ravens. It turns out you can’t play great when you have no left guard. And you can’t just maul receivers running down the field, imagine that, what a concept! The Jets went down the hole with their braggadocio.
Of course, all things aren’t going my way. The Yankees won last night in a big game against the Rays, a game the Rays could’ve won despite everything else, if Carl Crawford hadn’t pulled a Carlos Beltran by trying to steal third on a short fly ball with two outs and a shaky Mariano on the mound. I truly dislike the Yanks and still do. The Rays are the better team. Crawford should have known better.
And I was terribly disappointed with the performance of the Niners against the lowly-rated Seattle Seahawks. The Niners were as bad as the Jets. Maybe Pete Carroll really can coach in the NFL. And maybe Mike Singletary isn’t as good a coach as I had hoped.
Dallas looked really awful in their debut and, once again, Wade Phillips helped them lose the game with a ridiculous fancy shmancy (and chancy) play call on the last play of the second quarter, allowing the Skins DeAngelo Hall to recover a fumble and score for the only Skins TD of the game, in what turned out to be the game-winner. Not that I’m a Cowboys fan but Miles Austin is my fantasy #1 wide receiver and at least he had a good game.
So life is good. The Mets aren’t getting any worse, the Giants have a defense and the NFL kicked off with a bang. And the Yanks look vulnerable to me.
Anyway, this guy Dickey has a weird knuckleball, a harder than “normal” one, and it only gets hit when it decides to do nothing, to just sit there and say, “hit me”. But that isn’t very often. Most times, the batter will be out, in spectacularly boring ways.
Anyway, this Dickey guy won his 11th game last night, and he should be up to at least 15 by now. He’s unassuming, he has no attitude except for a refreshing positive nature, he’s high on his team, and naturally, the Mets will probably wind up losing him some way, or pissing him off, or making him crazy.
Naturally I’m reminded of Carlos Beltran, who FINALLY is looking something like himself. But I don’t think he’s trying very hard. I saw him on the front end of a double play and he just ducked. Oh well. Tendinitis, operations the management gave him trouble for, in the last year of his contract, who could expect anything more.
He’ll get his numbers if he can but, until someone talks to him about an extension or a trade, he’ll hit his long balls, he’ll play a pretty good outfield (meaning fast and smart if uninspired), and be scary to opponents. That’ll be good enough for me, even at 16 million, given our Jason Bay experience.
But one again, it’s a beautiful day. Why sully it with Mets talk. It’s just depressing. They coulda been a contender, as Marlon might have said.
The Giants, on the other hand, were great on Sunday, much to my delighted surprise. That Carolina team killed them last year. Even with all the new guys, that whole infusion of talent, I never expected them to come together as a unit. They didn’t really show much in the exhibitions.
The Giants stopped the run, they covered receivers pretty well, they rushed the passer. Hell, they did everything a defense is supposed to do. Manning to Nicks was there all day. The running game didn’t look that good but it’s early yet. But defense will not be absent this year.
For whatever reason, whether it was Sheridan, or guys who couldn’t cover, or just a general malaise, the Giants stunk it up last year on defense. And it took the management all year to figure it out. The Giants almost never make big in-season moves. They should have. This isn’t 1956, it’s 2010, the era of just in time inventory systems. Gimme a break.
But it’s really nice to have football back. That’s for sure. Aside from the Giants and Jets, there’s all the action around the league. I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday if just because my fantasy opponent had some of the most horrendous luck I’ve ever seen.
Kevin Kolb was his quarterback and, ordinarily, he could put up some big numbers. He got hurt very early in that Packers game. His most dangerous wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, got totally screwed, along with his Detroit Lions team, on a sure touchdown pass that didn’t fulfill all the “process” requirements for a TD in today’s NFL. Who’s making the rules, Eric Mangini?
Another fantasy opponent who scared me was none other than MJD, Marcus Jones Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars. MJD did quite creditably with 98 yards rushing, but that’s all he had. Jags quarterback David Garrard decided to have the best game of his career, throwing three TD passes on the day.
So my fantasy team survived a rather moribund performance from its quarterback, Drew Brees, and a horrendous effort thrown in by Percy Harvin, who couldn’t connect with Bret Favre all day long. Instead I got lucky, saved by touchdowns scored by players having just average days or worse.
Jahvid Best had two scores but just hadf 20 yards rushing. Knowshon Moreno managed to get one by the Jags and Ahmad Bradshaw and the G-men came on in the second half of their game to start rushing effectively.
The Jets were horrible on offense and no team ever deserved defeat more than that bunch against Ryan’s former team, the Ravens. It turns out you can’t play great when you have no left guard. And you can’t just maul receivers running down the field, imagine that, what a concept! The Jets went down the hole with their braggadocio.
Of course, all things aren’t going my way. The Yankees won last night in a big game against the Rays, a game the Rays could’ve won despite everything else, if Carl Crawford hadn’t pulled a Carlos Beltran by trying to steal third on a short fly ball with two outs and a shaky Mariano on the mound. I truly dislike the Yanks and still do. The Rays are the better team. Crawford should have known better.
And I was terribly disappointed with the performance of the Niners against the lowly-rated Seattle Seahawks. The Niners were as bad as the Jets. Maybe Pete Carroll really can coach in the NFL. And maybe Mike Singletary isn’t as good a coach as I had hoped.
Dallas looked really awful in their debut and, once again, Wade Phillips helped them lose the game with a ridiculous fancy shmancy (and chancy) play call on the last play of the second quarter, allowing the Skins DeAngelo Hall to recover a fumble and score for the only Skins TD of the game, in what turned out to be the game-winner. Not that I’m a Cowboys fan but Miles Austin is my fantasy #1 wide receiver and at least he had a good game.
So life is good. The Mets aren’t getting any worse, the Giants have a defense and the NFL kicked off with a bang. And the Yanks look vulnerable to me.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Mets? Who Cares?
It’s hard to even discuss the Mets at all these hot dreary days but when other distractions are so much more fun than watching weak groundouts and strikeouts, it’s really impossible. Why concentrate on a minor league team?
Besides, football’s starting, the baseball races for playoff spots are heating up, there’s a hurricane coming and the U.S. Open is proceeding along without Serena just fine, thank you.
Fantasy Football dominates my attentions early on in the football season every year as my fan interest in the Giants and Jets isn’t revved up yet. My draft was this past Sunday and I’m as happy as the proverbial pig in the poke, as hopeful as Bob Baffert on Derby Day. With Drew Brees as my quarterback, all other considerations become secondary.
And Drew will have Miles Austin to throw to on my scrappy Dem Crabs team. That’s on one side, the other will be manned by another speedster with hands, a fellow named Percy Harvin, as in Favre to Harvin on a Vikings team missing Sidney Rice as a big secondary target. Will that help his numbers?
If Harvin can’t face all those double-teams, I can only throw in the likes of Bobby Meacham, whose numbers can only improve this year as he competes with Marques Colston and Devery Henderson for playing time. Or, if Bobby should falter, there’s Indi’s Austin Collie to steady those numbers, like one of those center horses on Ben Hur’s chariot team.
Running backs were hard to come by once again for me this year, having gone for a qb with my first pick, but Denver’s Knowshon Moreno is one of those young backs who figure to get even more carries in his second year for the Broncos. The Lions’ first round draft choice, Jahvid Best, looked terrific in one exhibition I’ve seen, and the Lions will put points on the board this year, having beefed up that offense to protect Calvin Johnson. Besides, if the Lions were so stuck on the likes of Kevin Smith as their main horse in the running game, they wouldn’t have wasted a first-rounder on good ol’ Mr. Best.
At tight end, it would be difficult to be happier. San Francisco’s Vernon Davis is one of the leaders of that Niners offense and Alex Smith seems to really like throwing his way, to the tune of 965 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. If he and wideout Michael Crabtree don’t kill each other on the practice field, they should both enjoy good seasons.
Managing to grab the Ravens as my defensive unit was fortuitous as that unit has been a top unit year after year for a lot of years. And the Bengals figure to continue to surprise in 2010 after showing up big last year.
If Brees should go down, and I hate to even think it could happen, I nabbed Donovan McNabb as his backup at quarterback. McNabb didn’t waste any time twisting his ankle but should return soon to an offense that has potential, what with Clinton Portis hitting the line hard and Santana Moss returning to prominence now that Jason Campbell is gone, along with his slow reactions to just about every situation. I feel for the Raiders who seem to think he’ll revive their game.
But one of the best features of this formidable fantasy squad of Crawlers is the reserve squad at running back. For a Giants fan, playing both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs at running back sure seems like a relatively riskless running alternative, not to mention what positive effect it’ll have on my viewing pleasure on Sundays. Grabbing Lawrence Tynes as my kicker will just enhance the overall effect.
As for the G-Men’s chances this year, I can’t be that optimistic after watching the defense have trouble with the Ravens on third downs. While the pass rush shows every sign of improving, they weren’t quick enough to protect that linebacking and secondary crew. The offensive line hasn’t really clicked yet either and injuries along the front could just prolong their coming together as a unit.
They can’t possibly be as bad as they were last year, can they? With the return of Phillips and no more CC Brown , things have got to be better. But will they be good enough to beat a Panthers team in the opener, one that thrashed them late last year 41-9? Their QB, Matt Moore had a ridiculous 139.8 passer rating in that one, completing 15-20 and throwing 3 TD passes. Some pretty smart football folks think Carolina will be the most improved team in the NFL this year.
Oh, and Jonathan Stewart rushed for 206 yards in that one. The Giants stopped nothing that day. Can Antrel Rolle and Keith Bulluck make that much of a difference? The answer is “maybe”. A new defensive coordinator and scheme could make all the difference. But it’s the players that have to make the difference on the field. The depth chart still shows Phillips only backing up at safety and Jonathon Goff is the middle linebacker. I don’t expect the Giants to win that opener, or the one against the Colts after that. It’ll be all uphill for the G-Men this year.
The Jets are a different story. They’re a hard team to like, to be honest. Tannenbaum makes me sick. So does that Scott fella. On the other hand, it’s easy to like Sanchez at QB and Rex Ryan as the coach. But Darrell Revis was the star of the defense and Tannenbaum didn’t save any money to sign him. Yeah, you can say he was already under contract but as Michael Corleone once said, “C’mon Kaye, who’s being naïve now”?
The Jets were also incredibly lucky last year. That unprecedented luck of catching Indi and Cincinnati after they’d already wrapped up playoff spots won’t be repeated. And opening up against Baltimore and New England, and then to Miami, that’s no easy road either.
Mets? Who cares?
Besides, football’s starting, the baseball races for playoff spots are heating up, there’s a hurricane coming and the U.S. Open is proceeding along without Serena just fine, thank you.
Fantasy Football dominates my attentions early on in the football season every year as my fan interest in the Giants and Jets isn’t revved up yet. My draft was this past Sunday and I’m as happy as the proverbial pig in the poke, as hopeful as Bob Baffert on Derby Day. With Drew Brees as my quarterback, all other considerations become secondary.
And Drew will have Miles Austin to throw to on my scrappy Dem Crabs team. That’s on one side, the other will be manned by another speedster with hands, a fellow named Percy Harvin, as in Favre to Harvin on a Vikings team missing Sidney Rice as a big secondary target. Will that help his numbers?
If Harvin can’t face all those double-teams, I can only throw in the likes of Bobby Meacham, whose numbers can only improve this year as he competes with Marques Colston and Devery Henderson for playing time. Or, if Bobby should falter, there’s Indi’s Austin Collie to steady those numbers, like one of those center horses on Ben Hur’s chariot team.
Running backs were hard to come by once again for me this year, having gone for a qb with my first pick, but Denver’s Knowshon Moreno is one of those young backs who figure to get even more carries in his second year for the Broncos. The Lions’ first round draft choice, Jahvid Best, looked terrific in one exhibition I’ve seen, and the Lions will put points on the board this year, having beefed up that offense to protect Calvin Johnson. Besides, if the Lions were so stuck on the likes of Kevin Smith as their main horse in the running game, they wouldn’t have wasted a first-rounder on good ol’ Mr. Best.
At tight end, it would be difficult to be happier. San Francisco’s Vernon Davis is one of the leaders of that Niners offense and Alex Smith seems to really like throwing his way, to the tune of 965 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. If he and wideout Michael Crabtree don’t kill each other on the practice field, they should both enjoy good seasons.
Managing to grab the Ravens as my defensive unit was fortuitous as that unit has been a top unit year after year for a lot of years. And the Bengals figure to continue to surprise in 2010 after showing up big last year.
If Brees should go down, and I hate to even think it could happen, I nabbed Donovan McNabb as his backup at quarterback. McNabb didn’t waste any time twisting his ankle but should return soon to an offense that has potential, what with Clinton Portis hitting the line hard and Santana Moss returning to prominence now that Jason Campbell is gone, along with his slow reactions to just about every situation. I feel for the Raiders who seem to think he’ll revive their game.
But one of the best features of this formidable fantasy squad of Crawlers is the reserve squad at running back. For a Giants fan, playing both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs at running back sure seems like a relatively riskless running alternative, not to mention what positive effect it’ll have on my viewing pleasure on Sundays. Grabbing Lawrence Tynes as my kicker will just enhance the overall effect.
As for the G-Men’s chances this year, I can’t be that optimistic after watching the defense have trouble with the Ravens on third downs. While the pass rush shows every sign of improving, they weren’t quick enough to protect that linebacking and secondary crew. The offensive line hasn’t really clicked yet either and injuries along the front could just prolong their coming together as a unit.
They can’t possibly be as bad as they were last year, can they? With the return of Phillips and no more CC Brown , things have got to be better. But will they be good enough to beat a Panthers team in the opener, one that thrashed them late last year 41-9? Their QB, Matt Moore had a ridiculous 139.8 passer rating in that one, completing 15-20 and throwing 3 TD passes. Some pretty smart football folks think Carolina will be the most improved team in the NFL this year.
Oh, and Jonathan Stewart rushed for 206 yards in that one. The Giants stopped nothing that day. Can Antrel Rolle and Keith Bulluck make that much of a difference? The answer is “maybe”. A new defensive coordinator and scheme could make all the difference. But it’s the players that have to make the difference on the field. The depth chart still shows Phillips only backing up at safety and Jonathon Goff is the middle linebacker. I don’t expect the Giants to win that opener, or the one against the Colts after that. It’ll be all uphill for the G-Men this year.
The Jets are a different story. They’re a hard team to like, to be honest. Tannenbaum makes me sick. So does that Scott fella. On the other hand, it’s easy to like Sanchez at QB and Rex Ryan as the coach. But Darrell Revis was the star of the defense and Tannenbaum didn’t save any money to sign him. Yeah, you can say he was already under contract but as Michael Corleone once said, “C’mon Kaye, who’s being naïve now”?
The Jets were also incredibly lucky last year. That unprecedented luck of catching Indi and Cincinnati after they’d already wrapped up playoff spots won’t be repeated. And opening up against Baltimore and New England, and then to Miami, that’s no easy road either.
Mets? Who cares?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
There'll Be No Crab Yankees
They’re still the Evil Empire. They always will be. I’m reminded of this today as Yankee fans are picking on the Mets at every opportunity. It’s not good enough to have your team finally break through after years and years and millions and millions spent on virtually nothing. They have to remind everybody how bad the Mets are.
And why? Francesa seems to be obsessing about relief pitching. He of course hasn’t watched a single pitch so far this year and is relying on his sycophant for info that he’s frankly too intimidated to give. He likes his job. He knows Francesa doesn’t want to hear anything good. My brother talks about Vegas odds, which is okay. Vegas didn’t pick the Saints either.
But I’m reminded too today of how much more interesting the Mets announcers are than those of the Yankees. They can actually say what they like, including pointing out Dwight Gooden’s recent problem with the law. But there is a chemistry there on that Mets broadcast team that’s just absent from Yankees broadcasts. And they can change the people but they’ll still be laboring under the strict guidelines of the Evil Empire.
Santana’s pitching today and I’m watching him now getting screwed on the corners by the home plate umpire. But he’s cool. He’s focused, as he is always. But he just gave up his first walk and the pitch wasn’t that close. Hmmm.
You can probably tell I’m psyched for the season opener. This is probably maximum psych time for me as my fantasy draft is tonight, something I always look forward to, and I’ll be drafting eighth in a ten-team league. This presents some interesting problems. It’s a good thing I’ve thought about it too, my objectives, my exclusions (any and all Yankees) and the importance of winning as compared to having fun.
There are only a few locks really. And some of those locks are guys I wouldn’t pick with a gun to my head. Arod for example. Teixeira’a another. Even CC Sabathia, a longtime Crab favorite (my fantasy team name) will be summarily shunned as he has joined the bad guys. But there are some very nice Yankee fantasy players, I must admit, in just about every one of the first five rounds.
One of the biggest factors though in selecting is that cost/benefit ratio of winning versus having fun. Prince Fielder, for example, has been a Crabs mainstay year after year. He’s even more valuable in this league as strikeouts count against you and walks are a positive. Fielder was terrific last year too and could be even better this year, still relatively young but with all that experience and maybe even a better Milwaukee team. And he’ll probably be there at pick 8.
But will he still be there at 13? I don’t think so. So it’s either pick him at 8 or I don’t get him. I figure 1-7 will be Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Arod, Utley, Braun, Longoria and Teixeira. But Teixeira may still be there at 8 if fellow players feel about Matt Kemp as I do, which is over-rated. One good thing about passing him up is that there’re seemingly a million good fantasy first-basemen, any one of whom could have a bigger year than Teixeira.
But Fielder’s a first-sacker too. Do I really want to win this fantasy year? There surely aren’t too many shortstops or second-basemen that I’d like to have. And there are really just 3 catchers who seem to tower above the rest. Mauer’s availability at 8 presents a big problem, not just because he was the American League MVP but because he just got a huge contract, much more than I would have paid for him, and that tends to wreck a fella’s motivation, y’know?
Then Fielder is rated above some other very good players, Tulowitzki, Cabrera, and our own David Wright. Can David shake his power numbers in spacious Citi? And they did lower the fence or something, didn’t they? And he did hit .307. But he only had 72 rbi’s. That’s awful. If he improves 50%, that’s still just 108 and who improves 50% under almost any circumstances?
Tulowitzki is an interesting possibility. He’s a shortstop, a position of scarcity, an he had very nice numbers all around last year. But it was a career year for him, even though it has been a short career. He was hurt in 2008 and had relatively horrible numbers for half a season. The year before though, he had a very respectable OPS of .838 in his first full year as a player. But that stat is 100 points lower than he achieved last year. So what should be my expectation? It’s a real puzzler but I’d say somewhere between the .838 and .930, which would be a very respectable year indeed from a shortstop.
So Tulowitzki is still alive for consideration. I can’t take Jeter. I just can’t. Talk about career years!
Moving down the rankings, dangerous in itself, and having already passed not only on Yankees but also on Miguel Cabrera, who I don’t personally like, there is Ian Kinsler, a second baseman, also in short supply, and he’s had four relatively good years in a row. He’s a definite possibility, especially since his numbers should improve with Josh Hamilton coming back to that Texas lineup.
Should I consider a pitcher? Lincecum, Halladay and Greinke have a healthy ranking over the rest of the field. But they all pitched a lot of innings last year. And I don’t like taking pitchers early. They’re all tainted goods, y’know, from a fantasy viewpoint. Although I recognize the need for good pitchers, I think the variability of their numbers is totally unacceptable. I think, for the most part, you have to be lucky with pitchers, and I’ll be checking out their innings pitched, you can be sure.
But, no matter what happens, and there’s always a surprise, at least I won’t have any stinking Yankees.
And why? Francesa seems to be obsessing about relief pitching. He of course hasn’t watched a single pitch so far this year and is relying on his sycophant for info that he’s frankly too intimidated to give. He likes his job. He knows Francesa doesn’t want to hear anything good. My brother talks about Vegas odds, which is okay. Vegas didn’t pick the Saints either.
But I’m reminded too today of how much more interesting the Mets announcers are than those of the Yankees. They can actually say what they like, including pointing out Dwight Gooden’s recent problem with the law. But there is a chemistry there on that Mets broadcast team that’s just absent from Yankees broadcasts. And they can change the people but they’ll still be laboring under the strict guidelines of the Evil Empire.
Santana’s pitching today and I’m watching him now getting screwed on the corners by the home plate umpire. But he’s cool. He’s focused, as he is always. But he just gave up his first walk and the pitch wasn’t that close. Hmmm.
You can probably tell I’m psyched for the season opener. This is probably maximum psych time for me as my fantasy draft is tonight, something I always look forward to, and I’ll be drafting eighth in a ten-team league. This presents some interesting problems. It’s a good thing I’ve thought about it too, my objectives, my exclusions (any and all Yankees) and the importance of winning as compared to having fun.
There are only a few locks really. And some of those locks are guys I wouldn’t pick with a gun to my head. Arod for example. Teixeira’a another. Even CC Sabathia, a longtime Crab favorite (my fantasy team name) will be summarily shunned as he has joined the bad guys. But there are some very nice Yankee fantasy players, I must admit, in just about every one of the first five rounds.
One of the biggest factors though in selecting is that cost/benefit ratio of winning versus having fun. Prince Fielder, for example, has been a Crabs mainstay year after year. He’s even more valuable in this league as strikeouts count against you and walks are a positive. Fielder was terrific last year too and could be even better this year, still relatively young but with all that experience and maybe even a better Milwaukee team. And he’ll probably be there at pick 8.
But will he still be there at 13? I don’t think so. So it’s either pick him at 8 or I don’t get him. I figure 1-7 will be Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Arod, Utley, Braun, Longoria and Teixeira. But Teixeira may still be there at 8 if fellow players feel about Matt Kemp as I do, which is over-rated. One good thing about passing him up is that there’re seemingly a million good fantasy first-basemen, any one of whom could have a bigger year than Teixeira.
But Fielder’s a first-sacker too. Do I really want to win this fantasy year? There surely aren’t too many shortstops or second-basemen that I’d like to have. And there are really just 3 catchers who seem to tower above the rest. Mauer’s availability at 8 presents a big problem, not just because he was the American League MVP but because he just got a huge contract, much more than I would have paid for him, and that tends to wreck a fella’s motivation, y’know?
Then Fielder is rated above some other very good players, Tulowitzki, Cabrera, and our own David Wright. Can David shake his power numbers in spacious Citi? And they did lower the fence or something, didn’t they? And he did hit .307. But he only had 72 rbi’s. That’s awful. If he improves 50%, that’s still just 108 and who improves 50% under almost any circumstances?
Tulowitzki is an interesting possibility. He’s a shortstop, a position of scarcity, an he had very nice numbers all around last year. But it was a career year for him, even though it has been a short career. He was hurt in 2008 and had relatively horrible numbers for half a season. The year before though, he had a very respectable OPS of .838 in his first full year as a player. But that stat is 100 points lower than he achieved last year. So what should be my expectation? It’s a real puzzler but I’d say somewhere between the .838 and .930, which would be a very respectable year indeed from a shortstop.
So Tulowitzki is still alive for consideration. I can’t take Jeter. I just can’t. Talk about career years!
Moving down the rankings, dangerous in itself, and having already passed not only on Yankees but also on Miguel Cabrera, who I don’t personally like, there is Ian Kinsler, a second baseman, also in short supply, and he’s had four relatively good years in a row. He’s a definite possibility, especially since his numbers should improve with Josh Hamilton coming back to that Texas lineup.
Should I consider a pitcher? Lincecum, Halladay and Greinke have a healthy ranking over the rest of the field. But they all pitched a lot of innings last year. And I don’t like taking pitchers early. They’re all tainted goods, y’know, from a fantasy viewpoint. Although I recognize the need for good pitchers, I think the variability of their numbers is totally unacceptable. I think, for the most part, you have to be lucky with pitchers, and I’ll be checking out their innings pitched, you can be sure.
But, no matter what happens, and there’s always a surprise, at least I won’t have any stinking Yankees.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
On 2010 Fantasy Baseball
Let me first offer my apologies to any regular readers for my extreme laziness of late. The Winter Olympics, though, is not really my cup of java, or anything else for that matter. Basketball doesn’t send me either, especially lately, although I suppose Tracy McGrady going to the Knicks was worthy of a few words.
And there’s been nothing new with the ol’ blue and orange. Even with spring training under way, there haven’t been too many nuggets upon which to comment. And I’m even having trouble filling out my fantasy baseball league. You don’t suppose it’s my inane posts, do you?
Fantasy baseball, for the uninitiated, is to me by far the best fantasy game, especially if you have some time to spare, as the opportunities to make moves abound, setting your pitching staff for the week, deciding between your fast second baseman and your slugger, or even picking up spot pitchers in a given week to put some pressure on your opponent. (This almost never works).
It’s still three weeks to the fantasy draft so I have ample time to obsess about which players I’d especially like to have on my roster. But I can’t even begin my period of real obsession until the draft order is set, and that really can’t be done until the league hopefully fills out a bit.
For the present then, I can just hope against hope that I don’t draw the number 1 pick, as Albert Pujols would be the only logical pick there, and I’m really not enthralled with the prospect of rooting for either him or the Cardinals. Of course, Matt Holliday is there in St Loo too, along with a couple of other fellows who can hit, so I should perhaps change my view.
Then there is the question of whether or not I want to have Mets on my roster. While Carlos Beltran has been practically a fixture on my annual fantasy teams, it’ll be troubling to assess how many rounds he should drop due to his late start and, even more troubling perhaps, how he’ll play when he returns.
Will he be a stolen base threat at all? Will his apparent disgruntledness make him take a seat when he’s a little sore? Will he decide it’s just too much trouble to take that extra base? Will the absence of Carlos Delgado bother him a lot? I’m thinking yes to that last question and really have very little clue as to the answers to the first two questions.
Should I continue my anti-Yankee policy? While my heart says yes, my head is screaming no, no, no. Even without Damon and Matsui, that Yankee lineup could be a real killer…again. Granderson is dangerous and, while I’m quite sure Nick Johnson will get hurt again, he still poses a threat to keep those rallies going when he is in the lineup.
But really, how can I live with having Arod or Jeter or Posada on my team? Do I really want to put myself in the position of having to root for them? I think not. I’ll just have to find a competing roster that can score nearly as much. Certainly the Phillies will find their way to home plate quite often this year, and the Cards should do very nicely indeed.
I’m sure my spring training trip next week will also affect my selections and, as I’ll be seeing a lot of the Marlins and Cards along with the Mets, I’m sure a Hanley Ramirez or Dan Uggla might find his way into my lineup, possibly to join a Holliday or a Poo Holes.
I know one thing for sure. I’ll be more likely to acquire a Jeff Francoeur in a late round rather than a David Wright or Jose Reyes early. And the same goes for pitchers, I guess, as Santana is coming off an operation and only the true faithful could expect big seasons from Perez, Pelfrey or Maine.
Who’ll be the surprise team of 2010? It could be the Reds or even the Pirates, believe it or not, or maybe those strange Brewers. And I’m expecting more from the Cubs and less from the Dodgers. In the American League, I’m expecting a lot from Seattle and, of course, the Twins, not that that would be that much of a surprise. And the M&M twins, Mauer and Morneau, could have very big years….hmmm.
Will a guy like Giants starter Tim Lincecum relax after his big contract? Will the Phils outfielder Jayson Werth go nuts in this last year of his contract? And how will Jason Bay react to his first year as a Met?
Then there’s the question of the newbies, the future stars and big bonus babies who sometimes pan out but more often either split time or play in AAA until July. There’ll be a run on those types in the late rounds and you don’t want to be caught with your pants down when that pick string commences.
Here is where you can find a good summary of those rookies expected to break out in 2010. You’ve probably heard of Stephen Strasburg, the million dollar baby with the Nationals (who could be another sleeper team), but you may not be familiar with Drew Storen, that same team’s potential closer.
And Neftali Feliz, who, I seem to recall, put in some innings last year as a reliever is said to be the Rangers’ Joba Chamberlain. He might become a starter if he can handle the innings.
On the hitting side of your roster, you might consider the Giants’ Buster Posey (and I love the name too, a nice baseball name), a catcher who can spell Bengie Molina, whose penchant for free-swinging is legendary. Another great baseball name is the Rangers’ Justin Smoak, who should be a pitcher with that moniker but actually plays the outfield and can hit like crazy.
So good luck, fantasy nuts, and make sure that first pick is solid. You’ll need him.
And there’s been nothing new with the ol’ blue and orange. Even with spring training under way, there haven’t been too many nuggets upon which to comment. And I’m even having trouble filling out my fantasy baseball league. You don’t suppose it’s my inane posts, do you?
Fantasy baseball, for the uninitiated, is to me by far the best fantasy game, especially if you have some time to spare, as the opportunities to make moves abound, setting your pitching staff for the week, deciding between your fast second baseman and your slugger, or even picking up spot pitchers in a given week to put some pressure on your opponent. (This almost never works).
It’s still three weeks to the fantasy draft so I have ample time to obsess about which players I’d especially like to have on my roster. But I can’t even begin my period of real obsession until the draft order is set, and that really can’t be done until the league hopefully fills out a bit.
For the present then, I can just hope against hope that I don’t draw the number 1 pick, as Albert Pujols would be the only logical pick there, and I’m really not enthralled with the prospect of rooting for either him or the Cardinals. Of course, Matt Holliday is there in St Loo too, along with a couple of other fellows who can hit, so I should perhaps change my view.
Then there is the question of whether or not I want to have Mets on my roster. While Carlos Beltran has been practically a fixture on my annual fantasy teams, it’ll be troubling to assess how many rounds he should drop due to his late start and, even more troubling perhaps, how he’ll play when he returns.
Will he be a stolen base threat at all? Will his apparent disgruntledness make him take a seat when he’s a little sore? Will he decide it’s just too much trouble to take that extra base? Will the absence of Carlos Delgado bother him a lot? I’m thinking yes to that last question and really have very little clue as to the answers to the first two questions.
Should I continue my anti-Yankee policy? While my heart says yes, my head is screaming no, no, no. Even without Damon and Matsui, that Yankee lineup could be a real killer…again. Granderson is dangerous and, while I’m quite sure Nick Johnson will get hurt again, he still poses a threat to keep those rallies going when he is in the lineup.
But really, how can I live with having Arod or Jeter or Posada on my team? Do I really want to put myself in the position of having to root for them? I think not. I’ll just have to find a competing roster that can score nearly as much. Certainly the Phillies will find their way to home plate quite often this year, and the Cards should do very nicely indeed.
I’m sure my spring training trip next week will also affect my selections and, as I’ll be seeing a lot of the Marlins and Cards along with the Mets, I’m sure a Hanley Ramirez or Dan Uggla might find his way into my lineup, possibly to join a Holliday or a Poo Holes.
I know one thing for sure. I’ll be more likely to acquire a Jeff Francoeur in a late round rather than a David Wright or Jose Reyes early. And the same goes for pitchers, I guess, as Santana is coming off an operation and only the true faithful could expect big seasons from Perez, Pelfrey or Maine.
Who’ll be the surprise team of 2010? It could be the Reds or even the Pirates, believe it or not, or maybe those strange Brewers. And I’m expecting more from the Cubs and less from the Dodgers. In the American League, I’m expecting a lot from Seattle and, of course, the Twins, not that that would be that much of a surprise. And the M&M twins, Mauer and Morneau, could have very big years….hmmm.
Will a guy like Giants starter Tim Lincecum relax after his big contract? Will the Phils outfielder Jayson Werth go nuts in this last year of his contract? And how will Jason Bay react to his first year as a Met?
Then there’s the question of the newbies, the future stars and big bonus babies who sometimes pan out but more often either split time or play in AAA until July. There’ll be a run on those types in the late rounds and you don’t want to be caught with your pants down when that pick string commences.
Here is where you can find a good summary of those rookies expected to break out in 2010. You’ve probably heard of Stephen Strasburg, the million dollar baby with the Nationals (who could be another sleeper team), but you may not be familiar with Drew Storen, that same team’s potential closer.
And Neftali Feliz, who, I seem to recall, put in some innings last year as a reliever is said to be the Rangers’ Joba Chamberlain. He might become a starter if he can handle the innings.
On the hitting side of your roster, you might consider the Giants’ Buster Posey (and I love the name too, a nice baseball name), a catcher who can spell Bengie Molina, whose penchant for free-swinging is legendary. Another great baseball name is the Rangers’ Justin Smoak, who should be a pitcher with that moniker but actually plays the outfield and can hit like crazy.
So good luck, fantasy nuts, and make sure that first pick is solid. You’ll need him.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Who's the Fantasy Number 1 ?
Drew Brees? Peyton Manning? Tom Brady? Aaron Rodgers? All week, and even longer), these names and others keep buzzing by my head. Yesterday, while fixing the roof and cleaning the gutters, the question was all-consuming, who should be by number 1 overall pick in our 2009 Squander Fantasy Football League?
Now, some of you are probably asking yourself why I’m focusing on quarterbacks. What about the consensus #1 pick, Adrian Peterson, the great Minnesota running back? There are some great runners out there, and aren’t you concerned about the shortage of running backs, the traditional approach of fantasy pundits for the last ten years or so?
Well, first you have to understand that, while most fantasy leagues award passing TD’s with just 4 points, which tends to equalize a quarterback’s value with running backs and receivers, Squander Football insists on awarding a TD with 6 points; a touchdown is a touchdown, right?
Well, I’m ok with that notion, what the hell, we can come to grips with anything, this league doesn’t have any duffers, these guys have been doing this for years and years. The commissioner, my brother John, was an old Strat player and, many times you could find him happily playing it down the basement when he was maybe 6 years old.
John disagrees, by the way, with my theory that this points system should humongously skew the draft towards qb’s. The deciding factors should be scarcity at individual spots and point increments between the leaders and those following.
He maintains that the overall points difference between Drew Brees, the top fantasy scorer last year, and the rest of the qb’s, doesn’t exceed that of the top running back, Peterson, from the rest of the running backs. And that may even be so, I won’t be listing the stats here, too boring, but what happens when you list the all the available players and sort by total fantasy points?
Of the first 15 players of all types last year, a running back doesn’t appear until number 9 on the list. And it isn’t Peterson, it’s DeAngelo Williams, the Carolina RB back that tore up the league last year. Of the next 6 spots, 4 more are qb’s before you get to 15, Adrian Peterson’s rank. The points differential between Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson was 361-233 or a whopping 128 points. Even spread out over 16 weeks, that’s a little more than a TD per week. The top back scored 272 points, still 89 less or about 5 points per week.
In a snake draft as in Squander, the number 1 picker’s next pick doesn’t occur until pick 24. So, taking a qb, I’d get 360 for Brees and then be faced with selections worth 210 points. That gives me 360 plus 210 or 570 points. Taking a running back first, I’d get 270 for the back and then probably the 10th or 11th best qb, currently Eli Manning, at 231 points. That’s basically 500 points overall. So I pick up 70 points overall by taking a QB first. I don’t think there’s any two ways about it.
And furthermore, I’d have Brees and either a top wide receiver or a middling running back versus having Peterson and Eli Manning. While I really like Eli, he can’t be a top fantasy qb playing for Coughlin and the Giants, a shame really, but there you have it. Imagine Brees and a top receiver, maybe even a Larry Fitzgerald or Randy Moss. Or, I’d have Brees and a middling running back, say a Ryan Grant or Ronnie Brown.
It doesn’t really matter, running back or wide receiver, as I also get pick 25 in a snake draft. So the real choice is how to combine the picks for maximum advantage. My next pick wouldn’t occur until pick 49 (and then 50), at which point the talent is significantly thinned. A quick look at the list shows players such as Roy Williams and Larry Johnson there, not too shabby.
But the significant thing is that statistical edge going into the third round if I take a qb first; it doesn’t even have to be Brees, it could be Philip Rivers or Adam Rodgers who both scored about 335 fantasy points on the season, still way ahead of the top-rated running back at 270.
There are flaws to this approach, of course, the biggest one being the fact that what happened last year will not necessarily happen this year. Statistically, it makes more sense to look at career performances among the qb’s, which of course would add to the luster of guys like Brady, who was hurt last year, and Peyton Manning, the only Manning in town, so to speak, when you’re talking fantasy.
Then there is aesthetics, the art of the game and my enjoyment of the season. There is also the fun of the draft itself to keep in mind. I’d get a kick out of surprising the numbers 2 through 5 pickers, and maybe even a psychological advantage. For example, I could take Brady and really discomfit Snake Eyes, picking at number 2.
There is embarrassment to consider too, but I don’t really care about that so much. Last year, for example, I took Tony Romo with the number 1, an unconventional choice that drew some jeers but I was never really sorry, this despite Romo’s missing of a few weeks and then returning at only about 70%. Romo is a lot of fun to watch and you never know what starlet he’ll be bringing to the stadium.
And, speaking of last year, though I lost every game Romo didn’t start (backup Delhomme was truly horrible), I made the playoffs and won at least once in the playoffs, even though I needed a savvy running back pickup to muddle through.
But running backs will be a secondary consideration. There are too many good ones, too many split backfields and the wildcat too. The quarterback stirs the drink in Squander.
Now, some of you are probably asking yourself why I’m focusing on quarterbacks. What about the consensus #1 pick, Adrian Peterson, the great Minnesota running back? There are some great runners out there, and aren’t you concerned about the shortage of running backs, the traditional approach of fantasy pundits for the last ten years or so?
Well, first you have to understand that, while most fantasy leagues award passing TD’s with just 4 points, which tends to equalize a quarterback’s value with running backs and receivers, Squander Football insists on awarding a TD with 6 points; a touchdown is a touchdown, right?
Well, I’m ok with that notion, what the hell, we can come to grips with anything, this league doesn’t have any duffers, these guys have been doing this for years and years. The commissioner, my brother John, was an old Strat player and, many times you could find him happily playing it down the basement when he was maybe 6 years old.
John disagrees, by the way, with my theory that this points system should humongously skew the draft towards qb’s. The deciding factors should be scarcity at individual spots and point increments between the leaders and those following.
He maintains that the overall points difference between Drew Brees, the top fantasy scorer last year, and the rest of the qb’s, doesn’t exceed that of the top running back, Peterson, from the rest of the running backs. And that may even be so, I won’t be listing the stats here, too boring, but what happens when you list the all the available players and sort by total fantasy points?
Of the first 15 players of all types last year, a running back doesn’t appear until number 9 on the list. And it isn’t Peterson, it’s DeAngelo Williams, the Carolina RB back that tore up the league last year. Of the next 6 spots, 4 more are qb’s before you get to 15, Adrian Peterson’s rank. The points differential between Drew Brees and Adrian Peterson was 361-233 or a whopping 128 points. Even spread out over 16 weeks, that’s a little more than a TD per week. The top back scored 272 points, still 89 less or about 5 points per week.
In a snake draft as in Squander, the number 1 picker’s next pick doesn’t occur until pick 24. So, taking a qb, I’d get 360 for Brees and then be faced with selections worth 210 points. That gives me 360 plus 210 or 570 points. Taking a running back first, I’d get 270 for the back and then probably the 10th or 11th best qb, currently Eli Manning, at 231 points. That’s basically 500 points overall. So I pick up 70 points overall by taking a QB first. I don’t think there’s any two ways about it.
And furthermore, I’d have Brees and either a top wide receiver or a middling running back versus having Peterson and Eli Manning. While I really like Eli, he can’t be a top fantasy qb playing for Coughlin and the Giants, a shame really, but there you have it. Imagine Brees and a top receiver, maybe even a Larry Fitzgerald or Randy Moss. Or, I’d have Brees and a middling running back, say a Ryan Grant or Ronnie Brown.
It doesn’t really matter, running back or wide receiver, as I also get pick 25 in a snake draft. So the real choice is how to combine the picks for maximum advantage. My next pick wouldn’t occur until pick 49 (and then 50), at which point the talent is significantly thinned. A quick look at the list shows players such as Roy Williams and Larry Johnson there, not too shabby.
But the significant thing is that statistical edge going into the third round if I take a qb first; it doesn’t even have to be Brees, it could be Philip Rivers or Adam Rodgers who both scored about 335 fantasy points on the season, still way ahead of the top-rated running back at 270.
There are flaws to this approach, of course, the biggest one being the fact that what happened last year will not necessarily happen this year. Statistically, it makes more sense to look at career performances among the qb’s, which of course would add to the luster of guys like Brady, who was hurt last year, and Peyton Manning, the only Manning in town, so to speak, when you’re talking fantasy.
Then there is aesthetics, the art of the game and my enjoyment of the season. There is also the fun of the draft itself to keep in mind. I’d get a kick out of surprising the numbers 2 through 5 pickers, and maybe even a psychological advantage. For example, I could take Brady and really discomfit Snake Eyes, picking at number 2.
There is embarrassment to consider too, but I don’t really care about that so much. Last year, for example, I took Tony Romo with the number 1, an unconventional choice that drew some jeers but I was never really sorry, this despite Romo’s missing of a few weeks and then returning at only about 70%. Romo is a lot of fun to watch and you never know what starlet he’ll be bringing to the stadium.
And, speaking of last year, though I lost every game Romo didn’t start (backup Delhomme was truly horrible), I made the playoffs and won at least once in the playoffs, even though I needed a savvy running back pickup to muddle through.
But running backs will be a secondary consideration. There are too many good ones, too many split backfields and the wildcat too. The quarterback stirs the drink in Squander.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
The Agony and the Fantasy
Well, it’s the next to last day before my Fantasy Draft and I’m chompin’ at the bit. I’ve looked over all the fantasy rankings, participated in a couple of mock drafts, and already made my selections in a Yahoo Public League. Unfortunately, none of those drafts quite match the upcoming one.
Saturday morning, I’ll be sitting with the fourth pick. Ordinarily, for most beings of the human variety, that would be just fine. The fourth pick gets you either David Wright or Jose Reyes according to the chalk.
But for a rabid Mets fan, it presents a dilemma. Do I really want to watch Mets games all year and die a little every time Reyes pops up while trying to put one over the fence? Do I want to rage at Wright every time he lets the count go to 0 and 2?
Well, the answer to both those questions is an unequivocal no. I don’t want my first pick to be a Met. If I manage to get Beltran on my second pick though, I’ll be really happy. While Beltran can be at least as infuriating as either Wright or Reyes, at least I shall not have wasted a first pick on him.
The other Mets that could wind up being Crabs (my fantasy team) are Johan Santana and JJ Putz, and maybe even Francisco Rodriguez, but I hate picking players who are coming off a career year. F-Rod won’t match last year’s numbers and, as consistent as Santana has been, there’s got to be a clunker coming up soon, especially having thrown all those innings for all those years.
Besides, pitchers are bigger risks than everyday players, what with all those injuries….elbow, shoulder, wrist, hand, fingers, it’s always sumthin’ with those damned hurlers. So I’ve made rules for myself in selecting pitchers over the years, and I’m pretty sure Santana will land elsewhere.
Putz though has been a Crab several times. This is a guy who performs very well every year and yet nobody ever selects him early. I’m pretty sure it’s his name. Who wants a Putz on his team? It’s like bad luck or something, or maybe a premonition, or possibly it may be prophetic of what your team will be….Putz!
Getting back to that first round, though, I’m pretty sure both Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols will be gone. The guys picking at 1 and 2 are too smart or experienced at this to just let those two fellows go floating by. After all, that first pick must be solid. In fact, the first three or four picks should be solid in order to have any chance of winning.
The third guy, my brother, says he’s taking Wright. So he probably will, barring any last-minute brain farts, but he’s more prone to gaseous selections in football. So there’s Jose just sitting there waiting for me, but I won’t take him for those reasons I’ve laid out.
Besides, Jose isn’t getting any younger and, if I may say so, he doesn’t ever seem to be getting any smarter either. And if Manuel should decide he’s the number 3 hitter, only God knows what that will do to Jose’s head. To my mind, Mr. Reyes has a somewhat fragile head, albeit one that always has a smile on it.
Other guys bat close to .300. Other guys steal bases. Hell, I could just pick Willie Taveras in the 15th round or thereabouts. Other guys hit 20 homers, even in our un-juiced era of baseball. And there are even lower-rated guys who’ll score over 100 times. I don’t need no stinking Reyes.
But who’s left? The chalk says Grady Sizemore, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun, Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton, Mark Teixeira and Jimmy Rollins, God forbid. The only one of those who appeals to me is Ryan Howard. He hits all those homers consistently and drives in all those runs. But a Philly? Do I really want a Philly, especially in this year of all years for my beloved Mets?
Howard has lost 20 pounds though. He could be more dangerous than ever before. And that’s an absolutely scary proposition. Imagine if that big guy didn’t have one of those long droughts he seems to always have! No, I won’t!! Logic won’t make me. Besides, strikeouts is also a fantasy category and, if Howard knows how to do anything besides hitting homers, it’s strike out.
Oh, one more rule, I won’t take any Yankees, unless his name happens to be Giambi, which of course is impossible this year. Interestingly enough, Teixeira takes his place this year, and for many more years to follow. But he’s out, thank God, a man has to have rules.
Miguel Cabrera….hmm. He certainly meets all the qualifications for a number one. Maddeningly consistent for average and power, and on what could be a very potent Marlins team. But he looks like a softball player, one of those guys who guzzles down a beer and then crushes the can with one hand while burping all the way. Nah! Not for me.
My list is getting really short now. Grady Sizemore, Ryan Braun, Josh Hamilton….Golly, this is hard!
Sizemore is a very nice player, does everything a bit, very consistent and this’ll be his fifth entire year. And he plays for Cleveland, a team I’ve always liked, don’t ask me why. Do I remember rooting for Rocky Colavito? Okay, he’s a definite maybe, but geez, his numbers seem Beltran-like, so why is he a number 1 and Beltran just a 2?
Ryan Braun? Hmm, he seems to be a Sizemore type, a little more power and a little less speed, a Brewer, and in what will be just his third full year. He could explode for a career year, he seems primed.
Hamilton? One full year and he died after the All-Star Game. He’s disqualified.
Hmm, Jose is looking better and better, or maybe I should move down the list…Chase Utley? But they’ll laugh!!
Saturday morning, I’ll be sitting with the fourth pick. Ordinarily, for most beings of the human variety, that would be just fine. The fourth pick gets you either David Wright or Jose Reyes according to the chalk.
But for a rabid Mets fan, it presents a dilemma. Do I really want to watch Mets games all year and die a little every time Reyes pops up while trying to put one over the fence? Do I want to rage at Wright every time he lets the count go to 0 and 2?
Well, the answer to both those questions is an unequivocal no. I don’t want my first pick to be a Met. If I manage to get Beltran on my second pick though, I’ll be really happy. While Beltran can be at least as infuriating as either Wright or Reyes, at least I shall not have wasted a first pick on him.
The other Mets that could wind up being Crabs (my fantasy team) are Johan Santana and JJ Putz, and maybe even Francisco Rodriguez, but I hate picking players who are coming off a career year. F-Rod won’t match last year’s numbers and, as consistent as Santana has been, there’s got to be a clunker coming up soon, especially having thrown all those innings for all those years.
Besides, pitchers are bigger risks than everyday players, what with all those injuries….elbow, shoulder, wrist, hand, fingers, it’s always sumthin’ with those damned hurlers. So I’ve made rules for myself in selecting pitchers over the years, and I’m pretty sure Santana will land elsewhere.
Putz though has been a Crab several times. This is a guy who performs very well every year and yet nobody ever selects him early. I’m pretty sure it’s his name. Who wants a Putz on his team? It’s like bad luck or something, or maybe a premonition, or possibly it may be prophetic of what your team will be….Putz!
Getting back to that first round, though, I’m pretty sure both Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols will be gone. The guys picking at 1 and 2 are too smart or experienced at this to just let those two fellows go floating by. After all, that first pick must be solid. In fact, the first three or four picks should be solid in order to have any chance of winning.
The third guy, my brother, says he’s taking Wright. So he probably will, barring any last-minute brain farts, but he’s more prone to gaseous selections in football. So there’s Jose just sitting there waiting for me, but I won’t take him for those reasons I’ve laid out.
Besides, Jose isn’t getting any younger and, if I may say so, he doesn’t ever seem to be getting any smarter either. And if Manuel should decide he’s the number 3 hitter, only God knows what that will do to Jose’s head. To my mind, Mr. Reyes has a somewhat fragile head, albeit one that always has a smile on it.
Other guys bat close to .300. Other guys steal bases. Hell, I could just pick Willie Taveras in the 15th round or thereabouts. Other guys hit 20 homers, even in our un-juiced era of baseball. And there are even lower-rated guys who’ll score over 100 times. I don’t need no stinking Reyes.
But who’s left? The chalk says Grady Sizemore, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun, Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton, Mark Teixeira and Jimmy Rollins, God forbid. The only one of those who appeals to me is Ryan Howard. He hits all those homers consistently and drives in all those runs. But a Philly? Do I really want a Philly, especially in this year of all years for my beloved Mets?
Howard has lost 20 pounds though. He could be more dangerous than ever before. And that’s an absolutely scary proposition. Imagine if that big guy didn’t have one of those long droughts he seems to always have! No, I won’t!! Logic won’t make me. Besides, strikeouts is also a fantasy category and, if Howard knows how to do anything besides hitting homers, it’s strike out.
Oh, one more rule, I won’t take any Yankees, unless his name happens to be Giambi, which of course is impossible this year. Interestingly enough, Teixeira takes his place this year, and for many more years to follow. But he’s out, thank God, a man has to have rules.
Miguel Cabrera….hmm. He certainly meets all the qualifications for a number one. Maddeningly consistent for average and power, and on what could be a very potent Marlins team. But he looks like a softball player, one of those guys who guzzles down a beer and then crushes the can with one hand while burping all the way. Nah! Not for me.
My list is getting really short now. Grady Sizemore, Ryan Braun, Josh Hamilton….Golly, this is hard!
Sizemore is a very nice player, does everything a bit, very consistent and this’ll be his fifth entire year. And he plays for Cleveland, a team I’ve always liked, don’t ask me why. Do I remember rooting for Rocky Colavito? Okay, he’s a definite maybe, but geez, his numbers seem Beltran-like, so why is he a number 1 and Beltran just a 2?
Ryan Braun? Hmm, he seems to be a Sizemore type, a little more power and a little less speed, a Brewer, and in what will be just his third full year. He could explode for a career year, he seems primed.
Hamilton? One full year and he died after the All-Star Game. He’s disqualified.
Hmm, Jose is looking better and better, or maybe I should move down the list…Chase Utley? But they’ll laugh!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
On Fantasy and Arod
It’s a slow news week for just about everything in sports this Tuesday. Except for Pitt knocking off U Conn, there really wasn’t anything happening, that is, unless you’re really into Alex Rodriguez. Or the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. As Conan might have said, “It’s a good day to die”. Of course, he had a much more exciting context at the time.
It’s at times such as these when a young man’s thoughts turn to, well, what would I know about that? But I have been taking a look at this year’s fantasy baseball mock drafts, and I must admit there are some strange things shaping up there.
For example, Hanley Ramirez, the Marlins shortstop and Albert Pujols, the Cards perennially great first baseman, are ranked one and two in most mock drafts. While Pujols isn’t really such a surprise, you have to turn your head a little at Hanley’s ascension.
Not that his numbers are bad. Hanley batted .301 with 33 homers and 67 ribbies. Even better, he scored 125 runs and stole 35 bases. But Pujols batted .357 with 116 ribbies and 100 runs scored. Of course, Albert doesn’t steal bases unless the sky is falling, and in these 5 by 5 leagues (stats categories in hitting and batting), speed is an over-rated thing.
It’s also been reported that Hanley came to camp about 25 pounds heavier than last year, and it’s reported to be all muscle, developed through weight training and swimming. While he doesn’t expect to start the season at 225, he’ll probably play at about 210, a ten-pound jump over last year’s weight. Still, I’m wary as to how that muscle will translate to the game of baseball. After all, it never did much for Arod.
Speaking of Arod, and isn’t everybody, Arod is arguably in the top three fantasy picks again this year. Not that there’s any chance I’ll select him, but I know I’ll hate facing any team that does. Alex hit .302 with 35 homers and 103 ribbies in a down year for him. He also stole 18 bases and will be following newly-acquired Mark Teixeira in the batting order. It should be interesting to see how that will affect his ribbies as Teixeira may have already cleared the bases.
As a Mets fan, I always try to draft some Mets but not at the expense of competitive advantage. I’ll be very curious to see my draft position this year as I might be able to select Beltran, my favorite Met, if things work out just right.
Jose Reyes, by the way, was selected 4th in one mock draft while Wright was 5th. I would never select either that high, however, despite all the steals from Reyes and the five-category contributions from Wright. I’m still quite sure they both contributed big-time to the Mets demise last year. I do hold grudges.
Beltran, though, was selected in the second round with the fifth pick. He’s definitely on my list as is Johan Santana, who made it deep into the second round. I’ll be looking to add closer Francisco Rodriguez too, who lasted until the seventh round, and Delgado, who lasted until the ninth round.
If you’re curious, some other Mets went very late, which hopefully won’t be a bad omen. Crazy Ollie Perez and Mike Pelfrey were both selections in the 19th round and John Maine almost wasn’t picked at all, before someone took a chance on him in the 23rd round.
Ah, the importance of good fortune! Nobody appreciates luck more than this fantasy nut as evidenced by my luck in football this year, when my running back-depleted team beat my brother’s perfectly-situated team in the playoffs, or when my nephew’s fantasy acumen took a hit as he went winless!
I believe it was Julius Caesar who said “In all of life, but especially in war, the greatest power belongs to fortune”. And if it’s good enough for Caesar, it’s good enough for me.
I’ll continue using a rather curious fantasy strategy this year as it’s been working. I simply make a list of players I’d like on my team along with the round they’re likely to be selected. Then, as the actual draft proceeds, I simply plug them in if they’re still on the board later than I thought they’d be.
The great thing about this method is that it yields a team that, if nothing else, you can root for. At the worst, the team may lose but you enjoy the play. If you’re lucky at the same time, you get the best of all possible worlds, the money and the fun.
Just as an example, I’ve selected four outfielders I’d love to have – Curtis Granderson, Alexei Ramirez (with second base eligibility as well), Nate McLouth and Jay Bruce. Granderson was picked in the mock draft in the fourth round, 5th pick, while Alexei Ramirez was also picked in the fourth round with the 9th pick.
If either player is still there in the fifth round, I’m taking him, or, if an even higher-rated player on my board is still there, say, a Brandon Webb or Jonathan Papelbon who were both third round mock selections, I’ll take one of them.
There’s nothing worse than owning a team that has been very methodically selected by someone else’s druthers. For example, I won’t ordinarily have a Yankee on my team. If I’m picking 8th and Arod is still there, I’m not taking him. Yes, I could trade him but then you’re really leaving your fates up in the air.
Today’s New York Times sports headline screamed “Welcome to Camp Alex” in a font large enough to be unforgettable, not just to me but likely also to Jeter, Teixeira, Damon and Sabathia. Why should they perform? It’ll be Arod who gets the headline. I’d guess the Arod legacy or curse, if it pleases you, will continue. He’ll never play on a winner.
My guess is that all the Yankees will have down years.
It’s at times such as these when a young man’s thoughts turn to, well, what would I know about that? But I have been taking a look at this year’s fantasy baseball mock drafts, and I must admit there are some strange things shaping up there.
For example, Hanley Ramirez, the Marlins shortstop and Albert Pujols, the Cards perennially great first baseman, are ranked one and two in most mock drafts. While Pujols isn’t really such a surprise, you have to turn your head a little at Hanley’s ascension.
Not that his numbers are bad. Hanley batted .301 with 33 homers and 67 ribbies. Even better, he scored 125 runs and stole 35 bases. But Pujols batted .357 with 116 ribbies and 100 runs scored. Of course, Albert doesn’t steal bases unless the sky is falling, and in these 5 by 5 leagues (stats categories in hitting and batting), speed is an over-rated thing.
It’s also been reported that Hanley came to camp about 25 pounds heavier than last year, and it’s reported to be all muscle, developed through weight training and swimming. While he doesn’t expect to start the season at 225, he’ll probably play at about 210, a ten-pound jump over last year’s weight. Still, I’m wary as to how that muscle will translate to the game of baseball. After all, it never did much for Arod.
Speaking of Arod, and isn’t everybody, Arod is arguably in the top three fantasy picks again this year. Not that there’s any chance I’ll select him, but I know I’ll hate facing any team that does. Alex hit .302 with 35 homers and 103 ribbies in a down year for him. He also stole 18 bases and will be following newly-acquired Mark Teixeira in the batting order. It should be interesting to see how that will affect his ribbies as Teixeira may have already cleared the bases.
As a Mets fan, I always try to draft some Mets but not at the expense of competitive advantage. I’ll be very curious to see my draft position this year as I might be able to select Beltran, my favorite Met, if things work out just right.
Jose Reyes, by the way, was selected 4th in one mock draft while Wright was 5th. I would never select either that high, however, despite all the steals from Reyes and the five-category contributions from Wright. I’m still quite sure they both contributed big-time to the Mets demise last year. I do hold grudges.
Beltran, though, was selected in the second round with the fifth pick. He’s definitely on my list as is Johan Santana, who made it deep into the second round. I’ll be looking to add closer Francisco Rodriguez too, who lasted until the seventh round, and Delgado, who lasted until the ninth round.
If you’re curious, some other Mets went very late, which hopefully won’t be a bad omen. Crazy Ollie Perez and Mike Pelfrey were both selections in the 19th round and John Maine almost wasn’t picked at all, before someone took a chance on him in the 23rd round.
Ah, the importance of good fortune! Nobody appreciates luck more than this fantasy nut as evidenced by my luck in football this year, when my running back-depleted team beat my brother’s perfectly-situated team in the playoffs, or when my nephew’s fantasy acumen took a hit as he went winless!
I believe it was Julius Caesar who said “In all of life, but especially in war, the greatest power belongs to fortune”. And if it’s good enough for Caesar, it’s good enough for me.
I’ll continue using a rather curious fantasy strategy this year as it’s been working. I simply make a list of players I’d like on my team along with the round they’re likely to be selected. Then, as the actual draft proceeds, I simply plug them in if they’re still on the board later than I thought they’d be.
The great thing about this method is that it yields a team that, if nothing else, you can root for. At the worst, the team may lose but you enjoy the play. If you’re lucky at the same time, you get the best of all possible worlds, the money and the fun.
Just as an example, I’ve selected four outfielders I’d love to have – Curtis Granderson, Alexei Ramirez (with second base eligibility as well), Nate McLouth and Jay Bruce. Granderson was picked in the mock draft in the fourth round, 5th pick, while Alexei Ramirez was also picked in the fourth round with the 9th pick.
If either player is still there in the fifth round, I’m taking him, or, if an even higher-rated player on my board is still there, say, a Brandon Webb or Jonathan Papelbon who were both third round mock selections, I’ll take one of them.
There’s nothing worse than owning a team that has been very methodically selected by someone else’s druthers. For example, I won’t ordinarily have a Yankee on my team. If I’m picking 8th and Arod is still there, I’m not taking him. Yes, I could trade him but then you’re really leaving your fates up in the air.
Today’s New York Times sports headline screamed “Welcome to Camp Alex” in a font large enough to be unforgettable, not just to me but likely also to Jeter, Teixeira, Damon and Sabathia. Why should they perform? It’ll be Arod who gets the headline. I’d guess the Arod legacy or curse, if it pleases you, will continue. He’ll never play on a winner.
My guess is that all the Yankees will have down years.
Friday, September 12, 2008
All About the Leaders
t’s tough to think about sports with any degree of seriousness on September 11th. I’m always taken back to my living room, watching a newscast with some morning coffee. They first said it appeared a private plane had crashed into the World Trade Center
And, as I watch, already horrified, another jet crashes into the tower. Three people from my town were killed, including a good friend of my daughter. And there is no
In the aftermath, our leader vowed to get the people responsible. Then he assigned the responsibility to a country he hated, and, what a coincidence, Cheney was a key figure in the mistaken notion that
Seven years later, we have no clue as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. We’re assured people are looking though. The economy is horrible, nobody can sell their house, and the dollar is doing its best impression of a peso. Oh, it’s pretty tough to get a job too. Maybe that’ll curtail the flow of illegal immigrants.
We have only two “legitimate” candidates for President. And, once again, the prospective Vice Presidents are far and away more impressive than the Presidential candidates. There’s something wrong with our picture.
Leaders determine a great deal in life, and in the sports world too. We of course have seen the Mets take on new life since Jerry Manuel took the reins. Willie Randolph was a great sportsman and a nice man. Some say our President shares those traits. Wasn’t he reading a story to a class of children during the attack on
How does this tie in with the world of sports, you may ask? Well, the only bridge I can construct is leadership. Bad leaders accumulate losses and good ones rack up the wins. And teams tend to take on the character of the leader. Our country seems arrogant and hurtful and even stupid to the world right now. We must hope….. no, pray, that either candidate will be better….. much better.
As much of an influence, though, as a good solid leader can have on a baseball game, and a baseball team, that influence pales in significance compared to that of the head coach in professional football, and major college football too, for that matter.
The days when a quarterback could call his own plays are gone, of course, almost beyond recall. (Not for me but for many of you, I’m sure). The head coach puts together the game plan and usually calls each play. But, beyond that enormous influence, he also determines the type of players a team will acquire and dictates their behavior on the field.
It’s the worst thing that ever happened to football. A team can have a great passing quarterback such as Kurt Warner, for example, and he’ll be forced to run the football until his team is almost hopelessly behind.
Conversely, there are countless stories of the great running quarterbacks, such as Michael Vick and Vince Young, who are shackled to the pocket by coaches more interested in their system than winning, or, too limited mentally to figure out that the system that worked with their previous team won’t necessarily work with the team they have now.
The best coaches adapt their styles to their personnel. That is why Bill Belichick can win with overpowering defense, or win with an overwhelming passing attack, or win with a hard-hitting running attack. He adapts his style to his personnel, unlike Mike Martz and the new genius in
Another mark of good leaders is that they can adapt to changing styles of play and new ideas that work. That is why we are seeing a lot more emphasis already this year on rushing the passer. The Giants’ convincing win over the supposed team of the century was accomplished by maintaining a constant stream of pressure on Tom Brady. The better teams with the better coaches will copy that style this year. And already this young season, we’ve seen Tom Brady get hurt and Peyton Manning fail to beat the Bears.
It seems to me that this new philosophy will prove a very dangerous one indeed for the quarterback population. Vince Young is hurt too, and maybe mentally as well as physically, if Coach Fischer can be believed. Fantasy footballers especially will feel the pinch when the better quarterbacks go down. Will Romo be next?
But the better coaches will already have been thinking about adaptations. More screens and draws maybe, more quick releases; the running backs who can catch the ball should see an increase in their usefulness and productivity, as will the Wes Welkers of the world. Especially against teams with the big pass rush, those quick hitters will be the only way to survive.
We might see teams loading up on quarterbacks, or see them feature better backups or perhaps younger backups. We’ve certainly seen already an adaptation to the injury factor with the almost universal switch to dual running backs. We’ve already seen the better teams, and smarter teams, put a more pronounced emphasis on the offensive line, at least if their increasing salaries is any indication.
Whatever changes are incorporated into the game, though, it’ll be the head coaches with smarts and imagination who will carry the day, and the season, as Belichick has, and Parcells, and a few others, if perhaps to a lesser extent. In a way, Parcells’s style or system already incorporates the injury risk factor, calling not only for big linemen but also for big linebackers and even a big secondary.
Sports emulates life and it’ll be a different type of season. Leadership will determine the winners, and the losers too
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
A Fantasy League Night Before Christmas...
‘Twas the week before Finals, and all through the league
All done was the fighting and petty intrigue
The two teams remaining had only to care
‘bout filling in rosters and how they would fare.
TeamNYSE and BigSwim had made their own bed
Mustangs and Cowboys and Cudas saw red
And Gjets looked perfect, ‘fore taking a nap
At a critical juncture, his team took a slap.
When Sunday dawned, their brains were a scatter
Their reason was fed by robust fecal matter
More often than not, runners-up they would crash
For all of their druthers looked bad in a flash.
But two teams were blessed and their lineups would flow
And the fluster of Sundays they wouldn’t know
With most of their thundering guys on a tear
They never would stray – their choices were clear
They had no Donald Driver, their players were slick
Whoever they’d plug in would quite often click
Not McNabb’s Eagles, their coursers they came
Their rosters they flouted, had no change of name.
Now Romo! now Colston ! they ne’er needed fixin’
And Crosby, the Packer, he sure got his kicks in
To young Braylon and Gates, mighty Klondikes would call
Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!
He believed in his lineup, no waivers he’d fly
When he’d meet with an obstacle, just give a sigh
So up in the standings, his coursers they flew
On game day made noises that always rang true.
When ramsy was tinkerin’, he stayed aloof
Most of Scoops signings, he knew were a goof
While Fu’s and Crab’s rosters were turning around
The Northmen stayed firm, his few moves they were sound.
No fly-by-night wonder on his roster he’d put
Had to jump like a reindeer or be fleet of foot.
One team started slowly but wound up on track
The pickup of Graham soon fueled his attack
Snake Eyes ne’er wrinkled, he needed no hurry
LT over everyone soon he would scurry.
Norv Turner’s dumb game plans, soon they would go
And the rock went to LT, so everyone’d know
A lump in their windpipe, a kick in the teeth
As LaDainian circled the field like a wreath.
Brees finished the race though N’Awlins was jelly
And T.O. would triumph, T Glenn he did spell thee
Lendale chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf
Of his second round pick, he’d soon prove himself.
To think the Snake Eyes would end up in the red
Was before he placed Johnson in Santana’s stead.
Yahoo says the Klondikes will sure have to work
But Brees will find Eagles D real hard to shirk
On Raiders defenders, Fred Taylor will close
And Braylon ‘gainst Bengals could smell like a rose
And Romo will play tough ‘cause Jessica’s fickle
And she could end up scratching some other tickle
But she won’t be to blame, should good Tony lose sight
Of T.O. and Witten, say Big D GOOD NIGHT !!
All done was the fighting and petty intrigue
The two teams remaining had only to care
‘bout filling in rosters and how they would fare.
TeamNYSE and BigSwim had made their own bed
Mustangs and Cowboys and Cudas saw red
And Gjets looked perfect, ‘fore taking a nap
At a critical juncture, his team took a slap.
When Sunday dawned, their brains were a scatter
Their reason was fed by robust fecal matter
More often than not, runners-up they would crash
For all of their druthers looked bad in a flash.
But two teams were blessed and their lineups would flow
And the fluster of Sundays they wouldn’t know
With most of their thundering guys on a tear
They never would stray – their choices were clear
They had no Donald Driver, their players were slick
Whoever they’d plug in would quite often click
Not McNabb’s Eagles, their coursers they came
Their rosters they flouted, had no change of name.
Now Romo! now Colston ! they ne’er needed fixin’
And Crosby, the Packer, he sure got his kicks in
To young Braylon and Gates, mighty Klondikes would call
Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!
He believed in his lineup, no waivers he’d fly
When he’d meet with an obstacle, just give a sigh
So up in the standings, his coursers they flew
On game day made noises that always rang true.
When ramsy was tinkerin’, he stayed aloof
Most of Scoops signings, he knew were a goof
While Fu’s and Crab’s rosters were turning around
The Northmen stayed firm, his few moves they were sound.
No fly-by-night wonder on his roster he’d put
Had to jump like a reindeer or be fleet of foot.
One team started slowly but wound up on track
The pickup of Graham soon fueled his attack
Snake Eyes ne’er wrinkled, he needed no hurry
LT over everyone soon he would scurry.
Norv Turner’s dumb game plans, soon they would go
And the rock went to LT, so everyone’d know
A lump in their windpipe, a kick in the teeth
As LaDainian circled the field like a wreath.
Brees finished the race though N’Awlins was jelly
And T.O. would triumph, T Glenn he did spell thee
Lendale chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf
Of his second round pick, he’d soon prove himself.
To think the Snake Eyes would end up in the red
Was before he placed Johnson in Santana’s stead.
Yahoo says the Klondikes will sure have to work
But Brees will find Eagles D real hard to shirk
On Raiders defenders, Fred Taylor will close
And Braylon ‘gainst Bengals could smell like a rose
And Romo will play tough ‘cause Jessica’s fickle
And she could end up scratching some other tickle
But she won’t be to blame, should good Tony lose sight
Of T.O. and Witten, say Big D GOOD NIGHT !!
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