Fantasy Sports Dirt

Davey Johnson Back in the Game

by Eddie Mayrose

It’s been a wild couple of weeks for the Washington Nationals. First, and foremost, they’ve opened eyes around the baseball world by putting together an incredible hot streak that saw them register 12 wins in 13 games, raising their record above .500 at a later point in the season than at any time since they were the Montreal Expos.

Then, in a very bizarre twist, the Nats saw their skipper, Jim Riggleman, take his ball and go home when he couldn’t secure a contract extension. It was an act of virtual career suicide, as it’s hard to imagine any other franchise hiring a leader prone to abandon his troops mid-battle.

Riggleman, rumored to have had trouble with some of Washington’s more veteran players, maintained that his lame duck status undermined his authority. Whether that’s true or not, Riggleman decided he’d had enough, opening the door for what could be a great story. Continue reading »

One Amazin’ Blunder

by Eddie Mayrose

Back in March, just as we were starting to find out that the Wilpons’ involvement in the Madoff scandal would have a significant impact on their franchise, Jose Reyes approached the Mets about a contract extension. Coming off three straight seasons that saw time lost to injury, Reyes wasn’t exactly in a prime bargaining position. However, at 27 years old and entering the prime of his career, he could at least point to the fact that, when healthy, he’d spent a few seasons as one of the game’s elite players. This was an opportunity for the Mets to lock up a core player — one around whom you build a franchise, on the cheap. As is their modus operandi, though, the Wilpons failed to pull the trigger.

Talk radio debates raged among the “first-time, longtime” crowd as to whether or not the Amazins’ should commit to Reyes. Then, the season started and Reyes quickly reminded the baseball world that it was, in fact, injury that had robbed him of his brilliance, not fading skills. He has reestablished himself as the game’s finest shortstop, while becoming an offensive juggernaut in a park seemingly built with his talent in mind. While the middle of the Mets’ order has spent much of 2011 on the disabled list, Reyes has kept his team in Wild Card contention, thrusting himself into the middle of MVP discussions. Continue reading »