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DownloadAssorted Rants, Rumblings and Ruminations from the Mind of a “So-Called” Expert
For some, Labor Day marks the end of the summer. For others, LABR Day signifies fantasy baseball drafting season has begun. Last weekend, I was privileged to participate in the first ever League of Alternative Baseball Reality (LABR) mixed league draft. Last Tuesday, I wrote about my general strategy for drafts in general and LABR in particular. Today I will present my squad and offer a thought or two regarding each pick.
Mixed LABR is a 15-team league using standard 5x5 scoring with the regular 14-man hitting, 9-man pitching active roster plus a 6-man reserve. Trades are allowed and my spidey sense says this league will be more active than your standard industry league.
So without further ado, here is the squad I will be taking into battle:
1.07 Troy Tulowitzki – I am not as high on Tulo as others, though he was hard to pass up at this spot. I thought long and hard about Robinson Cano due to his combination of reliability and productivity, but in the end I opted for Tulowitzki feeling there was a better chance of getting a second baseman I like later as opposed to a shortstop.
2.09 Mark Teixeira – Get this, I made this pick without even knowing he was adding bunting to his repertoire. That’s exactly what I need, Tex fouling bunts off trying to beat the shift. Maybe I should have taken Emilio Bonifacio instead. Lame jokes aside (as my league-mates will attest, I made plenty of those in the chat room), I am not a fan of the second round inventory of drafts of this size. Once you get to the latter part of the round, the players all carry more risk than normal in a 15-team draft. In fact, Teixeira was the final player going in the neighborhood that I would have been comfortable drafting, though I’m pretty sure I would have taken someone and not passed on my pick. I have heard all the spring talk if Big Tex being not so big anymore and looking to use the whole field when hitting from the left side, but I am not counting on anything more than he has delivered the past few seasons. Anything else would be gravy. Actually, I don’t like gravy; make that icing on the cake.
3.07 Felix Hernandez – Just after I clicked the draft button and King Felix magically jumped from my queue to my roster, my cell phone rang. It was the Seattle police department, informing me that if I pick Hernandez one more time, he is going to slap a restraining order on my ass. Good thing I am playing National League Tout Wars this season. Long story short is Hernandez is coming off of a perceived down year, but in fact he pitched better than the previous season. He was just snake bit. This is probably going to be my last chance to get Hernandez at a discount since this time next year, he will be toting around the AL Cy Young trophy.
4.09 Brandon Phillips – Remember when I wrote I expected to pick up a second baseman I liked? I hope so, it wasn’t that long ago. Anyway, I have drafted Phillips so much he calls and asks me “What round this time?” I’m no longer expecting 30/30 or even 20/20. Phillips is now one of those guys that you count on for 15/15 then light some candles, cross some fingers, etc. For what it’s worth, I’m taking the over.
5.07 Jon Lester – I swear, if I hear Jock Thompson of Baseball HQ make one more chicken joke I am going to rip out a couple of pages of his Forecaster. Here’s the deal, I’ve had chicken from the Popeye’s near Fenway Park and it is mighty tasty. But the cook there goes a little overboard with the Cajun spices so not only do I not blame the boys for enjoying a little fried treat, I understand why they felt the need to wash it down with something cold to dull the Cajun sensation. As far as Lester’s mound work, while I am not a fan of cherry-picking samples to make a point, I am going to do it anyway. Here are Lester’s monthly ERA’s from April to September: 2.52, 5.50, 2.31, 1.56, 2.78, and 5.40. A closer look at the splits reveals Lester was almost the same guy each month, except May and September when his walks ballooned. The moral here is not take away May and September and Lester had a fantastic season but rather his campaign was not as bad as some make it out to be and all it is going to take is for the southpaw to bear down for all 30-plus starts and not have a couple stretches of lapses. If the guy can beat cancer, he can certainly beat chicken-gate.
6.09 Kevin Youkilis – I know he never plays a full season. I know he is a little arrogant and has a real messed up stance and is coming off of a down year. But this is the sixth round, not the third where he has been going for the past several seasons. I don’t need him to play the whole year, I don’t care if he is a d-bag and he gets himself into the proper hitting position when it counts. Did I mention this was the sixth round, not third?
7.07 Alex Avila – Confession time, this is my least favorite pick of the draft. Well, my least favorite pick I made. I can’t believe KFFL’s Tim Heaney passed on Ryan Braun then took Starlin Castro in the second. Not only am I a fan of lame jokes, I have no issue intending them for an audience of one – hiya Tim. This actually is my least favorite pick, but I was sniped on both Matt Wieters and Miguel Montero and if you read my introductory strategy manifesto, I want to draft an edge at catcher and Avila is the sole survivor of my second tier, so now he is my first catcher.
8.09 Ricky Romero – Chicks may dig the long ball, but fat guys that play fantasy baseball dig the strikeout and Romero makes this fat guy very happy. I think he is still maturing as a pitcher and has shown he could give a fig about facing the AL East umpteen times a season.
BREAK TIME – one of the strategy points was my goal of having C1, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF1 and SP1 filled within my first eight selections. Well, I fell a little short as I have an extra starting pitcher and am short an outfielder, but one of the other points was draft the pitcher, not the round and I wanted Romero and was afraid he would be taken soon, so I opted to break one rule in order to adhere to another. That’s the cool thing about making your own rules; it is OK to break them when necessary and since a third rule is to be fluid and ready to adjust on the fly, I really didn’t break the first rule, which is more like a rule of thumb anyway.
9.07 Joel Hanrahan – My second least favorite pick but not because I don’t like Hanrahan, I do. I just like Ryan Madson more and missed he was still available.
10.09 Torii Hunter – Hunter may be old and boring, but he has something left in the tank.
11.07 Jason Kubel – Kubel may be old and boring, but he has something left in the tank. What? Cut me a break, I’m a green analyst and am just recycling some analysis. I did it to save the environment to make sure this is not the only mixed LABR draft ever and we are all here again next year.
12.09 Wilson Ramos – Note to our Platinum subscribers, I apologize for not conveying how high I am. Hmm, that sentence would be funny if I stopped there, but I am actually being serious here. I apologize for not conveying how high I am now on Ramos. The more I look at things, the more I like the power potential and prospects for a lot of playing time.
13.07 Gaby Sanchez – Corner infield is not as plush as it has been in the past and I like Sanchez to be a solid contributor.
14.09 Josh Willingham – This guy must like challenges. Let’s see, first he plays in Florida, then Washington and then Oakland, not exactly parks conducive to a guy whose main skill is hitting ball real far. So after conquering these locales, where does he go? Minnesota, of course.
15.07 Justin Masterson – All that was keeping Masterson from going from a guy who was really good but struggled against lefties to a guy who was really good was not struggling against lefties. Last season, Masterson markedly reduced his walks against lefties and the rest fell into place. It is a bit of a leap of faith to assume he maintains last season’s success, but it is a leap I am willing to make (insert Lords a leaping joke here).
16.09 Marco Scutaro – Not much to say, I am a low risk drafter and Scutaro is a solid option to fill my middle (insert too many donuts joke here).
17.07 Giancarlo Brantley – Excuse me? Really? Sorry, I thought all outfielders named Michael changed their name to Giancarlo, my bad. Michael Brantley (got to get his full name in so it gets properly linked) is one of my favorite later picks for solid average and steals, and with the news about Grady Sizemore, he is even favoriter.
BREAK TIME – I recently participated in an ESPN mock draft (I am doing some freelance work for the World Wide Leader) and got my indoctrination of sorts, being publicly ridiculed for my efforts:
I’ll save gujuguy83 (if that’s his real name, it’s probably Michael) the trouble. My outfield is a complete joke.
However, as I discussed in the introductory essay, I believe there are positions where you draft an edge and there are positions where you look to improve as the season progresses. It is my experience that outfield is easiest position to pick up surprise talent since there are more platoon and fourth outfield types that get more playing time than expected, which unto itself is enough to make them fantasy relevant. So gujuguy83, the joke’s on you.
18.09 Dayan Viciedo – And sometimes you don’t wait for in-season to find the playing time break-outs, sometimes you draft them.
19.07 Grant Balfour – If this were a no-trading league, my outfield would be even more of a joke as I would have made sure to secure a more reliable closer earlier, but with trading, I am willing to take some speculative shots and my feeling is Balfour ends up with the Oakland closing gig.
20.09 David Carpenter – Eff you, Brad Mills
21.07 Henderson Alvarez –There is a pretty good chance Alvarez would have lasted a round or two longer, maybe more. But I decided I was going to be the one to be “that guy”, you know, the one who can’t wait to tell everyone “I was right about Henderson Alvarez.” You guys can have your little Hosmer’s and Lawrie’s and Jennings’ and Moore’s – Alvarez is MINE. Now take Alvarez out of your queue, let go of your mouse and slowly back away from the PC.
22.09 Chone Figgins – I mentioned in part one that I am not going to chase speed; I look to get a little bit here and a little bit there. Thus, it is not surprising that my comedic outfield is largely devoid of stolen base potential. Figgins is a late round upside play that I can put at utility, or maybe trade to Heaney since he seems to like to overpay for speedy infielders.
23.07 Sean Rodriguez – There are a ton of starting pitchers I like as streamers still on the board so I decided to start my reserve list early and S-Rod covers both middle and corner.
24.09 Brian Bogusevic - Basically looking for the outfielder with the funniest name still on the board, because my outfield is, you know, a joke.
BREAK TIME – As suggested and discussed in the associated strategy essay, I favor streaming starting pitchers with forgiving home parks. OK, break over, I hope you didn’t have to go to the bathroom, besides, we’re almost done.
25.07 Jarrod Parker – Oakland has a big park.
26.09 Hector Noesi – So does Seattle.
27.07 Bartolo Colon – That Oakland thing plus we fatties stick together (insert leather chaps joke here).
28.09 Dustin Moseley – I forget if he plays in San Diego or San Francisco, it’s getting late. But either way it doesn’t matter – park big.
29.07 Travis Snider – Hoping he helps prove my outfield is no joke.
We're done.
{jcomments on}
Where the hell have I been the past thirty years or so? I was literally floored last week following an e-mail exchange I had with my buddy, business partner, co-manager and co-editor, Lawr. Along with authoring multiple columns a week for the site, Lawr and I share editing duties along with Zach Steinhorn, for whom I am pinch-hitting for with this unscheduled posting of “Chaos.” I was commenting to Lawr that I have noticed more and more articles are being submitted with only one space after the period denoting the end of the sentence and it was driving me crazy, going through everything, adding the second space. In a rather kind and soothing manner, Lawr gave me a cyber Gibbs head slap and informed me one space between sentences is the accepted means of writing on the Internet. My sister, who is a teacher, then embellished by letting me know that is now accepted in all but the most traditional formal writing, even in legal documents.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR – I had no idea!
While I admit I am nowhere near the writer of my esteemed colleague Lawr (but I bet I am better with a test tube and Erlenmeyer flask), I can hold my own, especially when it comes to proper sentence construct and grammar rules. To me, the rules of writing are sort of like math, and believe it or not, the way I learn things is to convert them to math. Yeah, shocking. For instance, music is really nothing more than math that has evolved to be aesthetically pleasing to our oratory sense. Well, except for Thelonious Monk.I may not be able to paint the same picture as Lawr. Heck, I do not even have quite the inventory of paint that he does, but I get by.
So when I learned that one of the basic tenets of writing has been effectively changed since around 1989, I was floored. Why did not anyone tell me? Did I miss the meeting? Someone could have at least sent me a memo! Of course, those were my drinking years, so perhaps someone did.
So I do what I always do in situations like this – Google.
Lo and behold, I discovered there were several other alterations to the foundation I learned back in Middle and High School, while I was forced to slog through such literary nightmares as Wuthering Heights. Good Lord, I hated that book and even though I dig Kate Bush as a singer, I cannot stand the song by that name. Not only that, once I found out Dr. Huxtable’s real name was Heathcliff, I stopped watching The Cosby Show.
Uh oh, I better check on that underlining thing.
Oh no, I was supposed to use italics. Damn!
I also learned that – hold on, I need to be strapped in as I write this – I also learned that it is now acceptable to end a sentence in a preposition. Do you know how many times I have awkwardly worked the word “which” into a sentence so that I would not end it with “with”?
453,234 times
And get this, beginning a sentence with “and” or “but” is also now fine. But, it is recommended to use it sparingly and only to draw extra attention to a point for emphasis.
Now here is the biggie. For years, I have gone out of my way to avoid using contractions. That is how I was trained. I was not permitted to write using contractions. I cannot believe how many apostrophes I have deleted over the years. Had I known, I would have saved so much time, not to mention bandwidth. I am glad that I do not have to worry about that ever again. Not to mention, I will not have to spend time editing contractions out of the articles anymore.
The reason for the contraction thing is the flow of the writing is theoretically smoother and easier to read with contractions, especially on a computer monitor. I’m (that’s my first official contraction, and look, now my second as well) a scientist by trade, so let’s (three) do an experiment. Read the above paragraph again, and then read it as written below to see which flows better.
Now here’s the biggie. For years, I’ve gone out of my way to avoid using contractions. That’s how I was trained. I wasn’t permitted to write using contractions. I can’t believe how many apostrophes I’ve deleted over the years. Had I known, I would’ve saved so much time, not to mention bandwidth. I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about that ever again. Not to mention, I won’t have to spend time editing contractions out of the articles anymore.
I vote #2, and it ain’t even close.
What?
Really?
Ain’t is still frowned upon?
Phew!
At least having to read Wuthering Heights did not, um, didn't completely go to waste.{jcomments on}
Okay, I am knee-deep in Platinum subscription content. I am not sure how coherent I can be, so what I will do is just get a few things off my chest.
I admit I no longer follow pro basketball. I used to be a big fan not only of my hometown Boston Celtics, but hoops in general, including being a pretty good fantasy basketball player. I stopped watching the game when it became more about the athletic ability of one or two players than it was about the teamwork and cohesion of five guys. But lately, as a means to bond with my 12-year-old nephew (for those new to the site, odd circumstances have led me to take residence in my sister and brother-in-law’s basement), I have tried to follow the game a little more closely, and what better way to jump back in than to watch the Lakers play the C’s a week or so ago. It was OK, there were a few more passes thrown than when I last remembered watching but then something bizarre happened. The TV announcer said something like “Metta World Peace checks into the game.” I have to admit I was playing with Skippy, the family dog, at this point so it really did not sink in. Then I started hearing things like “rebound by Metta World Peace” and “stolen by Metta World Peace” and I turned to my brother-in-law and without my having to even ask, he answered “Ron Artest.” Really? Ron Artest? THE Ron Artest? The guy I last saw running into the stands, to throw hands with some fans? What is this World B. Free coming to?
Speaking of hoops, there is this Jeremy Lin kid that keeps showing up on the highlight shows. While I admit I yearn for the days when an assist meant something, I must admit I got a kick out of the other night when he pretty much told his entire team to go sit in the stands, and then pulled up and drained a three to win the game. It reminded me a little of Larry Bird. Anyway, the reason for bringing it up isn’t so much Lin, but to ask a favor of my analysis brethren. I was listening to one of the shows on the fantasy station on SiriusXM and the host said something like “Lin will regress.” I was bothered by the use of the word regress, because to me it implies not so much not playing as well anymore, but having something a bit out of your control return to its statistical norm. So I looked up the definition of regress and sure enough, we were both right.
re·gress
v. re·gressed, re·gress·ing, re·gress·es
v.intr.
1. To go back; move backward.
2. To return to a previous, usually worse or less developed state.
3. To have a tendency to approach or go back to a statistical mean.
So here’s my favor. Can we please reserve use of the word regress for number three? Thanks.
I just joined a new gym, closer to the basement, and I have the same word of warning for the female attendees that I did for my previous one: if you don’t want me staring at your ass, then don’t provide me with reading material.
Speaking of the gym, gravity must be different where I live now, the weights are so much heavier here.
And the grocery and department stores are set up all wrong, nothing is in the right place.
But I have to admit, the people are a little nicer. Get this. I was waiting in line at the grocery store, finally worked my way to being “in the hole”, you know, not on deck, but after the next person and the register next to me opened up and the clerk specifically got my attention and said “Sir, I can take you over here.” Had that happened before, by the time I waddled over to the register, there would have been four people in line, but here, the people actually cleared a path and let me go first before they formed the line behind me.
What was Major League Baseball thinking, setting the schedule so that the traditional fantasy baseball drafting weekend was the same time as both Passover and Easter?
Come to think of it, will Chinese restaurants even bother opening that Sunday?
Thanks for indulging me, time to do more profiles. {jcomments on}