Results tagged ‘ Carlos Gomez ’
Quick Hitters
Quick hitters
Julio Borbon – This kid might be the most dazzling player in the game. He has speed, pop and just makes the game more exciting. Fantasy owners should love watching all the highlights he’ll make this year. Just don’t forget that many times these type of players are more injury prone.
Carlos Gonzalez – A legit 25-25 guy this year with 30-30 not that far out of reach. Just a smooth player that will become a household name by the time the allstar break rolls around. I started promoting this talented outfielder last summer when I saw him in Triple A.
Erick Aybar – I have never paid this speedster too much attention because he was part of a crowded infoeld situation in Anaheim. But Chone Figgins is in Seattle and Angels manager Mike Scioscia prefers to have slotted players that fit into his master plan. John Zaleski, of Ultimate Fantasy Sports and a founding member of the FSTA, is very high on this kid and that endorsement carries significant weight. Zaleski has a long and proven track record in fantasy sports, but he always has a great feel for Angels players.
Taylor Teagarden – Whoever is the catcher of the Texas Rangers is almost always a factor for fantasy owners. The big — and extremely long — name for the past couple of years has been Jarrod Saltalamacchia who came over in the Mark Teixeira trade with Atlanta, but Teagarden might be the guy who emerges as the more productive backstop in 2010 and beyond. “Salty” can’t seem to stay healthy and “Tea” is showing some consistency at the plate.
Sean Rodriguez – This former Angels infielder who is now with the Rays is turning into a sexy pick for sleeper hunters the past week or so. Again, I was touting “Sean-Rod” last summer when he came to Round Rock as a minor leaguer. The bat has always been his strength, but like many Angels player, locking him to a position has been difficult. He’s been listed as a 2B, but could easily play 3B and still offer fantasy value. Keep him on your radar and if the ABs are there, the production will be as well.
Brian Roberts – His ADP has been taking a real spanking the last couple of weeks as he has been dealing with a back issue. I can see this being a typical example of some spring training injury rumors causing a player to drop and thus making him a real bargain on draft day. This is one of the elite second baseman, so if he slips in your draft, nab him and smile. He more than likely will be ready for opening day and by May nobody will even remember the missed time in March.
Just an overall note. I am actually fairly happy to see some of the players I suggested fantasiers keep an eye on last year emerging as players to watch by more mainstream sites. Players like Sean Rodriguez, Sammy Gervacio, Carlos Gonzalez and Chris Perez were all amoung the players I highly encouraged fantasy owners take fliers on and it likes those who did will get rewarded.
Don’t totally disregard Carlos Gomez and Mike Aviles, either. They both have opportunites to make an impact this year for relatively little investments.
-Johnny Archive
Looking Up with the ‘Lovemaster’
Yesterday’s Special Wednesday Edition of the podcast went great! Thanks to everyone for dropping by and checking out the show. We had some great dialogue in the chat room. During the J.*****. (Johnny Archive Strategy Session) portion I discussed how to approach the rest of the season if your fantasy teams have not exactly flown out of the gate. I mentioned that several of my teams were in that situation and someone asked if I’d post the standings of my leagues.
So, here you go. I’m not thrilled with my results thus far, but there is a ton of time left and I am not by any means giving up on the season. Two players, Mike Aviles and Carlos Gomez, who I was very high on have let me down big time. With the disasterous starts that they have had, it’s no wonder my teams have struggled. They are both young players and I wouldn’t be shocked to see a rebound at some point in their careers, maybe even later this season, but so far this year they are certainly not producing like I had hoped.
Let’s start with the J.A.I.L.
| Rank | Team | Batting | Pitching | Total | Dif | Behind |
| 1 | Monster Mash | 58.5 | 47.5 | 106.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| 2 | Lone Star State Looters | 42.0 | 53.5 | 95.5 | -0.5 | 10.5 |
| 3 | Firewyrms Bad Mofos | 58.5 | 25.0 | 83.5 | 7.0 | 22.5 |
| 4 | Death Row Doggies | 40.0 | 42.0 | 82.0 | 0.0 | 24.0 |
| 5 | Fatheaded Felons | 45.0 | 32.0 | 77.0 | 3.0 | 29.0 |
| 6 | Jersey Hitmen | 39.0 | 37.5 | 76.5 | 6.0 | 29.5 |
| 6 | Green Mountain Boys | 30.5 | 46.0 | 76.5 | -7.0 | 29.5 |
| 8 | PBR Streetgang | 24.0 | 52.0 | 76.0 | 1.0 | 30.0 |
| 9 | Don’t Tread On Me | 40.0 | 34.0 | 74.0 | 2.0 | 32.0 |
| 10 | Bombo Rivera AllStar Squad | 57.0 | 12.0 | 69.0 | -6.5 | 37.0 |
| 11 | Ramblers in Hell | 37.0 | 31.0 | 68.0 | -7.0 | 38.0 |
| 12 | Folsom Prison Blues | 29.0 | 32.0 | 61.0 | -5.5 | 45.0 |
| *13 |  The Usual Suspects |
10.5 | 48.0 | 58.5 | 6.0 | 47.5 |
| 14 | Triple Slashers | 14.0 | 32.5 | 46.5 | -1.0 | 59.5 |
* – Johnny Archive
As you can see, my offense has been horrid. I have made a few trades, the main one being when I sent Joe Nathan, Curtis Granderson and Matt Garza for Manny Ramirez and Chris Perez. My last deal, I sent Chris Carpenter away for Juan Pierre.
Yes, I gave up a lot for Man-Ram, but I felt I was selling high on Grandy and felt I was getting Manny right before he was about to bust out. He “busted out” alright…busted out of MLB for 50 games, which of course, is a killer.
The good news is even with just about everything possible going wrong, I’m less than 20 points out of 5th. 5th?! Yeah, 5th. I’m not even worried about the tip-top of the standings right now. 5th place is as far as I’ll let myself look ahead. Once I get to 5th, then I’ll worry about getting into the money — top 3 places.
Okay, moving on to the NFBC…
It doesn’t get any better here, again Aviles and Gomez have left their marks. Also, having blow-ups from pitchers like Scot Shields and Bronson Arroyo have not helped.
| NFBC ONLINE CHAMPIONSHIP, APRIL 4TH, 4 PM LEAGUE 3 STANDINGS (Last Update – MAY 14, 12:10 A.M. E.T.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Team | Batting Pts | Pitching Pts | Overall Pts | Change | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | HMS Dauntless | 36.5 | 39.0 | 75.5 | +1.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Eddie’s Kingdom Killebrew | 46.5 | 26.5 | 73.0 | -3.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | No Soup For You | 34.0 | 37.5 | 71.5 | +2.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Hackensack Bulls-3 | 23.0 | 47.0 | 70.0 | +0.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 4-8-15-16-23-42 | 26.0 | 43.5 | 69.5 | -5.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | House of Pain | 37.0 | 31.5 | 68.5 | -0.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | PAGDO and PINNY | 34.0 | 33.5 | 67.5 | +2.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | The End Game | 27.5 | 40.0 | 67.5 | +1.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | pluto_12′s | 37.0 | 26.5 | 63.5 | +2.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Jack&Kami | 32.0 | 27.5 | 59.5 | -0.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Phillies 2 | 34.0 | 20.5 | 54.5 | -3.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Johnny Archive Snips | 22.5 | 17.0 | 39.5 | +3.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This league is the one where if I don’t win I have stated I will undergo a vasectomy, so I squirm a little everytime I look at the standings.
Pitching has been my downfall here. I’m dead last in ERA (5.84) and WHIP (1.53). I’m only a smidge better in K’s (216) and Wins (13), where I am second-to-last. I’m hanging in there with Saves (23) which is 2nd. My starters — C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Ubaldo Jimenez, Scott Kazmir and Gavin Floyd –have hope and have begun to pitch better, well all except Gavin who is headed the wrong way.
Sadly, I had benched C.C. last week when he turned in that CG shutout. But he had been struggling, so I still think it was the right move, even though it didn’t work out. Overall, I think this group will be fine, though I need to find a SP or two on the wire to really give myself a few extra Wins and Ks.
My offense is decent, with Mark Teixeira and Adrian Gonzalez leading the way. Matt Holliday, Joe Mauer and Big Papi are all proven hitters who have either struggled or have been hurt. Also on the roster; Adam Dunn, Dexter Fowler, Brandon Inge, Michael Bourn and Kaz Matsui so there is a decent mix of power and speed.
I’ll share my other teams later. Let’s set our calendars, May 14th. Okay, we’ll check back in a month and see if there’s been any progress. I am very confident there will be.
If you are curious about the comic that I had on my show Wednesday, here is some more information. His name is Craig Shoemaker and he is currently on tour. He is well known for his “Lovermaster” alter-ego and is a very funny guy. I strongly encourage you to take in one of his shows when he comes to a comedy club near you. For more about “Shoe’ go to his website – http://www.craigshoemaker.com/
Have a great Thursday! It’s almost the weekend! Hang in there.
-Johnny Archive
Z Wrap Up On Some Sleepers
Okay, today we’re getting right into it. These are the players who I teased about earlier in the week. Potential sleepers who all have something to do with the letter “Z”. When pondering sleepers in 2009, think zzzzZZZzzz. Makes sense, aye?
I will be discussing these players in depth during The Johnny Archive Fantasy Baseball Show this Sunday at 11:30am ET. Cory Schwartz had to reschedule his appearence until 2 weeks from Sunday, March 22nd, so we will have enough time to go in-depth with some of the players you should keep an eye on during your draft.
Here’s the list.
HITTERS
- Troy Tulowitzki SS COL
- Nelson Cruz OF TEX
- Carlos Gomez OF MIN
- Ryan Zimmerman 3B WAS
- Kazuo Matsui 2B HOU
PITCHERS
- Chris Perez RP STL
- Jonathan Sanchez SP SFG
- Joel Zumaya RP DET
- Brad Ziegler RP OAK
- Carlos Zambrano SP CHC
Now, remember some of these are sleepers because they are likely to be obtained lower in the draft than they should be, not because they will all be last round picks. Finding players that will out-perform the round you get them in the draft is the key. So, looking for sleepers starts in round #1, not round #20.
The goal is to win your league, not make picks that everyone in your league agrees with or approves. Too many owners are afraid of making a bad pick. The thought that they will draw the laughs and scoffs in the draft room, and be thought of as a loser, is so frightening that they simply take the safe player, usually listed atop the site’s predraft ranking.
By doing this, true, most owners probably do a better job of avoiding finishing last in their league, but they also limit their ability to win the league. I would much rather finish last and know I took chances during the draft, and the season. And hoping that had they worked out would’ve given me a realistic chance at winning it all, versus simply playing it safe and finishing 8th with NO chance at winning. Blah!
This gets into my Johnny Archive philosophy of fantasy sports overall. This will be another topic that I discuss this on my podcast this Sunday. For those of you who have read this blog over the years, you probably know most of my beliefs, but this is for the newer visitors here and listeners who are just now being enlightened to my sure-fire strategy that gurantees an enjoyable fantasy season.
Afterall, when it really comes down to it, isn’t that — having an enjoyabe time – what we’re all after?
I see you in the back of the room who said “cash” under your breath. Okay, sure the prize money is cool if you play in a fairly high-dollar entry fee league. And if you are in the NFBC and have $100 grand on the line, yes indeed, winning is very much “neato”. However, I doubt most fantasiers or casual fantasy players are depending on their fantasy league payoffs to pay for their mortage.
So, at the end of the day, we all want to have fun participating in fantasy sports. Then, let me ask you this, is it vital to the goal of fun to win your league? WAIT! Before you answer, remember that there can be only 1 winner, and maybe 2 or 3 more who finish in the money, if your league recognizes 2nd and 3rd. If you answer “yes” that winning is vital, then that’s kinda tragic that in a league of say 12 teams, only a small percentage are eligible to have fun.
Enter my thinking and style. Yes, you will have to probably spend more time than you normally would or have in the past. Yes, you will have to step out of your shell and shoot off a few trade offers, league message board posts and actually look at other teams rosters. I know, I know you loooove your team and looking at other players might somehow make you feel guilty.
But hey, this is fantasy sports, not a typical monogamous real life relationship. In fantasy, checking out and playing the field is not only not a bad thing, but it’s encouraged!
Okay, I think I have rambled on enough about this thinking for now. If you are interested, tune into the show this weekend at BlogTalkRadio.com and get more details.
-Johnny Archive
Zzzzz Best Sleeper Outfielder?
Hello Baseball Fans!
The posts this week will be brought to you by the letter “Z”.
Let’s review an exciting player who we were jazzed about from last year. I’m working on my official M.I.P. (Most Intriquing Players) List and this kid may well end up being on the final list. Matter of fact, it’s a lock.
Carlos Gomez OF MIN – This kid came out of the gate in 2008 like his jockstrap had ants in it. His owners were feeling very pleased since they had to overlook spring training injury issues when they drafted him. The defense was there, he was stealing bases, gobbling up infield hits and 60+ SBs seemed like a lock. Well, as is the case with al ot of young players they had to adjust to the league adjusting to them and that’s where “Go-Go” Gomez hit a bit of a wall. His final year stats aren’t all that inspiring (2008 MIN 577AB 79R 149H 7HR 59RBI 33SB .258), but let’s dive in a tad deeper shall we?
His AVG at home .278 and on the road .236, hrmmm, I guess he enjoyed that hard surface in the dome. The other stats show no major difference between home and away. What about breaking down his months from last year?
April – He only hit .253, but he had his best month of SB with 9 with only 1 CS.
May – He really took off: .299 3 HR/2TRI/3DBL/16RBI/17R, but SB dropped rate to 6SB/4CS.
June – Now with higher expectations, the spiral began: .236 1HR/1TR/1DBL 4SB/3CS.
July – Life in the valley: .220/0HR/0SB/1CS ewww, scary. He was nursing a quad, though.
Aug – Not all is lost: .238/7SB/1CS/1HR, with his legs feeling better, the speed returns.
Sept – Nice end to the season: .289/5SB/1CS/1HR/3TRI/6DBL
All in all, I am optimistic about the future for Gomez. This is a 23-year-old lanky kid with a ton of talent and speed. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is a one-trick pony. He’s 6’3″ and still filling out. I just hope he doesn’t take his speed for granted and be too focused on the 400+ homer. I’m thinking of an Alex Rios-ish type player here, with both still considerable room to grow.
What will help you get this Twin outfielder a bit later in the draft than perhaps his value dictates is the reality that fantasy owners take it personal when exciting propects don’t immediately develop into Hall of Famers. Especially when they break out for a short time and get fantasiers all wound up, like Gomez did in May last year.
When I look for sleepers, I look for talent and opportunity. He has the talent, no doubt, and will definitely get a massive amount of ABs even if he does struggle at the plate because his defense is such a benefit to the ballclub.
*stamp of approval*
I likey Carlos Gomez!
-Johnny Archive
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