Posts belonging to Category Prospects/Rookies

Over the last couple of days, Sam Fuld has been going absolutely nuts on the baseball field.  To his credit, he’s technically always going nuts on the field considering that he’s only 5-foot-10 – probably 5-foot-7, at the most.  On Sunday he made one of the best plays in the outfield (of that variety) that I’ve ever seen.  The pressure of the situation; the ground he covered; the full-extension and total disregard for his own well-being.  Everything about it was simply amazing.

I was watching the game live – I’ll try to refrain from sharing my current thoughts on the White Sox, although I did just draw a picture of Juan Pierre and rip it up – and texting with one of the Sombrero’s contributors, Rick, who is also a fan of the South Siders.

(more…)

Two of the American League’s top pitching prospects were on display in the first week of the 2011 season, and suffice it to say, they both lived up to their respective hype.

First up was the Blue Jays’ Kyle Drabek, who used his 89-91 mph cutter to befuddle the Minnesota Twins’ offense on Saturday.  He allowed one run in seven innings, while walking three and striking out seven.  Oh yeah, the Sombrero’s No. 33 prospect took a no-hit bid into the sixth.  In his “10 Rookie Predictions” piece, John Sickels even predicts that Drabek will toss a no-no in early May – a bit bold, but definitely not unimaginable.

(more…)

When I say this is my first week of fantasy, I don’t mean the first of the season—I mean I’ve never participated in fantasy sports before this year. Previously, I assumed that I would make too big of a time commitment just to be stomped around by guys (and possibly girls) that have done this before and have, you know, strategies and such. When fellow Sombrero contributor Rick Berdelle invited me to his league, “The Sober Valley Lodge,” I thought this was a great opportunity to finally make the plunge into fantasy. The Lodge’s settings look like this:

(more…)

Recently we received a comment from a reader regarding our predictions, and I think the topic he brought up is probably worth its own piece.  The reader felt like I unfairly predicted that the Yankees would finish the year third in the AL East behind Boston and Tampa, who I predicted would both finish 2011 in the playoffs.  Before I continue, I would like to mention that I think the AL East will be a very tight division, particularly in the battle for second place.  The Yankees are one of the best offensive teams in baseball, and they certainly deserve a great deal of respect for that, but everything else they do is far from representative of a playoff-caliber team.

(more…)

After reading Dee’s write-up of his draft picks, I would like to add my own review of the Denslow Cup 2011 draft.  Before we get into my picks and reasoning, let me tell you this: the league is filled with nerds, and playing in an OBP league drastically changes the way our draft goes as compared to other 5×5 leagues.  The draft was highly competitive, and was fantastic.  As Dee mentioned in his article, he and I gathered with a couple friends of the league, shared some suds and BBQ, and had our spring Christmas.  Just as with Christmas, entering draft day you never know what you are going to get.  By the end of it, you got a ton of stuff (or guys) and now it is time to see how it all works out.  I am incredibly optimistic about this year’s squad, So Fresh ‘n So Sheen Sheen, and where we can finish.  Last year was a debacle, with me finishing 13^th out of 16 teams.  This year we shaved 4 teams, and the rosters are representative of that.  So, without further ado, I present to you a team flowing with tiger’s blood and bi-winning, and that is about to right all the wrongs of 2010: So Fresh ‘n So Sheen Sheen.

(more…)