By JIMMY D / Buyer beware for fantasy baseball GMs | Jimmy's archive
What does fantasy baseball have in common with Latin phraseology?
Plenty. Maybe. Jimmy often admits ‘mea culpa’ (guilty as charged) in making stupid trades and draft picks.
He has also proclaimed the Julius-Caesar-credited ‘Veni vidi vici’ (I came, I saw, I conquered) after dominating a draft or pool.
But ‘caveat emptor’ (buyer beware) is the most relevant this week. It’s a caution that applies uniformly to real baseball GMs and fantasy ones as today’s non-waiver trade deadline hits.
Milwaukee thought they knew what they were buying in C.C. Sabathia when they made their trade with the Indians. And the product turned out to be even better than advertised. Last year’s AL Cy Young winner has sparkled with 4-0 mark, 1.36 ERA and 31 Ks in 20 innings.
Contrast that with Philadelphia’s purchase of Oakland starter Joe Blanton. He arrived with a fat ERA and a rep for a high WHIP, but he had been pitching well. In three starts for the Phillies, Blanton has struggled (winless in two with 7.77 ERA and 1.88 WHIP) and the race for the NL East has tightened.
What is the Latin equivalent for ‘I came, I walked people, I sucked?’
Xavier Nady parlayed a strong first half in Pittsburgh to a trade to the Bronx. You knew his hot streak would not go on ‘ad infinitum’ (over and over, going on forever), and he was 0-for-7 in his first two games in pinstripes. This is bad news for Nady owners, peddle him fast. He is not on ‘terra firma’ (firm ground) in getting playing time for the Yankees.
Los Angeles continued the scavenging of the Cleveland roster by grabbing 3B Casey Blake on the weekend. Blake has struggled – along with most of the Indians this year – but he gets a chance to salvage his year for a team that should win its division. Call this one ‘Casey-at emptor.’
Carpe diem (seize the day) as you watch the final trades go down. They will impact your players (depending on where they are traded) and you may need to move them to your bench or to a rival GM. And pay closer attention to which backup or utility players stand to get more innings, better batting-order position or other improvements that boost their fantasy production potential.
Manny Ramirez’s name has been bandied about in grade talks, but he is hardly ‘persona non grata’ (a person not wanted) in Boston, despite his wacky ways and wackier hair.
‘Ceterum censeo,’ (In conclusion, I think that), it will be Jimmy’s ‘magnum opus’ (masterpiece) if he can rally for seventh to first in his baseball league. He will be watching for trade activity today.
Favre fiasco fantasy fallout
No sport does a better job of remaining on the front pages of sports sections than the NFL. Regular season spills into a heavily hyped post season which is followed by Pro Bowl, pre-draft combines and recruit , the entry draft and training camps. Even preseason generates more hype than many sports.
It’s just a few weeks in June and July where NFL is not front-page news and Brett Favre made sure that even those months were filled with NFL banter. His annual courtship with retirement made it a little further this year, but Brett just can’t seem to commit to the idea his playing career is done.
This is of course troubling news for players in keeper leagues who grabbed Aaron Rodgers last spring when Favre signed his retirement papers. Now it turns out Favre contacted the Vikings (which would be bad news for Tarvaris Jackson owners) and the Jets are also apparently interested in a one-season upgrade of Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens.
He didn’t report to Green Bay’s training camp but you get the feeling there is enough mutual goodwill and love built up over his years as a football god in Wisconsin that Favre will get his way and be traded.
His new relationship should be his last, but expect Favre to make things interesting for sports and fantasy writers again this year. And probably again next summer.
Jimmy D
jpoole@herald.ca
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