2010 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[pilferk]

Pitchers and catchers TOMORROW for the Yanks.  This week, spring training gets moving!  I've missed baseball....

[faldor]

Pitchers and catchers TOMORROW for the Yanks.  This week, spring training gets moving!  I've missed baseball....

Yeah, usually I'm ramping up for March Madness at this time.  But with the dreadful season UConn has had, I'm ready for baseball.  Despite that win @Villanova last night.  Too little, too late.  Just keeping us stringing along to tear us down again.  I've seen the Red Sox do it time and time again.

[pilferk]

Yeah, usually I'm ramping up for March Madness at this time.  But with the dreadful season UConn has had, I'm ready for baseball.  Despite that win @Villanova last night.  Too little, too late.  Just keeping us stringing along to tear us down again.  I've seen the Red Sox do it time and time again.

Right there with you, all the way around on college B-ball.  UCONN has/had SO much potential this year, and they've actually played some really good games vs the top dogs.  But (until last night), they've had a real hard time finishing games and ekeing out W's.  And then, when they play the "bad" teams in the Big East, they put up stinkers.  It's tough to watch.  I'd chalk it up to them being young, but...well...they're not all THAT young.  At this point, short of running the table at the Big East tourney (assuming they qualify), they're not going to sniff the NCAA's this year.

[pilferk]

And the Dice-K saga begins again:

http://bosoxinjection.com/2010/02/16/and-the-dice-k-saga-continues/

[faldor]

For anyone interesting in lending a helping hand.  I've got some decisions to make with my fantasy baseball team.  It's a keeper league, and we get to keep 2 franchise players and 2 non-franchise (1 pitcher, 1 hitter).  Franchise is a player who was drafted in rounds 1-5, non franchise round 6 and above.  Anyway, I'm set on 2 of them.  My franchise hitter is Hanley Ramirez for the 3rd straight year.  My non franchise pitcher is going to be Adam Wainwright.  The candidates for my franchise pitcher are Jake Peavy and Chad Billingsley.  The candidates for my non frachise hitters are RF Nelson Cruz, RF Andre Ethier, and 3B Gordon Beckham.

Any thoughts are appreciated.  League scoring is pretty standard.

[sandman]

For anyone interesting in lending a helping hand.  I've got some decisions to make with my fantasy baseball team.  It's a keeper league, and we get to keep 2 franchise players and 2 non-franchise (1 pitcher, 1 hitter).  Franchise is a player who was drafted in rounds 1-5, non franchise round 6 and above.  Anyway, I'm set on 2 of them.  My franchise hitter is Hanley Ramirez for the 3rd straight year.  My non franchise pitcher is going to be Adam Wainwright.  The candidates for my franchise pitcher are Jake Peavy and Chad Billingsley.  The candidates for my non frachise hitters are RF Nelson Cruz, RF Andre Ethier, and 3B Gordon Beckham.

Any thoughts are appreciated.  League scoring is pretty standard.

i love this stuff!

peavy vs. billingsley is a total toss-up. both have risks based on injury (peavy) and a disaster end of the season (billingsley). i will not be drafting either of these players unless they slip big time. i'd go with peavy, but i don't feel that strongly about it. he looked good when he came back last season, and alot of hitters have not seen him yet, and if healthy he is definitely the better pitcher.

Cruz and ethier is another toss-up. but beckham is an interesting option. he's young and his cieling is high, and i believe he is playing 2B this year. i wouldn't keep him for 3B, but he's a nice option for 2B. the potential payoff is big, especially considering you could keep him for several years going forward (depending on your league rules).

i'd feel more comfortable with Ethier over Cruz. again, he's more of a sure thing, and although i don't feel THAT strongly either way, i believe Ethier will put up slightly better numbers across the board.

[pilferk]

For anyone interesting in lending a helping hand.  I've got some decisions to make with my fantasy baseball team.  It's a keeper league, and we get to keep 2 franchise players and 2 non-franchise (1 pitcher, 1 hitter).  Franchise is a player who was drafted in rounds 1-5, non franchise round 6 and above.  Anyway, I'm set on 2 of them.  My franchise hitter is Hanley Ramirez for the 3rd straight year.  My non franchise pitcher is going to be Adam Wainwright.  The candidates for my franchise pitcher are Jake Peavy and Chad Billingsley.  The candidates for my non frachise hitters are RF Nelson Cruz, RF Andre Ethier, and 3B Gordon Beckham.

Any thoughts are appreciated.  League scoring is pretty standard.

I'd take Peavy of the two pitchers (he ranked about 47 places higher, in the overall player rankings, than Billingsly)...but honestly, it's close enough that I don't think you go wrong with either one.  Billingsly is younger, and has the potential for more "growth", I think, this season.

Ethier wins the comparison (last year..by quite a bit) between the out fielders:

http://www.fantasyplaymakers.com/baseball_comparisons.php?compare_id=6943

He was also ranked about 70 places higher in the 2009 overall breakdown, which I think is noteable enough.

Of course, they don't list Beckham at all....on any of the sites I usually use for fantasy "stuff".  The guy's a 23 year old rookie (well, was a rookie in '09) with OK numbers.  I would be VERY leary of protecting a player like.  There's just no real value in it, to my way of thinking.  I think you can probably have him either off waivers, as a straight pickup, or in a "cheap" trade if you REALLY like him.  And rookies are too inconsistent to want to feature them in as an integral part of my fantasy line up.  Not enough data to support starting them every day...It's true, you can win BIG with them...but you can also lose big.  I'm a big proponent of consistency and backing data when it comes to fantasy.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Ethier is a roider.

[sandman]

For anyone interesting in lending a helping hand.  I've got some decisions to make with my fantasy baseball team.  It's a keeper league, and we get to keep 2 franchise players and 2 non-franchise (1 pitcher, 1 hitter).  Franchise is a player who was drafted in rounds 1-5, non franchise round 6 and above.  Anyway, I'm set on 2 of them.  My franchise hitter is Hanley Ramirez for the 3rd straight year.  My non franchise pitcher is going to be Adam Wainwright.  The candidates for my franchise pitcher are Jake Peavy and Chad Billingsley.  The candidates for my non frachise hitters are RF Nelson Cruz, RF Andre Ethier, and 3B Gordon Beckham.

Any thoughts are appreciated.  League scoring is pretty standard.

I'd take Peavy of the two pitchers (he ranked about 47 places higher, in the overall player rankings, than Billingsly)...but honestly, it's close enough that I don't think you go wrong with either one.  Billingsly is younger, and has the potential for more "growth", I think, this season.

Ethier wins the comparison (last year..by quite a bit) between the out fielders:

http://www.fantasyplaymakers.com/baseball_comparisons.php?compare_id=6943

He was also ranked about 70 places higher in the 2009 overall breakdown, which I think is noteable enough.

Of course, they don't list Beckham at all....on any of the sites I usually use for fantasy "stuff".  The guy's a 23 year old rookie (well, was a rookie in '09) with OK numbers.  I would be VERY leary of protecting a player like.  There's just no real value in it, to my way of thinking.  I think you can probably have him either off waivers, as a straight pickup, or in a "cheap" trade if you REALLY like him.  And rookies are too inconsistent to want to feature them in as an integral part of my fantasy line up.  Not enough data to support starting them every day...It's true, you can win BIG with them...but you can also lose big.  I'm a big proponent of consistency and backing data when it comes to fantasy.

that link actually provides 2009 stats. and remember, Ethier had 134 more ABs last year. but i do agree with you, although USA Today has Cruz rated higher. i just checked ESPN and they have Ethier (58th overall) slightly higher than Cruz (65th overall).

and i disagree with you on Beckham. he will be drafted in just about every league - certainly any league with 10 or more owners. i've seen him ranked as high at 89th overall (espn). he's roughly the 12th-15th ranked 3B is every ranking i've seen, and about 100-130 overall. and that's assuming he plays 3rd. he will qualify for 2B after a week or so in most leagues, and for me, he's around 10th-12th overall at 2nd, and that would put him more in the 90-120 range overall. in most 10-team leagues with NO keepers, i'm guessing he'll average out to be maybe an 11th or 12th round pick.

but i agree...play it safe and take ethier (or cruz). and you are set with a solid producer in the OF, which seem to disappear quicker than expected most drafts.

[faldor]

Thanks for the input guys.  I'll have to take a closer look at Ethier vs. Cruz.  Ethier did have better numbers last year but that's in 32 more games.  You give Cruz 32 more games and he absolutely crushes Ethier in HR's and even moreso in SB's.  Then again, maybe he's more injury prone and that goes with the territory.

Last year I drafted Peavy early with the expectation that I'd keep him.  My pitching from the previous year was awful, I kept Kazmir and Lidge.  Seemed like a no brainer that Peavy would be my keeper, then he got hurt and got traded.  Billingsley seemed to overtake him until he fell flat at the end of last season.  I think I'm still leaning towards Peavy but the change of leagues is a little bothersome to me. 

[D]

I honestly prefer Cruz but I don't think u can go wrong with either one

Either is a doubles machine however, so it depends on your league scoring.

if its just avg,hr,rbi, sb  i'd keep cruz

I'd keep Billingsley. since its a keeper league and he is younger

[pilferk]

SPRING TRAINING GAMES THIS WEEK!!! WOO HOO!!

(I think I might be far to excited to see completely meaningless games with lots of guys playing who will never see significant MLB time this season).

On Thursday, we get CC vs Halladay!!  For, probably, a whopping 2 inning of work, each.

[Falcon]

SPRING TRAINING GAMES THIS WEEK!!! WOO HOO!!

(I think I might be far to excited to see completely meaningless games with lots of guys playing who will never see significant MLB time this season).

I'm with you pilf, can't f'n wait.

Hell, I'm taking off work early Thursday to watch the Cards/Mets - how sick is that?

[novemberparadise23]

Honestly i have been watching baseball network sooooo much lately lol. Im itching for baseball. I watched Mets/Braves game today. Tommy Hanson looked real good

[tim_m]

I can't wait either. A lot of the yankees spring games will be on either YES or MLBN. I'm so glad i get both on fios and in HD!

[pilferk]

I'm with you pilf, can't f'n wait.

Hell, I'm taking off work early Thursday to watch the Cards/Mets - how sick is that?

I'm DVR'ing the Yanks/PIRATES game today...because I just can't get out of work to see it/hear it live.

Tomorrow, though.....I work from home.  Yanks/Phillies will be on in the background, you can bet.

[tim_m]

Crap i missed the game. Completely forgout about it. 

[pilferk]

Crap i missed the game. Completely forgout about it. 

It was somewhat amusing...they picked up right where they left off in '09.

9th inning,walk off, 3 run HR (by a guy you'll almost assuredly not see in '10 on the big league roster).

Pitchers (the guys we actually might see contribute this year) looked pretty good, especially considering how early it is.  Everyone looked in GREAT shape.  Watching the game really drove home just how much talent we have on this team (and in AAA).  There are a LOT of position players that could contribute this year, IMHO.....and while the 5 spot is going to get the lions share of the attention in ST, keep an eye out on the outfield situation, too.  I think the ONLY sure thing out there is that Granderson will be SOMEWHERE.  But with Hoffmann, Winn, Swisher, Gardner, etc all in ST...the last 2 spots are hardly set in stone.  Gonna be a fun spring training to watch, I think (even if the games, themselves, are meaningless).

Oh, and Pena did a pretty darn good job at 2nd base yesterday.

[Jdog0830]

God I cant wait to see the White Sox on opening day my dad bought a fuck load of tickets to I think about 30 home games and its gonna rock seeing it!
 
And seeing them in the World Series would also be fucking sweet!!!





Joe

[Falcon]

A little late getting home from work to catch the Cards/Mets on MLB Network and the first pitch I see is the Redbirds Ryan Ludwick goin' yard the other way...

Baseball's back - giddyup.