I won’t lie, I am an addict. I cancel appointments, screen calls, and watch what I say and how I act when around particular parties. I sleep late, put off work, and have been bound to a very irregular grooming pattern. At least I have a great group of buddies to be sex-starved with but, who still have the passion to sit and talk about how well youngster Chris B. Young will shape up in the youth invigorated DBacks outfield or how Tomo Ohka or Victor Zambrano could mean the difference, and possibly a playoff spot for the Jays (yes, you did read that correctly, cast-offs always seem to be the unlikely heroes before anything happens, but then the guy who everyone says “Well, obviously they were the ones who were going to make the difference, they had something to prove” after the fact). Most times these conversations are happening for the seventy-third time, and at odd hours of the morning, but still, we always find a new point to argue to the bitter end, and that is why I have been so hopped up for the past two months.
Baseball is a thinking mans game. True, it does require luck, but success on any level requires even a touch of luck. The great thing about baseball is how each play is a battle of wills, a test of both the body and the mind. The intricate relationship between the home plate umpire and the catcher is one that may pass blindly by the unobserving eye, but to those in the know, could mean the difference between the called third strike on the outside corner with the sacks juiced and two out in the ninth and walking in the tying run. Or the head games managers will play against each other; deciding to pinch hit to force a move to another pitcher, which all equate to why I love the game as much as I do. Some may find it crazy, but my fellow Grimsby Dynasty League General Managers and Fantasy connoisseurs everywhere are all blissful right now, because yesterday the stats started to pile in.
Let’s get right into the obviously biased, utterly judgmental but very insightful picks for the season upon us.
NL East
The East used to be a division that was an easy call. Go with the Braves and you’re set, or in recent years, pick the Mets and ride the 7 train into Flushing for some October baseball. Not this year though. The Mets will be in the thick of things, but not the hands down favourite of the bunch to take it all, not yet at least. With the young nucleus GM Omar Minaya has built (Reyes, Wright, Beltran) mixed with savvy vets (Delgado, Alou, Green, Valentine, Lo Duca, Glavine,
Wagner) and a few rising stars who may come along the way (Pelfry, Milledge) this team brings just about everything to the table. Where they separate themselves from the pack is through that potent line-up, headed by one of the most electrifying players in the game. Where they will need to show some strength is in the starting rotation since Pedro will be down and out until the All-Star break, if not longer.Glavine will need to play like the Glavine we have come to know over the past 20 years, holding onus to being the stopper who solidifies the staff and cuts losing streaks short. After that though, a lot is up in the air. El Duque should be solid, as he has been for the main part of his 35 year professional career. John Maine will look to show he’s got the gonads to be a quality pitcher not only in the post-season, but during the long haul of the regular season. Then there are two question marks in the likes of both Oliver Perez and Mike Pelfrey. Perez has shown glimpses of his dominant nature during his time with the Pirates, but those glimpses have been few and far between over the past two and a half years. He’ll need to show he belongs, and has the team behind him to do just that. The biggest surprise however could come from rookie Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey is a daunting presence on the mound standing at 6’7 and can bring it (he was clocked at 98 and 99 over the spring). He’ll provide moments reserved for that guy who tried to make NYC his Daddy, but those should be very sporadic. This team will be fun to watch at any rate and be highly competitive.
Trying to oust the Mets from their perch atop the NL East will be the Phillies, Braves and Marlins. Sorry to any Nationals fans who may be reading this, you guys have a few long years ahead of you, take solace in the fact that Ryan Zimmerman should form nicely into the cornerstone of your franchise, there’s not much more there to get excited about. As for the Phillies, they’ll have a shot, just as Jimmy Rollins candidly went on the record to state early this spring.
Brett Myers should continue to be the ace he’s made himself into over the past three years, just as long as he can keep his misdemeanors to a minimum and stay healthy. Pat Gillick went out and added some depth and leadership to a depleted pitching rotation by adding the likes of work-horse Freddy Garcia (out to start the season with soreness in his bicep), the ageless Jamie Moyer and Texas cast-off Adam Eaton. Having a core group of guys who have been through just about every possibly situation imaginable will be nothing but gravy for the highly touted prospect Cole Hamels to add to his already impressive onslaught. The lineup is solid top to bottom and the NL will have to watch out for the new everyday right fielder Shane Victorino, who has speed and pop in his bat that will only add to the potency the Phils’ have.
One personal vendetta I’m hoping plays its course is at the catching position. After verbally
agreeing to a deal with the Blue Jays, Rod Barajas got a little bug in his ear from a third-party agent, decided he liked what he heard, fired his agent at the time, hired the new guy with the master plan, then tried to re-nag on his original agreement because now his new agent thought he could get him more. Sorry for you to have to find out this way Rod, but just because the team is in Canada doesn’t mean its run by Canadians (known for being overly polite and very courteous and understanding). JP Riccardi was not standing for this lack of respect and unlike a friendly Canuck, told Barajas where to stick it. Now Barajas will be challenged to keep his everyday job by both Christ Coste and more favourably the young Carlos Ruiz. We’ll watch to see how things play out. Hopefully it will end with Barajas sitting in his east end Philadelphia condo, watching the Jays face off against the Indians in the ALDS.Both the Braves and Marlins will also be in contention late; and both for complete opposite reasons. The Braves always seem to find a way to stay competitive and this year should be no different. With Andruw Jones in a walk-year, he should put up gaudy numbers and may price himself out of Atlanta. Jeff Francoeur should continue to see improvements as he grows and develops a better understanding of the term plate discipline. Look for Tim Hudson to have a bounce back year and for the possibility of Kelly Johnson to surprise a lot of people somewhat the same way Dan Uggla did last year. The key to the Braves success will undoubtedly be their pitching staff as always, but I see their bullpen being the strong point. By picking up Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez late last season, they have stacked their pen with quality arms and should hold leads handed off by the starters and close things down.
The Marlins are a young team full of potential….um, yah, again. They play with flair and under almost the minutest level of scrutiny any team in the league faces. They are a team always full of surprises, but may have burned one bridge too many after the dismissal of Manager Joe Girardi after last season. If nothing else, it will be fun to watch Miggy Cabrera make all the GMs sitting on a load of cash start adding the zero’s to the end of his upcoming MONSTER contract.
NL East Champs: New York Mets
NL East Fantasy Sleepers: Kelly Johnson (Atl), Rafael Soriano (Atl), Shane Victorino (Phi), Ryan Church (Wash)
NL Central
Unlike years past there’s reason to be excited about the Central. We’ve got the reigning World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals, even though not many people remember their crowning last fall, and then a group of teams who have repositioned themselves nicely and should provide ample reason to tune into games between division rivals.
The Cards will be a strong team once again this year. They will however, need to rely on the almighty Puljos even more. With Jim Edmonds on the decline and never knowing how long Scott Rolen will be at your disposal, the Cards will once again rely on the backbone of the organization to pull them out of the woodwork. New additions Adam Kennedy and Preston Wilson should provide some relief to the offense but can’t be heavily relied upon under any circumstances. If Chris Duncan is able to start to hit lefties a little better this year and keep up his torrid homerun pace from last year (22HR in 280AB) he could turn out to be a nice tool used in front of Albert. Because he’ll be entering his first full season in the Show it shouldn’t be a surprise if he has a recession back to the mean and those Bonds-like HR rates lowered.
The Cards will be relying on their pitching and may run into some problems, but could come out looking like geniuses. Carpenter will be his usual self and anchor the rotation. Newly acquired Kip Wells is looking to have a renaissance year such as Carpenter did back in 2004 when he shed his bad habits that left him a .500 pitcher after six seasons with the Jays. Wells has looked very solid during camp this year and working with the staff employed by the Cards, could be in store for a big year. Anthony Reyes will get another shot at becoming the organizations crown jewel so many think he will become. After having an up-and-down rookie season, look for Reyes to solidify himself as a solid middle-to-top of the rotation guy. Rounding out the rotation will be Adam Wainwright who is making the move into the rotation somewhat similarly to what we thought would happen in Boston. Things on the East Coast never seem to work out quite as smoothly as planned but, in the Mid-Wes,t expect a strong year from Wainwright. If Isringhausen stays healthy expect the Cards to be in the hunt come the end of September, if Issy goes down, expect Wainwright to take on the duties and try and save the Cards season (no pun intended).
The team who people should really be taking notice of, are the boys out in Milwaukee. After dismal season after dismal season, there is finally hope in Cheesehead land that their baseball
team might bring some notoriety to the area. GM Doug Melvin has done a great job at building this team through the draft and is now eyeing a possible playoff birth for the first time in...well...I can't even remember the last time I used the words Brewers and playoffs in the same sentence, so it's been a long time coming. The Brewers infield will be potent. Big Daddy's son Prince is entering his second full season and should continue to make Poppa proud while sending many souvenirs into the Milwaukee night. J.J Hardy and Rickie Weeks make a very good, and very young, combo to have at your middle slots. Both are only 24-years old entering the season and are looking to make a name for themselves amongst the NL middle infielders. Moving into the outfield this year was the slugging Bill Hall and a continued onslaught should be expected. The final piece of the puzzle could possibly be another 24-year old, Corey Hart. Hart will have the starting right fielders job and if he can continue his success from the minors, should turn out to be a very quality corner outfielder for years to come.The pitching staff for the Brewers could easily be the best in the Central. Sheets will be back, hopefully fully healthy, and should be in store for a monster season. Capuano will look to become a bonafied number two man, but will be challenged by Dave Bush for those honours. Although Bush will be starting the season as the #5 starter, look for him to take to the mound and have some very solid performances in the early going which will only be to the Brewers advantage. Then rounding out the rotation will be newcomers Jeff Suppan and Claudio Vargas. This Brewers team will be one of the best in the Central, its just too bad no one knows it yet.
But where are the lovable Cubbies you ask? Well, unfortunately they went out and spent a lot of money in the wrong places. This was a team that struggled to get on base last year, mind you they were without perennial All-Star Derek Lee for the entire season, but areas of concern were not properly assessed. The Cubs will be able to put runs on the board with the likes of Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez in their lineup. It’s just too bad that they won’t be able to stop the other team on four out of five days. Re-upping Big Z for this year was very smart, he’s the workhorse every staff needs and is a fiery competitor. Now they'll have to make sure they can keep Carlos happy and get him to commit to a long-term deal with the club, if not, their futility could continue. After that though you’ve got about $110M wrapped up in mediocrity, aka Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis and Wade Miller. Miller still has the outside shot to turn into a more reliable starter than he’s shown in years past playing out in Houston, so he shouldn’t be lumped in with Lilly or Marquis just yet, but the time is coming. The one unknown bright spot will be Rich Hill. The Cubs farmhand will be looking to solidify his stance as the teams number 2 starter right behind Zambrano and shouldn’t disappoint. He’s got a very strong fastball and backs that up with great control. If the winds die down enough every fifth day and Hill avoids the long ball he should be solid. The team in general however, will fall short.
Cincinnati will have an interesting year in 07. If they band together they could be a sneaky team in the Central. If they get hit by the injury truck, it’ll be a long grind, either way though it will be interesting. The story out of spring training was that of the Rule-5 pick up Josh Hamilton that
got sent to the Reds for cash considerations from the Cubs. Hamilton tore through the spring, hitting over .400 and showed the power and discipline that made him the top overall selection of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a few years back. He’ll start the season on the bench, but barring some unforeseen anomaly, should be in the everyday lineup by the third week after Griffey Jr. pulls a hammy. Brandon Phillips and Edwin Encarnacion will be fun young players to keep an eye on and Aaron Harang should continue to show the masses that he is a legitimate number one starter. The bullpen, although full of arms, has no real direction with the closers job still up in the air. Certainty and an image are what this team desperately needs and it could come as soon as this year, or be put on hold once again, the jury is still out.Rounding out the Central are the Astros and Pirates. The Astros should be decent, but don’t expect too much, especially since that weasel Roger Clemens will string Houstonians along until the last possible moment, when he announces that he will return to the game and that it will be with the damn Yankees. As for the Pirates, well, at least they have a nice ballpark and Jason Bay.
NL Central Champ: Milwaukee Brewers
NL Central Fantasy Sleepers: Rich Hill (ChC), Josh Hamilton (Cin), Corey Hart (Mil), Dave Bush (Mil), Kip Wells (StL), Anthony Reyes (StL), Chris Duncan (StL)
NL West
The way the West will be won will soon include treacherous stops for opponents who visit Coors Field and ChaseField (formerly known as BankOne Ballpark) and home to the Arizona Diamondbacks. These two teams are stacked with youth, and very talented youngsters at that.
The Rockies will be hitting the field this year looking to move up the standings and back into the race for a playoff spot, something that hasn’t been done since their inception. After an off-season where the franchise tag player, Todd Helton, was almost dealt to the Red Sox, the front office took a long and hard look at what was in front of them and decided against dealing the veteran and rather have his leadership, and plus .320 batting average around for a little while longer.
Helton will be joined by the Murderer’s Row consisting of Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe. Complimenting the Rockies’ All-Stars will be hard working and very gifted rookie Chris Iannetta behind the plate and equally as impressive short stop Troy Tulowitzki (Tools’ for short). These two young players are exactly the type you want to go to battle with. They work at their craft extremely hard, play the game with the passion it was intended to be played with and are very knowledgeable. They’ve also got incredibly bright futures ahead of themselves along with many other Rockies. Willy Taveras was added for some speed at the top of the order and should fit in nicely with all of the big bats. One of the more under the radar moves was conducted late last season when Kaz Matsui was brought into the Mountains. Kaz looks as though he’s found a nice home in Colorado and could be on the verge, with less pressure and a set role, to become what most expected on his arrival in Queens a few years ago.Pitching will be the only question mark entering the year. Gone is Jason Jennings which means Aaron Cook is the defacto ace. Look for Jeff Francis to take another step forward in his evolutionary process and be a solid number 2. Rodrigo Lopez, Byung-Hyn Kim and Taylor Buchholz round out the rotation which means runs will need to be scored, and they will be. With Jeremy Affeldt and LaTroy Hawkins in the bullpen followed by closer Brian Fuentes they should be stable come the 6th-9th innings, but getting there could be their only problem. This Rockies team should be a fun one to watch grow, and their coming of age could be a lot sooner than anyone expected.
As for those guys out in the desert the Arizona Diamondbacks will be tailored in new duds, which makes a lot of sense; this is not the Zona team we’ve come to know from the past. No longer do we see such names such as Gonzalez or…er…that’s about the only name you associate with Arizona, so thankfully we have some fresh new faces with bright futures to talk about. Conor Jackson will be entering his second full season at first base and more will be expected.
Jackson has a sort of Troy Glaus look to him which should make DBack fans smile. He can swing a big stick and play a defensively solid first base. Of the new faces to dawn a DBacks jersey this year the most anticipated will be someone not yet up with the big club, Justin Upton. Upton is the crown jewel of their minor league system but has some competition as Stephen Drew, Chris B. Young, and Carlos Quentin are already up in the Show and ready to show their worth. Drew should shape into a very solid shortstop that can hit for both average and power and play very consistent defense at a premier position. As for Young and Quentin, well the sky is seemingly the limit. These two possess the rare combination of power and speed and have scouts around the league drooling. And don't forget, they have someone who may be just as good as Young and Quentin just one, very short step away from the big stage. His name is Carlos Gonzalez and played extremely well in Venezula during winter ball. I tried to find a YouTube video just to say I saw him before anyone...couldn't find anything. They'll be teamed with a starting rotation that has the likes of Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson at the front line and then Livan Hernandez, Doug Davis and either Edgar Gonzalez or Micah Owings rounding things out, the DBacks should give themselves a good shot most nights. Life has officially been restored in the desert.If you’re looking for the front runner as who has all the ingredients to win the division you may not need to look any further than last years division champs the LA Dodgers. The Dodgers will be back with almost the same group who won them 88 games last year with a few very key additions. The first and one of the biggest free-agent signings over the off-season was that of Jason Schmidt. Schmidt will only make the Dodgers even better on the hill. He’ll be teamed with Randy Wolf, Derek Lowe, Brad Penny and Brett Tomko and the group should comprise one of the NL’s top rotations. Look out for Jonathan Broxton and/or Chad Billingsley coming out of the bullpen and setting up for the closer Takashi Saito during the latter part of the games this season as you can say you saw them when. Both Broxton and Billingsley are ranked very high on the Dodgers depth charts and for good reason, both displayed rocket arms and the ability to take over games. In due time Broxton should assume the role of closer while Billingsley should step into the rotation and quickly make his mark and solidify himself.
As far as their lineup is concerned, the Dodgers have speed and depth throughout. There will be some lack of power numbers that Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez will aim to mend, however, once the inevitable Nomar injury happens, look for James Looney to get time at first base and show his true colours. The Dodgers will be there when it matters; they’re too well rounded not to be.
The West could easily turn out to be one of the more competitive divisions in baseball if the San Diego Padres can duplicate last year’s success, and on paper, it looks as though there’s a very good possibility of that happening. On offense the Padres will be looking to Adrian Gonzalez to
have a big year. He took big strides last year in his development and should continue to grow and progress as an everyday player. At the opposite corner of the infield will be the player returned in the Josh Barfield trade, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Kouz is a very solid hitter with plus power who can drive the ball to all fields. He also plays a very strong third base and hits for a very good average. It will be interesting to see how Petco dilutes his power, however. The Brother Giles’ hook up again, this time after Marcus was signed in lieu of the Barfield/Kouz deal. With the family back in tact watch for both to have bounce back seasons.The strength for this club will be its rotation. Jake Peavy is looking to finally step into the role as one of the top pitchers in the game, which he’s been touted as for the past three years. He’s got some of the nastiest stuff in the Bigs but needs to find the consistency in order to be included with the likes of Santana, Webb, Halladay, Carpenter and Oswalt. The addition of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux should be a very big help to the young pitchers in the rotation and to expect 15 W’s out of Maddux is not unforeseen. The Padres have a very nice mix of veterans and youngsters to compete and anything is possible when discussing the West.
The team who may be left out of the festivities come the end of the season could easily be the San Francisco Giants. Although there will be a media hoard surrounding the club until Barry Balco hits his 756 dinger, things should cool off fast in San Fran. After going out and landing one of those mediocre free-agent pitchers this off-season the Giants did little else. Barry Zito should fit well in the power deprived National League, and a renewed sense of desire and small chip on his shoulder should ensure he’ll be back to the Zito of old, if only on occasion. Following him in the rotation will be youngsters Matt Cain and Noah Lowry. Both should evolve into front-line starters, Cain more quickly than Lowry. They provide a very nice mix of hard and soft, left and right and will be a mainstay within the Giants organization for years to come. The lineup however is very old and not getting any younger. With the likes of Bengie Molina, Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, Barry Bonds, Dave Roberts and Randy Winn this team needs to stay healthy in order to compete.
NL West Champ: LA Dodgers
NL Fantasy Sleepers: Chris Iannetta (Col), Kazuo Matsui (Col), Troy Tulowitzki (Col), Stephen Drew (Ari), Chris B. Young (Ari), Carlos Quentin (Ari), Jonathan Broxton (LAD), Wilson Betemit (LAD), Chad Billingsley (LAD), James Looney (LAD), Adrian Gonzalez (SD), Kevin Kouzmanoff (SD), Clay Hensley (SD), Matt Cain (SF)
NL Wild Card: Arizona Diamondbacks
- JW
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