2009 MLB season discussion*

[Bregor]

Not to derail this into a fantasy thread, but to me Pujols is a terrible 2nd draft pick because he plays first base, and there are a ton of power hitting first basemen out there. Your best bet is to pick someone who gets lot of power out of a typical non-power position, like SS or 2B. Utley is hurt, so I'd probably take someone like Jose Reyes, Josh Hamilton, or Brian Roberts. You'll lose Pujols, but pick up a hard-to-replace CF SS or 2B, and you'll still have ton of quality 1B availble by the time you pick again.

Only guy I'd consider other than Pujols is Reyes, and that's just because of position scarcity. I haven't heard anything too definitive about Utley, Phils say he should be ready for Opening Day but we'll see. If it looks like that's the case I would consider him at #2 also. And I really hope lolHamilton starts the performance enhancing regimen of crack rocks and heroin, I'm already sick of him.

ESPN Live Draft Results - Fantasy Baseball - ESPN basically has the average draft pick for each player until today (obviously ARod will be plummeting soon.) FYI, Brian Roberts is going 39th, so if I don't burn my #2 overall on him, I can get him in the second or third rounds. :D

@Aki, where did you get Matt Holliday? I've been debating his draft status with my friends for a couple weeks now, in Colorado he's a top-10 pick but now he could Alex Rios-lite. We also have a 12-team league, I'm projecting him to be a 4th or 5th rounder. Also, love MCab/Sizemore with swing picks, I might have a trade done where I drop from #2 to #6 in the first round and would probably take Sizemore if Utley and Reyes are gone.

[Akiyama]

Yeah. I've taken Sizemore three straight years, and have won all three years. Gotta think his average will come up soon.

As far as Holliday, I got him in my 4th round. Took Kinsler at the end of Round 3, and Holliday at the start of Round 4. Then the next two rounds, I went with Lackey + Shields to head up my rotation.

Drafted Joba with my 11th round pick, turned around, and shipped him off for Aubry Huff to cover my lack of 1B/3B depth.

[Cephius]

That ESPN rank is a little meh. Jimmy Rollins at 10 is a crime, his numbers were way down last year and he's just getting older. Youk should be much higher than where he is. I forgot about Ian Kinsler, he's a great young player and a great pickup for a 2B. Same with Pedroia.

[Akiyama]

Yeah. Pedroia actually went Top 15, lol. Got Kinsler around pick 30ish. He's dangerous in Texas though. Good offensive numbers ftw, and I agree. Rollins at 10 is a crime. I got him last year at 24 though.

[Viq]

What a lot of people forget from last year was that Kinsler and Pedroia had damn near identical stats until Kinsler got hurt in August (at least, I think it was August). It seemed like every game there was an update about Kinsler taking over the lead in multi-hit games, or Pedroia passing Kinsler for total hits. Kinsler got hurt, unfortunately, while Pedroia took the AL MVP. I'm not saying Kinsler would've ended up in the MVP discussion necessarily, but for the vast majority of the season he was virtually an identical offensive player to Pedroia.

[Akiyama]

Yeah, I know what you mean. Getting multi-hit games is fun to do, but his power numbers are probably more inflated that Pedroia's do to the ballpark. Then again, both play in hitter friendly ballparks really, so eh. Maybe that's a wash of an argument.

[fren.]

If you're taking Kinsler, might as well give Cano some love. Holliday went pretty late in my draft, fear of the Coliseum raping his numbers played a big role.

Re: ARod; the one doctor who gave his opinion (the one who's pretty much looked everything over) said there's a good chance he can play the entire season pain-free. Utley played through it last year and was awful towards the stretch run and ARod had a sub .900 OPS in the final 50 games.

[Ensam]

Missed the game outside of the bottom of the 9th but holy shit @ DR losing to dutchies. First upset, and a big one.

[Headspace]

All because of no A-Rod.

[Akiyama]

Yeah. Well, Cano stunk it up for most of last year before finally turning it on. Hasn't he been that way for two years straight? Super slow start, then heats up and bats like .350 or something crazy in the second half? He's good, but as a second halfer. :/ Hope he starts quicker this year.

As far as the DR getting beat by Dutchies... I lol'd. That was horrible for the DR.

And Canada beating the US 2-1 =[

[Headspace]

Pretty fucking clutch by that Canadian pitcher.

[Viq]

Putz about to Putz this one away for USA.

Sorry, I had to...

[Headspace]

Maybe not.

[pohibaba]

Oh shit, here comes Canada. 5-6 now; runner on second.

[Headspace]

Cincinnati representin'

[pohibaba]

Good job Team America.

[Akiyama]

Fuck yes, Team USA. Redeemed ourselves from 2006. Brian McCann (go Braves), Adam Dunn, and the Youkmeister providing some pop for Team USA today. That was a great game considering it's early March.

[Bregor]

Adam Dunn might actually get me to visit Nationals Park this summer, last year the team was so abysmal I couldn't justify spending money to watch them play.

And yeah that 20-year-old Canadian pitcher looked pretty damn impressive, I think he was a Seattle farmhand? The whole game definitely felt like playoff atmosphere, which Sut pointed out early and often, but my factoid for the day was that Jake Peavy said this was the best baseball environment he's ever been in. Maybe that's because the Cards shellacked him in his two trips to the postseason.

[Viq]

That's what I like about the WBC. Aside from seeing players I'd otherwise never get to, seeing how passionate fans outside the States are about baseball is really fun for some reason. Until Japan took over and made the game boring, the Tokyo Dome was going insane during Japan vs. Korea. Canada vs. USA had a larger crowd at Rogers Dome than most of the Jays' actual games, even when the Sox and Yanks are in town. When Puerto Rico and the Dominican face off in San Juan, that little stadium is going to be shaking on it's foundation. Sure, it's all essentially exhibition baseball, but Spring Training is far more enjoyable in a WBC year than it typically is because of the passion that fans around the world bring to these games.

[pohibaba]

So, the decision has been made: A-Rod is going to have surgery. Are they really going to be having Cody Ransom replace him at third for the first 2-3 months of the season?

Also, if A-Rod is available in the second round of my fantasy draft, is he worth drafting? What do you guys think?