All hail the King!

Something tells me this past spring training when the Mariners were lining up their pitching rotation and the Red Sox were lining up theirs that Felix Hernandez figured out that he'd be the starting pitcher for Dice-K's first Fenway start and said that he wasn't going to be playing second fiddle to anyone. At least he went out and backed up that thought.



There was a breaking pitch that he threw in the second inning that literally made me say me say outloud "The Red Sox don't have a chance,". And they didn't. Hernandez dominated in a way that makes every remember just how good this kid is going to be. He could eventually win a couple of Cy Yonug awards, I mean he's only 21 years old. He won't win as many games as Dice-K will but he could win 12-14 games with good strikeout numbers and a good mid three's ERA.



But Dice-K is going to be the story this season. Don't forget he also pitched well. He gave up just three runs and threw over a hundred pitched in just his second outing. You may have missed it but this wasn't your average opening for Dice-K seeing as how it was probably the most eagerly anticpated in Japanese history. I'm serious when I say that I think he's going to win 25 games this season. Sorry the best show in the the world The Office is about to start so I have to go. Though 30 Rock is closing in.

I'm back

I said I'd be back today and I'm back. I am happily watching my brand new special edition of Major League. What a great movie. Charlie Sheen, unlike Tim Robbins, could actually throw the ball and looked like a real pitcher. OK onto the other positions. But before I do another great outing today by Josh Beckett. I can't tell you how important it is for him to get off to a great start this year. If the Red Sox staff can develop the the cockiness they need early they should be scary. Dice-K is going lead the league in wins this year and if the Red Sox can hit at all they'll be in the playoffs but I degrease finally, for further proof of how good the movie I saw this weekend,Grindhouse, was take a look at the new Rolling Stone cover below.



Awesome!

Now onto the shortstops.
Stephen Drew
Orlando Cabrera

This was a tough position for me this year and I don't know why. There were tons of great shortstops out there and I took a pass on almost all of them. The shortstops I ended up with the most on my teams were Stephen Drew and Orlando Cabrera. I wanted Jose Reyes going into every draft I went into. I got him once. I didn't want to overvalue Hanley Ramirez because I felt he was going to drop off from his great performance from last year. I've had Jeter a couple of times over the past few years and he's fine, but maybe because he's a Yankee he's just not fun for me. So my shortstop drafted was usually Stephen Drew. Drew had a great callup to the majors last year hitting .316/.357/.517 with 25 extra base hits in 200 at-bats. Drew has a boatload of upside so I guess that's what I'm taking the chance on. I thought about possibly taking Julio Lugo but it turned out to be there was a Red Sox fan that took him in every one of my drafts. So what did I do I took the shortstop that everyone in Boston still loves. Orlando Cabrera. People may not remember how good a season he had last year driving in 72 runs and stealing 28 bases.

David Wright
Mark Teahen
Alex Gordon

Um so where is the mystery here. I guess there is none. Wright's a great player with power, speed and defense. Well so are Teahen and Gordon. I'm in two keeper leagues and I've kept Wright for years now. I interviewed Wright when he was in the minor leagues and this kid, at that time, just was a major leaguer and you knew it. There was going to be absolutely awesome and there was no stopping him. And there hasn't been. Chalk up another awesome season for Wright. Who's the player Wright is most often compared to? That would be the younger version of himself Kansas City Royals' third basemen Alex Gordon. Like Wright, Gordon is going to be am absolute star, barring injury. I wouldn't be surprised if he 25-30 homeruns this year. So if I think that why would I also pick Kansas City's Mark Teahen the player that Gordon
replaced? Because he's in the outfield this year. And he's still third base eligible. And because he lead in home runs. And because unless you have someone pretty smart in your league he's probably sitting on your waiver wire as I write this.

Grady Sizemore
Barry Bonds
JD Drew

Some big names here. I love Grady Sizemore. It astounds me that most people have no clue just how great this kid is and is going to be. The guy had 92 extra base hits and stole 22 bases. He plays great defense and he hits at the top of the lineup in front of Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. This is an early comparison and I don't know if it's entirely just but Sizemore reminds of......Dale Murphy, the two time NL MVP. He's a quite guy who just performs every aspect of the game correctly. He's awesome. Now onto the not-so awesome other members of the outfield. I hate Barry Bonds. I hate him. I read the awesome Jeff Pearlman book "Love me, Hate me : Barry Bonds and the making of an Anti-Hero,". If I had to guess I'd say probability 98.999 % of that book is right on. I have as much doubt that Barry Bonds knowingly took steroids as I do that Pete Rose bet on baseball. I hate him. But seven homeruns this spring and no one in fantasy wants him. The guy can hit. He could always hit. He can still hit. Healthy he could hit 35 HR's. Here's the thing for me I could have had A-Rod in a couple of drafts but I wanted nothing to do with him. Why? Because he's a whinny little pampered b-----. I make the most money of anyone in major league baseball, I'm the most talented player in the history of baseball but New York fans and Derek Jeter don't love me anymore. So despite what I knew was going to be an MVP caliber season I passed. Bonds at least Doesn't seem to care about what anybody thinks. And he doesn't play for the Yankees. Which brings us to the Red Sox egmatic outfielder JD Drew. Even Red Sox fans are down on him. But I'm betting he at least starts off having a good season. Enough so people start to change their opinion on him and settle down at which point he'll tank. But I do have to say that Theo is a pretty smart guy so many he can stick for the whole season. Tomorrow I'll wrap up with pitchers and get onto to Dice-K mania.

Things I thought I knew before draft day.

Hi everybody. I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Sorry I haven't been around for awhile but let's just skip that. Two quick things first off I saw two movies this weekend and both were awesome, Grindhouse and Blades of Glory. Grindhouse in particular was just a very fun movie if you know what it is going into it. I recently completed my last of five fantasy baseball drafts and as often happens when drafting several some things became readily apparent to me. Things I didn't know that I had thought soon came to light.

First off catchers who are going to have good years:
Joe Mauer, MIN.
Chris Iannetta, COL.
Mike Piazza, OAK.

Mauer, may not be likely to hit .347/.429/.507 again, but he's still by far the best all around catcher in baseball. Victor Martinez is great, but his defensive problems won't let him stay at catcher for that much longer. Mauer because of how good he is defensively will be catcher for longer unless the Twins move him to the infield to save his knees. I need a few more seasons from Atlanta's Brian McCann before I'll give him the crown. Iannetta, the Rockies young catcher, has raked throughout his career in the minors and seems likely to have a strong rookie season this year. Since every other position in the history of the Rockies has had at least one player hit for power you have to figure the Rockies should be do. He's off to a bad start so far .133/.188/.200. His defense means he'll stay in the lineup while his bat catches up. Mike Piazza playing for Billy Beane in Oakland is a no brainer that should once again turn out great for the A's. Following the script he wrote last season when he gave Frank Thomas a chance to put his money where his mouth was Beane once again paid a minimum for a Hall of Fame bat seeking redemption. Piazza last season hit .332/..372/.564 when not playing in the pitchers heaven of Petco Park so moving into a position as Oakland's full-time DH should allow him to stay in the lineup more consistently and allow him to hammer away.

First base
Derek Lee CHC
Ryan Sheely KC
Todd Helton COL

Derek Lee was a top three first basemen last year before his injury cost him most of last season. The fact that the injury was a freak accident, a runner ran into him means it shouldn't cost him time this year. People seem to be forgetting how highly they Lee last year. He's a forty dollar talent going for mid-twenties. Why not take a role of the dice. If the Cubs are truly capable of contending I think it will be due more to a healthy Lee rather then Soriano or any of the Cubs other new editions. Sheely who was blocked in the Colorado system by Todd Helton put up sick numbers while playing in the Rockies system to the tune of .319/.408/.591. Sure the numbers were inflated by the Colorado effect but they still deserve a chance off of the waiver wire. On to the blocker himself: Todd Helton. I know he's not what he was three years ago but don't forget the guys been injured the last few years and he still manages to get on base and play some gold glove caliber defense. You the Todd Helton and you think fantasy god. He's not that guy anymore. But he's a very cheap alternative who should put some pretty decent numbers. Imagine if he does get traded how much he would want to prove to everybody that his wasn't just a Coors Career.

Onto second.
Howie Kendrick
BJ Upton
Chase Utley

No one should be surprised that Utley's on the list because he is by far the best second basemen in baseball right now. He hits. And he hits. And he hits. He hits for power, average, drives in runs and can even steal a few bases. In Philadelphia's offense he should pile up RBI and runs. Given the right situation he could win the MVP award in the future. I said earlier that I have five fantasy baseball teams. On those five teams I have approximately two second basemen that play everyday. On two of them I have Utley and on the other three I have Howie Kendrick (though on one of them I have Robinson Cano playing middle infield). Kendrick is awesome. He is a pure hitter who is going to win at least a couple of batting titles at some point. How can I say that? Try .361/.405/.570 in his minor league career. He's also right at the age were he should be exploding. Upton.......I'm pissed at the Devil Rays this year. Upton before the season started was ticketed to be the Devil Rays answer to Chone Figgins and Ryan Freel meaning he would play all over the diamond and would steal a ton of bases. He's hitting the hell out of the ball right now and he should have a great year but I'll be missing the versatility.

Tomorrow I'll do the rest of the infield and outfield.

Tomorrow!!! I'll be back

Fantasy baseball draft thoughts and thoughts on the start of the season.
Get ready.