Fantasy New York

In with the old and out with the new. And all that business. Pedro Martinez, making a rehab start in Single A, squared off against number one draft pick and uber-prospect David Price today, and Price got the better of him. Pedro went six innings, giving up four hits and two earned while striking out six. Price, meanwhile, gave up only two hits over six shutout innings while striking out nine.
Pedro was impressed.

'He's amazing, that kid. He's amazing,' Martinez said. 'That kid is very mature for his time in [the pros], and very talented.

'Oh my God.'

Pedro went on to say that Price was "superior" to the Cy Young winner at that age, which isn't that surprising when you compare their development throughout their careers, talent aside.

But Petey is still going to beat him to the majors, at least this year. Martinez could be back as soon as next week (this being his final rehab outing) while Price won't be in the bigs until later this year, at the earliest.

Fantasy Spin: Pedro is probably a free agent in your league and even at his age, pitching for the [would-be] contending Mets makes him a viable starter. If he's unowned, make a move. Price, for seasonal leagues, shouldn't be owned right now, unless you have a really deep bench. But keeper leagues should be all over him already, in anticipation of a call up should the Rays stay in the hunt.

To get you ready for draft season, Fantasy FanHouse will be running through each major league team, covering lineups, rotations and sleeper/busts.

Meet the ...
The freakin' Mets. Who else ya gonna meet, eh? Sorry. I wanted to come up with some kind of candy that looked great at first but once you got past the outer edge, you realized how not good it tasted, but I couldn't think of anything. And that might be the 2008 New York Mets. They have very, very, veryveryvery high expectations after bringing Johan Santana from Minnesota for peanuts, changing the face of a geriatric pitching staff that cost the Mets the post season in 2007. The offense boasts Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran, but after that, it's essentially smoke/mirrors and name value. Don't get me wrong -- the good on this team, in fantasy terms, are really good. Wright, Reyes and Santana should go in the first round of every single fantasy draft and Beltran won't be far behind. But if you're planning on building your squad around the Mets role players -- the Moises Alous, the, yes, Carlos Delgados -- then you should probably think again.

The Breakout
It seems perilous to endorse Oliver Perez, but I've done stupider things (too many too even list an example, really.) You could argue that his first half hit rate was lucky, or that the second half spike in WHIP (1.16 to 1.49) is a disasterous sign. I wouldn't contest either, especially since I presented them here. However, I'm going to gamble (cheaply) on the fact that this left handed Hispanic, oftentimes brilliant, but mostly erratic gascan can turn it around. Why? Because there's another left handed, Hispanic, almost always brilliant strikeout artist named Johan -- who might be able to teach Ollie a thing or two about a changeup -- in town now. That's right. Johan's mentoring is going to lead to a monster year.

The Bust
Carlos Delgado, as I have mentioned, is old. Oh, I didn't mention that? Well, he is. And he's now a role player. For several years now, you might have heard that Delgado was an over-hyped version of Richie Sexson. And it's true. Only know he's injured and his power appears to have been sapped. Stay away. There are cheaper and better options at first base.

Although wide receiver Plaxico Burress missed every practice for the second straight week, it does appear that will start this afternoon when the Giants battle the Jets. And despite being at less than 100%, the 6-5 wideout matches up well against a much smaller Jets secondary. Expect him to put up some big time fantasy football numbers today.

In addition to Burress, the Giants will also see the return of running back Brandon Jacobs, who has not played since week one. And while Derrick Ward has been impressive in his absence, Jacobs is expected to receive the bulk of the Giants workload this afternoon.

Finally, the news on Osi Umenyiora does not seem nearly as positive. The defensive end who collected six sacks last week against Philadelphia missed two practices this week, and appears to be a game-time decision.

Mike Dunham will no longer be available to NHL teams looking for a warm body in goal as he retired to become the New York Islanders' goaltender coach.

"I'm very proud of my career and really enjoyed playing my final year on Long Island," the former netminder said in a release. "I'm very appreciative of (coach) Ted (Nolan) giving me this opportunity to be part of his coaching staff and work with all of the goaltenders in our system. I'm really looking forward to beginning my coaching career."

Dunham also played for the Devils, Predators, Rangers and Thrashers, compiling a 141-178-44 career record, 2.74 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. He played for the U.S. at three Olympics.

While Dunham has had a solid career, more was always expected of the tall netminder.

Once upon a time, Dunham was the backup to Martin Brodeur in New Jersey, and a bonafide top prospect. After putting up an impressive 91.3SV% in limited action with the Devils, the Nashville Predators decided to make him their #1 goalie via the expansion draft. Dunham, sick of playing mere minutes under Martin Brodeur, welcomed the opportunity with open arms.

Dunham, unfortunately, was rarely ever able to leverage his full potential to be a bonafide #1 star, having just two great seasons (2001 and 2003) where his SV% was over 92%. For the most part, Dunham was a average-at-best goaltender, and fought constancy issues and numerous groin injuries. Dunham never played more than 58 games in a season, and couldn't be counted on to 'be there' as a #1 goalie should.

Now? He's going to tutor the goalie he was backing up last year (Rick DiPietro), and give his ripped-up groin a good rest.

Trent Hunter and the Islanders recently went to arbitration, with the arbiter ruling half-way and giving Hunter a $1.55mil/1 season contract. This is a workable and fair number for both sides. Hunter is an industrious worker bee who hits almost everything that moves.

What has always puzzled me is just how Hunter has failed to build on a successful rookie season, whereby he merited some serious Calder Trophy consideration.

 SEASON  GP  G  A  PTS
 2003-04 77  25 26  51
 2005-06 82  16 19  35
 2006-07 77  20 15  35
  

During his rookie season, Hunter was a 1-man force of nature. He would put onto any line that was struggling, and give them a boost with his hard work, strength in the corners, and ability to do the dirty work. It looked like Hunter had a bright future ahead of him as a bonafide 2nd line powerhouse.

A regular look at 30 people who will affect the 2007 NFL season.

Thomas Jones and the Bears never quite fit together. The team wanted to give his starting job to Cedric Benson, and he was angry that Benson made more money despite giving the team less production.

Now Jones has been traded to a new team, the Jets, where he heads into the season as the unquestioned starter. He should get the ball 20 times a game or so, and he should provide an upgrade to the Jets' mediocre running game.

There is just one problem, though: The Jets' offensive line isn't as good as the Bears'. And it's likely to get worse if guard Pete Kendall, who is unhappy with his contract, is sent packing. That means that while the acquisition of Jones was a good move for the Jets, another 1,200-yard season would be a tall order.

Bottom line: Jones will help the Jets' running attack, but his numbers will suffer as he adjusts to playing behind a weaker offensive line.

30 to Watch: See them all.

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.

David Wright gave us the opportunity to choose his at-bat music. Well if you voted and your song is chosen, you had better make sure you get to the park earlier than normal if you normally arrive late (and if you do, what are you, a Dodger fan?) ... because Wright may be moved up in the batting order.

While he acknowledged that he isn't a "prototypical" No. 2 hitter, David Wright believes the Mets' high-octane offense won't miss a beat if he's assigned the role by manager Willie Randolph.

Wright filled the No. 5 slot in the Mets' lineup in 2006, but with several Mets mired in early spring training slumps, he's found himself penciled into the top of the pregame lineup card with greater consistency.

"We have an American League lineup in the National League," Wright said after the team's 8-3 loss to the Braves yesterday. "Whether I hit (No. 2) or (No. 5), or if I hit (No. 6) I'm going to go up there with the same approach."

Of course the downside is that you move Paul Lo Duca out of the two spot, where he rarely struck out and did a good job moving Jose Reyes to third base to set up the heart of the order. If you move Lo Duca down, you waste his strengths while creating a top heavy batting order. And Wright may say his approach isn't going to change, but if Jose Reyes is on base, it has to change at least a little bit.

The Mets set franchise records in most offensive categories in '06. Why fix what ain't broke?

Previously on The Fanhouse:
David Wright needs your musical expertise

Rickey Henderson was brought to Mets camp to be a special instructor. He has instructed Jose Reyes of the nuances of stealing bases. He wants to do the same with Carlos Beltran. Beltran, however, isn't interested in learning the art of the steal.

"I want to steal more bases," he said. "But it's not about me trying to go out there and steal every single base. It's about when I have the opportunity to help the team, I would like to steal more. It's as basic as that."

And then...

"The thing is I don't want to go out there and steal bases just because I want to steal 50 bases and get thrown out 30 times," Beltran said.

I have to admit I'm torn. I want Carlos Beltran to be prudent and put the Mets in the best position to win. I don't want him to take at bats away from Carlos Delgado. Beltran has an 87.6% success rate when it comes to steal bases, so it seems that he knows what he's doing.

But I drafted Beltran in my fantasy league. So would it be selfish to want Beltran to swipe 50 while getting thrown out 30 times? If wanting steals is wrong, do I want to be right?

Selfishness brings bad karma. Bad karma brings torn hamstrings. And torn hamstrings don't help anyone. So keep Rickey away from Carlos, please?