Results tagged ‘ Robinson Cano ’
Dream Job / Fantasy Teams
Ok, so, MLBs got the perfect job opening for a guy like me…and it so happens Im in a position that I could use a job like that. Match made in heaven, right? Well, maybe not since the only voice Ive ever aired on this blog is that of “Angry Yankee fan arguing against angry Yankee Haters” hence my name…
Ive attempted to branch out my skill on this blog to that of my fantasy rosters. Ive got 2 teams drafted, 1 to draft this sunday and maybe one more depending on how I feel about it. Thus, it would cause me to not only watch other games besides those played by the Yankees and their rivals, but to really invest myself in them as well…example: Twins vs White Sox games wouldnt exactly thrill me, but my teams contain Young and Cuddyer vs Danks and Alexi Ramirez-all of a sudden Ive got reason to sit through that series.
So…in the hope of getting the dream job that just last month came into existence, but sure enough has been a job Ive secretly wanted for years…I feel I need to show that Im more than an opinionated Yankee fan. Again, here are my fantasy rosters, and the reasons I drafted that way…
The Pretenders:
C-Buster Posey
1B-Aubrey Huff
2B-Dan Uggla
3B-Alex Rodriguez
SS-Alexi Ramirez
OF-Alex Rios
Shane Victorino
Delmon Young
U-Brett Gardner
Vladimir Guerrero
Bench-Colby Rasmus
Neil Walker
Michael Cuddyer
SP-Tim Lincecum
David Price
Josh Johnson
Roy Oswalt
Ryan Dempster
Ricky Romero
RP-Brian Wilson
John Axford
Leo Nunez
I’ve actually been trade requested twice by another owner looking to get Price, Posey and ARod in exchange for Sabathia, Mauer and Zimmerman. Thats a pretty good trade, but the reason I keep turning my friends request down is because Rodriguez is always a lock for 30 home runs and 100 rbis. Price and Sabathia were interchangable last year, so as long as you have one, youre ok for a Cy Young hopeful. Getting Mauer was tempting since he puts up great numbers for a catcher, but for keeping ARod, Im willing to risk Posey in his 1st full season. Its not a very big risk. Maybe if Mauer had another big year last year, but he seems to not hit the same in Target Field like he did in the Metrodome. Be it Mauer isnt the same at home or ARods guarenteed numbers, Ive had 0 regrets in denying the trades.
I tend to be bad at drafting a middle infield, but in this draft I had the #2 pick and Hanley is by and far the best option at short and Dan Uggla kinda fell into my lap. Im not arguing, since hes still one of the best second basemen in the NL.
My outfields tend to be more speed oriented and this year proved to be no different. Any given day I have Brett Gardner, Shane Victorino and Alex Rios in the lineup. In addition to Hanley, Ill have nothing to worry about in the SB department. Im also rolling the dice on Vladimir Guerrero that he still has another quality season in the tank. Hitting in the heart of a Baltimore lineup poised to send shockwaves through the AL east? I like those odds…
My starting pitchers are strait up nasty! Lincecum, Price, Oswalt and Josh Johnson need no justification. Dempster is a 200 inning/200K machine, and Brian Wilson has quietly been one of the most automatic closers in baseball.
The Lozers:
C-Brian McCann
1B-Derrek Lee
2B-Robinson Cano
3B-Miguel Tejada
SS-Alexi Ramirez
OF-Ryan Braun
Nick Swisher
Matt Holliday
U-Michael Bourn
John Buck
Bench-Pablo Sanvoval
Mike Aviles
Magglio Ordonez
SP-Justin Verlander
Yovani Gallardo
Dan Haren
John Danks
Brett Myers
Madison Bumgarner
Bronson Arroyo
Anibal Sanchez
RP-Mariano Rivera
Ryan Franklain
McCann in the best catcher in the NL, Cano is the best 2B in the AL. I could argue that they might be better than Mauer/Utley but thats all speculative. Derrek Lee has the same this going for him the Guerrero does. Bourn is the sole base stealer on this team, but with a track record of stealing 52, 61 and 41 over the last three years, I doubt he needs much help. Braun and Holliday provide some solid hitting each with over a .300 average, 25 homers and 100 rbi campaigns last season.
In the past Ive always used Aviles as a replacment for an injured player and hes always produced nicely as a result. I figured Id just draft him and avoid the rush this year. Good bench middle infielders are impossible to come by these days. Im risking that Pablos dropped weight equals better play…and anyone else remember Ordonez? He dropped mad low in this draft. Hes at a certain age, really wants to win a wolrd series and plays in the AL central. Im banking that hes gonna have a solid year…
My pitchers my not be as high profile as my other team, but they can still put up numbers. Verlander and Gallardo always seem to be int he Cy Young talk. Rivera now has a number to strive for in his quest for the all time saves record, and it so happens to be 42…as in: The last player to ever wear 42 in baseball needs only 42 saves to catch the all time saves record.
Right…better wrap this up…like I said, I got another team to draft on sunday. My aim to to draft a team that has 0 players Ive already drafted. It limits my options, but it does force me to consider what those other players are capable of. Its an interesting experiment and Im hoping it leads to a couple league titles.
Fantasy 2011…pt 2
Its all part of a plan…and I’ll let you all know what that plan is when I think of it. ‘nother fantasy draft tonight.
#2 of what Im expecting to be 4 fantasy teams….dont give me that look…I dont have a problem…right?
Last nights draft was for a strait faced team, this time around I’m avoid all those picks and see how well this team can do. Aight, heres the results…..I drafted last, giving me all back-to-back picks, but a loooooooooong wait in between…
Team: “The Lozers”
1-Robinson Cano (The shouldve-been MVP was a no brainer choice)
2-Ryan Braun
3-Matt Holliday
4-Justin Verlander
5-Brian McCann
6-Mariano Rivera
7-Yovani Gallardo
8-Alexi Ramirez
9-Pablo Sandoval
10-Dan Haren
11-Michael Bourn
12-Nick Swisher
13-Ryan Franklin
14-Miguel Tejada
15-Madison Bumgarner
16-John Danks
17-Brett Myers
18-Derrek Lee
19-John Buck
20-Bronson Arroyo
21-Anibal Sanchez
22-Mike Aviles
23-Magglio Ordonez
Karma starts paying Jeter back for the 06 and 09 MVPs he was denied
The AL Gold Glove awards were announced….a lot of expected picks (Mark Buehrle had his won on opening day) while the one interesting exception was Franklin Gutierrez-and I dont mean that in a bad way. Props to Jeter, Tex and Cano for winning by the way…
Meanwhile, everyone and their mother got their panties in a bunch when Jeter was announced as the winner at SS.
Im sorry, what? Jeter didnt deserve it? Cuz Im DAMN SURE he derserved an MVP in either 2006 and/or 2009, so please refrain from b!tching that he won a gold glove, cuz if there were any more deserving winners, than this wouldnt be an issue.
-Besides, remember the 1999 gold gloves?
Raphael Palmeiro beat out Tino Martinez despite Palmeiro only playing 28 games at 1st? He also won the silver slugger that year at DH. How do you win 2 awards for 2 entirely different positions? Simple, have the other guy be a Yankee.
A Yankee lucking out in a controversial call is apparently unacceptable, but the other way around is all right? whatever.
Congrats to Derek Jeter on winning yet another Gold Glove.
All you Jeter haters wanna believe hes washed up so bad that youre literally blind to anything good he does.
Other news Ive been ignoring:
HOL SH!T!!!!! Miller and Morgan are GONE!!! ESPN just became somewhat watchable, people! The same duo that have made Sunday Night Baseball unwatchable for the last couple decades are gone and right now I dont care whos replacing them.
Those two ranked up as #s 3 and 4 on the top Yankee-haters in announcing and I couldnt be happier to not have to listen to them on TV anymore. Not only that, II can also play future MLB2K games now that those two wont be announcing those either. Oh happy day!
Now if the Buck/McCarver duo could go away forever…
A lot of people have voiced disgust over the Indians decision to change the road unis…not because of the intentional retro look, but because theyre still including chief wahoo. Personally, Ive grown so accustomed to seeing that arm patch, that Id be annoyed if the Indians didnt have it anymore.
George Steinbrenner on the HoF ballot? Does he deserve it?
DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH! Yes, yes he does, if only on the merit that he is THE most recognizable owner in the history of baseball. Say his name to any baseball fan and he’ll be known. Hell, most non baseball followers know who he is.
If that aint enough, then ya know, all those world championships and pennants should do the trick.
Season in review: Why I never bought into the Texas feel-good story
So the Yankees fell a little short this year of their goal, on the bright side, they did way better than 26 other teams and tied with another. Still, the way the Texas Rangers rolled over and died to the Giants is embarressing. The Yankees, Rangers, AL west as well as the rest of the league should be ashamed because that sorry bunch of Texans marched right into San Fran and died….people called this series boring for 2 reasons: 1-no one cared about the teams playing….and 2-the Rangers sucked, thus making it uninteresting.
Remember last years series? All 6 games were exciting, nail-biters between the 2 best in baseball.
…speaking of Texas. Why do I have to give 2 sh!ts about Josh Hamiltons former addictions? So you went to AA and can only celebrate with ginger ale, good for you, but i dont give a fu*k. Thats excusable, but Ron Washington sure isnt. If Joe Girardi did cocaine, you better believe he’d be out of a job and on the streets before ESPN could even break the story. In fact, most teams wouldnt even hesitate to fire someone like that.
I shouldnt even have to hear about those two, but apparently they deserve the MVP and manager of the year awards on the merit that “they overcame struggles in their lives and led Texas to the world series”
You dont deserve that kind of praise when the struggles you endured were self inflicted! No one forced them into their vices.
And the Rangers owner is a grade A *********, calling out Yankees fans for doing something thats their god given right as baseball fans: heckling.
Everywhere the Yankees go, its the same: “Yankees suck” and “A-Roid”…and yet, no complaints here…Phillies fans had signs that heckled the Giants in the NLCS while Giants fans did the same to the Rangers in the world series….all fine as well.
Yet, when Yankees fans heckle Cliff Lee in the playoffs, suddenly its a bad thing? Bull.
And Texas is the last place A-Rod should hear heckeling from.
Cuz ya know, all the years he did steroids were when he was a Ranger…plus the Rangers currently employ a (former) drug addict and a (current) cokehead. Yeah, there must be 0 drug policies in Texas outside of Josh Hamiltons locker.
…anyway, onto the postseason, where the awards will need handing out. Here are my no-brainer decisions:
AL MVP: Robinson Cano
NL MVP: Joey Votto
AL Cy Young: CC Sabathia
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
(Once upon a time, 20 wins meant something people…then sabermetrics ruined everything)
AL RotY: Neftali Feliz (Im well aware of his success this year, since I drafted Frank Francisco in fantasy)
NL RotY: Buster Posey
AL MotY: Buck Showalter
NL MotY: Bobby Cox
2010 ALCS vs Rangers…Game 6
Yeah, Im a bit late, who cares…
Yankees did a lot of things right in this series:
-Give the ball to Wood and Mo
-CC pitching at home
-Anytime Cano got to hit
-Convincing Vazquez the Yankees were playing the Angels in the ALCS and sending him on a 1-way plane to Anaheim while everyone else went to Texas.
…and they did a lot of things wrong:
-Burnett ever pitching
-Everytime Robertson came in to pitch
-Posada falling for a double steal
-Did I mention Burnett?
Girardis pitching rotation for this series was a joke.
Girardis rotation:
1-Sabathia
2-Hughes
3-Pettitte
4-Burnett
5-Sabathia
6-Hughes
7-Pettitte
The problem there was there wasnt enough Pettitte and too much of Hughes and Burnett.
My, better, and Yankee winning rotation:
1-Sabathia
2-Pettitte
3-Burnett
4-Sabathia
5-Hughes
6-Pettitte
7-Sabathia
Sabathia on short rest (works), Pettitte earlier and twince on normal rest, Hughes only once and at home, then be available in the pen the rest of the way (also a bullpen option for game 1)…and Burnett pitching in game 3 where it wouldnt matter how well he pitches cuz the Yankees were losing that game anyway.
Yankees wouldve won games 1 and 2, Rangers win game 3…game 4 would be ours, game 5 would be up in the air but Pettitte wouldve won game 6. Game-set-series-and Yankees go to California.
…just saying
….Im actually glad the Giants won. Joe Buck now doesnt get to talk about dynastys…Im alos gonna root for the Giants in this series, if only to prevent Ron Washington from doing lines of coke off the trophy.
Week 25 in review: Literal walk off; Cano for MVP
So yeah, one of the biggest games of the year and the Yankees win it in walk off fashion as Juan Miranda draws the bases loaded walk. Much love to ARod with the big 2 run jack earlier in the game and Cano for the cluth game tying hit in the bottom of the 9th.
The Red Sox are done, see you b!tches next year.
MEANWHILE!
So, the AL MVP is apparently down to 3 men: Miguel Cabrera, Josh Hamilton and Robbie Cano.
Now…Hamilton hasnt been playing this month (ya know, the most important month of the regular season) so despite his numbers, NO.
Miguel Cabrera has sucked this month, and his team is out, so Miguel should be out as well.
Cano has the good numbers, stepped up big when ARod was hurt last month and is leading the Yankees to the playoffs.
Playoff Board:
AL bEAST
Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees (0.5 out / E:7)
Boston Red Sox (7 out / E:1)
AL CENTRAL
Minnesota Twins
AL WEST
Texas Rangers
AL WILD CARD
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox (6.5 out / E:1)
NL EAST
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves (6 out / E:1)
NL CENTRAL
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals (6.5 out / E:1)
NL WEST
San Francisco Giants
San Diego Padres (0.5 out / E:7)
Colorado Rockies (4.5 out / E:3)
NL WILD CARD
San Diego Padres
Atlanta Braves (0.5 out / E:7)
Colorado Rockies (4 out / E:4)
St. Louis Cardinals (7 out / E:1)
Biggest Yankee Game:
9/26/10: Yankees-4, Roid Sox-3, 10 innings
Future MVP Cano ties the game and Miranda walks for the walk off.
Favorite Picture:
Give the man a prize. Vazquez beans 3 strait batters in a Yankees loss.
Fantasy:
2 teams in the finals:
cpDOOM! 2.0
They explode and raped the opposition last week, outscoring all playoff teams.
In the finals vs the team that won the division this year, but cpDOOM! 2.0 was the highest scoring team over the entire season.
Best record vs Highest scoring team.
The Roid Sox
They ran away with the semi-final matchup.
In the finals vs the other division winner.
This Week:
Season ends this week. Magic number for playoffs is 1.
@ Blue Jays, then @ Red Sox.
Lets NOT be the Mets
A win tonight and we all but bury Boston for good…though if we lose, the Red Sox could control their own destiny-with 3 more games against us to end the year…in Fenway.
…so…lets try to avoid being the Mets of 07 and 08 where they collapsed to miss the playoffs.
Its not all bleak, a win tonight and the Yankees would stand .5 games behind 1st, though the schedule isnt in our favor.
On the mound for NY tonight is Phil Hughes, because Girardi has decided SCREW THE INNINGS LIMIT-WE NEED A WIN!!!!!!! So Hughes will square off against Matsuzaka and his 4.86 ERA.
Both teams need this, though Boston for more dire reasons.
Middle 1 in New York
Hughes looks decent thus far…
End of 1 in New York
…Our hitters, however, do not.
Top 3 in New York
Nick Swisher reminds everyone that he isnt here for his glove…
Middle 6 in New York
Damn pitching duel…
Bottom 7 in New York
An A-BOMB! From A-ROD! Yankees lead!!!
Top 8 in New York
Enter Sandman…
Soooooo close! 3 more outs!
Bottom 9 in New York
M-V-P Cano with the game tying hit!
2 outs…tie game…c’mon Berkman! Prove to us you were worth the trade!
Bottom 10 in New York
Bases loaded-NOBODY OUT! C’MON!
Walk off walk!
ILL TAKE IT
Yankees win!
Theeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees, WIN!
Week 15 in review: AJ Burnett leaves game early because his pants are on fire
So yeah, short week, not much to recap on. Only 3 games, but a loaded 3 games. Fridays win for the boss and voice, Saturdays AJ lying loss and Sundays bittersweet thrashing of David Price, in which we lose Pettitte for about a month.
The paramount issue is Burnett, whos Jeckle/Hyde routine is currently set on Hyde and flashes of his wild thang persona seem to be attributed to his being lazy, which is one hell of a warning sign that his Yankee days might be numbered, especially if we need to pick up an arm or two by the deadline…
Biggest Yankee Game:
7/16/10: Yankees-5, Rays-4
The Yankees honor not 1, but 2 legends of the game before the game. The entire game is played without any PA announcments (even the recording for Jeter) to honor Sheppard. A see-saw emotional rollercoaster that involved back-to-back home runs from Cano and Posada to tie the game, and another home run by Swisher to tie it up in the 8th…and then a walk off hit by Swish to clinch it.
I dont care how many no hitters are being pitched this year, this here was game of the year.
Favorite Picture:
RIP Boss…
Fantasy:
I hate All Star week games, because theyre so short it always feels like cheating when you win, or you got cheated when you lose. I tend to win mostly thsi time of year, but I still think the stats should just carry over to the next full week.
This Week:
Our homestand continues against the Angels and Royals.
Man, remember when Steinbrenner started in New York and the Royals were actually good? Me neither, most of us werent even born yet.
……….BTW, Tim McCarver is STILL a f*cking idiot
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/McCarver-might-want-to-stick-to-Star-Wars-Yankee?urn=mlb,256793#remaining-content
3 key and avoidable screwups that cost the AL
The streak is over. The NL finally found a way to win, blah blah blah. The AL didnt help its case much last night, and speculations can be made all day over what Girardi and Manuel did or didnt do. However, the following three things DID happen, and ended up costing the AL.
1-Joe Mauer makes a baserunning mistake they teach you not to do in little league.
5th inning. Robinson Cano just hit a sac fly to put the AL up 1-0. Joe Mauer is on 2nd, 1 out. Carl Crawford hits a groundball to short, and Mauer takes it upon himself to go for 3rd, right in front of Hanley Ramirez! Ramirez easily nails him at 3rd for the 2nd out.
What professional baseball player pulls a stunt like that? You go AFTER Ramirez throws to 1st, then you wouldve scored on the Torii Hunter fly ball.
2-Elvis Andrus stole 2nd, then caught off the bag.
Jeter led off the 6th the only way he could, he got a hit. Then in comes Andrus to run for him. He takes 2nd as Konerko strikes out, but he came in to 2nd too fast and slid himself right off the base. Brandon Phillips catches him a mile off the bag and applies the tag. Josh Hamilton then hits a single that wouldve scored the speedy Andrus. Big Floppi strikes out to end the inning.
(For those counting, thats now at least 2 runs the AL lost out on…but was there a way to prevent the NL runs?)
3-Matt Thornton (how the hell is he an all star?) walks the bases loaded despite being ahead in the count 0-2.
7th inning. Runners on the corners, 2 outs. Marlon Byrd steps up to the plate against Thornton. The count quickly goes to 0-2. One more strike and the AL can breathe easy. Thornton then decides hes gonna get Byrd to chase some high heat.
Ball one.
Ok, so, lets try something new. BUT NO! Thronton trys to get Byrd to chase another high fastball!
Ball two.
Alright. Byrd clearly isnt fooled. Go to a new pitch? Nope! Lets try the same pitch AGAIN!
Ball three. Full count.
Thornton finally decides to try a different location. Down and away, and Byrd isnt swinging.
Ball four. Bases loaded. McCann steps up and the rest is history.
Honerable mentions go out to Joe Girardi for leaving David Ortiz to run the bases in the 9th, Joe Mauer for that terrible throw to 2nd that ended up in center field, and David Wright for not taking 3rd on the beforementioned Mauer throw.
Despite the above, im not that bitter. This just means the Yankees wont need 6/7 games to win the world series at home this year.
Closin out the 1st half
Bob Sheppard is gone. The greatest voice in the history of sports…ever…died today. He will live on however, with every Derek Jeter at bat.
In other news, apparently the Yankees wanted Cliff Lee. Though by the time I realized they seriously wanted him, the Mariners threw their cards on the table and showed it was only a ploy to get the Rangers to hand over 4 prospects.
Ya see, the Ms wanted more than what the Rangers were offering, so they pretended to deal with the Yankees in order to force Texas’ hand and get the deal they wanted. I can see why Texas took the bait. Every damn time they make the playoffs, they get the Yankees in round 1, and every time the Yankees knock em out en route to a world championship, so why not bring in Lee to tip the odds?
The Yankees, meanwhile, were prepared to offer Jesus Montero, which made no god damm sense, why would we be parting with our best prospect when we already have 3 bona fide all star pitchers? I think our deadline attention would be better spent looking to shore up our bullpen, because Im sick of getting sick whenever Joba or Robertson come in and blow a close game.
…and how awesome is it that Lee losses his 1st game as a Ranger.
Elsewhere, Robinson Cano was yanked out of the home run derby by the Yankees, but fear not, they replaced him with Nick Swisher, so its all good.
Speaking of Nick…
Nick Swisher won the final vote!
Id like to think that “narrow margin” was made possible by the 463435654 votes I made the night before voting closed.
So Yankee Haters, you have me to thank for Swisher making the cut over those lesser hitters. Be sure to thank me when he goes deep in the game.
Anyway, Yankees close out the 1st half with a win against the Lee-less Mariners. I need to adjust my predictions now that Seattle is clearly out.
Best record in baseball? 1st place in the division? Boston a mile behind? Awesome!
Yankee Hater Hater
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