Don't bet against Pedroia man. He's healthy now. Dunno if it'll last long, but he looked like the guy that won an MVP all spring.
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MLB 2015
- Thread starter biggie
- Start date
Don't bet against Pedroia man. He's healthy now. Dunno if it'll last long, but he looked like the guy that won an MVP all spring.
the Kimbrel trade was mostly to get rid of Melvin "don't call me BJ" Upton's ridiculous $50 million than it was to get a return on Kimbrel. let's face it, Braves were 95% certain not to be contenders this year and 90% certain to be trading Kimbrel come June. Padres were likely the only team willing to take on Upton's contract, which frees up a lot of money over the next couple years.
I'm no diehard baseball fan, but it hurts when your team dials it in before the season even started. the Braves are playing for the new ballpark in 2017 all the way, and this gives them some leverage and maneuverability to be relevant when that season comes around. I'm going to miss the hell out of Craig pitching for us, but had we not gotten rid of him he might have never pitched in a truly meaningful game for the rest of his contract. hopefully he'll get to do so somewhere else
yeah, to add onto it, they received the #41 pick, a prospect consistently ranked around 40-50 on the major lists, and saved 56$ m. I think it's definitely a better return on the perceived market value for Atlanta but it's not necessarily the worst trade in the world for SD considering that they're a bubble playoff team based on projections so every win for them is super important
Can someone explain to me why Tulowitzski is projected to do so well? I know he's a great player but it is pretty much inevitable that there will be an injury of some sort because it has happens pretty much every season. One thing I will say about fantasy is how shitty they made David Ortiz, seriously when he's only a utility player he loses so much appeal, not to say that he will do bad but literally any other player can go in that spot. Another thing is that, even though I'm a big white sox fan, I don't agree with it being essentially unanimous that Jose Abreu is gonna have another godly season guaranteed. You need to beat the sophomore slump to show that you aren't only a one time deal, this goes for a lot of other great rookies/breakout players too but he is the main example. He did hit a home run yesterday though and had a great spring training 
. Also pitchers that just had an arm-related (mainly tommy john) surgery are the same thing, like look at Francisco Liriano. Yes for the most part it turns out being fine, but the recipient of these surgeries are sometimes shadows of their former selves.
. Also pitchers that just had an arm-related (mainly tommy john) surgery are the same thing, like look at Francisco Liriano. Yes for the most part it turns out being fine, but the recipient of these surgeries are sometimes shadows of their former selves.Guess I'll take a stab. Tulo is projected to do well because of the following reason/strategy:
One of the best things going for Tulo is that the number of fantasy elite short stops is almost non-existent. This isn't like OF or 1B or SP which is riddled with talent and value up and down the board. The SS position this year is pretty offensively challenged. Just like when you calculate war, fantasy value is not about who puts up the best numbers in a season regardless of position. It's more determined by the value a player puts up compared to replacement value (determined by the quality of FA in the league) at their position. And, as it turns out, there is a massive gap between Tulo and other shortstops. At the top of the SS rakings, you have Tulo, HanRam, Reyes, and Desmond. Everyone on that list besides Desmond has a track record of injuries, so you aren't assuming any more additional risk in taking Tulo. And we are pretty safe to say that Tulo is a more dynamic player than Hanley or Reyes given the same amount of playing time. Tulo's only real competition is Ian Desmond, because Desmond puts up high quality numbers and can do it without a heightened risk of injury. To get a better sense of this, lets look more in depth at the actual value of Tulo last last year compared to Desmond. I'll also throw in another "sleeper" pick in Bogaerts who went for a good number of dollars last year.
Tulo (91): .340 AVG/21 HR/52 RBI/71 R/1 SB
Desmond (154): .255 AVG/24 HR/91 RBI/73 R/24 SB
Bogaerts (144): .240 AVG/12 HR/46 RBI/60 R/2 SB
Desmond obviously has a better stat line than Tulowitzki, but they're pretty comparable in a lot of stats even with Desmond playing in 63 more games. And compared to someone who was in the lower tier like Xander, Tulo has done significantly better even in half a year. However, these stats are somewhat deceiving. If you are a good fantasy owner, you are not going to let your SS position go unfilled the days when Tulo is on the DL. You're going to replace him with someone of replacement value on the bench or you are going to draft someone as "Tulo Insurance" to pair with him on the days that he is hurt. Last year in my ESPN league where I had Tulo, I picked up Danny Santana as my backup SS from FA. (I also had Lowrie, but lets go with just Santana for the math) Danny's stat line last year was:
Santana(101): .319 AVG/7 HR/40 RBI/70 R/ 20 SB
That's okay numbers but not great. However, remember we are not using him unless Tulo is hurt. Halving these numbers will give us about a full season worth of SS production between Tulo and Danny filling in the games Tulo can't play. So lets do that.
Santana (55): .319 AVG/4 HR/20 RBI/35 R/10 SB
And then add them to Tulo's value...
Tulo + Replacement Value Production (146 games): .332 AVG/25 HR/72 RBI/106 R/11 SB
Comparing that to Desmond or anyone elses stat line from last year, you can make an argument that this is the better option.
In summary, Tulo's health is as questionable as anyone else in the upper tiers besides Desmond. If Tulo is healthy for close to a full year this year, he should wreck Desmonds total production. And if he is hurt for a good portion of the year like he has been, the ungodly numbers he will put up combined with replacement level FA talent will still give you an elite performance in a very very shallow position. Obviously if Tulo is going for $15 more than Desmond, you'd go with Desmond. But if Tulo is going for $27 and Desmond is going for $23 like they are projected? It's a lot easier risk to assume when it's just $4 difference.
To be fair, we mentioned that this strategy is less beneficial in head to head formats because you are trying to win a week at a time, instead of standard formats when you are taking a years worth of averages. This is true, but my argument is that in the weeks where Tulo is healthy he can provide massive comparative upside and carry the week. And in the weeks he is hurt, the replacement value SS is not that much worse than other SS like Xander, Starlin, or Alexi to kill you. Plus there is no guarantee that this year Desmond or any other alternative is going to stay healthy, so it's not like it's a "safer" bet to take Desmond. With Tulo and injuries, your SS value is still elite. With Desmond and injuries, it's average.
Hope that makes sense.
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Second guessing not keeping Santana or Dickerson over a few of my pitchers. Also kinda lame that I was winning the matchup all week and got blown away at the post.
Using this week as my Spring Training of sorts, fixing my pitcher/hitter balance for one and waiting for my strong offensive lineup to find some form.
Using this week as my Spring Training of sorts, fixing my pitcher/hitter balance for one and waiting for my strong offensive lineup to find some form.
I'm gonna talk for a little bit more about baseball (most likely the Blue Jays) because I'm trying to keep up with all of the league, as I shelled out for MLB.tv and I figured I might as well look at everyone!
Atticus my Mississaugan buddy I'm pretty sure that Aaron Sanchez start was your worst nightmare? That's the fear with him as a starter - reduced velocity makes him hittable enough such that he's below replacement level as a starter. I don't think it's the end of the world if he has to be placed in the bullpen, but we'll see how it goes, I'm guessing he'll get three-four starts more before a decision is made. I actually would enjoy him being in the bullpen if we had a replacement level or barely better starter to put in, but I'm not confident that will be the case with our starting depth (RIP Stroman).
The lineup, though. Kevin Pillar is the only one who has looked hopeless in a lot of at bats that I've seen and went make enough contact to compensate for his eye - Pompey has been more so a matter of hits falling in and has a decent idea of what he's doing. It'll be exciting when Saunders gets back. Travis seems like he'll be a .270/.320/.420 guy, which is really exciting relative to a projection on Fangraphs with 400 PA for Ryan fucking Goins.
The Yankees! Tanaka has had a lot of negative opinions, as if the only two options that have existed are him being terrible or him needing surgery. But I wouldn't be surprised if we see him go out and pitch as an above average starter for the entire year, just not the level he was at least year.
I am a big Alex Rodriguez believer! I think he will be a good, serviceable hitter at the DH spot, sporting something like a 120 wRC+ over the course of his season thanks to his eye and occasional power.
A little more fuck the Orioles stuff from me. I see the makings of only an 80 win team but they're still annoying as hell. Their starting pitching is rather mediocre for the praise it receives (but Ubaldo was dirty on Saturday. I was swearing at the TV from the called strikes but checking Pitch FX after and he was consistently painting).
I also watched a Corey Kluber start for the first time on opening day and it was thoroughly enjoyable regardless of the score. Dude is awesome and will be in the running for the Cy again unless his run production really fucks him over
Atticus my Mississaugan buddy I'm pretty sure that Aaron Sanchez start was your worst nightmare? That's the fear with him as a starter - reduced velocity makes him hittable enough such that he's below replacement level as a starter. I don't think it's the end of the world if he has to be placed in the bullpen, but we'll see how it goes, I'm guessing he'll get three-four starts more before a decision is made. I actually would enjoy him being in the bullpen if we had a replacement level or barely better starter to put in, but I'm not confident that will be the case with our starting depth (RIP Stroman).
The lineup, though. Kevin Pillar is the only one who has looked hopeless in a lot of at bats that I've seen and went make enough contact to compensate for his eye - Pompey has been more so a matter of hits falling in and has a decent idea of what he's doing. It'll be exciting when Saunders gets back. Travis seems like he'll be a .270/.320/.420 guy, which is really exciting relative to a projection on Fangraphs with 400 PA for Ryan fucking Goins.
The Yankees! Tanaka has had a lot of negative opinions, as if the only two options that have existed are him being terrible or him needing surgery. But I wouldn't be surprised if we see him go out and pitch as an above average starter for the entire year, just not the level he was at least year.
I am a big Alex Rodriguez believer! I think he will be a good, serviceable hitter at the DH spot, sporting something like a 120 wRC+ over the course of his season thanks to his eye and occasional power.
A little more fuck the Orioles stuff from me. I see the makings of only an 80 win team but they're still annoying as hell. Their starting pitching is rather mediocre for the praise it receives (but Ubaldo was dirty on Saturday. I was swearing at the TV from the called strikes but checking Pitch FX after and he was consistently painting).
I also watched a Corey Kluber start for the first time on opening day and it was thoroughly enjoyable regardless of the score. Dude is awesome and will be in the running for the Cy again unless his run production really fucks him over
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it's not a nightmare if you expected it to happen :)
with stroman in the rotation and sanchez in the pen i saw us easily making the playoffs. now we're back to square one throwing out garbage every 5th start hoping something is gonna stick. (kinda like with what we did with mcgowan last year, and ramon ortiz/chen ming wang in 2013) i'm praying that AA does something sooner rather than later. hendricks is probably the first experiment seeing as he's out of options and then if he fails i'd imagine they'd try estrada, in any case i'm extremely skeptical. with that said i'm loving all of other rookies! castro, osuna, pillar, travis and pompey have all played above my expectations, travis especially.
Idk but he's not leaving my fantasy team any time soon.
Also Smyly was good as a Tiger too, they just couldn't find room for him!
Just found this side of smogon existed so I'll post my fantasy team
C Buster Posey, SF C, 1B
1B Anthony Rizzo, ChC 1B
2B Kolten Wong, StL 2B
3B Evan Longoria, TB 3B
SS Ian Desmond, Wsh SS
2B/SS Chase Utley, Phi 2B
1B/3B Lucas Duda, NYM 1B
OF Andrew McCutchen, Pit OF
OF Bryce Harper, Wsh OF
OF Corey Dickerson, Col OF
OF Marcell Ozuna, Mia OF
OF Shin-Soo Choo, Tex OF, DH
UTIL Rougned Odor, Tex 2B
P Sonny Gray, Oak SP
P Matt Harvey, NYM SP
P Hisashi Iwakuma, Sea
P Chris Archer, TB SP
P Huston Street, LAA RP
P Doug Fister, Wsh SP
P Drew Storen, Wsh RP
P Yordano Ventura, KC SP
P Hector Rondon, ChC RP
Bench Taijuan Walker, Sea SP
Bench T.J. House, Cle SP
Bench Trevor Bauer, Cle SP
DL Kenley Jansen*, LAD RP DL15
My hitting does enough for my pitching to win me championships.Most of my staff isn't composed of big names, but guys who have upside. One weakness I have is SB, but I can toss that category because the rest of my team makes up for it. Recommendation: pick up TJ House, kid is making noise.
C Buster Posey, SF C, 1B
1B Anthony Rizzo, ChC 1B
2B Kolten Wong, StL 2B
3B Evan Longoria, TB 3B
SS Ian Desmond, Wsh SS
2B/SS Chase Utley, Phi 2B
1B/3B Lucas Duda, NYM 1B
OF Andrew McCutchen, Pit OF
OF Bryce Harper, Wsh OF
OF Corey Dickerson, Col OF
OF Marcell Ozuna, Mia OF
OF Shin-Soo Choo, Tex OF, DH
UTIL Rougned Odor, Tex 2B
P Sonny Gray, Oak SP
P Matt Harvey, NYM SP
P Hisashi Iwakuma, Sea
P Chris Archer, TB SP
P Huston Street, LAA RP
P Doug Fister, Wsh SP
P Drew Storen, Wsh RP
P Yordano Ventura, KC SP
P Hector Rondon, ChC RP
Bench Taijuan Walker, Sea SP
Bench T.J. House, Cle SP
Bench Trevor Bauer, Cle SP
DL Kenley Jansen*, LAD RP DL15
My hitting does enough for my pitching to win me championships.Most of my staff isn't composed of big names, but guys who have upside. One weakness I have is SB, but I can toss that category because the rest of my team makes up for it. Recommendation: pick up TJ House, kid is making noise.
So... what about them Mets? lol
Last year I dumped my support behind the Royals in the playoffs. This was before the Wild Card game and their run in the playoffs. If you don't believe me, it's post 95 on the old thread. Anyways, my strong like for them has recently turned to disgust as they started yet another benches clearing indecent with their third team of the year. Additonally, all three of them have to deal with Yordano Ventura in some respect. Literally, in his four starts, Ventura has started fights in three of them. This has to be a major league record.
The first fight came against the Angels.
Ventrua lets one slip at Trout and nothing comes of it. But then on the next pitch Trout lines one up the middle over Ventura, and he takes exception to that because it seems he thinks Trout tried to clobber him. He gives him some lip service for whatever the hell reason and then the benches clear. All with a 7-2 KC lead.
Next one was this weekend. This one was started by a hard slide by Brett Lawrie where he tires to take out the SS and break up a double play. He beats the throw and if he didn't slide so hard he would have been safe. I dunno if it is an intentionally dirty play, but it was a hard slide and the SS got spiked in the process. Benches cleared.
You kind of expect some retaliation the next day, and there is Ventura right in the middle.
So that's it right? Nope. The next day, the Royals go after Lawrie the following day too. This time it's Herrerra throwing behind him and then insinuating that he's going for his head the next time. I was kind of on Kansas City's side until this point. They made their statement and now are obviously going after him to severely hurt him.
Then comes yesterday. Back story is that Shark threw at Lorenzo Cain the pitch after giving up a home run the last game. That's wrong, I'm on KC's side. But the retaliation doesn't come from the next day someone getting hit by a pitch. It comes from the dumbass Ventura again seemingly being pissed off by Adam Eaton lining a ball at him on the mound and "targeting" him.
This is kind of getting inexcusable in my opinion. It's not like the Kansas City Royals are the Yankees and everyone hates them because they're the bad guys. They're still the Kansas City Royals. A small market average team. There is no way they should be starting so many god damned fights with everyone. There is also no way that it's acceptable for Ventura to be involved in three of these incidences and for the league not to suspend him. Last year the Royals were America's team. This year they're trying to be the fucking Hanson Brothers or something. I am really starting to hate them and their attitudes and how they conduct business.
Anyone elses thoughts? Do they have a legitimate gripe for doing this every series? You think other organizations are targeting them or they are starting shit behind the scenes? Do you think Ventura has a legitimate gripe for thinking Trout and Eaton were aiming balls at him or do you agree with me that he's a wack job?
The first fight came against the Angels.
Ventrua lets one slip at Trout and nothing comes of it. But then on the next pitch Trout lines one up the middle over Ventura, and he takes exception to that because it seems he thinks Trout tried to clobber him. He gives him some lip service for whatever the hell reason and then the benches clear. All with a 7-2 KC lead.
Next one was this weekend. This one was started by a hard slide by Brett Lawrie where he tires to take out the SS and break up a double play. He beats the throw and if he didn't slide so hard he would have been safe. I dunno if it is an intentionally dirty play, but it was a hard slide and the SS got spiked in the process. Benches cleared.
You kind of expect some retaliation the next day, and there is Ventura right in the middle.
So that's it right? Nope. The next day, the Royals go after Lawrie the following day too. This time it's Herrerra throwing behind him and then insinuating that he's going for his head the next time. I was kind of on Kansas City's side until this point. They made their statement and now are obviously going after him to severely hurt him.
Then comes yesterday. Back story is that Shark threw at Lorenzo Cain the pitch after giving up a home run the last game. That's wrong, I'm on KC's side. But the retaliation doesn't come from the next day someone getting hit by a pitch. It comes from the dumbass Ventura again seemingly being pissed off by Adam Eaton lining a ball at him on the mound and "targeting" him.
This is kind of getting inexcusable in my opinion. It's not like the Kansas City Royals are the Yankees and everyone hates them because they're the bad guys. They're still the Kansas City Royals. A small market average team. There is no way they should be starting so many god damned fights with everyone. There is also no way that it's acceptable for Ventura to be involved in three of these incidences and for the league not to suspend him. Last year the Royals were America's team. This year they're trying to be the fucking Hanson Brothers or something. I am really starting to hate them and their attitudes and how they conduct business.
Anyone elses thoughts? Do they have a legitimate gripe for doing this every series? You think other organizations are targeting them or they are starting shit behind the scenes? Do you think Ventura has a legitimate gripe for thinking Trout and Eaton were aiming balls at him or do you agree with me that he's a wack job?
Man, earlier in the season I was all for the royals playing like this. They were playing with an edge that not many teams play with nowadays and their win total was backing it up, but recently its gotten out of control. Ever since Herrera fucking threw behind lawrie with a 100 mph fastball AFTER he had already worn one from another guy who throws 100, i've realized how stupid theyve been acting recently.
For some reason, the royals are trying to act really fucking edgy, like "ooh were such a tough team" and "ah we dont take shit from anyone, were the AL champs" when there is really no reason for it. They think that everyone hates them and wants to start beef when, until these recent events, nobody fucking cared. I feel like its kind of like when a child isnt getting enough attention, so he decides to go fight and be a bully at school so that his parents notice him. The worst part about it is, there is no veteran presence in that clubhouse to regulate the behaviour of a Ventura or a Herrera. Ever since Shields and Butler left, there has been nobody to take charge as a leader. And if you honestly expect Alex Gordon or Eric Hosmer to act like a veteran presence to try and calm everyone on that team down, you're insane. They enjoy it just as much as the next guy.
For some reason, the royals are trying to act really fucking edgy, like "ooh were such a tough team" and "ah we dont take shit from anyone, were the AL champs" when there is really no reason for it. They think that everyone hates them and wants to start beef when, until these recent events, nobody fucking cared. I feel like its kind of like when a child isnt getting enough attention, so he decides to go fight and be a bully at school so that his parents notice him. The worst part about it is, there is no veteran presence in that clubhouse to regulate the behaviour of a Ventura or a Herrera. Ever since Shields and Butler left, there has been nobody to take charge as a leader. And if you honestly expect Alex Gordon or Eric Hosmer to act like a veteran presence to try and calm everyone on that team down, you're insane. They enjoy it just as much as the next guy.
Baseball has a bunch of unwritten rules/weird interpretation of pride and the unfortunate reality is that someone is going to get terribly hurt for MLB to actually step up and care about it.
You want to prove a point to someone? Dominate them. I am totally okay with shit talk, and letting them know you dominated them. But throwing a baseball at someone isn't proving a point, it's rather a cowardly act - you're doing this to a defenseless person.
You want to prove a point to someone? Dominate them. I am totally okay with shit talk, and letting them know you dominated them. But throwing a baseball at someone isn't proving a point, it's rather a cowardly act - you're doing this to a defenseless person.
The NL needs to go ahead and add the DH already. As if offense isn't shitty enough these days...
No matter if it's 1-0 or 18-7, a loss counts the same in the standings. We'll get you guys back this year with our souped up offense. That is, if your angry mobs allow us in the ballpark.
Wainwright didn't get injured "because he had to bat." It's not like he was beaned in the face with an errant pitch. He didn't strain his upper body swinging the bat. He experienced a very unusual non-contact injury that could've happened anywhere at anytime to anybody doing anything.
DH needs to die but I know it's an inevitability, not at all because of this but regardless, that the NL will get it at some point and pitchers batting will be gone forever from the sport. :( Why not just have dedicated batters and fielders for all positions? Fuck the DH.
DH needs to die but I know it's an inevitability, not at all because of this but regardless, that the NL will get it at some point and pitchers batting will be gone forever from the sport. :( Why not just have dedicated batters and fielders for all positions? Fuck the DH.