For those interested...

I found this cool link on ESPN.com listing the top 100 prospects for 2006 and beyond. Check it out if you haven't already seen it.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/060223top100c.html

Switching gears a bit

Great story on My Man Mario on Yahoo! today. The man is going to be a disgusting NFL player. Everybody is saying that he's by far the best defensive prospect in the draft. Under no circumstances do I want to see the Packers picking AJ Hawk in front of him. The only scenarios in which I won't fly into a murderous rage were the Packers to draft somebody else are as follows:
1. He's taken. Let's face it, he's probably the most talented guy in the draft that didn't go to USC. I'd actually want the Packers to take him ahead of Leinart.
2. We trade up to #1 to grab Bush. This scenario is not that unreasonable. The Texans may be looking to move the pick and the Packers could lose as many as three running backs to free agency (Green, Fumbleport, and Fisher). The Jets seem a little more likely to trade for the pick as they'll also want a running back and can ensure Houston, who DESPERATELY needs o-line help, the ability to take D'Brickshaw Furgueson.
3. The Jets draft Jay Cutler. Why would this matter? Assuming Bush Leinart and Young go 1-2-3, Cutler going 4 would make D'Brickshaw Furgueson availuable at 5. He is just as good at his position as Williams, and cornerstone left tackles are the guys you build teams around in the NFL. If this guy is drawing comparisons to Jonathon Ogden, I want him on my team. We had plenty of o-line troubles last year to justify the pick, and we could probably move tauscher to guard or clifton to another team to make room for this beast.

My first public draft

I was sitting around this afternoon, bored as usual, and I decided to go ahead with my winner's league draft. I ended up with the 7th pick, and it really chanced my perspective on things. That sounds wierd, but this team is unlike any team I normally draft, mostly because I never have the 7th pick. players in the first few rounds were available that I don't usually even have to consider, and players I normally jump all over were gone by the round I normally take them. When my pick came, I was faced with the decision between David Wright and David Ortiz. Ortiz puts up better numbers, but Wright plays a much weaker position. Ultimately I chose Wright because I felt I could pick up another 1st baseman easier than I could another third baseman. Boy was I wrong . . .

C Joe Mauer (6)
1B Chad Tracy (9)will be 3b eligible
2B Rickie Weeks (7)
3B Wright (1)
SS Bill Hall (15)
OF Miguel Cabrera (2) 3B eligible
OF Jim Edmonds (11)
OF Brian Giles (12)
Util Travis Hafner (3)
Bn: JD Drew, Austin Kearns, Connor Jackson, Orlando Cabrera (BJ upton eventually)

SP Ben Sheets (4)
SP Felix Hernandez (5)
RP Francisco Cordero (8)
RP Bobby Jenks (13)
P Zach Duke (14)
P Francisco Liriano (16)
P Chris Reitsma (17)
BN Justin Verlander

Clearly, I dropped the ball as far as 1b/3b is concerned. At the end of the 6th/beginning of the 7th Helton, Sexon, Howard, and Dunn all fell, leaving me to choose between Chad Tracy and Jason Giambi. Meanwhile I could have had Troy Glaus in like the 12th round, along with the two other guys I did draft with 3B eligibility. Thoughts anybody?

Great Baseball Resource

Are you sick of scrolling through and clicking open 40 articles a day on sites like yahoo! to get your baseball news? Are you equally tired of reading 2 pages of garbage based on a single sentence quote a player threw at a beat writer? Well, I am, and I just found the perfect solution. It's USA Today's fantasy baseball news. They list the player, the team, and the buzz. They digest information from every major newspaper and team site and list them here. There's no article, no crap, no filler, no cheesey pun-filled article titles. Just the info. And the best part? It's updated 24 hours a day. Last night, there was a gap in posts for 3 and half hours between midnight and 3:15a.m. eastern time.

http://fantasybaseball.usatoday.com/content/news.asp?sport=MLB

If all of MLB is too much info for you, you can search by team too. Here's the Brewers:

http://fantasybaseball.usatoday.com/content/clubhouse.asp?sport=MLB&majteam=MLW

I've learned more from this site about what going on day-to-day than any other site. Does anyone have anything else like this? Anything better?

Final Fantasy Baseball Setup Discussion

The Bub and I would like to get this league set up and finalized. There is still the chance that we will have to move the draft, so the sooner everything is decided, the better. Instead of people scrolling down and posting things in all of the 12 other discussions about the league, let's focus the planning in here now.

First things first, for those who have not signed up, please do so ASAP. Rumour has it that LIFM will be dropping out of the league. Is this true? James (Juicebow) has signed up for the league and should be some formidable competition for us. This may be lost below, so for E, Fr. Bub, and Miniest Bub, here's what you need to fill in when signing up for the Custom League on Yahoo . . .
League ID: 70925
Password: Branyan

Next, is the draft day OK for everyone? Is saturday the kind of day that things tend to pop up on for you? If so, then maybe we should move it to a sunday somewhere is there. The draft day is probably the most important thing in terms planning.

Next, are we all OK on the stat categories? I'm sure most of us still have one or two categories that we don't like, but is there something in there that you simply cannot stand? If so, propose a change and reasons for the change in this post.

Lastly, are we going to do a keeper's league? Unless everyone agrees to this, then we cannot do it. Setup for a keepers league will be different from setup for a one-year league. If we decide on doing a keepers league, we will have to draft league by-laws in the next couple weeks. Please everyone, vote on this. Despite three previous posts, only three of us have stated our opinions on this issue.

My votes: The draft day is OK with me. I want to do a keepers league. And, I'm fine with the current categories.

Who wants to gamble on baseball???

I had a particularly good run at the tables last night and I'm feeling rather generous this evening. The BCS contributor that gives me the most convincing arguments for One of these win total over/under betsgets a free $20 bet. Please note I will also be betting on that team, so if you have to argue with me to get your bet, you probably won't be winning. Deadline is midnight Wednesday.

Condesencdy's First Yahoo Public Draft

Being bored and forced to cancel my first scheduled draft for this upcoming friday, I moved my draft to this morning. I had the fourth pick in the draft, a position that I didn't really want. Here's how my draft turned out:

1. Mark Teixeira 1B
2. Jason Bay OF
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Travis Hafner DH
5. Felix Hernandez SP
6. Joe Mauer C
7. Jhonny Peralta SS
8. Old Man Griffey OF
9. C.C. Sabathia SP
10. Chad Tracy 1B/OF (eventually 3B)
11. John Lackey SP
12. Ryan "Cum" Dempster RP/SP
13. Mike Gonzalez RP
14. Chris Ray RP
15. Scott Kazmir SP
16. Chad Orvella RP
17. Francisco Liriano SP
18. Reginald Sanders OF
19. Scott Linebrink RP
20. Bill Hall 3B
21. Kyle Farnsworth RP

I went with Farnsworth, though I think I'll drop him or Linebrink. Weathers, Bowyer, and Reitsma are left. I love the Yankees top setup man, having enjoyed the massive amounts of wins Tom Gordon has given me in the past. Nevertheless, I could probably pick up the closers and use the saves as trade bate in the future. Also, in complete oversight, I missed Anthony Reyes in the draft. I will probably pick him up and go with the 6 starters, eventually dropping the first to get injured or ineffective.

I was shocked at how fast the 3B fell in the draft. Rolen fell right before I picked Tracy. Tracy is a very underrated 25-year-old that hit 27 home runs and hit .308 last year. But, it will be two weeks into the season before he will qualify as a 3B. Until then, I am going with Bill Hall and hoping he gets me some SB. I don't really have much to trade at the moment. With my quantity approach at P right now, I can't afford people like Old-Man Griffey to get hurt. Delmon Young will be picked up once he hits the Yahoo Rosters, though I actually like what Reggie Sanders brings as my third OF.

What are people's thoughts about improving this team? Is the pitching enough to win?

For Those of You With Console Game Systems...

BUY EA SPORTS NCAA '06 COLLEGE BASEBALL!

You really can't beat the recruiting (which basically comes straight out of NCAA Football) and the gameplay is better than MVP '05 because the AI is better. Pick it up today!

stat catagories

just checked out the posted changes to the catagories on the league web site and i have a problem with home runs given up counting against teams and their pitchers. what the hell does this mean? why should a pitcher be penalized for giving up runs and then again so for the way he gives them up? this seems a bit absurd to me. why not add strikeouts looking to hitters stats while we're at it? if a pitcher gives up three runs in 7 innings, which happen to be on 3 solo homers, why should he be worse than a pitcher who gives up the same number of runs in the same number of innings but instead on six singles? runs allowed are runs allowed any way you look at it. except in this league, i guess.

i propose switching it out for a catagory like WHIP, picks off or balks--perhaps an extremely loaded stat for walk-off balks?

who supports hr's for pitchers? i want these poeple to go on record and defend this crazy idea.

for anyone who might be wondering, the great paper that i work for has me scheduled from 10am to 6 pm today in the business section on a day when the damn markets are closed anyway. i have decided not to bring this--the fact that my normal work duties are now not needed due to the closing--to anyone's attention and instead surf the net and look busy for 8 hours today while i collect my money.

My first draft

Impatient. That describes pretty much every member of this blog when it comes to drafting fantasy baseball teams. I got sucked in just like the rest of you. Brett Berghauer called me up and asked me to absolutely dominate his fantasy league. Naturally, I obliged. They made some modifications, adding 2B, H and TB to the offensive categories, and cg, gidp and hld for pitchers. I haven't figured out how i'm gonna handle holds, but i'm sure i'll manage. I first realized that the other seven teams (yeah, short handed league) didn't have a prayer when I drafted Jason Bay at 16 to a chorus of JASON BAY?!? what are you thinking. What am I thinking? I'm thinking that Bay was in the top 25 for every single one of your stat categories. How many guys can say that??? well, without further ado, here's my juggernaut:
C: Victor Martinez (5)
1B: Adam Dunn (8)
2B: Chase Utley (4)
SS: Miguel Tejada (3)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (1)
OF: Jason Bay (2)
OF: Pat Burrell (11)
OF: Jim Edmonds (12)
Util: Travis Hafner: (7)
BN: Prince Fielder, Wily Taveras, Julio Lugo

Holy shit, thats a good team. I'll get 60 steals this year from utley, a-rod and bay, and 60 more from taveras and lugo if I decide to play them. If I don't win home runs, i'll stop watching baseball. And I'm already working on trading Tejada for Abreu.

Pitching:
SP: Rich Harden (6) They heckled this pick too.
SP: Andy Pettitte (9)
SP: Brandon Webb (10)
SP: AJ Burnett (13)
SP: Danny Haren (16)(!)
SP: Scott Kazmir (22)
RP: Turnblow (15)
RP: Francisco Cordero (14)
RP: Mike Gonzalez (18)
RP: Mike MacDougal (20)

No holds here, yet, but not too many guys drafted middle relief. All other categories should be golden. All could go 9 innings if need be. Max points in this league will be 128. I'm shooting for triple digits. Thoughts?

Proposed draft day move

Can everybody draft this coming sunday evening (feb 26)? I'm getting antsy. I say we look at every sunday evening from here until our currently scheduled draft to move this baby up. the anticipation is killing me.

E had a draft today

And Barry Bonds was . . . THE FIRST PICK. Shortly thereafter, we heard a thump on the monitor screen, which I can only assume was the erection of the guy with the #3 pick. Anyway, here's how E's team breaks down:
C: Lo Duca
1B: Helton
2B: Utley
3B: Glaus
SS: Barmes
OF: Guerrero
OF: Abreu
OF: Jenkins
UTIL: Francouer
BN: Bill Hall
BN: Adam Kennedy
BN: Kalil Green
SP: Sheets
SP: Beckett
SP: Webb
SP: Kazmir
SP: Radke
SP: Penny
RP: Turnblow
RP: Right now he has Wise and Qualls (I had to step out for most of his draft) but we've already got waiver requests on Reitsma and Weathers.

I think overall this was an excellent draft for anybody, not even considering that this was the first fantasy baseball draft he ever participated in. Steal of the draft was likely Robert Abreu in the 3rd . . . Thoughts anybody?

For those of you that don't scour Brewerfan.net in mid-February

I found This Article on there and thoroughly enjoyed it. Its a satirical timeline of the upcoming baseball season. A few of my favorites:

APRIL 15: Exhausted and easily confused tax preparers attempt to develop an amortization schedule for Derek Jeter’s intangibles.

MAY 12: In the first inning of a White Sox game, Scott Podsednik leads off with a failed bunt, after which the Sox score six runs, three on a homer from Paul Konerko. USA Today’s Hal Bodley credits Podsednik for teaching the Sox the way to win and Ozzie Guillen for willing Konerko to hit.

JULY 31: At the trade deadline, the Phillies deal Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, and Chase Utley for six new 35-year-old middle relievers, finally completing their collection.

OCTOBER 4: As the playoffs commence with a series between the Yankees and Indians, FOX’s opening video montage before Game One features a shot of Derek Jeter, a shot of Joe Torre, a shot of Alex Rodriguez, a shot of Jorge Posada, a shot of Randy Johnson, shots of various other great Yankees through history, a shot of Tim McCarver sending Derek Jeter a valentine, and a fleeting glimpse at the Indians logo.

OCTOBER 19: Unable to decide on the NL Cy Young winner between Mark Mulder, who finished the season with 24 wins and a 4.57 ERA; and Ben Sheets, who won only 17 but with a 2.32 ERA, several baseball writers throw their support to David Eckstein for a scrappy 1/3-inning June performance in emergency relief.

First Fantasy Draft

Hey all,

I wanted to do an early draft to get a feel for things, so I originally selected a public league on saturday. After all this talk about drafting low risk, high potential old guys, I wanted to do a deep draft. I moved my draft to last night, and purposely selected a private league that was far deeper than the average public league, just to get a feel or things. There were some surprises, but not many. Hopefully all will benefit from this.

The league is a 5x5 rot. league with the default stat categories. The positions were as follows. C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, IF, LF, CF, RF, OF, Util, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL.
Notice the corner infielder, middle infielder, and infielder, along with the specialized OF positions. There are 15 teams in the league and the draft only took about 2 hours for all 25 rounds.

Of course, I got the last pick in the draft, so all my picks were back to back. This of course changed my drafting strategy. Encouragingly, my team is still really good. Here's what the first round looked like:

1. Á. Rodríguez 2. A. Pujols 3. V. Guerrero 4. M. Teixeira 5. D. Ortiz 6. M. Ramírez 7. M. Tejada 8. Jo. Santana 9. Mi. Cabrera 10. M. Young 11. D. Lee 12. I. Suzuki 13. C. Zambrano 14. B. Abreu 15. D. Wright (Me)

I'll put a (!) next to major surprises to me. I have no idea why these guys were still around at the point I got them. My picks:

# 15. David Wright # 16. Carl Crawford
#45. Travis Hafner (!) #46. Adam Dunn
#75. Jhonny Peralta #76. Bret Myers
#105. Josh Beckett (!) #106. Felipe Lopez
#135. Jorge Posada #136. Eddie Guardado (my last chance to get an established closer)
#165. Scott Kazmir #166. Geoff Jenkins
#195. Zack Duke #196. Dan Johnson
#225. Chris Reitsma #226. Mike MacDougal
#255. Bill Mo Pena #256. Brad Radke
#285. Mike Piazza (!) #286. Austin Kearns
#315. Scott Linebrink #316. Jason Duchsherer
#345. Xavier Nady #346. Junior Spivey
Last Pick of the draft : Frank Thomas (!)

Other major surprises: nobody picked Roger Clemens until #137. This was a major oversight by myself and others. I kicked myself when I realized I had just picked Steady Eddie and could have had the Rocket.

Other notes: Victor Martinez went #38 and Mariano Rivera and Brad Lidge went #59 and #62.

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: Relief Pitchers

Relief Pitcher Rankings

There is a lot of strategy that goes into drafting relievers. Relievers are very unpredictable and often suffer huge ups and downs as a result of the small sample sizes, which their sentire seasons basically are. Nevertheless, this is the positional ranking where I am most confident in my predictions.

For those inexperienced fantasy ballers, know one thing going into a fantasy draft: do not draft a closer very early in the draft no matter how good he is. Closers do not pitch nearly enough innings and saves are far too unpredictable and replaceable. It's not that you don't want a really good closer that can post a 1.7 ERA and get 40 saves. It's just that even that closer won't be as valuable as a starter like Roy Oswalt, as Oswalt will likely throw three times more innings. This is why you'll notice that no closer was rated higher than 25. There are too many really good closers available later in the draft to use a really early draft pick on a closer. I think this year's lower-level closer stockpile is particularly juicy. Also, the turnover rates of relievers is ridiculous. You could not draft a single closer and, with savvy management, finish near the top of your league in saves. I should note that I've never really had the chance to draft a guy like Mariano Rivera, so I don't know how early I'd consider drafting him. All I know is that the top guys are all gone before I'd ever pick them. If Rivera is available in the 7th round, maybe I'd pick him. I don't know. It's a moot point. He won't be.
Always remember that the main purpose of relief pitchers is for saves. How many more saves is Brad Lidge going to have than Eddie Guardado anyway? Is it worth picking Lidge so much higher? I don't think so. Please let me know if you disagree.

There are ways to use relief pitchers to lower your team ERA. Consider drafting some of the relievers on that list that are not closers, like Linebrink and Farnsworth. There is some value to a team's setup man. Also, if you have a later draft date, check to see if some of the guys at the bottom have become closers. Everyone in the league that I think could be a closer on opening day is on the list. Also, recognize that Ryan Dempster qualifies as a starting pitcher. So, with him, you can have 6 closers in your lineup. It gives you flexibility. You can get saves out of the SP spot and use a really good setup man in the RP role. Just something to think about.

I have plenty more to say, but will hold it for specific questions or comments so as to avoid rambling.

Previous Positions:
First Base and Designated Hitter
Second Base
Shortstop
Third Base
Catcher
Outfield
All Offense
Starting Pitchers

How do you know you've made smart futures bets?

The Brewers have gone from a 60/1 longshot to win the world series to a 30/1 longshot. The Dodgers have gone from 28/1 to 10/1. Lots of people thinking the exact same way this board did.

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: Starting Pitchers

Starting Pitcher Rankings

It looks like I will be able to get all positional rankings up before members our group have their first couple drafts this weekend.

Of all the positions, starting pitcher is one where you should draft at least twice as efficiently as a casual fan. The most important thing to look at from the previous year is walk/strikeout ratio. Pitchers are ridiculously difficult to predict. Even if a pitcher stays healthy all year, it is possible for him to pitch just as well as the year before and win 10 less games and have an ERA 1.5 points higher. It is just annoying. Strikeouts are the best predictive device for pitchers. If you are choosing between a group of pitchers, select the younger one with the better strikeout rates.

First things first, Jeff Weaver just signed with the Angels today. Amend his ranking to become a 21. Clemens's ranking stays where it is until he signs somewhere, when he should move into one of the top 10 pitchers.

In your early picks, focus a lot on health. Be slightly skeptical of taking a guy like Mark Prior in the first few rounds. As the draft goes on, focus on upside. You should be able to figure out upside. Daniel Cabrera has only been in the league for one year and throws nearly 100MPH. He strikes out a lot of guys. Jon Lieber has been in the league a long time and has proven that he will post an ERA around 4. Take Cabrera.

This year in particular it seems like there will be a lot of young pitchers available as the year goes on. Reyes, Verlander, Liriano, McCarthy and Billingsley, for example, could be top pitchers if they get a chance and can adapt well. Keep your eyes open for these guys. Casual players lose out in getting the up-and-coming young pitchers.

Honestly, I'm surpirsed if more than 2 or 3 of the pitchers I draft are on my team as season's end. Pitchers get injured too much and are too unpredictable. If a guy is struggling, I get rid of him. This is why I refuse to draft a pitcher that is not a young guy with a really high ceiling or an older guy that does not have at least a 75% chance of posting an ERA under 4.00 and striking out at least 7 guys per 9 innings. My rankings, therefore, are not indicative of exactly the order I would pick players. Jeff Suppan is ranked higher than Jeremy Bonderman, but I'd take Bonderman sooner than Suppan.

Anyway, ranking pitchers is really tough, so you guys should be able to pick apart a lot of these rankings. What pitchers do you like and dislike on here compared to their ranking? Is there anyone not on the list that you like? Feel free to ask questions about the young guys, as I know a lot about them.

Fantasy Basebll Discussion: All Hitters

All Hitters

Here are all the hitters combined. I've added the Yahoo rankings to give you a slightly better feel of how far certain players might fall. I've pretty much found Yahoo to have underranked all Indians and Rangers players. That comes as no surprise. If there is one guy I was a bit surprised about it is Jason Varitek. He is a lot better than the 69th best offensive player. Grabbing him in the 8th Round would be an absolute steal.

Any thoughts?

Fantasy league discussion from below

so you don't have to keep scrolling

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: Outfielders

Outfielders

There are too many guys on the list to do a total breakdown of each. So, I'll let you guys choose which players on the list you feel are underrated and overrated. I'm sure there will some difference of opinion on a good number of these guys.

One thing I'm sure you'll notice is my tendency to rank players who derive a majority of their value from stolen bases lower compared to the yahoo rankings. This is just a drafting philosophy centered around the idea that SB guys can typically be found as free agents as the season goes along. Take Scott Podsednik for example. He'll probably steal around 55 bases, which is great. But, is he worth that 4th round pick? He gives you nothing else, except a slightly above-average share of runs. Is Wily Taveras really that much worse than Podsednik? The last two years I have had leagues where I did not draft a single SB guy, and each time I finished in the top three in those leagues in SB. Don't waste an early pick on a guy like Podsednik. If you do want to spend a somewhat early pick on an SB guy, I'd recommend Juan Pierre more than anyone. Dusty Baker is going to have him steal at least 85% of the time he reaches first or second base.

Outfield is a position where you can really separate yourself from the other teams. Get yourself 3 star outfielders and your offense will be carried, even if you're stuck with Ryan Freel at second and Julio Lugo at short. This has been the philosophy I've used, and it has worked well. With outfielders, though, always remember that it is the position with the most sleepers and the position most likely to have one or two really good guys available via free agency during the year; that is, if you're paying enough attention. With that in mind, try not to use more than two of your top 8 picks on outfielders. There should be someone really solid later in the draft.

Discussion Question: I've got a good amount of rookies on that list. If you had to choose two that you think will have fantasy OF worthy years, who would they be?

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: Catchers

Catcher Rankings

This is a pretty self-explanatory group. Vic Martinez is the cream of the crop, being a rare catching mix of youth, health, a productive lineup around him, and the ability to hit for both power and average. But for his age, Varitek would be right up there with Vic. Mauer has the youth, but a shadier injury history and the still-not-fully developed power are holding his stock down. Could this be the year he starts jacking home runs?

Javy Lopez could surprise some being ranked so high. I like the thought of him spending most of his time at first base or DH. He should hold up in 2006. After these four, replacement level comes on strong. I lack strong opinions on any of the next 10 or so catchers. Does any one stick out to you as a sleeper?

Previous Positions:
First Base and Designated Hitter
Second Base
Shortstop
Third Base

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: Third Basemen

Third Base Rankings

There are an awful lot of good third basemen in the league. The top 13 are all worthy to play 3B on my team. After Ensberg, the next 7 guys could pretty much go in any order. It is worth noting that Chad Tracy is not immediately eligable for 3B status. He has the starting 3B job in Arizona and I'd expect Yahoo to give him 3B eligability pretty quickly.

The depth at 3B should really alter your draft strategy. Although guys like David Wright and Aramas Ramirez look like good early picks, you have to ask yourself if taking them knowing that Hank Blalock is going to be available 10 rounds later is worth it. It may be. It's tough to say for sure. Miguel Cabrera's ability to play the OF makes him more valuable. Cabrera is such a good hitter. The problem is what's around him in Florida.

There is a common theme about all the players ranked 5-14: they all have a very high ceiling. So, my best advice is to take two of the guys and hope one regains his form/has a breakout season. That is unless you get A-Rod.

So, my big question . . . given the depth at 3B, would you take Pujols over A-Rod? I probably wouldn't, but I'd like to know who thinks Pujols should be the no. 1 pick.

Previous Positions:
First Base and Designated Hitter
Second Base
Shortstop

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: Shortstops

Shortstop Rankings

There is a lot more depth at shortstop than there has been in prior years and a lot more depth than at second base. Young and Tejada are the clear top two, though I'm sure some might argue that Tejada should be ranked higher than Young.

After those two, there is a group of three players, Peralta, Jeter, and Rollins. These guys are all very closely ranked in my mind, and I am quite indecisive about which is better. If anyone has any strong opinions, I'd love to know.

Somewhere a few rounds later, there will be another group of players that are pretty evenly ranked in my mind. If anyone has a strong opinion about Lopez, Furcal, or Lugo, I'd again love to know.

Clint Barmes is a very useful platoon player, but even at home he won't hit for much power. Bobby Crosby is probably the best breakout candidate for 2006.

Previous Positions:
First Base and Designated Hitter

Second Base

Brew City Fantasy league

I felt there was enough interest to sign us up for a league. All league settings and draft time are negotiable, but know that I have justification for all current settings. Carlson, Tim, and Dad, this is kind of assuming your participation, but i think that's a reasonably safe bet. Also, whoever finds player #8 gets to move up one draft spot. and what is this word verification crap?

Info:

League ID#: 70925

League Name: BrewCitySportsLeague

Password: Branyan

Season Type: Full

Draft Type: Live Draft

Draft Time: Sat Mar 25 1:30pm CST [ Add to My Calendar ]

Max Teams: 12

Scoring Type: Rotisserie

Player Universe: All baseball

Max Moves: No maximum

Max Trades: No maximum

Trade Reject Time: 1

Trade End Date: August 13, 2006

Waiver Time: 1 day

Can't Cut List Provider: Yahoo! Sports

Trade Review: League Votes

Post Draft Players: Follow Waiver Rules

Max Games Played: 162

Max Innings Pitched: 1250

Weekly Deadline: Daily - Tomorrow

Start Scoring on: Sunday, Apr 2

Roster Positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, Util, Util, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P, P, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL

Stat Categories: HR, SB, K, OBP, SLG, SV, HR, ERA, WHIP, K/BB

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: 2B

We now officially have two readers that are going to draft before the end of next week, so I'm going to keep the rankings coming.

Second Basemen Rankings

I'll post my rationale behind the ratings in the comments later on wednesday. For now, I'd love to get your initial reactions.

Also, all should feel free to continue discussing the first base and DH rankings. I and others will continue looking for comments in that thread.

Previous Positions:

First Base and Designated Hitter

Fantasy Baseball Discussion: 1B and DH

Alright gang, I've done my fantasy baseball player rankings. Let's start with first base and DH . . .

First Base and Designated Hitter Rankings

What do you guys think? What is your draft strategy with these guys? Does anyone have any questions or criticism about my rankings?

Superbowl recap

Hey...did you know that Jerome Bettis is from Detroit?

Fantasy Baseball Discussion Topic #1: Where, When, and How Many to Draft

Hello all, and welcome to our first annual Fantasy Baseball Forum here at Brew City Sports.

As $lash and Co. have alluded to, there is really nothing going on in the world of sports between next monday and about March 8th. College basketball is nice, but wholly unfulfilling. It's cold outside, there's not much else going on, so what should fill our sports time? For me, it's going to be fantasy baseball. Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in exactly two weeks from today. Baseball is so close I can almost taste it. Its never too early to start looking at the season ahead.

Two days ago, Yahoo Fantasy Sports opened up its fantasy baseball for the season (although it is not on the main page yet), meaning that we can now all officially register for our teams. If I wanted, I could be drafting a team next week. The problem with doing that, of course, is that I then have to wait two full months for my players to actually play. If I drafted this early, I'd probably end up with 8 teams before April hit. That's too many. I'm sure some of us here will want to draft a team within the next couple weeks, so we should be accomodating and begin our fantasy baseball discussions promptly. Also, there isn't much else to talk about.

This year I will again set my aim on having three or four teams. Every year I have done just Yahoo baseball, but this year I'm thinking about expanding to a different site or doing Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Plus. I know very little about other sites and Plus, so I could use some advice. How many teams are you all going to have? Where are you going to have those teams? Is there a site out there better than Yahoo?

Lastly, when do you all draft your teams? There are pros and cons as to when you draft. The earlier you draft, the more serious your opponents will be about their teams. Think about it: if you drafted your team on February 8th, you have to be obsessed with baseball, right? The longer you wait, the more information casual players will get from numerous writers and broadcasters. This tends to level the playing field in an annoying way. The earlier you draft, the more you can avoid casual players with decent teams. The cons of drafting so early are that you cannot observe what guys are doing in spring training from slumping to being injured. This can mess your team up before you even play. Also, as I said before, it's tough to jest let your team sit there for so long. In the neverending boredom of late winter, it is difficult to resist the temptation to keep drafting and drafting.

Here's my advice: set a specific day of the week as the day you'll draft your team. For me, this will be Fridays. Then, do not let yourself draft more than one team per Friday and any teams on a day other than Friday. I'm going to draft my first team on February 24th. Then, I'll draft probably on March 10th. Then, my last one on March 24th. Because Yahoo is open and no one else knows about it, if you know what days you want, sign up now. The dates get really crowded, really quickly once Yahoo puts the signup on its front page.

What are your thoughts on draft timing, location, and so on?

Exclusive: Men's Double Luge

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, they did it. It had to be one of those eureka! moments that only come about a few times in lifetime. Here's what probably happened:

One muscled, leotard clad male luger says to another, "Hans? Because ve love ze luge zo much, ve must vork to create somesing efen more terrific!".

"Jaa! Christian, vy not a double ze luge?".

"Double Luge you say?!? Ja! Of course!"

"Vy have ve not sought of zis before? Please, let us luge... togezer!"

And then there was mens double luge. The best part? We'll all get to watch it because of NBC's decision to provide something like 480 hours of Olympic coverage. Now I normally wouldn't be so bothered by this, because hey, I've got freewill, right? That's where you're wrong. Between all the nearly meaningless NCAA basketball games on saturday and wednesday nights, I'll have no choice but to fix my eyes on such awful tragedies as men's doubles luge and the snowboard halfpipe. How are these Olympic sports!?! How is this is presentation of athletic prowess? I won't even get started about curling, but hell, that at least seems to take some refined skill. Wow, I really wasn't angry when I started writing this, but I've just realized that baseball really needs to start. After the Superbowl, it's sports hell until March madness, and I just don't know if the Winter Olympics are a remedy or more of a stinky hiccup-burp. I'm thinking hiccup-burp, but hey, I'm sure there's a pair of good, wholesome, patriotic Amercians posied to steal my heart between bouts of sliding down an ice ramp at 75 mph on top of each other. The wait is over folks. Men's double luge is back!

Oakland Athletics

Next Season:
The annual tradition in the baseball media is about to begin. That tradition includes just about every baseball TV talk-person guaranteeing that the Angels will win the West. Those numbskulls will go on to bash the A’s and nitpick the entire roster, claiming that there is no team speed, no intangibles, and a team that cannot win in the playoffs. Within 500 words of saying this, the TV talkers will declare that only the teams with good pitching can win in the playoffs. What I don’t understand is how a team that has had the best pitching in the American League over the last five years and will have one of the very top staffs in baseball this year cannot win in the postseason. It is just not clear to me the logic behind that. What I do get is that most of the paid media that you will hear has a bias against the A’s For the old baseball men, the bias runs deep. Billy Beane and the A’s represent a style of baseball play and management which calls into question the entire way they understand baseball; and it certainly calls into question the validity of their analytical baseball careers. For many others, it is merely a matter of ignorance founded on hearsay and a fundamental misunderstanding of baseball statistics. Do not be fooled by these media types. The A’s are a damn good team this year, and, though perhaps only slightly, a favorite in my opinion to win the AL West.

The Pitching: Let’s take Quick Quiz #1: Of all the projected starters in the A’s 2006 rotation, which had the highest ERA in 2005?
(1) Barry Zito
(2) Rich Harden
(3) Esteban Loaiza
(4) Joe Blanton
(5) Danny Haren
Because I bothered asking the question, you probably already know that it is Barry Zito. What was the point of this exercise? Well, it is twofold: First, it helps to show how deep the A’s rotation is. Second, it shows that Zito, to a certain extent, is fungible.

How deep is the A’s pitching staff?
The front five starters are amongst the most durable in the league. The only one with injury issues last year was Dick Harden. Of all the teams in the league, the A’s need depth perhaps less than any other team. Yet, after the strong front five, the A’s have Kirk Saarloos and Joe Kennedy, two career starters, on the Major League Roster. If the A’s choose to avoid Saarloos and Kennedy, the team has both Juan Cruz and Justin Duchscherer, who can each spot start and put up a very low ERA. The A’s also have starting pitching help available in AAA. I cannot stress enough how important this depth is. Teams today need at least 6 starting pitchers, as no team will shy away from the five-man rotation. Typically at any point in a season, at least one of a team’s top five starters will be injured. It is the nature of the game. Furthermore, having this much depth ensures that Beane will have a pitcher or two to trade towards the deadline, when pitchers are at an extreme premium. Here’s how the staff looks on paper:

SP Barry Zito: Everyone seems to be speculating that Zito will be moved because the A’s have so many starters and Zito could fetch the A’s quite a bounty. As much offensive help as Zito could bring to the A’s, I don’t think the trade is going to happen anytime soon. Beane understands the value of pitching depth. Zito will be a free agent at the end of the year; and if the A’s completely flop, he’ll be gone by the deadline. Otherwise, Beane has shown a tendency to allow his high profile players to head to free agency. Though the A’s have many starters, only two or three of them can put up numbers as good as Zito, meaning Zito is still valuable to this team. Last year, Zito posted a 3.86 ERA, with his typical peripheral stats, 89BB, 171K, 26 HR, and 185H in 228.1 innings. His career ERA is 3.50, and I’d expect something quite similar to that in 2006.
SP Rich Harden: Harden is the most dominating pitcher on this staff, and he is just 24 years old. Furthermore, he is Canadian, meaning he figures to be a late-bloomer. He may have a higher upside than any pitcher in baseball besides Felix Hernandez. In his 2.5 MLB seasons, Harden’s ERA has dropped every step of the way. Last year, he posted a 2.53 ERA, 43 BB, 121K, 7HR, in 128 innings. His stuff is remarkable, but he was unable to stay healthy last year. He figures to be healthy going into spring training. If he makes 35 starts, teams are going to have trouble catching up to the A’s.
SP Esteban Loaiza: Loaiza is a bit of a wildcard to me. He has had a very up and down career. Last season, he posted a very good 55/173 BB/K ratio and 3.77 ERA in 217 innings, though those innings were in spacious Washington (where he had a 2.86 ERA). Whether he’ll be good is anyone’s guess. One year he walks a bunch of guys, the next he turns into a fly-ball pitcher, then he’s back to pinpoint control and ground balls. I just don’t get him. If pitchers weren’t making so much this offseason, I’d criticize the 3-year, $21M deal the A’s gave him.
SP Dan Haren: Haren is better known as the pitcher that was immediately better than Mark Mulder when Mulder was traded for him, a good reliever and one of the top hitting prospects in baseball. Haren is 25 years old, and like Dick Harden, he has improved in each of his first few seasons in the Majors. Last year, he posted a 3.73 ERA, with 53BB, 163K, and 26HR in 217 innings. He figures to be a big part of the rotation for some time to come.
SP Joe Blanton: Blanton enjoyed his rookie year last year at age 24 and made 33 starts. While Blanton is not a fireballer, he certainly has good command. He posted a 3.53 ERA last year, but his peripherals (67/116 BB/K, with 23HR in 201.1 innings) were not too great. But, it was his rookie season, and he figures to improve. He posted a 2.65 ERA after the all-star break in 2005.

The Oakland bullpen is amongst the best in baseball. Led by 2005 Rookie of the Year Huston Street, the bullpen, like the starting rotation, is overly deep:
CL Huston Street: Still just 22 years old, Street is one of the best closers in baseball. While his 1.72 ERA is probably going to rise, I wouldn’t expect it to rise too much.
RP Justin Duchscherer: His 19/85 BB/K ratio and 2.21 ERA in 85.2 innings last year were very impressive. He throws one of the funniest curveballs around and has great control. The thing I really like about him is that he can throw well more than one inning each outing.
RP Kiko Calero: He has always had a very good arm and has posted good ERAs and ratios. The biggest concern with Colero has always been his health. But, on a team like this, he should get plenty of rest. He is a good candidate to post an ERA in the twos.
RP Jay Witasick: He has been one of the most reliable middle relievers in baseball the last five years. He also had 73 strikeouts in 63.1 innings last year. He is another good candidate to have an ERA in the twos.
RP Ron Flores: Lefty who has put up impressive numbers in AAA the past three years. In 8.2 innings with Oakland last year, he struck out 6, walked none, and gave up just one run. He will be used as a situational lefty, making this bullpen even more versatile and deadly.
RP Santiago Casilla: A.k.a. Jairo Garcia. A week or so ago, Casilla informed the A’s that he was three years older than originally reported and that his name was not actually Jairo Garcia. For the last two years, I have been calling this guy the best relief pitching prospect in baseball. I rescind that comment now. At age 25, he still has an insanely high ceiling. In his last two years in the minors, he has averaged about 17 K/9. While his walk rate is high, it is not completely out of control. Because the bullpen is so loaded, he may have to start the year in AAA again.
Mop-up Men/Swing Starters: Joe Kennedy, Juan Cruz, Kirk Saarloos, and Chad Gaudin: These guys all have the ability to pitch capably in the starting rotation or eat some innings in the bullpen. Kennedy is a proven starter and left-handed, Cruz has the incredible arm, Saarloos was the most effective of the bunch last year, and Gaudin is the 22-year-old prospect. Potentially three of these guys will make the team, though I expect a trade or two out of this bunch.
It doesn’t end there. The A’s also have a glut of journeymen who could work some good innings out of the pen down in AAA. This team could honestly withstand up to 7 simultaneous injuries to pitchers this season. No other team in baseball can do that. Also, this bullpen has at least 4 good setup men and a good closer. This has to be the best pitching staff in baseball. What’s more, it should be aided by a very good Oakland defense. Whoa. I don’t think I’ve ever said that before. Even about football.

The Lineup:
Let’s take Quick Quiz #2: Of all A’s hitters last year, who had the highest slugging percentage?
(1) Eric Chavez
(2) Bobby Crosby
(3) Mark Ellis
(4) Nick Swisher
(5) Mark Kotsay

If you said Mark Ellis, you are correct.
The problem with the A’s lineup in 2005 was that the team wasted about 700 plate appearances on two guys, Scott Hatteberg and Erubiel Durazo, who each yielded a .670 OPS from the 1B/DH position. The A’s will not be giving Keith Ginter over 150 plate appearances to post under a .500 OPS in 2006. Nor will 125 plate appearances go to three players, Charles Thomas, Matt Watson, and Hiram Bocachica, to post a combined OPS around .400. The A’s are the perfect example of a team destined to improve offensively based on addition by subtraction and regression towards the mean. With the exception of Mark Ellis, there is not a single player in the A’s lineup I would think has a good chance of being worse in 2006 than they were for the A’s in 2005. Don’t get me wrong; this lineup is probably not much better than average even if most things go right for it. Still, with the pitching, an average offensive campaign should be good enough to win the AL West.

1B Dan Johnson: Johnson toiled in AAA for about a year longer than he needed, waiting for the A’s logjam at 1B/DH to open up. When he got his chance last year, he shined. Johnson should improve as he gets more time in the big leagues this year. He has very strong on-base skills and adequate power for a 1B.
2B Mark Ellis: I’m sure you were all surprised that Ellis had the highest slugging percentage on the A’s last year. His 2005 season was probably somewhat of a fluke, as he normally will not bat .316. Still he has great plate discipline and plenty of gap power for a second baseman. He should be one of the better leadoff men in the league.
SS Bobby Crosby: People are expecting huge things out of Crosby. While I am skeptical of his high ceiling, I think Crosby will be a very fine shortstop. His reduced strikeout rate last year was quite a promising indicator to me. If he can stay healthy in 2006, I expect about an .800 OPS from the 25-year-old.
3B Eric Chavez: Chavez’s 2005 decline probably cost the A’s the postseason. In 2004, he had a 95/99 BB/K ratio and looked like he was blossoming into the second best 3B in baseball. In 2005, his OPS dropped well over 100 points, as his BB/K ratio fell to 58/129. The sudden inability to recognize pitches was alarming. Chavez has won five straight Gold Glove awards, and deservedly so. Which Chavez will show up at the plate though?
DH Frank Thomas: He has serious leg injuries, but who cares? I absolutely loved this signing by the A’s. Realistically, I wouldn’t expect Thomas to log more than 300 AB this year. But, at $500,000, he’s an incredible steal. The leg injury will not affect him taking walks. He won’t play the field. He could slug .500 on one leg. He’s getting old, but he fills a hole on this team that no other player on the market could have. Watch him have a great 2006 and the A’s get 2 first round draft picks in 2007 from some other team signing him.
CF Mark Kotsay: Though probably a bit too pricy, Kotsay plays a good center field and hits enough to be above average for his position at the plate.
OF Milton Bradley: Because of his attitude problems, Bradley is often mistaken for a bad baseball player. In actuality, he plays a very good corner outfield, has very good on-base skills, and enough power for a corner outfielder. Again, Beane filled a position, corner outfield, for cheap this offseason with a player that the market totally undervalued. He’ll have a blowup or two, but I’ll take that .834 OPS he posted last year any day.
OF Nick Swisher: He will be interesting to watch in 2006. He strikes out an awful lot, and he’s never going to hit for average. But, judging from his minor league numbers, he is going to start walking an awful lot. His power is also starting to develop, as he hit 21 homers for the A’s last year. I expect across-the-board improvement to his numbers in 2006, pushing him right around an .800 OPS.
Bench: Marco Scutaro, Adam Melhuse, Bobby Kielty, Jay Payton, and Antonio Perez make up an above-average A’s bench. Perez and Payton should see a good amount of time spelling Thomas at DH. If someone gets hurt, you’ll probably see the mighty Keith Ginter and/or Charles Thomas get a shot at redemption; or you may even see the much anticipated arrival of Daric Barton.

Future Outlook:
With Billy Beane at the helm, I like the A’s chances every year. Right now, though, Beane’s farm system is noticeably worse than his chief rival, the Angels. Also, Beane figures to get some competition from the up-and-coming Rangers and the Mariners. Still, you know the A’s will find a way the next few years.

Farm System: The A’s have had a lot of players graduate to the big leagues, averaging about 4 or 5 prospects every year of late. It is a credit to the remarkable consistency of the organization and Beane’s drafting philosophy. Right now, the A’s are somewhat thin in the farm system, but still have probably a better than average system. The A’s have a lot of good hitting potential at the A-level right now. I think by the end of 2006, the A’s system will again be stacked. It’s just a hunch. Here’s the best the A’s have at the moment:

1) Daric Barton: 20 1B. The A’s have given up on him catching, which means he is no longer the best prospect in baseball. However, he is still an elite prospect because of his incredible plate discipline and ability to hit for average. He has been very young at every stop in the minors and compiled a 203/171 BB/K ratio in under 1,000 AB. He projects to be a .300 hitter and .400 OBP guy at the Majors. His power still needs to develop if he is going to play first base, but he is very young. I don’t think he’ll ever hit enough power to be a huge star, but he figures to be an on-base machine. He is a top-5 prospect who makes the Mark Mulder trade look downright silly. He should start the year in AAA.
2) Javier Herrera: 20 OF. Herrera is a rare toolsy player that statheads like. He strikes out an awful lot, but he combines the K’s with a healthy dosage of walks. Right now, his power is not too great. But, Herrera is still quite young. He should start the year in AA.
3) Kurt Suzuki: 22 C. Suzuki spent all of last year in high-A, where he posted an impressive 63/61 BB/K ratio. While his power numbers and batting average were not overly impressive, all reports indicate that he is a very advanced defensive catcher. Combine good defensive skills with good plate discipline and some power, and you have the makings of an above average MLB catcher.
4) Dan Meyer: 24 P. Meyer was the prize of the Tim Hudson deal who had a very disappointing 2005 season. There are two main questions with Meyer: (1) How much did his elbow injury in 2005 affect his performance? (2) Can Meyer recover from the injury? My best guess is that Meyer makes a pretty good comeback but that he does not have nearly as high of a ceiling as he had before last year.

All of the A’s hitting prospects have good plate discipline. There are a lot of hitters that figure to put up good minor league numbers this year. There are too many to list. The A’s don’t have any huge prospects besides Barton, but the system is still quite deep with potential.

Up Next:
Fantasy Baseball Stuff

Previous Team Audits:
San Francisco Giants
Texas Rangers
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Kansas City Royals
San Diego Padres
Minnesota Twins
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
New York Mets
Arizona Diamondbacks
Washington Nationals
Houston Astros
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals