Lyon in Spring/ Sanpan Massacre
This is the first weekend of the 2005 season, and it is time to address some last minute rumors, injuries, and concerns dealing with closers.
Ned Yost ended speculation in Milwaukee today by formally naming Mike Adams the closer. This seemed like the obvious move, but Yost was wary of going with Adams because he felt Adams was trying to strikeout too many batters and his arm would wear down as the season progressed. Someone should remind Mr. Yost the Brewers will not be in too many save situations, and the possibility his closer may wear down should be the least of his worries. But perhaps Mr. Yost is on to something; you may recall last year Danny Kolb was an extremely effective closer for the Brewers, and he struck out only 21 batters the entire season.
Who will shut the door in Los Angeles? Dear me it appears everyone's favorite four-eyed frog Eric Gagne has himself a bugger of an injury. He will go to the 15-day DL and expect Yhency Brazoban to assume the role of interim closer.
And what of "Mr. Zero?" Spring training opponents teed off on Shingo Takatsu and his 80 MPH "heat" the past few months. He has been around the league once now, and I believe most junior circuit batters are on to him. Youngster Neal Cotts is waiting for Takatsu to falter.
Who will shut the door in Arizona? I am still going with Brandon Lyon on this one. Watch out- he did a serviceable job in Boston before the Foulke-era, and he may come out of nowhere to displace both Greg Aquino and Jose Valverde.
Who will close at Coors? With Chin-hui Tsao injured, the Rockies will go with Brian Fuentes, Justin Spier, Donnie Moore, the recently released Amaury Telemaco or god knows who. The best thing to do here is just wait and see who starts getting the saves in the box score. Rockies closers have a bloody poor history (Shawn Chacon and Jose Jimenez inter alia) so don't cut anyone you need in hopes of beating your other league owners' to Tsao's replacement.
And what's going on up north? No one really cares about Canada, but Miguel Batista quietly assumed the role of closer in Toronto. The Blue Jays tried several other players in that role this spring, and suffice it to say Mr. Batista is on a very thin leash and may go the way of Fulgencio.
And it's finally official...The O's announced that the unhittable BJ Ryan will replace the very hittable Jorge Julio as the O's closer for 2005
Oh and Big Ups to Raul Ibanez. This semi-slugger has slipped blowe most fantasy owner's radar. He had a Ruthian 27 RBIs this spring, and he will be batting in a retooled line-up. He will be 33 in June and has only 85 career homeruns, but I think he may get 110-115 RBIs in the at line-up. Indeed Ibanez, Carl Everett, and former first overall draft pick Adrian Gonzalez were among the hottest hitters this spring.
Miguel Batista, shown duking it out with Tino Martinez, may be a great sleeper closer for the Toronto Blue Jays in the highly competitive AL East
And as some of you may know we had a bit of trouble already on the Sanpan. A few Cambodian village children had come out in a raft to greet us with flowers and chocolate, and it was not until I had shot several of them that they actually identified themselves as unarmed civilians. Some of my team-mates were a little bit taken aback by the whole thing, and the local village seems to be in a state of mourning.
This is a shame but these things happen in the fog of war. Everyone, even children, should know better than to approach an unidentified vessel. Granted our machine guns and bugging equipment are concealed at all times, but no one should be stupid enough to float out on the Nung River and greet a vessel they cannot readily identify. Unfortunately, the fact the children were singing as they neared our sanpan served only to alert me more quickly of their position and made them much easier targets. I have fought against "child soldiers" numerous times in central Africa, and I will tell you this: Do not let your guard down against a child. If you foul up when you are fighting a child, you'll be going home...In a body bag!
Ned Yost ended speculation in Milwaukee today by formally naming Mike Adams the closer. This seemed like the obvious move, but Yost was wary of going with Adams because he felt Adams was trying to strikeout too many batters and his arm would wear down as the season progressed. Someone should remind Mr. Yost the Brewers will not be in too many save situations, and the possibility his closer may wear down should be the least of his worries. But perhaps Mr. Yost is on to something; you may recall last year Danny Kolb was an extremely effective closer for the Brewers, and he struck out only 21 batters the entire season.
Who will shut the door in Los Angeles? Dear me it appears everyone's favorite four-eyed frog Eric Gagne has himself a bugger of an injury. He will go to the 15-day DL and expect Yhency Brazoban to assume the role of interim closer.
And what of "Mr. Zero?" Spring training opponents teed off on Shingo Takatsu and his 80 MPH "heat" the past few months. He has been around the league once now, and I believe most junior circuit batters are on to him. Youngster Neal Cotts is waiting for Takatsu to falter.
Who will shut the door in Arizona? I am still going with Brandon Lyon on this one. Watch out- he did a serviceable job in Boston before the Foulke-era, and he may come out of nowhere to displace both Greg Aquino and Jose Valverde.
Who will close at Coors? With Chin-hui Tsao injured, the Rockies will go with Brian Fuentes, Justin Spier, Donnie Moore, the recently released Amaury Telemaco or god knows who. The best thing to do here is just wait and see who starts getting the saves in the box score. Rockies closers have a bloody poor history (Shawn Chacon and Jose Jimenez inter alia) so don't cut anyone you need in hopes of beating your other league owners' to Tsao's replacement.
And what's going on up north? No one really cares about Canada, but Miguel Batista quietly assumed the role of closer in Toronto. The Blue Jays tried several other players in that role this spring, and suffice it to say Mr. Batista is on a very thin leash and may go the way of Fulgencio.
And it's finally official...The O's announced that the unhittable BJ Ryan will replace the very hittable Jorge Julio as the O's closer for 2005
Oh and Big Ups to Raul Ibanez. This semi-slugger has slipped blowe most fantasy owner's radar. He had a Ruthian 27 RBIs this spring, and he will be batting in a retooled line-up. He will be 33 in June and has only 85 career homeruns, but I think he may get 110-115 RBIs in the at line-up. Indeed Ibanez, Carl Everett, and former first overall draft pick Adrian Gonzalez were among the hottest hitters this spring.
Miguel Batista, shown duking it out with Tino Martinez, may be a great sleeper closer for the Toronto Blue Jays in the highly competitive AL East
And as some of you may know we had a bit of trouble already on the Sanpan. A few Cambodian village children had come out in a raft to greet us with flowers and chocolate, and it was not until I had shot several of them that they actually identified themselves as unarmed civilians. Some of my team-mates were a little bit taken aback by the whole thing, and the local village seems to be in a state of mourning.
This is a shame but these things happen in the fog of war. Everyone, even children, should know better than to approach an unidentified vessel. Granted our machine guns and bugging equipment are concealed at all times, but no one should be stupid enough to float out on the Nung River and greet a vessel they cannot readily identify. Unfortunately, the fact the children were singing as they neared our sanpan served only to alert me more quickly of their position and made them much easier targets. I have fought against "child soldiers" numerous times in central Africa, and I will tell you this: Do not let your guard down against a child. If you foul up when you are fighting a child, you'll be going home...In a body bag!
posted by McStallen at
1:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home