Fantasy Mlb Media Watch

Jay Bruce has taken the baseball world by storm. He is hitting .450 plus, with three home runs, 11 RBI and a 1.5 K/BB rate plus two stolen bases. In 46 at bats. So, more or less, the only way he could be more perfect is if he understands the importance of certain statistical evaluations. And, of course, he does.

No surprise, Bruce is getting the last laugh. Heading into this season, in many circles he was considered baseball's best positional prospect. Yet, a start that included 16 hits in 30 at-bats is an attention grabber, no matter what the expectation.

Asked to explain his Red-hot start, Bruce said simply "Sample size."

Picture me blushing in awkward man-love admiration. Because that's, um, not what I am doing. Anytime a baseball player starts talking about BABIP or sample sizes it is awesome to find out that we have, as dak at FJM said, a "dude who gets it" on our hands.

Perhaps the best irony -- and maybe I am stretching it by wanting to think that Bruce believes nerdilicous statistical evaluations -- is that he has Dusty Baker as a manager. And Dusty does stats like Charlie does surf. Or Bruce does slump.

Fantasy Spin: Keeper leagues all hold on as tightly as possible to Bruce. Seasonal leagues may want to consider selling because, as you can see above, even Bruce knows this pace can't continue. And right now, you can get a pretty sickner bounty for him.

As Fornelli put it yesterday, the Supreme Court refusing to hear MLB Advanced Media's case regarding statistics on fantasy sports is a good thing, especially for fantasy players. Note that it is also a good thing for American sport fans who like their sports coverage cheaper and enjoy this basic thing we call "freedom" as well.

It really should not be an issue -- these statistics only exist because we, the American consumers, are willing to pump billions of dollars each year into attending, watching and becoming obsessively immersed in these sports. And judging by some of MLB.com's CEO Bob Bowman's responses in an interview with Darren Rovell, that concept is not lost on the large entities that are attempting to take control of stats back.

Darren: What was your reaction when you found out that the Supreme Court wouldn't hear this?

Bowman: I don't think our reaction was one of great surprise. Since September of '06, when the magistrate first ruled in Missouri, we've been operating as if that was going to be the case. The Court of Appeals upheld it, now the Supreme Court denied, so it won't be heard. Until further action, that is the law of the land. Further action may occur. We weren't surprised and we've been running our business as if it were the case.

It's a brief but excellent interview, and I highly suggest taking the link over to Rovell's page for the full answers. The other main points of contention -- and these are the "good" reasons, if I may play moral policeman for a second -- are the $50 million MLBAM paid to the players' union for the rights to the statistics several years ago and the "likeness" issue.

It is May. May 19th in fact. I really wish that people would remember that when the talk of Chipper Jones hitting .400 for the entire season begins to heat up.

Sure, it's fun to imagine the possibility of him hitting that magic number, but it's also fun to imagine that Chris Shelton can launch 89 home runs in one season. And not to dog Chipper (which is what a Chris Shelton comparison basically is) because he's a great player, a standup guy and he's absolutely mashing the ball right now. But he knows as well as anyone that it's probably not happening.

'[Hitting] .400 is not a concern for me,' Jones said. 'You're going to run into enough Rich Hardens andJohan Santanas to keep that from happening. If I had hit .390 before in my career, then maybe. But I haven't. When you're a .310 career hitter, you usually hit .310.'

Okay, besides the fact that he lobbed Rich Harden out there like the A's gunner is going to start more than 12 games all season is kind of funny. But still, his point is that when you average .310 for your career, you are not likely to suddenly up and hit .400.

Any clue as to when the last time a San Francisco Giants starter began the season by losing his first eight decisions was? Because that's what Barry Zito, after dropping another loss Saturday night, has officially done. You probably don't remember this guy, because the year was 1890, and it was Jesse Burkett.

The odd thing though, is that most Giants fans and the media seemed to have settled into some sort of justifying mood where they attempt to not hate on Barry. The latest two articles in the San Francisco Chronicle detailing Zito's starts have been somewhat upbeat, attempting to focus on the positives of his starts instead.

All that and Zito wasn't even the real culprit in San Francisco's latest loss.

The Giants fell 3-1 to the Chicago White Sox, mostly because their offense showed absolutely no vigor for the second consecutive night. They mounted few threats, wasted the chances they did create and ultimately stumbled to their 10th defeat in 13 games.

And actually, if I stare at his game log hard enough, I start to see a "bad-luck" guy rather than "the most overpaid pitcher in baseball". But that could be delusion. Or my inability to comprehend numbers.

The truth of the matter is that Zito has only two quality starts, but yes, he has been the victim of some bad luck. However, when you are rocking out a 1.90 WHIP and a 0.92 K/BB ratio, you are just not going to get a ton of sympathy from me, especially when you're getting eleventy billion dollars to be this bad. Please don't be fooled Giants fans.

Fantasy Spin: And don't you be fooled either, fantasy owners. Starting Zito = detriment to your team.

The plane barely pulled up before hitting the water last night, as the Nationals ended their nine game tailspin by squeaking one out against the Braves; Mark Teixeira and Chipper Jones tried to make things spicy, but Jon Rauch (after a questionable Chad Cordero "save attempt") slammed the door on the A-T-L. After the game, the Washington Post reports (via Mister Irrelevant) that Jim Bowden was absurdly enthusiastic and maybe a little sarcastic with his praise of the win to manager Manny Acta in the clubhouse.

Long after the Washington Nationals mercifully ended a nine-game losing streak yesterday evening ... General Manager Jim Bowden burst through the door to the coaches' locker room just off the home clubhouse at Nationals Park.

'Manny!' he screamed to his manager, one Manny Acta. 'One in a row, baby! On a streak! The lead's down to three and a half.'

Ha. Ha. Ha. That's what my equally sarcastic reaction would be -- I'm assuming I can't punch and/or slap my boss, here -- if Bowden stormed into my locker room and shouted that. Dude, Jimbo, we just came off a nine game skid.

People can only be so enthusiastic about a new ballpark, m'kay? Bowden's a good guy and he's done a fairly nice job rebuilding a team that didn't really want to do anything monetarily until they got in the new park (you really should have traded Soriano though, Jimmy). Plus, he hired and has retained Manny Acta, who still remains pretty freaking underrated in the managerial world. Still, though, that's fairly unnecessary.

Bonus Fantasy Spin: In case you missed it in the first paragraph, Chad Cordero almost blew another save. With Acta's back completely up against the wall -- nine game losing streak about to go to ten, men all over the bases, bullpen melting down, etc. -- he turned to Rauch, who bailed him the eff out. That's something to think about before you go making wavier claims for "The Chief"; I'd probably hold onto Rauch for now too. Wouldn't be surprised to see him take over the closer's role, much less for Cordero to be still hurt.

When Lance Berkman left the Astros' game today with a neck injury (spasms, one would assume he's fine, panicky fantasy owners) that meant that off season signing and diiiiirty, hard nosed, old school OBP goat Darin Erstad was going to play first base. Erstad, of course, is not a great baseball player. Anymore than I was a "great" soccer goalie because I used to dive every time a ball got near the 18 yard line.

But regardless, Erstad, who interestingly was a punter in college, came into the game and because he's so freaking gritty and hardnosed, immediately spurred the Astros to a five run seventh inning, based simply on is presence in the lineup. Or at least that's what you'll be reading in some newspapers over the next few days. Erstad is beloved by old school sportswriters, all of whom think he "plays the game the right way."

The injury probably doesn't mean much, especially since the Astros still lost to the Cubs today, but if you enjoy ridiculously funny satirical writing, you should get your Fire Joe Morgan RSS feed rolling -- Erstad's continued presence in the lineup spurs on anti-statistical sports journalism almost as badly as when David Eckstein commits an error takes a ball of his chest. And with Erstad going two for two and the Astros scoring runs in bunches, you can almost guarantee it.

Bonus Fantasy Spin: Berkman is an "OPS hog" (which might be my favorite term in all of fantasy sports) and he's slipped in drafts a bit this year because of the perception that he's aging. That's true, but he's still going to rake. A slow start (sample size alert!) coupled with this neck injury, which reeks of "lingering", make him a nice buy low right now. Please don't add Erstad.

Question: Who is 6 feet tall, weighs 210 pounds, is getting paid $15.6 million this season, and is hitting a woeful .239/.317/.307 (AVG/OBP/SLG)?

Answer: Rob Kelly Abreu.

One of the biggest disappointments of a disappointing Yankees season has been the play of Bobby Abreu, who is suffering through the worst season of his career. The normally patient Abreu went a career-record 61 straight plate appearances without a walk, and has been the target of fans, media, and even scouts.

"He looks old. He's playing old. He's overweight," a scout says of Abreu. "He's back to being the passive Bobby Abreu. And he's not throwing very well, either."

Old and overweight? Ouch!! Even though the guy went .333/.412/.400 in the playoff series loss to the Detroit Tigers just a few months ago, and is only 31 years of age, he's suddenly an over-the-hill fatty?

"Wow. Overweight. Wow," he said softly, as if to himself.

And with that, he pulled up his navy blue T-shirt and exposed his stomach.

He doesn't have a six pack, but the guy is no jelly belly, either.

He slapped his stomach twice, and then pinched a piece of it between thumb and forefinger.

He smiled, giggled. "Hey, listen, I don't know who said that," he said. "But, look at me, I'm fine. I'm 209. It sounds like someone is looking too hard for reasons why I didn't get off to a good start."

Being a bit overweight has not stopped many players from being effective major league players (see Fielder, Cecil), nor has it stopped Abreu from stealing bases this season (he's got six). Hasn't Abreu had a fine career despite not being chiseled from stone?

What really ought to concern Yankees fans is the dwindling patience Abreu has shown this season and his sudden Ozzie Guillen-like penchant to swing at pitches that are outside the strike zone.

With Abreu's power dwindling slowly season-by-season, his true value comes from his patience and excellent ability to get on base. At this rate, it'll be an easy decision for the Yanks not to exercise Abreu's $16mil option for next season, even if they can easily afford the contract.

Yesterday I was watching ESPNEWS and when I heard the words "fantasy baseball" uttered, I immediately perked up. Afterall, only the combination of Mean Girls, Newcastle, Kelly Kapowski, and a nut flush get me as excited as a fantasy baseball draft (and not necessarily in that order). As you could imagine, I quickly grabbed a pen and paper, ready to take copious notes on the latest projections. HOWEVA, where I expected to see fantasy baseball expert Tristan Cockroft seated next to my man Josh Elliott, I was startled at what was next to pop up on my screen.

There she was...all six feet of her bodaciously blond and unfortunately no-longer-single body...America's strike out queen...Jennie Finch.

After my brief Squints/Wendy Peffercorn moment was over, I was surprised to see...how little she knew about fantasy baseball!!! Despite a full-on production crew supplying graphics packed with stats, and Elliott serving up softballs one after another (no pun intended), Finch couldn't even manage to move the runner over with a weak grounder to the right side. Amongst her name-dropping gems pulled from notes on a crumpled piece of yellow notebook paper was this analysis of Randy Johnson (Casey refers to Finch's husband Casey Daigle who pitches for Arizona):

"Casey's been hanging out with Randy, he's working harder than ever. He's going to have a great season next year. He's moving from the NL to the AL he'll get to face pitchers this year. I'm looking for a good strong year from Randy Johnson."

Funny, I didn't know the Yankees were in the AL, where apparently pitchers also bat now. Yes, yes, I know it was just a slip-up, nothing major. Bottom line, regardless of how bad she may have been in her first fantasy baseball segment, she can always improve as the season goes on, and she is guaranteed to always, ALWAYS, look more attractive, than Eric Karabell. And in my book, that's just fine.