Adam Lind is keeper material for 2009.
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So that’s it. The fantasy baseball season is done. Over. Yeah there are the MLB playoffs but what good are they when you can’t stream pitchers to max out those innings? That’s when you know you’re addicted. If you’re like me, after playing this game for the past 6 months you’re saying to yourself “Now what do I do?”
Well there are the other sports. And I know how you feel. They just aren’t the same. They make for a nice diversion but they just don’t feel like ‘home’. In my opinion, fantasy baseball is still the most involved of the fantasy games. I’m sure you can argue this from every sports perspective but I truly feel the statistical analysis that goes along with baseball is second to none. Success in football has a lot to do with luck of the draw; specifically, a lack of injury to your stud players and weekly head to head matchups. Basketball is all about who gets the minutes on the court at the end of the day. There are players that contribute in multiple categories but they can do so mainly by being on the court. Hockey is mostly about having good goaltending as most skaters contribute scoring and penalty minutes. Baseball however, combines the 3 sports. You have to watch match ups with your pitchers. You have to keep an eye on who’s called up and whether or not they will get playing time. Even better, you have to speculate if a player will be productive with that playing time. Consider all of this and the fact that you still have to ‘ride the streaks’. Baseball can be won or lost by gutsy adds and drops of cold players for hot players. Anyway, I’m not trying to slam any of the other games. They are all great, but baseball gets my vote for being the most involved and interesting of the games.
Try and keep up here as I’m going to switch ‘channels’ (ok, sports) a few times. You’re going to want the remote back. I flip channels between pitches.
We’ll start with baseball keepers. In case you haven’t been listening or have never read my Grumble before, we were discussing keepers almost every week for a while. Now, get a pen and paper… or if you live in the new age, copy and paste these names into a file and save that file for next year. I’ll save you some time and energy by NOT forcing you to re-read my previous writings by summarizing right here. This is my “Guys With Upside Who Might Make for Good Keepers In the Spring” list. Ok, got that pen? Really? Come on, grab the mouse, man it’s a TON easier. Seriously, just a right click and then a Control-V on the keyboard. What, you’re still doing your league draft with sheets of paper while scratching them off a list? This is the new generation man. We like to have our drafts done in an hour tops. Anyway, on to the prospects and/or young players with upside.
In no order at all:
Travis Snider: Proved he can he hit major league pitching down the stretch. Look out in 2009.
Adam Lind : Blue Jays first. That’s right!
Brandon Wood : There is something here. It may just be the power however he stole a few bases down the stretch for a team that likes to run a lot. I wouldn’t give up on him just yet.
Dexter Fowler : Top prospect and WILL get playing time next season. Completely ignore his current paltry MLB average. He hit for big average in the minors and has some brewing power. The main reason you want him is for his speed. Think Carl Crawford.
Mat Gamel : I’m guessing the Brewers trade him. All he did this year in the minors was hit for high average and power.
Ian Stewart : His 2nd base eligibility plus his 25 home run power could make him a popular sleeper next year.
Carlos Gonzalez : Natural athlete with a solid minor league batting average. Should hit for power and run modestly.
J.R. Towles : If Houston gets him some at bats I can see some solid production next year.
Matt LaPorta should get time next year in Cleveland. Where, I’m not sure, but keep a close eye on him.
The obvious: David Price. You’ll ‘pay’ for the name in every draft next year. Fortunately, he’ll likely be worth it.
Again, I’ve listed most of these guys in previous Grumbles. If they are sitting out there in your keeper leagues and you can still make roster moves grab them. If not keep the names in the back of your mind for next year. Or right them down. Or save the trees using the aforementioned copy and paste.
Let’s flip to hockey, as some of you are focussed on drafts right now:
You, like me, are looking for defensemen who you can get late in a draft and WILL produce. I’m talking scoring defensemen who are truly undervalued. Matthieu Schneider just landed the power play quarter back gig in Atlanta after being traded there recently. He’s older, but he’s playing with the enigmatic goal scorer that is Ilya Kovalchuk on the power play now. My sleeper pick for defensemen this year is Kris Letang who via injuries to Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney now lands the best power play job in the league. He’ll saddle up next to power play cowboys Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Perhaps you’ve heard of them? Letang put up very strong numbers before being called up to the Penguins. Think big point and power play point totals. Gonchar is basically done for the year, so Letang should still see time when Whitney returns somewhere in December. Ryan Suter and Craig Rivet also make for great late picks. Rivet is the only power play the Sabres really have. Suter is more of a gamble as the Preds have Shea Weber and Dan Hamhuis who will end up with power play time. However, Suter showed a lot of offensive promise last year and had 70 PIM as well. He’s a former 1st round draft choice. .
You want undervalued forwards? Try Saku Koivu and Martin Havlat. Yup they are injury prone. They will miss games. However, they are both entering contract years. They are both talented players who rack up modest PIM and play with a lot of talent around them. I’ve discussed motivation in Grumbles before. Contract years and injury prone yet talented players sometimes netsexceptional results. For reference, please look up Ben Sheets and Rich Harden of baseball fame.
Lastly we’ll check out the NFL Week 5 tidbits:
You might as well grab Mewelde Moore. What? Who’s he? Come on this is a football site right? He’s the only man left standing for the Steelers game versus the Jaguars this weekend. If you’re short in the backfield you could do a ton worse.
Speaking of last men left standing, my pick up for this week has to be the Ravens L’Ron McClain. He’s a big bruising running back who should get the majority of the carries and goal line touches especially now with McGahee possibly missing more time with injured ribs. Don’t count out Ray Rice yet. However, he’s been far from effective when given the ball.
How many of you are loving that Jets/Cardinals offensive mess that likely won or lost you a head to head match up this week? It’ll be like Ronnie Brown’s performance a week ago, that a few people lost match ups because they had Laveranues Coles and his 3 receiving touchdowns on the bench. I thought the Browns/Bengals game was going to end up with this score. Speaking of the Bengals, my call on waiting on Carson Palmer is looking pretty poor right now. I’m still holding out but that’s simply for his upside and lack of legit options in my leagues, which all start 2 quarterbacks. If you’re in a single QB league of about 10 teams, I’m going to bet there are better options out there right now.
Whew. That’s some fantasy sports variety right there! I could add some NBA coverage but I think that’s all I can muster this week. Check out Hockey Grumblings for more help with your upcoming fantasy hockey drafts!
