Not much going on for the Hot Stove as the year ends, and that could be good news for Yankees fans.
The less they hear about Masahiro Tanaka, the better. It could be that the Bronx Bombers have the inside track because Tanaka is represented by Casey Close, once a hot prospect in the Yanks' organization who didn't make it past Triple-A as a player. But he has been a major player as an agent, pretty much ever since he took on Derek Jeter as a client 20 years ago. That relationship has brought hundreds of millions to Jeter and tens of millions to Close.
Elsewhere, the Marlins made a minor move by signing 1B/3B Casey McGehee. That means Miami probably won't go after a similar player, free-agent 1B Yuniesky Betancourt. Until pitchers stop throwing breaking balls, Betancourt will not be a viable fantasy option.
The Rangers might try RHP Miles Mikolas as an option to become their closer after trading 1B Chris McGuiness to the Pirates for the former Padre. If RHP Joakim Soria had showed more last season, there wouldn't be any question. But as it is, RHPs Neftali Feliz or Alexi Ogando also could be candidates. McGuiness didn't impress in his limited major league time this year, but he became available (designated for assignment) after Texas acquired 1B Prince Fielder and OF Shin-soo Choo.
A more valuable pitching option is RHP Joaquin Benoit, officially signed by the Padres for 2 years and $15.5 million to be a setup man for their closer, RHP Huston Street. (And possibly the closer himself if Street is ineffective or hurt again.) The 36-year-old Benoit showed promise with the Rangers, but has become much more valuable playing home games in pitchers' parks, first in Detroit for three seasons and now in San Diego.
* * *
Football. I finished seventh in my ESPN scoring-plus-yardage league with a 150-108 victory in the consolation consolation matchup. Just 60 points for Week 17. I didn't start Danny Amendola (OK) or Shane Vereen (not such a good idea), but players in my lineup such as Frank Gore, Andre Brown and Delanie Walker didn't do much.
My scoring-only league team finished 10-7 and in third place with a 48-20 loss. Not sure yet how our playoffs will work. In the past the 12-team league has been divided into three groups for the playoffs, which begin with the divisional round. I would be in the top level, playing in a four-team single-elimination tournament against the second-place team. Our league's Super Bowl runs two weeks, the conference championships and big game 47. The second-place team was 11-6. We would draft to fill positions where we don't have players on playoff teams. But this season the league has been set up through ESPN.com, so there could be changes. I'll keep you posted.
* * *
Hockey. My goalies have started winning games. Vancouver's Eddie Lack posted a shutout on the day after I signed him. So I'm actually above average in wins with 6 points in a 10-team league. My plus-minus continues to drop (down to 5 points at plus-13), but with ATOI and power play points up, I have at least 8 points in every other skating category. I'm still third, but with 65 points and 5 1/2 behind the second-place team.
I won't be at the Stars' games tonight or Friday. We're spending a family holiday in Pittsburgh. I'll be back to watching live hockey at the American Airlines Center Saturday (plus the Mavericks Sunday).
* * *
Basketball. Another winning week (6-2) shot me up from seventh overall to fourth, and third in my division, at 38-33-1.
Started this week off with a 5-3 lead, and I'll have 9 of 10 lineup spots filled tonight. As I write this, my opponent has just four players going tonight, with only one other available from his bench. My team has gone into a bit of a scoring slump, and trails by 19 points. I'm also behind in field goal percentage, where my opponent shot better than .500 Tuesday, and in assists (17-13). Ricky Rubio could go a long way toward erasing that deficit by himself, but the Wolves aren't playing tonight so George Hill will be my point guard. Similarly, Chris Bosh won't be playing, so Anderson Varejao will be my starting center, probably with considerably fewer points than Bosh could provide.
This week's opponent beat me 8-0 retroactively after we drafted during the season's third week.
I entered this week 2 1/2 games out of second place (overall and in my division), and 9 games behind the leader.
Showing posts with label Joaquin Benoit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joaquin Benoit. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Deals could benefit Rockies
There have a bunch of seemingly minor deals over the last couple of days, but some of them could have impacts in both fantasy and real baseball.
-- The Rockies gave up just LHP Josh Outman and middle infielder Jonathan Herrera to get OF Drew Stubbs from the Indians and LHP Franklin Morales and inconsequential minor league RHP Chris Martin from the Red Sox. It wasn't too long ago that Stubbs was a viable center fielder, with plenty of homers and a few homers. Someone in Colorado must like Morales, entering his second stint with the Rockies. Outman has shown some promise in years past, but hasn't extended his encouraging numbers over a full season.
-- In another trade, the Braves required versatile C/OF/1B Ryan Doumit for at least bench strength from the Twins for minor league LHP Sean Gilmartin.
-- The Astros, finally showing some creativity and ability to identify sleepers by trading SS Ryan Jackson, recently acquired on waivers from the Cardinals, to the Padres for 1B/OF Jesus Guzman. He is expected to compete for Houston's first base job but even more likely could be at least a right-handed-hitting DH. Guzman has a bat; Jackson has a glove. In the Texas League, Guzman was a far more impressive performer than Jackson. The downside is that Guzman arrived late in the majors and won't have a very long shelf life. But the Astros didn't have Jackson long enough to miss him and essentially acquired a needed bat for nothing.
-- Another good move, countering some of the Mariners' earlier off-season deals, was resigning OF Franklin Gutierrez. He was injured this season, but if he's physically able he could recapture center field, play some right, be a fourth outfielder/DH or at the very least be a defensive replacement for the lumbering players who could end up in Seattle's outfield. Gutierrez is hardly an automatic out at the plate. The loser in the off-season wheeling and dealing seems to be Dustin Ackley. For his sake, he may be able to escape the Mariners and become a viable 2B/OF somewhere else with a fresh start. He's young enough that he should have some value that could bring back a useful player in a trade.
-- The Padres also reportedly signed RHP Joaquin Benoit for $14 million over the next two seasons, pending a physical.
-- The Diamondbacks reportedly have agreed to resign 1B/3B Eric Chavez for a year.
-- The Royals traded OF David Lough to the Orioles for DH/3B Danny Valencia. This is a lefty batter (Lough) for righty trade. Valencia has more power; Lough is far superior defensively.
-- The Orioles' reported signing of RHP Grant Balfour for 2 years and $14 million makes it a de facto trade of closers after the Athletics acquired RHP Jim Johnson from Baltimore. The O's could be gambling that 2B Jemile Weeks, obtained in the Johnson trade, can be a useful major leaguer. I have my doubts but if he succeeds that could be a bonus.
-- In other news, Rays SS Tim Beckham, a former No. 1 draft pick, underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in a knee. That means he wouldn't be back until somewhere between June and August. I predict that you'll soon hear he'll be ready at the All-Star break, a magical time when so many players seem to heal. And as the break keeps growing, that becomes even more possible.
* * *
Hockey. I seem to be stuck on 63 1/2 points and in third place. I'll pick up a point or so in one category and drop one in another area. The main thing is that I have to avoid continued wrong decisions on goalies. I'm down to six points total in the three goalie categories. Even an average showing in those areas would add 10 1/2 points and put me in second place on most days. Plus/minus also remains a problem. I seem to be taking one step forward and two back.
* * *
Basketball. Through Wednesday, I had a slim 4-3-1 lead this week. Maintaining that would get me up to .500 at last, but I might have to do better to avoid dropping into eighth overall in the 10-team league. There's plenty of room and not a very long way to go to reach the top. Because so many teams are close, it becomes more important to make the right choices and especially to make lineup changes on time.
-- The Rockies gave up just LHP Josh Outman and middle infielder Jonathan Herrera to get OF Drew Stubbs from the Indians and LHP Franklin Morales and inconsequential minor league RHP Chris Martin from the Red Sox. It wasn't too long ago that Stubbs was a viable center fielder, with plenty of homers and a few homers. Someone in Colorado must like Morales, entering his second stint with the Rockies. Outman has shown some promise in years past, but hasn't extended his encouraging numbers over a full season.
-- In another trade, the Braves required versatile C/OF/1B Ryan Doumit for at least bench strength from the Twins for minor league LHP Sean Gilmartin.
-- The Astros, finally showing some creativity and ability to identify sleepers by trading SS Ryan Jackson, recently acquired on waivers from the Cardinals, to the Padres for 1B/OF Jesus Guzman. He is expected to compete for Houston's first base job but even more likely could be at least a right-handed-hitting DH. Guzman has a bat; Jackson has a glove. In the Texas League, Guzman was a far more impressive performer than Jackson. The downside is that Guzman arrived late in the majors and won't have a very long shelf life. But the Astros didn't have Jackson long enough to miss him and essentially acquired a needed bat for nothing.
-- Another good move, countering some of the Mariners' earlier off-season deals, was resigning OF Franklin Gutierrez. He was injured this season, but if he's physically able he could recapture center field, play some right, be a fourth outfielder/DH or at the very least be a defensive replacement for the lumbering players who could end up in Seattle's outfield. Gutierrez is hardly an automatic out at the plate. The loser in the off-season wheeling and dealing seems to be Dustin Ackley. For his sake, he may be able to escape the Mariners and become a viable 2B/OF somewhere else with a fresh start. He's young enough that he should have some value that could bring back a useful player in a trade.
-- The Padres also reportedly signed RHP Joaquin Benoit for $14 million over the next two seasons, pending a physical.
-- The Diamondbacks reportedly have agreed to resign 1B/3B Eric Chavez for a year.
-- The Royals traded OF David Lough to the Orioles for DH/3B Danny Valencia. This is a lefty batter (Lough) for righty trade. Valencia has more power; Lough is far superior defensively.
-- The Orioles' reported signing of RHP Grant Balfour for 2 years and $14 million makes it a de facto trade of closers after the Athletics acquired RHP Jim Johnson from Baltimore. The O's could be gambling that 2B Jemile Weeks, obtained in the Johnson trade, can be a useful major leaguer. I have my doubts but if he succeeds that could be a bonus.
-- In other news, Rays SS Tim Beckham, a former No. 1 draft pick, underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL in a knee. That means he wouldn't be back until somewhere between June and August. I predict that you'll soon hear he'll be ready at the All-Star break, a magical time when so many players seem to heal. And as the break keeps growing, that becomes even more possible.
* * *
Hockey. I seem to be stuck on 63 1/2 points and in third place. I'll pick up a point or so in one category and drop one in another area. The main thing is that I have to avoid continued wrong decisions on goalies. I'm down to six points total in the three goalie categories. Even an average showing in those areas would add 10 1/2 points and put me in second place on most days. Plus/minus also remains a problem. I seem to be taking one step forward and two back.
* * *
Basketball. Through Wednesday, I had a slim 4-3-1 lead this week. Maintaining that would get me up to .500 at last, but I might have to do better to avoid dropping into eighth overall in the 10-team league. There's plenty of room and not a very long way to go to reach the top. Because so many teams are close, it becomes more important to make the right choices and especially to make lineup changes on time.
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