Rotoman

The Rotoman Archives

Okay, it’s cheesy to blog your own archives, but last May I wrote a little thing about Gerald Laird and named him the Rangers starting catcher this year. Today the Rangers dealt Einar Diaz to Montreal, commiting themselves to Laird, with the backup job going to recently acquired Rod Barajas (with Josh McKinley, I guess, who came back in the deal, behind Barahas).

Laird is worth a few bucks in AL-only leagues. He’s a good catcher who can run, and has the foundation to be a productive hitter. Probably won’t all happen this year, but there are some good seasons in his future.

Graham Koonce – The Baseball Cube Stats

In the magazine I made Koonce a future star, and the the other day I kept trying to pick him as a reserve in the XFL reserve draft, but I couldn’t. I look at his power, I look at his walks and I see a future star, but I look at his age and I look at all those years before he got to Triple-A and I see a determined and crafty hitter who is doing the best he can with what he’s got.

Kind of like Brian Daubach, only Koonce is nearly two years older than Daubach was when he got his shot. And Koonce doesn’t yet have a shot.

That makes him a nice sleeper, not a future star.

ESPN.com – MLB – Drug test samples from Bonds, others still exist

Notice that Bonds’ lawyer says that he doesn’t think this will be legally signficant. That’s because the drug wasn’t banned by baseball until March. And wasn’t made illegal by the FDA until October 28, 2003.

So, let me ask you: Should Bonds be vilified, labelled a cheater, asterisked, if it turns out he was taking this legal, unbanned drug?

And if the answer is Yes, please explain what good it does us if he is.

Home Run Derby

A friend sent this site to me. He said it was a relative of his wife running it. The set up is pretty easy. Nearly all the money in the pool goes to prizes. I’m in.

Major League Baseball : Ask Rotoman

There’s a new one, comparing Abreu and Bonds, rookies who won’t break camp with the big club, converting roto prices, and choosing a loser pitcher.

Major League Baseball : Jack McDowell is an idiot

It goes on. What could he possibly thinking? Why would he say that?

ESPN.com – MLB – Indians: Bradley’s days with team are numbered

It’s hard to tell if Bradley is really the time bomb he appears to be. The reports this spring have been generally positive, but he definitely has a problem with authority. There’s nothing wrong with that.

His departure increases the value of Matt Lawton in AL leagues, since until yesterday Lawton seemed to be the Indian most likely to be traded.

Bradley probably should be discounted a little, based on the sore hammy that perhaps precipitated the latest brouhaha as his ongoing problems. But some major league team (not the Indians) is probably going to get a boost before Sunday.

Roto Times Sports: Is there any part of Mark Prior that doesn’t hurt?

I can safely say I called the Achilles problem early, but the elbow problem is clearly just as bad. Or worse.

There’s a reason not many are the best pitcher in baseball history. Let’s give Mark a few years to show he deserves consideration. Until then the only option is to wait, unless someone is willing to give you enough now to compensate you for what he could do in a healthy half season.

TSN.ca – MLB Giants – Barry Bonds

Something rather awesome about Bonds. In 1986, after just 254 Single-A at bats, Bonds was promoted to Triple-A and walked 33 times in 148 AB. He did other good stuff, too, but the strike zone discipline was there at the beginning.

Major League Baseball : MLB.com fantasy draft

Major League Baseball kicked off the season last night with a fantasy draft, an all nighter and then watching Opening Dawn in a bar called the Remote Lounge. The draw for the experts and regular “guys” who participated was, well, a chance to be on MLB.tv, a chance to hang out with one’s editor and other friends, and a friendly game of “last man standing” mixed league fantasy.

The last man standing thing is because this was a game played at the draft. There will be no transactions and no additions all season long, so injuries and the ability to balance a squad at the draft will play a big role in who wins. Just before we began MLB announced there would be a $1,000 prize to the winner. Just before we ended that was bumped up to $5,000.

Nobody complained. I’ll let you judge teams and watch the first four rounds. During the taping things went excruciatingly slow, but between the food, the open bar, the company and someone mercifully turning down the volumn, it was good fun.

By the way, I didn’t make it to dawn. Not at the Remote Lounge, anyway.