Throwing Down the Gauntlet
Fantasy baseball is upon us. The annual Chuck Norris Invitational is ready to hit it's third season...or second. I can't keep track. Here is how the league is shaping up:
Dep's Deps
Sidd's Dalai Lamas
Larry Jones Sucks
InvincibleMet
brooklyn bombers
Dog Days
It burns when I pee
K-REDS
All Bats No Balls
Juan Pierre
New York Mets
Enter Sandman
The Mendozas
Baja lo Panti
I'm The Mendozas. It wasn't meant to be funny, but more indicative of my probable sub-par performance and ability to waste three or four mid draft picks on people that do not even make the big league roster. However, It burns when I pee, Juan Pierre, and Baja lo Panti are in for the best name.
We also have a running joke about Jason Marquis in our league. He is always out there and someone always picks him up and drops him really quickly due to him being inept. He's like the slut at the party that just keeps getting passed around and everyone regrets it the next day.
Subject: Jason Marquis
by: Benny Blanco from da Bronx (Baja lo Panti)
Over-Under on what round he gets drafted?
Over-Under on how many times he gets picked up?
Re: Jason Marquis
by: jksd11 (Enter Sandman)
Undrafted, unless Mike pulls one of his usual moves, then I would say 8th round.
He will get added at least 27 times.
What the fuck is that supposed to mean? People are jealous of my insane fantasy abilities and feel the need to try and tear me down.
Re: Draft time changed again
by: pavanut (Pavanuts)
Make the draft time at 2am on Friday if you want... it doesn't matter. You're all going down, bitches.
by: clott1986 (Dog Days)
Sounds an awful lot like what I said to your mothers last night.
Yeah, both of 'em.
Wow
by: Sammy C (Larry Jones Sucks)
We haven't started yet and Mother's are free game already. Rough league. ;)
Re: Wow
by: clott1986 (Dog Days)
Benny advised me to be on my game. ;)
That's right. That was some trash talking in February. This league runs pretty good through the All-Star break with some trash talking, then everyone loses focus and could care less. I hope this year we have a bunch of gamers that don't know what the meaning of quit is. While Jason Marquis is out there, there is always hope.
Left-handed pitcher Adam Bostick has been optioned to New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League while the following players have been sent to minor league camp for re-assignment: Right-handed pitchers Robert Parnell, Eddie Kunz, Juan Padilla, Andy Cavazos, Brant Rustich, Ivan Maldonado, left-handed pitchers Jonathan Niese and Ryan Cullen, catchers Salomon Manriquez and Mike Nickeas, infielder Anderson Machado and outfielder Ben Johnson.
Jon Neise, we hardly knew ye. Scary part is, you could be back at Shea with season with the depth the Mets have.
There are still a couple weeks for him to get more comfortable and a number of ways for this to happen: new shoes, orthotics, braces, injections of various sorts, and a simple "get used to it" are all possibilities. It's safe to say that this will likely affect Beltran through Opening Day. Given the current symptoms, seeing Beltran need some days off or even having him shift to a corner OF slot isn't out of the question, but those are about the worst-case scenarios. Neither is too bad. The most likely scenario is that Beltran finds some comfort, loses a little range and speed, and tries to make up for it with some more power. Eric Walker is doing some interesting work on power trends with age that could fit right in to what we're seeing here.
I for one think Beltran is going to take his power #'s to the next level and be a perennial forty homer guy.
"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be upset if I was traded," Schoeneweis said. "I don't want to be traded. Again, I feel like me having an off-year didn't keep us from making the playoffs."
Problem is, he might be the only one upset if he was traded.
The Mets signed Schoeneweis to a three-year contract before the 2007 season. But he severed a tendon in his left hamstring during spring training last year, which hindered him for nearly the entire season. In 70 appearances, Schoeneweis was 0-2 with a 5.03 ERA, turning himself into a frequent target for boo birds at Shea Stadium.
Am I being unfair? Possibly. I do think he could be better in 2008.
Fernando speaks.
"Basically, I want them to be comfortable enough so they don't have to shake me off, or step off the rubber and start all over again," Schneider said. "The goal is to have your pitcher totally confident that he's in sync with his catcher. I want them to have full confidence in the pitches I call for, so that when they're releasing the ball they're not thinking "Did I really want to throw that pitch?' "
Here is the Mets' lineup today behind Johan Santana:
SS Jose Reyes
LF Brady Clark
3B David Wright
DH Carlos Beltran
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Damion Easley
RF Ryan Church
CF Angel Pagan
C Brian Schneider
Interesting statement from The Duque. It seems as though he is making his way back and it seems he'll be in the rotation no matter what at this point.
The far better answer is that the Mets don't really need him, which is a simple thing to show. According to most projections, the Mets' best lineup, including Alou, should score about 5.1 runs a game. Pencil in someone like Marlon Anderson or Detroit reserve Marcus Thames, in whom Omar Minaya is rumored to be interested, and that number drops all the way to 5.0. Pencil in Bonds for a line of .250 BA/.450 OBA/.550 SLG, and it might rise to 5.3, depending on where he bats in the lineup.
He is probably right, but the fact is Bonds does help. As he stated, over the course of a season, Bonds might add 40 runs. That will translate into quite a few wins and push the Mets further ahead of all of the teams in the NL. Again, I do agree he does not fit, but it is fun to think about.
On Friday, the day the Mets officially made their first round of cuts, reliever Steven Register walked into the clubhouse at Tradition Field to see his locker manned by someone else. Then he did what any rookie would do. He panicked.
Turns out Register wasn't cut after all. Clubhouse attendants had simply moved him four lockers to the right, consolidating space after the Mets cut 13 other players.
That is just wrong. You would think they would be more sensitive to these things. Register is probably going to be haunted by this for long, long time.
Said Ingraham: "Even these big, hulky strong impressive men today are in a situation where they just break down blubbering for like 20 minutes at a retirement press conference. And women, overwhelmingly, calling into my show, said we really like Brett Favre, we think he's amazing, but enough with the waterworks. ... I mean, the sobs, they just never stopped."
I'm a big fan of watching some good old fashioned blubbering by some gigantic guys and it is very entertaining. It is good to see someone call them out.
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.
I kind of like it. It's like enhanced water, no?
Labels: fantasy baseball
posted by michael o. at 11:11 AM
26 Comments:
That Steven Register story was priceless. Come on mets, they gotta think about that stuff. Poor kid.
The draft was fun last nite y'all. Y'all going down!!!!!!!
I still declare shenanigans on the whole league for post-draft rule changes. not cool ;)
11:50 AM
Well, at this point, I don't want to change anything. I know what I said last night, but I don't want to add another pitcher.
Two additional roster spots was OK since the last two picks are just upside picks anyway.
Thoughts? Can we add two roster spots without change the actual structure? If not, then maybe one?
We have until the 13th to sort this out.
11:59 AM
The adding another pitcher is a bit ridiculous. I feel like Benny looked at his roster and saw 9 pitches he wanted to start and changed it based on that ;) I know that's not true, but it could be lol (just kidding Benny ;)
I'm even against the 2 additional roster spots. I dont think we need them. I'm fine with them if we choose to add them but imo 5 bench spots is enough. Yeah, they're ok if they're all upside guys, but i feel like people just hoard any decent players left out there based on rankings n the such. Its nice to leave some replacement level guys out there for people to pick up when injuries occur.
I'd much rather have 2 DL slots then 2 bench spots.
If everyone picked up high upside guys and left the replacement level types alone, I'd be more than ok with it, but i dont feel thats what people do and then when injuries occur and you need to pick someone up there's no one out there cuz 2 roster spots = 28-30 add'l guys taken.
All in all, this aint a money league and I feel i will win regardless so I'm cool with whatever ;)
12:10 PM
Well, the 9 seems a bit crazy. I would welcome that as well as it suits my team better in regards to saves and holds, but I would rather not increase it to 9.
You bring up a good point with having some replacement level players out there and it makes people manage their rosters a bit closer. In a league this big, we are talking about 28 players being sucked up.
You should have bitched more last night. I'm not against changing the changes since they were after the fact.
Benny...thoughts? Comments? Concerns????
I vote to either change nothing, or just let people add ONE bench spot and no expansion of the pitchers at all. If people get mad, so be it. I kind of like the idea of having to better manage your rosters so you cannot sit on a hot prospect all season and wait for him to come up. That way, people can make more meaningful additions and subtractions and waivers will mean more than they did last year.
12:29 PM
Interesting article on Pelfrey. He was going to town on that mouthpiece...Hopefully he'll clear this up and put up better numbers going forward.
I wonder if Juan Rivera could be a fit...Angels OF is overcrowded, and I read that he may be available. I wonder if we have something to offer them, and whether he can play a bit at first...
12:31 PM
Rivera is a great fit. But I think he'll cost more than we have. I guess Niese would be the one to go unless they REALLY love Joe Smith. And Niese is really too much to give up.
Bleh....
12:47 PM
I'm fine either way on the rosters, so long as we just come to consensus and clear it up.
Given my god-awful draft, I probably should have held off on the trash, eh? Your moms were tasty, though ...
I'm actually really glad Pelfrey was tipping. Much easier to correct than just being a lousy hurler, which he ain't.
12:53 PM
Ok, then we should put all changes on hold and take a vote. I want to be fair as possible on this one and don't want anyone to be pissed. If people are going to be pissed, we should scrap any changes.
We have plenty of time to make changes at this point....
1:22 PM
Yea, my bad for not bitching more about it last nite. I was definitely not in favor of it then neither.
Honestly i was having some problems with my net and it was hard enough to maintain the draft window and do some research on possible picks and chat with y'all all at the same time. I didnt chat much at all.
I asked a question when benny brought up the add'l slots but it wasnt answered and we just moved on at that point.
oh vell!
1:47 PM
You should have spoke up. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. The agressive hooker gets the trick.
My only concern is now is that people have their waiver picks in. Would scaling back have an effect on that? I don't want the entire league to blow up. Also, I don't want to waste a decent waiver claim on adding two players!
2:03 PM
I think a mass email is in order and hopefully we'll get that done tonight to sort this all out.
2:04 PM
lol @ hooker analogy.
That's a good question, i dont know what effect it would have on current waiver placements.
Mass email sounds like the way to go.
I'm cool with whatever is decided, I'm not the kind to make big waves over a non-money league.
And i will win regardless. this is most important to remember ;)
2:12 PM
Bold statements from a rookie. You might have played fantasy baseball before, but this competition is fierce. I've knock down entire city grids just so I get my waiver pick.
2:29 PM
Its too bad those waiver picks were for Jason Marquis, who you dropped 2 days later after he gave you an ERA of over 10. Interestingly enough, that still lowered your team ERA.
2:34 PM
lol! Waiver picks make Mike = Godzilla!
too funny.
as long as I dont come in last i consider myself a winner! I should have explained that earlier, lol;)
I am pleased with my draft though. so you never know!
2:48 PM
lol, every year there's always drama and always fuck something up.
Alright so what I'm getting is this. After people agreed last night adding the spots was a good idea, today its not a good idea?
I have to go to work now so I'll sort shit out real late at night or just tomorrow.
2:52 PM
ANyways, umm, what I did was, I wrote something on the fantasy league site.
Just write something there and I'll sort out who wants what and what the majority is.
Thanks,
3:00 PM
Its too bad those waiver picks were for Jason Marquis, who you dropped 2 days later after he gave you an ERA of over 10. Interestingly enough, that still lowered your team ERA.
That was below the belt man. Let's keep it north of the coin purse please.
Ok...someone start a thread (or me if I get there first) and try and get a consensus.
3:10 PM
And can the non-commish send an email to the league? I'll try and do that, but whoever gets there first, go for it. The sooner the better.
3:11 PM
Haha, sorry Mike, I couldn't resist the trash talk. I do like the fact you take a chance on all the young guys. Your team always has huge potential.
Not sure if any of you are Office fans, but here's a quote that blew my mind:
“I don’t talk trash, I talk smack. Trash talk is all hypothetical, like, your mom is so fat she could eat the internet. But smack talk is happening like right now....like, you're ugly and I know it for a fact cause I got the evidence right there."
-Kelly Kapur
3:23 PM
You think I take chances? I just make bad decisions. Last year I drafted one or two starters that got sent to the minors and I did not draft them low....like Evan Longoria this year. I lack the ability to make sound decisions and it shows the standings.
One of these years, it is going to pay off. One of these days....
I love the office...that quote is CLASSIC. And I'm going to rip that off for some future post.
And you should never resist the trash talking. I want this season to get ugly. It should keep things interesting.
3:39 PM
that's from the ping-pong episode. that one is great.
Zippity Zoppity show me the boppity!
4:11 PM
Bopity boopity bopity boop.
That is one of my favorite Family Guy episodes. Non stop amazingness.
4:16 PM
how did david newhan go undrafted?
10:43 PM
The aggressive hooker gets the trick.
Just ask the Governor of New York.
Laura Ingraham is to the right of Bill O’Reilly and left of Ann Coulter. She is "right" about this subject.
Sanchez had good command of his breaking ball and off-speed stuff in general. Even if the fastball is diminished this year he should still help this ball club. Next year he may very well be dominant again.
Maine is already better than any #3 or #4 starter (depending on how you rate Maine and Ollie) than I can think of on another team. Maine is still improving but I think his talent will preclude him from being a #1 starter. Note you have to earn the right to be called a great team. I might call the Mets that after the season but not now.
I wouldn’t get too excited about Angel Pagan. Chris Woodward is hitting .529 and Morgan Ensberg .429 this spring. Spring training averages are like being inebriated and screwing a well worn hooker. It may feel great at the time but eventually you see the situation through sober eyes.
If you would have asked me last year about Beltran moving to a corner outfield spot I would not have been too concerned with CG and LM in the wings. I’m not as high on Church as some other people so I don’t believe he is the answer. BTW today we might have seen a glimpse of what a good left handed pitcher can do to this team. On the positive side the Mets pitching was once again superb.
11:18 PM
But Pagan was also decent for the Cubs, though not spectacular. This pitching is good enough and the offense is good enough to carry Pagan as the 7th or 8th hitter. It's all good!
10:46 AM
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