Sorry for the delay this week, but I've basically been on a 48-hour bender and couldn't find the time to post. See if you can tell which entries below I wrote earlier in the week, and which I just slapped up there right now.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Wilson Ramos. Time to trade Mauer now while he has the most value, we don't need him.
2. Justin Smoak. Finally got his first hit and first home run, and although the numbers don't look all that great now, he's still walking and the hits are going to start to come as he tears up pitching on his March to rookie-of-the year. It's a lock.
3. Colorado. I'm talking the college basketball team here. I know, you're all like "say what?" but the Buffaloes caught a huge boost when freshman stud Alec Burks decided not to enter the NBA Draft, despite a decent chance that he'd be a late first-round pick and the fact that you've never heard of him. Burks was the Big-12 freshman of the year (suck it, Xavier Henry) and had NBA scouts slobbering all over him most of the year, despite very little high-major attention coming out of high school (which would explain how he ended up in Boulder). He's now back, super stud and Big 12 third-teamer Cory Higgins is back, and new coach Tad Boyle is basically guaranteed to be better than Jeff Bzdelik (he's done a nice job with No Co). I'm not quite ready to say things are looking up for the Buffaloes, but they're looking slightly better - like working at Taco Bell instead of Taco Johns's.
4. NC State. Sticking with the college hoops theme, it looks like the Woflpack are back, for the first time since the days of Julius Hodge. This assumes that Tracy Smith's entry into the NBA draft is similar to when Dan Coleman and Spencer entered a few years ago and isn't anything real -although don't mistake what I'm saying, T. Smith is far better than either of those two clowns (I will admit I kind of might be starting to like Spencer as a radio guy). They just picked up a commitment from C.J. Leslie, an outstanding swingman and McDonald's All-American who ranks as the 14th best recruit in the country according to Rivals. He joins fellow recruits PG Ryan Harrow (ranked #19), SG Lorenzo Brown (#36), and a very talented group of sophomores (as well as Smith) to give NC State as much talent as they've had in a long time. They also have a good shot at inking the #45 recruit PF Luke Cothron. Of course Sid Lowe couldn't out-coach a wet paper bag or medium-sized rock, so there's a ceiling to their potential success.
5. Chris Tillman. If your firs reaction was that this guy is some kind of cornerback, congratulations you're wrong. And also an idiot. No, Tillman is a minor-league prospect of the Balitmore Orioles - a pitcher, to be precise - and is looking like he's every bit as good as advertised. He one-upped a much publicized outing by Stephen Strasburg where he threw five no-hit innings in AA by throwing a full-game, 9-inning no hitter in AAA. Tillman, who was acquired in the Erik Bedard trade, was ranked by Baseball Prospectus as the #3 talent under the age of 25 on the O's (behind #2 Adam Jones and #1 Adult Jesus (Wieters)) and is one of a slew of good looking pitching prospects that have brought a little bit of optimism back to Camden Yards. With the back end of the O's rotation struggling and this outing, expect to see Tillman hit the bigs sooner rather than later.
WHO SUCKED
1. Tiger Woods. I suppose it has to be said that if you thought Tiger was all the way back, he's probably not. Not after shooting 74-79 at Quail Hollow and missing the cut by 8 shots. Eight! Out of 152 players, he finished better than nine of them, and his 79 on Friday (highlighted by back-to-back double bogeys) was better than only five rounds shot in the entire tournament. That 79 was the second worst round of his career, and his 153 is his worst outing through 36 holes - ever. Simply put, this wasn't just an off weekend, it was a complete disaster. Clearly he is a golf robot fueled by sex with hookers and he's running pretty low on fuel. Might be time to get back on that horse there, guy. And I said horse. Not whores.
2. Dallas Mavericks. Remember how the Mavs were supposed to be a sleeper to make the finals from the west? :fartnoise: Good work guys. In case you missed it, the #2 seed in the West got bounced 3 games to 2 by San Antonio, once again proving that the Spurs will never die - like Al Davis or Jesse Crain. Combine an inability to guard Manu Ginobilli's nose, Jason Kidd's Colt Iverson-like three-point shooting, and the curse of Mark Cuban, and the Mavs were doomed. Seriously, these guys had one shot in the 2006 finals versus Miami and got screwed by the league mandate to give Dwyane Wade every call. Now, no matter how many trades they make, whether good (Josh Howard for Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood) or bad (Jason Kidd for Devin Harris), they aren't getting back to the finals any time soon. Plus that team is WAY over their allotment of Mexicans.
3. Ben Sheets. Two starts this week, and he got absolutely shelled in each. I'm thinking that experiment is not exactly going according to plan.
4. Trevor Hoffman. Never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee. Hells Bells indeeed.
5. Jevan Snead. You know how you hear about guys who go early-entry into the NBA draft and don't get drafted? Well, that's exactly what happened to Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead, except it was the NFL draft he entered early, and instead of not getting drafted in a two-round draft, it's a seven rounder. Ouch. Evan more confusing is that it wasn't exactly like his stock was rising. Snead was supposed to be a fringe Heisman candidate to start, but after a Junior year that was worse than his sophomore year and inconsistently play all-around, it should have been clear he wasn't ready for the NFL draft. And now 32 NFL GMs agreed, an average of 7 or so times a piece. What's the NFL equivalent of the D-League? The CFL? Arena League?
And yes, the NFL draft was technically last week, but I didn't know about Snead until this week so I'm including it here. Sorry, those are the rules. The moose out front should have told ya.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Kentucky Derby Advice
Hit these three:
Jackson Bend 15-1: Odds are lower than they should, but he finished second twice recently, both losses coming to the horse that would be the Kentucky Derby favorite if he wasn't a scratch.
Super Saver 14-1: Has a top jockey, top trainer, and has won at tracks like Churchill Downs before.
Backtalk 50-1: Smarty Jones was his dad, which is good enough for me.
Obviously, odds are none of these horses win (smart money is on Lookin' at Lucky at 3-1) but if you're looking to toss a low wager with high odds at something, like I am, these are your best bets.
Jackson Bend 15-1: Odds are lower than they should, but he finished second twice recently, both losses coming to the horse that would be the Kentucky Derby favorite if he wasn't a scratch.
Super Saver 14-1: Has a top jockey, top trainer, and has won at tracks like Churchill Downs before.
Backtalk 50-1: Smarty Jones was his dad, which is good enough for me.
Obviously, odds are none of these horses win (smart money is on Lookin' at Lucky at 3-1) but if you're looking to toss a low wager with high odds at something, like I am, these are your best bets.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
FACT
FACT: Bert Blyleven is a liar - or at least has a poor memory.
If you watched tonight's game, you might have heard Bert tell a charming little story about how he threw a slider only once in his career. He said he threw it to Cliff Johnson when Johnson was Bert was with Cleveland, and Johnson hit it "about 500 feet." Bert said he threw it because Johnson had fouled off about seven pitches already so he tried to mix it up.
Problem.
Bert did indeed give up one home run to Cliff Johnson in his career, but it was when Bert was throwing for the Pirates in 1980. You would also think he'd remember a bit more, considering Johnson's home run came in the top of the ninth in a 4-3 game, tying the game, which would eventually last twenty innings (Bert pitched 10). Seems like a pretty memorable game and home run.
Just sayin'.
Thank you baseball-reference.com.
If you watched tonight's game, you might have heard Bert tell a charming little story about how he threw a slider only once in his career. He said he threw it to Cliff Johnson when Johnson was Bert was with Cleveland, and Johnson hit it "about 500 feet." Bert said he threw it because Johnson had fouled off about seven pitches already so he tried to mix it up.
Problem.
Bert did indeed give up one home run to Cliff Johnson in his career, but it was when Bert was throwing for the Pirates in 1980. You would also think he'd remember a bit more, considering Johnson's home run came in the top of the ninth in a 4-3 game, tying the game, which would eventually last twenty innings (Bert pitched 10). Seems like a pretty memorable game and home run.
Just sayin'.
Thank you baseball-reference.com.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
About this Ryan Howard contract
I was planning on saving this for something that sucks for my Monday review, but the more I think about it the more I want to write about it. Plus, it's better than watching the Biggest Loser.
In case you haven't heard, Howard was just given a $5 year, $125 million contract extention by the Phillies, which kicks in AFTER next season. The contract also includes a team option for $23 million in the sixth year, and if they choose not to exercise it they have to pay out a $10 million buyout. Plus, there is a limited no-trade clause involved. In short, this thing is monster that pays more per annum than what the Twins dished out to Mauer, and ranks behind just A-Rod on a $/Season basis.
This, in short, is a bit of a problem. You see, both Howard's body type and statistical profile don't hold up well into the mid-thirties, and this contract will run until he's 37, not even including the option year. Think Mo Vaughn, Cecil Fielder, or even our very own David Ortiz. Howard is a good hitter, maybe even a great one now, but six years from now? There is essentially zero chance he will be worth that money. Big, overweight, slow, mediocre-to-poor fielders who can't hit lefties and strike out a lot don't generally produce until they're forty.
The two counter-examples I have heard are Jim Thome and Frank Thomas, who have hit well into their late thirties. But there are some differences. Neither Thome or Thomas was paid as if they were the second-best hitter in the league at that point in their career; Howard is. Secondly, both of those guys lost about 10% of their ability in their late years. That made them into the equivalent of Ryan Howard. If Howard loses 10% of his ability, he'll be Michael Cuddyer. Do you want to pay $25 million a year for Michael Cuddyer? Hell, I don't even want to pay him the $9 million he's making this year.
And that's not even counting what it might do to the Phillies long-term. Jayson Werth, an underrated 20/20 guy with 30/30 upside, is almost certainly gone now. The following year they are going to have to answer some tough questions about Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels as well. And all this from the team that declined to pay Cliff Lee $8 million to have a rotation of Halladady, Lee, and Hamels.
I like the Phillies, and I like Ryan Howard, I really do. But for what he is now, and what he will almost certainly be at the end of this contract, this is going to hamstring the Phils for at least the last two years of the deal, if not more. There is something to be said for holding on to "the guys who got you there", but damn. What is Pujols going to make? $40 a year?
Oh, and also I'm willing to say that Francisco Liriano is back now.
In case you haven't heard, Howard was just given a $5 year, $125 million contract extention by the Phillies, which kicks in AFTER next season. The contract also includes a team option for $23 million in the sixth year, and if they choose not to exercise it they have to pay out a $10 million buyout. Plus, there is a limited no-trade clause involved. In short, this thing is monster that pays more per annum than what the Twins dished out to Mauer, and ranks behind just A-Rod on a $/Season basis.
This, in short, is a bit of a problem. You see, both Howard's body type and statistical profile don't hold up well into the mid-thirties, and this contract will run until he's 37, not even including the option year. Think Mo Vaughn, Cecil Fielder, or even our very own David Ortiz. Howard is a good hitter, maybe even a great one now, but six years from now? There is essentially zero chance he will be worth that money. Big, overweight, slow, mediocre-to-poor fielders who can't hit lefties and strike out a lot don't generally produce until they're forty.
The two counter-examples I have heard are Jim Thome and Frank Thomas, who have hit well into their late thirties. But there are some differences. Neither Thome or Thomas was paid as if they were the second-best hitter in the league at that point in their career; Howard is. Secondly, both of those guys lost about 10% of their ability in their late years. That made them into the equivalent of Ryan Howard. If Howard loses 10% of his ability, he'll be Michael Cuddyer. Do you want to pay $25 million a year for Michael Cuddyer? Hell, I don't even want to pay him the $9 million he's making this year.
And that's not even counting what it might do to the Phillies long-term. Jayson Werth, an underrated 20/20 guy with 30/30 upside, is almost certainly gone now. The following year they are going to have to answer some tough questions about Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels as well. And all this from the team that declined to pay Cliff Lee $8 million to have a rotation of Halladady, Lee, and Hamels.
I like the Phillies, and I like Ryan Howard, I really do. But for what he is now, and what he will almost certainly be at the end of this contract, this is going to hamstring the Phils for at least the last two years of the deal, if not more. There is something to be said for holding on to "the guys who got you there", but damn. What is Pujols going to make? $40 a year?
Oh, and also I'm willing to say that Francisco Liriano is back now.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Week in Review - 4/26/2010
Obviously the big news of the weekend was Cory Joseph signing on with the Texas Longhorns for next season. I'm disappointed, of course, but not surprised. When every article discussing him and his possibilities only talked about Villanova and Texas, I started to think that maybe Gopher fans were fooling themselves, much the way Iowa State fans acted about Harrison Barnes - the rest of the world knew they were just in as a finalist as a courtesy. I don't know if that is the case with Joseph and the Gophers or not, but he's going to Texas and should do well. Of course, the delusions are already coming, as I read from one Gopher fan that "Cory isn't as good as Devoe" and expect a lot more to come, as well as quite a bit of reveling in any Texas misery that may come their way this year.
I say good luck to Cory, and I have no real issue with his decision. Texas is a far better program than Minnesota, and I don't know how anybody could argue otherwise. Despite cries that Rick Barnes underachieves with the talent he gets, and he probably does, he still makes the tournament every single year and puts players in the NBA. Really the only thing the Gophers had going for them were that Cory's friend and his brother were here, but Texas had two of his former teammates as well - one of which who was a pretty good friend. I'm pretty sure if I were in the same spot (and didn't have my homegrown Gopher bias) I would have made the same decision. It would have been a hell of a get if Tubby could have pulled this one off. It's time to close up shop and go into next year with what's already in the holster - I don't really like anything that's still out there for 2010. This team should be around a 6-7 seed this year, and hopefully good enough to finally win a first round game.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Justin Morneau. I'm guessing you haven't realized this because you really aren't all that bright, but guess who leads the major league in on-base percentage; yep, the giant-headed Canadian. He's currently reaching base at a .511 clip (including .607 this week), which combined with his .368 average and .647 slugging means he is straight up mashing the ball right now. Even when he's not lacing base hits he's walking like crazy - 20 times already this year, leading the major leagues. That actually brings me to another point, which is that the Twins are actually leading the majors in walks as a team. They're leading the league. Doesn't that just seem bizarre? Did you ever think you'd see the day? Morneau obviously leads at his position, while Mauer is fourth, Hudson fifth, Hardy 7th, Brendan Harris is 12th in limited playing time, and amongst outfielders Span is second and Kubel is fourth. Really out of the important batters only Cuddyer and Delmon don't walk (Thome has more than either of them), and it's just fun to watch a bunch of guys on the same time who know how to get the pitch they want and know how to work the pitcher to get it - and it's effective to, as seen by them having the AL Central basically locked up already.
2. Mike Leake. He didn't have two wins this week and wasn't especially dominant, but he did pick up his first career win so it's time to recognize him a bit. Snake is the one who tipped me off to the Cincinnati rookie, so of course he's on our fantasy team, and he's looking really solid this year - just one year removed from Arizona State. He was picked by the Reds ninth overall last season, and made his debut this season with no minor league ball in between - something the Nationals are too stupid or too cheap to due with Strasburg. He's gone at least 6 and 2/3 innings in each of his three starts this year, and his overall numbers are a 1.55 WHIP, 3.92 ERA, and a 13/13 K/BB ratio. None of those are especially impressive, but remember those are through just three professional starts at any level. Once this kid makes the adjustment he's going to be very, very good. Think Mike Mussina-like.
3. San Diego Padres. I suppose it's time to recognize that the Padres have a good team. There's still a chance it's all a fluke, and a good chance at that, but with a - record it's time to at least consider the possibility that the Padres have turned it around and are a quality team again. They're 11-7 now after losing to the Reds on Sunday, but before that they had won 8 in a row, and still sit atop the NL West, ahead of the Giants, Rockies, and Dodgers. And, as you would probably guess, they are doing it with pitching. Their team ERA is just 2.73 - tops in the majors - and both the starters and the bullpen and having great years thus far. They'll most likely fade by the all-star break, but there are enough good young arms here that if they get any offense at all they might be able to play the spoiler. In any case, it's a lot of fun having the Padres be a good team.
4. Ike Davis. The Mets promoted Ike to the majors a bit early in order to jump start their offense and fan interest, and so far Mr. Davis has responded well and done exactly what they needed him to. He has hit .318 since he was called up on Monday, has reached base in every game except last night's shortened game, and the Mets have gone 6-1. They're still a crappy team, but they are playing quite a bit better in the last week. Clearly, it's all because of Ike Davis. This guy must be the next David Eckstein - you know, how he makes everybody else on the team better. Or he's the Mets answer to Jeter, but far less gay and annoying. Looking like a Twins vs. Mets World Series. Book your tickets now.
5. Doug Fister. You've probably never heard of this guy, I know I certainly hadn't, but he's a second-year starter for the Mariners and he's putting up some pretty impressive numbers so far this year. He'd be sitting at 3-1 right now if the world's worst closer other than Bobby Jenks, David Aardsma, hadn't blown his win on Saturday. Fister went 8 strong innings, giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits, which followed up his earlier outing on Monday, when he went seven solid against the Orioles, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits. He's currently at just a 1.67 ERA with a WHIP of 0.93. His lack of strikeouts (just 4.5 per 9) and a sickly-low BABIP against (.212) say that he's not the kind of ace who is going to be able to keep this up, but for now at least he's looking like a pretty solid middle-of-the-rotation type starter. And also "Fister? I hardly knew 'er!"
WHO SUCKED
1. Royals' Bullpen. Seriously, how many games of Greinke's are these guys going to blow? Zach's struggled a bit out of the gate, but on Wednesday he left the game after the 7th with a lead after giving up just two hits (of course, one of the was a 2-run home run) and then people named Josh Rupe and John Parrish take just three batters to blow the lead. And I guess I just answered my own question. Look at these names before you get to Soria: Josh Rupe, John Parrish, Dusty Hughes, Robinson Tejeda, Juan Cruz, and Kyle Farnsworth (and we saw most of these guys melt-down to varying degrees in the Twins series over the weekend). Pretty much all these guys have already failed elsewhere, and I don't mean failed as starters I mean they've already failed at being middle relievers. The only guy who was every good was Farnsworth, but along with the weird perm and nerd glasses he's lost the ability to pitch as well. Just brutal. And I know you don't care about mine and Snake's fantasy team, except that really you do if you just admit it to yourself, but we need those wins from Greinke. It looks like he's going to have to go 8 innings to get to Soria or just finish it out himself if he's ever going to win again. And if he keeps not throwing enough strikes he's never going to get there. Nobody can hit you Zacky, just toss that pill over the plate. And win, baby. Win.
2. Carlos Zambrano. There really isn't a good way to spin getting demoted from #1 starter to bullpen set-up guy into a positive. So, uh. I guess that's it then.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates. So much for the great Pirate resurgence. They started out pretty well, but unlike the Padres have been unable to sustain it, going - this week, and man, the fall has been spectacular. They started the week 7-6 and are finishing it 7-12 after getting swept by the Brewers and the piss-poor Astros. And that Brewer series was especially horrible, with the Pirates losing 8-1, 8-0, and 20-0. Overall for the week they were outscored 55-9. Special shout-out to their pathetic offense, by the way. Akinori Iwamura 1-18. Ronny Cedeno 2-17. Lastings Milledge 2-14. Delwyn Young 1-14. Just a really spectacular effort all around.
4. Seattle Seahawks. I suppose on the weekend of the NFL draft it's inevitable that I'd have to comment on something football related, and the Seahawks are the lucky team to draw my considerable wrath. This is about their draft, which based on my limited knowledge actually looks like a really good one, but it's based on their brand new stable of running backs. The returners are Julius Jones and someone named Justin Forsett, and they actually traded for LenDale White and Leon Washington this weekend. Like, actually traded for them, not just signed them to a minor-league deal or whatever. Look at those four running backs. You know, you can keep throwing turds in a bowl, it doesn't make it a salad. And, more importantly, you don't win friends with salad.
5. Jason Kubel. You know I frickin' love the guy, but what in the holy hell is going on? This week was just a complete nightmare (1-19, 1 single, 8 Ks), which dropped his season average to .169 and his slugging to a Punto-esque .288. He's still walking (13 this year) so even when he isn't hitting he brings value to the team, but he needs to stop being so crappy or I will totally break up with him. I still have faith, but I'm pretty sure he's getting benched for this fantasy week.
I feel like I should have had some kind of NBA playoffs thing in here somewhere, but so far they've been pretty boring. Also, in my defense,
"FISTER? I damn near killed 'er!"
I say good luck to Cory, and I have no real issue with his decision. Texas is a far better program than Minnesota, and I don't know how anybody could argue otherwise. Despite cries that Rick Barnes underachieves with the talent he gets, and he probably does, he still makes the tournament every single year and puts players in the NBA. Really the only thing the Gophers had going for them were that Cory's friend and his brother were here, but Texas had two of his former teammates as well - one of which who was a pretty good friend. I'm pretty sure if I were in the same spot (and didn't have my homegrown Gopher bias) I would have made the same decision. It would have been a hell of a get if Tubby could have pulled this one off. It's time to close up shop and go into next year with what's already in the holster - I don't really like anything that's still out there for 2010. This team should be around a 6-7 seed this year, and hopefully good enough to finally win a first round game.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Justin Morneau. I'm guessing you haven't realized this because you really aren't all that bright, but guess who leads the major league in on-base percentage; yep, the giant-headed Canadian. He's currently reaching base at a .511 clip (including .607 this week), which combined with his .368 average and .647 slugging means he is straight up mashing the ball right now. Even when he's not lacing base hits he's walking like crazy - 20 times already this year, leading the major leagues. That actually brings me to another point, which is that the Twins are actually leading the majors in walks as a team. They're leading the league. Doesn't that just seem bizarre? Did you ever think you'd see the day? Morneau obviously leads at his position, while Mauer is fourth, Hudson fifth, Hardy 7th, Brendan Harris is 12th in limited playing time, and amongst outfielders Span is second and Kubel is fourth. Really out of the important batters only Cuddyer and Delmon don't walk (Thome has more than either of them), and it's just fun to watch a bunch of guys on the same time who know how to get the pitch they want and know how to work the pitcher to get it - and it's effective to, as seen by them having the AL Central basically locked up already.
2. Mike Leake. He didn't have two wins this week and wasn't especially dominant, but he did pick up his first career win so it's time to recognize him a bit. Snake is the one who tipped me off to the Cincinnati rookie, so of course he's on our fantasy team, and he's looking really solid this year - just one year removed from Arizona State. He was picked by the Reds ninth overall last season, and made his debut this season with no minor league ball in between - something the Nationals are too stupid or too cheap to due with Strasburg. He's gone at least 6 and 2/3 innings in each of his three starts this year, and his overall numbers are a 1.55 WHIP, 3.92 ERA, and a 13/13 K/BB ratio. None of those are especially impressive, but remember those are through just three professional starts at any level. Once this kid makes the adjustment he's going to be very, very good. Think Mike Mussina-like.
3. San Diego Padres. I suppose it's time to recognize that the Padres have a good team. There's still a chance it's all a fluke, and a good chance at that, but with a - record it's time to at least consider the possibility that the Padres have turned it around and are a quality team again. They're 11-7 now after losing to the Reds on Sunday, but before that they had won 8 in a row, and still sit atop the NL West, ahead of the Giants, Rockies, and Dodgers. And, as you would probably guess, they are doing it with pitching. Their team ERA is just 2.73 - tops in the majors - and both the starters and the bullpen and having great years thus far. They'll most likely fade by the all-star break, but there are enough good young arms here that if they get any offense at all they might be able to play the spoiler. In any case, it's a lot of fun having the Padres be a good team.
4. Ike Davis. The Mets promoted Ike to the majors a bit early in order to jump start their offense and fan interest, and so far Mr. Davis has responded well and done exactly what they needed him to. He has hit .318 since he was called up on Monday, has reached base in every game except last night's shortened game, and the Mets have gone 6-1. They're still a crappy team, but they are playing quite a bit better in the last week. Clearly, it's all because of Ike Davis. This guy must be the next David Eckstein - you know, how he makes everybody else on the team better. Or he's the Mets answer to Jeter, but far less gay and annoying. Looking like a Twins vs. Mets World Series. Book your tickets now.
5. Doug Fister. You've probably never heard of this guy, I know I certainly hadn't, but he's a second-year starter for the Mariners and he's putting up some pretty impressive numbers so far this year. He'd be sitting at 3-1 right now if the world's worst closer other than Bobby Jenks, David Aardsma, hadn't blown his win on Saturday. Fister went 8 strong innings, giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits, which followed up his earlier outing on Monday, when he went seven solid against the Orioles, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits. He's currently at just a 1.67 ERA with a WHIP of 0.93. His lack of strikeouts (just 4.5 per 9) and a sickly-low BABIP against (.212) say that he's not the kind of ace who is going to be able to keep this up, but for now at least he's looking like a pretty solid middle-of-the-rotation type starter. And also "Fister? I hardly knew 'er!"
WHO SUCKED
1. Royals' Bullpen. Seriously, how many games of Greinke's are these guys going to blow? Zach's struggled a bit out of the gate, but on Wednesday he left the game after the 7th with a lead after giving up just two hits (of course, one of the was a 2-run home run) and then people named Josh Rupe and John Parrish take just three batters to blow the lead. And I guess I just answered my own question. Look at these names before you get to Soria: Josh Rupe, John Parrish, Dusty Hughes, Robinson Tejeda, Juan Cruz, and Kyle Farnsworth (and we saw most of these guys melt-down to varying degrees in the Twins series over the weekend). Pretty much all these guys have already failed elsewhere, and I don't mean failed as starters I mean they've already failed at being middle relievers. The only guy who was every good was Farnsworth, but along with the weird perm and nerd glasses he's lost the ability to pitch as well. Just brutal. And I know you don't care about mine and Snake's fantasy team, except that really you do if you just admit it to yourself, but we need those wins from Greinke. It looks like he's going to have to go 8 innings to get to Soria or just finish it out himself if he's ever going to win again. And if he keeps not throwing enough strikes he's never going to get there. Nobody can hit you Zacky, just toss that pill over the plate. And win, baby. Win.
2. Carlos Zambrano. There really isn't a good way to spin getting demoted from #1 starter to bullpen set-up guy into a positive. So, uh. I guess that's it then.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates. So much for the great Pirate resurgence. They started out pretty well, but unlike the Padres have been unable to sustain it, going - this week, and man, the fall has been spectacular. They started the week 7-6 and are finishing it 7-12 after getting swept by the Brewers and the piss-poor Astros. And that Brewer series was especially horrible, with the Pirates losing 8-1, 8-0, and 20-0. Overall for the week they were outscored 55-9. Special shout-out to their pathetic offense, by the way. Akinori Iwamura 1-18. Ronny Cedeno 2-17. Lastings Milledge 2-14. Delwyn Young 1-14. Just a really spectacular effort all around.
4. Seattle Seahawks. I suppose on the weekend of the NFL draft it's inevitable that I'd have to comment on something football related, and the Seahawks are the lucky team to draw my considerable wrath. This is about their draft, which based on my limited knowledge actually looks like a really good one, but it's based on their brand new stable of running backs. The returners are Julius Jones and someone named Justin Forsett, and they actually traded for LenDale White and Leon Washington this weekend. Like, actually traded for them, not just signed them to a minor-league deal or whatever. Look at those four running backs. You know, you can keep throwing turds in a bowl, it doesn't make it a salad. And, more importantly, you don't win friends with salad.
5. Jason Kubel. You know I frickin' love the guy, but what in the holy hell is going on? This week was just a complete nightmare (1-19, 1 single, 8 Ks), which dropped his season average to .169 and his slugging to a Punto-esque .288. He's still walking (13 this year) so even when he isn't hitting he brings value to the team, but he needs to stop being so crappy or I will totally break up with him. I still have faith, but I'm pretty sure he's getting benched for this fantasy week.
I feel like I should have had some kind of NBA playoffs thing in here somewhere, but so far they've been pretty boring. Also, in my defense,
"FISTER? I damn near killed 'er!"
Thursday, April 22, 2010
NFL draft blog
I'm going to be paying halfway attention the the NFL draft tonight - only halfway because Mama W would kill me if I tried to make her watch the whole thing and also because I would end up bored out of my mind - so I figured I might as well put down some thoughts while I wait for the Vikes to make a terrible pick sometime after my bed time.
- So far I've already heard the Donkey Kong Sue is a "great gap penetrator." That was followed by me giggling for about twenty minutes.
- We just had pick 5, safety Eric Berry to Kansas City. I'm still on the channel and I heard him compared to Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott in teh same sentence. I think maybe everybody should calm down.
- Are the Twins ever going to sweep? Yeah, yeah, it's early and all that jazz, but this lack of a killer instinct popping up already isn't exactly my most favorite thing ever (that would either be Spicy Garlic wings from BW3 or Audrina Patridge. No wait, my daughter. I meant my daughter). That's the third time now they've won the first two games of a series and then lost the third one with the opportunity to sweep, and I know I'm not the only one who noticed because I got an email from Snacks about it and I heard Barreiro talking about it on the radio. Also that's four straight games where Rauch hasn't picked up a save. How is he supposed to beat the record (is it K-Rod's now, or still Thigpen?) at this pace? And how is he supposed to win us our fantasy league as the SOD? I'm very irritated with the hometown 9 right now.
- I did get to check out Target Field earlier this week, however, and I can say that all the praise you've been hearing is accurate, and might even be underselling it. It's a great, great place to watch a ballgame, there's great food and plenty of places to get it, and there are bars and booze kiosks everywhere. Honestly, my first reaction is that it is PERFECT. They could have just given us any old outdoor park and people would sing its praises, but they really nailed it. I could easily just live there happily.
- I'm not exactly sure why people are talking about the Vikings getting Claussen at pick 30. If he does start to slide into the 20s, some team with an early second rounder is going to trade up to leap frog the Vikes and get him. I'm not even sure I really want him. Not sure about Tebow either. I think Snacks summed it up pretty well in this email he sent me earlier today,
- Naturally, the Raiders have to go off the board. I won't pretend to know anything about the guy they took, but I know from reading that he was more of a mid-late teens kind of guy according to most of mock drafts and all that I looked at. Which amounted to one.
- Spiller to the Bills, huh? Interesting. I've heard two different scouting reports, one of which called him the next Chris Johnson, the other which said he's more of a Reggie Bush. I don't think you can get much more separation than that. That's like if you're out of town and the concierge tells you he can send a girl up to your room, and she'll either remind you of Megan Fox or Tony Siragusa.
- If you're a big enough nerd, you might have heard that Marquis Teague, a class of 2011 point guard who is ranked as the #2 overall prospect by Rivals, committed to Kentucky today. That shouldn't be a huge surprise given that he's the top point guard for the class and Calipari has a pretty good legacy (Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Brandon Knight) so it's practically a tradition, but one guy who is really seeing things suddenly fall apart is Rick Pitino. Teague's father played for Pitino a long time ago, Pitino had been recruiting Teague two solid years before Calipari came into the picture, Pitino hired Teague's high school coach as an assistant, and Teague was essentially all but committed to play at Louisville last summer. Combine this loss with top 10 recruit Michael Chandler's decision to de-commit from the Ville and the loss of Jeremy Tyler to play overseas last year after having committed to play for Pitino, not to mention all the personal crap going on, and it feels like Pitino is taking the program down. Down, down, down.
- Chargers trade up to take Ryan Mathews out of Fresno and no relation to Cory. I predict he will be the first pick in many, many fantasy keeper leagues this year. Welcome to Bustville. Population = you.
- This is a lot more entertaining that I remember the draft being in the past. When Mama W gets home and makes me change the channel I'm actually going to be kind of bummed out. Oh well. Booze always kills those feelings of sadness. That Nic Cage guy had it right in that Las Vegas movie.
- So the NCAA Tournament is expanding to 68 teams, which I think is awesome if they don't make the four play-in games between the 8 worst teams, thus essentially eliminating four conferences from the "real" tournament right away. They need to make the play-in games between the last 8 at-large teams in order to grab the four twelve seeds. They could make a whole day of it, one game each at like noon, 3, 6, and 9pm and call it Bubble TuesdayTM. That's got a magical ring to it. I'm glad I thought of it and came up with it all on my own and Bogart didn't come up with this idea five years ago at all, no matter what he tells you. Remember, all lawyers are liars. Just watch Liar Liar.
- I'M JOSE CANSECOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Good god is New York State of Mind or whatever it's called overplayed at every single sporting event that has anything remotely related to New York. It's gotten to the point where it's almost as irritating as the wave or Chris Berman.
- Mort, who is starting to look suspiciously like a cross of John Madden and Pat Summerall, tells us that if the 49ers don't take Claussen at 17 he's going to fall to the end of the first round. I can see Arizona taking him at #26, but other than that if he doesn't go at 16 to Tennessee (he will) or the 9ers at 17 there's nobody else who needs a QB. But again, it's almost certain somebody would trade up to jump the Vikes to get him. I'm now dreading the almost certainty that they're going to draft Tebow, although I'm strangely titillated at the thought as well.
- Derrick Morgan is also the name of a character on the pretty good CBS show Criminal Minds. Good show. When Inigo Montoya left I thought it was going to go downhill, but the Voice of Fat Tony has been even better. Plus, both A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster? Rawr.
- Claussen officially slips past the 49ers. Let the games begin. I'm finding myself hoping he slips all the way down to the Vikings. Who knew?
- They just showed a trailer for a movie called "The Losers." I missed most of it, but I'm assuming it's about the readers of this blog. Zing.
- The talking heads on ESPN want us to know that this is the year the Texans finally break through. Yep, for the fourth year in a row, THIS is the Texans year.
- Interesting. They sent a reporter to the house of each of the three borderline first-round QBs: Erin Andrews to Jimmy Claussen's house, some other nubile young blond to Colt McCoy's house, and Jeremy Schapp to Tebow's house. I wonder if they planned to send a chick to all three, but when the girl got to Tebow's house he was like "Begone foul temptress! The sight of thine flesh offends God, and brings a plague of demons uponest the earth! Thou art banished from my home! Go forth and pray for forgiveness, vile strumpet, for the stain of the devil's sin is upon your bosom!"
- Denver takes Demaryius Thomas over Dez Bryant because they are so afraid of a little attitude from their wideouts since they had to ship out Brandon Marshall. Seriously, you need swagger from your receivers if you want them to be good. Name one good receiver who wasn't cocky? You kind of want to say Marvin Harrison, but then you have to remember he shot a bunch of holes in people with a fat-ass handgun, so you can't really go there, can you? Case closed.
- This is really going to suck if the Packers take Dez Bryant here.
- Good. This Beluga kid was a possible top 10 pick so it sucks the Pack got a steal, but I really didn't want them to get Bryant. Remember how Randy Moss lit up the Pack his rookie year? It would have been the same thing.
- Mountain Dew or Crab Juice?
- Dez to the Cowboys. This is either an absolutely perfect match or it's going to be a complete and total disaster. There is no in-between. You hear me? There is no in-between. Honestly, what a great pick. This is going to go down with the Vikes' pick of Moss as one of the great first round steals of all-time. I love this guy. I think his downside is Chad Johnson. Yes, downside. Which means his upside is Jesus.
- Tebow to Denver? How odd. I mean, it's clear to anybody with a brain that Orton isn't exactly the answer, but didn't they just trade for Brady Quinn? What, exactly, are they doing? I kind of feel like that McDaniels guy thinks he's a lot smarter than he really is. Like he's trying to be all creative and innovative and live up to Bill Belichick's example, but this feels like a waste of a pick to me. Maybe they'll make him a fullback.
- Some nerd is interviewing Tebow right now and I desperately wish I was watching the actual TV coverage instead of a silent internet feed, but instead we are now watching the Office so I can't complain. And Pam or Erin has become a legitimate question at this point. I think I secretly wished the Vikings got Tebow. My god, the jokes. God I hope the Vikings draft a super religious virgin.
- Holy crap this god interview is going on forever. I wonder god what Tegod is saying? I wonder if he god referenced god at all, or if it was god about football questions about god adn how he thinks he can god make an impact on the god field as a god quarterback god god.
- Arizona takes a non-Claussen, which means there are three picks before the Vikes and Claussen is on the board and I'm officially really hoping he ends up a Viking. Seriously, he could have been a top 10 pick and they can get him at 30? And he lines up to take over for Favre perfectly. I really hope this happens.
- Damn, the Pats have this pick, and they're the kings of trading down, so I fully expect somebody to jump up grab Claussen right here.
- Nope, they keep it and take somebody something. Neither Miami or the Jets need a QB, so it's either a trade or they got a shot at Claussen. They have to take him, don't they? The guy could have been a top 10 pick and nobody would have batted an eye, and now he can be had at 30? And it's a position of need? God, they have to do it, right? This would be a steal. I'm actually excited.
- By the way, how much did Tebow and all his ding-dong friends look like they belonged on Jersey Shore? But with more bibles and probably more working out. And also likely more suppressed longingly gay looks.
I'm going to miss the jokes so much.
- Miami and the Jets both pass on Claussen, so he's just sitting there for the Vikings. They better take him. There is zero reason not to.
- And they trade the pick to the Lions. That's super boring, although I guess it makes tomorrow more interesting. Oh, and with that I'm bored and going to stop typing.
- So far I've already heard the Donkey Kong Sue is a "great gap penetrator." That was followed by me giggling for about twenty minutes.
- We just had pick 5, safety Eric Berry to Kansas City. I'm still on the channel and I heard him compared to Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott in teh same sentence. I think maybe everybody should calm down.
- Are the Twins ever going to sweep? Yeah, yeah, it's early and all that jazz, but this lack of a killer instinct popping up already isn't exactly my most favorite thing ever (that would either be Spicy Garlic wings from BW3 or Audrina Patridge. No wait, my daughter. I meant my daughter). That's the third time now they've won the first two games of a series and then lost the third one with the opportunity to sweep, and I know I'm not the only one who noticed because I got an email from Snacks about it and I heard Barreiro talking about it on the radio. Also that's four straight games where Rauch hasn't picked up a save. How is he supposed to beat the record (is it K-Rod's now, or still Thigpen?) at this pace? And how is he supposed to win us our fantasy league as the SOD? I'm very irritated with the hometown 9 right now.
- I did get to check out Target Field earlier this week, however, and I can say that all the praise you've been hearing is accurate, and might even be underselling it. It's a great, great place to watch a ballgame, there's great food and plenty of places to get it, and there are bars and booze kiosks everywhere. Honestly, my first reaction is that it is PERFECT. They could have just given us any old outdoor park and people would sing its praises, but they really nailed it. I could easily just live there happily.
- I'm not exactly sure why people are talking about the Vikings getting Claussen at pick 30. If he does start to slide into the 20s, some team with an early second rounder is going to trade up to leap frog the Vikes and get him. I'm not even sure I really want him. Not sure about Tebow either. I think Snacks summed it up pretty well in this email he sent me earlier today,
"I don’t know that I would be that much more excited about Claussen than I would about Tebow though. I don’t think Claussen’s a sure thing. Plus the newest reports all talk about his giant ego and other makeup issues (so he’s basically the anti-Tebow: less doubt about ability and more doubt about makeup – this might be the first time I’m favoring the guy with the better makeup over the guy with the arguably better talent in my life. Although I read something about Tebow being a virgin and that’s just silly. I judge him negatively for that and view it as a character flaw.)"Makes a lot of sense.
- Naturally, the Raiders have to go off the board. I won't pretend to know anything about the guy they took, but I know from reading that he was more of a mid-late teens kind of guy according to most of mock drafts and all that I looked at. Which amounted to one.
- Spiller to the Bills, huh? Interesting. I've heard two different scouting reports, one of which called him the next Chris Johnson, the other which said he's more of a Reggie Bush. I don't think you can get much more separation than that. That's like if you're out of town and the concierge tells you he can send a girl up to your room, and she'll either remind you of Megan Fox or Tony Siragusa.
- If you're a big enough nerd, you might have heard that Marquis Teague, a class of 2011 point guard who is ranked as the #2 overall prospect by Rivals, committed to Kentucky today. That shouldn't be a huge surprise given that he's the top point guard for the class and Calipari has a pretty good legacy (Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, John Wall, Brandon Knight) so it's practically a tradition, but one guy who is really seeing things suddenly fall apart is Rick Pitino. Teague's father played for Pitino a long time ago, Pitino had been recruiting Teague two solid years before Calipari came into the picture, Pitino hired Teague's high school coach as an assistant, and Teague was essentially all but committed to play at Louisville last summer. Combine this loss with top 10 recruit Michael Chandler's decision to de-commit from the Ville and the loss of Jeremy Tyler to play overseas last year after having committed to play for Pitino, not to mention all the personal crap going on, and it feels like Pitino is taking the program down. Down, down, down.
- Chargers trade up to take Ryan Mathews out of Fresno and no relation to Cory. I predict he will be the first pick in many, many fantasy keeper leagues this year. Welcome to Bustville. Population = you.
- This is a lot more entertaining that I remember the draft being in the past. When Mama W gets home and makes me change the channel I'm actually going to be kind of bummed out. Oh well. Booze always kills those feelings of sadness. That Nic Cage guy had it right in that Las Vegas movie.
- So the NCAA Tournament is expanding to 68 teams, which I think is awesome if they don't make the four play-in games between the 8 worst teams, thus essentially eliminating four conferences from the "real" tournament right away. They need to make the play-in games between the last 8 at-large teams in order to grab the four twelve seeds. They could make a whole day of it, one game each at like noon, 3, 6, and 9pm and call it Bubble TuesdayTM. That's got a magical ring to it. I'm glad I thought of it and came up with it all on my own and Bogart didn't come up with this idea five years ago at all, no matter what he tells you. Remember, all lawyers are liars. Just watch Liar Liar.
- I'M JOSE CANSECOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Good god is New York State of Mind or whatever it's called overplayed at every single sporting event that has anything remotely related to New York. It's gotten to the point where it's almost as irritating as the wave or Chris Berman.
- Mort, who is starting to look suspiciously like a cross of John Madden and Pat Summerall, tells us that if the 49ers don't take Claussen at 17 he's going to fall to the end of the first round. I can see Arizona taking him at #26, but other than that if he doesn't go at 16 to Tennessee (he will) or the 9ers at 17 there's nobody else who needs a QB. But again, it's almost certain somebody would trade up to jump the Vikes to get him. I'm now dreading the almost certainty that they're going to draft Tebow, although I'm strangely titillated at the thought as well.
- Derrick Morgan is also the name of a character on the pretty good CBS show Criminal Minds. Good show. When Inigo Montoya left I thought it was going to go downhill, but the Voice of Fat Tony has been even better. Plus, both A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster? Rawr.
- Claussen officially slips past the 49ers. Let the games begin. I'm finding myself hoping he slips all the way down to the Vikings. Who knew?
- They just showed a trailer for a movie called "The Losers." I missed most of it, but I'm assuming it's about the readers of this blog. Zing.
- The talking heads on ESPN want us to know that this is the year the Texans finally break through. Yep, for the fourth year in a row, THIS is the Texans year.
- Interesting. They sent a reporter to the house of each of the three borderline first-round QBs: Erin Andrews to Jimmy Claussen's house, some other nubile young blond to Colt McCoy's house, and Jeremy Schapp to Tebow's house. I wonder if they planned to send a chick to all three, but when the girl got to Tebow's house he was like "Begone foul temptress! The sight of thine flesh offends God, and brings a plague of demons uponest the earth! Thou art banished from my home! Go forth and pray for forgiveness, vile strumpet, for the stain of the devil's sin is upon your bosom!"
- Denver takes Demaryius Thomas over Dez Bryant because they are so afraid of a little attitude from their wideouts since they had to ship out Brandon Marshall. Seriously, you need swagger from your receivers if you want them to be good. Name one good receiver who wasn't cocky? You kind of want to say Marvin Harrison, but then you have to remember he shot a bunch of holes in people with a fat-ass handgun, so you can't really go there, can you? Case closed.
- This is really going to suck if the Packers take Dez Bryant here.
- Good. This Beluga kid was a possible top 10 pick so it sucks the Pack got a steal, but I really didn't want them to get Bryant. Remember how Randy Moss lit up the Pack his rookie year? It would have been the same thing.
- Mountain Dew or Crab Juice?
- Dez to the Cowboys. This is either an absolutely perfect match or it's going to be a complete and total disaster. There is no in-between. You hear me? There is no in-between. Honestly, what a great pick. This is going to go down with the Vikes' pick of Moss as one of the great first round steals of all-time. I love this guy. I think his downside is Chad Johnson. Yes, downside. Which means his upside is Jesus.
- Tebow to Denver? How odd. I mean, it's clear to anybody with a brain that Orton isn't exactly the answer, but didn't they just trade for Brady Quinn? What, exactly, are they doing? I kind of feel like that McDaniels guy thinks he's a lot smarter than he really is. Like he's trying to be all creative and innovative and live up to Bill Belichick's example, but this feels like a waste of a pick to me. Maybe they'll make him a fullback.
- Some nerd is interviewing Tebow right now and I desperately wish I was watching the actual TV coverage instead of a silent internet feed, but instead we are now watching the Office so I can't complain. And Pam or Erin has become a legitimate question at this point. I think I secretly wished the Vikings got Tebow. My god, the jokes. God I hope the Vikings draft a super religious virgin.
- Holy crap this god interview is going on forever. I wonder god what Tegod is saying? I wonder if he god referenced god at all, or if it was god about football questions about god adn how he thinks he can god make an impact on the god field as a god quarterback god god.
- Arizona takes a non-Claussen, which means there are three picks before the Vikes and Claussen is on the board and I'm officially really hoping he ends up a Viking. Seriously, he could have been a top 10 pick and they can get him at 30? And he lines up to take over for Favre perfectly. I really hope this happens.
- Damn, the Pats have this pick, and they're the kings of trading down, so I fully expect somebody to jump up grab Claussen right here.
- Nope, they keep it and take somebody something. Neither Miami or the Jets need a QB, so it's either a trade or they got a shot at Claussen. They have to take him, don't they? The guy could have been a top 10 pick and nobody would have batted an eye, and now he can be had at 30? And it's a position of need? God, they have to do it, right? This would be a steal. I'm actually excited.
- By the way, how much did Tebow and all his ding-dong friends look like they belonged on Jersey Shore? But with more bibles and probably more working out. And also likely more suppressed longingly gay looks.
I'm going to miss the jokes so much.
- Miami and the Jets both pass on Claussen, so he's just sitting there for the Vikings. They better take him. There is zero reason not to.
- And they trade the pick to the Lions. That's super boring, although I guess it makes tomorrow more interesting. Oh, and with that I'm bored and going to stop typing.
NFL Draft
I don't really have anything to say about the draft tonight, other than I'm already sick of the overcoverage and I hope the Vikings don't pick Tebow. Instead, I'm just going to link you to a mock draft I did last year that got a pretty good response. If you haven't read it, it's new to you.
2009 NFL Mock Draft: Video game style
2009 NFL Mock Draft: Video game style
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Cory Joseph Odds
As made up by me
Villanova -200
Texas -150
Minnesota +125
UCONN +180
UNLV +500
My money is on Texas.
Villanova -200
Texas -150
Minnesota +125
UCONN +180
UNLV +500
My money is on Texas.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Latvian dude committs to Gophers
Pioneer Press link.
Tubby has been busy securing commitments here in the late signing period for 2010, snagging his second one in a week in 6-6 Latvian forward Oto Osenieks, late of Illinois. He's an interesting dude, given that he's a 6-9 Euro whose most often cited skills are his outside shot and his ball-handling, and that he weighs just 215 lbs. and would get snapped in half by the average big ten power forward.
I can't find a whole lot about him since he's fairly new to the national picture, playing just one year in the U.S., but it seems there are a lot of questions about his size and athleticism, but he's got a high basketball IQ and a dead-eye shot - he's also 20 years old, which I see as a positive in this type of player. He's probably already close to his overall potential, but he's also probably honed his on-court smarts more than your average freshman and knows his limits. When I picture him and try to project him into the big ten based on the limited info and few youtube highlights I've seen I'm seeing an upside of a John Shurna with the downside of can't play defense and is killer in mop-up duty.
Osenieks is the fourth player to sign for the class of 2010 and the fourth player who projects to more of a role-player/contributor than a star. Not that there is anything necessarily so bad about that. After two consecutive top-25 nationally ranked classes, sometimes you just need to fill in some gaps. But, really, it's a pretty underwhelming class so far. Mo Walker looks like the only guy who's going to be a contributor right away, so the returnees better all continue to improve or we're looking at another 10 seed at best. We can evaluate this class better down the line, obviously, so I'm not going to rip Tubby for this. I'll save my Tubby ripping for the mistakes he makes during games this season and his lineup choices.
Make sure you check out this link of Oto in action. Seriously. You need to see this (and yes, it's really him). I'd just embed it, but youtube is being a real douche right now.
Tubby has been busy securing commitments here in the late signing period for 2010, snagging his second one in a week in 6-6 Latvian forward Oto Osenieks, late of Illinois. He's an interesting dude, given that he's a 6-9 Euro whose most often cited skills are his outside shot and his ball-handling, and that he weighs just 215 lbs. and would get snapped in half by the average big ten power forward.
I can't find a whole lot about him since he's fairly new to the national picture, playing just one year in the U.S., but it seems there are a lot of questions about his size and athleticism, but he's got a high basketball IQ and a dead-eye shot - he's also 20 years old, which I see as a positive in this type of player. He's probably already close to his overall potential, but he's also probably honed his on-court smarts more than your average freshman and knows his limits. When I picture him and try to project him into the big ten based on the limited info and few youtube highlights I've seen I'm seeing an upside of a John Shurna with the downside of can't play defense and is killer in mop-up duty.
Osenieks is the fourth player to sign for the class of 2010 and the fourth player who projects to more of a role-player/contributor than a star. Not that there is anything necessarily so bad about that. After two consecutive top-25 nationally ranked classes, sometimes you just need to fill in some gaps. But, really, it's a pretty underwhelming class so far. Mo Walker looks like the only guy who's going to be a contributor right away, so the returnees better all continue to improve or we're looking at another 10 seed at best. We can evaluate this class better down the line, obviously, so I'm not going to rip Tubby for this. I'll save my Tubby ripping for the mistakes he makes during games this season and his lineup choices.
Make sure you check out this link of Oto in action. Seriously. You need to see this (and yes, it's really him). I'd just embed it, but youtube is being a real douche right now.
Week in Review - 4/19/2009
I was really hoping to be able to write up how Cory Joseph decided to sign with the Gophers on Saturday since he had said he'd make his decision after the Jordan Brand game, but apparently "after" didn't mean right after like it did for Josh Selby and Doron Lamb, but instead means "eventually." The good news is that at least he didn't declare for somebody else yet, so the Gophers are still alive. The latest rumor is that he's already made up his mind and it's been a three team race for quite some time, which probably means it was down to Minnesota, Texas, and Villanova. I'm still guessing he ends up at Texas, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The final date to sign is May 19th, so I guess we'll know by then.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Francisco Liriano. I'm not ready to go with the whole "he's back" thing or anything, but Thursday's outing against the Gay Sox was a very good sign. Looking a bit deeper into the numbers, Liriano seems to be closer to the 2006 version of himself than last year's. After the injury, he was too reliant on his fastball, throwing the pitch over 50% of the time (54% in 2008 and 56% in 2009) compared to 44% in 2006 despite having lost velocity (90.9mph average in 2008 and 91.7 in 2009 compared to 94.7 in 2006). The good news is he's very close to recapturing his 2006 numbers so far this season. He has thrown his fastball just 46% of the time and the velocity is back up at 93.6mph on average). He's also throwing more strikes, with 64% of his pitches going for strikes compared to just 60% last year (and he was at 66% in 2006). He's also working the change up more often, throwing it 24% of the time, a career high by 4% thus far. Like I said, I'm not saying he's back, but to be able to thrown 7 shutout innings with 8 Ks and to do it throwing just 96 pitches is huge for Liriano. Backing it up with the numbers above is a good sign. Now, his overall K/9 are down, his BB/9 is up, and his BABIP is a fluky low .238 right now so I'm not jumping into the bandwagon with both feet just yet, but things are heading in the right direction.
2. Chase Utley. Hey guy. Small white second-basemen aren't supposed to rake like this, just ask Steve Lombardozzi or Wally Backman. But instead, Utley just does his own thing and continually hits the ball out of the park, something he did five times this week in six games, including four in his three games against the Nationals. This guy is just an absolute stud. If you look at his last five years, and take the worst year he had in each statistic and combined them, he still ends up at .282-22-93. Those are his worst numbers, and don't forget we''re talking about a second basemen, something that of course means nothing to Dawger who probably thinks Utley is no better than Michael Cuddyer. That is if Dawger has even heard of Utley. That guy's knowledge of national league players is on par with my cat. Oh, and I looked up Utley's height and he's actually 6-1 so he's not really all that small, just seems like it because he's so white.
3. Matt Garza. Two weeks into the season, and two weeks that Garza has made this list. On Sunday all he did was shut down the Red Sox, giving up no runs and just four hits in 8 innings of work, and that followed up his outing on Monday, where he shut down the Orioles giving up just one run and six hits in 8 more spectacular innings. That runs his season totals now to 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, and he's struck out more batters than he's allowed hits. Sigh. At least Delmon is starting to hit the ball - the numbers might not show it but he's raking the ball, just not getting hits out of it - but I think this trade goes down as a suck no matter what. Ignoring the peripheral players and just look at the main pieces, Delmon would basically have to end up hitting like Albert Pujols or A-Rod to make this into a fair deal. Seriously Garza has become a top shelf stud. He has a fastball that reaches the mid-90s and has a foot of tail, a mid-80s slider that breaks two feet, a killer slow curve and has finally developed that change-up that caused all the drama back in the day. Plus he has a cute little beard. Sigh.
4. Livan Hernandez. I'm trying to think of things that are less likely than Livan throwing a complete game shutout, which he did on Saturday against the Brewers. So far all I've come up with is a threesome with Brad Pitt, Rosie O'Donnell, and Roseanne, Al Nolen leading the conference in three point percentage, Colt Iverson hitting a shot from further than 8 feet out, and Snacks becoming a big fan of Mike Cuddyer. There are a whole lot Brewers who need to be embarrassed. Not Rickie Weeks though. That guy is the shit.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez. The funny thing about Jimenez tossing a no-hitter on Saturday against the Braves is that my co-worker, Elk, was just telling me about how he was coming around and looking really good this year. Since Elk has him on his fantasy team, I was pretty sure he was just talking up his own player, like how Gardy tries to keep telling us all that Matt Tolbert is awesome. Turns out, the guy can sling the pill. I caught the last inning of the game, and Ubaldo was still hitting 98 on the gun in the 9th. That's pretty impressive. So maybe this guy is pretty good. If only a regular reader and commenter on this blog was a Rockies' season ticket holder, maybe we could get some real insight. Oh, and you better hope Huston Street comes back quick, because Morales is freakin' terrible. You can't trust a left-handed closer, everybody knows that.
(what the holy hell is the point of this stupid thing?)
WHO SUCKED
1. Jose Mijares. If there is a dark lining to this silver cloud of a Twins season thus far, it was been the struggles of Jose Mijares to get anybody out, now culminating in a trip to the DL in what I suspect is as much of a "figure this thing out" kind of move as it is an injury move. Mijares has thrown a total of 3 innings over five appearances, and is allowing nearly three base-runners per inning (6 hits, 2 walks) and currently sports a 6.00 ERA and has struck out just two batters so far this year - not exactly the kind of numbers you want to see from an eighth inning guy. I don't know if it means anything, but his fastball is down about 1.5 mph compared to last year and he's throwing his changeup about twice as often this year as he used to. Has he lost something off his fastball and subsequently lost faith in it? I don't know, but I do hope whatever is going on this little DL trip can fix it, because as much as I like Duensing him and Mahay as the lefties out of the bullpen doesn't fill me with confidence.
2. Jason Marquis. Hey, remember when the Nationals signed Marquis to a 2-year/$15 million deal this offseason coming off a 15-win season for the Rockies? And remember how Rockies' fans were like, "take him" and everyone else was kind of like, "whoa, really? $15 million for Marquis?" Well, his living up to that this week. In his two starts this week he managed just 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing thirteen base-runners - every single one of which scored. Yes, that's 13 earned runs in 4 and 1/3 innings. His season numbers right now are and 0-3 record with a 20.52 ERA and a 2.88 WHIP. Yes, and ERA over 20. He's certainly earning that $7.5 million this year. My favorite part was when he pitched against the Brewers on Saturday and it went single-single-single-hit by pitch-walk-hit by pitch-single-Marquis yanked. Quality outing.
3. Jason Frasor. You wanted him to be a Twin, which once again proves you don't know what the holy hell you're talking about. You're also probably really impressed that he has three saves, paying little attention to the fact that he's blown two also and is currently rocking a 5.68 ERA, which is already improved from the 6+ number he was carrying at the beginning of the week. At least the Blue Jays are paying attention, and they've yanked the closer role away from Frasor and given it to the decidedly average Kevin Gregg. What this all means is that the guy you wanted to the Twins to trade precious prospects for to close games for them was beaten out for the role on a crappy Blue Jay team by a guy who put up an ERA north of 4.70 the last time he was closing games. Good call, genius.
4. Cincinnati Reds. The Reds were so awesome this week they were actually swept by the Pirates, in what was the first Pirate sweep since 1987, or so I assume without looking anything up. And it wasn't just during that series that the Reds sucked, they've been pretty rough so far this year and sit at 5-8. Out of their players who qualify for the batting title, Joey Votto is the only one hitting over .250 - Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs are hitting under .200. And it's not just the hitters. Aaron Harang looks to have fallen off the cliff, Johnny Cueto isn't developing, and speaking of not developing Homer Bailey is starting to look like the type of prospect who has all the tools on paper but can't ever pull it together - like David West but with more talent. They have yet another new little youngster arm in Mike Leake who has looked really good so far, but if the rest of the youngins' don't start playing and stay just "potentially good", it's going to be yet another losing season in Cincy.
5. Chef Boyardee. Can someone please tell me why the Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs has a different sauce than every other Chef Boyardee? The Ravioli is top notch, and the peripheral spinoffs like Beef-a-roni and Lasagna are basically the same thing, but then you get to the spaghetti and meatballs and it's like WTF, Mr. B? We shove this at WonderbabyTM every so often and she likes most of it (as do I, if we're being honest here - try the mini raviolis, top notch) but we tried the spaghetti the other day and it seriously made her angry, like an old man sending back soup at a deli. So I tried it, and it was like eating evil. Why would you use the exact same, deliciously sodium-filled sauce on the majority of your project and then detour into some sort of unholy combination of what I can only assume is fire and brimstone on what should probably be your flagship pasta variation? For shame. And did you know there isn't even an actual Chef Boyardee? So nobody actually has to answer for this abomination. Except for the sham executives. You know who you are. Between this and all the dead hookers, I bet you can't even sleep at night.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. Francisco Liriano. I'm not ready to go with the whole "he's back" thing or anything, but Thursday's outing against the Gay Sox was a very good sign. Looking a bit deeper into the numbers, Liriano seems to be closer to the 2006 version of himself than last year's. After the injury, he was too reliant on his fastball, throwing the pitch over 50% of the time (54% in 2008 and 56% in 2009) compared to 44% in 2006 despite having lost velocity (90.9mph average in 2008 and 91.7 in 2009 compared to 94.7 in 2006). The good news is he's very close to recapturing his 2006 numbers so far this season. He has thrown his fastball just 46% of the time and the velocity is back up at 93.6mph on average). He's also throwing more strikes, with 64% of his pitches going for strikes compared to just 60% last year (and he was at 66% in 2006). He's also working the change up more often, throwing it 24% of the time, a career high by 4% thus far. Like I said, I'm not saying he's back, but to be able to thrown 7 shutout innings with 8 Ks and to do it throwing just 96 pitches is huge for Liriano. Backing it up with the numbers above is a good sign. Now, his overall K/9 are down, his BB/9 is up, and his BABIP is a fluky low .238 right now so I'm not jumping into the bandwagon with both feet just yet, but things are heading in the right direction.
2. Chase Utley. Hey guy. Small white second-basemen aren't supposed to rake like this, just ask Steve Lombardozzi or Wally Backman. But instead, Utley just does his own thing and continually hits the ball out of the park, something he did five times this week in six games, including four in his three games against the Nationals. This guy is just an absolute stud. If you look at his last five years, and take the worst year he had in each statistic and combined them, he still ends up at .282-22-93. Those are his worst numbers, and don't forget we''re talking about a second basemen, something that of course means nothing to Dawger who probably thinks Utley is no better than Michael Cuddyer. That is if Dawger has even heard of Utley. That guy's knowledge of national league players is on par with my cat. Oh, and I looked up Utley's height and he's actually 6-1 so he's not really all that small, just seems like it because he's so white.
3. Matt Garza. Two weeks into the season, and two weeks that Garza has made this list. On Sunday all he did was shut down the Red Sox, giving up no runs and just four hits in 8 innings of work, and that followed up his outing on Monday, where he shut down the Orioles giving up just one run and six hits in 8 more spectacular innings. That runs his season totals now to 3-0 with a 0.75 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP, and he's struck out more batters than he's allowed hits. Sigh. At least Delmon is starting to hit the ball - the numbers might not show it but he's raking the ball, just not getting hits out of it - but I think this trade goes down as a suck no matter what. Ignoring the peripheral players and just look at the main pieces, Delmon would basically have to end up hitting like Albert Pujols or A-Rod to make this into a fair deal. Seriously Garza has become a top shelf stud. He has a fastball that reaches the mid-90s and has a foot of tail, a mid-80s slider that breaks two feet, a killer slow curve and has finally developed that change-up that caused all the drama back in the day. Plus he has a cute little beard. Sigh.
4. Livan Hernandez. I'm trying to think of things that are less likely than Livan throwing a complete game shutout, which he did on Saturday against the Brewers. So far all I've come up with is a threesome with Brad Pitt, Rosie O'Donnell, and Roseanne, Al Nolen leading the conference in three point percentage, Colt Iverson hitting a shot from further than 8 feet out, and Snacks becoming a big fan of Mike Cuddyer. There are a whole lot Brewers who need to be embarrassed. Not Rickie Weeks though. That guy is the shit.
5. Ubaldo Jimenez. The funny thing about Jimenez tossing a no-hitter on Saturday against the Braves is that my co-worker, Elk, was just telling me about how he was coming around and looking really good this year. Since Elk has him on his fantasy team, I was pretty sure he was just talking up his own player, like how Gardy tries to keep telling us all that Matt Tolbert is awesome. Turns out, the guy can sling the pill. I caught the last inning of the game, and Ubaldo was still hitting 98 on the gun in the 9th. That's pretty impressive. So maybe this guy is pretty good. If only a regular reader and commenter on this blog was a Rockies' season ticket holder, maybe we could get some real insight. Oh, and you better hope Huston Street comes back quick, because Morales is freakin' terrible. You can't trust a left-handed closer, everybody knows that.
WHO SUCKED
1. Jose Mijares. If there is a dark lining to this silver cloud of a Twins season thus far, it was been the struggles of Jose Mijares to get anybody out, now culminating in a trip to the DL in what I suspect is as much of a "figure this thing out" kind of move as it is an injury move. Mijares has thrown a total of 3 innings over five appearances, and is allowing nearly three base-runners per inning (6 hits, 2 walks) and currently sports a 6.00 ERA and has struck out just two batters so far this year - not exactly the kind of numbers you want to see from an eighth inning guy. I don't know if it means anything, but his fastball is down about 1.5 mph compared to last year and he's throwing his changeup about twice as often this year as he used to. Has he lost something off his fastball and subsequently lost faith in it? I don't know, but I do hope whatever is going on this little DL trip can fix it, because as much as I like Duensing him and Mahay as the lefties out of the bullpen doesn't fill me with confidence.
2. Jason Marquis. Hey, remember when the Nationals signed Marquis to a 2-year/$15 million deal this offseason coming off a 15-win season for the Rockies? And remember how Rockies' fans were like, "take him" and everyone else was kind of like, "whoa, really? $15 million for Marquis?" Well, his living up to that this week. In his two starts this week he managed just 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing thirteen base-runners - every single one of which scored. Yes, that's 13 earned runs in 4 and 1/3 innings. His season numbers right now are and 0-3 record with a 20.52 ERA and a 2.88 WHIP. Yes, and ERA over 20. He's certainly earning that $7.5 million this year. My favorite part was when he pitched against the Brewers on Saturday and it went single-single-single-hit by pitch-walk-hit by pitch-single-Marquis yanked. Quality outing.
3. Jason Frasor. You wanted him to be a Twin, which once again proves you don't know what the holy hell you're talking about. You're also probably really impressed that he has three saves, paying little attention to the fact that he's blown two also and is currently rocking a 5.68 ERA, which is already improved from the 6+ number he was carrying at the beginning of the week. At least the Blue Jays are paying attention, and they've yanked the closer role away from Frasor and given it to the decidedly average Kevin Gregg. What this all means is that the guy you wanted to the Twins to trade precious prospects for to close games for them was beaten out for the role on a crappy Blue Jay team by a guy who put up an ERA north of 4.70 the last time he was closing games. Good call, genius.
4. Cincinnati Reds. The Reds were so awesome this week they were actually swept by the Pirates, in what was the first Pirate sweep since 1987, or so I assume without looking anything up. And it wasn't just during that series that the Reds sucked, they've been pretty rough so far this year and sit at 5-8. Out of their players who qualify for the batting title, Joey Votto is the only one hitting over .250 - Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs are hitting under .200. And it's not just the hitters. Aaron Harang looks to have fallen off the cliff, Johnny Cueto isn't developing, and speaking of not developing Homer Bailey is starting to look like the type of prospect who has all the tools on paper but can't ever pull it together - like David West but with more talent. They have yet another new little youngster arm in Mike Leake who has looked really good so far, but if the rest of the youngins' don't start playing and stay just "potentially good", it's going to be yet another losing season in Cincy.
5. Chef Boyardee. Can someone please tell me why the Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs has a different sauce than every other Chef Boyardee? The Ravioli is top notch, and the peripheral spinoffs like Beef-a-roni and Lasagna are basically the same thing, but then you get to the spaghetti and meatballs and it's like WTF, Mr. B? We shove this at WonderbabyTM every so often and she likes most of it (as do I, if we're being honest here - try the mini raviolis, top notch) but we tried the spaghetti the other day and it seriously made her angry, like an old man sending back soup at a deli. So I tried it, and it was like eating evil. Why would you use the exact same, deliciously sodium-filled sauce on the majority of your project and then detour into some sort of unholy combination of what I can only assume is fire and brimstone on what should probably be your flagship pasta variation? For shame. And did you know there isn't even an actual Chef Boyardee? So nobody actually has to answer for this abomination. Except for the sham executives. You know who you are. Between this and all the dead hookers, I bet you can't even sleep at night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
