Moonlight Graham's Fantasy Forecast: Are We There Yet?

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May 132012

Timing is Critical in Tweaking Your Roster

by Eddie Mayrose

Got a call this week from one of my favorite patients, Marc Hibsher, of the 40Kane Fantasy Baseball League.  It wasn’t entirely pleasant, as he was having difficulty following the method for Fantasy Baseball success that I had prescribed for him shortly after his draft.

“OK, Doc”, he began.  ” I get the whole patience thing.  I agree that the first two weeks aren’t a large enough sample of how the season will unfold and that I can do more harm than good by being hasty.  I actually agreed with you, as hasty has never been a good fit for me.  Actually, hasty has always gotten me in trouble.”

“However, I’m a month into my season and I’ve got a guy riding Matt Kemp and Josh Hamilton and running away with my league.  Now, can I do something?”

Well, Marc, I’m going to say yes, but advise moderation.  The danger you face in pulling the plug on some of your draft picks is to ship guys out that are on the verge of breaking out, while others that you desire may have a bit of a false resume.  You could end up with a non-substantive squad as empty as a newspaper with no news.

Let’s bulldozier our way through some Buy Low, Sell High and Stay Put candidates and see if we can rehabilitate your roster. Continue reading »

Posted by Eddie at 11:42 AM

The View from the Cheap Seats: September 11, 2011

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Sep 072011

“God Bless Our Timothys”

by Eddie Mayrose

The debate had raged throughout the summer. We’d grown used to the happy dilemma of choosing a name for a new baby, as it was, perhaps, the most exciting thing about expecting a child. None of us could wait for the November due date.  However, this time it was a little different.  This time, it wasn’t just my wife, Virginia, and me.  We now had four other opinions being tossed around the dinner table as our children, ages nine to fourteen, were each certain of their own ability to select the perfect name.

By late August, we were no closer to a decision.  It was then that Virginia, taking full advantage of her birthday privileges, put her foot down and announced to all of us that she had decided on a girl’s name – Caroline.  She then decreed that I would be responsible for selecting a boy’s name, and that she would abide by my decision without question.  Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have a particular name in mind. Continue reading »

Posted by Eddie at 8:15 AM

The View from the Cheap Seats: Yanks vs. Sox Loses Luster

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Aug 122011

Wild Card Format Hurts Rivalry

by Eddie Mayrose

It should have been a baseball fan’s dream.  The game’s biggest rivalry, Yankees-Red Sox, taking center stage in the middle of August with the teams dead even atop the AL East standings.  In years past, each city would have come to a dead stop as the series played out.  This time around, however, in the dreaded era of the Wild Card, it was just another three game summer set.
There has been much excitement generated by the playoff format that was expanded in 1995.  Not only have teams that would have otherwise been eliminated enjoyed the added thrills and ticket sales generated by a pennant race, more than a few have manage to win the World Series. Iis there that advocates of the system point when extolling its virtues.

There is a dark side to this, though, one that the suits at MLB choose to ignore, and it made its annual appearance in the middle of the AL East race.  With both the Bombers and Bosox nine games clear of their closest Wild Card contender, each is virtually guaranteed a playoff berth already.  Thus, there is no urgency to juggle pitching rotations in order to create favorable matchups or rush injured players back on to the field.  Why bother?  The division title has been rendered meaningless by the playoff system that Bud Selig and his money grabbing minions have sworn to uphold. Continue reading »

Posted by Eddie at 9:34 PM

The View from the Cheap Seats: Bombers' GM On A Roll

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Jul 212011

Yanks’ First Half MVP?  It’s Brian Cashman

by Eddie Mayrose

Tell the truth. Last February, if you’d somehow found out that the Yankees would be without Rafael Soriano and Joba Chamberlain in the back of their bullpen, that Mark Teixeira would be hitting just .240 in July and that Alex Rodriguez would have just 13 HR in an injury-plagued season, you’d have been hoping for a third-place finish in the AL East. At best. Yet, here are the Bombers, without one truly reliable pitcher in their rotation after C.C. Sabathia, sitting just a game-and-a-half behind the Red Sox in the game’s toughest division while enjoying a seven-game Wild Card lead over its closest rival. How? Look no further than General Manager Brian Cashman.

Cashman was vilified over the winter for his perceived disloyalty to the Yankee organization — first, by refusing to be suckered into bidding against himself for the services of Derek Jeter, then, for not falling in line behind the signing of Soriano, which was orchestrated over his head. Jeter, despite the incredible fashion in which he eclipsed 3,000 hits, has been muddling along with a batting average below last year’s, the worst of his career, while registering just 17 extra-base hits. Soriano, after disappointing early, is on the DL with no return date in sight. At this juncture, Cashman looks anything but disloyal; rather, he seems to have had a crystal ball. Maybe the baseball decisions should be left to the baseball guys. Continue reading »

Posted by Eddie at 10:16 PM

The View From The Cheap Seats: St. Jude's Giant

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Jul 142011

Who’d a Thunk? They Were Actually Listening

by Eddie Mayrose

It was a long and difficult season. I had been coaching the fifth grade CYO basketball team in my parish for five campaigns and that year’s version was, by far and away, the smallest. There was not a single team in the league that didn’t have three players taller than our biggest guy and it showed in our winless record.

We played hard every week, ran our offense, trapped all over the floor on defense and rarely lost by more than five or six points. But, we did always lose.

I learned a lot from that team; still, to this day, my favorite. We came to practice twice a week and worked hard — running drills, improving skills and supporting each other. We, as a group, became so focused on getting that first win that we bonded like no other team I’d ever had. Personally, I felt like I was right in there with them, a member of the team rather than its coach; wanting more than anything to see these determined ten-year-olds enjoy some measure of success.

Don’t misunderstand. This was a talented bunch that saw eight of its nine members go on to play in high school. They were just so … so small. When games would get tight in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t get a rebound, no matter how hard they tried. Yet, they’d show up at practice two days later as if it was the season’s first. Continue reading »

Posted by Eddie at 10:04 PM
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