Thursday, July 31, 2008

Manny Comes to the Dodgers

ESPN is reporting that Manny Ramirez will be a Dodger for the next two months.

Though the trade has yet to be officially announced, ESPN says that Manny goes to the Dodgers, the Dodgers send Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to the Pirates, Boston sends Brandon Moss and Craig Hansen to the Pirates, and the Pirates send Jason Bay to Boston.

Seems like the Pirates got a pretty decent haul of prospects.

I honestly don't know whether to be excited or scared, but my first instinct is leaning towards fear.

Why did the Dodgers get another high-priced outfielder when we can't play all the ones that we already have? I assume that this means Andre Ethier will sit, and I can see them playing Andruw Jones over Juan Pierre now that they have Manny. With a slugger in the middle of the lineup, the Dodgers might feel that they can drop Jones in the order and continue to give him at bats without the pressure of producing runs.

It seems that their best outfield would be Manny, Ethier, and Matt Kemp, but it's hard to say how Jones and Pierre would fit in.

But why give up LaRoche for two months of Manny? I'm assuming it's going to be two months of Manny, since I can't imagine the team would give him the last big contract that he wants to end his career with. Actually, I can imagine Ned Colletti and Frank McCourt giving Manny $25 million a year in a misguided attempt to create headlines. But does he turn the Dodgers from a pretender to a contender?

Manny does not turn the Dodgers into a World Series contender. He gives the team a legitimate shot at winning the NL West, but the Dodgers still have too many injuries and offensive problems to seriously compete in the playoffs.

The Dodgers traded away their third baseman of the future after only giving him 152 at bats over the last two years. Less than a third of a season's worth of at bats is not nearly enough time to figure out what a player is worth, especially a prospect of LaRoche's caliber. The Dodgers weakened themselves for next year for some headlines and a chance to lose to the Phillies, Mets, or Cubs in the playoffs.

Thanks a lot.

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Monday, July 28, 2008

5 Weeks To Go

- We have five weeks left in the regular season before the playoffs starts; let's look at three teams fighting for a playoff spot.

Macafeys - 86-77-7 (tied for final playoff spot)
Balls - 84-75-11 (tied for final playoff spot)
Dinos - 77-84-9 (8 games out of final playoff spot)

With just five weeks to go, there isn't much time left to gain ground, but the Dinos do face the Macafeys once more before the season ends. With a strong showing against the Macafeys, the Dinos could pass them up for 7th place, just outside of a playoff spot. The Balls have the easiest schedule, with three matchups against teams out of contention.

The Balls and the Dinos just made a blockbuster trade, each time trying to fill a need as they head down the final stretch. The Balls traded Albert Pujols, Robinson Cano, and Bobby Abreu for Ryan Howard, Chone Figgins, and Joe Nathan. The Balls are losing a lot on the offensive end, but they do gain back a premier slugger and an elite closer. With Joe Nathan, the Balls have upgraded their bullpen immensely, previously having to rely on Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman for saves. Even without Abreu, Pujols, and Cano, the Balls still have a formidable offense.

The Dinos have nearly gutted their bullpen, with Troy Percival as their only closer, but they have recharged their offense. Even when hurt, Pujols is still one of the best closers in the game, but the Dinos may have hurt themselves next year if Pujols has to miss most of the season because of surgery. Cano looks like he's shaken off his first-half slump, and he's now slugging .554 this month. Abreu gives the Dinos another decent bat in the outfield.

Will this trade help the Dinos overtake the Balls? Well they have more offense, and they should hit for better average, especially since they won't have to carry around Howard's .237 batting average. The Balls are a more well-rounded team with the addition of Figgins' speed and Nathan's saves. I think the trade was pretty even, but I'll say that it's not going to be enough to push the Dinos past the Balls.

- Taking a look at the trading block (which is a nice idea, but I wish Yahoo would make the presentation a little more user-friendly), the Dinos are offering up Corner Infielders and Outfielders for Starting Pitching. The Macafeys have Roy Halladay, Rich Harden, and Shaun Marcum on the trading block, and they are looking for HR and RBI. Let's see what could work for them, maybe J.D. Drew for Rich Harden or Carlos Beltran for Roy Halladay? I don't know, I'm just speculating.

- Carlos Guillen has more walks than strikeouts this month, and it's helping; he scored 12 runs last week and has 19 this month.

- Miguel Cabrera is going off this month; 13 RBI last week and 26 in July.

- Waiver Wire Watch: For those in need of a catcher, Ramon Hernandez has started to produce. He has an OPS of .814 so far in June and July.

For those looking for a pitcher, Bronson Arroyo has a WHIP of 1.12 in his last 33 innings.

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

First Half MVP's and Cy Young Winners

Since it's halfway through the season, I thought I'd take a brief look at each team in my Yahoo fantasy league and see who their MVP and Cy Young winners are for the first half. I tried to avoid picking players that were picked up after the first month or who spent significant time on the DL. Teams are listed in order of their record, and the runners-up are listed in parentheses. I won't be providing any commentary on my picks, but feel free to let where I got things right or wrong in the comments.


1. Adrian's Revenge (79-46-5)
MVP - Carlos Lee (Brian McCann)
CY - Kerry Wood (Ervin Santana)

2. Screaming Lemurs (72-50-8)
MVP - Ian Kinsler (Ryan Braun)
CY - Cole Hamels (Brandon Webb)

3. The Balls (70-54-6)
MVP - Hanley Ramirez (Adrian Gonzalez)
CY- Mariano Rivera (Edinson Volquez)

4. Val Kilmer's Asshole (70-55-5)
MVP - Lance Berkman (Josh Hamilton)
CY - Jonathan Papelbon (Scott Kazmir)

5. Naterade (71-57-2)
MVP - Justin Morneau (Kevin Youkilis)
CY - Francisco Rodriguez (Felix Hernandez)

6. Butt Admirals (65-53-12)
MVP - Grady Sizemore (Nate McLouth)
CY - Dan Haren (Josh Beckett)

7. Macafeys (68-58-4)
MVP - Derek Lee (David Wright)
CY - Roy Halladay (Shaun Marcum)

8. Dinos (62-62-6)
MVP - Chase Utley (Carlos Beltran)
CY - Tim Lincecum (Cliff Lee)

9. Dissect Yourself (48-71-11)
MVP - Dan Uggla (Matt Holliday)
CY - Carlos Marmol (C.C. Sabathia)

10. Summer Fox (49-76-5)
MVP - Brandon Phillips (Jason Bay)
CY - John Lackey (Billy Wagner)

11. Tossers (45-78-7)
MVP - Alex Rodriguez (Corey Hart)
CY - Joe Saunders (Takashi Saito)

12. Self Indulgence (42-81-7)
MVP - Chipper Jones (Mark Reynolds)
CY - Johan Santana (Jose Valverde)

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