More on The Closer Wars The True GURU Vs Cincotta & Melnick

So yesterday I went on The Fantasy Baseball Mafia radio show and hammered it out with Tony Cincotta concerning closers. Tony, at least on the show was in favor of the Melnick position of not necessarily drafting closers. The way he presented this position was to ask me,

"When was Jose Valverde drafted last year?"

"Where did Joe Borowski get picked?"

He even went on to ask me about JJ Putz. I could tell as these questions were being fired at me that Tony was passionate about his position on this subject, but he threw his expertise and his argument out the door when he decided to attack my position with that kind of evidence.

Here's the deal in this argument and it's almost silly. The Melnick supporters will claim you can get a closer later in the draft or in free agency so why draft early at all?

Now let me clarify my position to make sure it's understood because it's clear Tony Cincotta did not understand my position at all. I believe that there is nothing wrong with taking 1 or 2 closers in the top 11 rounds. Then follow that up in the next 15-16 rounds of the draft by taking 2 more closers. So I certainly support taking closers later in the draft, but the difference is I strongly support the need to get a closer who is stable and has a closer pedigree like a Papelbon or Rivera.

So back to Tony's questions on Valverde, etc... His questions were fluff because of the only question I needed to retaliated with was, "Where was Ryan Braun drafted last year?"

AND BINGO WAS HIS NAME.

You see if you want to take the argument that you can find diamonds in the rough for closing, that's a good strategy and a wise one. You must then also admit that you can find diamonds in the rough for hitting. Last year just to name a few rough diamonds Mike Lowell, Ryan Braun, Hunter Pence, Brandon Phillips, and Curtis Granderson.

Then factor in this argument. This whole debate concerns a 5x5 rotisserie league right? So in a 5x5 rotisserie league there are 5 hitting and 5 pitching categories, so at least according to the general numbers its EVEN amongst the impact hitters and pitchers can have on your total score.

Add one more factor into he argument before we form a solution. The save category is a special one. It is the only category that a single specific player can score in. Only the closer can score a save making the closer a special player because no other player on your team scores in single category like a closer does.

So now we've all established that there are closers and hitters out there late in the draft or in free agency. We also established that in the 5x5 league pitchers are just as important as hitters and that closers carry special value with the saves category.

Then what is the issue here? How can you not look at that and say, "Maybe taking reliable proven closers early isn't so bad." But wait there is more. Let's assume you decide to wait, and as we all know when you get into the later rounds, the draft pick choices get slim. All of a sudden starting pitchers and closers seem to jump out at managers looking for a quick pck before their 60 seconds is up and they start vanishing. So if you though you would pick up 3-4 closers in the last 10 rounds think again, you'll be lucky to get 1.

Then consider free agency, will a big name closer develop? Most likely. Will you get said closer in free agency with your high noon draw in free agency, maybe.

So I guess what the Melnick supporters are saying is, "Let's gamble with our team and hope that not only does a dominating closer emerge, but we get him". Let's gamble by ignoring closers and hoping we can right that ship in free agency. LOL.

Sounds like experts to me! Almost like pitch and ditch, does an expert really do that constantly?

Alright, as most of you know I've been running an expert league this season. It is comprised of 12 experts from the industry including Lenny Melnick's partner Paul Greco. Let's examine an expert league and see how the experts have played the closer war.

Statistical evidence from the expert draft:

Number of expert who draft closers in the first 11 rounds: 12 ( 7 of them in the first 9 rounds)

Number of closers drafted in the first 11 rounds: 19

In this league so far the hottest commodity people are looking for in trades in April are CLOSERS. Guess which player is being traded the least and coveted by each team, closers.

So there you have it. the Melnick point of view can work in a perfect world, but in a league of experts where you won't always be the fastest in free agency or the smartest later in the draft its a rookie move and bad advice at best. Maybe Lenny Melnick plays in leagues where he is the far superior manager and can pull off moves like that. None ofthe leagues I play in would let me dominate in that way.

I firmly believe that the foundation of your team is your bullpen and it provides much more than saves. It shortens the big season-long roto match or even the H2H variety by giving you a huge advantage in saves. Great closers save your WHIP and ERA by throwing 10-20 inning's per week (depending on the size of your bullpen). They also add valuable strikeouts. Most closers get 1-2 per outing. Trust me, getting 10-15 strikeouts per week helps a ton in that category.

So take care of your closers because they are taking care of you.

The "Closer War" and the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy

There is a debate in the fantasy community about various closer strategies, and two of the prime combatants are two of the experts in the Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League, Todd Farino and Lenny Melnick. Both are friends of this site of course, so I wanted to put my $0.02 in. Both have valid points.

This is an interesting debate going on, though the strategies are not new or novel in any way. I do not think there has really been enough cogent analysis of the two closer “positions.” The “Melnick” position is that one should never draft closers in early rounds, and often times one should be willing to eschew drafting any closers at all, choosing instead to scrounge in the waiver wire.

The “Farino” position is that the risk associated with the lesser closers as compared to the Papelbons and Riveras is so great that they best guys are worth the early selections. He also thinks that the Melnick position ignores the fact that save accumulation is not the only goal of drafting a closer, and the best guys help in ERA and WHIP so much as compared to the Todd Joneses and Joe Borowskis that the earlier pick is worth it.



You can view the entire article here.

The General is Flip-Flopping in his Own Failure

Wow, that is too funny. Did anyone read Patrick's last post? I mean the guy was thrilled, arrogant, and happier then a girl at her sweet sixteen all because he finally got over the hump of beating little ol' Fantasy Baseball Search. The 6th or 7th overall ranked team and biggest opposed to his strategy. Wow, congrats Joba or should we call you Mr. Chamberlain. You know what I mean, pumping your fist, making angry faces after striking out Joey Gathright in the 8th of a 10-7 game! Yah Patrick, you finally got me, it only took you four weeks. I guest since your a numbers guy your next celebration would be week 8!

Didn't you just say last week;
"does anyone really care about this? we'll see what happens when the water seeks its own level and stats even out."

Wow, what a change of heart my saber math friend. Every once and awhile us Juggernauts have to rest, at least I won my match up this week.

HeeHeeeeee...

FBSEL Report For Week 4

Check out the Report on week 4 of the Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League.

Read about who which players were traded and which players were added or dropped.

Get the details on all 6 matchups!

Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League Report Issue 3

Just Asking...

When is The True Guru going to post about how he defeated the Generals again this week? The Guru was so gung ho the last two weeks to call me out. Can't wait to read about this week's update.

This week the Generals routed the Fantasy Baseball Search weaklings 7-2-1. The only two categories FBS won are the two that we concede every week, K and W. They did manage a tie in RBI though. Psychologically, they will still be feeling ths sting of this drubbing in two weeks, leading to yet another rout in week 6 and hopefully the end of these posts!

When discussing the rout, Fantasy Baseball Search shortstop J.J. Hardy said "it was a rough morning in the clubhouse. Farino came in today smelling of rum and sour defeat." The news was met by an immediate trade demand by FBS reliever Brian Fuentes, who said "can't they put me in a real bullpen? Somebody get me out of this Titanic." When confronted, owner Farino merely said "what the hell is the Titanic, I can't even spell it."

Now that FBS will be moving into the Majors, the East Division, there are storm clouds brewing. One can only hope that Farino lasts longer than Ned Yost this season. It is a grim, bitter future ahead for the FBS squad.

The Generals Face RotoAuthority

RotoAuthority OF Lastings Milledge, dressing for success in the RotoAuthority Clubhouse.

After a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Fantasy Baseball Mafia's stunning performance this week, which was spurred on by the Caligula-like team headquarters in Oregon, and the inspirational romance between owner Evan Dickens and pitcher Brandon Lyon, life doesn't get any easier. This week The Generals take on the team that I voted the best in the league with RotoAuthority.

Offensively this week should be a bloodbath, with two top notch offenses facing off. Who knows what will happen here, both teams are stacked. RotoAuthority has Russell Martin, Lance Berkman, Brian Roberts, Wright, Furcal, Fukudome, Hart and Kemp. Ugh. This is going to be one hell of a battle.

The pitching battle should be "pitched" forgive the pun. The first two weeks my relievers got hammered, but they have now turned it around and are at midseason form. So this will be an interesting test this week, as RotoAuthority's main weakness is the quality of its starting pitching. He has gotten fantastic and unexpected starts from Joe Saunders, Zack Greinke and Tim Lincecum. So far these are three of the best overall pitchers and it is unlikely to continue in Greinke's and Saunders' cases when looking at their skills. The question is when this regression will happen. Hopefully this week!

The balance of his starters are very good but no real aces aside from maybe Javier Vazquez, with Kideki Kuroda, Todd Wellmeyer and Greg Maddux. The Generals should have an advantage in relief with its stable of closers and LIMA relievers facing off only against Matt Capps and Jon Rauch.

I can say that we are just hoping to survive this week at close to .500 and within striking distance of first. After this week we expect to have a huge win, very likely 8-2 or better, in week 6.

My Weekly Predictions for Week 5

The Homepage has been updated for week 4.

This is going to be great week (5). We have some fantastic match ups. The games of the week are:

Roto Authority Vs. FB Generals - Tim and his little band of troublemakers are going into the house that MIT built. This looks to be pure power vs. power, brain vs brain match up. The GURU feels the sun shines on the Generals this week. 6-3-1 Generals.

FB Search vs. Melnick & Greco - The rivals meet in their first match up of the year. We don't doubt that Paul is itching for a chance to burn Todd after all the defeats the GURU has handed him. However, the GURU sees Greco's pitching failing and offense performing meagerly. A tight match, 5-4-1 Fantasy Baseball Search.

Other great match ups
Fantasy Fanatics at Mock Draft Central - Geoff and his aces try to continue their winning ways against a weaker Fantasy Fanatics team. Dan's Fanatics haven't been able to get on track even though they won in week 4. Mafia wins this 7-2-1.

Rotodoc at Pro Fantasy Games - This will be an underrated and fun matchup to watch. These two teams are built in the same fashion, RAW BALLS. Pro Fantasy Games' team is getting better after stalling, and Troy's doctors showed major weakness in week 4. This is all Pro Fantasy Games at home 6-4.

Baseball Geeks at Fantasy Baseball Geeks - Another rival match up between the only two men I know proud to call themselves GEEKS. Who is the better Geek? Both teams showed great improvement in week 4, but this one goes to Rob, not Sean. Baseball Geeks 7-2-1.

Fantasy Baseball Mafia at Junkyard Jake - Here is my upset of the week. RC is poised for a win and Evan's Mafia has yet to show it's true self. He's traveling to "The Junkyard" and very few come out alive. Look for the Overrated Mafia to falter to Junkyard Jake 6-4. Way to go Junkyard.

Good Luck!

Wow, this feels different!

So, I enter into the weekend's games with a 9-1 lead over Melnick and Greco. The bottom line is that my pitching is carrying me, but I am finally playing a team whose offense hasn't taken a recent injection of fantasy HGH.

Rather than competing with 14 HRs this week (what each of the teams I have played have hit against me), Greco's squad is hitting a measly 2. There are a number of deadlocked positions, so this is a much closer match than it looks. BUT, Greco seems to be resorting to throwing even the kitchen sink against me, and this is going to make or break my week.

I suspect that A. Galarraga (who knew the old guy could pitch?), Dempster, Weaver, and crew will win him the strikeout category. I was hoping that Billingsley's weird game yesterday would get Greco scrambling, and it seems that it has. His focus is on getting more strikeouts by simply throwing more innings. That's well and good, but I think it will help me to take WHIP and ERA, while giving him Ks and wins. I have saves locked up.

Unlike last week, I don't need to resort to pitch and ditch, I don't think. We'll just have to wait and see. I do have some interesting things to think about. Smoltz is facing the Mets, and is due for a hit to his ERA. Verlander is throwing against the Angels, and he has been anything but solid so far. I might just choose NOT to pitch either to preserve my current WHIP and ERA stats.

All in all, even if my team tanks in the weekend, I am happy to have changed the course of my previous weeks by entering into the weekend with a monster lead. This feels good. It feels like a new set of balls! A new set of BIG balls if I am not going to throw Smoltz and Verlander.

Brandon F***ing Lyon....

Evan Dickens and Brandon Lyon enjoying a day in the sun.


I am beginning to understand the depths of Evan Dickens' avowed homoeroticism for Brandon Lyon. Said Evan, on the FBSEL homepage:

Let me tell you guys something, I am a happily married man, but I am this close to going gay for Brandon Lyon.

Lyon is seriously the bane of my existence right now. I have been strident on my opinion that he will lose the closer job and will be poor this year. An opinion echoed by the way by Evan's former co-host Tony Cincotta. Well, apparently Evan had a nice chat with Lyon while they were swimming away in la-la land. Lyon is abso-freaking-lutley killing me this week. He has three saves, leading Evan to a rout in the saves department, and has been untouched all week in the walks and runs department. Lyon may make the difference between a win and a loss this week.

Good call Evan. Whatever you said to Lyon while you were cavorting in the nude worked, at least for this week. Now I just have to find Heath Bell's address so I can take him cavorting...

Come read my thoughts on Lyon at The Fantasy Baseball Generals.

"Quent"in Rome use your Shields

There were some eye-opening drops yesterday that prompted me to quickly grab up the players and then search the injury wires to determine if there were injuries that led to the drops.

Carlos Quentin for Chad Gaudin and Scot Shields for Derrick Turnbow.

I guess I was the lucky recipient of a Mafia Pitch-and-Ditch-Move and a Guru need for saves.

I mentioned on last week's BaseballGeeks podcast that I wasn't yet convinced with Quentin, but the power potential in that dump called Comiskey is too great to pass up or let go of for now. And, Quentin made me sleep better when he hit a HR after I picked him up. Homeruns rarely feel good when they are hit on my bench, but that one did.

And, as for Shields... a sub par year for him so far, but as I sort of half-agree with the DiCaprio school of head to head strategy (I think it makes a lot of sense to play a lot of solid middle relievers) it made perfect sense to snag Shields. He has certainly been one of the best of the lot for the last three or so years.

I wanted to DRAFT Shields, in fact. So, this move feels good, too... and both of these guys get immediately placed in my line-up.

Once again, I'm locked in a tight race with Melnick & Greco. That is all I will say on that issue for now. :)

The General Failed in Planning....

Oh Patrick (Fantasy Baseball Generals) I love your usage of big words with little meaning. Even better your hope and positive outlook on the season is sharp enough to cut butter.

One thing the mighty genius our resident General forgot to plan for is my draft strategy, a strategy I plan to unveil in a few days at www.fbbible.com . He may have planned for a vicious dominating bullpen, but he did not plan for a well balanced aggressive team that won't let up.

You see while Fantasy Baseball Generals waits to see his plan work like other failed military leaders have he forgets that while I've only dominated 3 weeks and there is still a long season he can't overlook several FACTS which I will list:

1. I've shown that he can be beat consistently.
2. I've built myself a lead to work with and not a hole to dig myself out of as my opponent throws dirt on me.
3. As Patrick's team struggles with mediocrity and its struggle to get back to a league power, my team to has struggled yet I sit in first place. What happens dear Patrick when I get John Lackey and Rich Harden back? Or when Robinson Cano, Andruw Jones, Carlos Beltran, and others actually start hitting. How tough will I be then?
4. My bullpen as been a disaster yet it beats yours? What I imagine will happen when Corpas and Valverde settle down?
5. Then there is my solid bench that isn't much yet. JJ Hardy, Kelly Johnson, Adam Jones, and Matt Diaz will hit, and when that happens, how will you defend that?

You see Patrick we are all struggling early in the season, and our struggles are equal. So when your team heats up and it will, I don't fear it. Cause my team will has well, and I promise you the wrath of James Loney will come down on you!

Admit defeat and retreat to a new strategy, one of legitimacy.

Commitment and Planning

Despite the best efforts of The True Guru, one cannot extrapolate from three weeks to the entire season. Water will always seek its own level, cream will rise to the top and the Fantasy Baseball Search will drop to fourth place. Though Todd suggests that the Generals rethink their strategy, this ignores both commitment and planning.

Perhaps the most famous story about commitment is the story of Hernan Cortes. Cortes was charged with taking over Mexico with a band of a few thousand soldiers facing up against the millions of Aztecs. His men were naturally scared to fight, and wanted to merely steal some riches and then go back to Spain.

Charged with his duty and fully committed to conquest of Mexico, Cortes had to devise a way to focus his soldiers on the overall goal. So, he deliberately dug holes in all of his ships but one, which all sank. Then his men had a choice they could take the last ship home or stay and fight. Of course when put on the spot they all stayed, and Cortes eventually succeeded despite overwhelming odds.

Cortes was willing to risk everything out of absolute commitment to his plan. If he was willing to do that then certainly the fantasy owner can have some patience and be committed to their plan. Commitment to a plan is to be commended and is an absolute necessity if you want to win or at least avoid the pratfalls that can come with early season jitters.

The full article addressing this is below:

http://www.fantasybaseballgenerals.com/2008/04/commitment-and-planning.html

Weekly Report For Week Three

Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League Weekly Report
Vol.1 Iss 2
Contributors:
Todd "The True GURU" Farino, Patrick "The General" DiCaprio
This was a wild week 3 in our expert league. We had very close match ups and some surprises as well. The two match ups of the week went down to the wire and were decided in the last game Sunday evening. Checkout the results of Fantasy Baseball Search Vs. Fantasy Geeks and Fantasy Fanatics Vs. Fantasy Baseball Generals.

Trades this week: Pro Fantasy Games traded Derek Lee and Derek Lowe to Melnick and Greco for Brandon Phillips and Chad Qualls.

Notable Free Agent Pick Ups:
Players Added:
Players Dropped:

RotoDoc.com 5
Melnick And Greco 4
Troy over at Rotodoc.com played his team to near perfection earning a big win this week over Melnick and Greco (M&G). Even know he was over matched offensively he managed to win both runs and stolen bases relying on key speedster Jacoby Ellsbury who had an amazing 9 runs and 4 stolen bases this week. That alone won him both those categories. M&G's power slid this week and only managed 4 home runs, which was a tie, but managed to take both RBI and average with .284. The key batters for M&G were Chris Young and Victor Martinez.
On the pitching side Rotodoc pulled out a 3-2 victory taking saves, WHIP and ERA. He had an outstanding week from Jonathan Papelbon with 3 saves along with Huston Street coming out with 2 saves. His starters also performed well with Haren and Ervin Santana notching 3 wins. IN the end it wasn't good enough to stop Paul Greco and his "Pitch and Ditch" strategy who got 6 wins and 37 strikeouts to take those categories. Paul managed to get 6 wins from six different picture's. Felix Hernandez was a star in this one get 8 K's and a 1.00 ERA in his win.

Overall this match up was very tight and could have gone both ways. Rotodoc held off Melnick and Greco's furious pitching attack and still grabbed 3 categories and would have swept the categories if it wasn't for Paul pitcher streaming. Good job to both of you.



Fantasy Baseball Search 6
Baseball Geeks 4

This was one of if not the best match up of the week. It literally went down to the wire to decide if the game would be 5-5 or 6-4. Everything depended on Brad Lidge coming out for his save Sunday night. If he gives up 1 or less hits, Fantasy Geeks wins WHIP, if he gives up 2 or more hits/walks Fantasy Baseball Search retains WHIP. He did give up a walk and a hit. Even know FBS only won 3 offensive categories, he had his best offensive output for the week and ended up crushing his opponent in home runs hitting 14. His offense was led by Chipper Jones and his 4 home runs and .565 batting average. Hanley Ramirez and Josh Willingham also had a great week for me. On the flip side Fantasy Geeks won batting average big with a team average of .335 and also narrowly won runs 43-40. Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Guillen, G. Soto, and Tori Hunter led the way for the Fantasy Geeks.

On the pitching side it was much the same, but much different. Both fantasy owners replied on pitcher streaming to round out their rotations, and the mistake proved to be costly for Fantasy Baseball Search and ended up losing me ERA. FBS easily won saves, but after that nothing was an easy win. I pulled out WHIP 1.43 to Rob's 1.44. Just as close was my 2-1 Wins victory. My pitching staff was guided by great starts from Fausto Carmona and Oliver Perez. Kerry Wood chipped in two perfect innings and a save to notch the WHIP category.


Fantasy Geeks threw 6 starting pitchers and only managed 1 win from a great performance from John Smoltz. Smoltz and Harang combined for 24 of his 49 strikeouts as he easily won that category 49-30. He also took ERA thanks to a rogue and stupid start of Braden Looper by Fantasy Baseball Search. Overall this was an extremely close match up that came down to quick and smart manager moves. Rob made the better moves late, but Todd's smart play early forced Rob's hand into desperation.

Fantasy Baseball Geeks 7
Pro Fantasy Games 3

Enter Pro Fantasy Games. In his first match up taking over on Tuesday for the junkie Stoney's Lounge he got slammed by the surging Sean Sultaire of Fantasy Baseball Geeks. FGB's lost two close categories in home runs and RBIs along with average. After that he did not look back. winning runs and stolen bases. Pro Fantasy Games out slugged him with the help of Derek Lee and Alex Rodriguez. FBG's ripped stolen bases 7-1 led by Jose Reyes and Carlos Gomez.

Pitching was a shutout for Fantasy Baseball Geeks 5-0. He clearly dominated all 5 categories and did it with stellar pitching from Rich Hill, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Adam Wainwright. Also, Billy Wagner and Frank Rodriguez saves an astonishing 7 games that week between them! Pro Fantasy Games pitching struggles and managed only 2 wins and 3 saves. Todd Jones was effective this week, but Clay Buckholz and Derek Lowe were awful. This was a match that Sean Sultaire held from the beginning and never relinquished.


Roto Authority 6
Fantasy Baseball Mafia 3

The luster is clearly off the FBM squad as my number one overall team gives them a licking. Facing the specter of a rout this week, Evan Dickens decides to leave the Wiretap radio show in order to prepare for his eventual demise in week 4. So far RotoAuthority is the best team in the league.


Brian Bannister and George Sherrill were the culprits this week in the FBM loss. Bannister had a 9.00 ERA and 2.00 WHIP as he comes crashing back to earth after a hot start. Sherrill was even worse with a 16.875 ERA and a 2.625 WHIP. SHerrill has traditionally had problems with right handed hitters, aside form a fortunate 2007 with a mere 76 righty batters faced, so it is possible that his tenure could be short lived. This would spell fantasy disaster for the FBM squad, who this week face the Powerhouse Fantasy Baseball Generals team.

RotoAuthority is right now the class of the league, facing the top notch competition of the East division with aplomb. They were one homerun and two RBI away from a complete rout of the team touted by RC Rizza and Todd Farino as the best team in the league.

Mock Draft Central 6
Junkyard Jake 4


Despite his well reasoned pleas and the fact that MDC's logo is a giant pear, RC's entreaties lead only to a moral victory. MDC is looking very tough so far as their top starter and speed strategy has vaulted them to second place in the tough division. RC's team puts up a very fine showing, and helps out the rest of the teams in the Major League division as he keeps Mock Draft Central in everyone's sights.


Still this was a solid showing and wake up call for the Junkyard Jake squad, as they faced one of the Titans of the league with a strong showing. In many weeks Jake would have routed his opponent, he just happened to run into a tough matchup. Jake's plucky squad even beat the vaunted speedsters of MDC 8-7 in steals, with even Conor Jackson pitching in to help the cause. This could have been an 8-2 victory against many other teams.


MDC's pitching heavy strategy is looking very strong so far, as even John Danks, Jair Jurrjens and Cliff Lee, all of whom were waiver bait in the preseason have turned in shining performances under Geoff Stein's leadership. Who knows if it will continue, but MDC has the horses at the top of the rotation to be a contender every week.

Fantasy Baseball Generals 5
Fantasy Fanatics 4


Thanks to Chase Utley and a two homer game, the Generals eke out a victory in the Major League division. Said Utley, "I am tired of hearing my owner made fun of by Todd "Boston Rob" Farino." The Fanatics offense wakes up and gets 4 HR from Manny Ramirez, as the Generals' reliever strategy flops again.


This was a hard fought matchup all week with both teams struggling for ground all week. Despite getting a promotion to the closer's job, Generals' wunderkind Rafael Betancourt is facing some bad luck so far, with a 38% hit rate that will go down henceforth. More leaks are apparent with Takashi Saito having a very rough week with a 13.5 ERA and a 2.5 WHIP. Saito is fine skills wise though with a 2.84 xERA and is beset by a 50% strand rate. So it looks like the Generals are primed for a rebound in the luck department in the near future.

The Fanatics are off to a slow start at 8-19 but they are looking to rebound soon. They were hurt by Mark Buehrle, about whom all should be concerned, and by Chien Ming Wang who just ran into a buzzsaw this week. Buehrle has an xERA of 5.18 and is within normal limits in strand rate so it could be a long season for him. One analyst even predicted Buehrle to have an ERA close to 5.00 this year.


Overall this was a close week for most teams and it doesn't get any easier this week.

Fantasy Baseball Search Defeats Fantasy Baseball Generals 3rd week in a row!

Patrick DiCaprio over at Fantasy Baseball Generals had better rethink his strategy for the expert league. not only has his bullpen only strategy led him to a record of 15-13-2, but he has fallen every single week so far to Fantasy baseball Search and is now 0-3 in head-to-head match ups with The True GURU. Our total record against each other is 18-11-1 in favor of Fantasy Baseball Search.

Week 4 Preview-Generals versus the Mafia

Mafia First Baseman Prince Fielder in the good old days.

This week promises to be a very close matchup as the Generals take on Prince Fielder and the Fantasy Baseball Mafia.

Getting ready for this week I admit my surprise at how close these teams were, though I guess it shouldn't have been a great surprise, as RC Rizza of Junkyard Jake had us number one and two in the league in the preaseason separated by a mere one point. I will list the FBM guys first:

Catchers-Buck vs. Johjima. This is a close call, but I will give the nod to the Generals only because of Johjima's contact rate, which lessens his volatility.

First Base-Fielder vs. Pena. Despite Fielder's new found vegetarianism, he gets the edge. That said, the Mafia squad should be embarrassed to have a 250 pound vegetarian at first. So the Generals' win on general manliness, though FBM gets the nod on the field.

Second Base-Kinsler v Utley. Utley is on fire and merits a large edge right now. However Kinsler is starting to gel and had a great week last week with a 1.50 BB/K rate and a CT rate over 90%.

Third Base-Ryan Braun v. Aramis Ramirez. This may be a lot closer than it might seem, though I give the edge to FBM. All of Braun's flaws last year that he sidestepped are apparently coming home to roost. He is still showing good power but has a 3% walk rate and a 25% hit rate. That 25% is a nice counter balance to the 37% last year if you subscribe to the theory that it should regress to around 30%. Ramirez is exactly the opposite, an extremely consistent player in the skills department who should hit 30 HR and close to .300. This is far closer than many people think, in my view.

Shortstop-Tejada v. Mike Young. this is an interesting matchup as these are two players who are very different. Tony Cincotta, the FBM consigliere to manager Evan Dickens, believes Tejada will hit 25 HR. Young is an absolute line drive machine, the AL equivalent of Todd Helton with a bit less power. This is a draw. Young is off to a slow start and will hopefully rebound this week.

OF-Rios, Francouer, Bay vs. Crawford, Ordonez and Abreu. We have a nice speed advantage this week I think, as Crawford should far surpass anyone on the FBM squad. These are two very good outfields, though I think the Generals' outfield gets a very slight edge. Bay is looking very good and has NOT been a fluke so far, so he may well rebound from 2007. Rios and Francoeur are both off to hot starts as well, so the FBM team is looking good. Ordonez is starting to show signs of life and a big week from him will go a long way.

I won't even address starters since they are irrelevant.

Relievers- Lyon, Nathan, Sherrill vs. Betancourt, Rivera, Saito and Wilson. This can go either way though the Generals have the edge in numbers. Sherrill has been lights out so far. The difference will hopefully be Brandon Lyon getting shellacked, which would be poetic justice if you have followed the story of Lyon this year between me and Evan.

Should be a great matchup as once again there are no easy pickings in the Major League division. We are just waiting to make it through the divisional matchups so we can eat up the AAA division of the league.

Quick Summary of Week Three

Generals defeat Fanatics 5-4-1-Thanks to Chase Utley and a two homer game, the Generals eke out a victory in the Major League division. Said Utley, "I am tired of hearing my owner made fun of by Todd "Boston Rob" Farino." The Fanatics offense wakes up and gets 4 HR from Manny Ramirez, as the Generals' reliever strategy flops again.

Fantasy Baseball Search edges Baseball Geeks 6-4-Turning to the marquee matchup in the AAA division, Rob's funeral dirge on his podcast fails to turn the tide as Farino's plucky squad wins another close victory. Reed, in an interview after the game said "I knew I should not have listened to those gorillas at the zoo, though to be fair I mistook one of them for Tim Dierkes."

Rotodoc beats Greco 5-4-1 Greco's team obviously was rattled by the release of Chad Cordero following on the heels of the stunning trade of its clubhouse leader Carlos Lee. No one can fault Greco for his rotating door strategy as he got stats this week from 14 different reserve players. Cordero, obviously miffed, said "Screw that pretty boy owner, now I am going to play for his arch enemy Farino." Rotodoc is looking like the class of the AAA division as they are tied with Greco and Fantasy Baseball Search at the top with a 17-11-2 record, getting the nod for the win over Greco.

Fantasy Baseball Geeks rout Pro Fantasy Games 7-3 The league gets the questionable benefit of having yet another Farino in the league with Pro Fantasy Games, who takes over the team from Stoney's Lounge. Promptly getting hammered is not a good way to start the league, but then again this is an owner who said that Ryan Braun could be the best player in fantasy baseball this year. Sean Sultaire says "Welcome to the league beyotch."

Mock Draft Central beats Junkyard Jake 6-4 Despite his well reasoned pleas and the fact that MDC's logo is a giant pear, RC's entreaties lead only to a moral victory. MDC is looking very tough so far as their top starter and speed strategy has vaulted them to second place in the tough division. RC's team puts up a very fine showing, and helps out the rest of the teams in the Major League division as he keeps Mock Draft Central in everyone's sights.

RotoAuthority beats Fantasy Baseball Mafia 6-3-1. The luster is clearly off the FBM squad as my number one overall team gives them a licking. Facing the specter of a rout this week, Evan Dickens decides to leave the Wiretap radio show in order to prepare for his eventual demise in week 4. So far RotoAuthority is the best team in the league.

Brad Friggin Li(vin' on the E)dge and Tony Pen(is not mightier than the sword)á

[Brad] li(vin' on the e)dge
You can't help yourself from fallin'
[Brad] Li(vin' on the e)dge
You can't help yourself at all
[Brad] Li(vin' on the e)dge
You can't stop yourself from fallin'
[Brad] L(ivin' on the e)dge
          -Aerosmith

I was excited when I learned that I had a chance to force a tie with Fantasy Baseball Search until I learned that I was relying on Brad Lidge to bring me to that promised land. Sure. He pitched 6 scoreless this season before tonight. He has looked pretty dern good in the closer role. And, I was some .01 points away from the Guru in WHIP.

Pená had already done a number on me by looking awful. Fortunately, this was countered by Guru's Jose Valverde... so, with an inning of 1-2-3 closer-stuff from Lidge, I might have been able to gain the ground for a 5-5 or 4-4-1 tie for the week.

Relying on Lidge only made me think of his last seasons with the Astros. Which meant: I felt he was due to CRUSH me.

He started inning 9, with this stat: The three batters to face him - Damian Easley, Jose Reyes, and Luis Castillo -- were a combined 0 for 13 against him. This, of course, gave me every reason to doubt that Lidge would help. When Easley swung fast and missed at what would have been ball four on a 3-1 count, I was mildly optimistic...

...until Lidge threw a ridiculously low fastball to career-hitting .252 Easley, thereby walking him. BASTARD!

Then, to add salt to the wound, I had to watch what would have been a double play groundball to short by Jose Reyes get knocked off Lidge's mitt for an infield single. I swear: it almost looked like Lidge did this on purpose. I was sure that he looked to the outfield camera and winked at me.

As is now history, Lidge got his save... but he put two on, and ruined my chances all in one shot. I secretly wished that Eric Bartlett missed the Beltran groundball that would have brought in the tying run.

And, suddenly, I'm having thoughts of wishing that I had something that Lidge would want and taunt him with the possibilities, like hanging a carrot in front of a rabbit's face... and then I would take it all away, as I winked at HIS ass.

And, to my wife, who is salivating at the possibilities as she is looking over my shoulder at Brad Lidge's ESPN profile photo: NO, YOU CANNOT BE THE CARROT.

Week 3- America, the choice is clear

America, as week 3 in the Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League draws to a climatic finish, Junkyardjake.com is asking for your support in it’s quest for victory number #1 in the 2008 season. It’s been a dogfight all week against Mock Draft Central’s very formidable squad, and it comes down to today. Victory is within reach, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. With your support, and maybe 3 HR’s from Conor Jackson, as well as a 2-hit, 12 K shutout from Mike Pelfrey in the Sunday night game, we can emerge triumphant, scoring a victory for downtrodden fantasy baseball underdogs everywhere. Remember, a victory for Junkyardjake is a victory against the tyranny of a Mock Draft Central pitching staff that somehow has 85 K’s, a 2.5 ERA, and a 1.02 Whip through current action, I mean how is that even possible?



So America, why should you support us in our battle against Mock Draft Central this week? Actually, if we must say so ourselves, the choice couldn’t be more clear, let’s look at the facts:



Exhibit A- MockDraftCentral is represented by a 6,000 pound pear with huge scary teeth, bad breath, bad manners, and a platform that will undoubtingly increase porkbarrel spending, possibly raising your taxes by 15% or more. In contrast, as you can see, Junkyardjake.com is just a friendly banana that likes to party. He is also pretty good at karaoke, and always brings his own liquor.



Exhibit B- MockDraftCentral is coming to crush your house, and cause serious property damage. That’s just what 6,000 pound pears do, it’s an indisputable scientific fact. Junkyardjake.com is a trustworthy friend who is more likely to help you paint your house, not crush it. In fact, after we finish your chores, maybe we can bake cookies, and ride on my imaginary unicorn.

So you see America, the choice is simple. If you prefer cookie parties and unicorns over property damage and an inevitable hike in your taxes, please support Junkyardjake.com in week three. Thank you.

Baseball Geek Vs. Fantasy Baseball Search Big Sunday Night Showdown

Here it is Rob, I have the 7-3 lead, but that is deceiving to say the least. Here is how I would call it after Saturday.

Lock Categories:
Fantasy Baseball Search: Home Runs, WHIP ERA. Odds are I'm not throwing another starter and Harang isn't going to be enough.

Baseball Geeks: Strikeouts, Batting Average.

Near locks:
Fantasy Baseball Search: Stolen Bases
Baseball Geeks: None

The rest of the categories are up for grabs. Unless Rob starts two pitchers or gets a bullpen win the best he can do is tie in that category. Saves is wide open, but being up one save with three closers I feel good about it.

I have a comfortable lead with 4 RBIs, but its not enough to clinch. The Baseball Geek leads by 2 runs and that is something I intend to overtake tomorrow, by starting every run scoring machine I have.

My prediction 6-3-1 Fantasy Baseball Search.

I had a blast watching Baseball Today

Man guys, if you don't have the MLB TV Package you have to get it. Today was a fun day for me watching baseball and my team. Of course I was watching my Red Sox/Yankee game, but in between Mussina's 2-minute pitches and the Red Sox cranking him I turned and watched Carmona and Floyd pitch great games. I also flipped and watch Chipper Jones hit 2 home runs.

The best part of this whole day was after listening to Rob's podcast thinking he has me this week at 2-5 I stormed back to go into the week series knotted up at 4-4.

Great day for the Red Sox and great day for my team. If it wasn't for the Chicago bullpen and Corpas sucking again, I'd have a 6-4 lead. Oh well, tomorrow.

The True GURU

The Fanatics vs. the Generals

Fanatics' Mike Lowell Makes An Error

The Generals are looking to rebound after their decisive defeat at the hand of Geoff Stein and Mock Draft Central. Todd Farino described it as our "Waterloo" but it was much closer to our "Deliverance."

The Generals pitching staff is having a strange week, letting up lots of runs with a good WHIP, losing ERA and winning in WHIP. As usual we are losing Ks and Wins, but winning saves. Offensively it has been a strong showing as the Generals' offense rebounds from its poor performance last week. Generals' utility man Mike Jacobs said "I have no idea what this guy is doing, we have no starting pitchers and he is keeping me on the bench while I hit 6 HR." After a locker room confromtation, Jacobs' demand for playing time was met and he was activated over Jermaine Dye.

Fanatics' owner Dan Cypra has been been pulling a Howard Hughes, holing up in a Las Vegas hotel wearing kleenex boxes for shoes and gorging on banana ripple ice cream by the gallon. Cypra could not be reached for comment. However a represntative said he was being treated for "exhaustion" and would be returning to "fantasy baseball related activities" shortly.

Check out the Fantasy Baseball Gurus radio show this week as the leagues resident funny man Rob Reed will be a guest.

The Big News This Week Is....

The resurgence of the scrappy young guns from Junkyard Jake and Baseball Geeks. Apparently moved by their manager's removal of towel privileges and his installation of peepholes in the locker room, his team has kicked into high gear. Jake's men are fighting strong against the powerhouse squad from Mock Draft Central, fighting them to a 4-4-2 stalemate so far.

The key to the resurgence this week has been Miguel Cabrera, who so sadly let RC down in weeks one and two. Moved by a heart to heart talk with RC, in which RC was bellowing and crying as he did after seeing The Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants, Cabrera promptly hit a homerun and avowed that he will singlehandedly carry his team to victory.

Another team looking to vault out of the cellar is the Baseball Geeks, and what better tonic than to face the "players" from Fantasy Baseball Search. Rob's beloved Geeks are slapfighting their way to a victory against the FBS squad. Taking a cue from Bill Veeck and Lou Boudreau, Rob's team devoted a Memorial Service to C.C. Sabathia of the Fantasy Baseball Search by bringing out a coffin. Todd Farino, attending the service, said "well, at least I have Doug Brocail to take his place."

It will be a fighting finish, and the entire country, nay the world, are rooting for the plucky RC Rizza and Rob Reed to hold on and rack up a W.

About my metaphorical-Kate-Moss-Sumo-Wrestling-Monster

Head to head fantasy baseball is a lot like sumo wrestlers fighting with the cunning use of mini-sumo-wrestling babies.



We fantasy players are the whining babies, and the sumo wrestlers are the fantasy players that we drafted with the idea that they would carry us to the promised land of fantasy baseball supremacy.

My problem is that the "sumo wrestler" that is carrying my whining ass is super thin. Like Kate Moss thin. And, Kate Moss the sumo wrestler might make a good sumo-costume model. She might even make a good sumo-stripper. But, let me tell you from first hand experience, that she can't play baseball for sh*t.

My fantasy juggernaut that is the metaphorical, sumo-wrestling Kate Moss is led by number one pick Miguel Cabrera, who taunts me in my sleep. I have the recurring nightmare of his fifth inning shot off Gil Meche in Game 1... It was Miguel Cabera's way of taunting me. "Look what I can do, Rob!"

And, then he waited 12 games to show me again.

I got slaughtered in Week 1, but it was a close race until I blogged about the series. Then, my team taunts me on the first day of Week 2 against Rotodoc, where I have probably the best single day of any team in this league. And, then, I couldn't let sleeping dogs lie. No. I had to blog about the "tight" race between me and Rotodoc... only to watch Rotodoc run away with it, while my metaphorical-Kate-Moss-Sumo-Wrestling-Monster decided to take time out to eat a sammich and take a nap.

Another 8-2 loss.

So, I sit here on Wednesday, once again deadlocked... this time, with the True Guru.

And, I have resolved to say NOTHING further on the subject, as sort of a blogger's version of leaping over the third base chalk line at the end of the inning or the blogger's version of brushing my teeth between innings.

I have to try something different.

Aha! Idea! I'm taking my metaphorical-Kate-Moss-Sumo-Wrestling-Monster out for a Big Mac, fries, and large chocolate shake! Eat it, Kate! PLEASE!

RP's Vs SP's The Generals Lose at Waterloo!

In the war of strategies in this league of experts, our good friend the General has already lost several battles and is being pushed back into his own lands.

The age old fight between keeping a pitching staff of relievers as opposed to having some quality start pitching was put to the greatest of tests in week 2 when Fantasy Baseball Generals faced off against Mock Draft Central. This colossal match up featured the best bullpen against the best starting pitching. The end result? A 7-3 trouncing by Mock Draft Central. Score one for the Federalists. OK, I'm watching too much of the HBO series John Adams, but this match was bigger than it seemed. First off, it proved my theories correct that when you hand off two categories your are setting yourself at a major disadvantage going into the fight. Unless the rest of your team plays near perfect, you won't win 6 categories. That is what happened to Patrick. He was suppose to win 4 offensive and 3 pitching categories and win 7-3. By surprise to all of us he lost SAVES. His team was slow that week. He also lost every offensive category but home runs. So giving up wins and strikeouts looks bad cause he only lost by 18 strikeouts and 4 wins. If Patrick had started 3-5 pitchers he could have won at least strikeouts.

The other setbacks his mighty army has faced is losing to my team two weeks in a row. Week 1 5-4-1 in my favor, week 2 6-4. So, not only was he unable to win the ultimate RP Vs. SP match up, but he has yet to defeat my team H2H and stands at 8-11-1 against me so far.

Its a long war at least till October, and we will see how the Generals react to their stunning Waterloo defeat, and how they adjust to being average at this time.

Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League Weekly Report Vol.1 Iss 1

Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League Weekly Report
Vol.1 Iss 1


Contributors:
Todd "The True GURU" Farino

This was a very exciting week in the FBSEL (Fantasy Baseball Search Expert League). Not only did we have our first trade in league history, but we had a very nice upset on one of the favorites to win it all. Add to that some nice comebacks for teams that started slow in week 1.

First Trade Between Melnick & Greco and Fantasy Baseball Geeks
Sean from Fantasy Baseball Geeks gave up Carlos Lee and Chad Qualls for Melnick and Greco's Josh Hamilton and D. Matuzaka .

Notable Free Agent Pick Ups:
Players Added: Dana Eveland, Jason Kendell, Jorge Cantu, Matt Garza, Cliff Lee, Edgar Gonzalez, Wandy Rodirguez, Randy Wolf, Joe Crede Peter Moylan, Jonny Gomes, Joe Saunders, and Derrick Turnbow.

Players Dropped: Scott Rolen, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Gary Matthews, Ramon Hernandez, Austin Kearns, Justin Speiers, Kazuo Fukumori, Chris Snyder, Barry Bonds, and Andrew Miller.


Melnick And Greco 4
Stoney's Lounge 4
Melnick and Greco squared off against the hot Stoney's lounge. Both teams came in with big week 1 wins and they settled for a tie at 4 a piece. This match wasn't much for competition this week. To start the average category was won my Stoney's Lounge by less than .002 points, but sadly he won with a team batting average of .2265. That shows you how bad the teams performed at least from an offensive stand point when the team winning batting average is that low. Melnick and Greco's team despite a combined .225 average did pound out 8 home runs led by Bill Hall hitting 3 home runs out of the 4 hits he had. Chris Young and Brandan Phillips also added in solid performances. Stoney had a much better week from an offensive standpoint with grerat performances from Vernon Wells, Hideki Matsui, Derek Lee, but he also had some terrible plays like Freddy Sanchez batting .091, Alex Rodriguez .207, and Troy Tulowitzki .111. Since both teams had bad weeks offensively, the key offensive category in this game was stolen bases and Melnick and Greco took that easily 4 to 1 and with that outscored Stoney's 3-2 in the offensive categories. Pitching was much better for both these teams and much more even. Both team respectable WHIP's and ERA's, and strikeouts. Stoney's recorded an impressive 61 strikeouts this week to M&G's 45. Overall Stoney's took pitching 2-1 with ties in saves and wins. The key to Stoney's pitching wins were Cole Hamels, Derek Lowe, and Jason Isringhausen. M&G had solid success with its pitching with a great week from Brian Wilson, but his itching to grab new starting pitcher over and over again hurt him this week and cost him at least 1 loss.

A side note to this match up, Paul Greco trading Josh Hamilton and Dice-K cost him 1 win and 1 tie this week. He was only without the players one day, but if he had kept them that one day instead of 4-4-2 he would have been 5-3-2.

Fantasy Baseball Search 6
Fantasy Baseball Geeks 3

This was a very tight match up and several categories went down to the wire including home runs, WHIP, and ERA. In a last ditch effort to garner some wins Fantasy Baseball Geeks (FBG) got a late home run from Garrett Atkins to pull a tie in that category, but newly acquired Daisuke Matsuzaka failed to lower his team WHIP or ERA and in the end went down 6-3-1. Fantasy Baseball Search (FBS) by the hot bat of James Loney and his .391 batting average and 2 home runs. Hanley Ramirez also broke out with an outstanding week. While Chipper Jones and Akinori Iwamura provided more offensive help several players did not including Kelly Johnson, Matt Diaz, and Carlos Beltran. Those performances made it possible for FBS to win batting average and runs. FBG's also had some outstanding offensive performances from Adrian Gonzalez, Jeremy Hermida, Nate McLouth, and Garret Atkins that led him to win RBI and Stolen bases. The end result was a 2-2-1 split on offense.

Pitching was a disaster for both teams across the board. FBS's bullpen was raped and the stand outs were Jose Valverde and Jeremy Accardo. On the flip-side FBG's lost KROD most of the week and his two appearances were forgettable. In the end The True GURU took pitching 4-1.

Mock Draft Central 7
Fantasy Baseball Generals 3

This was not only the best match up of the week, but it was also one of the most hotly contested. In the end Mock Draft Central (MDC) dominated Fantasy Baseball Generals (FBG) with a 7-3 win, but the inside story is what is interesting. The battle here was the top starting pitching staff in the league vs. the best bullpen. The winner this week was the starting staff of MDC. Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb led the way and carried the load for Johan Santana who had a tough week. He also recorded 5 saves with Joakim Soria, Eric Gagne, and Kevin Gregg. FBG's team did dominate ERA and WHIP as expected with a well pitched bullpen, but in the end no saves for Rivera, Soriano (15-DL) or Saito. The end result in pitching was a 3-2 win for MDC. On the offensive side the tough times continued for Patrick and the FBG's squad even know they performed well. He squad was led by Carlso Pena and 4 home runs. Aramis Ramirez and Mike Jacobs had good performances. In the end the offese belonged to MDC with Brain McCann, Paul Konerko, Aaron Hill, and our main man Chone Figgins with his 4 stolen bases. In the end MDC won offense 4-1. A great match up for the ages.

Fantasy Baseball Mafia 8
Fantasy Fanatics 2
Fantasy Baseball Mafia (FBM) did not disappoint after a tough week 1. Evan Dickens came out with guns blazin' in week two against the slow starting Fantasy Fanatics. The great thing about Evans dominating win this week was he did it with only 1 home run between Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. The Brewer combo also combined for 5 hits in 48 at bats. Jason Bay had a breakout week with 3 home runs and a .381 average. Miguel Tejada got into the act as well for FBM with a .429 batting average and 5 RBI. FF tried to match up offensively with great performances from Eric Byrnes, Dan Uggla, and Manny Ramirez, but in the end FBM took offense 4-1 only losing average if you can believe it. Pitching was about the same and dominated by FBM. He recorded 5 saves and 5 wins nailing down those two categories. Joe Nathan, George Sherrill led the way on saves and Brain Bannister scored Evan 2 wins in one week. On the flip-side Dan got solid pitching out of Josh Beckett and Roy Halladay, but his weak bullpen caved in and only got him 3 saves, 2 from Trevor Hoffman. When the dust settled Fantasy Fanatics was only able to pull out WHIP and lose 4-1 in pitching.

Roto Authority 8
Junkyard Jake 2
Roto Authority just simply has a great team. He's in first place in the very tough East Division at 14-4-2. He easily dispatched Junkyard Jake's team and most likely would have any team he faced. With a team batting average of .3oo Tim's team pulled out 8 home runs, 43 runs, and 8 stolen bases. His only weakness on offense was RBI (28) and that was the category Junkyard Jake (JJ) was able to win. Roto Authority (RA) won thanks to Lance Berkman, David Wright, and Rafeal Furcal. RC is still reeling right now, but had outstanding performances from Matt Holiday and Nick Markakis. Grady Sizemore is coming around and when those three are hot together they can carry a offense. For this week, he lost 4-1. On the pitching side, same story for RA. He won every category, but WHIP and that was lost by only .03 points. He put together 8 wins and while only recording 3 saves it was enough. Greg Maddux and Javier Vasquez were great for him this week. For RC, not much to report on pitching Carlos Ambrano let him down along with the rest of his staff. Credit has to be given for the fact that is staff kept it close. This team could very well be a sleeping giant. WAKE UP ALREADY!

Rotodoc 8

Baseball Geeks 2

Rotodoc came back strong after a close loss lat week and laid into Rob over at Baseball Geeks. Rotodoc just exploded this week getting 9 of his 14 home runs (not a typo) from Pujols, Peralta and Burrell. Even Ricky Weeks added in 2 dingers. Baseball Geeks (BG) tried to keep up, but lost with 13 home runs! Mark Renyolds, Tori Hunter, and Orlando Hudson provided 7 of them. In the end FB was only able to win runs and lost 4-1 in the offensive categories. On the pitching side it was much tighter and almost unfair to Rob. Rotodoc had masterful performances from Dan Haren (2 wins), Ben Sheets, and 3 saves from Houston Street. Rob countered with John Smoltz and Aaron Harang, but in the end Chad Billingsley may have lost several categories for him going 0-2 with a 6+ ERA and a 1.9+ WHIP. That killed him. The end result, 4-1 win for Rotodoc with Rob winning only strikouts. That is a tough way to lose when his team played so well.

Second Straight Week The True GURU Defeats The General, 6-4

Again, we didn't play each other, but if we did, I got Mr. Patrick DiCaprio again with my well drafted and played fantasy team. In week one it was a little closer at 5-4-1, but this week I pulled further away with a 6-4 win making my total over the doctor of fantasy baseball strategy 11-8-1 in the 2008 season.

The True GURU

Evaluating The Hamilton/Dice-K For Lee/Qualls Trade

Melnick & Greco recently made a trade with Fantasy Baseball Geeks. Let's take an objective look.

The Geeks receive Josh Hamilton and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Melnick & Greco receive Carlos Lee and Chad Qualls.

Though competition for waiver wire closers has been fierce in this league, I have to rate Qualls as a non-factor in this trade. The fact remains that he is a third-in-line closer, and plenty of those are freely available. So in my mind, it's Lee for Hamilton/Dice-K.

My preseason dollar values had Matsuzaka at $22, Hamilton at $8, and Lee at $21. These values don't fit with their draft positions, but that's because Matsuzaka, as a starting pitcher, is riskier than Lee.

Hamilton is off to a solid start, but more importantly he hasn't shown any signs of injury. My $8 projection calls for just 425 ABs; if Hamilton gets 550 ABs that changes to $17 and the Geeks win the deal running away.

Risk must be considered in evaluating this trade though. In a way, Melnick & Greco reduced risk by moving Dice-K and Hamilton for the very safe Lee. I like that. But the Geeks' risk is spread among two players, and Matsuzaka hasn't had any recent health problems.

In subsequent waiver wire moves, Melnick & Greco added Dustin Moseley and the Geeks cut Todd Wellemeyer.

I think you can see where I'm going with this...the Geeks won this swap. Of course, time will tell.

Week Two Summary

Courtesy of the Strapping young men of The Fantasy Baseball Generals.

Here is a down and dirty summary of the league results this week.

Mock Draft Central beats Fantasy Baseball Generals 7-3. Ugh. Miguel Cabrera is hitting like he is on the Junkyard Jake squad and Magglio Ordonez’ hair is starting to affect his swing. There aren’t any better explanantions are there? MDC’s starters get shellacked and he still wins. MDC seems to be a strong contender. Our division is shaping up like the AL East and the other division looks like the Eastern League by comparison.

On the good side, The Generals were added as one of the "fantasies" over at Babes Love Baseball. So even though we lost, we have hot women as admirers. Take that!

Greco ties Stoney’s Lounge 4-4-2. Just goes to show that looks do not a fantasy team make. You could not have two more different looking people than Paul “Pretty Boy” Greco and Stoney. This was a hard fought battle that came down to the wire. Greco adds Carlos Lee to his squad looking to El Caballo to round up some more points.

Fantasy Baseball Search beats Fantasy Baseball Geeks 6-3-1. The feel good story of the year so far is the plucky Fantasy Baseball Search team, tearing up their division despite questionable managerial judgment. Todd Farino is leading his team to the top, despite mispronouncing Robinson Cano as Robinson “Canoe.” J.J. Hardy, on his team’s manager: “He can’t spell my first name even if I spot him a J.”

Rotodoc trounces Baseball Geeks 8-2. The Baseball Geeks’ Player Track system continues to take an early beating. Thankfully their manager is an S&M enthusiast, so look for the team to continue to get flogged every week.

Roto Authority edges Junkyard Jake 8-2. RC has to whip his minions in line, taking away thier towel privileges. Strangely, RC is now frequently seen hanging around his team’s showers. With another showing like this, RC may be demoted on the radio show from “Co-Host” to “Janitor.”

Fantasy Baseball Mafia crushes Fantasy Fanatics 8-2. The Mafia squad rises to the challenge in honor of the departure of their owner from The Wiretap Radio Show. Said Mafia stalwart Brandon Lyon, “Thank God he is gone; I was afraid to start my car after I kept blowing saves. Hopefully I will lose the job soon so I don’t have to worry.” Mafia first baseman Prince Fielder, now a vegetarian, will have to get his calorie laden pasta dishes elsewhere. I hear Tony Cincotta makes a mean lasagna.

What To Do With Your Slow-Starting Fantasy Baseball Team?

You’ve got scouts in the field, you closely monitor the training regimen of all your targeted players, you make sure they don’t get arrested for public intoxication during spring training, so why does your fantasy baseball team suck after the first couple weeks ?

Really, no matter how carefully you prepare for your fantasy baseball draft, you still might find yourself stuck with a bunch of early under-achievers. The key thing to remember is that it happens, it’s a long season, and there is really no reason to panic because you can always replace the most egregious slackers on your team with players that can get the job done off the waiver wire.



There is no need to lose your head if your fantasy baseball team gets off to a slow start, but if you must throw furniture, you can't go wrong following the near-flawless furniture-throwing technique of lengendary professional lunatic Bobby Knight

For example, after our week 2 dismantling by RotoAuthority.Com , Junkyardjake.com has now turned in two completely disastrous efforts. Besides actively replacing bums like Jason Bergmann and Felix Pie with waiver substitutes, we are also instituting some stricter rules as we head into week three in the FFSearch Expert League:

1) Everybody on my fantasy team needs to produce some sort of identification, because it is clear that I didn’t draft some of these guys:



I'm pretty sure that this is not the team I drafted. Who are you guys, and what have you done with Matt Holliday and Brett Myers ?

2) No more loud disco-music in the lockerroom. I had to be firm on this one. This isn’t the Ice Capades.

3) No more free towels, until we manage to put together a winning week. That’s right, I said it. In fact, if you bat 0 for 4, towels cost double,

I know that these new rules are a bit harsh, but I can’t have a bunch of disco-dancing fruitcakes running around the locker-room slapping each other with free-towels like they just won a gold-medal in the Sissy Olympics. It’s time to get down to business.

A tale of two Stoneys

There's an amazing weekend finish brewing between me and Rotodoc. We're tied in FOUR categories... and not just the W/SV variety. Yes, we are tied in the W category with 1 each... but we are matched, also, in HR, RBI, and SB. And, I am only 1 R up. It will be a fun and exciting finish.

As I am having trouble in just about all of my fantasy leagues this season (Sabathia is on two of those teams), I wanted not only to be able to whine about it (that is always fun), but whine about it with evidentiary proof that I had simply been the victim of horrifically bad luck.

I wanted to be able to say that Rotodoc had a BAD week last week, so that if the teams were switched, and I played Rotodoc last week and Stoney this week, then I would have won both games.

But, alas, Rotodoc would have beaten me 6-4 in Week 1. Boo.

Fortunately, Stoney come to my whining rescue. Were I playing his team, he would be entering the final two days of play behind me 3-6-1.

In order to match his output last week, here is what Stoney needs in two days of play: 9 HR, 11 RBI, -.250 or so lopped off the WHIP, 2 W, 30 Ks, .045 added to his BA, and 9 R. Could happen. But, I doubt it.

So, let me go on record to say that if only I was playing Stoney this week, I would have only lost Week 1, 4-6 (rather than the embarrassing 2-8), and I would have kicked Stoney's baseball-loving ass this week!

Let me end with this thought: it is not how you play or lose, but how you WHINE the game.

And, oh yeah. It was most fun watching Raul Ibanez go 3-3 with 2 HRs last night while sitting on my bench.

WAH!

The Medusa Touch

We've all heard of the Midas Touch. But I think I have the Medusa Touch when it comes to pitchers this year. I know it is early but this is getting ridiculous

Oswalt, Hughes, Rich Hill, Bonderman, Lester, K-Rod, Fukumori. Plus the 2 pitchers I tried streaming in Week 1. (Maybe this is my payback for streaming)

If anyone has any of these pitchers in other leagues, I apologize. And I might as well apologize for Gallardo now.

I never thought I had a top rotation but I thought it was a