Strange Season So Far

If you are having a great fantasy season so far, great job. It seems like this year is one of the most difficult offensive starts league-wide than I can ever remember.

The American League, as of today, is batting .255. The National League is batting .257.

Just to put this in perspective...

• In 2009, the AL batted .266 and the NL .259
• 2008: AL .267; NL .260
• 2007: AL .270; NL .266
• 2006: AL .275; NL .264
• 2005: AL .268; NL .262
• 2004: AL .270; NL .263
• 2003: AL .267; NL .261
• 2002: AL .264; NL .259
• 2001: AL .267; NL .261
• 2000: AL .276; NL .266

Moreso than in past years, it looks like there is a major adjustment ahead in YOUR fantasy standings. Nobody is safe. Soon enough, all of the players below the Mendoza Line are going to come out of this, and it is going to change the statistical landscape dramatically.

Here's a look at the studs (or mostly-owned fantasy players) who are hovering around the Mendoza Line as of today...and unless you have had your head buried in the sand for a while, you know that a certain Yankee is going to lead off this list:

Hello, I'm your Poster Boy!!

1. Mark Teixeira .133 (always starts slow, but this is crazy)
   
2. Chris Ianetta .133 (Destined for the Minors?)
3. Brian Roberts .142 (injured)
   
4. Nick Johnson .142 (either a strikeout or a walk, just about every time)
   
5. Mike Napoli .153
   
6. David Ortiz .153 (No more 'roids to help this guy out)
   
7. Aramis Ramirez .154 (bound for a turnaround soon)
   
8. Aaron Hill .156 (hammy injury caused the slow start, I hope)
   
9. Nate McLouth .160 (spring woes continue)
   
10. Gary Matthews .166
    
11. AJ Pierzynski .166
    
12. Lyle Overbay .168
13. Drew Stubbs .171
14. Carlos Lee .173 (shocker!)
    
15. Jake Fox .175
16. Chris Coghlan .179 (started slow last year, seems to be finding a groove lately)
    
17. JD Drew .180
18. Carlos Quentin .183 (wow)
    
19. Julio Borbon .184 (moved to bottom of the order thanks to this start)
    
20. Kyle Blanks .184 (overhyped?)
    
21. Chris Davis .187 (already sent down)
    
22. Brandon Wood .187
23. David Murphy .187
24. Clint Barmes .188 (Just dont carry any of that deer meat up the stairs buddy)
    
25. Eugenio Velez .190
26. Jhonny Peralta .190 (downhill slide?)
    
27. Travis Hafner .190 (Check the Big Papi listing...)
    
28. Grady Sizemore .191 (injuries may have taken their toll)
    
29. Rod Barajas .193
30. Luis Valbuena .196
31. Melky Cabrera .197 (Did the Braves get hosed? At least they gave up Vazquez who blows!)
    
32. Yunel Escobar .197 (should be much better than this!)
    
33. Matt Diaz .200
34. Chone Figgins .200 (should come around)
    
35. Adam Jones .202 (has played in 4 or 5 different spots in the order already)
    
36. Derrick Lee .202 (tough to believe)
    
37. Troy Glaus .202 (NOT A SHOCK)
    
38. Nolan Reimold .203
    
39. Gordon Beckham .205 (surprising)
    
40. Milton Bradley .207
41. Everth Cabrera .209
42. Brandon Phillips .209

Those of you who own Garrett Jones, Jason Kubel, Juan Pierre, Luke Scott, Hunter Pence, Alexi Ramirez, JJ Hardy, Raul Ibanez, Mark DeRosa, Rajai Davis, Jay Bruce, Justin Upton, Jose Bautista, Jason Heyward, Shane Victorino, Ken Griffey, Aubrey Huff, Adam Dunn and Lasting Milledge -- your boys are only one or two 0-for-4 performances from joining this list!

So who are the main culprits?
The White Sox are a total joke right now, with 5 guys on the list above and a team BA of......drum roll please.... .221!! Next worst is Toronto (.225) and Atlanta (.227). Cleveland has a ton of guys on the list too.

Im sure all of us have at least one or two players on this list -- and while that's not a good thing right now, hopefully that huge adjustment will make us all feel better.

Taking "We Suck" to a whole nutha level

The Pittsburgh Pirates looked really solid for the first couple weeks. The pitching was decent and the young hitting was on fire. They took 2 of 3 from the Dodgers to start the season and didnt look horrible (not great either, mind you) in dropping two series to Zona and SF. Then they swept the Reds...and I was thinking that this team reeked of sleeper potential (you know, in the way that the 2003 Marlins were a sleeper).

Wake up call -- they have lost 7 in a row.

The combined score was 72-12.

That included a 20-0 loss; a 17-3 loss; a 10-3 loss; an 8-0 loss; and an 8-1 loss.

And just for fun, lets take a gander at the Pirates' joke of a pitching staff, shall we?

• Evan Meek (obviously not that meek): 0.69 ERA, 13 Ks in 13 IP.
• Javier Lopez: 2.45 ERA, 7.1 IP
• Ross Ohlendorf: 3.60, 5 IP

Now watch your grip as they fall off the cliff:

• Paul Maholm (ace... hah): 1-2 record, 4.74 ERA, 14K, 8 BB
• Jack Taschner: 4.91 ERA with 12 Ks in 11 IP
• Zach Duke (#2 starter...comical!): 2-2 record, 6.11 ERA, 14 BB, 20 runs allowed
• DJ Carrasco: 6.43 ERA
• Brendan Donnelly: 7.27 ERA
• Brian Bass: 9.00 ERA
• Brian Burres: 9.31 ERA

OK, now that you are holding on for dear life, enter "holy shit" territory:

• Octavio Dotel (my closer....arrrgh): 12.27 ERA, .382 opponents' average
• Joel Hanrahan: 12.60 ERA in 5 really solid innings
• Daniel McCutchen: 0-2 as a starter, 13.50 ERA
• Carlie Morton: 4 starts, 4 losses, 16.20 ERA and a stellar .418 opponents' average
• Chris Jakubauskas: Took one off the noggin, so I'll cut him some slack for his 27.00 ERA in 0.2 IP.
• Hayden Penn: 2 innings, 8 runs allowed (wow) for a 30.86 ERA.

I sure hope Dotel can turn it around...most of his crappy stats came in non-save situations. Why do closers suck so bad in non-save situations?

So, in conclusion, I will say it again....NL Central hitters and pitchers -- BUY! BUY! BUY! Your players will have lots of chances to face off against the suckitude that is Pittsburgh Pirates pitching.

This is what it comes down to folks....

This is what being a baseball fan has become these days....

Fox Sports is reporting that barring a reversal in the appeal process, a major league player will be suspended in the next 48 hours for using performance-enhancing drugs, according to multiple sources.

The player is well-known but not a major star and not a member of the Yankees, one source said. Craig Calcaterra of NBCSports.com reported that the player is a National League pitcher.

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus was the first to report that a suspension was imminent.

Care to speculate?

"Well known but not a major star"....my guess is Vicente Padilla. Gotta be an old guy.

Here's to hoping it isn't any player that anyone owns and depends on....wait a minute, scratch that -- I just hope it isn't any player that I own and depend on!

**UPDATE: OK, it isn't a player anyone was depending on this season, it was injured Edinson Volquez of the Reds...although he is owned in the UPL. Guess the 50-game ding will take place next season.

Tough Choice? Avoid the AL Beast!

Have you ever been in a spot in your baseball draft where it was two guys that looked pretty equal, and you had a hard time choosing between the two? Let’s say you have the next pick your fantasy draft, and you have decided you will definitely take a starting pitcher. You must choose between Felix Hernandez and Jon Lester. Both of them project for 18-ish wins, 200 Ks and nearly identical ERA and WHIP (going by ESPN projections – hey, it was the easiest).

So what’s your deciding factor? How do you choose?

Here is one way to look at things to help you make those tough choices. It is by no means meant to be the first and only way to evaluate players – just a way to make a tough choice more manageable.

First of all, I am a big believer in playing matchups when it comes to starting pitchers. When given the option of playing offensive Player A against 3 or 4 top-of-the-line pitchers for the week or playing offensive Player B against just 1 top-of-the-line starter, I’m usually going with B, no matter what the names are. The same can be said for my starting pitcher choices – I tend to look for matchups to exploit, especially in my head-to-head league. No chance you will see me run Wade Davis out there to face CC Sabathia, unless it’s my only choice (as it is in the UPL for now).

Baseball followers know that divisional rivals play against each other more than any non-division teams. So, if you take a look at the top SPs by division, you can attempt to predict which hitters and pitchers will most frequently be facing a very difficult matchup.

Here is a look at the top SPs by division (as determined by ESPN’s % owned – 90% or better, and ranked by me, for your convenience and ridicule):

AL EAST: CC Sabathia, Josh Beckett, AJ Burnett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Matt Garza, Javier Vazquez, David Price, James Shields, Clay Buchholz, Brian Matusz

AL CENTRAL: Zack Greinke, Justin Verlander, Jake Peavy, Mark Buehrle, Max Scherzer, Scott Baker, Rick Porcello, Gavin Floyd, John Danks, F. Liriano

AL WEST: King Felix, Cliff Lee, Jered Weaver, Brett Anderson, Rich Harden

NL EAST: Doc Halladay, Johan Santana, Josh Johnson, Tommy Hanson, Cole Hamels, Ricky Nolasco, Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson, JA Happ

NL CENTRAL: Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Yovani Gallardo, Wandy Rodriguez, Ryan Dempster, Roy Oswalt, Bronson Arroyo

NL WEST: Tim Lincecum, Dan Haren, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Cain, Clayton Kershaw, Jorge De La Rosa, Edwin Jackson, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Brandon Webb

So, it becomes apparent that I would have been taking King Felix over Lester….just look at the murderer’s row that is the AL Beast! Sure, if you have Lester, then he will never face Beckett or Lackey.....But Lord help you if you have Toronto or Baltimore pitchers (which I do – Marcum, but it was a flier), because I would say that those guys have to face a beast of an opposing pitcher 30-40 percent of the time.

Now, I will grant you there are only 4 teams in the AL West, but all four teams are at least represented. To me, the weakest division for starting pitching is the NL Central – there are six teams and the best the division can do is 7 pitchers (and Arroyo is a major stretch who just made it over the 90-percent-owned line).

NL Central hitters and pitchers = Buy! Buy! Buy!

Must See TV

Premiering April 20th on ESPN....Silly Little Game, what looks to be the story of the modest beginnings of rotisserie baseball...

Here's an excerpt from the ESPN page:

Fantasy Sports is estimated to be a $4 billion dollar industry that boasts over 30 million participants and a league for almost every sport imaginable. But for all this success, the story of the game’s inception is little known. The modern fantasy leagues can be traced back to a group of writers and academics who met at La Rotisserie Francaise in New York City to form a baseball league of their own: The Rotisserie League. The game quickly grew in popularity, and with the growing use and attractiveness of the Internet, the “founding fathers” never foresaw how their creation would take off and ultimately leave them behind. Innovative filmmakers Adam Kurland and Lucas Jansen will chronicle the early development and ultimate explosion of Rotisserie Baseball, and shine a light on its mostly unnoticed innovators.

Knowing that the history of America is embroiled in Fantasy Sports (née Rotisserie) muck, it wasn’t so much a choice to make this film as it was our American duty to honor this world-changing almost-sport. Whether Fantasy got its start in the front office of the 1963 Raiders, the mind of a Harvard sociologist, ancient Polynesian customs, or (and this one is probably the truest) with eleven self-described “stat-crazed schmucks” in a mediocre French restaurant on New York’s upper East Side; few to none of the millions of fantasy players who make up today’s multi-billion-dollar fantasy industry know anything about its origins, nor do they pay any respect or dividends to its founders. Now they will.