12/2/11

Baseball: - Brian Wilson, Brad Pitt, Tampa Bay, Competitive Balance Lottery, Tal Smith


Brian Wilson – $5 - Wilson was a World Champion and the top fantasy closer at this time last year, but an injury-plagued and walk-heavy 2011 season slides him down the rankings. He missed most of Spring Training and the early part of the season with an oblique strain, then missed more than a month later in the season due to a flexor strain and inflammation in his elbow. When he was on the field, Wilson walked more than one out of every eight batters he faced (12.8 BB% and 5.07 BB/9) while his strikeout rate dropped from 10+ K/9 in 2009-2010 to 8.84 K/9 (22.2 K%). He still prevents homers with the best of them (0.38 HR/9 in four of the last five years) thanks in part to his home ballpark, and his low-scoring teammates means lots of close games and appearances. Hopefully a winter of rest and improved health moves Wilson up the rankings and back into the realm of fantasy’s elite closers. This ranking is based on reputation more than 2011 performance, obviously. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/2012-closer-keeper-rankings-tier-two

He explains, "It's shameful how little I knew about baseball coming into this; my baseball career ended with a pop fly (ball) at high noon and 18 stitches in the cheekbone. I'm a really c**p baseball player. I don't even like baseball that much. My interest pretty much came to an end when I took a baseball in the face. But I am a sports fan." - http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/entertainment/celebrity/Moneyball-star-Pitt-I-was-bad-at-baseball_63563056#ixzz1f6ZKTgtB

What the Rays have done in the last five years is extremely impressive. They have won the division twice and won the wild card once in the last five years despite having the second-lowest payroll in all of baseball. The Rays have discovered market inefficiencies and taken advantage of them. For example, after the 2010 season, the Rays let their top relief pitchers leave in free agency, and they not only received draft compensation, but they easily replaced them in 2011. Also, signing young talented players to long-term deals has been a huge factor in their success. Overall, the Rays have found ways http://mlbreports.com/2011/11/30/baseballintampa/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The new collective bargaining agreement calls for a competitive balance draft pick lottery beginning in 2013, and MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has details.  13 teams will be eligible for the first lottery based on their market size and revenue: the Diamondbacks, Orioles, Indians, Royals, Athletics, Pirates, Padres, Rays, Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, and Cardinals.  The lottery gives each of these teams the chance to win one of six extra picks in the 2013 draft, which will come after the compensation picks for free agents.  The odds of winning a pick will be based on each team's winning percentage in the previous season. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/11/13-teams-eligible-for-first-competitive-balance-lottery.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Tal Smith spent 35 years with the Astros as a top baseball executive and played a major role in the constructions of the Astrodome and Minute Maid Park. “In the terms of the front-office duties, he is the key man in the history of the whole franchise,” former Astros manager Larry Dierker told the Houston Chronicle. So, how is it possible that Smith will receive only two weeks’ severance pay from the club, according to major-league sources? Because the Astros’ previous owner, Drayton McLane, did not arrange a more enticing golden parachute for Smith with the new owner, Jim Crane. http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/thirty_five_years_of_service_two_weeks_severance/8440309?new_post=true

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