Buy Low / Sell High - Early 2012 Edition

Sparky Anderson used to say you can start evaluating your team after 40 games.  I think the same is probably true for Fantasy Baseballers.  No matter how your team is doing, you don’t want to make any earth shattering deals until at least the middle of May (you drafted these guys after 4 months of painstaking research after all).  That said, it’s never too early to take advantage of some classic buy low/sell high opportunities. 

I will say that even the most inexperience owners understand what you’re trying to do if you start making bogus trade offers, but now is the time when owners start to get frustrated with their players and/or their spot in the standings and you may be able to pick up somebody for a discount (or on the flip side turn a late draft pick or waiver add into someone who can help you all year). 

Below I identify 10 players to ‘Buy Low’, 10 players to ‘Sell High’ and a couple guys who you may think fall into these categories but don’t.

Buy Low

Albert Pujols – 65 at bats, 6 R, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 0 SB, .246 AVG

                You’re obviously not going to get Pujols for pennies on the dollar, but he is a 1^st round talent you may be able to offer a 2^nd rounder (think Hanley, Longoria, etc.) for straight up.

Justin Upton – 39 at bats, 8 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB, .205 AVG

                He has been hurt, but even when healthy he hasn’t done much of anything.  The guy who used a top 10 pick on him could be at the bottom of the standings and getting restless. 

Giancarlo Stanton – 51 at bats, 4 R, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 0 SB, .255 AVG

                Picked by many to lead the league in HRs in 2012 he still has a goose egg in that department.  He’s battled injuries and may struggle some more because of that, but if you’re looking to add him on the cheap there is no better time.

Brandon Phillips – 38 at bats, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB, .237

                That is the problem with the ... KEEP READING! :) ...

Drinking & Baseball

Is there anything more American than drinking a beer whilst watching a baseball game? Yes! Drinking a beer whilst watching a baseball game, whilst eating an apple pie, and enjoying my obese body (I’m sexy and I know it!) There it is. So I decided to chronicle my American nature and see what happens. This may not be pretty, coherent, or good, but dammit, I am going to give it my all! Game of choice: Detroit Tigers vs. Texas Rangers. Beer of choice: Miller High Life; The Champagne of Beers.

7:01pm 1^st beer cracked, not that cold seeing as how I just picked them up from the store 5 mins ago. Oh well.

7:03pm – Dammit! Rain delay! Keep the drinking going!

7:23pm – 2^nd beer open. No game. I’m getting restless. The programming they have on during rain delays is ok, but very dry. It reminds me of the opening to any/all sports events. Insert peppy song, pics/video of players, maybe they do something whacky…yawn.  But with the game not on, it’s all about keeping my wife at bay. “Can we watch one of my shows since your baseball isn’t on?” It’s only a matter of time before my defenses break…defenses being the amount of alcohol in my system.

8:00pm – Beer 3. Now they

Top Early Performances From Down on the Farm

It’s probably still too early to start watching the minor league stats very closely, but if you want to have an edge up on your competition it never hurts to know who’s playing well down on the farm (plus I’m a sucker for up-and-coming players and prospects).  So, I took a look into the guys lighting up the minor leagues early in 2012. 

In no particular order;

Mike Trout, AAA, OF, LAA – 60 at bats, 13 R, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 SB, .383 AVG, .976 OPS

                -He’s one of the top prospects in all of baseball and he’s playing like it.  Problem is, the Angels have a logjam in the OF.  Not a logjam of talent, but a logjam of players making way too much money to sit the bench.  It won’t hurt Trout to get more seasoning in the minors but if the Angels have plans of keeping up with the Rangers in the AL West Trout might have to be in their plans sooner rather than later.  

Wil Middlebrooks, AAA, 3B, BOS – 57 at bats, 11 R, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 2SB, .368 AVG, 1.074 OPS

                -The Red Sox don’t really have a place for him with Youkilis, A Gon and Ortiz as lineup stalwarts and the Sawx bats came alive vs. the Rays this week, but Middlebrooks has been moving up the ranks and performing well at each stop along the way.

Lonnie Chisenhall, AAA, 3B, CLE – 64 at bats, 9 R, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 0 SB, .344 AVG, .989 OPS

                -Chisenhall lost the spring training battle for 3B to Jack Hannahan and Hannahan has provided some heroics for the Tribe early on.  That said, Chisenhall is the 3B of the future in Cleveland and if Hannahan goes into a slump and Chisenhall continues to hit well we could see a call up again this year.

Starling Marte, AAA, OF, PIT – 53 at bats, 7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 7 SB, .264 AVG, .712 OPS

                -His stats aren’t great, but he is lightening fast and played well enough in the spring to open some eyes.   If (when) the Pirates start to tail off it’ll be time to see what Marte can do against big league pitching.

Anthony Rizzo, AAA, 1B, Cubs – 56 at bats, 13 R, 7 HR, 16 RBI, 1 SB, .393 AVG, 1.219 OPS

                -Wow, his power looks legit.  He started off

End Of The Week Jargon

Word up homies! Imma ‘bout ready to slap down some freaky fantasy knowledge on you. Funny, Word really does NOT like that previous “sentence”. It’s lit up like a Christmas tree! Anyway, it’s the end of the week so I want to go over some fantasy jargon with ya! Today I’ll be going over some must adds.  *Small Disclaimer* I feel these adds/drops are for 12 team or more leagues. If you’re in a league with 10 teams or less don’t bother making moves yet. “Why’s that Jeremy?” our 1 fan asks (my mom probably. Thanks Mom!) 10 team leagues are just too shallow to make any drastic moves in the first few weeks. Yes if you had Drew Storen you can drop him for Guerra or whomever, but in general, there’s no sense dropping a guy you were proud to draft for a player playing over his head (Aramis for Freese, no dice!).  Time to get on with it:

Must Add

Any temporary closer: Look, closers are going down like flies, and I know most of you “didn’t pay for saves” in your draft, so you do not want to be left behind. Rodney – Yes! Hector Santiago-Yes! Brad Lidge – Yes! Henry Rodriguez – Yes! Francisco Cordero – Yes! (Santos looks awful)

Josh Willingham – He’s always been underrated, and is a must add…thus the reason why he’s in this section.

J.D. Martinez – Look, Houston has to score runs, right? *Chirp**Chirp* There are worse things to have than having the #3 hitter in the lineup. He’s not going to do anything great, but he will do a lot of things well. Grab him!

Raul Ibanez – He has 2 SBs and 6 RBIs. It’s a matter of playing time for Raul, and I for 1 think he gets it and produces.

Reactions from the First Games

As I ponder the last few games I wonder, what can I take from them? Are they real? Will Kyle Lohse be the greatest pitcher this season? Will Detroit average 9 runs a game (I sure hope so!) *Sidebar* Miguel Cabrera was pretty darn good at 3B. Will there be a legitimate closer standing by the end of the season? Who knows, but that’s what’s great about baseball! No matter how many stats you have, and no matter what everyone may tell you, they cannot be 100% certain. So let’s take a look at some things:

Boston and New York will be cellar dwellers all year – No dice. These teams are far too talented to be this bad; however, it is of note that Boston’s pitching is going to be weak all year. That bullpen is a mess, and if Beckett can’t be the ace of past it’s going to be a long year.

The Detroit Tigers are this good – Sorry folks, as homer-ish as this sounds it’s true, and as I stated above, the big cat, Cabrera, looked serviceable at third.

The Mets are this good – They’ve always been a sneaky good team to me. Pitching and hitting that was highly underrated. I still think they’ll be last in that division, but they’ll do it turning some heads along the way.

Shouldn’t  Jeff Samardzija be catching a football? – I’ve always been a fan of Samardzija ever since he turned down the NFL for MLB (woohoo! Go baseball!), so I say pick him up, especially in NL-only leagues

Kyle Lohse…really? – unless you’re in a deep NL0only league, do not bother.

ClubhouseGM’s 2012 MLB Predictions

Division Races

AL East

New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox

Toronto Blue Jays

Tampa Bay Rays

Baltimore Orioles

AL Central

Detroit Tigers

Cleveland Indians

Kansas City Royals

Chicago White Sox

Minnesota Twins

AL West

Los Angeles Angels

Texas Rangers

Seattle Mariners

Oakland A’s

Things I Need To Happen To Supplement My Baseball Obsession

These are things, in no particular order, that I need to happen in order for my baseball obsession to grow. I’d like it to grow into such a force that it cannot be stopped. I’d like people in Japan saying “Wow, that is one rarge baseball obsession!”  I write this because I had some great Detroit Tigers Opening Day plans that were recently cancelled due to “work”. Ppff…actual work! Come on! How do these “higher ups” not know I’ve got some baseball to watch!!

1. Watching Baseball Is My 9 to 5 Job



Damn colors getting my white polo all hippy-ish!

1. MLB.com has recently created the position of MLB Man Cave. Greatest position ever? YES!!...let me throw a couple more of these (!!!) on there…YES!!!!! Ok, better. I would literally, short of killing and giving away first-borns and what-not, do anything to get that position. Learn Mandarin Chinese? Done!  I mean shú. Wash my colors with my whites. Done!  I think there needs to be a position like this in every baseball city. Enough of these “writers” telling me how my team is doing. Give me an uber-fan that watches every inch of my teams’ games who speaks my language. The language of hot dogs and beer!
2. My Wife Loving Baseball As Much As I Do



Hottest softball player ever?

1. “Honey, hurry your ass home! Verlander is pitching a no-hitter into the 8^th!” ….uuhh….uuuhhh….ooOOooo yeah…Hottest phrase ever! Not only is

A look at ClubhouseGM's fantasy teams going into week 1

Hopefully you come here for some advice and information on how to assemble the best possible Fantasy Baseball team.  That said, you should probably get a chance to see how we assemble our own teams. 

Going into this season I planned to limit my participation to 2-3 total leagues, I ended up joining 5 (the 4 teams below plus a dynasty league at Proboards that doesn't require as much in-season monitoring).  Anyway, below is a snapshot of the 4 leagues and the rosters I was able to assemble.

 

League Name: MSU Alumni

Description: This is the granddaddy of them all!  This is the 9^th year of the league and the majority of the owners have been in it from the start.  About half of the league went to Michigan State and we all still get together every year for the live draft (some of us from out of state).

Scoring: Standard 12 team 5x5 league with an extra IF and OF spot.  We use LF, CF, RF not OF

Draft: Auction. This is a keeper league with a pretty detailed constitution.  We are allowed to keep up to $90 worth (no limit on # of players) and players have a 3 year max contract. $260 cap.

Hitting: M Montero, J Smoak, D Espinosa, E Longoria, T Tulo, M Gamel, V Wells, J Ellsbury, J Heyward, Y Cespedes, J Montero, M Aviles, B Belt, A Ethier, M Trout

Pitching: Z Greinke, G Gonzalez, U Jimenez, M Garza, N Feliz, M Minor, A Chapman, J Motte, S Romo, A Reed

League Name: Friends & Family

Description: Just as the title implies, this is a league that my brother started.  My parents are both in it as well as some of my friends.  Looking forward to teaching everyone a little bit about how to win in Fantasy Baseball!