NL Prospects to watch in 06

There are many prospects that will play in the NL in 2006 but these guys seem to have the most upside and potential IMO.

Catcher - Josh Willingham - FLA - he's a guy that might be a C in your league or a 1B or even an OF. His value is mainly if you can get him with at C. He's a little older and might be nothing more than a journeyman but he's got some pop. D.Navarro in LA is another option but his bat might be no better than a Ausmus or Matheny.

1B - Prince Fielder - MIL & Conor Jackson - AZ - Prince is Cecil's son and looks and hits just like Dad. The kid has some power and could easily put up Ryan Howard-type numbers this year in MIL. With Overbay gone, the team should commit to him 100%. Jackson is harder to figure. He was awesome at college and in the minors but stunk it up in the pros last year. PLUS AZ has Tony Clark to steal away some ABs.

2B - Josh Barfield - SD - Another son of a former big leaguer, Jesse Barfield. Josh has raked at every level and the idiot Friars gave away Loretta for a bucket of seeds, opening the job for him. Bellhorn is also there in SD but he's not a long term option anywhere he's been. Josh should hit for solid average and a bunch of doubles in Petco.

3B - Ryan Zimmerman - DC - 2005 Draft pick that already made the majors last year. Pure hitter, nice fielder, can play SS too. The DC park is tough on hitters but he should produce.

SS - Hanley Ramirez - FLA - the prized booty from the Beckett trade. He's got the look of a stud athlete with all the tools and should get some P.T. soon.

OF - Jeremy Hermida - FLA, Matt Murton - CHC, Lastings Milledge - NYM - Hermida is compared to a mix of Franocouer meets Dunn with the power, average, and ability to take walks. He's already penciled in to be the RF and bat near Cabrera in the lineup. Murton is a pure hitter with like a career BA of well over .300 even in the majors. His only roadblock is his idiot manager Dusty "the wristband told me to do it" Baker who loves players 35 and up. Milledge is more long term but far and away the Mets best prospect. 5 tool player that could play CF but will probably move to RF.

SP - Matt Cain - SF - nasty, nasty stuff. Had a few starts last year and almost got the Giants back into the division race. He could form a deadly trio with Schmidt and Lowry in SF if they get any kind of offensive support.

CL - Joey Devine - ATL -Devine was very divine to HOU fans last year. I think Burke's HR off him in the 144th inning is still traveling. ATL has no closer, Devine was a top college closer last year so the fit is there. He could be a H.Street or a C.Cordero. Maybe not this year but by next year it wouldn't be a shock.

AL prospects later.

My bucket boy

I had such high hopes for this when I started last year and then it ends up being a year in between my posts. Oh well, life gets in the way sometimes. I have more time now so here we go again.

Molina bashes Halos!
Tell me that wasn't deserved? Bengie has been the catcher for the Angels for as long as anyone in the OC can remember and they just show him the door like that? He may be fat and slow but Bengie had some big hits, a few gold gloves and a brother on the team. He deserved a little more than sorry, no arbitration for you. I guess Arte was too busy in court trying to get the right to call them the Los Angeles Francisco Diego Angels of Anaheim and Mexico instead of worrying about the roster. Has any contender had a worse winter? They lose Washburn, Molina and Byrd, add nobody and expect to hold off OAK and TEX? Dream on.

Is the Rocket grounded?
Will and where the Rocket will play this year is a big question. Red Sox fans might embrace the big traitor and ask him to comeback? The Yanks will offer him enough $$$ for his grandkids to live off of to rejoin them. You also have HOU and TEX battling to keep him in state and on his cushy schedule of doing things on "Roger-time." If he plays, it should be with HOU or he really is one of the WORST examples of free agency and the money grubbing players of now.

M-E-T-S !!!!
Can we outspend the Yanks, I think we can, I think we can! Add Delgado, add LoDuca, add Wagner, lose Anna Benson. Will it be enough? Nah. When does a team like this ever win it all? The Yanks haven't since they started doing this crap in 2001. Money doesn't buy titles. It might get you to the dance but then the more well rounded, better chemistry team will prevail (ie. Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, etc). Heck, the METS can't even be assured of winning their division. I'm sorry but until the Braves lose, the Braves are the favorites. 137 division titles in a row does that to you.

Want some maple syrup, eh?
Can we also outspend the Yanks? Not quite but close. The Jays added Overbay (I love this for fantasy baseball), Glaus, Molina, Burnett and BJ Ryan. Not a bad haul. Glaus can mash in that dome like BigMac used to. Put Burnett with Halladay and that's not a bad pair of aces. Of course they have to stay healthy and that is a HUGE IF. I still think they need more pitching and that will be their downfall unless they add someone else.

Dodgers trade for Tejada and make him a Catcher!
Just kidding. It seems like my Dodgers feel signing a SS to play every offensive position is a good idea. They had Izturis but signed Furcal. When healthy this will shift Izturis to 2B most likely. Then they sign Nomar to play 1B., another great ex-SS and even Mueller the new 3B played some SS in his career. Well, the NL West sucks so this might pay off for LA. Drew could walk after this season so look for him to go 40-120 w/20 SBs and play in 161 games. Same for Nomar since he's on a 1 year and Kent is in his final year. You know these guys will want raises next season so ROID UP and lets mash! SD sucks, oh do they suck. Bad team, bad moves. They have like 13 ex-Dodgers, all past their prime. AZ and COL are just bad and young. That leaves SF and Barry McRoidhead as the only competition. They will be tuff but if Barry can't stay healthy, they have no chance. Look for LA to take it this year.

Welcome back Theo!
The Sox nation missed you like Heath missed Jake in Bareback Mountain. The Sox did Damon like the Halos did Bengie. Would it really hurt for professional teams that decide to pass on one of their own to come out and THANK the guy for his service at least? I can understand not wanting to deal with Boras and bid against yourself but show some love. CF Jesus did help bring a title. He's not worth what the Yanks are paying and I love the Coco pickup but have some class. Beckett was nice too and you stole Loretta for nothing. Look for Loretta to rip up Fenway and be a top 5 2B this year. The Sox need pitching though and Beckett isn't enough. Is Schilling back? How about Foulke? Wells wants out, send him to the Dodgers or something.

If the season started today, here are my picks.
NL West - LA
NL Cent - HOU
NL East - ATL
Wild - CHC

NLCS - LA/HOU with HOU back in the WS.

AL West - OAK
AL Cent - CLE
AL East - NYY
Wild - TOR

ALCS - CLE/OAK with CLE going on. HOU and the Rocket win it all this time.

(I reserve the right to change these completely in a month)

Off-Season thoughts

For my first column I wanted to review the off-season transactions and give you a real fan's unbiased opinion of the big moves.

Beltran, Pedro and Benson to the Mets for about $200 million.
My take: Pedro will do well in Shea by benefiting from facing the pitcher in the 9 hole and a decent defense behind him. The bully won't do him too many favors but I can easily see a typical Pedro year. Beltran better hope he gets back to .300-30-100-30 or the New York Press will eat him and Omar alive. From everything I have seen of the guy and read about him, he's got the talent but I'm not sure he has the backbone for NY. Once in a while a player agent should do his client a favor and instead of chasing a few extra monopoly dollars, put the player in a place where he can thrive and be happy. Beltran wreaks of small market player. Being told "you're a BUM Beltran" and "quit stealing our money" anytime you don't hit a HR can wear on a player. The Mets best move was to keep Anna Benson on the team. Oh wait, she's not on the team but maybe she should be, especially after she told hubby Kris that she would sleep with the whole team if he cheated on her. Kris on the other hand is vastly overpaid and part of the reason this off-season saw a return of ridiculous contracts for starting pitchers. Outside of his college career, this guy has done nothing special, period. He is lucky the Mets have Pedro and Glavine to lead the team allowing him to hide in the 3-4 slot and hope to be a .500 pitcher. All these moves and the Mets will still be no better than 3rd behind some variety of ATL, PHIL and FLA.

Seattle Lands Some Power.
My take: Adding Beltre and Sexson should help ticket sales but Seattle still has no pitching and a bunch of guys coming back from injuries. Beltre is another example of when agents should consider their clients well-being (what a shock, both guys are Boras clients). M's fans are hoping Sexson and Beltre can pump up Boone and knock in Ichiro more but it will have to happen a lot with this pitching staff. Unless Moyer looks like 2003 Moyer and Eddie Guardado's arm remains attached, SEA should be battling OAK for last in the west.

The Hollywood Remake San Fernando Dodgers of Los Angeles.
My take: I'm a lifelong Dodger fan so hang in there because this one will be long, biased, and angry. Lose Lima, Finley, Beltre, Green, Nomo, Cora, LoDuca, Mota and gain Lowe, Drew, Kent, Penny, Choi, Navarro, Nakamura and Valentin. Oh where do I start? Green either became lazy and laid back in LA or just lost most of his talent. Yes he switched to 1B and was a good "team" guy but his energy level was that of a rock. Drew if healthy can equal Green but that is a big if. Boras raped the Dodgers on that deal too. Drew is going to get paid one way or the other. He either plays lights out and voids the deal to sign a better contract or he stinks and makes like Dreifort and collects social security from the team for the next 5 years. I will give DePo credit, our starting pitching does look improved but with the downgrade in defense and offense, it has to be. Also, why is it that the team feel the need to make the stadium smaller? If you're going to do that, the whole "pitchers park" benefit will begin to fade. Another great McCourt move. Glad we just gave Lowe $36 mil over 4 years but made it smaller and our defense worse. Brilliant.
Choi plays first (oh no), Kent at second unless he "falls off his truck at a car wash," gold glover Izturis at SS and a combo of 50-something Jose Valentin and Nakamura at 3rd. Wow, if I'm a pitcher that strikes fear in my heart. NO. Catcher is even worse. Ross and Bako? This Navarro kid better be Pudge Bench Fisk III for what we gave up for him. Lowe, Weaver, Penny, Perez and take your pick should be a solid 5 and of course Gagne closing it out but the setup men are still weak. Dodgers will be lucky to be third behind SF and AZ.

Yanks get the Unit.
My take: Whoopee. Randy is old and is playing with a bum knee. Sure he can win 20 in NY with that Bully and Offense but he could also pull a K.Brown or Jeff Weaver or Vazquez and flame out in grand fashion. Much like Beltran, Randy doesn't know what is going to hit him if he doesn't beat Schilling. Yanks will still either win the division or the WC but much like the last 4 years, they won't be the champs at the end. The team is getting too old and too expensive. The chemistry of Torre, O'Neil, and Brosius is long gone, replaced with a bunch of high priced mercenaries. Enjoy another year of second guessing and Georgey fits. Wright and Pavano don't look like great fits in NY but who knows, they could do fine. Pavano should have gone home to BOS and Wells back to NY. ARod should bounce back but can Jeter, Matsui, and Sheff repeat their numbers? I don't think so.

AZ Moneybacks.
My take: Next to the insanity of the Mets, the DBacks made the most waves. They gave a lot of money to Glaus and Russ Ortiz, then acquired Green, Cruz Jr. and Vazquez. On paper the team looks better, even with losing Randy but that is counting on Gonzo to return from major surgery and Estes pitching like he did last year. I think they will be better than COL and LA fighting SD and SF for the West title.

Can the Champs repeat?
My take: Not with those moves. Adding Renteria is solid. Losing Pedro and Lowe for Wells and Clement is not. Keeping Varitek was a must. This team will have plenty of offense as usual but the pitching won't get it done in Oct. Theo can still pull something off but this doesn't look like a championship team.

Other moves:
Angels add Finley and Cabrera lose Percival, Glaus and Eckstein - bad PR since those were all fan favorites but the new guys and kids should be ready. The Halos should win this division still. Marlins add Delgado and Leiter - both solid guys to bolster the team. If the offense produces and Mota can close, FLA can win the NL again. The Tigers go big with Mags and Percy. I guess not having to pay the Red Wings left the owner some extra play money. Both players are solid and the central is up for grabs with no clear favorite. The Giants got a lot older but when you're riding the Barry wave out you can't afford to rebuild. I doubt Alou does as well as he did last year but he should be solid and Benitez is a solid closer. The Astros are hurting - nice to bring back the Rocket and a healthy Pettitte but losing Kent, Beltran and Miller will sting. I don't see how they match CHC or STL with that team. The A's dumped Mulder and Hudson and will be rewarded with a top pick in next year's draft that they can moneyball away. The Braves add Hudson, Smoltz to the rotation and Kolb as well as some old OFs named Jordan and Mondesi. Until they lose a division, I'm buying whatever their GM is selling. I'm sure Cox will have Mondy back to 30-90 levels and Jordan will spark the team. The pitching is solid as usual. The new DC team is wasting money - Vinny and Guzman.....no thanks. There are more moves but I'm out of time.
J

Hello

Hi,

I'm Josh and this is my Blog. I thought this would be a fun hobby on the side and I feel that I know far more than some of these expert writers at the major Fantasy Sites. I'm just going to share my views, answer any questions people might have on Fantasy strategy/roster moves, try to have some "Inside Gossip," hot minor leaguers to keep an eye on, etc. Hang in there with me in the beginning while I learn the ropes of this Blog thing. Thanks,
Josh