MARDI GRAS MADNESS: Balls Out

This team will have to depend on bullpen help,
including the great Mariano Rivera.
(photo courtesy of Mike McCann)

Felipe M

Before I move on to the next team, I probably should explain a little something about this league.  Mardi Gras Madness began back in 2002 as a fantasy baseball keeper league.  Currently, we keep 7 players from the season before and hold an annual, 15-round draft.  Out of the 22 players in our roster, we need to start 9 hitters (C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, CF, RF, DH) and 7 pitchers (any combination of SP and RP).  It is a  weekly, head-2-head, fantasy points league.  The team with the highest score at the end of a given week, wins that game.

The previous team I reviewed was Halladay Holiday. 

The next team we'll review finish the 2012 season with the best record and most points in the league, but was eliminated by yours truly:

EAST DIVISION—BALLS OUT (out of Southern California)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, David Wright, Robinson Cano, Jose Reyes; This team is stacked!  They also have Brian McCann waiting to come back from injury.  In the meantime, Alex Avila will take over duties at the backstop.  Even Melky Cabrera, who is a bust on many publications’ lists, can still come back from suspension and produce decent numbers this season.

Dislike: Recently acquired Mark Trumbo is a headache waiting to happen as his all-or-nothing approach might work, but in most weeks his strikeouts will lead to a lot of low scores on a weekly basis. 

Look Out For: MiguelSano is supposed to be the next Miguel Cabrera. 

BENCH: Vernon Wells might see his value increase a bit with the Yankees, but something tells me he won’t be on this squad for very long. 

PITCHING

Like: Jered Weaver is a great fit for this team, but he might have to carry the starters on his own. 

Dislike: Because of a high dependence on closers, the only other starters on this team are Mark Buehrle, Julio Teheran, and Tommy Hanson.  Buehrle pitches batting practice at times, Teheran, although had Braves staff marveling at his spring, is still a young, unpredictable pitcher, and Hanson’s walk rate will drive this team nuts.

Look Out For: DylanBundy has been getting hype all offseason long.  Also, look out for Ryan Madson as he should be ready sometime during the season and help this team rack up the saves.

Only a matter of time before Carlos Marmol's days
as a closer are over
(photo courtesy of Sharon P. Mancia)

BULLPEN: Because of Madson’s injury, this team went on and took my advice as they handcuffed him to Ernesto Frieri creating another satisfied customer.  Joe Nathan, despite my concerns, is still a solid closer.  Mariano Rivera is still the best in history.  Rafael Betancourt has proven himself as a dependable closer, but there’s rumors spreading that he will eventually become a contender’s setup man.  Carlos Marmol is terrible.

PREDICTION: Even for a fantasy team, this squad’s batting lineup is like some sort of Dream Team.  However, getting all of those top-tier position players forced this club to depend on closers to make up the majority of their pitching staff.  For every good closer, he went out and acquired shaky 9^th inning men with the only dependable SP, Weaver.  In our league’s history, depending on a pitching staff full of closers is a questionable proposition and might end up costing this squad a shot at repeating as league champions.  

More fantasy baseball is available here. 

MAKING THE PITCH: Baltimore Orioles

Buck Showalter will have to dig deep into his bag of tricks to get the Orioles
to repeat their unforeseen performance from last season.
(photo courtesy of Mike McCann's Field of Fotos)

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. 

For our review of the Atlanta Braves, click here. 

The Baltimore Orioles are next.

PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION

1. Jason Hammel
• Good: Shows a good knack for strikeouts (6.95 K/9) and can limit his walks and homer runs to respectable, low levels.
• Bad: WHIP of 1.27 makes him a pitcher not worth grabbing too early.  He's also the "ace" of an Orioles' team that might not be able to repeat what they did in 2012 so wins might be harder to come by.
2. Wei-Yin Chen
• Good: Respectable 2.71 K/BB.  Finesse pitcher that won't hurt himself with too many walks.
• Bad: Can be very hittable, but worst of all, playing in Baltimore, his 1.20 HR/9 will drive you crazy.
3. Chris Tillman
• Good: Had a solid year in 2012 and adequate K/BB of 2.18 shows potential to repeat similar performance.   
• Bad: 8.84 H/9 is similar to Chen's H/9 of 8.81 and boosts WHIP to 1.34.  Just like Chen,  HR/9 of 1.14 shows his issues with the long ball, especially at Camden Yards.
4. Miguel Gonzalez
• Good: Has similar numbers as his teammates.  2.21 K/BB might make him an adequate pitcher in any league.  
• Bad: Despite having a relatively low H/9 of 8.36, his WHIP is still at 1.27, damaged by a BB/9 of 3.05.  It's not too high, but when you add his 8+ H/9, that made his WHIP too high.  HR/9 of 1.18 is not too high, but considering where he pitches his home games, that number might prove to be higher.
5. Dylan Bundy
• Good: #1 Orioles' prospect.  May not get the job out of spring training, but is worth monitoring, especially when you consider the other pitchers vying for that #5 spot: Bundy is simply the most intriguing.  7.53 K/9 makes him an attractive option.
• Bad: Control, just like many young pitchers, will be a major issue (3.49 BB/9).  Might not start right away in the Majors and judging by his age, 20, might not be called up this season either.  But potential is very intriguing and the Orioles have proven to bring up prospects if they believe they can help them win games now.

CLOSERS

1. Jim Johnson
• Good: Very good control (1.93 BB/9).  WHIP of 1.10 and HR/9 of .51 indicates that he won't hurt himself too much despite being more of a finesse closer.  
• Bad: 5.79 K/9 is what keeps him from being an elite closer despite showing that he can rack up saves.  You don't have to be on a winning team to be an effective fantasy closer, but to save 50+ saves again, the Orioles have to repeat their lucky, late-inning heroics again.

FANTASY ADVICE

It's really interesting how teams somehow find similar pitchers to fill out their starting rotation.  So far, the Braves rotation has looked the best in this review.  The Orioles rotation is nowhere near the Braves.  What they lack in skill and dominance, they make up by having four starters that are not ashamed to be finesse pitchers that do a good job in limiting their walks and strikeout enough batters to be somewhat relevant in fantasy leagues.  

However, because of their pitching styles, some hit balls might fall for base-hits.  But the big concern with this club is a propensity to give up homeruns, especially when one considers that they play at Camden.  Only Hammel would be considered someone you can plug into your middle rotation.  The other starters might be good to fill out the rest of your backend. 

More MLB content can be read here. 

2012 MLB PROSPECT REVIEW: #105-101

Felipe M

The following is a review of a list that was compiled way back in March of 2012.  "2012 Outlooks" are based on a summation of scouting reports (entering the 2012 MLB season) of each player condensed into a sentence or two for easier reading.

105. Carlos Martinez--SP--St. Louis Cardinals

• 2012 Outlook: "Wild, but still has Ace potential. Long-term player"
• 2012 Achievements: Best fastball in Texas League; Named #6 best prospect in TL.
• Conclusion: Martinez's K/9 dropped when promoted to Double-A, but so did walk rate. Martinez also induced a lot of groundball outs last season.  Regardless, Martinez looks to spend another season in the minors next year.

104. Jed Bradley--SP--Milwaukee Brewers

• 2012 Outlook: "Solid lefty, might move through Minors quickly"
• 2012 Achievements: Struggled in Hi-A ball
• Conclusion: The big lefty posted pedestrian numbers last season and nothing really stood out in 2012. Turns out, Bradley does need a lot more time in the Minors than originally anticipated.

103. Matt Harvey--SP--New York Mets

• 2012 Outlook: "High upside--needs to work on secondary pitches."
• 2012 Achievements: #1 Prospect in International League and obviously the Best Pitching prospect in the league. Was impressive in call-up to Majors. 
• Conclusion: Also of note is that he posted high strikeout rates in Minors, but needs to control walk rate. Can also be hittable at times, but can control the long ball rate. Harvey's recipe for success is a high, 90s fastball that is complemented by his slider. High upside, along with positive results with the Mets last season, has the baseball world (more noticeably in Queens, New York) waiting in anticipation to see if he can garner a starting rotation spot for the Mets in 2013. 

102. Jake Odorizzi--SP--Kansas City Royals

• 2012 Outlook: "Struggled in Double-A, but still a good long-term prospect."
• 2012 Achievements: #11 best prospect in Pacific Coast League
• Conclusion: Equipped with a High 90s fastball and a good curveball, Odorizzi has the makings of a legit starting pitcher in the majors. He can be hittable at times and looks to be a flyball pitcher, but can keep the ball in the park. Struggled in the Majors last season, but Royals look to call him up sometime in 2013.

101. Dylan Bundy--SP--Baltimore Orioles

• 2012 Outlook: "Upside to be top prospect, but still few years away."
• 2012 Achievements: #1 Prospect in Carolina League also had Best Fastball in league; Best Curveball and Fastball in Orioles' system, per Baseball America; Best Fastball and Pitching Prospect in South Atlantic League. 
• Conclusion: Only 20 years-old, Bundy dominated Minors, for the most part. Showed impeccable control and command in A-Ball. Might be too soon to call up and Orioles don't seem to have an immediate need for him, but if Bundy keeps up the production, the O's will be hard-pressed to not give him a look in the Big Leagues.

Prospects 110-106 is available. 

Prospects 100-96 are reviewed here.