3/13/10

Fantasy Reyes, Wright, Harper Downgrading, Projected OD Lineup... and Jerry Manuel

Fantasy Reyes:


Until Reyes takes the field, you have to treat him like Carlos Beltran in your fantasy drafts. That is, pass him over for safer picks in the earlier rounds, then take him in the middle rounds when all the elite talent is off the board. If I drafted today (and I don't, making this one of the few days in March where I don't have a draft), I'd follow the Beltran gameplan of waiting till the eighth round or so before picking up Reyes. Selecting him around pick number 100 would still put him as the fifth shortstop off the board, behind the rest of the Big Five. I'll take five months of Reyes over sixth months of Alexei Ramirez, Stephen Drew, Jason Bartlett or other middle-tier shortstops, and I'm sure you will too. - link







Wright:

While there should be no intent to injure Wright, there is a belief that once Opening Day comes, MLB pitchers will be testing Wright’s comfort level in the batter’s box. This past winter, Wright bulked up his upper body but trimmed down significantly over all, he looks completely ripped and so far has hit two home runs already in Spring Training. So far he has not wore the new Rawlings helmet that he had unknowingly endorsed the days before he was beaned - link

Harper Downgrading:

For a while now, I've harbored a deep suspicion the Nationals would ultimately use their No. 1 overall draft pick this June on someone other than 17-year-old catcher Bryce Harper. It was an educated hunch, based on a few facts: Multiple scouts have told me he had not separated himself from the rest of the elite class of No. 1 contenders, the way Stephen Strasburg did a year ago...  link

Projected OD Lineup:


1. Angel Pagan, CF, 2009: .306 AVG., 11 3B, 14 SB

2. Luis Castillo, 2B, 2009: .302 AVG., 77 R, 20 SB

3. David Wright, 3B, 2009: .307 AVG., 10 HR, 72 RBI

4. Jason Bay, LF, 2009: .267 AVG., 36 HR, 119 RBI

5. Daniel Murphy, 1B, 2009: .266 AVG., 12 HR, 63 RBI

6. Jeff Francoeur, RF, 2009: .280 AVG., 15 HR, 76 RBI

7. Rod Barajas, C, 2009: .226 AVG., 19 HR, 71 RBI

8. Ruben Tejada, SS, 2009: .289 AVG., 24 2B, 19 SB - link
 
Jerry Manuel:
 
The team has to see you as immovable,” Manuel says. “When you sit in this chair, no matter what has happened to your team, you can’t ever complain about this guy being out, or that guy. You have to ask your coaches: ‘What can we do to win this game today?’ That’s your biggest job.”

The manager knows what an easy target he became last year with his daily pronouncements of “treading water,” and “waiting for the cavalry to arrive,” and in retrospect he knows that probably was a mistake. But he also was working under the impression that Reyes and Carlos Beltran would return in time to make a serious impact on the pennant race and the Mets’ fortunes. He says if he knew that would turn out to be a pipe dream, he would have kept the slogans to himself. -  link

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

With all due respect to the Wa Po writer, Harper will go number 1 barring contract issues.

His numbers in his first year at JUCO are mind-boggling, and he's doing it against kids 2-6 years older.