Each year, I choose a particular team who is, honestly, God awful. The team has to have consistently bad or sub-par seasons with little to no stars. The past few years I have been following the Royals, Nationals, and Pirates, hoping to see fantasy player surprises, game upsets, and playoff pushes. Last year, the Padres went a run with really good pitches and no-name position players.
This year, the Baltimore Orioles are my team to watch. I've always been interested in the Orioles. From the orange and black unis, to legends like Cal Ripken Jr. and Frank Robinson. The last time the Orioles were a threat, they had the power of Javy Lopez, Rafael Palmeiro, in his prime Miguel Tejada, and Mike Mooooosina in the early 2000's. They since have had sub-par seasons, riddled with injuries, bad pitching, and bad free-agent signings (remember when the Orioles signed Sammy Sosa for 5 minutes?).
But this season, I am excited. I look at the lineup, and, on paper, it looks powerful. The infield is good for 80-90 home runs. Derrek Lee, Brian Roberts, JJ hardy, and Mark Reynolds. Power hitters, yes. Injury prone, yes. The outfield is solid with power from Luke Scott and Nick Markakis, with the athletic Adam Jones roaming center. All this offense anchored by up-and-coming young buck Matt Weiters. On paper, this team looks to put up as many runs at the Tigers were projected to back in the day (1000 for the season?!). AND, they signed Vlad Guerrero to DH. Vlad's critics were silenced when he KILLED in Texas. The Orioles' pitching is young, but Brian Matusz is going to be really good and the Orioles bolstered their bullpen with Kevin Gregg. The hiring of BuckSho was a underrated one. Showalter should be able to right many wrongs inside the organization. He turned around the D-backs in the late 90's and did not have enough time to dig Texas out of its hole in the early 2000's. I believe with some better pitchers and youth, he can turn a bottom dweller to a respectable club in a few seasons.
So many home runs, so many runs scored. It's hard to believe that the Orioles will be last in the AL East. BUT, they are in the same division as the Yanks, Sawx, Rays, and the Toronto Lumberjacks. I see Baltimore still ending in last place in the East season, but look for their games won to improve, as well as their HR totals, run totals, and bases stolen. Last season's 66-96 should turn into a record between 75-87 and 80-82. As with the Rams under Mike Martz, the Orioles will be fun to watch, but not the perennial contender they could be with better pitching. All Hail the Greatest Sho on Earth!
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Miguel Cabrera
Instead of just focusing on fantasy primers like yahoo, I am going to devote my writing to baseball topics and then include relevant fantasy info. That seems the way to go so I don't burn myself out this year.
Miguel Cabrera. MLB MVP candidate. Tigers 1st baseman and HR/RBI machine. Dabbler in the drink. These things aptly describe one of the best 1st baseman in the MLB. In essence, Miguel Cabrera has a drinking problem and needs help. With 2 strikes (DUIs) under his belt, he's one strike away from being called out and sent to the slammer. This needs to be fixed, big time. I heard recently that there was talk of Miggy have a "sponser" or teammate to tail him to make sure he doesn't partake in any more DUIs. I don't think sponsership is enough. If I am Jim Leyland, or the Tigers organization, I sit Miggy down and say the following:
"Fix this, or you're benched."
Harsh? maybe. Necessary? Definitely. Miggy is the cornerstone of the Tiger's offense and of the Tigers organization. Players drink all the time. But you NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOU DO SO. Don't drive. It's that simple. Miggy doesn't have the money for a cab? Or a friend can't let him pass out in the back seat of his Escalade? Are Escalade's out of style yet? Cause they should be. Anyway, Miggy is already 28. He's an adult. He should understand the consequences of these actions. But apparently, he doesn't. It cause him to show up late to spring training. He needs to get sober. And fast. With Morneau and Nathan coming back to the Twins, the Tigers are going to need more than Victor Martinez to spring them ahead of the Twins for the Central. They need Miggy's leadership and numbers. And the Tigers won't get them if Miggy ends up in the local jail cell. The Tigers need to AGGRESSIVELY push Miggy to get clean.
As for a fantasy perspective, Miggy's numbers should be amazing as normal. Watch this spring to see how he reacts to the media attention. Let's see if all this attention and drama takes a toll on him. I know he's a big guy, but he was looking kinda husky in today's Braves v. Tigers game. I am sure he will be ready for the regular season and let's see if this second DUI is a driving force for another MVP-type season. He should be a lock for 35 HR, 110 RBI, 90 runs, and a .300+ BA.
Miguel Cabrera. MLB MVP candidate. Tigers 1st baseman and HR/RBI machine. Dabbler in the drink. These things aptly describe one of the best 1st baseman in the MLB. In essence, Miguel Cabrera has a drinking problem and needs help. With 2 strikes (DUIs) under his belt, he's one strike away from being called out and sent to the slammer. This needs to be fixed, big time. I heard recently that there was talk of Miggy have a "sponser" or teammate to tail him to make sure he doesn't partake in any more DUIs. I don't think sponsership is enough. If I am Jim Leyland, or the Tigers organization, I sit Miggy down and say the following:
"Fix this, or you're benched."
Harsh? maybe. Necessary? Definitely. Miggy is the cornerstone of the Tiger's offense and of the Tigers organization. Players drink all the time. But you NEED TO BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOU DO SO. Don't drive. It's that simple. Miggy doesn't have the money for a cab? Or a friend can't let him pass out in the back seat of his Escalade? Are Escalade's out of style yet? Cause they should be. Anyway, Miggy is already 28. He's an adult. He should understand the consequences of these actions. But apparently, he doesn't. It cause him to show up late to spring training. He needs to get sober. And fast. With Morneau and Nathan coming back to the Twins, the Tigers are going to need more than Victor Martinez to spring them ahead of the Twins for the Central. They need Miggy's leadership and numbers. And the Tigers won't get them if Miggy ends up in the local jail cell. The Tigers need to AGGRESSIVELY push Miggy to get clean.
As for a fantasy perspective, Miggy's numbers should be amazing as normal. Watch this spring to see how he reacts to the media attention. Let's see if all this attention and drama takes a toll on him. I know he's a big guy, but he was looking kinda husky in today's Braves v. Tigers game. I am sure he will be ready for the regular season and let's see if this second DUI is a driving force for another MVP-type season. He should be a lock for 35 HR, 110 RBI, 90 runs, and a .300+ BA.
I'm back! For a second...post?
Ok. So I was a lazy bum and only did one blog entry when I created this blog. Work and marriage are alot on your plate when you want to write a blog. But, I am back. And time to discuss MLB 2011!!!
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