No special header for this one folks. In fact, you may not see one for sometime. This blog is completely about the fantasy issue. What if I owned this guy? Would I not come in last for once? What if I owned that guy? Would I have a better team.
     Thats right folks, it's Fantasy Baseball time. With the leagues starting to form, it's only a matter of time before you join one. Lets take a quick glance at who some of the top picks, the no picks and the dark horses should be in this year's fantasy leagues.
     Ok, for top picks, the obvious choices are Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard. These two were monsters last year, and if Howard can find his Pujols groove (of constant numbers each year), then he'll be up for another MVP award. Sure, he will probably never hit 58 homeruns again, because of the walk treatment, but he'll get you numbers. HR, RBI, Runs and the averages: OB, Slugging and OPS. The same for Pujols. It looks like Pujols and Howard will be the numbers 1 and 2 picks in each draft. just who will be 1 and who will be 2?
     Other top players are Chris Carpentar, Roy Oswalt, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Brandon Webb, Johan Santanna, Joe Maur and Justin Morneau. All of whom will be top picks.
     Some don't pick these guys: Barry Bonds, JD Drew, Luis Gonzalez, Russell Martin, Geoff Jenkins and Gary Sheffield. Bonds will be injuried a lot this year, if he doesn't get arrested first. Drew, well, he agreed to terms almost two months ago with the Boston Red Sox and his deal hasn't been finalized yet because of an injury during an exam. Gonzalez is old and probably won't play as much as people think. If you want a lot of bases, you might want to take him but only as a late round pick. Martin will NOT be the Martin of last year: fact. Trust me. If you need a catcher, go for Brian McCann (who would be an iffy choice as well) or Maur. Jenkins and Sheffield probably won't see much playing time and haven't done well for a few years. Late picks if you desperately need outfield help.
     Some dark horses are: Yadier Molina, Anthony Reyes, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Stephen Drew, Carlos Quinten and Sammy Sosa. Molina and Reyes really came into their own during the postseason, most noteably the NLCS (Molina) and the World Series (Reyes). Both should have really good 2007 campaigns. Kouzy is a rookie 3B with a lot of pop. He'll fit into the middle of the young Friar's lineup and should produce 20+ homeruns, a lot of doules and some RBI. the DBack boys, Drew and Quinten, were stellar last year in the MLB debuts. This year looks better. Some starting experience under your belt is very good for young players, and you can bet that these two will have good years. And lastly, Sosa. Sosa was MIA in 2006 and looks to come back in 2007. He'll be playing a lot of DH, so his wear and tear will be low on his body so he MIGHT produce. In a hitter friendly park, his numbers MIGHT be good. See why he's a dark horse candidate? Lots of mights. He's the Frank Thomas of 2007. Injuries hampered him, full time DH. Take a shot if you're willing, but make it late.
     Thats all folks!

     That's right folks, the Detroit Tigers actually have something to build on for the coming years. They have an unbelieveable farm system, a great manager and a lot of talent at the Major League level.
     Lets first look at the youth the Tigers have. Of course, we HAVE to start with Justin Verlander. The kid is a BEAST. He can throw 100 mph and has great command. He has good offspeed stuff as well to keep hitters on their toes and fool them. Joel Zumaya is another flamethrower. The kid is destined for 400 saves. He throws 100 mph as well, with great offspeed stuff. He also has energy and makes you wonder where he's going to throw that 102 mph fastball: over the plate or in your ear. Andrew Miller is another one of those young studs. He'll probably start the year at Double A next year, but don't let that fool you. He has some nasty stuff and a great fastball. He was drafted this year out of North Carolina and helped carry the Tarheels to a College World Series victory. Here's another great young pitching stud: Humberto Sanchez. He has the Brad Lidge combo of the devestating fastball and the wicked slider. Also, he'll keep ya on your toes too with his changeup. Remember Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson too folks, they're your 1-2 punch ahead of the young guns. That now leads me to this: Ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you your 2008 Tigers starting rotation and closer.
     Curtis Granderson, Marcus Thames, Brandon Inge, Craig Monroe and Chris Shelton are just the beginning. Cameron Maybin is one of the best center field prospects in the game. This gives the Tigers an oportunity to add athletisim to the top of their lineup and use Thames and Monroe as the LF/DH. Oh yeah, Maybin was taken in the 2005 draft, 10th overall. Thats right folks, maybe all those years of losing maybe helped the Tigers win? I think so!
     The Rule 5 draft is a great way to find talent. Ask the Florida Marlins. They plucked Dan Uggla away from the Arizona Diamondbacks and he is now the record holder of the most RBI ever by a rookie in Marlins' history. There was also Johan Santana. He was taken from the Houston Astros and added to the Minesota Twins. No more explanation is needed for that one. They snached Shelton from the Pirates, Wilfredo Ledezma from the Boston Red Sox.
     So, Tiger fans, rest easy. Your future is secure and nothing will screw it up.

***Information for this article was taken from Dayn Perry's Tigers Will Be Winners For Years to Come. Photos were taken from the Google search engine.

     Wow, the Los Angeles Dodgers need some serious help in their front office. They traded off Odalis Perez and two pitching prospects to the Kansas City Royals for Elmer Dessens. Dessens may add a little depth to the Dodgers bullpen, but it's not a great addition. Dayton Moore is proving he's a smart man. By adding Perez, who yes was upset in Los Angeles, he now has a frontline starter. Sure, Perez has never really shown how good he is, but by going to a no pressure town like Kansas City, Perez will shine.
     This isn't the best part. In two days, Moore has added four, yes FOUR, minor league prospects from two teams who are known for developing good pitchers. He traded Mike MacDougal yesterday to the Chicago White Sox for two minor league pitchers and then today, this. By trading MacDougal and Dessens, Moore opens the door for Ambiorix Burgos to be the closer for a long time. Moore also has some other vets he can trade off for some more prospects. He's rebuilding Kansas City's future in the right way.
     Jim Bowden needs to take notes about Moore. Both teams have players that teams want. There isa  difference though. Moore is more opened to trades where as Bowden is not. Bowden wants guys who can play now, not prospects. This is where he'll run into problems. By asking for guys that are at the Major League level (i.e. Brandon McCarthy), he'll get laughed at. Whereas Moore asks for young prospects that his scouts say are good and the team he's getting them from say they aren't. Bowden needs to stop asking for proven young guys and ask for unproven young guys. If he wants to rebuild the minor league system, thats how you do it.

Wanting to know how to build that World Series winner? It's not as simple as spending as much money as you can or even having the best veterans of the last decade and no youth. To build that winner you need to mix and match. You need some young blood, some proven veterans and some good minds to make things go. What I mean by some good minds is a manager that knows what he needs to do every game so he can win that game and get that much closer to the series. So, here's how you build that winner.

MANAGER: Experience
Your manager needs some experience in some way, shape or form. Maybe not World Series experience, but at least some playoff experience. It could also help if your manager was also a player at some point. That way he knows how hard it is to go out there everyday and how much pressure a player is under in the playoffs. This way he can relate to you.

 

 

PITCHING AND HITTING COACHES: Brains
Your coaches need some brains. They have know what they are doing. You can't just hire some random bums you met down at the river and begged you for money while inside of their box and their pet sock was talking to you. They need to be able to know other pitchers and hitters and tell you a plan of attack. They also need to know their own pitchers and hitters so they can help them get beter and maybe help them get some hardware.

 

THE TEAM: Experience, Youth and Some Fun
Your team cannot have expenses out the butt. You can't go out and pickup every 40 year old player that was good in the late 80s and early 90s. They have to be good NOW. They have to have a little experience in the playoffs and a lot of experience in strech runs.
You also have to have some young blood. No one can do it all with old veterans. Young blood keeps the team a float with it's youth and energy. Something you really need for a season that can last 7+ months. Energy.
Now, fun is what every team needs. You can't go around and have a serious team that has no fun whatsoever. It's like what the Brewers do. They have two team buses. One bus is for players that want to go on say whatever they want and not get in trouble for it. Guess what? The caoches ride this bus to and say what they want. This keeps the chemistry high and lets players be themselves and they can have a lot of fun too. The other bus is for players and coaches who don't want to speak their mind. Not many people ride that bus. You have to have some joksters. It's like with the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals. Reggie Sanders was the big jokster on that team. He was serious when he needed to be, but when he didn't need to be he made others laugh. Thats what a team needs: seriousness when seriousness is needed, but laugher the other 99.2% of the time.

 

There you have it. You need experience and some young blood.

That's right. My name is Walt Jocketty and I'm going to tell you how I'm going to fix all of my team's problems.

To start with, I'm trading Jeff Suppan in a 3 way deal. The trade involves the Astros and Nationals. Jeff Suppan and Skip Schumaker are gone. To go with them, John Gall and Chris Lambert. Alfonso Soriano is sent to my team to play 2B and Livan Hernandez is also sent over to my team. The Astros pick up Jose Guillen and Suppan. They (the Astros) trade off Luke Scott, Mitch Einertson, Josh Flores and Ezequiel Astacio to the Nationals. The Nationals walk away with Lambert, Gall, Schumaker, Scott, Einertson, Flores and Astacio. Pretty good. I now have 3 quality starters: Chris Carpenter, Anthony Reyes and Livan Hernandez.

Well then, my next move is to move Adam Wainwright into the starting rotation. How is this possible? I trade Jason Marquis. Where? Well, that's an easy one. I trade Marquis, Aaron Miles and Rico Washington to Arizona for Shawn Green and move him to LF.

Well, after this, I tell Tony La Russa to set up the lineup like this (giving him some lefties to work with):
SS David Eckstein     LFShawn Green     1B Albert Pujols     3B Scott Rolen     2B Alfonso Soriano     CF Jim Edmonds     RF Juan Encarnacion/C Yadier Molina     C Yadier Molina/RF Juan Encarnacion

Now, here's the new starting rotation:
Chris Carpenter     Livan Hernandez     Sidney Ponson     Anthony Reyes     Adam Wainwright

Now, I know what you're wondering, what about Mark Mulder? Well, who knows how long he'll be out. After he's ready to get off the DL, I send him on a four start rehab assignment. After we decide he's ready, we activate him and move Wainwright back to the pen. Also, you are wondering why the Diamondbacks make that trade. Green, Luis Gonzalez and Eric Byrnes are going to be moved for the youth movement. Miles is a good player that can give the Diamondbacks a little flexability at 2B. Rico Washington can play the infield and would be a good backup. Marquis and Webb will be a dynamic duo for them. Well, what about the RF spot? Chris Young takes over in right. What about the Nationals? The Nationals stock up on some young talent and get a few vets for their team. A nice trade.

So, yes. What do you think? I know, I'm a great GM. With these moves, I've jump started my team and will keep my team in first the rest of the year, not to mention we end with the best record in the majors and win the World Series.

Thanks for reading!!!!

Team Name		Record		GB
Los Angeles Dodgers		90-72		--
San Diego Padres		87-75		3
San Francisco Giants		85-77		5
Arizona Diamondbacks		75-87		15
Colorado Rockies		62-100		28

 

Los Angeles Dodgers

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The Dodgers have completely revamped their team. They added players to 7 different positions and look good this year. They have a backup closer if Eric Gagne is still recovering, two new starters, a leadoff hitting shortstop, a batting champ/gold glover third baseman and a shortstop switching positions. They look great this year and should be a threat.

San Diego Padres

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The Padres are defending West Champions, and besides retaining Brian Giles and Trevor Hoffman, they really haven't done anything huge. They did get rid of Phil Nevin last year and added a quality starter (that is adjusted to his new team and new league now), but they didn't have a first baseman. They added Mike Cameron to cover spacious center field, and that's a good move. They moved the speedy Dave Roberts to left, another good move. They put Ryan Klesko at his natural position, another good move. Will these moves add up to another division title, most likely not. They have Mika Piazza too, another good move. The Padres are a great team, but I don't think they can edge out the Dodgers, but, the Wild Card may be their's. Will it? Tune in on Saturday...

San Francisco Giants

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I didn't think much of the Giants last year. Without Barry Bonds, the Giants pretty much blow. They added Steve Finley to the mix of old farts (like the Yankees, but the Yankees actaully have talent). The Giants are lucky that the Diamondbacks are in a rebuilding year and the Rockies blow as well. Otherwise, they'd be in last. They have no offense (and Bonds can't carry the entire team, no matter what people say), no defense and no pitching. They're worthless, and sorry to you Giants fans, but they are.

Arizona Diamondbacks The Diamondbacks are in a rebuilding year. They'll have all their top prospects up in 2007 and will be ready to fight. They need to wait, but the team they have isn't ABSOLUTELY horrible. They're trying to build around certain players. What they need to do is to add a surplus of young arms, like the Marlins, and that way their pitching will be just as good as their defense and offense will be when Stephen Drew, Justin Upton, Chris Young, etc. are up. They look good.........for the 2007 season.

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Colorado Rockies Not much to say here. The Rockies sit on their butts and do nothing. They need to move to a place where altitude doesn't play a huge role in the runs or hits. Moving to Las Vegas could be what they need. Their minor league system is good, and they have veterns who are good. This team could contend if they weren't in the altitude. That has a big factor on how they finish in this division. You could be 81-0 on the road, but not winning at home can put a huge damper on your win-loss record, not to mention your morale.

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Today on SS, we look at the top ten trades of the offseason. We'll go from worst of the team (10) to the best (1).

10. Larry Bigbie and Aaron Miles (COL) for Ray King (STL)

9. Sean Burroughs (SD) for Dewon Brazelton (TB)

8. Danys Baez and Lance Carter (TB) for Edwin Jackson and Chuck Tiffany (LAD)

7. Sean Casey (CIN) for Dave Williams (PIT)

6. Johnny Estrada (ATL) for Lance Cormier and Oscar Villarreal (AZ)

5. Lyle Overbay and Ty Taubenheim (MIL) for David Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson (TOR)

4. Troy Glaus and Sergio Santos (AZ) for Miguel Batista and Orlando Hudson (TOR) 

3. Coco Crisp, Josh Bard and David Riske (CLE) for Guillermo Mota, Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach and a player to be named later or cash (BOS)

2. Javier Vasquez and cash (AZ) for Orlando Hernandez, Chris Young and Luis Vizcaino (CHW)

1. Jim Thome and cash (PHI) for Aaron Rowand, Dan Haigwood and Gio Gonzalez (CHW)

And those are your top ten trades of the offseason. Peace.