So here we are, on the eve of the Ides of March.  Baseball season is a mere eleven days away.  Don’t know about you, but I’ve already drafted one fantasy team, Sports Grumblings’ entry in the Mixed Nuts expert league.  I have at least three more teams to draft over the course of the next week or so, which only makes me all the more jacked for the baseball season to get under way.  It also means that it’s time for Sports Grumblings’ new column - The Grumble – to get rolling, and I am pleased and honored to be writing the first of what I hope will be many columns for you to enjoy. 

For as long as I can remember, the folks who write about baseball, you know, the professional sports writers, sports talk radio hosts, and the folks inside Major League Baseball, have had little more than a thinly veiled disdain for those of us in the fantasy baseball realm.  Those folks sort of snicker and flat out dismiss the ability of fantasy gamers to assess baseball talent in any kind of real-world meaningful way.  However, keeping in mind that it took years and years for the sabermetricians of the world to be accepted by baseball, I think it’s just a matter of time before the rest of us fantasy folks are welcomed to the table.  Especially since we are now providing a significant revenue stream for the team owners through their various internet ventures that feature the fantasy game.  In fact, the St. Louis Cardinals have already invited us to get into the act.  If you think you know what you’re doing when it comes to evaluating baseball talent, go ahead and give it your best shot.  If this goes well, other teams just might try the same thing.  Wouldn’t that be cool?

Speaking of sabermetricians – the venerable Bill James has launched a new website devoted to his exploration of baseball statistics.  It’s a subscription site, but for just $3 per month you will find a wealth of interesting stuff that just might come in handy.  You will see more in this space about James’ research because I find it fascinating and can’t resist passing some of it on.

There were a lot of folks who thought that all the names that were going to be named came out when the Mitchell Report was made public, listing 88 players that investigators identified as being associated with steroid and HGH use.  A story published in Wednesday’s Boston Globe, seems to indicate that there are more names to come.  A doctor in Northern California is under investigation to determine if he illegally wrote prescriptions for performance enhancing drugs for his patients, including major league baseball players.  The doctor in question is the guy who wrote the prescriptions for Scott Schoenweis and Troy Glaus that were uncovered in the investigation into an anti-aging clinic in Florida conducted by the Albany NY district attorney’s office.  It could be some time before the names are revealed though.  So it appears the scandal is going to be prolonged as well as ugly. 

Albert Pujols is doing his best to convince everybody that he can stay healthy enough to make it through 162 games and possibly the rest of his career without having surgery on his elbow.  Last week, his doctor revealed that Pujols has a “high-grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament with bone spurs, inflammation, and arthritis.”  I also saw a story in the St. Louis newspapers that said the Cardinals have been working Chris Duncan out at first base.  They must think they need a backup plan if they are doing that.  I don’t care what he says; I’m not wasting a first or second round draft pick on him this year.  I hope for his sake that he does stay healthy, but with first base being as deep as it is in fantasy this season, there is no reason at all to take the risk.  Apparently, I’m not the only one who feels this way.  Over at Mock Draft Central, Pujols’ average draft position is 11^th overall and rising.  He’s gone as high as 19^th overall in some drafts.   Keep in mind that last year, his ADP was 1.1, and he usually went no higher than 3^rd.

Lou Pinella’s lineup card for Thursday’s game with the Padres had Alphonso Soriano batting second.  Supposedly, Pinella is discouraging Soriano from running to protect his legs from injury.  Soriano had hamstring problems last April, and they don’t want any problems with Soriano early.  Bad news for Soriano owners hoping for another 30-40 steal season.  He only had 19 last year, and may not get that many this season.  If he isn’t running his fantasy value drops way off.

The Cincinnati Reds appear to have a special pitcher on their hands; a good candidate for the first arm in the Reds organization that Dusty Baker ruins.  Johnny Cueto pitched four solid innings in Thursday’s 3-2 win over the Phillies, giving up just one hit and striking out two while earning a save.  Cueto has electric stuff and has opened some eyes in the organization.  He’s only given up one run in 13 innings of work this spring.  The 22-year-old right-hander was signed as an undrafted free agent out of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic.  Keep an eye on this kid because he’s going places.

Another pitcher I’ve got my eye on is the Rays’ Matt Garza.  He threw four plus shutout innings against the Red Sox Thursdays, his second scoreless outing in a row.  He threw three blank innings against the Yankees last time out.  He’s looking like a nice draft target in AL only, and might even get a little play in deep mixed formats.

So we’re getting to the end of this first Grumble, so let me drop a couple of hints on you.  Once the season actually begins, you will see more fantasy nuggets in my columns, as I will usually mine the box scores to find stuff I want to pass on.  There isn’t too much use in getting wrapped up in spring training box scores, which I find mostly useless.  BTW - My columns will appear in this space every Friday, though I will be back again tomorrow just for laughs.  Finally, before I go, I want to introduce a little feature that I hope to make part of every column called – Stumblin’.  Just little funny things that I find while surfing the internet.

Stumblin’

There was a kinda’ scary story out earlier this week about all the different drugs that have been found in the water supplies of some major cities.  Apparently, the news about drugs in the water isn’t all bad though, as reported in this story about a revived Lake Michigan.  Enjoy!

Got questions, comments, or suggestions?  Email me at TimM@SportsGrumblings.com