www.fantasyfiends.com

I picked up Edinson Volquez last season along with Carlos Quentin as the focus of my trading away Johan Santana. After a blistering start by Quentin, plantar fascitis has severely hindered his production and now he is disabled for at least another month. Volquez also got off to a bad start and was walking the ballpark, while still maintaining his usual lofty strikeout numbers. However, this is not what I had in mind when I traded the best pitcher in baseball. My good buddy James then made the offer of swapping “headache for headache” and offered 2008 17 game loser Justin Verlander, who also started off brutally but showed signs of turning it around. I had my reservations about taking on Verlander but looked at his highly impressive strikeout to walk ratio and pulled the trigger.

The timing could not be better Read the rest of this entry »

So it’s still not looking that good. I’m 10-17. That’s better than 2-7, what I finished April as but still, I’m reeling. What the f#ck. Fantasy sports is so unpredictable. I’m not the proud owner of the Zack Greinke’s, Heath bell’s or Jonathan Broxton’s of the world. Yes, I own Santana, but my next best pitcher is Zack Duke. Zack Duke!! …..for Christ sake. A waiver wire pick up. Still am patch working a 3^rd baseman and weak at DH. Take a look Read the rest of this entry »

Man, sitting Braun in my leagues really killed me last week. In the past, I played my hurt studs only to watch them play on a Saturday and torpedo my week while a serviceable backup would have filled in admirably. So this time, after finding out Braun was going for an MRI, I decided to be circumspect and play Dexter Fowler and Mark Teahen instead, respectively. We play 3 games a week in each league, and it costed me two wins in one and one in the other. The lesson here is that sometimes you can be too careful….

Took a few days off, just was drained, so wasn’t really in the mood to put out second rate writing. To recap, I had a big week in the keeper league (swept 3-0), got the favor returned in the one year league (2-10 on the season) and got beat handily in the ESPN league (2-2 on the season)I mean, there is really much that in the way of superlatives I can say about Greinke that hasn’t been said already. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m strugglin’……

I am a April bottom feeder. After 1/6th of the season I am 2-7. Looking good this week but as of right now, 2-7.

First off the team looks different than when we last spoke…..

Garrett Atkins was attained by trading away BlueJays closer, BJ Ryan, to Sir Headro, who is currently on the mend (Ryan). Atkins is playing so so, clearly not the player he was when hitting behind Matt Holiday and healthy Todd Helton. Adam Dunn and Francisco Cordero were received thru trade; MLB’s best Mexican player, Adrian Gonzalez, and young Kevin Slowey were given in a 2 for 2. I say it’s a wash. I wanted Dunn’s versatility and needed another closer. In another transaction with ‘Fantasy Fiends’ own Sir Headro, I traded for Dontrelle Willis. Who promptly went to the DL with anxiety disorder (thank you Sir). He’s pitching well in the minors though so we’ll see. JJ Putz was given  to Headro as a handcuff for K-rod. After that, Nick Adenhart died (RIP), Zack Duke was claimed off waivers. And finally, the monster trade (biggest of the league so far), I traded the rehabbing Alex Rodriguez for Nick Markakis, Matt Garza & the coveted Max Scherzer. I have been trying to get MadMax from this owner since last year…they knew I wanted him. Garza is a big game pitcher that anyone wouldn’t mind owning (as evidenced by him 1 hitting the Sox last night thru 7.2 Innings, good job Matt). And “Kak” is an emerging top 15 outfielder. The Greek slugger has some speed, power and plate discipline; lovely. I think I did well. Others agree. Some think A-rod will come back on fire, propelling that line-up to it’s rightful position…..ahhh, we’ll see. I know A-Rod hitting next to El Nino’ in that owners line-up is gonna look pretty sweet. No regrets.

Now, why am I 2-7??

1) Brandon Webb being hurt. 2) Cole Hamels being injured in various ways/not catching any breaks. 3) Hiroki Kuroda pitching once in April. Laugh if you want but he’s a reliable pitcher in a big park with a great line-up behind him. I needed his production. 4) No worthwhile production from Chris Young, Johnny Peralta, Alexi Ramirez and Dioner Navarro. What the hell. Ramirez is beginning to produce now but Navarro is still ice cold. Chris Young is a piece of fantasy sh!t and Peralta is over weight and needs to get it going consistently. May brings hope. 5) “The Unit” pitching like ”the pecker” and Pedro not signing with a team (take the incentive deal!!!) 

The sun is rising though…we will rebound. Catch up with you in a month. Good luck

Well, last week didn’t go so well. I mismanaged that Clayton Kershaw lineup decision when the since-dropped Carlos Villanueva’s poor pitching cost me two wins. If I fail to make the playoffs in that league by a close margin, I know I have that particular faux pas to thank for it…. Read the rest of this entry »

I am a little disappointed about the White Sox and the Tigers being postponed since I have a few CWS — Quentin, Konerko, and today’s schedule starter — Johnny Danks. This got me thinking that fantasy owners are blindly allured by the premise that a “two start pitcher” in most cases, any “two start guy will do”. Now, I know all you cynics and haters out there will point to Zach Duke’s complete game shutout yesterday and it does make me look like a schmuck. However, Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Easter everyone!!! It’s been a very eventful week in Major League Baseball. First of all, many top tier pitchers have gotten off to terrible starts and/or injured — Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, CC Sabathia (rebounded with an excellent second start), etc. I am off to quite the inauspicious start myself. I was pretty agitated. I play in three leagues, all head to head with similar scoring systems. In my keeper league and my one year league, we play three games per week, and it looks like I am going to go 1-2 at best in both. In the ESPN league, I am high scorer, so I took care of business there. Read the rest of this entry »

Yes, very sad indeed. I believe I have pretty good perspective usually, but I feel like a scumbag now for complaining about the bullpen blowing leads for my starting pitchers or that “my season’s over” after getting off to a slow start 4 days in! Obvious condolences to family and friends. At least he went out on top after a great start. Stat King brought up a real sobering point, when he noticed that CBS took off “his baseballs” for the matchups next week. Just a surreal feeling. This hearkens back to Darryl Kile passing in 2002, when fantasy baseball and all other trivial things take a back seat, except this time hopefully I am not in a league where assholes crack jokes about it.

Sad.