Akira Plays Short

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Versatile and Slammin'!

Can you name Who is the only player with at least a .300 average, 25 home runs, 100 RBI's, 95 runs and 15 stolen bases in each of the past three seasons?

A-Rod?
Nope. He hit only .290 back in '06.

In an interview I did last year with fantasy baseball expert - and 8 time 'League of Nations' Champ - Jeff "The Sultan" Bauer stated that David Wright will NOT be a Top 5 3B in the next 2 years. Guess he was wrong. Call him versatile.

Am I a homer? Maybe, but the numbers don't lie. Wright has suffered a down-turn a little - this season, but has since rebounded with the unlikely addition to the Mets line-up in Gary Sheffield. If ya'll recall, it was Wright who gave Sheff a call and said it would be awesome if he joined the team.

Gary said yes and joined the team. Just by showing up, Sheff had sparked and loosened them up. He gave hitting pointers, answered questions about strategy, talked work outs, went about his business as he has always done. Those who wanted more just watched how a pro did his work. And all this from the bench. Call him Slammin'.

The team now is a mess with over $120 mil worth of players on the DL. Opportunity came knocking for Sheff as he was slid into the line-up in the 4 hole. What happened? An imediate return for those batting before him.

David Wrights' slump was over, but the now considered (GULP) AAA team is still struggling. Will the team hang on in time for the starters to return?

Well the Phills, have no bull pen and starting pitching sucks. And even Cole Hamel isn't a lock everytime he takes the mound.

Braves? I don't think so. Forget the Nats, and that leaves the Marlins.
The Marlins!? Not again.
Florida looks like they may have all the pieces back to hold and win the division. Crap!

In the meantime, the team will have to rally around Versatile and Slammin' until something gives.

Monday, March 30, 2009

The Fantasy Man's Snake Draft Plan Exposed!

Got a great question to day in the email. So good I thought it would be wise to throw it out there for everyone. I know this is nuts and up for some arguements as I am sure I will get the usual hate mail and comments here but this is a draft plan I am personally following in 12 team, 5x5, roto, mixed leagues this season. Say what you want, but yes, I fully intend on winning with this set up. So much in fact, that I have no problem spreading the advice around! We all know a draft can take a turn for the worse, but if you stay on course and have back up options at every pick, you can make this work and have a pretty sweet team. Enjoy!

Oh, by the way, we just loaded the first new daily fantasy baseball leagues at www.FANLEX.com !! This of course goes along with the $100 Prize April HR Derby FREEROLL that is , um, free to join! Check it out!

The Question: Mike, Last year you provided a Podcast where you listed what position/players you would take in each round. I won a league last year following it. Of course I misplaced the paper where I had all the information. Can you help me out?

The Answer: Of course! I'll make it rain for you right here.... here ya go...... this is the plan I am following. It allows for top notch hitting and solid pitching if you make the right picks. Here it is in a nutshell....

R1 - Power, any position - A top 2 pick I go Pujols, at 5-6 I think about Cabrera and Braun, after that its Howard, Tex, Hamilton, Berkman. I dont care about position scarcity in mixed leagues. I care about power scarcity. Get power early, find steals later. Thats my motto.

R2 - More power, any position - an early round two you can probably grab Tex, Berkman, Holliday, CLee. Late R2 you can grab Fielder, Soriano, Beltran, etc.

R3 - Carlos Quentin or Matt Kemp. Quentin for more power, Kemp for some speed.

R4 - AGonzalez, Mourneau, Jason Bay and if all gone, I might steal Brian Roberts for speed and position scarcity.

R5 - Geovany Soto or Brian McCann. If Soto/McCann is gone, go with Big Papi. If both gone, go with Dan Uggla for 2B or MI.

R6 - grab Papelbon if he's still there. If not, shoot for VMart or Martin if there. Otherwise, take the next best hitter. Maybe Ellsbury if he falls, you can jump on Votto or Chris Davis. Many options.

R7 - Grab a SS (if you didnt grab Hanley, Reyes or Rollins in the 1st).... Drew, Furcal, Tulo, Jeter, Hardy, Peralta.

R8 - Grab a Joey Votto or Chris Davis if you have the 3B (for Davis) or the CI (for Votto)open. Or, if you missed on Roberts or Uggla and have the MI spot open, grab the remaining SS of that group in R7 I mentioned. If all gone or your MI is filled, look at Cano at 2B. If your 2B is filled, go with the best closer available....from Nathan, Rivera, Lidge, Soria. If those guys are gone, go with another hitter like Votto, Chris Davis, Dye, DLee, Delgado, Wells or any quality hitter that has dropped.

R9 - Grab the next best closer on the board..... Valverde, Jenks, Fuentes, Ryan, Marmol, Broxton if you still need a second closer or even if you need the 1st. If you have both, go with the best SP.

R10 - Grab your second closer or if you already have two, go with the best SP.

R11 - If a Johnny Damon, Dye, Hawpe, Wells slip...grab one if you have room. Otherwise grab a SP

R12 - SP

....... from there, start to fill in your team as needed. Hopefully, after you grab two closers by rounds 9 or 10 and then you start filling in SP's. You should be able to get guys like Burnett, Volquez, Gallardo, Nolasco, Cain, Myers, etc. guys with potential. Dont worry about the 2 or 3 open hitter spots, there's lots of cheap talent late at every position........ such as....and to name only a few ;) ......

C - Bengie Molina, Saltalamacchia, Navarro, Suzuki and even Olivo might be decent
1B - Blalock, Guillen, Jacobs, Kotchman, Morales
2B - Weeks, Sanchez, Casilla, Lopez
3B - Blalock, Guillen
OF - Ankiel, Werth, Tavares, Maybin, Dukes, Adam Jones, Milledge, Gomez, Bourn.... there's a ton!

Hope that helps!
It's not perfect but you'll contend if you come up with the right players! The rest comes with great team management!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Para mi Rodriguez: to my Rodriguez: An open letter by an A-Rod fan

Crap!
Damn!
Are you freakin' kidding me?!? You have to be the dumbest richest ball player on the face of this earth!
Oh. Right. You are.

You know Alex, I gotta tell ya', I've read, listened, and was told so much about this that I thought I was gonna Oou-up. Seriously, I mean...wow!

On a scale of shockers for me, it was right up there with Bruce Lee and his son Brandon Lee dying! I mean I was just floored. Devestated! And I'm not a Yankee fan, but I gotta tell ya, I'm still looking back when the news first broke and I had no words.

I don't know what should I do with my 2006 WBC USA Rodriguez jeresy. And then you dummy-head... you go and pick the DR as the team you want to play with this year.
Oh ye me! Listen to me...how stupid is that?? You knew that if you would've said USA this year that it would've tainted the USA team! You knew that! Why did you say anything?

Bro really? Jeeze. Part of me wants to burn it that Jersey now...I swear.
But you know I won't do it because I know I can do better on eBay. Kidding.

Now your running away. Plain and simple. First a cist then hip problem, a-la Chase Utley and Mike Lowell. You know what you got? Right? Your stressed out dude. Next thing we're gonna hear is ya got shingles. Who your gonna blame for that? Oh yea, 'Like a Virgin...touched for the very for time...' 52 year old chick! Is she really 52?

Oh man, did ya scrape your tongue at least?

Why are you running? Is it because of the tell all book about to come out. Dude we are tired of the steriods. Nobody cares. Ok the break up with your high school sweetheart does not help and leaving your kids even for a little while is stupid too. But Madonna and steroids. Really?
Alex? Really?

I'll say this, I'm not giving up on you like I have not givin up on Pete Rose. I'll say it like Pete likes to say it..

"Some day that sum-bitch will be in the hall. Hopefully".
Keep hope alive Petey! Some day you will be reinstated.

Now Alex, do what you gotta do to get healthy and then come back and bust your ass by showing everybody who you are and what you are really made of?

Forget the dumb-ass interview with Peter Gammons, by the way, who I admire, so I guess you picking the hall-of-famer helped a little. Surrounding yourself with the right image helps a little bit, but you looked like an ass. How do you not prep better for that?

I guess your press conference - confession was a little better and then, what the hell man! Who the hell told you to use the cousin line? Brilliant! That was hilerious.

Well I guess that was smart. Now Congress can't say anything 'cause you didn't do it in this country. At least you kept your visa.

Anyway, at least you man-up'd better than Jason. glad he is back with Oak-town.

So now what is it? 4 weeks. 6 weeks? Just so you know I predicted as soon as the story broke to my friend Jeff - June 1st.
Hey Jeff I told ya. And that is if he is lucky. Drop him down to a 5th round pick and then stash him on the DL for now.
Me? Fantasy trade bait baby.

Alex please fix yourself and fast. I'll be here waiting.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

The Fantasy Man: All the Players I Don't Pay Attention Too!

Posted: 29 Jan 2009 11:04 AM CST

It's nothing personal, but there's some players in a fantasy baseball draft or auction that I never seem to pick. There's some players I simply don't trust or some names I just can't stand to look at on my fantasy team roster. I'm sure they're great guys personally, but in fantasy terms, I just can't seem to pull the trigger.

You might want to grab a cold drink (I like soda with ice...nice and crispy!), have a seat and get comfortable because there is a good chance you may want to curse me out by the time you're done reading this. Below is a list of the players I just don't like on my fantasy team. Hopefully I can justify why I won't choose these players! Keep in mind however, players we despise on our rosters can still be fantastic picks when undervalued which in turn make great picks. But, sometimes, like I said above, I just can't pull the trigger. Like Ed Rooney said, "I don't trust this kid any farther than I can throw him!" Let's start at the top....

Lance Berkman - .300/35/110/10 is the average projection you'll get for Berkman. Those are fantastic potential numbers, but I'm just not a believer. Whether it was the year he got hurt or last year when his first half was amazing and the second half, well, not so good. No trust here. I'd rather grab Mark Teixeira, Matt Holliday or Prince Fielder in the early second round or dare I say, stretch on Carlos Quentin. Berkman is also technically on the downside of his prime turning 33 in February. Probably a year or two left of top production but he's not the most agile player and I just can't seem to hit the draft button. No offense Lance.

Carl Crawford - What's up with this guy?!! Turns 27 last August and hits 8 HR! Jeez. Here's a guy that we've been touting for years waiting for that big break out. I mean he's still 27 for most of the season so that break out could happen this year as he enters his prime, but there's that word again... "could". I want to know if it is or not! I might still grab Crawford in the 4th round if he slips but I almost rather grab the sure thing in Ichiro Suzuki or take a risk and stretch on Jacoby Ellsbury. I have a feeling Ellsbury will be more productive than Crawford in 2009.

Russell Martin - I know, sounds dumb right? Fact is, I feel there is more potential to grab Brian McCann, Geovany Soto or Joe Mauer over Martin. If not, I'd rather just wait until the end of the draft and pick up two between Bengie Molina, Kelly Shoppach, Kurt Suzuki, Jeff Clement, Yadier Molina, Taylor Teagarden, Max Ramirez, etc. See? We have options late. Martin is a solid player and a top notch fantasy catcher, but I like Joe Mauer because he can bust out a .330+ batting average assuming he stays healthy or I like Brian McCann or Geovany Soto because both have 25+ HR/100+RBI potential with .280+ batting averages. More upside between these 3 than with Martin. .300/15/90/10 is nice, but I like to shoot for the stars!

Scott Kazmir - I used to love the potential of Kazmir. Still do, but here is a case where I like a guy so much I just won't draft him. Simple as this.... Kazmir is a high K guy, high BB guy, not enough innings guy, so therefore not enough wins guy! End of story. Pick Francisco Liriano or John Lackey or even take the risk on Felix Hernandez over Kazmir in the 5th-7th rounds of a normal draft.

Chris B. Young - Young, athletic, superstar potential says it all, but a .230 batting average is a bit disheartening. He has 20/20 or even 30/30 upside, but after a sweet 2007 (despite the low BA), be bombed a bit in 2008. There's still plenty of time to break out here but he's a superstar in the K department and unless he works that out, you'll get the same thing you had last year!

Delmon Young - Uggh! He's only 23 but he's the now the Carl Crawford of 7 years ago. All that potential, or so it seems, followed up by marginal numbers. So far the experts have had it wrong on this guy. !0HR and 14RBI in 2008, that just doesn't cut it for me. Yet, he'll still be picked in rounds 9-13. Too early for all that left over hype from 2 years ago.

Brett Myers - Every year I pass up Myers even when he's at a great value. I just don't believe he can repeat that big 200+K season and even so, his ERA and WHIP weren't super fantastic that year anyway. Solid yes, super fantastic, no. Then, in 2007 when he had hurt his arm, it cost him the season, bounced back and forth to the bullpen and he never had that surgery. I feel like that one year I draft Myers, that arm injury will return. That is why I am not high on him in 2009.

Trevor Hoffman - Here's a guy who can get you 40+ saves and probably a 1.20 or less WHIP, but he's in line for a 4.00+ERA and I simply can't deal with that this year. Plus he's super old. I'd rather grab two top notch guys in rounds 9-11 then to wait another round or two for Hoffman.

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