Watch as senior shooting guard (and future Aggie) Jordan Green goes up and over a defender who tries to take the charge.
The player who got dunked on was also the guy who threw the ball away. Talk about adding insult to injury. Or in this case, injury to insult.
Could things get any worse for the St. Louis Cardinals? The season hasn’t even started yet and already one of their aces is out for the year and the other left a spring training game due to a hamstring injury.
The good news is that Chris Carpenter should be fine after leaving Tuesday’s outing with what is being called a strained hamstring. The bad news is that the Cardinals are clearly cursed and I wouldn’t be surprised if red ants invaded the infield grass at Busch Stadium and started attacking the grounds crew.
All kidding aside, I wonder if this scare with Carpenter will force the Cardinals to reconsidering adding another arm before the season starts. There was some thought that 32-year-old minor league free agent acquisition Raul Valdes would be considered a replacement for Wainwright, but the early camp impressions haven’t been good.
Kevin Millwood is still waiting for some team to call, and the Cards seem like a good fit for the 36-year-old. But St. Louis appears to be set on going with internal options at this point, which is surprising seeing as how they’re built to win now (at least they were before Wainwright was injured).
For now, it appears as though the Cards are going with what they have but the injury to Carpenter may have changed their outlook on the pitching situation.
The top two teams in the East just got a little better.
Marc Stein tweeted that Murphy told him personally that he’s going to Boston.
Murphy helps take some of the sting out of the loss of Kendrick Perkins in the Jeff Green trade. Murphy can rebound and shoot the three, so he’ll help space the court for the Celtics and give Doc Rivers another capable crunch time option with a little more length than Glen Davis.
I’m surprised Murphy didn’t pick the Heat, who seemingly have more available minutes at center, though maybe he wanted to get back to his Irish roots. The C’s are also in line to talk to Corey Brewer after his surprising buyout by the Knicks. He’s considered an elite wing defender and his on/off stats at 82games back that up.
Meanwhile, Mike Bibby is reportedly heading to the Heat. He’s well past his prime, but he’s still an upgrade over Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo. I’m not sure why Miami hasn’t played with a Wade/Miller backcourt much this season, though Miller has been pretty bad as he’s been working his way back from injury.
Bibby gives the Heat an experienced player who won’t be afraid of the moment. He’s a good shooter who should be able to take advantage of open shots created by LeBron and Wade’s penetration. Good signing by Pat Riley.
2011 Fantasy Baseball Preview | 2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings
Designing your draft strategy for catchers can sometimes be a nauseating task. Do you nab Joe Mauer in the second round and not worry about the position again until you add depth at the end of your draft, or do you fill other positions first and go for value late?
One strategy that you might want to consider is passing on the top 2-3 backstops (in our rankings that would constitute Mauer, Brian McCann and Victor Martinez) and waiting to select your catcher until at least Round 8. That way, when the pitchers start to fly off the board in Rounds 4 through 7, you’re not worried about investing a pick in McCann and Martinez when there will be plenty of value starting in Round 8.
But which players will be available then? Below is the tier we think you target starting in Round 8. If you think one of these catchers will fall to Round 9, 10 or 11, by all means: wait. But Rounds 8-11 is where you’ll find great value without having to shop for your starting backstop later in the draft when the pickings are slim and the value is scattered.
Buster Posey, Giants
After bursting onto the scene last year to help the Giants win their first World Series in over 55 years, Posey might not last until Round 8. But if he does and you feel good about your roster to that point, don’t waste any time announcing his name at your draft. He hit .305 with 18 dingers and 67 RBI while scoring 58 runs in just 443 plate appearances last season. He has the maturity of a 10-year veteran but is only a second-year pro. The Giants’ lineup is still weak as a whole, but Posey should hit around .300 again with 20-plus HRs, 80 RBI and 70 runs scored.
In an effort to keep my fantasy mind sharp during the doldrums of February and March, I decided to join one of FantasyFootballWhiz.com’s Draftmaster drafts. I am not part of the Invitational, but the same rules apply:
The drafts are being done so that the changes in fantasy value over the next 7 months can be tracked and debated by a strong group of very knowledgeable Fantasy Football players. These drafts will lead to a whole series of articles, debates, roundtables and podcasts that will allow the readers and listeners to get inside the heads of these select drafters.
Note that these are “drafts” and not “mocks”, as the leagues will be scored. Each team will select 16 players in the draft and no roster moves will be allowed once it is complete. They will be scored using a best-ball system, which basically means that each teams top scorers will be automatically used each week to provide their score. No setting lineups, no waivers and no trades, they are simply put, all about the draft.
The leagues will be using a standard PPR scoring system with 16 roster spots. Each week’s scores will be generated by the best lineup, which will consist of 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 DEF, FLEX (RB, WR, TE). To maximize the usefulness of the draft results, teams will be allowed no more than one kicker and one defense.
The competition seems good. There are a number of other fantasy experts and enthusiasts in my league (#Draftmaster 19) that I recognize from my time spent on Twitter.
I thought it might be valuable for me to go over each pick after I make it, revealing the other players that I considered along with my reasoning behind picking the player that I did. You can check the updated draft report here. My username (and Twitter name) is @FantasyShrink.
I had the #6 pick overall, which this year turns out to be a pretty good spot to be. Let’s jump right in and discuss the first six rounds.
1.06: LeSean McCoy, RB
With Chris Johnson, Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, Jamaal Charles and Ray Rice taken with the first five picks, I was left with a decision between Maurice Jones-Drew and LeSean McCoy. While I do like MJD, his knee injury has me a little worried and I’m not all that confident in the Jacksonville O-line. On the other hand, McCoy was actually RB3 (behind Foster and Darren McFadden) on a per game basis in PPR leagues because he catches so many passes (78 in 2010). His adjusted numbers (for bias due to strength of schedule) are a little better.
One mistake that I see fantasy owners often make is to overlook pass-catching RBs like McCoy (or Brian Westbrook before him) in PPR leagues. They’re looking at magazine or website rankings that aren’t intended for the PPR audience, and those always underestimate the value of a guy who catches a lot of passes out of the backfield.
Here’s a look at highlights from McCoy’s 2010 season. The kid is explosive.
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