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: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

What can we expect from the Halos this season?

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.

We'll take a look at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION

1. Jered Weaver
• Good: Work-horse type of pitcher.  Nasty stuff.  Great control.  Meets all elite, pitching criteria.
• Bad: Seems like his K/9 has been dropping in the last 3 seasons.  However, he's projected to reach a good, K/9 of 7.79. 
2. C.J. Wilson
• Good: Arm is strong enough to reach 200+ innings this season.  Great command, good strikeout artist, and does a good job keeping ball in the park.
• Bad: Needs to control his walks.  He's currently projected to hit a BB/9 of 3.73.  By comparison, less-established pitchers like Jeff Samardzija, Lucas Harrell, and Felix Doubront are projected to give up similar walk rates.  
3. Tommy Hanson
• Good: Was able to pitch through 2012 despite shoulder issues.  High K/9 of 8.67 shows potential dominance of hitters.  8.20 H/9 is pretty decent as well.
• Bad: Projected WHIP of 1.29 is due to a disappointingly high BB/9 of 3.40.  His HR/9 is supposed to hit 1.10 (1.20+ HR/9 is considered terribly bad).  
4. Jason Vargas
• Good: Another strong, horse-like starting pitcher, Vargas is projected to reach close to 200 innings.  BB/9 of 2.47 is 3rd best on the team.  
• Bad: Has the 2nd highest, projected H/9 on the team at 9.04, which helps raise his WHIP to 1.28.  Worse of all, he's due to give up a HR/9 of 1.19.
5. Joe Blanton
• Good: Great understanding of the strikezone.  K/BB is supposed to be a high 4.30 and a K/9 of 7.39.  
• Bad: WHIP is raised to 1.26 due to a H/9 of 9.04.  Just like Vargas, Blanton is expected to give up a lot of homeruns at a rate of 1.20 HR/9.

CLOSERS

1. Ernesto Frieri
• Good: K/9 of 13.10 is impressive and stuff can prove to be unhittable.  Think Carlos Marmol, but with lesser walks.
• Bad: 4.10 BB/9 is still high, even for a closser, but not too bad where it affects his K/BB (3.19).  Closers with similar BB/9 are Steve Cishek and John Axford.
2. Ryan Madson
• Good: Been a big fan of Madson since he was in Philly.  K/BB of 4.64 and a HR/9 of .67 are the credentials of a really good closer.
• Bad: He is still struggling through elbow problems and the Angels are more than willing to take it cautiously slow with him.  Might not be ready for the start of the season.

FANTASY ADVICE

The Angels have a nice assortment of starting pitchers, but all come with holes to their game.  Weaver is the most reliable and even Wilson, with his control problems, can still prove to be dependable.  The other three can prove to be useful in fantasy, especially if you get lots of points for innings pitched in Points leagues, but can go into stretches where opposing batters can take hitting practice on them.  In other words, do not reach for Vargas, Hanson, and Blanton.

Personally, until I hear otherwise, I'm staying away from their closer situation.  You can try to handcuff Madson with Frieri or another closer and hope he comes back 100% healthy, but knowing what we know about closers, nowadays, your best bet is to draft more healthy and reliable options.

More MLB content is available here. 

Photo courtesy of Mike McCann's Field of Fotos.