By JIMMY D / Fantasy baseball | Jimmy's archive

So much for the two-week baseball off-season.

No sport does a better job hogging year-round headlines than Major League Baseball.

The champagne is hardly cleaned up off the floor of World Series celebrations in October when rookie of the year, manager of the year, Gold Glove winners, etc. etc. are announced. By the time December rolls along, we are into winter meetings, free agency periods and trade sessions.

So Jimmy’s credo of “Get busy and get lucky” could be massaged for baseball to read “Stay busy all year long or get buried by your busy competition.”

The aforementioned winter meetings wrapped up last week and produced two columns worth of trades, signings and scuttlebutt that I will cram into one.
And the one position that caused fantasy GMs so much grief in 2005 was the same one MLB GMs were desperately trying to fill last week.

Any poolie who did well in 2005 either got very lucky with closers or managed to win without doing well in the reliever categories. Many of the big-name stoppers got hurt. Many bombed for their new teams. Many lost their jobs to set-up men or starters-turned-relievers.

So when Toronto opened the vault for Oriole flame-thrower B.J. Ryan, the race was on and the market was set. If the Jays continue their free agent and trade splurge and if Ryan can come close to his 2005 numbers, you have a real fantasy stud in the making here.

Next up was Phillie Billy Wagner. Another fireballing lefty, he started another run on relievers when he chose the Mets over Philadelphia.

The Mets are doing in the NL what the Jays are doing in the AL – loading up on big-name talent in an effort to disrupt the balance of power in divisions long dominated by the Braves, Yankees and BoSox.

With Wagner lost, Philly turned to Plan B. Or C. Whatever the letter, Flash flashed his signature on a three-year deal, making Tom Gordon – the twirpy vet most recently a set-up man to Mariano Rivera and who has not been a stopper in four seasons – their big-name acquisition.

The Indians quickly followed, sticking with Bob Wickman, while the Tigers sank their claws into Todd Jones, who had a great season for the Marlins in a year many thought he would be reeled toward retirement.

Detroit, who shelled out big dough to cameraman-slugging relic Kenny Rogers, hope to these two vets will prop up a promising young rotation.

Atlanta will shoot for its 15th straight NL East crown without a proven closer. Unless they decide to yo-yo John Smoltz back and forth from the bullpen.
Danny Kolb bombed in Atlanta and was sent packing back to Milwaukee for starter Wes Obermueller. Kyle Farnsworth, who also auditioned for the Braves closer role, was signed by the Yankees.

True, New York already has a closer, but since they lost Gordon in the set-up role and, well, since they’re the Yankees, they just can’t help themselves. Farnsworth got a three-year contract.

Keith Foulke’s injury-fuelled implosion in 2005 led the Yankee-hating Red Sox to make a move for a closer. But theirs was a carcass-picking trade with the Marlins, who, after gutting their roster, now boast a $22-million patrol.

For those keeping track at home, that is $3 million less than Alex Rodriguez’s contract average of $25 million. He’s a handsome devil too, although apparently not much of a card player (as he got spanked at a game in New York that features snotty poker pro and former World Series of Poker champ Phil Hellmuth.)

I think I just digressed again.

Oh yeah, Boston picked up righty stud Josh Beckett, 3B Mike Lowell and wannabe closer Guillermo Mota from Florida for cash and prospects.

On the other coast, San Diego will try to defend its NL West title with familiar face - Trevor Hoffman - as the late-inning man. And Jose Mesa signed a one-year deal to blow leads and watch homers sail into the night air at Coors Field.
This is hardly the close of closer business, stay tuned.

Seniors Tour

Maybe Julio Franco wants to match Satchel Paige’s longevity record.
The legendary star of baseball’s Negro Leagues finally got to the Major Leagues in 1948 – when he was 43 – and he last pitched after his 60th birthday.

Franco has a way to go, but the 47-year-old got a two-year deal from the Mets to add a veteran bat and mature presence to the bench. New York has loaded up and is willing to pay a premium to buy chemistry.

Franco remained productive last year in Atlanta, but will only spell newly acquired Carlos Delgado in the field and will pinch hit.

Over in Seattle, Jamie Moyer is a relative pup compared with Franco, but the 43-year-old got another contract from the Mariners.

And in another blast from the past, Tim Salmon signed a minor-league deal with the Dodgers. If this were 1997, this would be big news. For now, the man who had a dynamite career for the cross-town Halos is worthy only of keeping on your radar screen for spring training.

And you won’t have John Olerud to pick around – or kick around – anymore. The sweet-swinging former Jay retired after playing out the string in Beantown.

Boston Pizza Pick ‘Em

The sportsbooks took a pounding for two weeks, as favourites dominated the NFL. And the scores in the Jimmy D football contest proved it. Many 13-2 scores, even a couple of 14-1 sheets as simply checking off all the favourites was usually enough for a nice score.

The new gamesheet is up at www.JimmyDSports.com so check out the leader board and new matchup and trend information.

This past weekend, with underdogs ruling the day, will show much lower scores.
In the meantime, stay busy and stay lucky.

Jimmy D

Jimmy D