This was an intense draft. Other than the Jae Hawks and Twins, everyone was relatively conservative in their bids. Very few teams bid higher than market value, unlike basketball where people like Zach Randolph went for $100 more than they should have. Here are the results for Team TOPH, broken down by position, in order by price.
Infielders
Joey Votto, First Base, Cincinnati, $31
Hanley Ramirez, Shortstop, Miami, $28
Jose Reyes, Shortstop, Miami, $25
Ryan Zimmerman Third Base, Washington, $21
Dan Uggla, Second Base, Atlanta, $17
Buster Posey, Catcher, San Francisco, $10
Martin Prado, Third Base, Atlanta, $5
Ike Davis, First Base, NY Mets, $3
John Buck, Catcher, Miami, $2
Daniel Murphy, Second Base, NY Mets, $1
Something I just realized after listing these out, 80% of my infield is in the National League East. To be fair, the only reason I got John Buck was because Gonchar was being a jerk and outbidding people who had no money, so when he couldn't bid over $1 I made sure to get him back. Sweet revenge, Gonchar, that's what you get. My starting infield is unbelievably fresh though, around the horn of Votto, Uggla, Hanley, and Zimmerman with Posey at catcher, and Ike and Reyes in the 1B/3B and 2B/SS respectively.
Outfielders
Josh Hamilton, Outfield, Texas, $18
Ben Zobrist, Outfield, Tampa Bay, $14
Carlos Lee, Outfield, Houston, $8
Josh Willingham, Outfield, Minnesota, $4
Lucas Duda, Outfield, NY Mets, $1
Lucas Duda is going to be an enormous contributor to Team TOPH this year. He's going to be a household name in a few years, he's got enormous power and he can hit lefties. I'm a little concerned about Willingham, and I think Lee's health is always a concern, but overall, I like my outfield.
Pitchers
Yovani Gallardo, Starting Pitcher, Milwaukee, $15
Madison Bumgarner, Starting Pitcher, San Francisco, $11
Josh Johnson, Starting Pitcher, Miami, $9
Tommy Hanson, Starting Pitcher, Atlanta, $9
Tim Hudson, Starting Pitcher, Atlanta, $8
Gio Gonzalez, Starting Pitcher, Washington, $8
Heath Bell, Relief Pitcher, Miami, $7
Johan Santana, Starting Pitcher, NY Mets, $1
Vance Worley, Starting Pitcher, Philadelphia, $1
R.A. Dickey, Starting Pitcher, NY Mets, $1
My God I'm NL East biased. I know they're going to be the best division in baseball, and that they'll wind up getting both of the NL Wildcard spots, but to take 80% of my pitchers from that division as well? I'm a bit scared now, overloading on players from the same division, but oh well, if you're good, you're good. Plus, Dickey is a stud, and he's worth way more than $1.
I'm taking a lot of risks with people who have a history of injuries. Santana, Johnson, Lee, Hamilton, Murphy, Reyes, and Posey are all major injury concerns. However, my team has a ton of potential, and I'm excited to see what we can do.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Bullets Blog Fantasy Baseball Draft Summary - The Blue Jaes Edition
Since fantasy basketball, Oscars, Grammys, and college basketball worked out so well for us, we decided to join a random fantasy baseball league and tear it up. Here are the auction results for the Bullets Blog Blue Jaes (see what I did there?), sorted by category and in order of how much I paid for them:
High-Priced Starting Pitchers
Justin Verlander, Detroit $32
Clayton Kershaw, LA Dodgers $26
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia $25
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco $23
Felix Hernandez, Seattle $23
Cole Hamels, Philadelphia $22
CC Sabathia, NY Yankees $20
Zack Greinke, Milwaukee $19
Dan Haren, LA Angels $18
David Price, Tampa $16
Yeah. I spent $224 of my $260 on my first ten picks, and they were all starting pitchers. I'm hoping that doesn't backfire but I think I'll get a ton of points from innings pitched/strikeouts/wins. If not, well then the Blue Jaes are shit out of luck.
Expensive Position Players
Starlin Castro, Shortstop, Chicago Cubs $16
Jeff Francouer, Outfield, Kansas City $6
Chase Headley, Third Base, San Diego $3
"Expensive" is a relative term. I didn't have a whole lot of money to play with and I blew a lot of it on Starlin because I like him and I think he's going to be one of the best shortstops in the league soon.
The One Dollars
JP Arencibia, Catcher, Toronto
Mark Trumbo, First Base, LA Angels
Mark Ellis, Second Base, LA Dodgers
Jose Altuve, Second Base, Houston
Garrett Jones, First Base, Pittsburgh
Austin Jackson. Outfield, Detroit
Dexter Fowler, Outfield, Colorado
Alfonso Soriano, Outfield, Chicago Cubs
Carlos Quentin, Outfield, San Diego
JD Martinez, Outfield, Houston
Mike Carp, First Base, Seattle
Mark Buehrle, Starting Pitcher, Miami
Yeah. A lot of bargain guys. And by bargain I mean mostly I hope some of them turn out to be decent contributors. I want to point especially to Trumbo, Soriano, Quentin, and Buehrle. I think they're going to be worth a lot more than what I paid.
There's your fantasy baseball team. Still working on a logo but I probably won't end up doing anything about it.
High-Priced Starting Pitchers
Justin Verlander, Detroit $32
Clayton Kershaw, LA Dodgers $26
Cliff Lee, Philadelphia $25
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco $23
Felix Hernandez, Seattle $23
Cole Hamels, Philadelphia $22
CC Sabathia, NY Yankees $20
Zack Greinke, Milwaukee $19
Dan Haren, LA Angels $18
David Price, Tampa $16
Yeah. I spent $224 of my $260 on my first ten picks, and they were all starting pitchers. I'm hoping that doesn't backfire but I think I'll get a ton of points from innings pitched/strikeouts/wins. If not, well then the Blue Jaes are shit out of luck.
Expensive Position Players
Starlin Castro, Shortstop, Chicago Cubs $16
Jeff Francouer, Outfield, Kansas City $6
Chase Headley, Third Base, San Diego $3
"Expensive" is a relative term. I didn't have a whole lot of money to play with and I blew a lot of it on Starlin because I like him and I think he's going to be one of the best shortstops in the league soon.
The One Dollars
JP Arencibia, Catcher, Toronto
Mark Trumbo, First Base, LA Angels
Mark Ellis, Second Base, LA Dodgers
Jose Altuve, Second Base, Houston
Garrett Jones, First Base, Pittsburgh
Austin Jackson. Outfield, Detroit
Dexter Fowler, Outfield, Colorado
Alfonso Soriano, Outfield, Chicago Cubs
Carlos Quentin, Outfield, San Diego
JD Martinez, Outfield, Houston
Mike Carp, First Base, Seattle
Mark Buehrle, Starting Pitcher, Miami
Yeah. A lot of bargain guys. And by bargain I mean mostly I hope some of them turn out to be decent contributors. I want to point especially to Trumbo, Soriano, Quentin, and Buehrle. I think they're going to be worth a lot more than what I paid.
There's your fantasy baseball team. Still working on a logo but I probably won't end up doing anything about it.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Fast Food Bracket
Here's the deal. It's becoming a weekend tradition for me and one of my roommates, Alex (The Daggy, on Twitter at @Tsoupac), and I to do a random March Madness bracket. Maybe it's just a March thing. Last weekend we went thru a candy bracket that was featured in a Reese's commercial (link here). This weekend, we did a random fast food bracket that we found online. Here's the blank bracket, if you want to fill it out (we won't be offended if you only fill it out inside your head):
Some bullets (pun intended, as usual) from the first three rounds:
Some bullets (pun intended, as usual) from the first three rounds:
- McDonalds and Taco Bell flew through to the Final Four. Like they were never challenged.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Reese's Bracket
My roommate Buzz (Alex, Teddy, Xander, the Daggyy, hit him on twitter at @Tsoupac) and I were watching March Madness a few minutes ago and we saw that Reese's commercial with the bracket of snacks/sweets/things that people like to bake into cookies (but the bracket included cookies. Like some Inception cookies within cookies. I'll experiment with them this weekend). We decided to go thru the bracket as a team and decide what the most delicious thing was.
Note: the actual criteria we used was "what we love more" and even that was really ambiguous. If you try it, you'll see what I mean.
Some bullets (pun intended) about our deliberations:
Note: the actual criteria we used was "what we love more" and even that was really ambiguous. If you try it, you'll see what I mean.
Some bullets (pun intended) about our deliberations:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
My Apologies...But this is the reality of things- I'm ranting.
First let's talk about last night's NCAA tournament games. Two games with 4 teams that maybe shouldn't be in the tournament-but are anyways. The first game between Western Kentucky and Mississippi Valley State was an interesting one. The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky had a very mediocre year (with a record below .500) but still somehow managed to win their conference tournament. MVS was the better team by far, compiling 21 wins throughout the season (17 in conference).
Here's the deal, I don't care who you are. But when you have a 16 point lead with 5 minutes remaining, you better close it out. Appalachian State could be beating the Kobe-Shaq Lakers, I don't care. If you're up 16 with 5 minutes to go, you need to win the game. Mississippi Valley State blew it. Plain and simple. Congrats to Western Kentucky. Have fun playing Kentucky and Anthony Davis' unibrow.
The second game was between BYU and Iona- two of the better mid majors throughout the season. Iona came out to BALL in the first half. I've seen them play. Scott Machado is dirty. Mike Glover is a beast. And then add Momo Jones, a transfer guard who started on ARIZONA a year ago? Come on. No competition right? 2 possible draft picks against a bunch of Mormons? Well, the first half went smoothly for the Iona Gaels. They could do no wrong. On absolute fire from every spot on the court. They went into halftime up 15. And then....the second half started. In the second half, Iona was outscored 38-17 by the BYU Cougars. It's really unacceptable for such a lapse to occur. You cannot simply dominate a team, have broadcasters give out warnings to Marquette in the second round match up, and then lose. It's ridiculous. Personally, I put all the blame on the coach. He obviously was not prepared for such a lapse during the second half and didn't know what the hell to do when it happened. Hey buddy, it's called a time out. Bring your guys in, sit them down and tell them to relax and work for their shots. Unbelievable. The Gaels lost 78-72 to BYU and their best player, Brandon Davies, who happens to be the same guy kicked off of the team last year for admitting to having sex with his girlfriend. Crazy world we live in.
(does anyone really care about BYU anymore now that this guy ^ is gone?)
FINALLY, let me make a few more basketball points switching from the NCAA tournament to the NBA.
Dwight Howard: Make up your mind. It's really getting childish. Either you let the magic trade you or you sign a new deal. Personal opinion- stay in Orlando. Guys will come play with you. You're the best center in the league. Chill with Mickey Mouse and keep grabbing 25 rebounds per night.
The New York Knicks: ARE A MESS RIGHT NOW! But Carmelo Anthony will not be traded. Amar'e Stoudemire will not be traded. The reason the Knicks are so inconsistent time and time again is because they never allow for chemistry to come together. Over the past few years, the roster has experienced so many changes, creating chemistry has been impossible. Without a training camp and preseason, chemistry is impossible. I'm confident things will come together. And if not, Mike D'Antoni better start looking for a new job.
Pau Gasol: Should not be traded. I really don't understand why the Lakers keep shopping this guy. Literally, the organization was thrilled to acquire him for KWAH-MAY Brown and now the want to get rid of him? I don't get it. He still produces. Maybe if they got a decent BACK UP for him, they wouldn't have to rely on him so much. What makes the Lakers good (besides Kobe Bryant) is the fact that they two humongous big guys to fill the lane and block shots. For the sake of the team, don't trade Gasol.
If Carmelo Wants A Trade, Carmelo Can Get Himself A Trade
First off, let me just say that Carmelo's head is currently lodged very far up his anus. He wants more of a say in the team's operations and he's upset that NY went after JR Smith when Melo told them not to. He wants to feel like he matters. He wants to feel like the superstar of the Knicks. It's a little Lebron-esque, actually. Except Lebron is having the best statistical season of his life and Melo is playing like a big pile of cow manure. And now Carmelo has decided that the best course of action would be to ditch New York, ditch Lin and Stoudemire and Chandler, ditch being the best player on the team, and start over. Well here's a possibility...
New York receives: F Hedo Turkoglu, F Quentin Richardson, F Glen Davis
Orlando receives: F Carmelo Anthony
For the Knicks
- Well, it solves the Carmelo drama. So there's that.
- You can get all three of these guys (inlcuding Hedo's monstrosity of a contract) for $1.2 million more than Carmelo's deal.
- It frees up more shots for Lin and Stoudemire. Remember when they were 6-0 without Melo? Granted, they played a bunch of shit teams, but they won.
- They get more pieces, and thus more depth. We've learned this year that the teams who can play the most guys usually have the most success. Well that's not entirely true but teams like Denver (who can play like 9 guys equal minutes) overachieve by running and gunning. This would give NY Lin, Davis, Smith, Shumpert, Douglas, Fields, Walker, Turkoglu, Novak, Jeffires, Stoudemire, Richardson, Davis, and Chandler. That's a 14-man roster of guys who could all log minutes.
- More freedom to play team basketball. Melo catches the ball and shoots it, with maybe a pump fake or a drive mixed in. That doesn't leave a whole lot of room for ball movement or chemistry. Now you have point guards, shooting guards, shooting forwards, power forwards (including one of the best, if Amar'e can fix himself), and one of the best centers in the NBA. Lots of freedom on offense and defense.
- Starting 5: Lin, Smith, Fields, Stoudemire, Chandler
- Second 5: Davis, Douglas, Shumpert, Novak, Jeffries
- Third 5: Lin (again), Walker, Richardson, Turkoglu, Davis
For the Magic
- Dwight wants to stay put.
- Bringing in Carmelo guarantees that you'll get half a season (plus playoffs) of Dwight-Melo. If they have success and make a deep playoff run (or look like they might be able to soon) then maybe Dwight is more likely to stay - after all, Orlando can offer him money by the ton.
- Even if Dwight jumps ship this summer, the Magic can still go forward with Carmelo and a ton of cap room.
- Ryan Anderson plays for the Magic. Anthony-Anderson-Howard in the frontcourt? That's a team.
- The Magic don't have a great situation at point guard. Melo can play point forward and run an offense. Problem solved.
- You can get rid of Hedo's ugly deal.
- Starting 5: Nelson, Richardson, Anthony, Anderson, Howard
- Bench: Duhon, Redick, Wafer, Clark, Orton
I think New York says no, but they have to think about it long and hard before they turn it down.
Jay's 2012 March Madness Bracket
Not that it matters because in about a week and a half everyone's bracket is going to be covered in dog shit but here are my picks for the tournament so that when I win (the war of attrition) and win hundreds of dollars you guys can all see how I did it.
South Region
Nobody should have a team other than Kentucky coming out of this region. They are a professional basketball team in a college basketball tournament. I'll skip the first round and just give you my Sweet 16 and on: Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Duke. No upsets, I know. Whatever. Then Kentucky and Baylor and (as mentioned before) the Wildcats again.
Jay's Pick: Kentucky
West Region
I have Michigan State, Louisville, Marquette, and Missouri in the Sweet 16. A lot of my fantasy team is riding on Draymond Green's shoulders - but that's nothing compared to how much of Michigan State's title hopes are riding on him. We both need him to do well and take the Spartans deep in the tournament. Michigan State over Louisville is easy - I hate Louisville. Marquette over Mizzou is harder, but I still like Marquette's duo of Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom.
Jay's Pick: Michigan State
East Region
By far the most wide-open region, even before Syracuse lost Fab Melo for the tournament (idiot). I think Cuse, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and Cincinnati all have good chances of making it to the Final 4. I went with Vandy over Wisconsin to the Sweet 16, and then a Vandy-OSU matchup in the Elite 8. You have to go out on a limb with some 5 seeds sometime, right?
Jay's Pick: Ohio State (I didn't say I was going far out on a limb)
Midwest Region
There is one team and one team only that should be coming out of this region. There are two teams and two teams only that should be the Elite 8 matchup in this region. North Carolina (and Kansas). I have Temple and San Diego State getting thrashed by those two in the Sweet 16. Combined point differential of like 25.
Jay's Pick: North Carolina
Final Four
South Region
Nobody should have a team other than Kentucky coming out of this region. They are a professional basketball team in a college basketball tournament. I'll skip the first round and just give you my Sweet 16 and on: Kentucky, Indiana, Baylor, Duke. No upsets, I know. Whatever. Then Kentucky and Baylor and (as mentioned before) the Wildcats again.
Jay's Pick: Kentucky
West Region
I have Michigan State, Louisville, Marquette, and Missouri in the Sweet 16. A lot of my fantasy team is riding on Draymond Green's shoulders - but that's nothing compared to how much of Michigan State's title hopes are riding on him. We both need him to do well and take the Spartans deep in the tournament. Michigan State over Louisville is easy - I hate Louisville. Marquette over Mizzou is harder, but I still like Marquette's duo of Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom.
Jay's Pick: Michigan State
East Region
By far the most wide-open region, even before Syracuse lost Fab Melo for the tournament (idiot). I think Cuse, Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and Cincinnati all have good chances of making it to the Final 4. I went with Vandy over Wisconsin to the Sweet 16, and then a Vandy-OSU matchup in the Elite 8. You have to go out on a limb with some 5 seeds sometime, right?
Jay's Pick: Ohio State (I didn't say I was going far out on a limb)
Midwest Region
There is one team and one team only that should be coming out of this region. There are two teams and two teams only that should be the Elite 8 matchup in this region. North Carolina (and Kansas). I have Temple and San Diego State getting thrashed by those two in the Sweet 16. Combined point differential of like 25.
Jay's Pick: North Carolina
Final Four
- Kentucky beats Michigan State easily. Draymond Green vs. Anthony Davis? Okay even if you give Green a little boost and call him as good as Davis. The rest of Kentucky is one hundred bazillion times better than Sparty.
- North Carolina beats Ohio State easily. Zeller-Henson are more than capable of slowing down Sullinger. And I know I just said that two of Toph's players are going to shut down two of my players, but that's fine because I'm going to jump out to a commanding fantasy lead (oh wait, already done that). I just wish that Kendall Marshall was more athletic because his court vision is absurd. Oh, and, uh, Harrison Barnes.
- A UK-UNC national championship game would be absolutely phenomenal. The coaches (Roy Williams and John Calipari), the prospects (Davis, Zeller, Henson, Kidd-Gilchrist, Marshall, Barnes, Teague, Jones, Lamb), the prestige of the programs (some stat about combined championships or whatever). I'm rooting for this.
Jay's Pick: North Carolina
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