Skip to main content

Phantasy Island

By
It's January, and for me that means prep time for fantasy baseball. It's true. I really do start running scenarios and draft strategies in my head this early. January is a good time for that. My fantasy football teams have usually recently made an early exit in the playoffs, and my fantasy basketball teams tend to be struggling at this stage. As I've now just traded away my prized power forward, as a desperation move in my salary cap auction hoops league, just about all that will calm my nerves is looking forward to fantasy baseball. While the other sports tend to stress me out, fantasy baseball soothes me. I don't always win, as my uncle will testify to, but I always enjoy it.

My yearly interest increase in the fantasy game coincides with the releases of various fantasy baseball magazines and guides. The Sporting News annual Fantasy Source guide is on news stands, and Phillies phans should be pleased to know that in the Sporting News experts' mock draft, three Phillies were selected in the first eleven picks. Chase Utley was taken 6th overall, Jimmy Rollins 7th, and Ryan Howard 11th. It is quite odd to see Howard, the league leader in HR and RBI, not in the top 10, but perhaps some of the experts in this draft were voters for the National League MVP award in 2008, since Howard was snubbed there also. Utley is a surprise to go so early, but it seems the news of Ch'Utley's hip surgery broke the day this draft began, so consideration for the injury was not given. J-Roll's drop in numbers in 2008 did not deter one drafter from taking the phormer MVP in the first round. This selecta' is looking for a big rebound year from Rollins.

The Sporting News' first three rounds of selections (top 36 picks) look like this...

1- Hanley Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, David Wright, Matt Holliday, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Grady Sizemore, Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton.

2- Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Quentin, Johan Santana, Brandon Phillips, Tim Lincecum, Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira, Ian Kinsler, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Manny Ramirez, Lance Berkman.

3- CC Sabathia, Jake Peavy, Cole Hamels, Justin Morneau, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Lee, Josh Beckett, Evan Longoria, Brandon Webb, Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, Roy Halladay.

Other Phillies worth mentioning in this mock draft's top 100...Shane Victorino 67th overall, Brad Lidge 77th overall, Raul Ibanez 99th overall. Lou Marson is also in the Sporting News Bible as the #21 top prospect. They think Marson has a serious shot to win the everyday catcher job by the end of 2009. Carlos Carrasco is also on the prospect list at #37.
If any of you readers out there who don't already play against me in a fantasy league would like to step up, make sure you drop a comment on this post. CHAL-ONJ!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jason Knapp Q&A

By
PhoulBallz .com was fortunate enough to meet with Phillies prospect Jason Knapp just one day after he caught the attention of the baseball world with his 7 shut out innings, 14 strike out performance against the Indians' Lake County team. - I asked Jason, the Lakewood BlueClaw , for some thoughts about his big game... I had pretty good command of three pitches (fastball, curve, change up). I was on the same page with my catcher, D'Arnaud , and I ended up, ya know, I felt pretty good. - In a great performance like that, how much credit goes to Travis D'Arnaud , the catcher? More than you might expect, definitely. I didn't shake him off once. He told me what to throw and I do what I'm told. And if it works out, a lot of the credit goes to the catcher. - Does the lack of run support (Lakewood has scored 3 total runs in his 3 starts), in your few starts, increase your stress level, or enhance your focus? No, I just try to go out and do my job every outing. Ya know, we...
5 comments
Read more

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

By
Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...
5 comments
Read more

Eric B Needs to be Cut (and My Name is Rakim)

By
While the Phillies are on a hot streak this month, one player on the team is not. Eric Bruntlett is 1-for-12 in July. Since the start of May, Bruntlett's apex in batting average has been .167 on June 14th. Bruntlett's ineptitude can be tolerated no longer. Get rid of this guy NOW! Eric B. is the 2009 Endy Chavez. Remember Endy...the guy who in 2005 managed just 2 hits in his final 42 games played as a Phillie? That is about the sort of output the Phillies are getting from Bruntlett, and it's time to fix this void. Julio Lugo was designated for assignment last week by the Red Sox and is expected to become a free agent. The Metropolitans are rumored to be interested. Why wouldn't the Phillies be interested in a guy who could surely outhit Bruntlett? Lugo was hitting .284 through 37 games played this season with Boston. Suspended Lehigh Valley IronPig Pablo Ozuna is eligible to return next Wednesday. Ozuna is batting .294 through 51 games at triple A. Miguel Cairo is also...
6 comments
Read more