February 2009
Tough Choices
This time of the year there are so many tough choices to make. But I stumbled onto one that I wasn’t prepared to make. I mean, c’mon, how many fantasy leagues to join, what tweaks should make in the JAIL league, which players will be sleepers, which will be overvalued duds etc…?
Those decisions have to be made and I am prepared to deal with them. But again, there was one that completely blind-sided me yesterday.
Enough of a build up? Okay, okay.
In an attempt to keep my finger on the pulse (ouch! burned my finger) of the sports and entertainment world I find myself watching a lot of television. Hey, I don’t do it because I waaaant to, but because of the pulse thing. In doing so, I’ve stumbled onto a…ummm…war? Yeah, a war! An infomercial war!
And like any war, we have to pick a side. So, let’s meet the combatants:
In this corner we have the black-bearded pirate, Billy Mays, who is selling a little chopper product.
You know Billy, he sells a lot of different products from laundry soap to cell phone clips for your car and a bunch of scratch removers. He must like Dr. Suess, because he likes to rhyme his sentences. But when Billy is selling, people listen.
On the other side of the battlefield is the new kid. You know him as the Sham Wow dude who likes to use tricky editing to make cola messes go away. But his name is Vince and he likes his headsets light and tight! He is also selling a little chopping machine.
Now, normally they sell different products so we don’t have to make such tough choices (see I worked the title of the blog into this fine post, cool eh?), but not this time.
Nope. I’m not sure who started this infomercial showdown, but it could get ugly.
What a quandary! If I go with the slick upstart Vince (Btw, I wonder if that’s his whole name, you know like the big stars Madonna, Sting, Archive, The Rock. Heh, one of those doesn’t belong – yep The Rock, that’s 2 words). I very well could be limiting myself, after all Big Bad Billy sells a lot of really cool products and Vinny (my pet name) only peddles 2 or so.
Maybe Billy started this tussle, wanting to throw his weight around — literally. If so, that’s not cool. On the other hand, Vin-o-roni (another pet name) likes to use that “we can’t do this all day, so you better call in next 20 minutes” garbage.
Maybe the quality of the product should be the prevailing source of information to determine the winner? LOLOLOLOL I said quality when refering to a product bought on T.V. I make joke. Me funny.
Here’s a picture I came across while looking for one of the chopper these guys are selling. Pretty cool, huh? It’s the old Batman on an old motorcycle.
Alright, here’s what the chopper looks like, though this one is being sold in England and is cheaper and probably made with much better materials.
Isn’t it cool? It allows you to chop up enough vegetables to feed a small hamster. I mean, I know when I’m hungry I find myself many times wishing I had 1 tiny piece of celery chopped up and thrown on top of my food.
Acutally, this picture makes it look kinda big. But if you’ve seen Billy-Boy or Vinster selling theirs, you probably noticed the minuscule piece of tuna that is smushed up and thought,”Are they feeding birds?!”
Vince does go for some added value to his chopper, he says — and why shouldn’t I take his word as gospel? — that if we use his chopper it will make our putrid, boring lives much more exciting!
I know when I want some spice to my day, I go to the kitchen and pull out some small cooking appliances and have a party! Nobody, needs to remind me of that bastion of ballyhoo that resides in my kitchen, tucked away in the sleepless cupboards. But, hey, I’m a cutting edge kinda guy, just ask my square-dancing instructer.
And you came here for baseball info! Sorry, sometimes I get in these moods and I kinda go with’m. I will be back later with a more traditional fantasy baseball type post, I promise!
Btw, tonight (Friday 27th) I’m doing a special Pre-Draft podcast at BlogTalkRadio.com. Just click on the link over on the right side of the page —-> and you’ll go right there. Should be fun, please join me and talk some baseball!
I’m done.
-Johnny Archive
Good News, Bad News 02/25/09
It’s time for the start of something baseball fans all over the world have been patiently waiting for…not the spring training games, we covered that in our last post…but the first addition of the world famous Good News, Bad News!
If you have somehow never checked out the Good News, Bad News weekly post before then boy are you in for a treat. Every Wednesday, I try and do what I can to break up the boring work week by interjecting some different slants on the news of the day. Politics, music, entertainment and of course sports are all subjects from which I will poke a little fun at.
So, with that background, let’s get to it.
Good News – Baseball is back with the start of the first spring training games today.
Bad News – Most of the sports world will not be talking baseball, thanks alot Tiger!
Good News – My Colorado Rockies finally made some off-season moves.
Bad News – They made several salary dump moves, with more to come. Bring back, Dante!
Good News – One of my little secret guilty pleasures, Top Chef, has it’s season ending show today.
Bad News - As much as I enjoy seeing the food they make on the show, I’ve never heard of most of the ingredients.
Good News – One more on Top Chef, I’m really pulling for Carla to win, though she is the underdog.
Bad News – When I’m feeling all Top Chef-ish, I get frisky and toss in some celery to my Hamburger Helper!
Good News – I’m really starting to get into this Twitter stuff, I’ve even found myself reccomending it to people.
Bad News – I am not a fan of IMing, I never have liked the whole world knowing exactly when I log on, but being known as a “tweeter” is fine. Tweet-tweet!
Good News – The Bass Master Classic was held last weekend and the one charismatic fisher dude, Mike Iconelli, finished second.
Bad News – I have to admit, I think making such a big deal out of fishing is ridiculous. Yes, I’m the same guy who gets all giddy about fantasy sports.
Good News – Gold is going through the roof, eclipsing the 1K mark recently.
Bad News – I sold all my Krugerrands many years ago. Hey, this one ain’t funny at all, it’s really sad.
Good News – The Johnny Archive bi-polar meter has definitely switched to Manic towards baseball.
Bad News – I love it when I’m so locked in, but it’s such a long season that by the time October rolls around I’m usually totally exhausted.
Good News – Season two of The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show was kicked off this past Sunday with a successful debut of the show on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Bad News – I have so much I want to accomplish with the show, blog, site and JAIL league I end up being spread awfully thin.
Good News – President Obama displayed once again how talented he is at stepping up and giving good speeches last night when he addressed Congress.
Bad News – The Republicans have no answer, and it was obvious when their young gun, Louisana Gov. Bobby Jindal, tried to match Obama but came out looking totally over-matched.
Well, there we are…I hope you likey. Have a great week and thank you for doing whatever it is you do to make this such a great world to live in!
-Johnny Archive
Naughty Or Nice?
o/ Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…. o/
Forgive me, I’m all caught up in the season. It’s that time of the year, again. Yep, every family has their own unique style and traditions they replay this time of year. But the fact remains, we all celebrate one way or another.
Will we get what we want, what we asked Saint Selig for? A winning record? A playoff spot? A division title? A drug-free sport? Perhaps even the whole salami, the World Series Crown!? *crosses fingers*
Unfortunately, some of us didn’t do right and we’ll have to answer for it. Maybe it was not returning that cart to the “holding bin”, instead just squeezing it inbetween the two cars next to us. It could’ve been we didn’t do such a good job acting like we didn’t see our neighbor walking to their to car the same time we were headed out in the morning? There’s no way that “anonymous” negative post we put on that community or company website somehow became public, is there?! Oh gawd, say it isn’t so!
Anyway, whatever it was, some us are destined to to be disgruntled.
I’m guessing some of you are asking yourselves,”uhmmm, Johnny, what in the name of chunky egg nog are you talking about?” OK, OK, OK. It’s the night before the first official spring training baseball games of the new year are played. It’s an exciting, yet nervous, time.
All kinds of questions are rushing through our brains. Do we have enough mashed potatoes? Will our 2nd Catcher stay healthy? Is that brother-in-law going to bring all that beer again this year? Is the young pitching staff going to improve enough to keep us in games? Does Rudolph’s nose get hot when it lights up? How is it possible for a product with such a tasty sounding name be so disgusting? Yes, I speak of the brick-like fruit cake granny makes every year! When did she join the Free Masons anyway?
Well, we may not have all the answers, but part of the giddy-ness is the unknown. We have so many hopes. We let our dreams run wild without any regard to reality. Even if deep within our hearts our beloved Pirates have almost no shot at NOT breaking the consecutive losing seasons streak. Sweet 17 here we come!
But the scoreboard and the standings don’t lie. We are in contention! Even if it is only spring training, and even if we lose our first game by 12 runs, we’re still only 1 game back! And if we win?! Oh Nellie! If we win, we might be able to build up some confidence and take the Spring Training title! Don’t remind me that no human being alive can actually remember who won the most games last year in spring training. Party-pooper!
It’s just a fun time, and sure the real holiday season is probably more popular and recognized for a celebration of goodwill. But ya know, at least we don’t all get in debt — unless you consider buying the MLB.TV package, splurging on baseball preview magazines and opening our wallets for fantasy league entry fees as “expenses?” I prefer the term “investment.”
Don’t forget to watch out for the Grinch…Bobby, that is. Hitters with big swings who miss alot can be a real downer for baseball managers.
Well, I got to go, I still have to decorate the bat rack – we are experimenting with a plastic one this year. Merry First Games of Spring Training to You! And hey, look, there’s none of that confusing religious terminology to trip on. After all, Baseball is for everyone!
Good day!
-Johnny “Salvation Army” Archive
Shhhhh, I’m Rabbit Hunting
What a great weekend! I debuted the first Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show podcast of the season on Sunday and from all the positive feedback, it went very well. I forgot how much I enjoy doing my li’l show.
I’m planning on having even more guests this year, so stay tuned for news about who’ll be stopping by for a chat with Johnny Archive. There are alot of solid fantasy sports personalities out there and I want to interview as many as I can to get their take on the state of fantasy sports and perhaps what the future holds for the industry.
In particular, Jeff Erickson of Rotowire.com is someone who has been around the fantasy game long enough to see the industry go through many changes and/or improvements. Jeff was nice enough to stop by the podcast this weekend and unofficially agreed to come on the show as a featured guest sometime soon. As soon as I get him confirmed, I’ll let everyone know, as this will be an important event.
So, Archive, what’s this stuff about rabbits? I’m glad you asked. This time of the year, I am starting to formulate my pre-draft lists of players that I will be keeping an eye on. One step in that process for me is glancing over the MLB rosters and looking for players who I feel have perceptive values that is considerably off of what I think their actual value is. I call these players “rabbits” because they are hard to locate and can be somewhat shy.
Usually they are players who the masses are down on, but are not nearly as bad or risky as the mainstream fantasiers think they are. By the way, if you missed the podcast you missed me reporting my unveiling of a new word that I created and submitted to Webster’s Open Dictionary. What’s the word? Fantasiers! Check out the online dictionary to see exactly what it means. Actually, I just looked and the word is not added to the dictionary yet. Keep checking though, as it should be anytime.
Alright, back to the rabbit hunting. I don’t spend too much time on a player, I just make a note if someone pops out, then I dig in and see if they are indeed worthy of being added to my main “must get” list. Let’s start in Colorado…
#19 Ryan Spilborghs, RF COL
Ryan is not exaclty a proven commodity, but mining for production from somewhat unknown players who reside in Colorado has certainly shown results in the past. Hrmm, 29, a little older than I remembered, but if he gets ABs, he might be a nice “get” this year. He hit .313 last year with 6 HR and 36 RBI in 233 ABs…and he went 7/11 in SBs, though his highest total in the minors was only 17 SB for 1 year. In ’07, he hit .299 in 264 ABs with 11 HR and 51 RBI. I picked him a few times last year when I needed a bat, perhaps that’s the best way to use him, rather than to count on him as a starter.
#2 Troy Tulowitzki, SS
Here’s a name people know, even casual baseball fans. Well, they did after the ’07 season anyway. Last year was a mess for T-ROY (I coined this name for him and it would’ve stuck if not for Ryan Braun winning the ROY in ’07! grrr so close). Not only did he suffer a ton of injuries that kept him pretty-much on the DL all year, but the injuries came just as he was starting to get his bat going, so he never really got locked in at the plate. It’s funny, I actually predicted Tulo would be over-drafted and over-valued in ’08, coming off his excellent rookie season mainly because of all the exposure he got in the World Series run for the Rox.
Then I had an opportunity to get him fairly cheap in a trade, so I started to root for him. It didn’t help, he just couldn’t stay healthy. I ended up moving him late in the season because he still had decent value as a keeper. Which brings us to 2009, might he now become a little (6’3″) rabbit just sitting there quietly?
He wont be 25 until October, so this dude has plenty of time to heal, get stronger and make ’07 a bad footnote. A quick check of his AVG draft position over at CBSSports.com shows us that he is being drafted about 138 overall, and for about $9 in mixed auction leagues. Yep, he’s a fine wabbit candidate. His ’07 numbers were lucious .291/ 24 HR/ 99 RBI/ 104 R in 609 ABs. Then the ’08 debacle hit 377 ABs/ 8 HR/ 46 RBI/ 48 R/ 1 SB ewwwww. But again, I watched alot of his games and he played banged-up all season.
How far has Tulo fallen? In 2008, he was drafted in round 4, the 50th overall, and I’d say that was close to his average draft position for last year. So, is it fair that he should fall 83 spots?! I don’t think so, even with the loss of Matt Holliday to the lineup.
#9 Ian Stewart, 3B
Yep, this is the same Ian Stewart we’ve all been waiting for to take over a corner spot for the Rockies for the past 3 years. 2009 should be the year, after all, team management is scaling down the payroll and some of the big names guys will be moved. Right? Matt Holliday is sent packing. Check. Who’s going next? Garrett Atkins or the aging Todd Helton? Tick, tick, tick… Buzzzz Wrong! They’re both staying. Uh-oh. Now what is going to happen with Stewart? He didn’t really pan out at 2B (12 games in 2008) and Clint Barmes seems to have secured that position. Pitcher is probably not the answer, and the same is more-than-likely true for Catcher. SS? Hardly. So, what’s left? Quarterback? Oops, wrong sport. Yep, he’s been taking some reps in the outfield.
When he was getting ABs last year he did show some power 10 HR/ 41 RBI though he hit only .259. This could be a case where a player finds some ABs, gets hot and then an organization is willing to live with some defensive woes. For Ian’s case, let’s hope so. Otherwise he better hope that Helton’s body continues to erode.
Geeez, tons of phone calls and distractions as I write today, so we’ll wrap this puppy up. Don’t worry, we’ll do plenty more of this sorta thing in the near future.
-Johnny Archive
Catching Quagmire
Let’s talk backstops today, shall we?
And no, I’m not talking about this Quagmire. Silly, boy.
I was gazing at the top 300 players ranked at CBSSports.com and noticed an interesting little tidbit. The players who come in at numbers 68, 69, 70 and 71 are all catchers. Now, I’m sure you can figure out who they are, but I wonder if you agree that they all deserve to be ranked/drafted in this range?
I suspect that at least one will not live up to this billing and probably one will exceed it. The tough part, as usual, is figuring out which player is which. So, a closer look is advised.
#68 Brian McCann C ATL
First off, Brian’s birthday is tomorrow (Feb. 20th), so Happy Birthday Brian! He’ll be 25. WoW! He’s only 25. Doesn’t it seem like he’s some veteran that has been around for years already? Actually, he is. He’s got 3 solid years of MLB experience averaging around 500 PA per year. He’s tough, but fairly durable — for a catcher anyway. The combination of power (averaging 21 bombs a year and 90 RBIs) and AVG (he’s .300+ 2 of the 3 years) makes him a real nice “get” as your 1st string catcher.
#69 Russell Martin C LAD
This guy also celebrated a birthday recently (Feb. 15th) when he turned 26. Happy Birthday, Ru-Mar! As I touched on yesterday, I bet alot of fantasy owners are kinda miffed at Martin entering ’09. So many expectations and such a bad start to ’08. His end of the year tallies aren’t that bad (.280/13HR/69RBI/87R/18SB), but probably came way too late for most of the fantasy owners who stepped up and drafted him or bid heavy for this catcher with speed. 650 PA shows that this guy gets his opportunities.I wouldn’t be at all surprised if ’08 was the small step backwards before the big leap forward in 2009.
#70 Geovany Soto C CHI
Ge-So has a special place in my heart. I nabbed (stole? 
) this guy early in ’08 from a desperate owner in the JAIL league and rode him to the JAIL championship. He was about as close to an untradable player as I had last year — another year where I traded every single player during the season that I drafted. His birthday was in January (26), close, but so much for the Happy Birthday run. But he certainly continues the run of talented young catchers. I have socks that are 26 years old! Anyway. This guy is slow; he will help not with SB. That’s it. That’s the only bad thing I can think to say about this stud who is a great fantasy catcher and even better real baseball backstop. Let’s see here: 563PA/26HR/86RBI/35DBL. Yeah, he can be on my team.
#71 Joe Mauer C MIN
The “Mauer Power” is not exactly accurate, as he’s failed to reach double digit homers the last two seasons. Somewhat surprising since he’s so good at working the count into favorable situations. He has no problem taking a walk and utilizing his speed on the basepaths (98 Runs), though his stolen base days are definitely over. He is clutch, driving in 85 last year, which exceeded his previous high in ’06 (84). Playing in the great white north hurts his pub, but sharp “fantasiers” (my word, if you use it you owe me a nickel ) know him and will quite comfortably “settle” for him as their anchor at catcher. This youngin’ (have I mentioned my socks yet?) won’t be 26 until April ’09.
So, there you have it, four of the finest young catchers you’ll ever see for a long time. Sit back, grab some snacks, and enjoy watching these blue-chippers do their thing for the next 5 years or so. It’ll be fun…especially if you have one, or more, on your fantasy team.
Okay, Archive, which one is the best? Good question, grasshopper. Snatch the tastykake from my hand, too slow!, and I will tell you. On second thought, I have decided to ponder this question further. *Btw, you have to imagine me talking in an old Chinese accent to fully enjoy that last sentence. For the answer you must listen for to me speak gently to you. If you cannot hear my soothing voice, perhaps tuning into my podcast this Sunday at BlogTalkRadio.com will help you grasp the essence of life or at least which of these catchers I will target in 2009 drafts.
Well, that’s about it, I’m heading out to grab some food. I have this intense hunger for egg rolls for some reason…
-Johnny Archive
Keeping Up With Keepers
Two posts in one day!?! Holy multiple reading options Batman!
I know, I know. But hey, I’m starting to get that little tingle in my tum-tum — and no it’s not gas!
And yes, I’m going to start getting into some actual numbers. Last year, I went back and forth, sometimes I put in too much math and other times not enough. Writing a good fantasy baseball post is kinda like making a batch of spaghetti, too much sauce and it turns into a sloppy joe mix, not enough sauce and it’s like mac & cheese, less the cheese part.
So, let’s see if we can add the proper amount of numbers to justify my thinking without putting you to sleep.
I’m going to start by talking about MY keepers from the JAIL league. We can keep up to 3 player from last year’s team, 1 from each tier/round of the 2008 draft. The tiers are 1-7 / 8-14 / 15-26. If you chose to keep a player who went undrafted, he counted towards your 15-26 tier as your 26th round pick. That’s the other twist: you lose the round of the player in 2008. For example, if you kept a 1st rounder from last year, you give up your 1st round pick in this year’s draft.
I know alot of leagues use various types of keeper systems, but at this point, I really like how we’re doing this. It allows owners to keep enough players to build around, while not draining the draft pool so much that any new owners have almost no shot of getting anyone good. It also challenges owners to make some tough decisions.
For example, A-Rod could have been kept in exchange for the 6th overall selection in this year’s draft, but the owner elected not to keep him. Instead, he decided to keep B.J. Upton and give up his 3rd rounder. This may look strange now, but if A-Rod folds under the pressure this year and BJ continues to improve and put up round 1 or 2 production, this could be a major boom for his team. We shall see how it plays out.
Another interesting dilemma I thought was dealing with the top overall pick in the draft. The team that had that spot elected to keep Albert Pujols and give up the #1 pick. Couple things come to mind: He didn’t know exactly who was being kept by other owners, so he didn’t know was going to be available. And how risky is Pooh-Bear this year health wise? Again, time will tell how this plays out. I just like that the owners were faced with tough calls. I mean, hey, the JAIL is all about toughness.
Oh yeah, some other yahoo had a decision to make in round uno. What would you have done? Remember that the JAIL is a 14-team mixed 5X5 league. I had Ryan Howard on my team who would cost me my 1st rounder this year, and because I won the league in 2008 (Oh yeah, I’m still milkin’ it, baby!) that meant it would be the last 1st rounder, pick #14.
I obtained Howard last season with about 7 weeks or so to go in the season. I gave up Ryan Braun for him, who was my 1st round pick in 2008. At the time, Braun was dealing with a back issue that had kept him out of a few games and Howard was still trying to overcome an absolutely horrible start to the season. I also knew that Howard has proven to be a pretty good 2nd half, more specifically Aug/Sept, player and I need a little punch in my power categories.
The trade worked out well for me as Howard stayed hot for most of August, basically carrying my team offensively. Braun put up some good numbers as well, so the deal helped both teams overall.
So, I have some favorable feelings when it comes to Howard, probably much more so than others who drafted him and endured his full season numbers, which included 3 AVG-wrecking months (April .168/May .238/June .234) to start the season. At #14, that’s about where alot of people think Howard will be drafted, though many people feel his low AVG should drop him into the 2nd round and just out of the elite player status.
I decided to keep him, focusing on the fact that his lowest HR total for a season, in the last 3 years, was 47 in 2007. That year he had his lowest RBI total as well, 136, compared to ’06 and ’08 when he tallied 149 and 146. It’s true, he has punished his owners in AVG and SO the last couple of seasons, though we don’t use Strikeouts as a category in the JAIL, so no biggie. But this guy hit .313 in ’06 in 704 PA, so I’m looking for a bit of a rebound in ’09. I’m not expecting or needing .300+, but more like .275ish. Especially if that is bundled with a his normal bucket of HR/RBIs.
My advice is to play up his poor start during pre-draft bantering and then snag yourself a bargain the late 1st or 2nd round.
My tier #2 player was about as much a no-brainer as there is, I think. Cubs catcher, Geo Soto, in place of a 12th rounder is pretty-close to eternal fantasy bliss. I’ll even take a sophomore drop-off from his ’08 numbers (494AB/.285/23HR/86RBI) and still be very satisfied. Catchers continue to be one of the biggest reasons fantasy owners typically go through more malox/advil/paxil in a season then most LA suburbs put together. I won’t lie, I’m quite happy to enter the season with my catching taken care of, regardless of whom I get to pair with Geo.
If you remember, I actually made catching a priority last year when I snagged Joe Mauer and Russell Martin in my 411 league. I’m going to talk more in the upcoming weeks about Martin and his percieved huge dropoff last year. I would guess most Martin owners felt major drafter’s remorse after the season. His numbers (650 PA/13HR/69RBI/18SB) were lower than his ’07 stats (620PA/19HR/87RBI/21), but that’s only part of the story. He was another player who got off to a slow start and so by the time he started contributing, it was probably too late for his fantasy owners.
My final keeper was Nelson Cruz who was called up by the Rangers after absolutely tearing up triple A. Not only was Cruz putting huge power numbers in minors (448PA/37HR/18DBL/99RBI/) but he stole 24 bags! He continued to perform in the Bigs adding another 9 HRs, 26 RBIs and 3 SBs, while hitting .330. At 28, he’s still fairly young and opportunity is sitting at his feet, well at least ABs are anyway. A good start will essentially cement his place on the roster for the ’09 season. (*drools* at the prospect of a full season of stats from him in that ballpark)
Overall, like most people at this time of the year, I’m quite happy with my 3 keepers going into the draft. I’ll touch on some of the other teams and the players they did and did NOT keep in the next few days.
I have updated my BlogTalkRadio.com page and scheduled several upcoming shows, including a special draft episode on Saturday, February 28th. Yep, I’m getting back in the swing of things now. I’ve kissed my wife and kids and told them I’ll see’m in September sometime! heh
-JA
2009 J.A.I.L. YouTube Promo
Here it is, the long awaited 2009 J.A.I.L. Baseball League Promo Video. Enjoy!
Goodwill Hunting
Hey Guys,
A little update on “the haps” of Johnny Archive.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. It is crucial to be extremely sweet and caring towards the wifey/gf/sig other just prior to the start of training camp. After all, if everything goes well and you turn on enough charm, you can build up enough goodwill to get yourself to mid-June or so with ample fantasy baseball time.
At that point, a wonderful 4th of July family event can get you through the rest of the season. Remember, the goal is to earn “free time”. Free time means fantasy baseball time!
Once you have banked goodwill, be sure to casually mention little reminders at the right time. I’m talking precision here, guys. At the first sign of trouble — usually a comment or two about some “project” like cleaning out the garage or painting something — be sure to re-live the fond memories garnered at the “Fabulous February Activity” event.
If you let the warning signs go unattended to, you can only blame yourself.
Okay, the two JAIL members who have earned “Trustee” Status and will be representing us in the NFBC are John Page and Bill Brickley. These two have shown their skills over the past seasons by always putting up competitive JAIL teams. I intentionally didn’t want more obvious team owners working because I wanted some healthy difference of opinion — just look at Congress and imagine the total opposite. heh
And though I did appreciate the rookies showing interest, I want to see what you guys have first before I entrust the JAIL banner to you. Don’t be offended, it only takes one solid season to earn you some major ‘pect around here.
I’m still figuring out exactly which draft and event they’ll be in, though I have a good idea, but I will announce the details as soon as they are known.
The podcast — The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show — will makes its season debut this Sunday Feb. 22nd at 11:30AM ET. So, if you get a chance, check it out live at BlogTalkRadio.com or catch a download at iTunes.com. Simply search for “Johnny Archive”.
I’m also working on a few other little goodies. Stay tuned for those.
Of course, we will once again have “JailBreaks” this season! For the rooks, JailBreaks are random little events that enable every owner, regardless of where they are in the standings, to win a nice little prize or prize package. I’ll announce when one starts so don’t worry, you won’t miss it.
I’m also going to be broadcasting our draft live at BlogTalkRadio.com. You are encouraged to listen to the podcast during the draft, or even call in if you’d like.
11 Days and counting until DRAFT DAY!!! WOOT!!!
-JohnnyArchive
JAIL Keepers and More
Hey there,
I thought I’d pass on some inside information on the “haps” within the JAIL league. As some of you may remember, we put in keepers (3) starting with the 2009 season. So, here are the players kept;
Keepers Lists (In DRAFT ORDER) for 2009 (Round Replacing)
Don’t Tread On Me – A.Pujols(1), J.Peralta(14), C.Davis(26)
Looters – B.McCann(5), C.Billingsly(8), A.Either(24)
Firewyrm’s – J.Lackey(7), J.Hamilton(10), E.Volquez(26)
Jersey Hitmen – J.Morneau(3), J.Damon(10), A.Ramirez(26)
Ramblers – I.Kinsler(5), C.Delgado(13), J.Chamberlain(16)
PBR Street – B. Upton(3), A.Gordon(9), K.Slowey(26)
Fatheads – J.Reyes(1), PASSED, D.Price(26)
Green Mtn. – G.Sizemore(2), J.Bay(8), M.Wieters(26)
Bryan’s team – A.Gonzalez (6), S.Victorino(8), S.Drew(15)
Encouraging B. – H.Ramirez(1), B.Lidge(11), E.Longoria(17)
Licking Co. – T.Lincecum(7), K.Youkilis(10), C.Lee(26)
Folsom P.B. – R.Braun(1), J.Soria(9), C. Quentin(23)
B.R.*****. – D.Wright(1), R.Ibanez(12), S.Baker(26)
Usual Suspects – R.Howard(1), G.Soto(12), N.Cruz(26) <— Johnny Archive
We could keep 1 player from 3 dfferent tiers of the draft, 1-7/8-14/15-26. Undrafted players counted towards the 15-26 tier. I think this system works well because it allows for teams to keep key elements of their existing team, but doesn’t drain the draft of big name players. I mean every league has a new owner or two and you don’t want people coming in with no shot at improving their rosters.
Speaking of new owners, we really added some talent this year. Ward Pettenger, Bryan Clarke and Brent Voorhees are all now serving time in JAIL!
I also want to apologize to the people who weren’t able to join this year, but there’s always next year and I’ll do everything I can to include everyone next year.
NFBC is going to JAIL, or I guess more accurately, JAIL is going to the NFBC. I will participating in one the NFBC leagues this year with a fellow JAIL member. BUT, I’m also sponsoring a team that will compete under the JAIL banner with two JAIL owners running the team. Another example of some of the perks you get from simply being a member of a Johnny Archive league.
The JAIL draft will be held LIVE Feb. 28th at 6PM ET. Join me at BlogTalkRadio.com as I broadcast the draft live. It will be fun, entertaining and should help you with your own fantasy draft.
Notice, this was an A-Rod free post! Doh! So much for that. Unlike everyone rushing to comment on A-Rod, I will let the dust settle before I chime in. If you remember my post on ‘roids last year, you should have an idea how I feel about this “lynch-mob” mentality that is so prevelant in the world today. He didn’t beat his wife, kill dogs or get his 5th DUI. No, he used a substance to try and enhance his performance…just like everyone else in baseball was doing.
Everyone says he “cheated”. Blah, Blah Blah. This game endorses/allows stealing signs, corked bats, pine tar (and not just on bats), getting eye surgery in the off-season and managers to go out on the field to argue calls (“Daddy, why is that man kicking dirt on the umpire?”). We want our teams to win, we want the players on our teams to perform well(how many times have you heard someone say “they need to earn all the money in that big contract”) and do everything they can to contribute to our teams being successful and yet so many people are apalled when those players do just that!
Well, so much for waiting to comment. Bleh!
-Johnny Archive
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