Our third fantasy baseball magazine for 2010 has been put to bed, and it seems hard to believe! We’re in the first week of January, spring training isn’t even a thought yet, the football playoffs are just starting, and Fanball has already completed three fantasy baseball magazines! Wow!

Before I expand on the lessens learned from our many magazine drafts, I would like to weigh in on the decision made by Coach Jim Caldwell and the Colts decision to take NFL weeks 15 & 16 off. As Peyton Manning has just won his 4th League MVP award, I can’t help but think of the disappointment he, as well as all the other players, and Colts fans must have, losing the opportunity to do something truly special. I understand that the goal is to win the Super Bowl, to be the NFL Champs, and that the Caldwell thought resting his key players was the best way to achieve that goal.

But after starting the season 14-0, with a home game against the Jets and a road game against the Bills, they had a great chance of going 16-0, and becoming a dynasty team like the Miami Dolphins, something all the players and fans deserve. That Dolphins team is still considered the best of all time because of their perfect record; they did something no other NFL team has ever done. It’s something special to the players and their fans. That opportunity was there for the Colts, and Caldwell gave it away like a Politian making a speech. He gave some solid sounding reasons, but at the end of the day, and the decade, it will be remembered like the Politian’s speech, empty, full of unfulfilled dreams and hopes!

Even if the Colts go on and win the Super Bowl, does it justify giving away the dream, of the emptiness the players and fans will now have to live with forever, knowing they were that close and always wondering if it could have happened? In this world of achievers, of people with ambition, of people striving for perfection, of people doing all they can to be the best, what message does Caldwell give?

Shame on you Jim Caldwell, and your punishment will be you’ll go down in history and making one of the worst decisions ever!!! That’s what you earned this year, that’s what you accomplished, that’s what you deserve! And some sports writers might even make you NFL coach of the year, but deep down inside, you’ll know what could have happened, what you and your tem could have done, what you let get away..Mortality was there and you choose not to accept it!

Happy Holidays to all and to all playing for your football league championship, good luck.

As it turned out last weekend, while Jamaal Charles helped me to the finals in one league, he put me out in the other.  One less touchdown and I could have made both, but one is better than none.  Unfortunately, I’m going against the league powerhouse, so I’ll need some strange things to happen to win.

So here’s a present for 2010 fantasy baseball players…Do Not Draft Javier Vasquez Early, If At All.  I know the temptation will be there, and surely he must have more value in Yankee Pin Stripes than Atlanta Peach, right?  Wrong!!!  Yes Vasquez has been an innings eater over his 12 year career, and a sure bet for 32 starts.  And 2009 was the 33 year olds best year ever, posting career highs in ERA (2.87) and WHIP (1.03), with his second best years for wins (15) and strike out (238).  He was worthy of some Cy Young votes, and the National League East was child’s play for him.

But the same will not be true in the American League East!  As we look back on his career, and the last time he pitched in the Bronx, as a 28 year old in 2004, you’ll see 14 wins and disaster with all his other numbers.  His strikes fell from 241 in 2003 to 150, his low mark for a full season, 198 innings, another low mark for a full season, a4.91 ERA and a 1.29 Whip, also some of his worst work.  He gave up 33 dingers (compared to 20 last year), and that was before the new launching pad was conceived!  So it’s scary to think about what the sequel might be this summer.

Since 2004, he has not had back to back winning seasons, and the last time he was in the AL (White Sox 2006-8), only his 2007 season was one to write home about.  Yes, he’ll win his share of games, maybe a career high 17, pitching in the 3 or 4 spot in the Yankee rotation.  And he’ll match up well against the Red Sox John Lackey, which is what the Yankees we’re hoping for when they traded for him, but the rest of his numbers could give your pitching staff problems.

In our expert’s league draft for our Just Cheat Sheets magazine yesterday, Javier fell to the 11th round, about the 70th pitcher taken.  Just the day before (and before the trade while he was still a Brave), he went in the 7th round about the 35th pitcher taken, so it didn’t take long for his value to fall.  So take note, and if you want to gamble a late round pick on him, that’s the spot, but let some other owner take him as the foundation of his pitching staff, and watch it crumble!

 I was watching the Colts and Jaguars game last night, and as Peyton Manning was firing touchdown passes, I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or sad.  I was in that situation many of us who play in multiple leagues find ourselves in from time to time; the player I need to help my win in one league is the same player who is on my opponent’s team in the other league.  And to make it more interesting, Jamaal Charles is in that same spot.You find yourself being greedy, I want to win in both leagues this week and advance to the finals in both leagues.  Then you start thinking, is that really possible?  So you start looking at what else needs to happen for you to make it in each, and then you look ahead to who you might have to play in the finals, and start telling yourself, if I have to root for one team, which one has the best chance of winning?

So in “The Boone League”, who I play against a bunch of guys who work in the office and used to work in the office, I got a little lucky and would up with the 3 seed, so I don’t have to play against the best team until next week.  My opponent Ted has the Manning/Charles combo (that I have in my other league), and I was able to offset Manning’s 28 points he got last night with 26 from MJD.  I still have Rivers, Rice and hopes of Larry Fitzgerald as my best options left, and he counters with Forte, Benson and Moss.  I like my chances if Fitz is ready to go, but if not, I’ll have to play Quinton Ganther, and I’ll be a wreck Monday night waiting for him to do something.  The good news is the league Czar Rick, got it put to him pretty good last night by Tom’s number one team, putting up 40 with Wayne and Clark, and he still has Brees and Johnson.  So if I make it to the finals, I have a really tough match up, but maybe I’ll get lucky and some of those players will be getting some much deserved rest, and give me a chance!  I’m do for some in this league, as I had bad luck the last two years and got knocked out of the championship game in the semi’s!

In my other league “The Noble Cast League”, I’m playing against a bunch of my Shriner friends.  I limped into the playoffs and won last week, so I’m lucky to be in the Semi’s this week.  I really needed the 39 points Peyton put on the board for me, because this team is really weak.  My other good options are DeSean Jackson and Jason Witten, and hope for Charles, Fred Jackson, Kenny Britt or Ryan Moats.  And Matt the stock broker has Romo, Gore, Steve Smith, and some guy named Chris Johnson.  After Matt read my blog on the Fidelity firings, he offered for me to transfer those accounts to him, and as a bonus, he’d play Sproles & Royal for Johnson & Smith.  But after Peyton got me 39, maybe I can beat him anyway!  And if I get to the finals, maybe I’ll get Jason, who could knock off Trucky’s number one team this week, He got 21 from Clark, and he’ll need it, Trucky is stacked, Rodgers, Peterson, Andre Johnson, etc.

I’m just hoping I’m not torn between two lovers again, not knowing when Jamaal Charles scores a touchdown if it was a good thing of not.  Good luck to all of you in your playoff games this week!

It’s been a while since I last posted, sorry about that. I’ll try to post something weekly. So what was it that got my attention and made me want to comment?

The Fidelity investment firm fired 4 people for playing fantasy football…here’s the link to the story. http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.startelegram.com/business/story/1825336.html&ct=ga&cd=8wtkUfEsoj4&usg=AFQjCNG2ygWB39ezNXg785yQH4WpUFg6w

Said Fidelity spokesman Vin Loporchio: “We have clear policies that relate to gambling. Participation in any form of gambling through the use of Fidelity time or equipment or any other company resource is prohibited. In addition to being illegal in a lot of places, it can also be disruptive. We want our employees to be focused on our customers and clients.”

While I have no problems with Fidelity having such policies, I do have a major problem with Mr. Loporchio’s assertion that fantasy football is some form of gambling. Perhaps Mr. Loporchio should review that guidelines that were established in the carve out language used in the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act that became law in October of 2006.

Here’s what was passed into law if Mr. Loporchio would like to review it and see if his employees were engaged in something other than this…

(ix) participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports organization (as those terms are defined in section 3701 of title 28) and that meets the following conditions:

(I) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.

(II) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals (athletes in the case of sports events) in multiple real-world sporting or other events.

(III) No winning outcome is based—(aa) on the score, point-spread, or any performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combination of such teams; or (bb) solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single real-world sporting or other event.

With over 25 million people playing fantasy sports games in our country, and probably many of them Fidelity customers or potential customers, this is a tough stance for them to take. They run the risk of many of their customers closing their accounts and moving them to other companies, as many fantasy football players would not like to do business with a company that feels they are gamblers or misinterprets the laws of our government…interesting because some might believe it’s more like gambling when their customers are investing funds with them!

I for one will be canceling any account I have with fidelity on Monday!

 Sorry it’s been a while since my last post, I’ll start posting more regularly.

The All Star break is thought to be the middle of the baseball season, and a good chance to look and access how your fantasy baseball team(s) is doing (and start wondering if it’s time to start thinking fantasy football).

I have two teams dominating their league, one the CBS NL Experts League.  Even though I had a nice lead, and was dominating in all the offensive categories, I had made a trade in late May that really improved my season ending chances of staying on top.  In need of another closer, I traded Jason Werth and Emilio Boniface for Ryan Franklin.  I hold a 10 point lead over Roto Wire, and barring some major injury, I should be able to hold them off.   I also got lucky in the faab bidding on Mark DeRosa when he came over to the NL from Cleveland.  I made a big bid on him, $87, only to be outbid by CBS’s Scott White who bid $99.  While DeRosa might turn out to be worth it for him, I like my position of being able to still pick up a top player when someone else comes over from the AL…maybe Roy Halladay.

I’m sitting second in the FSTA expert’s league, 10 points behind Ron Shandler.  With some pitching help in the second half, I hope to catch him.  4 other teams are sitting in the middle of the pack, and at least two of them should contend before it’s over.

My NFBC teams on the other hand continue to be an embarrassment.  In the main event, I’m 10^th in my league and 270 overall….and that’s an improvement!  Two weeks ago I was 14^th and 327 overall, so I’m moving in the right direction.  Having Reyes & Manny out left my offense at the bottom of the offensive categories, so getting them back might get me back to the middle of the pack.  I have to give kudos to Shawn Childs, who has gotten to the top of our league and 12^th overall.  I have to say I wasn’t impressed with his draft, but it’s obvious he knows more about this game than me!  My satellite league team with the CDM/Fanball posters is doing a little better, sitting in 7^th place but only 10 points out of third.  William Devers is trying to hold off

Ken Magner, and it looks like to two of them will battle to the end.  If my 6 or 7 ifs all come through, I could make a run at them, but I’m not counting on it.

Remember, baseball is a marathon, not a sprint, and there’s a lot that can still happen.  Don’t give up yet.  You don’t have to start worrying about football for a couple weeks still (even though I’ve drafted over 10 teams for our magazines already!)

Next week I’ll look at how my “picks” from the start are doing and some second half players to target.

The Godfather has returned from his pilgrimmage to the homeland, in this case Las Vegas.  Having spent 9 of 11 days in the city that never sleeps, it takes a couple days for me to catch up.  My daughter, Heather, was married in the Graceland Chapel while I was there, and new son-in-law, Dave, is a welcome addition to the family.  I haven’t gotten him into the family business yet, but a fantasy draft is in his future!

I have had quite a few drafts lately, 4 in the last week, so players are starting to become blurred.  I’m trying my best not to fall into a pattern of taking the same players, but a couple seem to keep falling my way.  If Chris Carpenter returns to form for the Cardinals this year, he’ll help my pitching staff on multiple teams.

I drafted for the third year in the NFBC, part of the fun of going to Vegas.

I really enjoy meeting and talking with a lot of our customers, and this year was especially fun.  I engaged in many conversations and discussed the strategy of the NFBC event (a 15-team draft) with Rich Thomas and Ken Norred the night before the draft.  I had the  number 4 pick in the draft, so my first pick was pretty well decided, to take who was left from the big 4; Hanley, Albert, Wright or Reyes.  The question was who to take on the return pick, the 26th player in the draft.  As I pondered, it needed to be a speed guy if I had Albert, or a power guy if I had Reyes, or a combo (like Matt
Kemp) if I had Wright, Rick Thomas suggested the player should be Tim Lincecum if he was still available.  I questioned the move, as I’m not accustomed to taking pitchers early, and remarked that most Cy Young winners do not have great years the year following the award.  Rick commented that Mighty Tim might be more of the Randy Johnson/Pedro Martinez mold, one of those rare pitchers despite his size and youthful appearance, that could be the real deal.

Lincecum was one of only two pitchers, the other being Roy Halladay, that I trusted enough this year to make an early pick.  As we discussed the benefits of having an ace on my staff with an early pick, I started to like the idea.  Someone to anchor the staff, put up a lot of innings with a low WHIP and ERA, and someone to get a lot of strikeouts, would make it easier latter in draft to come away with a acceptable pitching staff.  Rick had sold me on the idea, now I needed the rest of the people in my draft to cooperate.

Draft day came, and the 6 of us from the Fanball staff participating had a pre-draft breakfast gathering to share last minute strategies. Rick Hawes had agreed to help me, keeping track of the ADP list, as I crossed out players from my projections list.  I had been told I had my work cut out for me, as my league was deemed one of the toughest in the NFBC.  The dreaded Shawn Childs, who works with the WCOFF guys, was in it, and I had a side bet with Jesse Herron about who would do better.   Perry Van Hook was next to him, and on my right was Ken Norred and Dan Semsel, Ken a former DC winner.

As I sat down, I noticed the guy to my left, Robert Zidonik, who would be picking in front of me (at least half of the time) had a copy of the Fanball Baseball Annual opened to the Godfather Of Fantasy Sports story, and he proceeded to tell me I would not be getting any of the players I had written about as good sleeper picks this year.

Brady Ticker, an industry cohort,  was facilitating our draft, and called for the first pick.  Hanley went first, then Albert, then Wright.  I took Jose Reyes and the draft sped through the first round and back with the second.  It was all Rick and I could do to keep up crossing off names!  As the second round reached Ken and Dan, I realized Mighty Tim was still available, one pick away. They wanted him, but the lure of Evan Longoria was too much and they took him instead.  So I pounced on Mighty Tim and hoped Rick Thomas was right.  As the draft quickly made it’s turn, I was up again.

I needed someone to balance Reyes’ speed with some power, and Manny Ramirez seemed like the perfect pick.  By the time the first break came, Rick and I needed to catch our breath, as our draft was flying along at breakneck pace.

The rest of draft continued at that speed, and ours was the first one finished…by a good 10 minutes over the next.  I came away feeling good about my team, but I did last year only to finish near the bottom.

Hopefully, the Mighty Tim in the second will turn out to be a wise move, and my Italian Restaurant/Pizzeria owner friend Rick taught the Godfather a good lesson.  After the draft, I wondered around the room and looked at the other 11 drafts.  I realized I was fortunate with my first two picks, as our draft is the only one where Reyes fell to 4 and Lincecum was still available with the 26th pick.  The Godfather had gotten an offer he couldn’t refuse, now let’s hope it plays out well!

Can someone who made $10 million last year, made an out 3/4ths of the time he came to bat, and was not at the top of his game most of the season ask for an 80% raise. And his employer offered a 40% raise!

That’s what happened when arbitration numbers were released Wednesday and Ryan Howard submitted his demand for $18 million, and the Phillies countered with $14 million. Poor ole Ryan will have to settle for only $14 million if he loses his case. That’s only $4 million more than he made last year, imagine having to settle for that?

Hopefully for his earnings he will be hitting more than the .220 he was hitting on July 3rd last year.

Only in baseball!!!

As Mark Teixeira settles into his New York pinstripes, I find this signing to be an interesting maneuver by the Yankees. And as much as you hate what the Yankees are doing, spending over $424 million dollars on free agents, the latest signing comes as a bit of a surprise, and probably more for the Red Sox than anyone else! Scott Boras’s game of chicken with Boston turned out to real. The media reported Boston offered more money, but when Boras told them he had a better offer, they backed off, and acted like they did not believe the World best agent. Through this whole ordeal, the Yankees were in the background lurking, waiting to make their strike. And it one swift swirl, they got the prize, not only helping their team, but hurting their main nemesis in the process. Congrats to the Yankees for the way they played this one!

The other deal that happened in New York leaves a really bad taste in fantasy players’ mouths; the trading of JJ Putz to the Mets. From a fantasy player standpoint, this deal really sucks. It takes one of the top closers off the list of closers, as Putz will be a setup man in New York. The same could happen with Brian Fuentes, so the ‘09 draft will be filled with a lot of guesswork on whom the closers will be. Do your homework, and you can use this to your advantage. And while you’re at it, don’t forget about Putz. Our fantasy injury guru Rick Wilton has been predicting KRod is going down with an arm injury for the last three years. Having signed the big contract, Frankie might try a little too hard to impress the New York fans, and Mr. Wilton’s prophecy might come true. A late round or reserve pick of Putz could reap big rewards.

As the $180 million dollar man takes hold of first base in New York, another door opens in southern California. Here’s your Christmas present fantasy baseball readers, take a chance on Kendry Morales, who you should be able to get in the late rounds of your draft. The Cuban prospect is primed for a breakout year. He’s tearing the cover off the ball in the Caribbean league right now, and with 500-plus at-bats for the Angels next year, he’ll produce 25-30 home runs, over 100 RBI’s and hit close to .300. Great numbers for a late round pick who can start by filling an outfield spot, and fill your corner infield or first base position by May.

Have a safe and happy holiday season. The Fanball Fantasy Baseball Annual is being shipped to newsstands next week, but if you’d like one in your mail box the first week of January, just go to the Estore at Fanball.com and order today. I’ll even make you an offer you can’t refuse. Order by December 31st, and you’ll get Free shipping.

Order the magazine now: http://www.fanball.com/store/ 

Ball State finished an undefeated season and will probably join undefeated Boise State on the outside of the BCS. We’ve been coping for years with the injustice of the NCAA national football championship, and the ridiculous idea that computer rankings and media polls get to decide which team plays for the national champion. While I don’t always agree with our soon to be president, and he has a lot more important things to worry about than the way the NCAA determines the National football champion, he is right on with his comments and I welcome his involvement. Nobody else can seem to make the NCAA realize what they are doing does not cut it with Americans, and “It’s Time For Change!”

For those of us that believe the outcome should be settled on the field of play, it’s time for Obama’s message to be heard. We like to root for the underdog, and undefeated teams at least need the chance to prove they belong. Plus it could help the recruiting efforts of the less powerful football program, having to the share the wealth attitude Obama is preaching. What is more unfair than the wealthiest and highest earning American paying the least amount of taxes, is the USC’s, Florida’s and Alabama’s getting all the best recruits. How can any of the other programs hope to compete if they can’t offer highly sought talent the chance to play for the gold ring?

How could a playoff system work? Here’s my idea. Currently we have 34 bowl games between December 20th and January 8th, involving 68 teams. Most of them could stay the same and offer some lame teams and their fans one last game for a dismal. Start a weekend earlier, the weekend of December 13th, and take the top 16 ranked teams according the BCS point system, with a provision that if an undefeated team is not part of the top 16, they would replace the 16th (15, 14th, etc.) ranked team. Top 8 seeded teams would get a “home” game and play the bottom 8 in the field.

Based on current rankings, here’s how the games would look this year.
Cincinnati at Alabama, Ball State at Texas, TCU at Oklahoma, Mizzou at Florida, Olk St at USC, Georgia at Utah, Ohio St at Texas Tech and Boise St at Penn St. Looks like one of the great days of watching college football to me. Do you think the networks and ESPN wouldn’t like to have part of that line-up? Do you think the NCAA might be able to add a few shackles to their coffers?
Then the next weekend, December 20th, the Eagle, New Mexico, St. Pete and Pioneer Bowls could host the winners. Yeah, like the NCAA would give them those games, but it would be the biggest college bowl games ever played in Washington, Albuquerque, St. Petersburg and Las Vegas! Even if the fans and Alumni didn’t fill their stadiums, local fans would! They could rotate the teams each year, so once every 4 years one of the cities would have the number 1 (assuming they were not upset by the number 16 team the week before) playing in their city. Actually, if you think about it, cities would compete for these games like ncaa regional basketball games, and 7 cities could host the games. Sorry Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Cotton and Orange bowls, but if you want one of these games, you’ll have to buck up more to the NCAA.

Moving to the 2 games with the four teams left, play them the first weekend of January, giving the teams an extra week to prepare, and play the National Championship game the 3rd weekend of January (or the weekend without NFL playoff games) with an extra week to prepare. Would there be some excitement created?

The biggest downside I see to this idea is the traveling for the fans, which could require 4 weekends of travel over 6 weekends, but the basketball tournament requires close to the same. So what do you think, would this be a better way to determine our national football championship than what we currently use? If so, please write your congressman and encourage him to have President Elect Obama add the Godfather of Fantasy Sports to his sports advisory board, to work for Change!

It’s hard not to get lost in the media hype sometimes, so when we were led to believe Albert Pujols might have been challenged by Ryan Howard for the NL MVP, it was cause for concern.

Last March, ESPN touter Matt Berry (and some other fantasy gurus) scared the fantasy world from selecting Albert, at least not in the first round, based on some injury concerns they thought might be in the near future. They underestimated El Hombre’s fortitude and passion for playing the game, and treated him like any other player…a mistake I’m sure they now regret.

It’s tough enough in the fantasy world predicting what kind of numbers someone will put up, but knowing what’s inside a player should ease some concerns. None of us would ever draft J.D. Drew if we knew we couldn’t replace him when he decided his body wasn’t in performance mode, which for him seems to be quite often. And there’s a multitude of other injury-prone players, but King Albert is not one of them. He is one of those rare breed of players who will play through injuries, and still perform at a high level. Last year’s MVP season should put the entire media backlash to rest. The soon-to-be 29-year-old Gold Glove first baseman had 626 at-bats in ‘08, with a career high of 104 walks. That makes eight consecutive seasons reaching that number of at-bats, a very impressive start to a career that has Hall Of Fame written all over it!

I’m confused why the media does not embrace the best player, and why they don’t jump on the bandwagon and give him the credit he deserves. Why are they always looking for someone else to promote or win some award he has earned? As he enters his ninth year on a big league roster, he has proved he belongs in an elite class. He might be the best baseball player many of the media will ever see in their lifetime, so I wish they could enjoy the opportunity to watch him.

With his elbow problems now behind him, ‘09 could be his best year yet. The Cardinals are seeking a bat in the lineup to provide him better protection, and hopefully encourage more NL pitchers to challenge him more this season. If that happens, he can be the guy to lead your team to a fantasy baseball championship in ‘09. Learn the lesson from last year; do not get caught up in the media hype. Draft Albert with your number one pick, and he won’t disappoint you.