2010 Baseball Season/Off-Season Discussion

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

[pilferk]

I had this fantasy trade proposed to me.  Alex Rodriguez and Asdrubal Cabrera for Hanley Ramirez.

Now due to my extreme hatred for A-Rod and the Yankees I'm inclined to reject this without even thinking about it.  I have a no Yankee clause on my teams.  The only time I've ever owned a Yankee was back when Damaso Marte was traded from Pittsburgh to NY at the deadline (holds is a category in the league).  Luckily for me though, he sucked after the trade so I was able to drop him soon after.

So from someone with an impartial view, would you entertain that deal?  It IS a keeper league by the way and Hanley has been mine from the start, 3 years ago.  And he could potentially be mine for the next 10+ years if he continues to trend upward.  So keep that in mind.

Keep Hanley.

For scoring, there's a chance the two might surpass Hanley THIS season, but long term, especially, he should be the better choice.

[sandman]

what are your options at 3rd if you keep hanley? that's the only way to truly assess the offer.

[faldor]

I have Michael Young at 3B, 2 Util spots are filled by Ryan Ludwick and Juan Rivera, with Magglio Ordonez and Garrett Jones on the bench.

[pilferk]

I have Michael Young at 3B, 2 Util spots are filled by Ryan Ludwick and Juan Rivera, with Magglio Ordonez and Garrett Jones on the bench.

Last year, the Young/Hanley combo would have (if you're using traditional scoring) netted you more average points per week (43.1) than the A-rod/Cabrerra combo (41.22).   And that's AVERAGE, and completely disregards A-rods missed time (4 less weeks as a denominator).

And Young is comparable in age to A-rod, but he's also the lower scoring piece of the duo.  So by keeping Hanley, who's younger...you have the potential to keep the higher scoring player for a longer period of time.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

[faldor]

Sorry to clog this thread up with fantasy baseball stuff, but I've got another one.  I'm in this league for the second year.  It's a league where you make weekly changes, not daily, and it's a points based league so the scoring is a little different.  I kind of learned on the fly last year, and finished 4th.  But honestly, I still don't have a firm grasp on the league just yet.  Anyway here are the settings before I get to the topic at hand.

Scoring for Batting Categories
1B - Singles   1 point
2B - Doubles   2 points
3B - Triples   3 points
BB - Walks (Batters)   1 point
CS - Caught Stealing   -1 point
HR - Home Runs   4 points
KO - Strikeouts (Batter)   -1 point
R - Runs   1 point
RBI - Runs Batted In   1 point
SB - Stolen Bases   2 points

Scoring for Pitching Categories
BS - Blown Saves   -2 points
CG - Complete Games   5 points
ER - Earned Runs   -1 point
INN - Innings   0.5 points
K - Strikeouts (Pitcher)   1 point
L - Losses   -5 points
S - Saves   5 points
SO - Shutouts   10 points
W - Wins   10 points

So anyway, during the draft the other night I meant to draft Nelson Cruz but instead clicked on Wandy Rodriguez.  Since Cruz was rated pretty low on the CBS board I was hoping he might slip to me and my mistake would be voided.  Well, he didn't.  I was able to get Hunter Pence though.  I took Manny Ramirez as my first OF when the list was starting to dwindle.  So now, maybe I'm really overrating Cruz but I offered Manny and Wandy for Cruz and Lincecum.  Well it was rejected, BUT the guy said he was intrigued and might consider for a better pitcher.  1) Would you even consider Carlos Zambrano a "better pitcher?"  2) Would it be worth offering Gallardo or lowering my asking price for a lesser pitcher like Dan Haren or maybe even Greinke?

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

[sandman]

So anyway, during the draft the other night I meant to draft Nelson Cruz but instead clicked on Wandy Rodriguez.  Since Cruz was rated pretty low on the CBS board I was hoping he might slip to me and my mistake would be voided.  Well, he didn't.  I was able to get Hunter Pence though.  I took Manny Ramirez as my first OF when the list was starting to dwindle.  So now, maybe I'm really overrating Cruz but I offered Manny and Wandy for Cruz and Lincecum.  Well it was rejected, BUT the guy said he was intrigued and might consider for a better pitcher.  1) Would you even consider Carlos Zambrano a "better pitcher?"  2) Would it be worth offering Gallardo or lowering my asking price for a lesser pitcher like Dan Haren or maybe even Greinke?

i've never done a point scoring league so maybe i'm missing something here. but i would take Cruz over Manny, and Lincecum over Wandy by far. very very far. lincecum is a first or second rounder, #1 or #2 SP in the entire league.

so i guess my point is that either the scoring is much different that the typical league with categories, or you are about to commit highway robbery in a trade  with this guy. i would offer manny and any pitcher he wanted (gallardo or anybody) for cruz and lincecum.

just to put this in some perspective, here's the average draft position for these players on yahoo...

lincecum - 10.3
cruz - 71.2

wandy - 87.8
manny - 86.1

[JuicySwoos]

Twins win twins.  Go twins!

[pilferk]

Twins win twins.  Go twins!

Watched the exhibition vs the Cards this past weekend.  LOVE the new park!!  And they even got nice (well, for Minnesota) weather for the exhibition.

Now, you just gotta hope it keeps up and you don't see any more snow!

[JuicySwoos]

Twins win twins.  Go twins!

Watched the exhibition vs the Cards this past weekend.  LOVE the new park!!  And they even got nice (well, for Minnesota) weather for the exhibition.

Now, you just gotta hope it keeps up and you don't see any more snow!

Yeah, I am excited.  Can't wait to take my kids to a game.  Its a tough ticket right now, it is almost sold out for the entire year I guess. Nosebleeds are all that is left.

So far we have been lucky in terms of weather this year.  I think last March was the only the second time there has not been any snow since they have tracked it.  Once the novelty of the new stadium wears off, people are going to start crying about not having a roof, because there are going to be some rough springs down the road.

The Twinkies are debuting the new road uniforms tonight, I am excited for that.  More old school with the old school font and the "TC" caps instead of that dumb "M" cap.  Now we just need the baby blues to make an appearance.

[Falcon]

Albert goes yard in his first AB of the season, nice start for this Cards fan 

Sox/Yanks was interesting last night, not a fan of "Opening Day" being Sunday night but if TV dictates it not a bad way to do so.

[pilferk]

Yeah, I am excited.  Can't wait to take my kids to a game.  Its a tough ticket right now, it is almost sold out for the entire year I guess. Nosebleeds are all that is left.

So far we have been lucky in terms of weather this year.  I think last March was the only the second time there has not been any snow since they have tracked it.  Once the novelty of the new stadium wears off, people are going to start crying about not having a roof, because there are going to be some rough springs down the road.

The Twinkies are debuting the new road uniforms tonight, I am excited for that.  More old school with the old school font and the "TC" caps instead of that dumb "M" cap.  Now we just need the baby blues to make an appearance.

As much as I abhor high priced scalping....check this place out:

www.fansnap.com

It's sort of like what Kayak is to travel, but for event/sports tickets.  It'll search all the major ticket sellers (Ebay, Stub hub, etc) and will find you a slew of reasonably priced (if they exist) options out there.  It can be a little flaky sometimes (especially with Ebay sales) on price (listed vs what you find when you click through to the seller's site/listing), but generally it's VERY good.

The nice thing:  They list the "real" price...tickets+fees...in their listings.

[faldor]

Albert goes yard in his first AB of the season, nice start for this Cards fan 

Sox/Yanks was interesting last night, not a fan of "Opening Day" being Sunday night but if TV dictates it not a bad way to do so.

Sox/Yanks ended up being a great game last night.  Didn't look too good for the first 4 2/3, with one hit for the Sox.  All Sox fans were saying, "I told you we can't hit.  Where's Adrian Gonzalez?  F run prevention!"  Then CC hit a wall and the Sox clawed their way back.  CC is a beast though, and that Yankee lineup is as good as it gets.  They're gonna be tough to beat this year.

Outside of the game itself, the Red Sox put on an entertaining opening day as always.  I know I'm biased, but they really put on a great show. 

They brought Pedro Martinez back to throw out the first pitch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0nBQiNMzE0

Steven Tyler sang "God Bless America"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSAqnfGJWhY&feature=related

Neil Diamond sang "Sweet Caroline"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVRKZUMR4a4

Then the surprising highlight for me.  When this 5 year old started speaking, I was like "What the hell is this?"  But it turned awesome.  "I'm sick and tired of hearing what a great baseball team the Yankees have.  SCREW'EM!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOsfutXPDvw

[tim_m]

CC clearly got tired in the 5th inning there. I think Girardi kept him in a little too long. The bullpen didn't do much better though. This time of year the hitters are clearly ahead of the pitchers as far as stamina goes.

[pilferk]

CC clearly got tired in the 5th inning there. I think Girardi kept him in a little too long. The bullpen didn't do much better though. This time of year the hitters are clearly ahead of the pitchers as far as stamina goes.

Yeah, I think after CC walked the first batter in the 6th...that was at least worthy of a mound visit.  I know they really need to start stretching these guys out, and it IS only the first game, but you could see that CC had gotten tired.  And when he gets tired (and it isn't often), he starts to try to nibble at the strike zone...which is NOT his game.

As for the bullpen...that's the one place the Yanks aren't really "set".  With the turnover and changes out there, Girardi has no "set" roles for those guys (well, except for Mo, of course).  So we're probably going to see some experimenting and some growing pains.  Park likely worked himself down the pecking order on Monday.  Marte likely earned himself some more "rehab" throws to see if they can get his control back.  And while Joba didn't look great, he also wasn't terrible, and I'd expect to see another 2-3 mph come back on his fastball over the next 4 to 6 weeks...which should help.  In addition, within the next day or so, they'll likely find that Aceves back issue is completely cleared up (and doesn't need babying), and you'll see him in the bigger 7th inning (or maybe 8th inning) spots. 

My biggest concerns were actually the defensive issues:  Gardner's HORRIBLE throw from left, Swisher's AWFUL route to Youk's ball (which turned it into a stand up triple), and Posada not being able to block those crazy pitches from Marte (though, given how far off the mark they were....I'm LESS concerned with that).  Those are things that need to be addressed, because the rest will likely solve itself. 

[pilferk]

They brought Pedro Martinez back to throw out the first pitch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0nBQiNMzE0

My one complaint:

Pedro took longer to get to the mound than it takes Ortiz to leg out a home run.  I understand the desire to "bask in the adulation", and have no problem with a normal amount of "preening" and waving but.....maybe a little LESS basking next time.   That was a little excessive.

I also think it's funny they had a New Yorker (Neil Diamond) show up to sing. Surely, there's some irony in that. 

[faldor]

They brought Pedro Martinez back to throw out the first pitch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0nBQiNMzE0

My one complaint:

Pedro took longer to get to the mound than it takes Ortiz to leg out a home run.  I understand the desire to "bask in the adulation", and have no problem with a normal amount of "preening" and waving but.....maybe a little LESS basking next time.   That was a little excessive.

I also think it's funny they had a New Yorker (Neil Diamond) show up to sing. Surely, there's some irony in that. 

Oh yeah, Pedro sure was soaking it all in.  He was going to take as long as he could out there.  He's a showman.  There wasn't a more exciting pitcher to watch during his prime.

And I'm sure you already know, but the reason they had Neil Diamond perform is because they play "Sweet Caroline" during the 7th inning stretch at Fenway and the crowd sings along.  So it really doesn't have anything to do with him being a Sox fan, or where he's from.  Lebron James was at the game and I'm quite sure he's a Yankee fan.  And Dr. Dre was promoting his new headphones with Red Sox logos and was wearing a Sox jersey.  Yet, I don't think deep down he's truly a Sox fan.

[pilferk]

And I'm sure you already know, but the reason they had Neil Diamond perform is because they play "Sweet Caroline" during the 7th inning stretch at Fenway and the crowd sings along.  So it really doesn't have anything to do with him being a Sox fan, or where he's from.  Lebron James was at the game and I'm quite sure he's a Yankee fan.  And Dr. Dre was promoting his new headphones with Red Sox logos and was wearing a Sox jersey.  Yet, I don't think deep down he's truly a Sox fan.

I do know...but again, it's somewhat ironic that the Sox play a song by a New Yorker during their stretch.   But I think the irony takes on even larger proportions when they ask sed New Yorker to come sing that song when they are playing the Yanks (I know...the coincidence of scheduling).    There's nothing wrong with it all...I wasn't offended.  But I did get a chuckle out of it.

Lebron, of course, was there because he'd just played the Celtics earlier that afternoon.  If I could score a ticket to see the Yanks, when I'm away on business, I would too.