Results tagged ‘ Baseball ’
J.A.I.L. Draft Day 2010
Sharpen your shanks, because it’s time to go to JAIL, go directly to JAIL, do NOT pass go, do NOT collect $200 dollars. Instead, play your cards right, keep your head down, and most importantly, stay ALIVE and collect almost $1000!
Yes, indeed, it’s time for J.A.I.L DRAFT 2010.
Joining the institution as “fresh meat” in 2010 are three solid teams with these intense fantasy scoundrels calling the shots; Joel Henard & Troy Millikan (Carlos Spicy Weiner), Chris Savarese (La Cosa Nostra) and Steve Kurtek (Omar Minaya & Ed Wade’s Murder Inc).
Back to defend their title are 2009 champs, Bill and Brian Brickley (Monster Mash). Keith Wire (Death Row Doggies), who is also representing the J.A.I.L. in the NFBC this year, brings the best keeper (Tim Lincecum, Evan Longoria, and Kevin Youkilis) list — as voted on by the owners of the JAIL — into the ’10 season. Jeremiah “Miah” Rogers (Firewyrm Bad Mofos), who is always up to something, decided to go against the grain with three keepers and stashed all stud pitchers (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Brian Wilson).
More than faces in the crowd, these elite fantasiers will round out the participants to see who will emerge as the Alpha Dog of the J.A.I.L. in 2010: Joe Lano (Jersey Hitmen), David Miller (Bombo Rivera AllStar Squad), Brandon Doran (Folsom Prison Blues), Brennan Brown (Green Mountain Boys), Brent Voorhees (Lone Star State Looters), Hal Groves (Pants On The Ground Felons), John Page (PBR Streetgang), Carlton Brown (Ramblers In Hell), and of course, Johnny Archive (Johnny Archive Army).
It’s going to be a special year as we expand to 15 teams this year, which makes this league even more difficult to conquer. Tune into The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show live Sunday March 14 at 6PM ET for a full hour of J.A.I.L. Draft coverage, including a full recap of the early rounds.
For updates all season long, head over to JohnnyArchive.com for standings and links to blog coverage.
Say It Ain’t So, Joe
Joe Nathan’s Injury
by Matt “Hack” Hackenmiller
The big injury news of Spring Training has been the elbow injury to Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan. If the ligament tear proves to be too severe, Nathan may have to have Tommy John surgery, which would mean that he would miss the entire 2010 season. This news not only puts a cloud on the Twins forthcoming season, but for many fantasy baseball managers as well. Although Nathan ranks as one of the top closers in the game, should we have seen something like this coming?
Since Nathan plays for a small market team that usually doesn’t garner that much attention, he is sometimes forgotten about. I am sure that most people would be surprised to find out that Nathan is actually 35 years old, which isn’t old in the real world, but in baseball, especially pitchers, that is an age when most players start to break down. Nathan has been so consistently dominant the past six years that he has pitched as if he is in his mid-20s not mid-30s.
For those of you that are like me and follow the Twins quite closely, it was easy to see that towards the end of the season, there was something off about Nathan. His fastball had lost some juice, he started to throw more breaking balls and his walk rate was up. This was pretty clear in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. When Nathan faced Alex Rodriguez late in the game, he threw if four straight sliders to start the at bat. When Nathan fell behind and had to throw a fastball, it didn’t have anything on it and Rodriguez took him deep. Obviously, there was something wrong as Nathan did have off season surgery on his elbow to remove bone spurs in his right elbow. But no one knows how long Nathan pitched in that condition and what affect that it ultimately had on his ligaments.
When it comes to starting pitching, there have been many advancements in understanding how a pitcher develops. Strategies like not pushing a young pitcher past 150 innings, pitcher abuse points and the Verducci Effect are all ideas that many clubs use when developing pitchers. But there has been very little of this such work when it comes to relief pitchers. There isn’t a magic number of appearances or innings for relief pitchers like there are for starters. Because of this, relief pitching is one of the most volatile positions on a roster. So the fact that Joe Nathan and Mario Rivera have been dominate closers into their mid to late 30s is more of an anomaly when discussing relief pitchers.
No one can predict when an injury is going to happen. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that we should be shocked when one occurs especially when examining the facts. Joe Nathan is an older pitcher that had arm troubles early in his career and had surgery over the winter. Nathan has proved many people wrong by becoming one of the best closers in the game so it is a safe bet that he can prove those same people wrong again by coming back from this injury.
Deer Johnny – Surprise! Part 1
Well, it’s taken a few days to get this blog together, but I’m blaming the muscle relaxers. Yes, thanks to my mild case of whip-lash, I am even more medicated then normal these days. Oh yeah, I haven’t told you what happened yet.
Here goes, the story of my first trip to spring training — in this case I went west and to the Phoenix, AZ area. I decided to drive my GT Mustang, fresh with my new “johnnyarchive.com” logos, and enjoy the scenery.
The voyage began relatively uneventful, though I did start a few hours later than I had planned. I made it to Tucson, AZ before the cramp in my left leg got so bad that I had to stop for the night. Yeah, you know you’re in pretty bad shape — and remember I reside basically in the same city as cycling king Lance Armstrong — when you are not conditioned properly to sit in a car.
Anyway, not knowing the Tucson area, I checked out hotels near the baseball stadiums which happen to be fairly close to the airport. The first place, which was a major chain, offered “hourly rates” and the desk clerk looked as if she sold more then rooms. Uh-uh, no thanks, I’m happily married and not sure when I had my last rabies shot. I think she had Tom Bodette and the little Boddettski’s tied up in the back.
I was dead tired and shocked at the sleaziness of these supposed main-stream hotels. So, I took the one with wi-fi service and a room door that had no bullet holes. I woke up the next day, my foot still filled with pins-and-needles you that feeling when a body part “falls asleep?” I couldn’t get that feeling to go away so I just got used to it.
Apparently, it was “send the out-of-towner on a wild goose chase” day because I asked 3 different people where the one Wachovia Bank branch was and got 3 different directions. Yep, that late start meant I didn’t have a chance to do some minor banking before I left.
After spending 2 hours touring Tucson, I gave up and headed north to Phoenix area. Of course, on the way out of town I stumbled on the road that the bank was on. Least I got that chore done, though it meant I would have to check out the Rockies and Snakes ballparks on the way back to Texas.
I ended up getting in a race with this truck just outside of Tucson and unbelievably didn’t get pulled over considering I averaged 80mph (maybe a little faster, but the speed limit was 75mph) for about 40 miles.
So, I made it to Surprise and found my hotel fairly easily. Now, is when the fun starts. Come back for part 2 to see what happens next!? And I promise there will actually be baseball involved.
-JA
Johnny Archive Third Year Begins
It’s time to launch the show! That’s right, The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show makes it’s thrid year debut today at BlogTalkRadio as part of the Fantasy Sports Channel. Tune in to hear the 1-hour show live at 6PM ET or download it at iTunes — just search “Johnny Archive“.
Today’s show will get us back in the swing of baseball. hehe Get it? Anyway, we’ll also talk about my current MIPs. Don’t know what a MIP is? Well, tune in and find out. Oh alright, MIP = Most Intriguing Player. Here’s just some of players who I currently consider MIPs.
- Joe Mauer
- Miguel Cabrera
- Matt Holliday
- David price
- Chris Perez
- Derek Jeter
- Alex Rodriguez
- Scott Kazmir
- David Wright
- Roy Halladay
We’ll discuss this list and if these players are trending up or down heading into 2010.
WOW, year 3 of the show! How cool is that?!
I am very excited to announce that I will be in Surprise, AZ at the end of February (26th – 1st of March) as the teams get spring training cranked up. If you are going to be there at that time, shoot me an email and perhaps we can hook up and talk fantasy baseball.
Okay, that’s it for now. See you at the show, well not “see” but you know what I mean.
-JA
2010 Baseball State of the Union
2010 Baseball State of the Union
by Johnny Archive
1) Intentional Walks will now be instant, just like College and High School. Watching a major league pitcher go through the motions of throwing 4 wide-ones is a complete waste of time.
2) All new stadiums must have a roof, at least a retractable roof. Rain-outs are so 20th century. Yes, I’ll miss doubleheaders, but I won’t miss sitting at a ballpark for 4 hours only to have the game called.
3) We need to bring back well-endowed women (Morgana anyone?) randomly running onto the field to kiss ballplayers. I know I just lost the lady readers (wait ladies, it gets better for you later, I promise!) with this one, but I just got the guys attention!
4) Molina rule: We must have at least one group, of at least 3 family members, playing in the big-leagues at all times. You just don’t see that in other sports.
5) Fantasy writers (FSWA members only) need to have a vote for the Hall of Fame. Well, at least one…okay, me!
6) All players must be made available to the draft before they can sign with a MLB team. No more big payroll teams buying international talent.
7) Spring Training needs to be shortened by 1-2 weeks. This will allow the season to start sooner and avoid those lame final games of spring training that are yawn-fests.
8) Phones in clubhouses need to be made cordless so the manager can talk to the bullpen on the way to and from the mound. Heck, the manager can even talk to the bullpen while he’s at the mound!
9) Hire/promote more female umpires! I bet even Earl Weaver would treat Ump’s better, well maybe not.
10) Allow Saves to be awarded to a pitcher who pitches in the 8th inning. Many times a game is “saved” before the 9th inning.
There you go, my suggestions to make our beloved game even better. Agree or disagree, you have to admit most of these make sense.
Anyway, feel free to comment on or add to this list!
1/28/10
It Is Alive!
Hey there!
Guess who is getting ready to rock n’ roll for the upcoming 2010 baseball season?! Yeppers, I am feeling that rumbly in my tumbly and that can only mean one thing (I watched too much Winnie-the-pooh as a child?)! It’s almost BASEBALL TIME! Wootage, baby!
Okay, so what does Johnny Archive have planned for ’10? Well, the podcast is definitely coming back — stay tuned for an official season premier date and time. Can you believe it, this will be year 3 and we’re getting better each and every year. The Fantasy Sports Channel Hosts, of which I am a member, just took down a nice award at the FSTA Awards as best podcast. Sweet, aye?! I’ll be focusing on a little different focus this, a smidge less extra stuff and a ton of more specific fantasy baseball content. To that, the podcast will be 1 hour long, still Sunday Evening (not 100% set in stone at this time) and there will be a few special episodes splashed in through the season.
Speaking of longevity, can you believe this little ol’ blog has been going strong for 5 years now?! WoW! I know I ran out of gas a little at the end of last year, and thank goodness Hack helped, but I will try and be more consistent all year in 2010.
What about the J.A.I.L. league, JA? Well, I’m glad you asked. It’s is back for it’s 4th season and we still have that strong core of players that got it going in the beginning. We’ll have a couple of new faces this year as we all go after Bill Brickley and his 2009 title. But this league has amazing staying power and I would argue some of the absolute best fantasiers in the game today. Looks like we’ll be doing our draft Saturday March 6 at 3PM ET, but I’ll confirm that as soon as I know for sure. And yes, I’ll be covering the draft live at BlogTalkRadio.com.
Today’s post is the first of many this year and I will again be doing what I can to help you get that inside edge in your fantasy baseball league. As regular readers know, I enjoy looking outside the other so-called experts realm of thinking to give a different perspective on players and their values. For example, I was high on Joe Mauer last year because his value and upside compared to where you would be drafting him (rounds 7-12) was very good, this year I am staying clear of Mauer. Why? Because he will be a 1st or high 2nd rounder this year and there’s too many red flags (position, health, new ballpark etc…).
I’ll have much, much more on Mauer and the other players I am concerned with as well as players I think will be bargains on draft day. Once again, my list of MIPs will be filled with surprises. Ummm, I forgot, what’s a “MIP”? MIP = Most Intriguing Player
So, I hope you had a nice quiet, safe and restful winter, but it’s time to get busy. We’ve got work to do. Those Yoohoo Showers don’t grow on trees, ya know. I know, that doesn’t really make sense, but you know what I mean.
I’m back, baby! Let’s get this party started!
-JA
2009 NFBC Schwartzstops Video
In an effort to help Cory Schwartz continue to have success in 2009 as he battles for the NFBC crown, I thought I’d try and contribute. So, here ya go…
Hack and I also talked about the Schwartzstops on last night’s podcast (Wednesday 7/01/09). If “Stats” snags the big prize, I figure we are due at least 1% of the prize money!!! =)
-Johnny Archive
Hack’s List of Buy & Sell Players
Buy & Sell
by Matt “Hack” Hackenmiller
Note: Ownership is based in Yahoo! Leagues.
Three to Buy
Lyle Overbay (.286/.388/.539, 11% Ownership)
Often overlooked because he doesn’t produce the typical power numbers that are usually associated with other first basemen, Overbay is putting up solid numbers once again. He provides reliable statistics in runs, RBI, and batting average. For those that play in daily leagues, Overbay is subject to a platoon against left-handers. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as he has a OPS over 1.000 versus right handers this year. Overbay wont single handily win your league for you, but he will provide solid production for your roster throughout the year.
Rick Ankiel (.261/.329/.483, 31% Ownership)
A nasty crash into an outfield wall pretty much derailed the first two months of the season for Ankiel. Now healthy, he is starting to get his timing back. Ankiel has put together a five game hitting streak, with four extra base hits during that span. It may take some time for the batting average to come around, but Ankiel is a good source of power going forward.
Jordan Zimmerman (2-3, 5.71 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 52 IP, 54 K, 12% Ownership)
The hyped preseason rookie has had some struggles so far this year for the Nationals. But, then again, what National pitcher hasn’t struggled this season? Despite the potholes there are actually some positives for Zimmerman. He has a healthy K/9 rate of 9.35 and a solid G/F rate of .85. What is really telling is his .329 BABIP, which shows that he has been pitching in a bit a bad luck so far. This isn’t that surprising as the National outfield defense is one of the worst in baseball, meaning there are a lot of fly balls dropping in for hits when the likes of Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn can’t get to them. Look for Zimmerman to post substantial numbers throughout the season.
Three to Sell
Chris Davis (.207/.266/.434, 75% Ownership)
The preseason hot pick for the hot corner, Davis has struggled mightily to find any consistency this season. Granted, the power has been there, but at what cost as he is on pace to shatter the single season strike out record. But the difference between Davis, and say Jack Cust, is that Cust draws his share of walks to go along with his strikeouts. This leads to Cust helping out in other categories. Davis has walked a ******** twelve times to go along with his 88 strikeouts. Throw in the fact that the Rangers have openly discussed sending Davis back to the minor leagues, its time to sell on Davis before his value is nonexistent.
Trevor Hoffman (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.47 WHIP, 17.0 IP, 15 K, 90% Ownership)
The all time saves leader is having a resurgence in Milwaukee. This is very surprising because most pitchers don’t go from struggling at spacious PETCO Park to dominating at a very hitter friendly Miller Park. But certainly, Hoffman has found the fountain of youth so far. The question is, will he continue at this pace? I tend to think that he can’t. His BABIP is extremely low at this point and I doubt that he will end the season with an ERA of 0.00. Hoffman may still rack up some saves due to the Brewers not having any other relief pitchers that can do the job. But those saves may come at a cost to your ERA and WHIP.
Russell Branyan (.319/.419/.628, 72% Ownership)
So far this season, Branyan has hit more like Lou Gehrig than the fringe major leaguer that Branyan has been for most of his career. What looks most suspect is that he is hitting over .300 against left handers this season after accumulating a .219/.303/.462 line for his career. This tells me that there is a steep drop off coming. Branyan will still get at bats because the Mariners don’t have anyone else to play first base and he might still pop a few home runs, but look for the batting average to fall significantly.
Name to remember…Scott Podsednik, CHIW.-OF. Scotty Pods has returned to the South Side and has began to contribute like it was 2005 again. He may not steal fifty bases like in the past, but he could still produce 20-25 stolen bases, which is very helpful to a fantasy roster. Look for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to continue to give Podsednik the green light on the base paths as the summer rolls on.
Craig Shoemaker is Live with Archive
Craig Shoemaker, aka The Lovemaster, will be our special guest today on The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show. This award-winning comedian/actor/writer/producer is one of my favorites, so I’m excited to have him on the show.
The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show
on The Fantasy Sports Channel at BlogTalkRadio
Sunday May 31, 2009
5 pm – 7pm EST
Listener Line: 347-945-6845
Call in or ask “Shoe” a question via our chat room. And as always, Hack and I will be taking your questions as well.
General Random Specific Stats
Here’s a few more tidbits from the NL West. I talked about some of this on my fantasy baseball show this past Sunday, but ran a little short of time, so here you go. These stats are accurate entering yesterday’s games.
ARZ – Felipe Lopez has 3 multi-hit games over his past 5, hitting .400(8-20) during that span. He is second to Aaron Hill of the Bue Jays for multi-hit games in the majors this year, with 12.
ARZ - The Snakes are 2-11 when scoring fewer then 3 Runs. 7-0 when leading after 7 Innings.
ARZ – Want to get the D-Backs lineup tweeted to you? Then add this host, @AZDBLineupCard, to your “nest.” (Btw, feel free to use “nest”, but remember where you heard it first)
ARZ – Dan Haren is 3rd in ERA in the majors, behind only Johan Santana and Zack Greinke, at 1.47 (7 ER in 43.0 IP).
LAD – The Dodgers are tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the best record in MLB, at 17-8.
LAD – The Dodgers are the only undefeated team in the majors.
LAD – Major League record for most wins by a home team to start a season is 12, by the Detroit Tigers…at Bennett Park, in 1911, the year before Tiger Stadium opened.
LAD – The pitching staff of the Dodgers has posted a 2.52 ERA (23 ER/82 IP) in the previous 9 home games, which is the best in bigs. Opposing batters are hitting just .190 at Dodger Stadium.
SDP – Adrian Gonzalez is tied with Albert Pujols for the MLB lead in HR with 9.
SDP – Adrian Gonzalez leads the NL in Runs scored on the road, with 13. Jody Gerut is tied for 3rd with 11.
SDP – Padres all-time home record is 1,588-1,601.
SDP - Friars record during the day 2-5, night 9-8.
SFG – Best Winning Pct in the majors since 4/17; 1-Red Sox, 2-Giants, 3-Dodgers.
SFG – 9-0 when the Giants score first.
SFG – When the G-Men commit an Error they are 5-4, when they don’t they are 6-7.
SFG – Pablo Sandoval is the only Giants position player to start in all 22 games this season (20 at 3B, 2 at C).
SFG – The Giants won their first 4 home series for the 1st time since 1993.
COL – The Rockies are 2nd in the NL with 30 HRs, all have been either solo or two-run shots.
COL – ALL-Time record at Coors Field 631-503. All-Time road record 502-777.
COL – Ryan Spilborghs had 2 HR and 2 SB in a game, the first time a player has accomplished that since 2006. Chris Duffy was the last to do that on Sept. 7th 2006. Rafael Furcal also did it in 2004.
COL – Record at night, 3-7. During the day, 6-6.
I want to take a moment to once again thank all of you out there who are taking the time to read this blog and listen to my podcast. The numbers are continuing to rise and I can only hope you all are enjoying the content that I am doing my best to provide. Most of you would be surprised to know just how much time and effort it takes to put together these little ventures, but I enjoy doing it and I hope we all are benefitting from it. I know I sure am!
-Johnny Archive
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