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: Atlanta Braves

#Braves Hudson on first outing of spring:: "Didn’t blow anything out, didn’t limp off the mound. So that’s always a good day.”
— David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) February 22, 2013

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 Arizona Diamondbacks, click here. 

We'll take a look at the Atlanta Braves today.

PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION

1. Kris Medlen
• Good: Has been compared to Greg Maddux. Impressive down the stretch in 2012.  His projected numbers scream "ELITE!"
• Bad: Very small sample size to go with.  Medlen is 28, so he's not a young phenom.  Questions loom regarding projected numbers being fact or fiction.
2. Tim Hudson
• Good: You know exactly what you're getting from Hudson at this point of his career.  He pitches to contact, and highly depends on defense to get him through his starts, but will not hurt himself by allowing too many hits or homers.  His BB/9 is a low 2.68.  
• Bad: Very low K/9 of 5.86.  He will turn 38 in July.
3. Mike Minor
• Good: K/9 of 8.31. Keeps walks and hits to a minimum.  Pitched great in the 2nd half of 2012.
• Bad: Homerun rate is a bit high (1.19), but as mentioned, hard to tell if this is a pattern with Minor, or if he can streamline late success from last season into 2013.
4. Paul Maholm
• Good: Might be a better pitcher than Hudson with a little bit of luck.  He has a slightly, higher H/9 (8.81) and HR/9 (.79) than the veteran Hudson.  6.20 K/9 is not too shabby.
• Bad: WHIP of 1.26 might hurt Roto-leaguers, but it might drop if he can somehow limit the base-hits he gives up.
5. Julio Teheran
• Good: Has been described as the next Pedro Martinez. Will be given every chance to break camp as the 5th starter.  So far, has pitched better this spring than in 2012.  Solid K/9 of 6.45.  
• Bad: Projections show a K/BB of 1.65 and a H/9 of 8.83, which inflates his WHIP to 1.42.  He's still worth a flier to fill out the rest of your rotation on potential alone.

CLOSER

1. Craig Kimbrel
• Good: Might be the best closer in baseball.  He's near unhittable, especially when it comes to home runs.  K/BB of 5.22 and a K/9 of 15.88 (incredibly high!).   He's expected to have a WHIP of 1.06. 
• Bad: Very tough to figure out any weakness for this guy.  Perhaps the fact that hard-throwing teammate, Jonny Venters, can supplant him if Kimbrel stumbles.  However, the Braves are "listening" to offers from other teams for Venters.  

FANTASY ADVICE

The Braves have themselves a solid pitching staff.  They won't hurt themselves with too many mistakes and can keep their walks in checks.  Even the young, unproven Teheran is an intriguing option if he continues to impress in spring training.  

Oh yes; this list isn't even mentioning Brandon Beachy who should be back by late June or sooner.  Just be careful in overvaluing these guys.  Minor, Teheran, and Medlen are young and still unproven and may fall short of their projections.  Conversely, however, the opposite also holds true; they may super-exceed their projections this season as well.  

More MLB content is available here.  

2012 MLB PROSPECT REVIEW: Top 5

Bryce Harper had a heck of a 2012 season.

Felipe M

5. Trevor Bauer--SP--Cleveland Indians

• 2012 Outlook: "Compared to Tim Lincecum.  Best of the D'backs' prospects."
• 2012 Accomplishments: #3 in Pacific Coast League and the league's best pitcher.
• Conclusion: Aside from a 4.2 BB/9, Bauer absolutely dominated in the Minors in 2012.  He did pitch for the Big League club, but was playing hurt in his time with the D'backs.  Unfortunately for Arizona, conflict between the young pitcher and the entire organization forced the D'backs to ship him to Cleveland for a bushel of balls, a 2-year supply of hot dogs, and a high volume of the freshest Lake Erie water.  People are going to get fired in Arizona because of this trade.  However, management wanted to get rid of this promising prospect, but the real "snake bite" come from the fact that they really didn't get fair value for this player and that's very unfortunate.  At least they were able to get solid players in the Justin Upton deal.  Currently, Bauer is competing for the #5 spot in the Indians' rotation.  

4. Julio Teheran--SP--Atlanta Braves

• 2012 Outlook: "Compared to Pedro Martinez; best of the Braves' pitching prospects."
• 2012 Accomplishments: #1 Prospect in Braves' organization and possesses Best Changeup in the system; #4 Prospect in International League. 
• Conclusion: Struggled mightily in the Minors last season, but many pundits are blaming the organization for trying to change his delivery.  Reports out of spring training are that Teheran has returned to his old delivery and is pitching with extreme confidence.  He is currently competing for a rotation spot. 

3. Jesus Montero--C--Seattle Mariners

A young Jesus Montero readying himself with that lumber.

• 2012 Outlook: "Will mainly DH for the Mariners.  Can hit for power and average."
• 2012 Accomplishments: Played 135 games for the Mariners in 2012, but only 56 games at catcher.
• Conclusion: One of the many players that were linked to the recent BioGenesis scandal adds to Montero's problems, mainly his defensive duties at the catching position and how will he exactly bounce back from a disastrous 2012 (.260/.298/.389 BB:K .29).  His last season at Triple-A shows what Montero is capable of: .289/.351/.493/.843 BB:K .43.  That potential has management salivating at things to come and opted to hand him the keys to the #1 catching spot as they got rid of any potential competition that might get in his way this season. 

2. Bryce Harper--OF--Washington Nationals

• 2012 Outlook: "At 19, he's the best prospect in baseball.  Will get called up in 2012."
• 2012 Accomplishments: NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR and All-Star
• Conclusion: Now 20, Harper is slated to start in LF for the Nationals.  What's very impressive about Harper is that not only did he succeed as a teengager in his first season in the Majors, but that he showed no indication that he was ready for the Big Leagues in the Minors.  He struggled in Double and Triple-A posting mediocre batting average, low on-base%, and displaying absolutely no power.  His patience at the plate did improve so there might have been hope for him in that aspect.  He put on more weight to endure a full season in the Majors and, obviously, to hit for more power and improve on his .817 OPS from last season.

It might be the worst ballpark,
but it will be home to a lot of
young, promising players.

1. Matt Moore--SP--Tampa Rays

• 2012 Outlook: "Might be better than Stephen Strasburg."
• 2012 Accomplishments: Pitched 177.1 innings for the Rays. 
• Conclusion: After dominating and destroying everything in his path in Double and Triple-A, Moore's 2012 was sort of ordinary: WHIP 1.35; H/9 8.0; HR/9 0.9; BB/9 4.1; K/9 8.9.  He did find his rhythm in the 2nd half of the season so that's a good sign; that and his high strikeout rate.  Moore is very likely to break camp as the Rays' #3 starter.  

 More MLB content is available here. 

The rest of the prospects can be found here.

All pictures courtesy of Mike McCann's Field of Fotos.