Blog Entries - May 2008

Pass on Gonzalez, go for Headley

twilliams

In the aftermath of the Jay Bruce call up, the Oakland A's have decided to call up outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez was one of the prospects acquired by Oakland in the Dan Haren deal this winter. In his first game on Friday night, the A's center fielder went 2 for 3 with an RBI. What can you expect from the consolation prize to the people who didn't get Bruce?

Gonzalez went from high A ball to AAA in the last two years, displaying 20 home run pow [...]

Dusty Baker Out to Ruin More Young Arms

jonlee

Everybody remembers what happened back in Chicago in 2003. Two young fireballers named Kerry Wood and Mark Prior had Cy-Young caliber seasons and were poised to lead the Cubs for years to come. Instead overwork, overuse, and some bad breaks left the pair of phenoms on the proverbial scrap heap. Neither player has been able to duplicate their success of that season since. Mark Prior is currently rehabbing as a member of the San Diego Padres and hopes to join the rotation sometime this seas [...]

Jay Bruce gets the call

twilliams

The Reds will call up Jay Bruce before today's game, according to pretty much every fantasy site I checked today. Bruce is expected to enter the starting lineup in Cincinnati, which will leave Corey Patterson without a spot, and move Ryan Freel to backup duty.

Bruce is batting .364 with 10 homers and 8 steals in 184 minor league at bats at AAA. He is the most likely prospect this year to resemble the start that Ryan Braun got off to last season. I'm not saying he will put up [...]

What to expect from Kershaw

twilliams

Clayton Kershaw has been called up to make his debut today against the St. Louis Cardinals. If he is available in any of your leagues (unlikely) grab him as soon as possible. If you already picked him up, make sure he's in your starting rotation today.

AccuScore projects Kershaw to go 6.2 innings, allow seven hits, three earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts in the majority of simulations, with a 53 percent chance of a win. Kershaw may not have things that e [...]

Almost Nothing Beats Home Cooking In The NFL

FFGoat

The old adage in the NFL is that you must take care of business at home and pile up wins if you want to play football in January. Not only is that true, but paying attention to who is playing where can also determine success and failure in the realm of fantasy football.

Home cooking across the league makes a big difference, so perhaps it's more important to consider where someone is playing, rather than who they are playing. In the never-ending quest to start [...]

Liriano pitching well at AAA

twilliams

Three injury situations to keep an eye on...

Francisco Liriano - Liriano was horrible in his three starts in the majors this year, with an 11.33 ERA and a 2.71 WHIP. In his final start on April 24th he didn't make it out of the first inning, allowing five hits, three walks, and six earned runs, and only recording two outs. Liriano has since turned things around in the minors, with a 2.77 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 5.54 K/9 ratio, and a 2.77 BB/9 ratio in his last four starts. [...]

FREE PICKS FOR MAY 21/08

ocean99

Hello Everyone,

Quick recap, with the winning last night in the Bos/Det under. Let's keep the ball rolling.

Tonight's game in the West Conference. This series is going to be amazing. I still think it will go at least 6 games. I can't provide the winner for the series at no charge. However, tonights game has the feeling of being an under the posted total.. Take Lakers/Spurs under 195 total.

"GET SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING BIG!"

Angels Dealing With Injuries

jonlee

Thew news gets worse for Los Angeles. The Angels lost Chone Figgins after just one game after being activated, and may require another trip to the DL. Shortstop Eric Aybar, who had taken control of the shortstop position, injured his right pinky diving for a groundball in the first inning against Toronto on Tuesday. He may require a trip to the DL.

There he would join fellow infielder Howie Kendrick who has been out for over a month with a strained hamstring. Kendrick has frust [...]

Kicking Their Pujols

twilliams

This past week I participated in two fantasy baseball drafts. The first draft was a live draft, to see how I would pick now that a fourth of the season has passed. The second draft was an auto-pick league where I decided to not set my rankings, in hopes that I would get a batch of players who I don't have on any fantasy team.

In the live draft, I went with a similar approach to the rest of my fantasy teams. I took Ryan Braun with the 12th pick in the first round, A [...]

FREE PICK MAY 20/08

ocean99

Tonights free pick. Take Boston/Detroit under 174 total.

Fantasy Baseball is the only way to go

twilliams

It's late July. You're watching your small market baseball team, in this case the Pittsburgh Pirates, lose another game. The only bright spot of today's 8-2 loss is that Xavier Nady and Jason Bay each hit homers. This is great news. You have known since the start of Spring Training that your team had no shot to compete this season. What you are cheering for now is the future. You are cheering for Jason Bay and Xavier Nady to go on hot streaks, w [...]

Spurs-Hornets Game 7

jonleenba

Chris Paul and company are the statistical favorites winning 66% of AccuScore simulations. They have won their three home games this series by an average of 19.7 points. Game Seven tonight is at home. So would a win by the Spurs be an upset?

On paper, yes it would. The Hornets had the better regular season record, and had the better MVP candidate in Paul. This is however the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Everybody should be re [...]

The NHL season can now begin

twilliams

I now know how it feels to be a Yankees fan.

Not in the sense that the Penguins buy championships. Maybe in the sense that the Penguins are loaded with a ridiculous amount of talent. As a Penguins fan, the reason I know how it feels to be a Yankees fan is because I now know what it feels like to have your season start when your team makes the championship.

While it is enjoyable watching two of the best players in the game playing all season long, then dominating in the playoffs, [...]

FREE PICKS MAY 18/08

ocean99

Hello Everyone,

Today is the day!! GAME 7 Cleveland @ Boston. This game should be a battle for the jump down to the final seconds. Expect fire works, and a tough defensive battle. Take the under at 173.5 total and the Boston win( moneyline)

"GET SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING BIG!"

That Thong-tha-thong, thong, thong

twilliams

I was doing my usual routine of waking up in the morning, which consists of setting my fantasy lineups, cooking some fools on Facebook's Mob Wars, and reading articles on MSN. This morning I came across this article:

Yankee's Star Slump Remedy: Wear a thong

At first I looked at the title, and it was so shocking that I just dismissed it. Five seconds later it hit me. What? Yankee player actually admits to wearing a thong?! My first thoug [...]

Beware of Interleague Play

twilliams

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog about handicapping. My main reason for handicapping games is for the enjoyment of the game. If I have no vested interest in a certain game (like Houston/San Francisco for example), then I will cap the game to give me a side to cheer for. I haven't been capping games for awhile, for two main reasons.

The first reason is that I simply do not have the time needed to dedicate
towards capping. It's kind of funny. I worked 40-45 [...]

FREE PICK MAY 15/08

ocean99

Hello Everyone,

Tonights free pick, play the over at 184. The defending champs are cornered and won't surrender that easily. Expect a great game tonight.

"GET SERIOUS ABOUT WINNING BIG!"

Home sweet home

twilliams

Since February 24th I have done a lot of things. This would include doing my taxes, filing my taxes, and getting my tax return back from the IRS. I moved to a new house, I set up the new house (well, my wife did a lot of it...I just set up my office and did the heavy lifting), and we got a cat in the new house. I drafted a ton of fantasy baseball teams, made a ton of trades in those leagues, and then drafted more leagues after 25% of the baseball season passed.

I watch [...]

Jarrod Washburn Closer?

jonlee

Yes Jarrod Washburn got the save on Wednesday. No, he is not the closer in Seattle. With all the bullpen craziness going on in the majors lately it would be reasonable to assume that this was just part of the trend. Instead, it is completely the opposite.

Seattle beat Baltimore in 12 innings, and in doing so completely depleted its bullpen which necessitated the use of Washburn in a relief role. After starter Carlos Silva exited after 6.1 s [...]

Clayton Kershaw Not Quite Ready

jonlee

Those fan and fantasy owners eagerly awaiting the debut of wunderkind lefty Clayton Kershaw will have to wait, at least for a little while. With Esteban Loaiza on the DL the Dodgers need a fifth starter on Saturday, and lined up Kershaw at Double-A Jacksonville so he would be ready to pitch on normal rest. Instead, the phenom gave up five runs on five hits (and two wild pitches) in just 3.1 innings. Dodger manager Joe Torre doesn’t think the kid is quite ready. [...]