Fantasy Baseball-Week #10 Waiver Wire Pickups

Posted by fantasyfurnace on June 3, 2012
Posted in: MLB. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

The season is now 1/3 over and we will be headed into the All-Star break before we know it. Here are a few of our waiver wire pickups entering week #10 and as a little bonus, we’ve thrown in some 2-start pitchers for the week so those that are in weekly leagues can have a head start and a head’s up…

Gordon Beckham-2B-White Sox-Surprised that this former 1st round pick in the 2008 draft is still so unowned. While riding a ten-game hitting streak, Beckham has batted .348, hit three home runs and has eight RBI. Although he is still batting just above the ‘Mendoza Line’ at .238, his average has risen 30 points during his streak. He is on course to surpass his career high in HR (14) as he presently is holding at 8 with 2/3 of the season to go. Owned only in around 15% of leagues, he should be owned in 12+ team leagues and deeper.

Lightly owned #15 Gordon Beckham is on track to eclipse his career HR mark. Photo: Warren Wimmer/The Chicago Sports/Icon SMI

Justin Smoak-1B-Mariners- Another former 1st rounder in the same draft as Gordon Beckham above, is Justin Smoak who has been ‘smoking’ at the plate. He has hit safely in 11 out of his last 14 games good for a .333 clip to go along with 6 home runs and 17 RBI. He won’t hit for average over the course of a full season, but his current numbers projected over the rest of the season, shows Smoak finishing with 20 HR and 75 RBI which, for the Mariners, would make him ‘Ruth-Like’…Highly touted when he first came into the league with the Texas Rangers, Smoak was the 3rd most picked up player over the past four days. Only owned in 25% of leagues, we’re recommending him in deeper or A.L. only leagues.

Felix Doubront-SP/RP-Red Sox- This 24 year old southpaw is our ‘Must-Add’ player of the week! In his first full season with the Red Sox, Doubront has been the most dependable starter on Boston’s staff by far. He has the most strikeouts (66) in 62 1/3 innings pitched and has the lowest ERA (3.75) of any other starter. Over his last six starts, Doubront is 5-1, which rivals any other team’s ace on their staff. He has been prone to giving up the long ball, 5 over the past three games, but 66 K’s to 25 BB indicates to us that he has excellent control. Doubront is owned in 40% of leagues and has been getting grabbed by savvy team owners at high rates since his last win on Saturday. He should be owned in all leagues.

SP/RP Felix Doubront has become Boston’e most reliable starting pitcher so far this season. The Furnace’s ‘Must Add’ this week. Photo: Mike Stobe – Getty Images

Quintin Berry-OF-Tigers- Since being named the Tiger’s starting center fielder on May 23rd, Berry had played in 11 games and the speedster has taken advantage of the opportunity by hitting safely in all but one of the 11. He’s batting .362, has scored 11 runs and stolen 6 bases. In his last four games he’s an unbelievable 8-18, .444, and has shown no signs of letting up. He has had 3 hits in a game three times in his last 7 games. It’s a small sample to be sure for this rookie who has spent several years in the minors before getting this chance, but we suggest at least taking out a flier on Berry or at best, picking him up in A.L. leagues only for the moment. Owned only in less than 10% of leagues, he’s worth the watch…

Recommended Pitchers with 2 Starts in Week 10:


Jason Vargas: @LAA (Richards), LAD (Billingsley)

Jon Lester: BALT. (Arrieta), WASH. (Jackson)

Homer Bailey: PITT. (Morton), DET (Scherzer)

Jeff Smardzija: @SF (Vogelsong), @MIN. (Diamond)

Giants need to lock up Osi Umenyiora

Posted by fantasyfurnace on June 1, 2012
Posted in: General. 1 comment

Reblogged from Philip Tortora Online:

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The memory of being at Super Bowl XLII and watching Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan and the New York Giants punish Tom Brady and the New England Patriots will never fade.

As a New York Giants fan, it is starting to get frustrating to watch the contract talks between the team and star defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora drag out. He is one of the most dominant defensive players the organization has ever had, and that’s saying a lot when you consider all the greats who have played for the Giants.

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It's the Giant's 'D' more than anything that catapalted them through the playoffs & the Super Bowl...

The Mets have a legitimate shot if…

Posted by fantasyfurnace on May 31, 2012
Posted in: MLB. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 7 comments

If you would have told me before the year began that we would be ‘considering’ the Mets as a contender entering the third month of the season, I would have asked you what you were smoking and then double-checked that your last name wasn’t Wilpon…

Daniel Murphy, David Wright and the rest of the Mets are all smiles as they begin June 5 games over .500. Photo: (US Presswire)

 

And yet here we are about to begin the month of June, declaring that the Mets have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. Here are several factors that we have weighed into this thought process:

The Mets, first and foremost, deserve a tremendous amount of credit for over-achieving with essentially a young & unexperienced bunch of players while dealing with the obligitory injuries that every team is faced with.

Their payroll adds new meaning to the phrase “shoe-string budget”. Example: if you take the salaries of Ike Davis, Lucas Duda, Daniel Murphy and Mike Nickeas,  currently all starters, it would total just under $2 million!  A-Rod makes that in a weekend! Discounting SP Johan Santana, the remaining 13 pitchers, (starters and relievers combined) make just slightly less than CC Sabathia does…

Manager Terry Collins, who I like a lot, makes this team play hard every day. When you’re making $519,550 like Jonathan Niese or $497,318 like Lucas Duda, there are no egos for Collins to contend with. Just a bunch of hungry and coachable players giving it their all every game.

If Mets manager Terry Collins can keep his team focused and playing hard as they have been, he could be in contention for Manager of the Year honors. Photo: blog.bettor.com

There are other factors to consider why we give the Mets a shot. They are starting off June 5  games over .500, just 1.5 games out of first place. They are playing in arguably one of the weakest National Leagues in memory. Yes the Marlins and the Nationals are good teams and the Dodgers are probably the best of the rest, but as of May 31st, the N.Y. Mets have the 5th best record in the N. L. and sport the best record against the N.L. East (15-9), of any team.

Throw in that that they are playing their first season with the fences brought in so that it no longer takes a SCUD Missle to launch a baseball out of Citi Field, and you finally see some offense from this group.

Lastly, I think that the Mets need to make some additions at the deadline this year in order to make a push during the last half of the season. It doesn’t, and probably won’t be high pricetag players either. Just some key backup/bench players and some help in the ‘pen is all they’ll need 

This is the big “IF” I referred to-During the month of June, The Mets will face undoubetedly their toughest one month schedule of the season. They play, in order: St. Louis, Wash., Yanks, Tampa Bay, Cincy, Balt, Yanks, Cubs, L.A.D. Three of these teams are currently in 1st place in their division.

That’s a total of 27 games. If they can finish the month at least or close to 14-12,  then not only am I on board but it would be more than safe to say that they would have a legitimate shot at making it to the playoffs. However you will need a scorecard at the end of the season because hardly any of the names on this team are recognizable…

Another shot by Patrick Ewing is rejected!

Posted by fantasyfurnace on May 30, 2012
Posted in: General, NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 10 comments

Although retired from the NBA for almost a decade, former Knick icon and hall of famer Patrick Ewing seems to be having his shots at a head coaching job blocked. His latest rejecetion came on Wednesday from former rival, “Space Jam” co-star, and close friend, Michael Jordan.

Bobcats owner Michael Jordan has eliminated Patrick Ewing from consideration for the head coaching job in Charlotte. Photo: biography.com

I must admit that the news came as a complete surprise to me because I didn’t feel that any of the other candidates posed a severe threat to Ewing. I mean, Jeff Van Gundy, Pat Riley, or Phil Jackson had not been considered for the Bobcat’s position, so it wasn’t like the competetion was stiff or anything-although sources are now saying that Jerry Sloan has now been added to the list, and more than likely will bring his hall of fame credentials to Charlotte.

 ”Jordan has been subject to biting criticism for hiring too many cronies and ‘yes’ men through the years, and merely inviting Ewing for the interview started to inspire those kind of shots at Jordan again.”  This was the reasoning for Patrick’s elimination this morning. If you’ll remember he impressed Detroit general manager Joe Dumars in an interview for the Pistons’ head coaching job last spring. But apparently not enough to hire him…

It’s beginning to look like Patrick’s quest  has turned into the ’Willie Randolph Syndrome’ all over again, for as with Willie,  the process took an inordinate amount of time and interviewing before he finally landed a mangerial  gig; which, it should be noted, was  quite a successful one. Remember he finished his 2nd season with the Mets at a league’s best 97-65 and missed going to the World Series by one game.

Ex Met manager Willie Randolph, currently the third base coach of the upstart Baltimore Orioles. Photo: Wikopedia

 Mark Jackson’s rookie year with the Warriors was less memorable, but unlike Randolph who coached with the Yankees for 11 years, Jackson had no  prior coaching experience whatsoever. Yet another reason why someone should give the ‘Big Guy’ a shot.

And now, with Stan Van Gundy’s dismissal from the Orlando Magic, it appears that Ewing will  be looking for any coaching job.

I’ll try to  be optimistic about this. I mean if Mark Jackson can go from the broadcast booth to head coach of the Golden State Warriors, then there has to be hope for Patrick and his nine years of being an assitant coach with Houston and Orlando as well as his ability to work with and groom the tempermental megastar Dwight Howard.

As the Magic’s assistant coach, Ewing has been credited with the grooming of Dwight Howard’s career. Photo: orlandosentenial.com

Hopefully, perspective owners/G.M.’s will not come up with any more reasons NOT to hire him; just reasons for why they WANT to hire him!  And  hopefully it will be sooner rather later…

As The San Antonio Spurs March On, We Are Reminded That Quiet Dominance In Sports Should Be Embraced

Posted by fantasyfurnace on May 30, 2012
Posted in: NBA. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Reblogged from The Locker:

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It’s always refreshing in sports to see quiet dominance. 

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The Spurs are putting on another methodical clinic in this year's playoffs and they're doing it very quietly...