Papelbon moved back to closer...Bullpen Preview

Well, one my my starters has become my best closer again. The Red Sox made the right move and sent him to anchor the bullpen. I'd rather have a bad 5th starter a great closer than a good 5th starter and a trio of bum closers (Timlin, Donnelly, Tavarez). Timlin is 41 and rapidly declining, and he will start the season on the DL. Tavarez can't even handle middle relief. Donnelly has been a decent RP, but he's never closed.

I think this really helps my team. Papelbon was a monster for my team last season out of the bullpen, and I expect the same this year. The team said they won't pitch him 3 days in a row to avoid shoulder problems, which sounds good to me. The last thing I need is for him to hurt that arm.

CLOSERS: I now have 2 or 3 this year. Papelbon (see above) and Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman is getting up there in age, but he hasn't shown signs of slowing down. I picked up Jose Valverde in the draft, and he has a good shot to close in Arizona.

SETUP: I have some really tough setup men in my bullpen. I have the Angels setup crew in Justin Speier (31 holds) and Scott Shields (25 holds). Speier got a lot of money to help close down the 7-8 innings. I also have Bobby Howry who had 21 holds last season for the Cubs. With the improvements that the Cubs made this off-season, Howry should have more hold opportunities. Luis Ayala is back from injury this year, and he will be in the back of the Nats bullpen. I also have Andrew Brown who was sent to Cleveland in exchange for Kouzmanoff. He has potential, but it's time for him to live up to it.

All in all, I'm very confident in this bullpen. It should bring in plenty of saves and holds. Also, there are some nice strikeout arms in there (Howry, Shields, Speier, Papelbon, Valverde all averaged near or above 1K/IP).

NIT Elite 8

Why am I updating the NIT and not the NCAA pool? Simple: my NCAA bracket isn't doing so well, and ridiculous NIT brackets are always amusing to me. And, frankly, this is more about amusing me than amusing you. So, deal with it. I mean, who else wasn't disappointed when the Hofstra Flying Dutchmen went out in the first round to DePaul? I was devastated! But, not as devastated as when they became the Hofstra Pride. What a travesty!

I have 6 of my Elite Eight correct, and my competition only has 3. I did lose Kansas St, and I had them in the championship game. But, even still, I feel mt lead is unsurmountable. I am up 46-30 after 2 rounds. Unfortunately, we never decided on the wager, so it looks like nothing more than NIT bragging rights for me. A moral victory nonetheless....

2 more weeks...

While watching March Madness for 96 straight hours, I noticed that Opening Day is only 2 weeks away. That means, real baseball stories will begin. There will now be stories about actual games. Sure, Pedro Gomez will still be following Barry Bonds around discussing how he doubled in size over the last decade. And, we will still be given up to the second updates about when Roger "Captain Drama" Clemens will bless us with his return to a front running team in time to try for another ring.

But, in Baltimore, there will be some hope as the season begins. A young rotation anchored by Eric Bedard, Adam Loewen, and Daniel Cabrera has incredible potential. In 2 weeks, I will get to begin seeing if they can reach it. The O's offense still has some holes, but the front office improved in LF/1B with guys like Aubrey Huff and Jay Payton. Sam Perlozzo is getting shredded by O's fans for his inability to manage a roster and a game, and in 2 weeks he'll get his chance to prove us all wrong.

2 weeks from today will be the NCAA championship game, but it will also be MLB opening day. Since the Orioles open on the road and in a dome this year, it's unlikely that they have to play in snowfall like they did on Opening Day 2003. Nonetheless, seeing Bedard take the mound for the first time will signify a welcomed start to spring.

NIT Round 1

I think I may have already won this thing after just round. My competitor is already down 2 of his Final Four teams, and we have the same team (FSU) winning it all. It's going to be awfully tough for him to come back now.

NIT Bracket

So, for humor's sake, I participate in an NIT Pick 'Em with a friend of mine. It's just us 2 because, frankly, no one else knows the NIT is going on. For those of you who don't know, the NIT is a tournament for teams that weren't good enough to make the "real" tournament or got hosed out of participating in it (sorry Syracuse). Picking this tournament is a crap-shoot since most of the teams don't care, and some of those have no interest in being there. So, you have to guess who will put forth absolutely no effort.

After the opening night of this tournament, I am off to a 5 games to 4 lead, with my friend losing a Final Four Team (Drexel) on night 1. I'll keep the thrilling updates going, as well as thrilling up dates on my NCAA brackets, which are destined to blow up after Round 2 like they always do.

I will post my completed NIT bracket for all of the interested fans as soon as this wonderful blogging site fixes its problem with uploading images.

Pessimistic Players: SP Preview

Just like with the offense, I tried to add some "new blood" to the rotation. The starting pitching can be broken down into a few distinct tiers.

Tier 1(Cy Young Tier): Chris Carpenter and Johan Santana are perennial Cy Young candidates. Johan is the best starter in baseball, and Chris Carpenter is one of the best SPs in the NL. I gave up a few good players to get Carpenter, but I was more than willing to do so in order to have him start every 5th day.

Tier 2 (All-Star Starters): The next tier of starters consists of established starters who could all have outstanding seasons. Dontrelle Willis, Aaron Harang, and John Lackey are the primary arms in this tier. Harang is probably the least well known guy out of this group, but he really came on strong last season (16-11, 3.76ERA, 216K, 1.27WHIP). All of these guys are capable of winning 18-20 games, posting low ERAs, and piling up strikeouts. While they aren't in the same category as Johan and Carpenter, they are definitely capable of putting together a Cy Young season and jumping into that tier.

Tier 3 (The "Up-and-Comers"): Jonathan Papelbon established himself as one of - if not the - best closer in baseball last season. But, to lessen the stress on his arm, he has been moved into the rotation. There is no reason to believe he won't succeed in this role. I acquired Daniel Cabrera for Brad Penny this offseason because of his phenomenal potential. He is dominant when he's "on", but he needs to be "on" more consistently. Leo Mazzone says D-Cab has a changeup now. If he cuts down his walks, he could jump up to Tier 2 this season.

Tier 4 (The Youngsters): Matt Garza, Ian Snell, and Tom Gorzelanny make up this tier. All 3 of these guys have massive potential, with Garza leading the way in that category. The 2 Pirates starters - Snell and Gorzelanny - showed last season that they belong in the big leagues. If these guys live up to their potential, Tier 2 & 3 will get a lot more crowded this season.

Pessimistic Players: Offensive Preview

C: Gerald Laird - This is probably the weakest spot in my lineup. Laird hadn't proven he can handle a full season at catcher, but he did show some reason for optimism last year. He posted a solid 805 OPS last year in part time duty, and he has earned the starting nod this year. Since he plays in a great hitters park, I hope he can maintain - or improve on - his 805 OPS from last season. At 27 years old, Laird could be positioned for a breakout season.

1B: Albert Pujols - What do I need to say about him? Pujols is an absolute monster who will be a fixture in my lineup until he retires.

2B: Josh Barfield - One of my personal favorite players (Brian Roberts) was traded this off-season in deal that brought Chris Carpenter to town. I was willing to deal B-Rob since Barfield was waiting in my minors. He showed decent power and speed last season in SD. Since he's been traded to Cleveland, I hope he can continue to improve on his production in a new league.

3B: Edwin Encarnacion - Troy Glaus was traded in the off-season and Edwin was brought in. I wanted to move towards a younger team, and starting Edwin was a move in that direction. He had an excellent rookie season, finishing with an OPS > 830. And, at age 24, there should be nowhere to go but up.

SS: Miguel Tejada - As an Orioles fan, I am really excited to have Tejada at SS. The Orioles have improved their lineup, and that should help Tejada improve his already excellent production. He had a slightly disappointing season by his standards, and he seemed disinterested at times. But, a young and improving lineup should help him bring back his passion for the game, and I expect an outstanding season from him.

OF: My "youth movement" has led to a young and extremely talented OF. My personal favorite player is Nick Markakis, who is one of my starting OFers. He had a great rookie season, and he will bat 2nd or 3rd in the Baltimore lineup this season. He has a great all around game, and his offense should boast a high average and nice power. I also added Carl Crawford this season. He is one of the best fantasy OFers around. He hits for great average, has tremendous base stealing potential, and his power improves every season. I also have 2 monster veteran bats in Jermaine Dye and Manny Ramirez. One of these guys will start in the OF, and the other will be used at my UTIL spot. In my personal (biased) opinion, you will be hard pressed to find a better group of OFers than the 4 I have. As long as the stay healthy, I should get outstanding production from these guys, and there is an excellent mix of young guys and veterans.

All in all, I expect monster performance from my offense. Laird is obviously the weak link, but there really aren't many catchers who aren't considered weak offensively. Last year I had Josh Willingham at C, but I traded him because he won't be used much as a catcher anymore. I am relying on some 2nd year guys like Encarnacion, Barfield, and Markakis to have big years. And, I think they all will. Even with a few gambles, there are more than enough "can't miss players" like Pujols, Manny, Crawford, Dye, and Tejada, that I should put up some staggering offensive numbers,

Pess Weighs in on Coach K..

We already established I am a UNC fan. So, it's obvious to all that I abhor Duke. But, the most recent events brought to light the reasons I think Coach K is a complete sleezeball. Let me paint a picture for you.

UNC dominates Duke. I mean, Duke came back to within 2, and then UNC ran away with it. So, it's an 11 point game with under a minute left. Coach K calls a timeout, so he obviously hasn't given up. Coach K has his starters in, so he doesn't think the game is over. And, for those who remember, teams can come back from double digit leads with less than a minute left (like Duke did against Maryland on Jan. 27, 2001). So, since Coach K was still palying to win, so was Roy Williams...who still has his starters in.

At the end of the game, with 15 seconds left, there is a player waiting to come in for Tyler Hansbrough. But, the FT is missed and Tyler grabs the rebound. As he goes up for a layup, Gerald Henderson comes flying in and nails Tyler with his elbow. Did he mean to hit him in the nose? Probably not. But, by his own admission, he meant to "block his shot or foul him." So, he came flying in recklessly and fouled him hard, just like he wanted.

Then, Coach K opens his mouth. He revelas that he's mad Roy was still trying, and says that event could have been avoided if the "players involved" weren't still in the game. Then, Coach K says that he would have suspended the player if he thought he did it on purpose. Riiiight. Just like he did when Laettner stomped on the chest of the Kentucky player. Not only is he full of crap in that regard, but his comments actually illuminate the intent on that play. Coach K was mad he was losing, that he couldn't come back, and that UNC hadn't given up. He wanted Roy to give up so he could keep his starters in the game and make the score respectable. And, when Roy didn't, he called a TO. He probably told them not to give up any easy baskets. And, he probably whined to his players about UNC still having their starters in.

Of course, Coach K gave his typical "my boys played their hearts out" crap that he always does. But, the way he handled this play really highlighted the lack of class that he has. "Duke people" want their school and athletes to be put on some pedestal for doing things the "right way." I find it hard to believe that anyone would claim this situation was handled the "right way." You see, the truth is this: Duke believes everything should go their way. They are "supposed" to win because it says Duke on their jerseys. They didn't win, they couldn't come back, and UNC didn't quit. So, Duke got frustrated. They performed a heinous foul, and now they are trying to slither their way out of it with the "we don't play like that" chant. Well Coach K, you do play like that now. And, thanks to your sleazy press conference, more people are starting to see you as the phony that you really are.

Did I mention that I hate Duke?

College Hoops...Heels have Disappointed

Let me get this out of the way: I am a University of MD alumni, B.S. & M.S., who roots for UNC basketball. There...I said it. But, I have a reason. Growing up, I started watching college basketball at an early age. While other kids watched Sesame Street or He-Man or Nickleodeon, I watched the ACC. However, thanks to Bob Wade, the Terps were hit with sanctions including a television ban.

So, as a young and impressionable child, I watched the teams that were always on TV: including my TarHeels. I rooted for them year in and year out, and I became a dedicated/diehard fan. When I got to UMD, I tried to become a Terps Basketball fan, but I couldn't change allegiances. I was too loyal. So, as it stands now, I root for the Terps in every sport except basketball- including being a season ticket holder for Terrapin football. Now, if the Terps aren't playing the Heels, I like to see them do well. But, when the Heels come to town, I root UNC.

Now that I explained my strange athletic allegiances, I have to say that the TarHeels are disappointing. This team is stacked with talent, but they seem to be getting worse as the season goes along. They have been playing horrendous team defense lately. Frasor doesn't cover PGs well, but he gets legit minutes. Wright blocks shots, but he doesn't play good interior defense. Ellington isn't a shutdown defender by any means. On top of these problems, Roy Williams insists on playing 10-11 guys a night. That's fine at the beginning of the year when you need to find out who the studs are. But come February/March, this team should have gotten down to a nice 8 man rotation where the best players are on the court a lot.

IMO, Roy should have gone to a starting 5 with Lawson, Ginyard, Terry, Wright, Hansbrough. Ginyard is a tenacious defender who can stick like glue to the top 2 or 3 on the other team. And, there are plenty of scorers on the court to pick up for his weak offense. Then, Roy can bring Ellington, Danny Green, and Thompson off the bench. Thomas/Frasor can steal a few minutes here and there, and Miller could come in and shoot some threes. But, the best players need to get more minutes.

Now, with the ACC tourney fast approaching, the Heels need a win against Duke on Sunday to lock up a 1st round bye in the tourney. Hopefully the defense will pick it up, because a loss to Duke would sting.