Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

From CBS Sports:

Rookie 1B Joey Votto’s poor spring for Cincinnati probably cost him an opening-day start. Votto hit .206 in 63 at-bats while Scott Hatteberg batted .386 in 57 at-bats. “I was trying to give him the opportunity to win the job because he has big-time talent and skills,” Baker said. “Still, you’re in a prove-it job.” Hatteberg, a steady but unspectacular veteran, batted .310 with 10 homers and 47 RBI last season. He didn’t play much in the closing weeks of the season while the Reds tried rookie Joey Votto at first base. Hatteberg has value in NL-only leagues, but his lack of pop at a position full of it makes him a low-end, last-resort option on Draft Day. Besides, Votto likely has enough potential to unseat him at some point this season.

From Rotoworld:

Reds manager Dusty Baker wouldn’t say Saturday whether Joey Votto or Scott Hatteberg would start at first base. “We’re trying to give him [Votto] an opportunity to win the job … but we still don’t know. [We're] still in an earn-it, prove-it job,” Baker said. Except nothing either player could have done in March would have proven anything.

From CBS Sports:

The Braves assigned SP Chuck James to the 15-day DL on Saturday, retroactive to March 21. The team wants to work the left-hander back slowly from a partial rotator cuff tear. James will pitch at Class-A Rome on Tuesday as part of his rehab. He pitched only two innings of Grapefruit League action this spring, so he might have a ways to go. A quick start by rookie Jair Jurrjens might only delay his call-up further. Right now, James is a low-end NL-only option.

From CBS Sports:

The N.Y. Post reports that the Mets got a brief scare Friday when Jose B. Reyes was hit by a pitch by O’s pitcher Daniel Cabrera. The shortstop went down in a heap and writhed around in pain, before finally getting up and walking to first base. Reyes stayed in the game and finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored. He ended the Grapefruit League schedule batting .328 this spring. Reyes also battled a minor knee injury earlier this spring, but he appears over it now. He remains an elite Fantasy shortstop with the ability to hit 15 homers and steal 75 bases.

From CBS Sports:

Tim Lincecum struck out nine in five no-hit innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0 on Friday night. Lincecum, scheduled to pitch the Giants’ third game of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, was masterful in a steady drizzle, keeping Oakland off balance. Lincecum’s performance was a needed lift for the Giants, who snapped a five-game losing streak that included a loss to Fresno, their Triple-A affiliate, on Wednesday. In his last three spring outings, Lincecum has struck out 20 batters. He has recovered from a strained groin that affected him earlier this spring. Lincecum is a future No. 1 Fantasy starting pitcher and might even perform among the top 10 in his first full season in 2008. The Giants might not offer him much run support, though, so try to draft him as no more than a No. 3 Fantasy SP.

From CBS Sports:

Mets SP John Maine put the finishing touches on a successful spring with four scoreless innings Saturday against the White Sox. He allowed three hits and walked none while striking out five.  Maine posted a sizzling 1.53 ERA through spring training and went six scoreless in his last start, allowing only one hit. He looks primed for a breakout in his third year and, with the Mets lineup behind him, might even be an early dark horse for the NL Cy Young. Think of him as a No. 3 Fantasy SP right now.

From CBS Sports:

According to MLB.com, the Pirates moved SP Zach Duke from the No. 5 spot to the No. 3 spot in their rotation, flip-flopping him with fellow lefty Paul Maholm, who missed his spring start Friday with lower back stiffness. Duke will now start April 3 at Atlanta. He’s had a good spring, posting an ERA of 3.32 so far. He posted a 1.81 ERA as a rookie, but has struggled since in his major-league career. Until we see that same pitcher, he is more of a low-end NL-only Fantasy option.

Sent a note to Jason over at “Greener on the Other Side” blog asking him to review my squad in one of his mailbag columns. While he didn’t offer the full and detailed analysis (his mailbag tends towards unique roster and/or league setups), he was kind enough to provide a review. Here’s the email:

Thanks for a great Greener! blog - enjoying it so far this season.

Wondering if you could give some feedback on my squad. I think I may be
in contention - 10-team NL-only 10-pitcher 5×5 league with 12 reserves and
a generous protection policy (Max: 15 players). Thanks!

[roster]

I know I’m good in steals (didn’t even want Rajai Davis, but he was the
last player selected, and best on the board). Saves may be a problem.

Here’s Jason’s reply:

Andrew,

Very well done. You may have won this season in your draft last year with having Fielder, Phillips, Hart, Victorino and Lincecum at those prices.

I like your team a lot, and I think Memorial Day will be a good time to drop Brandon Webb as his value is high, and get a top end OF. I love Hart this season, and Jones is a comeback waiting to happen, but you do not have a top tiered OF, and you can be a top 2 team by getting one.

If the following players are available, I GREATLY stress to you the above strategy:
Jair Jurrjens
Johnny Cueto
Edinson Volquez
Dana Eveland
Gio Gonzalez
Micah Owings
Manny Parra

If not- Hold onto Webb and see where you stand mid season.

Very nice team though!

Generally solid concept. With our league’s contract set-up (which wasn’t really relevant in the email), it would be impossible for me to trade Webb (whose contract expires after this season) for a top-tier OF. If anyone was interested, they’d have to be close to me in the standings.

Unfortunately, his short-list of available pitchers contains two guys that were protected, three other players nabbed in the auction, and two AL players (newly to the A’s).

Here were the predictions I wrote down post-draft in my notebook using ESPN.com:

Roadrunners 79
Jews 66.5
Goodfellas 65
Padres 60.5
Cover Zero 60
X-Men 49
Pi Train 45.5
Stanimals 43.5
Kong 42.5
Lester 38.5

[posted to the WBRL Yahoo! Group by Steve Sharik]

Using CBSsportsline.com projections, based on the current active rosters as loaded by Flynn. By the way, you can view the projections on your team page. It’s a link on the right side. I totaled them, however, and made some switches. Example: X-men. I subbed Jim Edmonds for Matt LaPorta. Anyway, the projected final standings:

Goodfellas 73
Atomic Roadrunners 68
Shoeless Jews 61
X-Men 61
Stanimals 59
Cover Zero 50.5
Get Off Kong 50
Misogynistic Padres 48
The Pi Train 41.5
Uncle Lester 38

The differences are obvious, but where these seem to agree is:

Title hopefuls: Drew, Flynn, Hersh, SD, X

Rebuilding year: Barry, Mark

Of course, being a coach I especially understand this: preseason prognostications don’t mean squat.

So, grain of salt…

Both of these projections predict TR to finish bottom half, yet we all should realize he’ll do his Jedi mind shit on people and finish at or near the top.

[posted to the WBRL Yahoo! Group by Stan Sharik]

Using Shandler projected player stats, based on those players selected in the auction portion only:

T1 - Shoeless Jews 69
T1 - Atomic Roadrunners 69
3 - Goodfellas 68.5
4 - Stanimals 61
5 - X-Men 59
6 - Get Off Kong! 56
7 - Misogynistic Padres 51
8 - The Pi Train 48.5
9 - Cover Zero 41
10 - Uncle Lester 29