2009 ELITE FANTASY MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
Breakfast of Champions
By Tarrell Graham
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Jeffrey Barker
Justin Dalia
Sean Scampton
Jamey Reeder
Chris Gerber
Jim Botsch
Tim Taylor
DavidFairchild
John Macleod
Toheeb Taiwo
Paul Skupen
Michael Winpigler
DavidDalrymple
Peter Kim
Bryan Wackler
Benjamin Richards
Luke Malmborg
Chris Meek
Ryan Collins
Chapin Cole
20
19
26
15
60
30
8
21
22
16
6
9
3
14
29
17
41
5
25
136
1
4
6
13
3
10
31
19
26
39
59
51
100
71
57
93
56
109
95
12
5455
5176
5086
5044
4998
4945
4900
4888
4812
4715
4658
4656
4473
4434
4384
4265
4245
4231
4197
4188
Friday January 22, 2010
So I have more big news - my wife is pregnant. I told you it was big news, well for me at least. It probably doesn’t affect you at all unless you and my wife are keeping one hell of a secret from me. When I first heard the news I thought “wow, the next BOC intro is going to be so easy.” My plan was to just make some pregnant wife jokes and then blather on about some baseball stats, but when I set down I realized that it just wasn’t going to happen. I wanted to do the whole “hey fellas you know how crazy the old lady can be” shtick but it would be completely disingenuous.
Honestly, my wife has been remarkably sane for the last 5 months and now that we are getting later into the pregnancy she actually seems to be more stable and focused than before. Really, I am kind of disappointed in some ways, I hope I would get all kinds of “crazy wife” stories but that just simply hasn’t materialized. Instead, I have realized – definitively realized – that people are just liars. Seriously. I mean, throughout my life there have been dozens of landmark events, and at each one I was promised some new insight. “When you get to High School things will be so different, I’ll tell you what young man, you just won’t be the same” or “When you get to college it will change you, you just wait” or “Wait till your married, boy you won’t believe the change”. But up to this point…hmm yeah it’s all been complete BS. Nothing ever changed, at each step of the way I look down and I am still wearing Chucks. Aside from some excess abdominal fat and a receding hairline, things aren’t much different than they were 10 years ago. Sure, I have slightly nicer things, can’t drink as often, and enjoy New Yankee Workshop a little too much, but nothing has fundamentally changed at all. I am starting to realize that this whole “life changing experience” think is at best just wishful thinking and at worst more delusional than someone drafting Rocco Baldelli.
I don’t know, I am sure some people have genuinely had their lives flipped upside down by kids – John & Kate, Jose Menendez & Kitty Anderson – but at this point I just don’t see it in the cards for me. Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic about my child and know it will be ridiculously challenging, but I am not joining the parents club. No Baby Wise or playgroups for me, and I definitely will not talk to my childless friends like they are missing half their brains – “You just wait till you have a kid, everything will change so fast, it’s just a different world”. I think that it is myth that you somehow have an elevated sense of the world simply because you are married, or have a house, or a kid, or stop smoking, or have a near death experience – you don’t. You have a new facet of yourself and something new to occupy part of your time, but come on…..in the end you know you still like Bruce Springsteen, dive bars and tight Jordache jeans on a waitress. Wow, I have just wasted my entire article, I better quit rambling and get onto some baseball before my 750 words are up….
RANKINGS, RANKINGS, READ ALL ABOUT IT AND AN ESOTERIC EDIE BRICKELL LYRICAL REFRENCE
So, yes I am going to do something completely uncreative and laborious. Over the next few weeks I am going to start to break down my positional rankings for this coming season. Now, this is not going to be a draft guide – I don’t do that kind of work for no dinero. If I was going to lay out a full draft guide I would have to be able to cash some checks, fill my pockets and go watch a band play with the proceeds. For now, I am just going to keep it simple. I will start this week – keep in mind that I factor trade value HEAVILY into my rankings. To me the goal is to move players and make consistent incremental gains. To do that you have to have trade value – last season Aaron Hill was as good or better than Chase Utley but which do you think would garner more in a trade? Name value and cache are very important – so this is your fair warning that my rankings will be extremely influenced by trade value.
BLANTANTLY RIPPING OFF ESPN
I know it has become popular to hate ESPN – they are, after all, the worldwide leader in bad jokes during a sports news show – but their fantasy site is pretty good. Is all the advice dead on? No, but whose is? I once said people should sell high on Ryan Braun. Anyway, they have this article where their contributors fill out this list below. I honestly could be sued for this but the list was so much fun to read that I wanted to fill one out myself…
Your fondest sports wish for 2010 is:
That Wily Mo Pena will be healthy and someone will let him play.
Why will this happen/not happen?
Because he could hurt himself putting on cleats and people are ridiculous impatient. Also, his best comp is Pedro Cerrano.
Any sport, who is your biggest sleeper pick for 2010?
That is pretty difficult because the definition for “sleeper” is pretty vague. In the end I will take a chance and say Alex Avila.
Any sport, which player do you fear will let you down, but you feel compelled to keep drafting him anyway?
Wily Mo Pena
Which player has let you down one to many times and is now "dead to you?"
Last year it was Daniel Cabrera….this season I think it will be CBY. I think the guy has massive upside but I just can’t do it again. But it is also January – in April I will love him again, I always do.
Who will be ...
The second player taken in fantasy leagues? If I have first pick it will be Albert Pujols because I am taking Hanley Ramirez #1.
The first starting pitcher? Who the hell cares?
The first closer? Who the hell cares?
The second catcher? Who the hell cares? Man, these last three were easy.
The AL MVP? Alex Rodriguez
The NL MVP? Albert Pujols, because its just what he does.
The AL Cy Young? Lets see - it was Cliff Lee in 2008 and Zack Greinki last year. Wow, if history is any indication this is a tough one to predict. I am going with a long shot and saying Brett Anderson.
The NL Cy Young? Chad Billingsly or Clayton Kershaw – I love them both so much I can’t choose.
The AL Rookie of the Year? Does Alex Avila qualify? Again tough because you don’t know who will get a chance to play but I am going with Neftali Feliz.
The NL Rookie of the Year? If he gets enough games – Mike Stanton.
The fantasy baseball MVP (most value for draft position)? Rickie Weeks
The highest-rated player on Player Rater? No offense ESPN – but who cares?
The Name Game ...
Which player would you rather draft in 2010? Hanley Ramirez or Alex Rodriguez? Ramirez
Tim Lincecum or Zack Greinke? Kershaw
Roy Halladay or Chris Carpenter? Kershaw
Ryan Braun or Matt Kemp? This is a ridiculous question – Braun all day and twice on Sundays.
Yovani Gallardo or Josh Johnson? Gallardo forever and ever.
Prince Fielder or Ryan Howard? Fielder
Adam Lind or Josh Hamilton? Lind but really I would like to answer neither.
Aaron Hill or Ben Zobrist? Zobrist – I am a believer!
Evan Longoria or Mark Teixeira? Longoria – I will never pick a Yankee.
Mariano Rivera or Jonathan Broxton? Broxton. Seriously, a closer question? BLAGGHHH I just threw up a little.
Playing with Numbers...
Roy Halladay wins: Before or after his arm falls off? Try 11 and then a long rehab.
Cliff Lee wins: The deal he made with the devil runs through 2011 from what I understand so I am going with 15.
Mark Reynolds home runs and batting average: 32, .258
Joe Mauer's batting average and home runs: LOL. Hmmm try about 12 HR so why does the BA even matter? Yes, I said his BA didn’t matter, go ahead and write the angry emails.
Chone Figgins and Ichiro Suzuki's stolen bases: 40, 25
Matt Capps saves: 15
Javier Vazquez wins, ERA and WHIP: 17, 4.20, 1.26
Stephen Strasburg's wins, ERA and WHIP: 7, 3.96, 1.35
Grady Sizemore's HR/SB: 32/22
Alfonso Soriano's average draft position: 62
2009 EFB LEAGUE POWER RANKINGS
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Elite
Gulf Coast
Pacific Coast
International
Frontier
NY-Penn
Cape Cod
Midwest
Eastern
Florida State
California
Appalachian
Centennial
Southern
Pioneer
Northwest
Carolina
Texas
Ohio Valley
South Atlantic
Great Lakes
Elite
Rookie
AAA
AAA
AA
A
Rookie
A
AA
A
A
A
Rookie
AA
Rookie
A
A
AA
Rookie
A
Rookie
246
238
218
190
169
168
167
156
154
151
150
131
119
119
117
111
93
91
82
76
57
2008 FINAL STANDINGS
RESOURCES
Comment on this article
As this league's resident Marlins fan (singular), I can report that there's no way Mike Stanton is going to make the majors this year. Maybe a September call-up, but even that's a stretch. He's as good a prospect as I've seen in years, but last season, he struck out 99 times in 299 at-bats in AA. Granted, he was 19 years old, and a kid his age being even semi-successful in AA ball is impressive... but he needs to work on pitch recognition before he makes the majors. I'd say even 2011 would be optimistic, albeit not impossible.
This is doubly true considering the Marlins' recent history with Cameron Maybin. (Who, by the way, I fully expect to finally put it all together next year.) Look at that situation -- he kept starting the season in the majors, showing no signs of being able to recognize a breaking ball, and getting sent back down. Last September, he finally looked like he could recognize the major-league breaking ball, but it took years. (This isn't a knock on Maybin -- Gary Sheffield got caught in the same cycle his first few years, and he certainly turned out okay.)
Now, here's the thing about the Marlins -- there is no team in Major League Baseball better at exploiting the rookie contract/arbitration cycle. Maybin had already played in the majors with Detroit, so there was no saving his minor-league eligibility... but the year they bring up Stanton is the year the clock starts. Given what they've dealt with re: Maybin, I don't think they'll hesitate to bring him up if they're sure he's ready, but a) he's not ready, and b) the Marlins won't force it.
(One last note on Stanton: not only is it annoying that his name is basically the same as that retired relief pitcher's, "Michael" is actually his middle name. His given first name is Giancarlo. Yes, the Marlins could have a can't miss prospect named "Giancarlo Stanton", and what they have is a guy named "Mike". In a way, this is more frustrating than the strikeouts.)