Hall of Fame Ballots

The Hall of Fame Ballots were announced today and I guess we'll have to wait yet another year for Pete. Ricky Henderson does appear on the ballot for the first time and he has to be the super lock this year. He's a 10 time all-star and he's the all time MLB leader in runs, steals, and is 2nd in all time free passes next to Barry Bonds. He also won the MVP award in 90. One player that is interesting to me is Tim Raines. To me, to be in the Hall, you have to be one of the best for an extended period of time and I think Raines was that back in the 80s before the Roid Run era. Beginning in '81, Raines had 6 straight years of 70+ steals. From, '84 to '87, he batted .309, .320, .334, and .330. He's a lifetime .294 hitter with over 800 steals, 2600 hits, 1500 runs, and almost a .400 on base percentage. You could also make a case for Andre Dawson who was also one of the leagues top players in the mid '80s and also Don Mattingly. Mattingly's only problem is his dominance was only for a short period of time.

I can't believe Bert Blyleven is not in yet. He has 287 lifetime wins with a 3.31 ERA and over 3700 Ks. The number that blows me away is 252 complete games and almost 5,000 innings logged. His only big problem is only one 20 win season. He does have 9 seasons of 15+ wins.

The voting should be interesting.

Pujols NL MVP

Well, it was pretty much a super lock. Pujols is the NL MVP. Who'll be the AL MVP tomorrow? My guess is that'll it will be Pedroia with Mauer 2nd, and Morneau 3rd, KRod, and Josh Hamilton. I'll probably be wrong. If KRod wins, I'll never watch an American League game again.

Matt Holliday to the As

Matt Holiday was officially traded to the As today. The Rockies got reliever Huston Street, starter Greg Smith, and the guy I really like best in the whole trade Carlos Gonzalez. I really think the Rockies will benefit more in this trade in the end. Carlos Gonzalez can cover a lot of ground in center and he's going to be a nice hitter really shortly. I'm very concerned now about Matt Holiday in terms of fantasy baseball for next year. He's only a .280 lifetime hitter away from Coors and has a slugging of under .500 away from the beer garden.

Phillies....2008 MLB World Champs

Not sense the days of Mike Schmidt and Pete Rose, in a Philly uniform, has this town been so crazy for baseball. And let's not forget that Tug was in the house as well after Tim McGraw spread some of his fathers ashes around the pitchers mound before throwing out the first pitch on Saturday night. Philadelphia was crowned 2008 World Series Champs tonight after a forty six hour rain delay. The city of brotherly love is ready to party after 28 years of waiting for their second crown. Congratulations Philadelphia!!!!!!!!!!

Right or wrong, these Phillie's hitters will be flying off the draft boards a little earlier next spring because of this series. Their lineup is loaded and in most cases will bring you plenty of good numbers in your quest of fantasy greatness in 09. With the likes of Rollins, Utley, Howard, Victorino, Burrell and Werth you could make a case for most of their starting lineup and let's don't forget series MVP Cole Hamels for a number one pitcher in any fantasy lineup. Yes as you can tell I am ready for draft day 09, let's get it on!!!!!!

Off season rumors

*Sounds if Jake Peavy is heading to HotLanta in a trade. We'll see shortly after the Series if it's true.

*Derek Lowe wants to be a Red Sox player in 09. That may make him fantasy worthy again.

*Texeria may be heading to Boston. Who's the highest bidder? New York or Boston.

*Sabathia is going to be the highest paid pitcher in history next season......in the Bronx of course.

Jose Canseco

Did anyone see Jose Canseco's show on A&E the other night? I watched part of it. It's basically a show to help make you feel sorry for Jose. He's lost everything. His house has been forclosed on and he doesn't see his kids and he has be shunned from baseball. Now, he's saying he's sorry he used players names in his book.

Here's my take on Jose. His book and words did help bring steroids to the spotlight and ultimatlely cleaned up baseball but at what cost. He helped ruin players' careers and hopes for the hall of fame. Steroids were a known fact in baseball and Bud Selig and the rest of baseball management did nothing about it. His body is ruined by steroids and he's falling apart. He rediculed at baseball games and players won't talk to him. Well, what did you think was going to happen?

Jose lost everything. Too bad. His last contract was for $23 million and this dude is whining about furniture and a chandelier still in his house that he couldn't get out. How about take care of your $23 million stupid. How much did you make on your book Jose?

Maybe we'll look back in history and see Jose as a hero that saved baseball. Sorry Jose, but you used too and it made you a lot of money. You decided to blow it all and now your body and reputation is shot. McDs is probably hiring Jose.

Upton becoming a star!

After a disappointing fantasy season with 9 homers, BJ Upton is lighting up the post season with 4 homers. BJ had a lot of injury issues with his shoulder during the season which limited his power. Now, he's looking like a top fllight fantasy player. Upton finished 2008 at .273/9/67 but did have 37 doubles. He struck out 134 times and walked 97 which isn't too bad. When you throw in 44 steals, his fantasy value goes up tremendously. He did get caught stealing 16 times. He's going to have to work on baserunning in the off-season. If his shoulder improves over the winter, watch out. He could be a top 15 fantasy player.

Go RAYS!

GO RAYS tonight in game 7! Garza vs. Lester. Good guys vs. the Evil Empire.

Peavy says he's up for a trade......

Jake Peavy has apparently told the Padres that he'd be willing to wave his no trade clause to go to Houston. It's a lot smaller ballpark. Houston has the ability to win a lot more games but I'd still say this might drop his stock unless maybe you can figure that he'd be much happier in Houston. Interesting off season already.

Thinking about fantasy draft 2009-playoff teams

A lot of things will infuence your draft next year like free agency and winter meeting trades to injury news. Watching the playoffs tonight, I'm getting excited thinking about fantasy draft 2009. I

I love this Ethier guy. He looks like he's finally turning into the real deal. He's slugging right there with Manny since he came over to the Dodgers before the trade deadline. He ended 08 batting .305 with 20 homers and 77 RBI and 38 doubles. Can he be a real deal 3 hole hitter next season? I think so.

How good can David Price be for the Rays next season. Their rotation is going to be LOADED! You have to think they'll be the favorites in the East next season even if the Yanks and Sox load up in the offseason. He was 11-1 with a 2.63 ERA and .095 WHIP in the minors this season. Oh, by the way, he struck out 13 per 9 innings. He also looked really good when he came up late in the season. I have to think that he'll have to be in your draft plans next season.

Is Longoria a top 2 or 3 round draft pick next season. This year I passed on Braun for all the same fears I'll have about Longoria next season. Maybe I should change my mind. Probably not, I'll pass b/c of the strikeout rate.

I like Blake DeWitt too. I think he'll be the starting 2B for the Dodger Blue next season. Kent should retire and he's looked good with the glove at 2nd. I think his bat will come around too. DeWitt batted .264 with 9 homers and 52 RBI in his rookie season. I think this guy will be worth a late round look. He'll be around .290 with 25 dingers.

Good lord, I'm starting to sound like a Dodger fan. Loney is a solid back up 1B choice or starter if you wait late to draft a 1B. I still think this guy will win a batting title in the next three years. He doesn't have great power numbers but they're good enough.

Cole Hamels is starting to look like a top tier fantasy pitcher after an inconsistent season the year before. He goes deep into games by putting balls into play but keeps the ball low and in the ballpark. He gets enough strikeouts to make him one of the best. 227 innings and 196 strikeouts. 1.09 WHIP. NICE.

I have nothing good to say about the Evil Empire's players.....I mean the Red Sox. I take that back. I do like Jon Lester as much as any pitcher. He carried me for the 2nd half of this season. I put him in the 2nd tier of fantasy pitchers.

My Picks

I guess I am crazy enough to think that the Red Sox pitching will prevail again in the ALCS. In the National League it would be crazy to pick the Dodgers but even if they beat the Phils it wouldn't be as big of an upset as they pulled by the embarrassment they put on those Cubs. Are they finally getting use to losing after 100 years. No I don't think the Dodgers will pull it out, but there is a small part of me that wants Joe Torre to win it all after the Yankees ran him out of town after that stretch of reaching the post season he had.

I am saying Boston and Philly in an east coast battle where weather could very much be an issue in this series. As much as I hate to say this, Red Sox win it all again and talk starts about Beantown being the most dominant team in baseball sense the Big Red Machine days.....Did I just say something positive about the Red Sox

Hey does Manny get two shares of playoffs.....Dodgers and Red Sox and they both are in LCS so does he also get two shares from that. Will he get a ring if Boston pulls it off. What if LA and Boston make the series.....

Make your predictions

I'm saying Phils in 7 and Rays in 6. Rays win it all. What do you say?

Proof This Is A Great Place For Fantasy Info

I just want to congratulate my co-writer, and son-in-law, who had probably the best fantasy baseball season I have ever been witness to. I myself am no stranger to winning at least one of our fantasy leagues. But this season Gmo won our big money league and the playoffs in that same league. If that wasn't enough he also won the small money league and the small money league playoffs, yes it was a clean sweep for him. That's quite the smack down he put on the other twenty guys of including myself. I did get a little hot towards the end of the season and finished runner up to him in the big money playoffs, so believe me there is some talent on this site....use it.

So guys remember this as we head to the off season, we will be keeping up with what's happening over the winter. Just because baseball is almost over don't mean it's time to quit thinking about it. This is the time of year you read about who is doing what in fall and winter leagues, somewhere therein lies a fantasy stud for next season. We will post, maybe not as ofter as we do now but we will inform as info warrants it.Check in with us from time to time over the winter!!!!!!!!!!

If you have fantasy stories to post here we would love to hear about them.
Sign up for our feeds and enjoy the playoffs and World Series!

Fantasy AllStar team 2008

Here's my 2008 Fantasy All Star Team:

SP-Tim Lincecum
RP-K Rod
1b-Pujols
C-Mauer
MI-Pedroia and Jose Reyes
OF-Carlos Lee, Matt Holliday, and Carlos Beltran
3b-David Wright
Extra Hitter: Josh Hamilton

If I could start with any three position players next season, I'd definitely start my fantasy team with Pujols, Mauer, and Pedroia.

MVPs and Cy Youngs?????

My Take:

NL Cy Young: Tim Linceum

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee with Roy Halladay a very close 2nd.

NL MVP: Do they go with Howard with the lead in homers and RBI and taking his team to the playoffs after another red hot September? He's going to bat under .250 and maybe strikeout 200 times. Do you go with Pujols at .356/37/115?

AL MVP: Morneau if the Twins win today and make it to the playoffs. Pedroia has a real shot too. Good gracious, it's wide open. I think you could make a real case for Mauer also.

****Fantasy Baseball Cy Young: Tim Lincecum no doubt in my mind. This guy is the real deal. Led the majors in strikeouts and 2nd in the NL in ERA. 17 wins for a terrible team. Sabathia has to be in the conversation too.

****Fantasy Baseball MVP: Pujols. I marked this guy off my draft board b/c all of the elbow speculation. .356/37/115 and 43 doubles. Walked 49 more times than he struck out. This is a no doubter. He went 9th in our draft if I remember correctly.

Aaron Harang-pick him up

As the season winds down, you need to be looking for two start pitchers for the home stretch of your fantasy playoffs. Aaron Harang just pitched a complete game shut out for the Reds tonight and is due for 2 starts next week. It looks like he's over his injury and ready to be the Harang of old. He's looked better and better in each of his last 4 starts. I just picked him up for what I hope is championship week next week if I can survive this one.

Who Are You Rootin For?

I'm personally rooting for the Phils to win the NL East and the Brew Crew to rap up the wild card. I dislike the Mets a lot. I'm a little disappointed they fired Ned Yost today. You're leading the wild card and you fire your manager? Is that really the best thing to do?

In the AL East, I'm definitely rooting soley for Tampa Bay and the 100 fans they get to show up and watch the playoffs. I know who I'm not rooting for........The Evil Empire Red Sox. Go Rays. In the AL Central, it's pretty much a toss up betwwn the White Sox and the Twins. I'd like to see Griffey go the playoffs but I like Mauer and the Twins too.

Zambarno Throws No No --- Selig Does A No No

If you are in the playoffs and own Carlos Zambrano you are probably feeling a lot better than the Houston Astros feel this Monday. Zambrano threw his first career no hitter yesterday at Miller Park in Milwaukee. Here's the kicker, um I mean hurricane. Hurricane Ike forced the teams out of Houston. Yes the no no was against the Houston Astros who came into this series as the hottest team in baseball. I am not underplaying the effects of that storm at all, but come on, this was just another one of Bud Selig's bright ideals. Right in the middle of a hot playoff race, Selig sends the Astors to a ballpark that was less than an hours drive from plenty of Cub fans and less ninety minutes for the bulk of the Cub fans. In baseball they play 81 home and 81 away. This year give the Cubs an 83-79 home and away schedule as they again played in Milwaukee this afternoon. Just because it's been 100 years sense they won a Series everybody should just turn their head and look the other way. Myself I hope it's at least 100 years again before they win one. Where does Selig get off using what amounts to his own ball park as the site for what was suppose to be a home game for Houston. Was there not something closer to Houston and their fans. I think Miller park is at least nineteen hours from Houston. Does Selig still get revenue from baseball at Miller Park, home of the team he 'use' to own, the Brewers. To me Selig has made some bone head decisions in his tenure as Baseball Commissioner and it's past time for him to ride off into the sunset. Be fair Bud.

Ted Lilly's Smack Down Video

http://www.faniq.com/blog/Video-Ted-Lilly-Runs-Over-Yadier-Molina-Blog-11785

Ted Lilly Smack Down

Did everyone see the bad ass Ted Lilly take out Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. Not sure what Lilly was thinking risking injury on that play. Last time I looked the Cubs were making post season plans and my money says they would rather have Lilly healthy for the playoffs instead of a separated shoulder. I'll give him an A for effort though. If you have day to day lineups Molina will be out for a couple of days. Those with weekly lineups and still in your leagues playoffs you might want to keep an eye on how this develops.

Now my question: isn't there a baseball code that says catchers don't have to brace against pitchers for a home plate collision. Does Tony La Russa retaliate. Stay tuned there is no love lost between these two teams.

Breaking News......Brandon Phillips Out

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that Brandon Phillips has flew back to Cincinnati to have his right index finger examined. They are saying the Brandon broke his finger while attempting a bunt in the 11th inning of last nights game. Brandon didn't get the bunt down but he did single home the winning run of that game in that same at bat. Reports are saying Phillips is out for the reminder of the year.

Keep Hurricane Ike in mind while filling out your lineup

You might want to keep Hurricane Ike in mind this week. If your league is like ours, it's the big time important playoff week. It looks like this hurricane has the possiblity of heading towards Houston and will probably hit Tuesday or Wednesday. The Astros play all 7 games at home this week. You may want to 2nd think Houston, Pitt, and Chicago players.

NL Rookie of the Year-Soto vs. Votto

Since the Reds and Cubbies have split the first two games of their series, I thought we could compare my leaders for NL Rookie of the Year.

Geovany Soto-C (Cubs) .292/21/80 33 doubles 113 K/57 BB in 455 at-bats. On-base .369 Slugging .512.

Joey Votto-1B (Reds) .294/18/70 25 doubles 88 K/47 BB in 452 at-bats. On-base % .363 Slugging .478.

I bet you may not have known the stats were that close. The fact that the Cubs are in 1st place gives Soto a big edge. This one should come down to the final weeks of the season. Let's go Joey V.

Who's Hot, Who's Not

Who's Hot

**Brett Myers-Another gem tonight in a huge NL East game vs. the Mets. 8 innings 10 Ks and a big time W.

**Joey Votto-Hit #18 tonight. His average is closing in on the .300 mark. He's finally figured it out and become the hitter we thought he was. Over .500 with 3 homers over the past week.

Who's Not

**Dan Haren-Needs a big win tonight vs. the D-Backs. He's struggling big time and Manny owns him. In his last three games, he's 1-1 with a 5.68 ERA with a 1.68 WHIP.

**Aramis Rameriz-Ice cold. .212 over the past 18 games. You've got a -3 for me this week Aramis......pick it up!

Carlos Quentin......OUT

Carlos Quentin having a big time break out season for the Chicago White Sox will under go surgery on Monday for a fractured wrist. At this point of the season you have to wonder if he comes back or his season is done. This is a big blow to the White Sox, as Quentin would have to be that teams MVP this year. It's also a big blow to any fantasy team getting ready for the playoffs. Quentin leads the AL in home runs with 36 to go with his 100 RBI's, that's just a lot of power to make up. And yes I have the guy in one of my leagues. Gotta run and check the wavier wire fast.

Chris Dickerson's Major League Record

Chris Dickerson, OF Cincinnati Reds, as of last night did something no one has ever done in the history of the game. Of his first twenty-five hits fifteen have gone for extra bases. Yes you heard that right, this has never been done in major league history. I am not going to take credit for looking up this kind of a stat, but on today's game FSN announcer Tom Brennaman shot this tidbit to the TV viewers. Chris has a .333 batting average and a slugging percentage of .718 so this guy is truly on fire. Can he win the everyday outfield job for next year. You gotta believe it's looking pretty good so far. Good Luck Chris, keep it up. He also seems like a very nice and friendly type guy that can actually smile and show everyone that he knows how fortunate he is to be a Major League Baseball player. This is unlike a certain 3B on this team that seems constipated most of the time. Needless to say if you are looking for OF help in your fantasy playoffs look right here at this talented guy. I would think as hot as Chris is he will roaming the outfield for the Reds the rest of the way and hopefully many years to come.

Victor Martinez hits homer #1 for the season

Wow, Victor Martinez went in the first round of our draft this year. That's right, I said the first round. Yeah, you tell me. Anyway, it's been a dreadful year for Victor. After battling injury all season, he finally connected on homer #1 for 2008 tonight. After losing he and Hafner, is there any wonder why the Tribe's season has been so dreadful?

Martinez's horrible '08

210 at bats............1 homer! That's rough.

Fantasy Baseball Playoff Time

Well, I hope everyone has secured a spot in your fantasy playoffs. I was lucky enough to secure the regular season title for the first time in 4 or 5 years. RoseFan finally let me win one. He and I are on a road to meet in the title week of the playoffs.

It's time to lock down your rosters for some of you and for others, it's time to secure two start pitchers for the coming weeks. You need to take a close look to see who your opponent is and how their pitching is going to line out. If you haven't already, take a look at some young guys for possible keeper leagues. I love this Span fella from the Twins. He carried me last week. I did make a trade after losing Kinsler. It helped the guy I traded with and me. For me, I got immediate help with Brian Roberts in the middle infield slot after losing Kinsler. For him, he got possible keepers for next year in Ludwick and Loney.

Good luck to you all......except if you're playing me.

High Life Baseball Commercial

Enjoy. Baseball ain't supposed to be watched from a luxury box!

Pujols-Best hitter in Baseball

Is there any doubt who the best hitter in baseball is? No doubt in my mind. A-Rod is great, Pujols is un-freakin-believable. .362/28/87. 42 more BB than Ks???? WOW! Why not throw in 35 2 baggers. He's hands down the best. All the talk was how bad the elbow was and if Pujols could even finish out the season in 2008 without surgery. He's the best, no doubt.

In 8 seasons, Pujols has a career average of .334, 310 homers, 333 doubles, 679 BB/497 Ks, on base of .424, and a .621 slugging percentage.

Good to see Joe Mauer back as a fantasy force

After an injury filled 2007, it's nice to see that Joe Mauer has returned to his position as one of the premier fantasy catchers. Going into tonight, he was hitting .324/8/66 with 26 doubles and 30 more walks than Ks. Gotta love a .416 on base in fantasy baseball.

Brett Myers is rollin

Luckily for me, I picked up Brett Myers this week and it paid off big time and barring a disaster on Sunday, will lock up the regular season championship for me in my league. After beginning the season terribly and forcing me to drop his butt, he's 3-1 with a 1.17 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in his last 4 starts including a complete game. I love the 31 Ks in those past 30 innings too. If you haven't already............PICK HIM UP!

Some Late Season Pickups.....Maybe

Just a reminder as your regular season winds down and the playoffs are fast approaching, keep your eye peeled for late season call ups and players that are turning things around or just someone who is hot at the moment. I know your team made the playoffs or you wouldn't be reading this....those that didn't or won't make the playoffs are now turning their attention to 'fantasy football'....sorry I said those words in my last two posts, but you know you will play it and it will carry you over to spring training. Another reason to watch as the rosters are expanded in September is to catch a rising star for your keeper league.

I might as well thump my own chest and tell you that I picked up Bronson Arroyo off the wavier wire this week and yes he is one that has been pretty good for the most part the last couple months. Hell he can still win fifteen games this year, how many of you thought he had a chance to do that back around the All-Star break. Bronson threw a complete game tonight and got me a very nice 22 points and still has another start this week. I just took a chance that his two starts this week against bottom feeders Houston and San Francisco might be worth a flier the way he has been pitching lately. I am sure he has been dropped at least once in every league this year......is he available in yours!!!!

Another Red I like right now is outfielder Chris Dickerson and in his first twelve major league games he is hitting .327 and has smashed three home runs.....get him while he is hot if you need OF help.

This guy might be a long shot to be still be available but check out Ian Stewart 3B for the Rockies....thru 53 games he is hitting .316 and has 9 home runs, this is way ahead of what he did in his first call up last season where he only had a .209 average in a short 35 games and only had 1 home run.....so Ian is showing a much better average to go with much much more power.....If you are like me and planning a good playoff run then don't get lazy as the season winds down.

Another guy that deserves your attention is White Sox MI Alexei Ramirez who has a very strong line this month.....315-6-21 those are numbers that if your projected them over the course of the season would be HUGE. Is he worth picking up in keeper leagues!!!!!!!!!!!

Future Lefty Fantasy Star

My son got his first ever start last night and got a W. The little lefty struck out 9 in 4 2/3. He didn't allow a hit but had his share of walks. He opened the season in relief working a perfect 6th with a K. It's pretty exciting to see your little man out there on the hill. I hope to be drafting him in my fantasy draft here in about 14 years!

Grady Sizemore's finest season

Sizemore has been one of the lone bright spots for the Indians this season. I think this is his finest fantasy season yet. Going into today, Sizemore is hitting .271/31/81 and 34 steals. He's improved his SO/BB ratio substantially at 102/83 so far while raising his slugging percentage by 70 pts this season.

Time For Fantasy Football

Yes I do know we are fantasy baseball, but how many of you will also play fantasy football. Baseball is my first love for sure, but I do enjoy using fantasy football to bridge the gap between baseball seasons.
Just wanted to put a plug in for a site that rocks with great info.
visit gametimedecisions.net as there is live advice the next few days with Brian Swaw of gametimedecisions, Matthew Berry of the four letter network and plenty other fantasy experts. John Clayton is on the air as I write this giving his expert advice.
We have a button on the right hand side of this blog that is a link right to Brian Swaw's gametimedecisions.net site, check it out.

Lincecum doing what he does tonight

Tim Lincecum is having yet another fantastic game tonight even if it is against the San Diego offence. 7 strong 8 Ks scattering 4 hits and only walking 1. There's a Cy Young battle coming with Lincecum, Webb, and possibly even Volquez if Volquez can put together a couple more like his last two outings. At this point, I'd say Webb b/c his team is battling for a playoff spot. I've downed Johan Santana lately, but since the break, he's been awesome putting together 7 innings of shutout ball himself tonight. Should be interesting in the NL.

Fantasy Breakouts for 2009?

I guess it's a bit early to be talking about possible fantasy baseball breakout players for 2009, but most seasons are winding down towards the playoffs so what the heck.

1. Joey Votto (Reds 1b) I know, I know, I'm a Reds homer. He'll hit 5th in the Reds order next season behind Bruce and Phillips. His average is up to .281 as of today. He, like Bruce, has finally caught on and is primed for big things in 2009. He'll never be a 40 homer guy I don't think, but he should be able to consistently hit 30+ and bat around the .300 mark.

2. James Loney (Dodgers 1b) I think this guy has the ability to be a batting champion within the next few years. Not sure if the power numbers will ever be there, but he should be a gapper hitter and get you 20 homers a season.

3. Jay Bruce (Reds OF) One year of seeing Major League pitching has been great for Bruce. It always hasn't been pretty, but it looks like he's starting to catch on. He'll bat third in the order and get plenty of at--bats in '09. Should be a 30 homer guy with tons of doubles.

4. Denard Span (Twins OF) Love this freakin guy. .314 with around .400 on base so far for the Twins. He has GREAT speed and I love that his SO/BB ratio is almost even right now.

5. Alexei Rameriz (White Sox 2b) 14 homers and 55 RBI in only 100 Major League games. This guy doesn't like to walk much but add on 19 doubles and you have to like his potential. Needs to cut down on his strikeouts but I like this guy. You're always looking for middle infield help.

Ian Kinsler out for the season

This really kills both my fantasy teams. Ian Kinsler out for the seaon with a sport hernia. What a great season from Kinsler. I had him ranked in the top 6 or 7 2B but I never dreamed he'd have a season like this.

.319/18/71 26 steals and 41 doubles. WOW. That's an entire season worth of stats from a lead off hitter.

Biggest Fantasy Surprise of 2008

The Biggest surprise of 2008 to me is Aubrey Huff. This guy has came back from the dead to carry some fantasy teams including my brother n laws and my son's in another league. Before his homer tonight, he was batting .303/26/84 RBI and 36 doubles. WOW. This is a dude that barley found a roster spot as a back up 3B and DH. That's a great story.

2008 Fantasy Disappoitments

2008 has seen it's share of big time fantasy baseball disappointments.

*Aaron Harang: For me, the biggest 2008 disappointment is Aaron Harang for two reasons: #1, he was my first pitcher I drafted and #2, I'm a Reds fan. I just saw a stat on Baseball Tonight saying his ERA was 9.01 since May 25. That's the marathon that he and Voloquez came in the game in relief after short rests. Not sure if that's had anything to do with his struggles but the fact is that he has flat sucked. He's now 3-13 and the Reds are 21 games out in the Central. Just awful. 3-13 5.59 ERA.

*Jimmy Rollins: Jimmy started out the season rough by being injured a bunch and has just never got it going. As of tonight, he's batting .268 with 8 homers and 42 RBI. He does have 27 doubles, 8 3b, and 30 steals but this is a guy coming off a MVP year of 30 homers 20 3 baggers, and 94 RBI.

*Johan Santana: You're probably going to say how can a guy with a 2.89 ERA be a disappointment but I say he's been a big time disappointment. Here's a guy moving to a pitchers park and moving to the National League where you get a chance to pitch around the 8 hole to strikeout the pitcher. Santana has 141 Ks in 168 innings. That's a huge drop off for him. He's only 10-7 on a contending team. In his last three seasons, he'd had more strikeouts than innings pitched.

*Erik Bedard: Injuries. He was injured from the biggining. Just never got anything going plus his team is horrible.

Great Baseball Movies..................

Nothing to do with fantasy but if this doesn't give you goosebumbs, you may be dead. Thanks to whoever posted these on YouTube.

Ryan Ludwick hits #30 tonight

Ryan Ludwick hit his 30th homer of the season tonight and raised his RBI total to 90. Luckwick strikes out a lot as he's nearing 100 for the season with two more tonight. This guy has went from an undrafted fantasy unknown to a fantasy superstar in a little over a half season.



Current numbers: .304/30/90

Young Fantasy Riser-Armando Galarraga

Armando Galarraga-SP (Tigers)

Galarraga is quickly becoming a big time fantasy pitcher. He has busted on the scene and made a nice fantasy impact in a year where some fantasy pitchers have fallen on there face. He's 11-4 with a 3.11. He has 92 Ks in 133 innings. I'd like to see that improve next year but he plays in a pitcher's park and keeps the ball down and inside that big park. Galarraga will definitely be a pitcher to watch in the earlier rounds of your 2009 draft. Amazingly though, his road ERA is under 3.00 and is almost 4.00 at home in Tiger Stadium. Galarraga is deadly agaist right handed hitters. They're only batting .158 against him.

Two Start Pitchers week 8-11-08

http://www.rototimes.com/mlb/two_start_pitchers.php

Carlos Lee done for the season

Carlos Lee broke a finger against the Reds last night that will knock him out for the rest of the season. Lee was having yet another awesome fantasy year for a horrible team. His season will end at .314/28/100 and 27 doubles. That would be a nice complete season for anybody. I like his BB/K ratio too at 37/49. I'd take a
-12 for the season in that category anytime.

LLWS

If you're sickened by your favorite team (I am) and you're in last place in your fantasy league (I'm actually in 1st in one and tied for 1st in the other), then tune in to the LLWS on ESPN2. Last night's regional game between Louisiana and Texas was a great extra inning game. There are too many curve balls and the fences are too short but it's great action and play.

Tuesday 8-4-08 Fantasy Notes

*Webb looks like he'll pick up win #16 tonight as he has a shutout through 8. He's again the front runner to win the NL Cy Young.

*Josh Hamilton hit #27 tonight. He'll get 2/3 of the triple crown this season.

*Edison Volquez is looking tired. He got ripped yet again tonight. He's looked very average after the all-star break.

*Carlos Lee is the real deal. He just hit 26 tonight. He's batting .302 with 26 dingers and 92 RBI. This dude might be the fantasy MVP to this point in the National League.

*Chris Carpenter was solid again in his 2nd game back from injury. If nobody has him in your league...................PICK HIM UP!!!

Another great baseball fight

Teammates Fighting.

In honor of Prince Fielder being a total punk, here are the top 10 teammate fights from ESPN.

My dumb predictions for 2008 so far.............

**I said not to draft Ryan Braun. I marked him off my list. 3o homers so far and player of the month in July...............Good call by me.

**The Braves and Indians will contend . The Braves are awful and can't score to save their lives. The Indians gave up early.

**Johan Santana the overall #2 player..............not so much at this point.

**Jimmy Rollins #8 overall..............batting about .260 something with 9 homers.

**Rich Hill #11 starting pitcher.................top 5 in strikeouts in 2007........he's in the minors now!

** My Reds will win the Central.............yep. They are in last place.

Not a good night for the Brewers

Not only did the Brewers lose to the last placed Reds..............then Prince Fielder slapped Manny Para upside the head in the dug out in plain sight of the cameras. Prince Fielder is a piece of crap regardless of what was said. You don't punch a teammate especially in plain sight of the cameras and fans. Maybe the lack of meat is getting to Prince. Wish him all the worst things the rest of the season.................

Trade Deadline: Manny, Bay, Griff

Fantasy Impact Manny: Manny being Manny is getting old. Joe Torre will handle it though. That outfield in LA is loaded. I'm not sure how he's going to juggle it. It's hard to have Andruw Jones out of the lineup because he drops your ERA but gobbling up everything in center but he is batting .166. Kemp, Ethier, Pierre, Manny, and Jones............what to do. Manny will play.......if he's not pretending he's hurt. Everybody else's fantasy value just goes down b/c you don't know who's going to play day to day.

Fantasy Impact Bay: Jason Bay has never played in a big game in Pitt. Now he goes to Boston where every game is big. Can he handle it? He should love the Green Monster. I look for him to be big.

Fantasy Impact Griffey Jr.: Who knows. I'm rooting for him though. Swisher should play some first base which will drop Konerko's at bats. Of course if your playing Konerko in your fantasy lineup, you're probably in last place anyway. I think Griffey will play well because he knows this may be his career's last shot at a winner.

Free $50 Gas Card Giveaway

Your right this has nothing to do with fantasy baseball but hey gas is killing me more than my pitching is so I just couldn't pass without telling you guys about this give away. All you have to do is click the link, it's takes less than a minute to sign up for these $50 gas cards.

I actually read this everyday and remember fantasy is just that fantasy.....and fantasy baseball rocks.....but so does saving money, so check it out!!!!!

On August 18, three winners will be announced at MoneyNing and each winner will receive a $50 gas gift card to help them fill up their tanks! Click here to check it out!!

Yanks get Pudge from the Tigers

Fantasy Impact: Pudge should be much better in Yankee Stadium than in Detroit Rock City. Pudge doesn't have much pop left after ditching the roids, but he may poke some over a very short left field corner in Yankee Stadium. This is a huge move for the Yanks. Pudge is similar to Molina in defense but he adds about 80 points of batting average.

Angels get Teixeria from the Braves for Kotchman

Fantasy Impact: Teixeria goes to the most potent lineup in the league and pitchers are seeing him for the first time. I expect him to blow up for the rest of the season and lead the Halos to the World Series. Kotchman should get a lot of at bats and be a semi productive player like he's been for a couple of years now.

Todd Jones......Out

I guess Todd Jones will have more time to write his weekly piece in the Sporting News Magazine now that Jim Leyland has seen enough. Jones is out as the Tiger's closer and Fernando Rodney is taking over the closer role as of this afternoon.

Who's Not Hot

Johan Santana (Mets) His last two starts: 12 innings only 6 Ks and two no decisions.

Justin Duchsherer (As) 0-2 with 12 earned in 20 innings for the ERA leader in the American League over his last three. Not good. He looks like he's returning to his old reliever kind of form.

Hanley Rameriz (Marlins) .158 with 7 Ks over his last 9 games.

Ichiro Suzuki (Ms).200 1 double and 4 Ks in the last 14 days.

Who's Hot

Who's Hot:

Carlos Delgado (Mets)-most leagues probably didn't even have him active until the past three weeks. All of the sudden he's a fantasy stud with 6 homers and 16 RBI in the past two weeks. Slugging .921 over his last 10 games.

Brian McCann (Braves) .385 slugging .808 over his last 8 games. 3 homers and 12 RBI. 9 BB and only 1 K.

David Wright (Mets) .342 with 2 homers and 10 RBI over his last 10 games.

CC Sabathia (Brewers) Averaging almost 30 fantasy points per game since coming over to the Brew Crew. 3-0 26 Ks in 27 innings and only 3 earned runs.

Cliff Lee (Indians) How? I saw him in spring training and he looked like a high school pitcher. 2-0 with 14 Ks in 17 innings lately.

Dan Haren (D Backs) 2-0 with 16 Ks in 15 innings his last two starts.

Olympic Team

Pay close attention to the Olympic Team because it's filled with future fantasy stars. Here's a good article from Rays Digest.

http://rays.scout.com/2/771787.html

Chris Carpenter is back!

Oh my, Chris Carpenter is back from the dead. After pitching a big 6 innings and being my 2nd round draft choice last year, Carpenter will start on Tuesday for the Cards. Before the injury, Carpenter was a top 3 fantasy pitcher for 3 stratight years. Can he get it back? Don't know, but he's got the best pitching coach in the world in should be Hall of Famer Dave Duncan and a wild card contending team in the Cards that I picked to finish dead last in the Central. Watch his first start this week because he might be worth a pick up.

Yankees steal Nady and Marte

The Yankees look like they got exactly what they needed tonight in a trade from the Pirates getting left young gun reliever Marte and Xavier Nady. Nady is batting over .330 and gives them the right handed bat in the outfield that they so desperately needed. Watch out Red Sox b/c the Bombers are coming through. On a fantasy note, I think this destroys Nady for owners as his playing time will be instantly cut and he's playing in a lefty ball part in Yankee Stadium + you never know how people will react to playing in the soapbox that is the NYC. Trade him now if you can.................

Utley is absolutely struggling

Chase Utley is turning his MVP campaign around quickly. Over the last 21 days, he's batting .233 and slugging .383. Not good for my fantasy team Chase!

Home Run Derby

Well the Home Run Derby was flat out awesome tonight. Ex-Red Josh Hamilton put on a show that won't soon be repeated. I see no reason why all the home runs can't count in a competition like this, but the powers that be just don't see it that way. With the 28 first round shots, and I mean shots, Josh probably hurt himself by hitting "too" many. The 28 was a new first round record, beating out the 24 that Bobby Abreu hit in 2005. I think he not only wore out his 71 year old pitching coach but he also wore down himself. This years results might help to make a rule change in the future, as it should. I think they just have to keep the end result in question, as this does keep more fans at home watching. And the more watching the more ad revenue....the more people that has their sets tuned in the more the ads cost, never forget it's always all about the money!!!!!!!!

I will say this Justin Morneau was a very graceful winner, as he did everything but apologize as he knew the night belonged to Josh. This story just keeps getting better and better for Hamilton, how can you not cheer for his success. He has a great story for the young people of this country that has demons they need to shake. I see another baseball movie in the works as well. You can say what you want about the NBA slam Dunk contest, The Pro Bowl game whatever else is out there, but nothing compares to the three day break for the Major League All-Star Game and Home Run Derby and all the fan fest activities they have. Show me a sport that has over 53,000 people show to just cheer for something of this nature. I have been lucky enough to go see a couple of these in person and they do rock.

Next up the game itself Tuesday night from New York City and Yankee Stadium, the greatest sports venue in the world, bar none....Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantasy MVPs 1st Half

Here are my Fantasy and MLB MVPs at the break..

AL Fantasy MVP-Ian Kinsler .337/14/55 35 doubles, 84 runs, and 23 steals.
AL MLB MVP-Josh Hamilton .310/21/95 Is this a 1st half total or all year??????
AL Fantasy Pitcher-Roy Halladay 11-6 121 Ks and a league leading 146 innings.
AL Cy Young Justin Duchscherer-10-5 1.78 ERA and the A's are hanging in.

NL Fantasy MVP-Lance Berkman .347/22/73 15 steals.
NL MLB MVP-Chipper Jones .376/18/50 and he's getting old??????
NL Fantasy Pitcher-Edison Volquez 12-2 2.29 ..........and the Reds are terrible!
NL Cy Young-Toss up............Lincecum, Webb, or Volquez

All Star Weekend Predictions

Future's Game MVP- Matt LaPorta (Cleveland)

Home Run Derby Champ-Hamilton and Chase Utley in the Championship-Hamilton WINS.

All Star Game MVP-It won't be a Red Sox player! How about a National Leaguer-Lance Berkman

Homer Bailey To Be Recalled

Homer Bailey will be getting the start in Aaron Harang's spot on Sunday. Aaron left Chicago yesterday to get his right forearm checked out. This doesn't seem real serious and let's hope this is the only start he misses. Bailey is being recalled from AAA Louisville again, let's hope for the remainder of the season and many more seasons.

Homer will have to have his best stuff as he will be going up against the newly aquired CC Sabathia for the Miluakee Brewers. This is a big time start as Josh Fogg is pitching tonight and if Harang is healthy one of these two will probably not be up for long.

Fantasy AL All Star Team

Here's my AL All Start team for the 1st half of 2008: The NL is way better than the AL in Fantasy points this season. They AL is just pretty weak. If you take away the three Ranger players, it's pitifully weak.

c-Joe Mauer: After a couple of down years, he's back hitting for average and doubles. .324/4/37 and 22 doubles. BB/K ratio 47/24. Never hurts you.

1b-Justin Morneau: big RBI guy. This former MVP hasn't hit many homers with 12 or doubles, but he does have 65 RBI.

2b-Ian Kinsler: this is the sleeper of the year. He's #2 overall in fantasy points this season batting .348 with 16 homers, 30 doubles, and 23 steals.

ss-Michael Young: He's striking out more than he ever has but he's getting a ton of at-bats for the high scoring Rangers sandwiched in between Kinsler and Hamilton is a really good place to be. That sounded a bit gay.

3b-A-Rod: Even with his wife getting ready to take half his crap, A-Rod is still getting it done batting over .320 with 18 homers and 50 RBI and even is running a bit more than last year with 13 1st half steals.

cf-Josh Hamilton: Triple Crown possibly???? Probably not but 87 first half RBI so far is un-freakin-believable. He might get 90 or more before the break. Here is your AL MVP. .309/19/87. That would be a good season total.

lf-Carl Crawford: Slow start but he's on now. He's leading the Rays to the playoffs. He's red hot in the past three weeks.

rf-Carlos Quentin: I've been waiting for three years for this dude to break out and he finally has. Tied for the AL homer lead and pounding the baseball.

sp-Duchsherer: Who knows? He was a AL All Star game reliever in 05, now he leads the AL with an ERA under two.

DH-David Ortiz: Is there another DH? He's been hurt half of the 1st half and is still the best DH. Aubrey Huff would be a close 2nd. Where did he come from? He's back from the dead.

**Grady Seizmore would definitely be here if I picked the three best outfielders instead of by outfield position.

Fantasy NL All Star Team

Here my fantasy all-star starters for the 1st half of 2008:

c-Russell Martin: I like him over Geovanny Soto and Brian McCann. He doesn't have as many homers but he only has 43 Ks to 48 walks compaired to Soto's 78 Ks. Soto does have 7 more homers and 5 more RBI but Martin makes up for it with 9 steals. I would even put McCann over the rookie Soto. I don't understand why he's starting the All-Star game over either of these guys.

1b-Lance Berkman: huge 1st half. #1 scorer point scorer in fantasy this year so far. Batting .348 ain't too bad. He'll win he home run derby at Yankee Stadium.

2b-Chase Utley: 25 homers and his team is in 1st place. I drafted him with the #3 overall pick in our draft and right now he's the #3 overall scorer.

ss-Hanley Rameriz: This guy might be better than A-Rod in a couple of years. He has actually scored less than Jose Reyes but after seeing Jose in that girly outfit in Pittsburg a few years ago, I can't go with him at SS.

3b-Chipper Jones: old man still getting it done flirting with .400. Not bad at .379/18/50. He's thanking the Dodgers for taking Andruw Jones out of his lineup.

cf-Nate McLouth: 16 homers and 29 doubles batting well over .300. The Bucs said in spring training that Nate was the real deal and they were right.

rf-Corey Hart: This is a thin position in the National League. Of course if it were the real all-star game, it wouldn't matter what outfield posittion they played. Hart strikes out too much but is an up and comer. .296/14/56 and 25 doubles and throw in 13 steals.

lf-Carlos Lee: He's quiet and steady. Less Ks than BBs. You gotta love it. Matt Holliday is a close 2nd.

SP-Edison Volquez 11-3 2.36 ERA and 116 Ks puts him 2nd in MLB in ERA and 3rd in Ks. Yep, it's a Red. Lincicum is great and you know I love former Kentucky Wildcat Brandon Webb but Volquez has been the man even though the Reds have been awful.

Rough week for A-Rod

Well, maybe this is why A-Rod isn't in the home run derby. It's been a rough week for my son's favoirte player Alex Rodriquez. First, RoseFan rips him for not participating in the home run derby, he is linked to Madonna, and then his wife blasts him in divorce papers. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8319100/A-Rod's-wife-files-for-divorce-in-Miami
It doesn't really seem to be phasing the guy who's hitting .323/18/50 and 13 steals while starting at 3rd for the American League. Apparently, A-Rod is a turd. I've seen him in person and that was the impression I immediately got. Even during the down time, he could have came over and talked to the 100s of kids watching him but he chose to stand with his back turned to them. I wanted to punch him in the mouth. Fantasy wise, he's still the man and well on pace to 800. Good luck A-Rod. Looks like your wife is getting half your crap.

A-Rod

Baseball fans....And A-Rod owners in fantasy leagues. How do you feel about him sitting out of the home run derby? I have been to a couple of these and they are a blast to watch.

A-Rod has decided to not participate in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby this year. He thinks it might mess his swing up and it might well do just that. If all the players thought this way then why don't we just shut it down, the hell with the fans that pay him over 25 million per year. This being the last season for the "House That Ruth Built"....am I the only one that thinks A-Rod should bite the bullet and give the Stadium it's proper due. Hell he can always call the "Hit King" Pete Rose to straighten him back out if he messes up that pretty swing.

What do you think the Babe would do!!!!!!! I think he would have won the hot dog eating contest today and still won the home run derby and not missed a beat. Come on A-Rod, you want to be a Yankee, stand up and be one. Modonna will be there to cheer you on, just like Jessica did for Tony Romo......Oh now I know why he doesn't want to participate!!!!!!!!

David DeJesus-KC

David DeJesus is a guy I've been watching for the past two years to break out in a fantasy sort of way. Finally, it's beginning to happen. He reminds me a lot of Johnny Damon back when he was a Kansas City Royal. He's got good speed, likes to hit the ball in the gap, and has decent power as long as he doesn't fall in love with it. Right now, he has a 15 game hit streak and has raised his average to .321 for the season. He gets a high number of at-bats hitting lead off and the Royals aren't all that ball all of the sudden.

Francour sent to AA

Jeff Francour just got sent to AA ball. I've never like Francour as a fantasy player b/c of his so/bb ratio but some people don't like to pass up 100 rbi. I put this guy in an Austin Kearns sort of category. He's got a great arm in right but he's forever a .250 kind of player. I'll be surprised if he ever bounces back in a big way. What do you think?

Pujols and Hariston Jr. Back Today

Albert Puljos and Jerry Hariston Jr. are going to be activated from the DL today. I continued to be sickened by the Cards and by my Reds. Both in different ways.

Chase Utley finally broke out of his slump last night and helped me in both my leagues. He went 4-5 with a triple and a double......YES! Carlos Guillen also had a big 4-5 night for the Tigers last night and hit his first homer in 15 games.

Nothing to do with Baseball

This has nothing to do with baseball, but I thought it was funny. John Daly and Kid Rock paired together at the Buick Pro Am. Daly hit a drive off the top of Kid Rock's tall boy beer can. Go to YouTube and check that out! Funny Crap.

Haters and the DL

Gary Sheffield was activated from the DL today, is this guy still relevant. I guess I am a little bias as I would probably draft Corey Patterson in front of him. Do I hate Sheff that much!!!!!!!! This move is just in time as I hate to have all the players I dislike on the DL at the same time.....that's right Carlos Zambrano is not a favorite of mine either and he just hit the DL. But aren't we supposed to be impartial when we write these blogs. The way I look at it, if the Jay's GM can hammer Adam Dunn the way he did then I can hammer a couple assholes here.

For real if you look at the players on the DL right now you could probably win a fantasy league if you owned them all in a healthy state. Just to name a few.....maybe the highest scoring catcher the last three years, Victor Martinez.....Although he is about to come back, Albert Pujols has been a top fantasy scorer the past five years.......Would you take either of these DH's, Travis Hafner or David Ortiz, both still on the DL.....get the picture a lot of big guns have hit the shelf for extended periods of time this year and my teams were not immune from this bad luck......Just hope this wasn't the year you were "lucky" enough to draft a few of these superstars

King Felix hurt

Felix Hernandez smoked an opposite field grand slam off of Johan Santana tonight and then left with an ankle injury after taking a cleat to the ankle at home from Carlos Beltran. Injury looked pretty bad. Felix was 1 strike away from being in line for the W tonight. That's got to sting fantasy owners a bit.

Two great arms may be done

Looks like fantasy baseball may have lost two great arms forever in Curt Schilling and John Smoltz. Both are having season ending surgeries that may also end their careers. Though, I hate Schilling's guts, he was a great fantasy pitcher. I've always liked Smoltz and his high strikeout numbers throughout his career. We'll probably be seeing both these guys in Cooperstown in 5 years.

Ryan Howard is heating up

It's about time, but Ryan Howard is finally heating up. Even though he's only batting an Adam Dunn like .224, he has 19 homers and 62 RBI. He's had multi homer game in 2 of the last 5 and 18 RBI in the last 10 games. He's a big fat turd who's starting to get it done.

Volquez vs. the Red Sox Saturday

Today, Edison Volquez takes his league leading strikeout totals against the Evil Empire. Check out the Red Sox vs. the Reds on Fox game of the week.

Injuries are back!

More injuries to big name players this week:

**Alfonso Soriano will be out at least 6 weeks with a broken hand.

**Victor Martinez underwent surgery today and will miss up to two months!

**Jake Peavy made a big return today from the DL going 6 and giving up no runs and 4 Ks.

Ken Griffey Jr. Hits # 600

Well the wait is finally over. After hitting # 599 on the last home stand one wondered if Griff would sit out a few games to hit this historic home run back in Cincinnati. Well he did wait to the last game on this road trip and the Reds front office was probably hoping he would wait another day to do it. Big attendance booster for sure.

Next player in front of Griffey is Slamin Sammy Sosa with 609 and when "The Kid" does over take Sosa he will be top five all time in HR's. What a career!!!!!!!!!!

Griffey is one of the few power hitters not to be connected to steroids in this "steroids era." I do believe he is as clean as they come. Most users mention how they help recover from injuries by taking steroids and look at Griffey's injury list and time spent on the DL......I would say this would for sure make Griffey a first ballot Hall of Fame inductee.

Hey and the Reds won tonight too, that was getting about as rare as someone hitting # 600.....Great job Jr.

Breaking News......Bonderman Out For The Season

Well it's just been reported from the Detroit Tigers webb site that Jeremy Bonderman has a blood clot in his axillary vein. They say that vein runs from the neck to the armpit. I could see that being a problem for anyone, much less a MLB pitcher. The Tigers are placing him on the 15 day DL but reports are saying this is season ending for Bonderman.

This is another blow to an already short handed pitching staff that I though would only have to "show up" to win games this season with the Tigers offense. Well maybe I should say the Tigers offense we thought they would have. Obviously this hasn't been the case. Yous truly did draft Bonderman's team mate, Justin Verlander way too early and he has let me down big time. I was in attendance the night Verlander threw his no hitter last season against the Brewers. There is a lesson to be learned here when drafting guys you like.....more head....less heart.....

Middle Infield Help

First I didn't think I would ever be writing this endorsement about this guy. I guess I am one of the last to get on board but if Jerry Hairston is available in your league, well it's past time to pick him up. I have to admit I didn't think he was this good. Jerry is a career .256 hitter and thought he might flirt with .300 for a couple of weeks, but we are now 37 games played for Jerry and that's a decent sample size so let's look at some of his numbers.

Can you say .325 batting average.....Hairston is sitting on 38 hits in 37 games, anytime you can average more than a hit a game that's pretty good, and has scored 18 runs and driven in 13 runs. Add these numbers to his 10 stolen bases, (caught twice) and you can tell these numbers are for real. I see only one down side to Hairston and that's his w/k ratio of 8 walks and 19 K's. I say if you need infield help this guy can do it for you. Only thing he is probably gone in your league as he is in ours, great pickup GMO. I have Jeff Keppinger on my squad and I do see a platoon in the future on Dusty's lineup card when Jeff returns from the DL. Jeff was putting up some great numbers before his DL stint so we will see what happens soon enough as he is about to start his rehab assignment. Either way I think Cincinnati is in good shape at SS. Now if they could put a road winning streak together!!!!!!!!!!!

John Smoltz and Pedro Martinez

Well I am sitting here listening to John Smoltz tell the world that he is having season ending surgery. Yes it's the shoulder. John is saying he hasn't slept well in months. He had stated before if he ever needed surgery again he would retire first. This afternoon he is singing a different tune. He is now saying he does want to again make a come back after he heals from this surgery.

If you own Smoltz and are not in a keeper league it's time to drop this future member of The Hall of Fame and find someone to fill his spot.

If Pedro Martinez is available in your league that might be a good place to start looking. Martinez did get the win last night giving up 3 runs and 7 hits to go with his 3 K's in six innings. After being out for over two months this is a fair start for Pedro.

All Star Game Notes

All right it's time to do your "Baseball Duties".....It's time to spend ten minutes to vote for your favorite all stars. I don't think it's any secret that we are Reds fans here and I want to make a case for you to get Griffey Jr. another shot at starting in another all star game. Jr is currently in third place among NL outfielders which would make him a starter again. He is about to become the sixth member of the 600 home run club and deserves this honor one more time.

I know this is a reach here but I also want you guys that feel it to give a little love to the young phenom Jay Bruce as a write in. I know he hasn't got a chance to get in but at least he will feel a little love for his awesome start.

Go to www.monster.com and vote Griffey in this all star game. You will also be registered to win tickets to the big game along with airfare and hotel and cash.
Don't forget to forward this info to everyone in your address book!!!!!!!!

VOTE VOTE VOTE

Homer Bailey

OK the four letter network is saying that the Cincinnati Reds will call up Homer Bailey from AAA Louisville on Thursday to face the Phillie's. Not the greatest assignment for Bailey but hey you gotta face the big bats sometime. The Phillies are just knocking the cover off the ball so again Bailey will have his work cut out for him. Homer didn't have a great May at Louisville but the potential is definitely there and well worth a spot in Nl leagues right now and also some deep mixed leagues. At least keep him on your watch list if he has a fair game against the Phillies, who knows.....I do know this the Reds are hoping they find magic in the bottle again after the week "Babe" Bruce uh I mean Jay Bruce just had.

If you haven't heard about Bruce as of yet....well just turn in your fantasy card and go back to watching the soaps again. After the week Bruce just had I think the biggest stat that jumped out at me was the K/W ratio. Bruce drew six walks while only striking out one time.......that shows maturity way beyond his experience. I have heard comparisons of him to Larry Walker in his hey day as a Rockie....not bad for just six games played.....

If you are a real Reds fan like the guys that write this blog then you know there hasn't been this much buss about the Reds in over twenty years. This might be a rather bold statement but I think this road trip the Reds embark on starting tonight is the biggest road trip sense their last World Series win in 1990. Yes with the way they are playing it's time to let the world know this team does have some life left in it......if they can take five of the next eight games from the Phillies and the Marlins it will be a giant step for them.

Injuries everywhere this week

Injuries are mounting up:

*Travis Hafner-Went on the 15 day DL this week.

*Big Papi-Heard a pop in his hand last night. MRI today.

*Eric Byrnes-MRI revealed two torn hamstrings. I'm guessing he'll be out past the all-star break.

*Jake Peavy-Elbow strain on the 15 day DL.

*Dice K Matsuzaka-went on the DL this week with a rotator cuff injury.

*Faustino Carmona-DL with a hip strain.

*Matt Holiday and Brad Hawpe-Rockies have tons on the DL. Both of these guys have hamstring problems.

*Gary Sheffield-he's getting old. Roids have ravaged his body.

*Andruw Jones-Can't hit anyway. Knee surgery will have him out for a while.

*Posada and Smoltz are due to come off the DL this week. Looks like Smoltz will be a reliever again.

Player of the Week Jay Bruce

Well, the Cincy management finally woke up and unleashed Jay Bruce on Major League Baseball. Bruce made the most of this first week be terrorizing the Pirates and Braves pitching staffs including a walk offf bomb yesterday. I recieved two phone calls in about 2 minutes after the blast. One isn't even a big baseball fan but he was pumped up. My father-n-law says that there hasn't been this much excitement around the Reds in 20 years. We've been saying it all year, this dude is the real deal. It's about time he's been let loose. First week totals going into today: .579, a game winning homer, 4 RBI, 8 runs, 5 walks, and a single K. Dare I say, Rookie of the Year and future MVP.

Jay Bruce is headed to Cincy!

Finally, the Reds management has awaken and Jay Bruce is heading from Loserville to meet up with the Reds Tuesday night. Luckily for me, I picked him up last week! Bruce finished up his AAA career batting around .380 this season for the Louisville Bats.

Who Not To Pick Up

I know this is a site to help you make some good fantasy decisions and maybe not picking up someone could be help as well.....or maybe I just love to vent.

Corey Patterson is just so bad...how can you go 0-for-8 in one game. Yes it was the first time in over twenty years that a Red looked that bad in a span of one game. Hell he has sucked so bad all year, after a modest first week or two he has made me scream and cuss Dusty Baker so much. Dusty can't seem to admit he made a mistake by getting the Reds to sign him and leave Jay Bruce in AAA Louisville. Patterson couldn't even draw a walk yesterday and has a grand total of one walk for the month of May, but let's not forget that he does have .183 batting average for May and oh yeah he also has one extra base hit. I am not sure who sucks more Dusty Baker as manager or Patterson at the plate. Patterson souldn't be anything but a defensive replacment in the ninth inning, hoping he don't have to bat.

FOR GOD'S SAKE BRING UP JAY BRUCE ALREADY......

Yesterday was probably the worse lineup I have seen this year for the Reds. Joey Votto was sitting while our third string catcher Javier Valentine played first.

Will someone in the front office tell me why we put lineups like this on the field and lose our ass while we have Al-stars in AAA and sitting on the bench. Don't tell me a young man like Votto needs rest already when they have today off!!!!!!

Ben Francisco-Pick him up!

I've been watching Ben Francisco closely since the beginning of the season, and I think it's time to pick him up. In limited action, Franscico is batting .365 with 2 homers and 10 doubles with over a .400 on-base percentage. Tonight, he was hitting clean up behind Mr. Travis Hafner. Before tonight, in the past 7 days, he was batting .391 with a homer and 4 doubles.

Rookie Catcher Comparison

In the spring, there was big talk of two young catchers: J.R. Towles of the Astros and Geovanny Soto of the Cubbies. So far, things have gone really well for one and not so well for the other.

*J.R. Towles-I got to see him in his first spring training at bat in lovely Winter Haven and he looked like he couldn't hit a beach ball. Right now, Towles is batting an ugly .155 with 4 homers and 12 RBI in 37 games for the Astros.

*Geovanny Soto-Soto has gotten off to a terrific start at .309/9/34 and 15 doubles. He's looking like the NL All-Star catcher right now. Soto might help the Cubs smash the curse in 2008. I'm sure the Cubs will find a way to blow it.

Continued Fantasy Disappointments

There's a couple guys I drafted this year that are really starting to get to me. Luckily I didn't draft them both in the same league. I'd love to punch them in the mouth right now. Maybe I could knock some pop into their bats.

*Nick Markakis-Luckily Markakis isn't playing tonight. At least he can't get me anymore negative points. He's sitting at -5.00 for the week in Fox Fantasy Baseball. Markakis is stinkin it up at .253/8/22 with 47 strikeouts. I think he's trying to out-suck Alex Rios. Markakis is coming off two up and coming years. In 2007, he went .300/23/112. He better start getting hot soon. I know the O's are brutally bad, but Tejada didn't give him that much protection in the lineup did he?

*Alex Rios-Alex, please strikeout again. Right now, Rios is sitting at .258/3/19 and 48 strikeouts. He's on his way to 150. Rios is coming off of a really good 2007 campaign in which he batting .297 with 24 dingers and 85 RBI to go along with 43 doubles and 17 steals.

A Great Day To Be A Reds Fan

After round one of the Buckeye Battle I wrote about on Friday night I was very happy to say the least. The Reds had just won their season high fourth straight game. I kinda slacked off yesterday as the Reds won the middle game of this three game set, beating the Indians 4-2. Aaron Harang was, well Aaron Harang which has been very good this year but the Reds just don't seem to score runs for him. Harang worked seven innings allowing only one run and left the game with the scored tied at one. Fausto Carmona got one out in the eighth before he also left the game with it tied, turning it over to the bullpen.

The Indians got a run in the eighth from Ben Franciso as he went yard for the first time this season. It stayed this way until the bottom of the ninth when Adam Dunn, after failing to get a sacrifice bunt down, hits a monster walk off home run to win it for "MY REDS"

This win sent the Reds home kind of cocky and looking for the sweep of the series if they could pull off another win on Sunday.

Sundays match up was one for the ages. I am sure the NL and AL ERA leaders have squared off before in the regular season, but I just can't remember it. Anyway Edinson Volquez went up against the Indians Cliff Lee for the much anticipated match up. Needless to say that Volquez got the best of this match up going six innings and just giving up two runs as the Reds hit Lee pretty good getting to him for ten hits and six runs to sweep the series and extend the Reds current winning streak to six games.

Fantasy Note: If you didn't have Adam Dunn in your lineup it might be time to get him in. He has only hit a home run in the last four games, he just might be heating up like I predicted on Friday night. He will get his 40 HR's, 100 RBI's and 100 walks.....you might have to eat a few K's but year after year he is a top ten scorer of the fantasy outfielders.

YES IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE A REDS FAN.......KEEP THE ROLL GOING AS YOU HEAD OUT WEST GUYS AND LET'S GET BACK IN THIS RACE

On Fire-Ryan Ludwick

Ryan Ludwick is officially on fire. For the season, he's batting .336/11/29 and slugging .739. He has to improve his SO/BB ratio which is at 35/17 right now. He's batting .397 vs right handed pitching. In the last two weeks, he's batting .400 with 6 homers,13 RBI, and slugging an outrageous .925 going into today. Guess what? He homered yet again today. Yep, I picked the Cards to finish dead last in the NL Central. Ludwick continues to help them swim well above .500.

The Battle of Ohio.....Round 1

The eyes of major league baseball are defintely on the Buckeye state this weekend as the suddenly hot Cincinnati Reds take on the white hot pitching staff of the Cleveland Indians. The Reds come into this series with a modest three game winning streak and Cleveland comes into this fresh off a six game home winning streak where their starters ERA was less than 1.00, yes I said less than 1.00

The marquee match up for the weekend includes both the NL and Al league leaders in ERA squaring off on Sunday afternoon at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Edinson Volquez, with a 6-1 record and an ERA of 1.12 with 57 K's will battle Cliff Lee, the most suprising pitcher in baseball so far. Lee's stats are also off the charts with a 6-0 record, along with 44 K's and the aformentioned ERA of 0.67
If you own either of these guys in your league you gotta be in the money right now.

Friday night, (round 1) went to the good guys with the Reds winning 4-3. The game was as exciting a game as I have watched this season. Johnny Cueto started for the Reds and struck out the side in the fifth ininng to keep his no hitter intact. After Brandon Phillips hit a two run shot against his former team to give my Reds a 2-0 lead, Adam Dunn added a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning to make it 3-0 after two. The game stayed this way until the the top of the sixth when the Indians got their only three hits off of Cueto, he also had 7 K's. The bad thing about it was all three hits were home runs and that tied it 3-3 and it stayed that way until Adam Dunn walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning, sending it to the ninth where Francisco Cordero finished the Indians off by striking out the side to earn his eighth save of the year. The bullpen was one of the weak spots in the Reds armor this time last year but I do believe they have a top five closer in Cordero and as a fan you feel so much better seeing the game in the bullpens hand with a late inning lead. The Reds still are having problems scoring runs with runners in scoring position with less than two outs. But I think Dunn and Jr. Griffey will heat up as the tempature does, so if you have either keep the faith. Dunn still has time to hit his 40 home runs and get his 100 RBI's, Griffey needs to get his 600th HR soon so he can stop thinking about it and get his game where it should be.

On Saturday afternoon on Fox Round 2 kicks off with a match up close to what we might expect on Sunday. Aaron Harang, the most under rated pitcher in the NL with an unwarranted 2-5 record to go with his very nice 3.32 ERA will go for the Reds. Harang has had no run support at all this season and his ERA proves his record should be better. Don't even consider trading this guy because he will win!!!!
The Indians will counter with Fausto Carmona and his 4-2 record to go with an ERA of 2.40, I love this guy and just hope he isn't on his game on Saturday.

With round 1 in the books and the Reds now with a four game winning streak, it's shaping up as a great weekend to be a Reds fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fantasy Bums-wk 7 update

*Gary Matthews Jr. (Angels) .227/5/24 and 37 strikeouts

*Ryan Howard (Phils) .185/9/22 and 58 strikeouts

*Robinson Cano (Yanks) .207/4/12 zero steals and 3 CS

*Gary Sheffield (Tigers) .196/2/8 and slugging .314

Indian's Starting Pitching!

The Tribe's starting pitching continues a torrid streak of mowing people down. Aaron Laffey continued the dominance tonight getting a W over the As going 7 strong and zero earned runs. Tonight's game lowered Laffey's ERA to 1.35 for the season. The Indian's starting pitching just ran their streak of unearned runs to 51 1/3 after tonight. That is re-cock-ulous. Last night, big fat C.C. Sabathia pitched an 11 strikeout complete game shutout. That's a fantasy owner's best friend for sure. I'm not sure what's going on with Cliff Lee, but he's down right unhittable right now. I saw him in spring training and he was brutally bad. I didn't even think he would make the roster at that point. All of the sudden, he's 6-0 with a .067 ERA and the Cy Young winner if the season ended today. Of the Tribe's rotation, Sabathia is the only one with an ERA above 3.61 and he's starting to really heat up. Unbelievable.

Jay Bruce Already!!!!!!

I know some people probably get sick of seeing me and RoseFan talk so much about the Reds but they are my favorite team and I like to let off some steam because their management sucks. Jay Bruce needs to be in Cincy. Living right outside of Loserville, Kentucky, it's nice seeing him in triple A but enough is enough. Over the past 10 games, Bruce is batting .611 with three homers and 12 RBI. Dusty Baker's boy Mr. Cory Patterson is struggling and Keppinger just went out of the lineup for a good period of time with a knee cap so the Reds need someone in the lineup that can hit the baseball. Adam Dunn can't play a lick of D and he swings and misses more than anyone I've seen in my lifetime. Griffey will soon be off to check out the Space Needle in rainy Seattle. Note to Reds sorry management....................BRING HIM UP BEFORE MARTY SLAPS YOU UPSIDE THE HEAD!

Notes

Does anyone remember the Oakland A's pitching staff just a couple of years ago. Once considered one of the top staffs in baseball, Billy Beane just ripped them apart and sold them off like cattle are being sold because of todays grain market. Did he have insight into what Barry Zito, seven straight losses to start the year, was about to become or was he actually smart enough to know this young staff they have today is going to be as good as yesteryear's A's.

Take a look at Justin Duchscherer, he might be the last link to this staff that makes it again one of the best in baseball. Billy is a deal maker for sure and might have out did hisself this time. As tight as the A's are with contracts, well Beane is showing us why he can be this frugal. Their team ERA is less then half of Barry Zito's. Their whole starting pitching staff is not making much more than Zito is making by hinself across the bay in a Gaints uniform.

Duchscherer is recording about 7.5 K's per nine innings with an ERA of 2.42 as of tonight. Take at look at this guy if you need some back end of the rotation help.

Hey I also want to give a little love to my son-in-law for coaching the North Bullitt Freshman Eagles baseball team to the District Chanpionship this past weekend. I would say his coaching career is off to a great start..... This is his blog and I just add a few nuggets every now and then......Congratulations GJ....

Red Hot-Dan Uggla

Dan Uggla has been red hot as of late. In his last 10 games, he's raised his batting average from .245 to .271 and has hit 7 homers to give him 11 on the season. He's also sitting on 11 doubles. This dude doesn't get cheated at the plate. He's struck out 39 times in 136 at bats this season and 167 times last season. The Loserville Kentucky native is only hitting .213 at home and .361 on the road on the year. That's a big fantasy note to think about when you're setting your lineup.

National League Honors

Five weeks into the season, the NL MVP and Cy Young are easy choices:

NL MVP-Chase Utley (Phils) .345/13/28

NL Cy Young-Brandon Webb (D-Backs and Ex-Wildcat!) 8-0 2.41 ERA

NL Rookie of the Year-Edison Volquez (Reds) 5-1 1.06 ERA

By the way, Volquez is the #1 fantasy pitcher without a doubt at this point. It's not even close. I lucked out and draft him with the final pick of our draft. My knucklehead son snagged him up in our other league.

Derek Jeter is voted man of the Century

I got in my truck after school today on the way to baseball practice and turned on sports radio like usual. I turned to three sports channels and a news channel within the first 5 minutes b/c I don't listen to commercials. I love channel flippin. In those 5 mintues, I heard four different discussions of Maxim Magazine's Hot 100 and how Derek Jeter had dated 6 of this list. Since Jeter is my favorite player by himself now that I've discovered that Clemens is a child molesting Roid Head, I thought we'd review...........................

Scarlett Johanson-She's disgusting to me. She's almost opaque white.
Mariah Carey-Crazy Spoon Head. She's so crazy she has a spoon on her head.
Gabrielle Union-probably the most attractive black woman ever.
Jessica Alba-Yes, in that movie Deep Blue.
Jessica Biel-Yes, no doubt.
Vanessa Minillo-Is that the girl Nick Lache is marrying??? If so, Yes

Rich dude in New York. He can get pretty much any woman on earth. My wife would probably leave me for him in about 2 seconds. If you read this baby, I'm just kidding. You're way hotter that the two Jessicas. My wife is a beautiful princess.

By the way, after today, Jeter is batting .298 with zero homers and 16 RBIs. Two numbers that are really scary is that he's only walked four times and has ZERO steals and 1 CS. His OBP is the lowest it's been in 13 years. His lady percentage is high, but his fantasy value is dropping like a rock.

The Sad State Of My Reds

As I drove home from work tonight I was listening WLW 700 AM, the flagship station of the Cincinnati Reds and as usual they were on the short end of the score. This as you know isn't news, but I did hear some news that just didn't sit well with me. First I do love my Reds and although my favorite years come from the "Big Red Machine" years I am still a baseball fan and the Reds are still my team. Back to the news, I heard a sound bite of Ken Griffey Jr. talking about finishing his career back in Seattle. Ok, is this the right time to be jumping ship and is this way you want to leave your hometown team. Griffey will be a Hall of Famer and he will probably wear a Mariner hat on his plaque. But he is in Cincinnati right now for goodness sakes. I really think Jr. thinks there is nothing to play for here and I understand he wants a ring before he retires, but right now with all the young guys on this team he needs to just shut up and play. If Griffey throws in the towel the first week of May how does that look to the young guys looking up to him. Griffey did give the Reds a hometown discount to come here in 2000 as a lot of his money is deferred and isn't even included in this years payroll. I think the Reds promised to build a team around him and we all know how that has worked out. But tell me why I should pay $40 for tickets, $15 for parking, and $7.50 for beer,.....yeah watching them does make you want to drink sometime. But again why do I want to spend a small fortune to see these guys when the person that should be the Captain of the team wants out of town.

I have said it before and I say it again "the Reds have no leadership and the manager seems totally lost as to what the next move should be. I know what my next move should be and that is to go to Louisville if I want to see guys working their asses off to make it to the show. Right now I say you can see as good a baseball game at Louisville Slugger Field watching the AAA team of the Reds, the Louisville Bats, as you are getting from the Reds right now.

How do you pay someone $13 million a year to be nothing more than a pretty good DH. If this was New York he might be worth it, but the Reds could do a lot more with this money. I think Dunn is receiving 18% of the Reds payroll this year and does anyone think he is putting up 18% of the production for this team. Is it time to panic, well who knows, Dusty sure don't. Maybe we ship Griffey back "HOME" and try to trade Dunn's big contract to to the Yankees or the Red Sox and call up Jay Bruce and Homer Bailey from Louisville. If this does happen take a chance on either one of these guys because you can bet your ass that they will give it their all when they step on the field.

Come on Reds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Johnny Cueto

Dear Johnny Cueto,

It's time to come back strong tonight versus the Cubbies. Your Reds are sucking unmercifully right now. Time to put a halt to this five game losing streak by the Redlegs and get your 5.40 ERA back down to earth. Your 1.09 WHIP is still looking good. I hope your hitting and D backs you up tonight so I don't have to drop you!

Thanks in advance for your W,

GMo

Big Time injury news............

**The Brave's John Smoltz who is currently on the DL announced today he'd be a reliever for the rest of the season when he came back from the DL. WOW.

**Yank Phil Hughes will be out until around the all-star break with a fractured rib.

**Colorado SS Troy Tulowitzki will be out until at least the all-star break with a torn tendon.

**Sadly, I can't even wear my Roger Clemens jersey around kids anymore.

**In other news, Bud Selig still sucks.

The Next "BIG THING"

Max Scherzer just made his major league debut yesterday for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He came with minor league numbers off the charts and like Johnny Cueto for the Cincinnati Reds his first appearance was nothing short of brilliant. Coming in for relief and pitching 4.1 innings of no hit, no walk, no run baseball while fanning seven. Yes he faced thirteen and retired thirteen. His smoke hit 98 on the radar gun as well. He seems like another of these can't miss type players. I actually wanted him in one of my leagues but snoozed a little too long before I decided to pull the trigger. I had actually put him on my watch list and was going to make up my mind on Saturday for next weeks lineup. Don't make the same mistake, if he is out there in your league, don't finish reading this, go get him. After you safety get this guy on your roster invite all your friends to come back with you and read some of the best "free" fantasy information out there. Here's hoping his future goes better than Cueto's has gone the last couple weeks. Cueto will have growing pains but he is a Major League Pitcher and will be a great fantasy pitcher as well.
Well as I write this Scherzer was just named a starter for the Backs. This is how much faith Arizona has in this guy and you should as well.

Fantasy Riser-Carlos Quentin

I've been waiting for Carlos Quentin (White Sox) to break out for a couple of years now. It looks like now he finally will under crazy skipper Ozzie Guillen. Right fielder Quentin has started out hitting .312 with 6 homers and 20 RBI. The stat I like best is 14 walks versus only 12 strikeouts. Here's a couple more big stats: OBP .454 and Slugging .623. Injuries always put a damper on his game in Arizona. If you haven't already picked this dude up..................DO IT!

Hot Starts.....But for how long

Before I get to what I want to write I just might rant on "my Reds" somewhat. What does Aaron Harang have to do to get a win. He could sue for non-support. I mean he hasn't given up more than two earned runs in all but one of his six starts so far this season. Tonight was another very good game for Harang after a 7 2/3 innings 8 strike out and one walk performance. The Reds had me as excited as I have been for quite a few years this spring. Last year we couldn't get a two out hit with RISP and that trend has followed this year. I hope you didn't draft Bronson Arroyo, he is the Cincinnati version of the Giants Barry Zito....I think it's time to stick a fork in both of them. They may be the most over paid players in the game today. How about Adam Dunn, hitting a cool .200 he is at least leading the league in walks, but do the Reds pay him ten million a year to walk...I think not.
Really I still think Adam will get his 40 home runs, but the question is will the Reds ever get it going. Does Jr. get number 600 on this road trip, I bet Reds ownership won't complain if he hits number 599 early on this road trip and then relaxes until he gets back home.......Does anyone else think Brandon Phillips is looking to hit a tater every time up.....Come on Reds....get it going.

Now for some hot starts that might or might not continue.

MIGHT NOT:

Chipper Jones is white hot and if you think he will keep this up the entire season, well really nobody does. If there is someone ready to give you way more than Chipper is actually worth that can actually help your team, I might consider pulling the trigger here. How long before his annual trip to the Dl. I love Chipper and hope he keeps this pace up, just don't count on it.

Pat Burrell has always had some pretty good power and usually with power comes the rib eye steaks and he has at least 22 as I write this. How many thinks he will continue to hit above .350.....sell high and you won't be sorry, his lifetime average is no where near .350 actually it's closer to .250 do the math....If someone wants him reach for the sky and see if a rookie fantasy player might bite.

MIGHT:

Derrek Lee is someone I wanted pretty bad before draft day, I might have stated this before, because we had a couple of Cub fans join our league this year he went a little earlier than I thought he would go. Turns out he was worth that early pick. I have said it before and I will say it again.....he's money and a fantasy stud. If you are in points league he will end the season in your leagues top ten in points.
Don't even think about unloading this guy unless someone offers you three players rated close to him. If you don't own him maybe you could play the injury card and let your competition know he is less than two years removed from that nasty break and it might not be totally healed, yeah right. If someone trades him in your league, you should offer this guy a trade everyday.

Miguel Tejada......We were all afraid to draft him this season not knowing if he would spend more time behind bars than at SS, and I am not talking about him lying about his age either. I will be the first to say I was very wrong about this guy. He had more baggage than my ex-wife would take to Florida for a week. I remember those baggage carriers you used when your trunk wouldn't hold everything for vacation, well even with a van I needed one and so did Tejada as this season started. I was wrong at the start of the season and I would now say he is one of the guys that will keep it going the rest of the way.

Connor Jackson...He might not hit you a lot of home runs but this guy is for real. He will hit for a high average and get you plenty RBI's and with a playing for a great Diamondback team he will also score plenty, so hold this guy and enjoy the ride that I do believe will last.

Fantasy Surprises End of Week 3

Wow, there are a couple of guys that have jumped up and surprised the fantasy baseball world. If they aren't picked up in your league, you better jump on them.

*Nate McClouth (Pirates) .384/3/15. Tack on 15 runs, 2 steals, a 16 game hit streak, and a league leading 10 doubles and this guy is suddenly a fantasy stud batting lead off for the Bucs. .384 can't keep up but it looks like McClouth is the real deal suddenly.

*Justin Upton (D-Backs) Look back and see that I said this guy is a must get as a potential break out superstar this season. .385/5/13 and he's off to a superstar start. His strikeouts are a bit of a concern, but this guy could hit over .300 and 30 this season. The D-Backs are loaded with young talent.

*Conner Jackson (D-Backs) .347/3/17. Conner Jackson is finally breaking out. I got to see him in the Futures Game in Detroit in 2005 and everyone expected him to break out right away. What I really love about him is only 3 strikeouts and 7 walks. Have I already mentioned the D-Backs are loaded?

*Yunel Escobar (Braves) .324/3/11 is off to the rookie start he was looking for. His strikeouts to walk ratio is staying in check at 10:10.

Fantasy Flops End of Week 3

Three weeks into the the season there are some guys who've been very disappointing and I'm not sure if they can bounce back.

*Edwin Encarnarcion (Reds) I was big on Edwin to start the season. I think it was mainly because I was blinded by his "Redness". Edwin's fielding is horrible at best. His bat has started to wake up in the past week (.348), but I don't think this guy may every be a big-time fantasy third baseman like I'd hoped. His season numbers are sitting at .241/2/7. His strikeout to walk ratio isn't as bad as I thought though at 10:12.

*Julio Lugo (Red Sox) I thought it might be back to 2005 form for Julio this year in a great spot with the Red Sox but...........NOPE. Batting .271 with 2 RBI and 1 SB isn't going to get it done for Lugo. Drop him now if you have him and find something better.

*Andruw Jones (Dodgers) Andruw Jones officially sucks. .167/1 homer/3 RBI=TERRIBLE!!!!
The Dodgers have to be kicking themselves for giving this bum enought money to buy his home country. Great job with 18 Ks in 54 at bats. If he was half a man, he'd give that money back but I think it all goes to child support.

*Russell Martin (Dodgers) .196/1/5. Martin has started terrible and can't seem to get along with new skipper Joe Torre. He didn't like getting sit down yesterday. It will be interesting to see if Martin can bounce out of this slump.

Notes from a crazy game today

I know this site is "THE WORLD OF FANTASY BASEBALL" and that's why most of you guys have been checking us out. With that said, I want to pass a few things by everyone. I have been a baseball fan all my life, not saying I am an expert on rules and why you do this and why you do that. Well this game had several strange things happen that I just didn't agree with. First, Henry Blanco the Cubs catcher came up with two on, no outs in the fourth, and bunted it foul for the out. This was a situation that simply didn't make sense. He actually was bunting all the way on every pitch. I thought maybe he was trying to fake the reds defense and then would swing away after showing bunt on the first pitch. To make matters all the more strange Ted Lilly was on deck, yes the pitcher was on deck and not in danger of being pulled at that time. I don't think I have ever seen such a thing. Not sure if he did this on his own or missed a sign or what.


Another thing that I will say was just plain stupid was this, the WGN annoucers said that Dave Weathers actually threw at Mark DeRosa when he hit him. It was the eighth inning and the Reds were up 9-2 and you want me to believe that Weathers was throwing at DeRosa, that's so much bullshit. After losing five in a row and the way the ball flies out of Wrigley why would you put runners on base like that. I guess the way the Reds were finally beating up on somebody and the crowd leaving they needed something to keep the veiwers watching. Also if Weathers was throwing at him don't you think Piniella would have plunked a Red in the ninth with the game all but over then.


This next thing that was strange, but not in a bad way, was two brothers pitch hit in same inning. I can't say for sure but I would bet plenty on this never ever happening before in MLB history. Well maybe not a plenty, there were a lot of Alou's playing at the same time years ago. But in the eighth inning again, brothers came in to pitch hit, Corey Patterson for the Reds and Eric Patterson for the Cubs. Tell me the last time you saw this happen.


Now a little fantasy numbers from this game.....Derek Lee, who is on fire, actually struck out three times today. I would venture to say this won't happen many times if ever again this year. I wanted him so bad this year, but just waited to long with two Cub fans playing in our league. I think you could offer the bank for this guy and not get hurt. He is finally healthy again and showing why he is one of the best fantasy players out there.


Joey Votto is hitting .351 and should be the everyday first baseman for the Reds. If he is avaiable in your league you might want to go grab him. Either he plays everyday or Dusty is a moron. Scott Hatteburg is a pretty good player but quite frankly is not as good as Votto and I think if the Reds could move him they would.


Listening to Reds radio before the game, Marty and Dusty were talking about player moves in the near future. Dusty told Marty that as soon as the Reds get back in town he will meet with the GM and go over a few moves that he would like to see get done. This doesn't bode well for Josh Fogg after getting his ass handed to him in his last start. I am not sure if Homer Bailey gets the call or Matt Belisle. Belisle has had three great outings on his rehab assignment and has posted a 3-0 record with an ERA of 1.09 and Bailey is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.29....look for one of these guys to be in Cincinnati as early as this weekend. You could do a lot worse if you need pitching help.


Oh yeah......Jr. hit #596 today.....time to head to Cincinnati and get some right field seats and be the lucky one to snag #600.........GO REDS!!!!!!!!!

And last, the strangest thing that happened in this game......THE REDS WON!!!!!

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Just a short note to let our readers know that this site has now been tested and got the "GREEN CHECK MARK" on Google search engine. We are good to go, and really always have been, but when Google speaks people listen. I just wish I had listened and mortaged my house to buy all I could of their IPO. I am just a minor contributor but the guy that writes most of this blog knows his baseball and always gives you fantasy guys some great info. With that said tell your friends to check us out and get some great fantasy info and general baseball happenings here, best of all it's FREE.