MARDI GRAS MADNESS: St Bernard Giants

Felipe M

I continue to review our league's fantasy baseball teams.  To read our preview on the Beer Belly Mashers, click here. 

The following team is one of the more successful clubs in our league's history as he dominated with a juiced-up Barry Bonds early on and continued to succeed after he retired and "Fat Albert" took charge of the team.  

WEST DIVISION--St Bernard Giants (fighting out of Louisiana)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: Albert Pujols: that is all.  But he won’t have to carry this team on his own as he has a nice supporting cast this season: Miguel Montero, Brandon Phillips, Marco Scutaro, Alex Gordon, Jose Bautista, and Matt Holliday should be able to reach their projections this season.  

Dislike: I’m just nit-picking at this point, but Michael Young as a starting 3B just seems out-of-place because he’s not the prototypical power-hitter at the position, but I really don’t have a problem with it.  This is as close to a negative I could find on this team.

Look Out For: This is a team full of established veterans so if I have to choose one player to keep an eye on, it will be Kyle Seager as many publications marveled at his potential for 2013.  Seager finished 2012 on a strong note and it will be interesting to see if he can keep up the pace or if his successful September was just a fluke.

Bench: Paul Konerko is just overkill on a team that really didn’t need a big bat like his.  The team needed another starting pitcher so I’m dubious at this pick.  Considering they have Pujols at 1B and Holliday at DH, plus David Ortiz on the DL, when exactly is Konerko going to be used on this squad?  I also like the possible platoon system at CF with Michael Bourn and Alejandro De Aza.  De Aza has a bit more pop, while Bourn was born to run.  It should be interesting to see which of the two will be more productive in our points league this year.  

2013 Hitting Projections
Player	Team	Pos	BB/K	AB/K	AB/HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
Michael Young	Philadelphia	1B/3B	0.49	7.74	57.50	0.336	0.411	0.746	4
Kyle Seager	Seattle	3B	0.40	5.31	35.18	0.324	0.417	0.741	11
Alejandro De Aza	White Sox	CF	0.44	4.95	55.31	0.345	0.415	0.760	26
Michael Bourn	Cleveland	CF	0.44	4.36	108.24	0.337	0.369	0.706	45

PITCHING

Like: Matt Cain proved last season why he should be considered one of the game’s elite starting pitchers.  And we just explained how good Adam Wainwright is.  Unheralded, Dillon Gee is also on the team.  The club is also waiting for Phil Hughes to come back from injury. They even found a way to sign finesse pitcher, Kyle Lohse.

Dislike: I have yet to read a positive review on the progress of Tim Lincecum in the spring as control, command, and drop in velocity have plagued the former Cy Young winner this spring.  However, he can still rack up the strikeouts and that alone is enough to believe in him.  Nevertheless, this team is depending too much on him to emerge as the team’s 3^rd best starter.  He’s definitely in the right place, but a guy that’s plagued with so many issues is not the way you want to build your top-half of your pitching staff. 

Bullpen: John Axford is looking for a bounce back season and I was surprised to find plenty of publications explaining his struggles last from 2012, but seeing him blow games last season is too fresh on my mind to even consider selecting him for this season.  As much as I have rage for Grant Balfour, it seems that he always finds a way of losing the closers’ spot one way or another, but this might be the year he can be the closer for a full year.  And I've used Steve Cishek as a benchmark to compare other mediocre closers before.  

Look Out For: It will be interesting to see if Vance Worley can overcome elbow issues and a bad spring to be the ace that the Twins are looking for.  He was recently named the team’s Opening Day starter.

2013 Pitching Projections
Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/9
John Axford	Milwaukee	2.73	11.57	4.24	7.84	1.34	0.90
Steve Cishek	Miami	2.17	8.46	3.90	7.52	1.27	0.67
Grant Balfour	Oakland	2.83	10.45	3.70	6.75	1.16	0.64
Vance Worley	Minnesota	2.84	8.28	2.92	8.46	1.26	0.89
Dillon Gee	Mets	2.18	7.11	3.26	8.53	1.31	0.89

PREDICTION: This team has plenty of hitting to make them a threat for the playoffs, but the pitching is missing something as they're depending on breakout years from a few guys.  Cain and Wainwright can definitely carry a staff throughout the year, but eventually, somebody is going to have to step up and if Lincecum continues to struggle, I just don't see who else can emerge as the #3 starter.  Axford and Cishek, at any point, can be replaced as their team's closers.  

More fantasy baseball content is available here. 

MAKING THE PITCH: St. Louis Cardinals

Felipe M

We take a look at the projected starting rotations and closer situations of every MLB team.  Of course, this will come from a fantasy perspective.  All cited stats are based on 2013 projections. 

Our preview of the Chicago White Sox can be read here. 

Let's see what the St. Louis Cardinals have in store for the upcoming season.

2013 Pitching Projections
Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/9
Adam Wainwright	St. Louis	3.65	8.17	2.24	8.29	1.17	0.71
Jaime Garcia	St. Louis	2.95	7.01	2.37	9.16	1.28	0.59
Lance Lynn	St. Louis	2.92	8.75	3.00	8.16	1.24	0.89
Shelby Miller	St. Louis	2.48	8.57	3.46	8.31	1.31	1.04
Jake Westbrook	St. Louis	1.77	5.24	2.95	9.43	1.38	0.67

As you can see, this list doesn't include Chris Carpenter, their closers, Joe Kelly or #3 Baseball Prospectus Cardinals' prospect, Carlos Martinez.  In a word, the Cards are LOADED at this position.  

Adam Wainwright is so good, he just received a 5-year contract extension.  If the Cards have faith in him and the numbers suggest a top-of-the-line pitcher, then you, the reader, should have faith in him.  I listed Wainwright as a top 10 pitcher for 2013.

I'm always down on Jaime Garcia because I've always viewed him as a typical, finesse, Cardinals pitcher.  But based on his decent K/9 and close to 3/1 K/BB ratio, he is a very useful pitcher in fantasy circles.  A 1.28 WHIP is elevated due to his pitching style, which ultimately gives up a lot of base-hits, but judging by his successful spring, he should be on every fantasy team right now.  Nonetheless, he's at least available in 15% of CBS leagues.  

Lance Lynn got off to a rocking start last season, but eventually malfunctioned as a starter and was demoted to the bullpen.  Based on his numbers, he should dominate hitters, but once I was comfortable enough to place him as a 2nd-tier pitcher, reports out of spring training show that he's been terrible.  Furthermore, he's lost weight and has changed his mechanics.  So when considering that transformation, it is skeptical that he can attain those projections, but even if his strikeouts drop to Jaime Garcia-levels, Lynn is still a good option to have on your pitching staff, just not good enough for owners to reach early for him.

I've never like Jake Westbrook, but he's found success on a Cardinals' team that embraces his pitching style.  I still would never consider drafting him or having him on my team, but he can eat up innings, control his walks and homeruns, and can get plenty of wins on a really good team.  

Finally! Shelby Miller wins the 5th rotation spot after a tough battle with Joe Kelly.  He did struggle in Triple-A last season, but he's been dominating the Minors beforehand.  Plus, immaturity was an issue last season in the Minors as well, but did enough to impress the Cards late in 2012 and definitely showed enough improvements this spring to have the Cardinals give him the job.  He is available in 28% of CBS leagues so if you need pitching help, Miller is definitely worth the roster spot.  

I've shared my thoughts about Jason Motte and thought he was an elite closer before he went down with an injury.  Obviously, Mitchell Boggs will replace him until Motte comes back.  I believe in the Cardinals' ability to develop pitchers and give them opportunities to succeed so Boggs should be a fine replacement.  He's already notched three saves this spring after manager Mike Matheny named him the closer on March 23rd.  In the meantime, you should handcuff these two together like I did.  

As mentioned, the Cardinals are loaded at this position and if one of these guys fall, I strongly urge to immediately check out the replacement pitchers because they always find a way to find guys who succeed when their number is called.

More MLB content is available here.