Ask Rotoman

ESPN.com – Gammons: The cornerstone

I’ve had two drafts so far this spring, both mixed leagues, one with 15 reams, the other with 18 (mixednutsleague.com), and in one of them I ended up with Joe Mauer. (And for some reason was thinking I’d gotten him in both when I originally posted, but I”ve fixed that now.)

I’m as wary as the next guy about his ability to jump from Double-A to the majors at age 21. Well, not quite as skeptical as the next guy, but I won’t argue that he’s a sure thing. In this story by Gammons he says he’s having problems identifying the change up, and that’s exactly the sort of detail in a Gammons piece that can be overlooked amidst the hype.

I think he’s going to get plenty of chance to play this year, his defense will buy him that, and there is a chance he’ll do very well right out of the box. Which is why I think he ranks ahead of most of the $2 catchers.

Custom Posters

This page on the official George Bush reelection site let’s you make your own very official Bush-Cheney campaign poster, which can include any slogan you can think of. So long as it doesn’t include profanity.

Major League Baseball : Fantasy :
Ask Rotoman

This week’s column, which contains some talk about mixed league drafts and a freeze price for Larry Bigbie and profiles a handful of propsects, is up!

Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball

I participated in my first Yahoo draft yesterday, organized by some of the regulars at the Ask Rotoman discussion board. It was a Yahoo Plus draft, so we paid something for it, but I think the live draft interface is the same for the free leagues. And it’s really good.

The player rankings are terrible, but since the reason to play is to make your own rankings that’s just an embarrassing detail for Yahoo. The software worked well, we drafted 15 teams of 26 man rosters in less than three hours, without histrionics or boredom setting in.

Recommended.

ESPN.com – MLB – Spring roundup: Norm Charlton to retire

A rich news and notes column today at espn.com:

It really doesn’t seem like news that Charlton is retiring, but it is to him and that’s what matters.

The Cubs say Mark Prior’s Achilles hurt him last September and he pitched through it, that it’s hurting again, and it’s nothing. Before I made a big bid on Prior I would think through the suggestion that a little rest now will be enough to heal him. If the Winter off didn’t help, why would ten days now? There are more aggressive treatments they can use now, like cortisone and painkillers, so maybe he’ll pitch all season without a problem. But I’m going to knock him down a few bucks because despite what the Cubs say, this is a problem.

It really doesn’t seem like news that Phil Nevin is hurt again, and maybe he isn’t really. But you have to admit this guy is fragile.

Confidence Man – The case for Bush is the case against him. By William Saletan

Nothing to do with baseball, and if you oppose Bush you’ll mostly find support for your opinion. But I haven’t read anything else that makes the case so strongly against Bush to Bush supporters.

Is anyone else convinced?

Major League Baseball : Projections

They’re posted. The link above takes you to the hitters page. I just checked because I was reading through Gene McCaffrey’s latest, Wise Guy Baseball 2004. Gene has been a regular contributor to my magazine the last few years. He knows lots about baseball and music and isn’t afraid to mix the two up.

But when I conjure a picture of him what I recall was a night in Arizona a couple of years ago. There were a bunch of us in a hotel room eating pretzels, drinking beers, talking baseball and punk rock. The only problem was that the beers weren’t twist tops and we had no opener. Some lame attempts were made to pop a top on the edge of the dresser, or to pry it loose with a key, but Gene provided the solution: He used his teeth to rip the caps off a case of beer. At least.

Awesome.

His book is targeted at the Challenge Game player, but he includes roto prices and his comments are most often good smart baseball comments. He likes Adam LaRoche, too. Says he’ll hit .274 with 18 homers. He says you should pay $7 for that. My projection, I see, isn’t nearly as rosy. I thought I was ahead of the curve, but it’s starting to look like I’m playing catchup.

If you’re interested in Wise Guy Baseball 2004 write to Gene at genethem@aol.com.

The oldest ballpark in America

This ballpark, as it were, is just down the road from where I live. I’ve noted the odd facade as I drove past, and I like to think that I sensed there were baseball ghosts behind it, but this tidbit surprised me. There’s nothing here of import for fantasy prep, but it’s worth a look anyway.

Mat Olkin’s Baseball Examiner 2004

Each year Mat sends me a copy of his book, and each year I enjoy it and give it a plug here. You know Mat from his Mat at Bat column in Baseball Weekly. It says in his bio in the book that his first published writing was in Bill James’ 1987 Baseball Abstract, which is cool.

Mat’s book is a great resource. He publishes Major League Equivalancies for a great many young players. MLE’s are the single best way to guage how a minor league player did in any given year. He also writes concise and helpful comments about quite a few young hitters. About Adam LaRoche he says:

You might not have heard about him yet, but he can hit. The Braves know it, and will give him a chance to prove it to everyone else.

Clearly Mat knows his stuff.

You can order his book at his website, or write to him at Baseball Weekly, where he is an editor, too. Or send him an email at molkin@usatoday.com.

Major League Baseball : Rotoman’s Back

The first Ask Rotoman of the year is up at mlb.com. You’ll also find updated projections on the Fantasy page at mlb.com.

New columns will appear every Tuesday, all season long.