Fantasy Comparisons Continued

Now that we've discovered the Giants position players value within the fantasy league, we will now move onto describing the pitching staff's worth. Hint: very valuable

Pitchers (11)

41            Jeremy Affeldt      LHP

Jeremy is a below average pitcher on the fantasy roster because people in the pen that aren't closers don't put up fantasy numbers. This could change quickly though due to Brian Wilson being placed on the DL to begin the season. He will be given the opportunity to step in as the temporary closer and therefore should be popping up on fantasy rosters across the league. 

40            Madison Bumgarner      LHP

Bumgarner is a new guy to the league. He proved himself for the Giants last year during the playoffs and is currently fighting for the fifth spot on the Giants starting rotation. On average during this year's draft however, he has ranged from a late round pick to not being picked at all. Look for Bumgarner to make some noise for the Giants this year.

18            Matt Cain             RHP

Cain is a stud among all the pitchers in the fantasy league. He has flown under the radar as far as publicity the past two seasons, but should be a strong arm this season. He isn't a first three rounds type of pitcher but definitely an early pick. If he stays healthy through out the season then he could lead the Giants (along with Lincecum) to a another league title.

46            Santiago Casilla    RHP

Casilla is a solid relief guy for the Giants, but he isn't the closer so he is pretty much useless in the fantasy league. Even though his WHIP( walks and hits per innings pitched), K/9 (strike outs per every nine innings pitched), and ERA (earned run average) is decently low, he doesn't chalk up to a fantasy pitcher. 

55            Tim Lincecum       RHP

Timmy is a man among boys in the fantasy league. He is a work horse that has two cy young awards and a world series title under his belt in his young career. He is only second in the pitching ranks to Roy Halladay(bigger stud). If you can get a hold of Timmy for your fantasy team then you can pretty much guarantee a solid showing every week.

49            Javier Lopez         LHP

Same story as Casilla; good for the Giants but worthless in the fantasy league. Pen guy with decent stuff but no power numbers.... Moving on.

59            Guillermo Mota     RHP

Mota has struggled with his command the past couple of seasons for the Giants. He has powerful stuff but the numbers don't reflect that. ERA is higher, K/9 down, K/BB ratio is low, and he isn't getting any closing opportunities. Not a fantasy guy and needs to find his groove or he won't be a big guy out of the pen for the Giants.

52            Ramon Ramirez    RHP

Helpful to the Giants pen but not a fantasy pitcher. He is looking at more innings and appearances than the other pitchers out of the pen, but again isn't the closer.

54            Sergio Romo        RHP

Sergio is a "Fear the Beard" participant. He is the exception to the fantasy rule of not drafting middle relief guys. He has seen a lot of action and has fantasy numbers. He won't get any saves, but he could be a good band aid pitcher to have during the season is one of you're bigger pitchers go down from injury.

57            Jonathan Sanchez  LHP

Sanchez is a 3-4 pitcher in the Giants starting rotation. He is a work horse like Timmy with the potential to go with it. However, he is streaky to say the least. He can go out and shove one night and then get shoved the next outing. He ends up being a middle-end of the draft pick. In reality however, he is very valuable if he stays healthy for the Giants this year.

38            Brian Wilson         RHP

"Fear the Beard". Top rated closer this year in the fantasy relief pitcher rankings. That is pretty good when you have Soria, Soriano, Rivera, Bell, and Nathan in that category. He has everything a fantasy team wants and he's a character too so that is a plus.

A Few Closing Thoughts:

1. Giants are actually more solid as a staff than a majority of other MLB teams within the fantasy league this year.
2. In reality, the Giants have THE best combined staff in the MLB (when healthy)
3. Giants open the season off with rivals LA Dodgers in less than 24 hours!!

Coming Up Next:

Giants: 2011 MLB season 

Giants and the Fantasy League

It's a sad and helpless feeling when you wake up the morning after the final game of the World Series, knowing that you have the next five months to sit around and wait for the next MLB season to begin. Some say that 162 games a season can be boring and that baseball isn't that entertaining, but to the real fans it really isn't enough. There are different ways to experience the maximum amount of baseball throughout the season such as watching the MLB Network(TV Channel or Online), ESPN.com, or Sports Center. However, the way a true fan goes the extra mile to experience the season at an entirely different level is to become part of a/multiple fantasy baseball league(s). I currently am part of a fantasy league with some friends at espn.com, and since the fantasy draft has already passed and the season has yet to start, I feel that it is only necessary to analyze  the Giants players by how the espn fantasy league sees them. I'm sensing that this might take awhile so I will only cover last years active World Series roster, dedicate this blog post to the hitters, and write my next blog post over Giants pitching. Finally, I must admit that I only had minimal Giants players on my fantasy team roster, but between the eleven other teams in the draft, and my thirst for the strongest team possible this year, I couldn't allow myself to pick more Giants players than necessary. I'm sure they would understand.

Catchers (2)

28            Buster Posey       C

Posey was a big surprise for the Giants last year when he won the catching position and went on to become the rookie of the year. He will see the vast majority of the action behind the plate this year and is projected to score more runs, hit more home runs and rbi's, and steal more bases. This makes sense due to him joining the club after the season had started last year. My brother still regrets trading me Posey for Kershaw last year. Ironically, he picked him up very early in this years draft.

22            Eli Whiteside        C

Whiteside will get his chance to catch this year on days when Posey rests and only if Posey becomes Injured. No one drafted him this year or last year and he would only serve as a band aid in the catching position for someones team this year. His numbers were sub par last year and are projected to stay the same this season. 

Infielders (7)

14            Mike Fontenot      IF

Fontenot is a valuable reserved infielder that swings left handed. He has good career stats against righties and can relieve Freddy Sanchez at 2nd base or Miguel Tejada at SS (short stop). He may be valuable to the Giants, but he's worthless to the fantasy league. Every team wants the studs of the league so reserve players rarely see a fantasy start unless they catch fire when filling in for an injury. 

17            Aubrey Huff          IF

Huff is one of the fantasy favorites for our league this year due to his success during last years playoff race, and his multiple positions he can be put under. He is eligible as a first baseman, outfielder, as well as a utility player. Even though he isn't a top fantasy prospect, he can prove to be a valuable player during the fantasy season if he keeps his numbers the way they ended up last year. 

10            Travis Ishikawa    IF

Travis is a late inning defensive switch for first base. This can prove to be very valuable to an MLB club, but worthless to the fantasy league. His numbers are expected to increase slightly yet I highly doubt that when you take Belt into consideration for the first base job. Completely worthless to our league.

16            Edgar Renteria      IF

Edgar should retire. Not only is he not on the Giants any more, but he's got one foot in the "MLB playing days" grave. He's washed out with only 1.3% of American fantasy baseball fans owning him. Moving on.

21            Freddy Sanchez   IF

Sanchez is expected to have slightly higher numbers this year for the Giants at 2nd base this year. No one in my league owns him right now, but could prove to a big name later in the season if injuries begin plaguing the 2nd base position. Sorry that things didn't work out between us this year Freddy, I just had to move on to bigger and better things(Dan Uggla).  Can't make a dynasty with any weak links.

48            Pablo Sandoval    IF

Pablo is predicted to blow up this year with hitting. One of the top taken third basemen in our draft(even though there were about three legit choices). He had bad luck with pitchers not throwing to him, balls that became outs when put in play, and his weight. Well, he's lost 38 pounds and surely can't repeat his unlucky streak from the 2010 season. He could be a dark horse in our fantasy league this year.

  5            Juan Uribe            IF

Juan's a trader; no one likes him. Went to the LA Dodgers during the off season and is a band aid player in the league this season at best. He should go kick rocks.

Outfielders (5)

  9            Pat Burrell            OF

Burrell is on the down hill slope of his career. He is expected to have better numbers than last year, however remains to be picked up in our fantasy league because off the possibility of splitting time throughout the season. He might be a late addition, but there are way too many stud outfielders to pick up before anyone would give Pat the time of day.

13            Cody Ross           OF

Ever since my girlfriend picked Cody up in the draft, I have respected her a little bit less. I'm glad she picked him up because she passed up a lot of top prospect talent to get him, which helped out the rest of the league. Cody is a flash in the pan who put it together at the right time last year. He will have mediocre fantasy numbers this season at best.

33            Aaron Rowand      OF

Aaron Rowand will be an average player for the Giants. He will split time with the other outfielders on the team and never be able to put up any power numbers. He is owned by .1% of the fantasy nation and those must be the over the top die hard Giants fans out there. 

12            Nate Schierholtz   OF

Nate struggled last year against right handed pitching(which would be the sole reason he would be put in the line up to begin with). He's tabbed the fifth outfielder for the Giants and will most likely see minimal playing time this year. Only .1% of the fantasy nation owns him and they are dumb. 

56            Andres Torres       OF

Torres is a decent fantasy prospect. He isn't a stud outfielder, but is a good 3rd to 4th outfielder on a fantasy roster. The fantasy nation picked him up late in the draft on average, but he is currently 100% owned. He is overall a solid fantasy draft pick.

Final Thoughts:

After analyzing the Giants as far as fantasy quality, let me make it clear that the Giants are in fact a very good team when they play together, however there aren't too many hitting studs on the team since they are considered a pitching heavy club. In my next blog I will get into the Giants pitching staff, which prove to be fairly dominant are far as fantasy numbers go. 

Giants Surging before Opening Day

The Giants are currently boasting one of the best Spring Training win/loss records. Most people will argue that records don't matter preseason and that spring training is just for looks, however the Giants are giving guys looks all while winning a majority of their games. This tells me that the Giants have showed up hungry, the competition among the players is high, and that the new guys are proving that they can hang at this level. Long story short; The Giants are on the right track to dominate the 2011 season.

In current news, the Giants recently either cut or reassigned 21 players from the big league camp roster. This cut is more than the average player cut at this time, but it seems that the Giants know what they are doing so I trust them. Among the 21 players, several previously perceived top prospects were sent back down the system to join the minor league system again, however Brandon Belt remained on the roster. Belt is the Giants number one prospect in their system currently and is competing for the first base job with team  veteran Aubrey Huff. Huff, who received a two year contract extension in the off season, will most likely begin the season at first. This not mean however that Belt won't remain on the big league club and split time with him. It is even rumored that Belt could win the first base job from Huff, which would push Huff out to left field. Pat Burrell, who also received a one year contract extension in the off season, would not be an every day left fielder so it would make sense for this move.

Injury Report:
Matt Cain laid to rest any doubts about his previous injury when he dominated in his last pitching outing. Brian Wilson on the other hand has been plagued with nagging injuries through out the preseason and just recently went back on the DL (disabled list) with a left oblique muscle strain. This does seem to cause for concern since Brian Wilson is credited with 48 saves for the Giants last season. I'm sure he will be back sooner rather than later, but this brings up the question of who would replace him in the closer role this upcoming season if he does so happen to go down from injury.

In other news:
Pablo Sandavol looks to be moving around better after entering the big league camp a surprising 38 pounds lighter from last season. This weight loss seems to be helping him to become more athletic. Madison Bumgarner struggles in his last outing where he gave up four runs over a two inning span. Not a good day but not too worried since every pitcher has a bad day from time to time. Barry Zito looks strong in his most recent outing for the Giants. Hopefully he can come through this year and finally live up to his 180 million dollar contract.

With that being said, Giants look very strong coming into the 2011 season and should be fun to watch this year if injuries don't plague them.