IBC

I think I finally have my base team. I have two core offensive players that are young at premium positions that should continue to improve and a phenom SP anchoring my rotation with a closer who had a BAA under .200.

C- McCann
3B- Zimmerman
SP- Lincecum
CL- Valverde

Everybody else can be considered expendable or upgradable. Sure, I could upgrade Zimmerman or McCann, but McCann there's only two C's id consider taking and neither are coming over this way (Mauer, Martin). Zimmerman is tough because I now value defense a good bit and i think the safest/best comparison for his future is Scott Rolen and I can see that perfectly. Moving into his new park, with a new backdrop and new winds, he should flourish. He has tons of XBH anyway.

Around the diamond around those hitters I have Uggla who'll hit 30 HR, Yuniesky who'll hit 290 and field well, Ibanez who can hit 25-30 HR and Ethier an up and coming hitter...and that Beltran fellow. The only position i'd classify myself weak at is 1B. Koshansky should get a decent projection and Sexson should, at the minimum, get a good power rating. I still rather upgrade 1B, maybe through the draft.

SP wise, need to grab a P behind Lincecum and my bullpen is fine. Percival, Wise, Lopez can be fine setup guys behind Valverde. Young SP's in Lince, Marshall, Reyes, and Kennedy who should all improve as the years go on, and lefty extraordinare Barry Zito.

I am getting to like where my team is, but it's never done.

Also, a healthy Humberto Sanchez and a solid rebound from TJ could do wonders in 2009 for the rotation or bullpen, wherever he ends up. He was the 59th best prospect coming into last year per baseball america's top 100. Filthy #'s in 06 and was the key to the Sheffield trade. Hopefully he rebounds nicely.

Odds on which of those 4 guys JP named as his core will be the one traded first (because we all know that 365 days from now at least one will be gone).

Valverde: 4-1 (He's a nice closer, but you can always pick up a sim freak and closer is the least valuable of the positions he mentioned).
McCann: 8-1 (All those things JP said about him are true, which makes McCann the player who can probably unlock that premium young SP to pair with Mr. Lincecum)
Zimmerman: 9-1 (He's a fine young third baseman, but he projects to be another Scott Rolen and JB already traded Scott Rolen once, he's also the most likely of the 4 to bust completely)
Lincecum: 42000-1 (The only way he moves is if someone were to sneak into JP's mansion and decapitate his prized racehorse and then place that head JP's bed as he slept like in the Godfather. This would also require someone getting JP a mansion and a prized racehorse).

if someone gets me a mansion and a prized racehorse, they can have Lincecum

also, chances of McCann staying have basically reached Lincecum levels out of spite.

btw, you were right about Valverde but Zimm and McCann are holding up nice

This post coming up again made me think that if we manage to get the lineups, rotos and pens ranked, something that I think would be interesting is seeing people's "cores." Maybe your top 8-10 players based on how you value them. For instance mine would be something like:

1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Prince Fielder
3. Chase Utley
4. Yovani Gallardo
5. Alex Gordon
6. Matt Holliday
7. Phil Hughes
8. Stephen Drew
9. Jeremy Hermida
10. Jamie Shields

I'm sure that will change a fair amount by June 1, though hopefully the players won't.

Fuck. You.

Tigers wrote:This post coming up again made me think that if we manage to get the lineups, rotos and pens ranked, something that I think would be interesting is seeing people's "cores." Maybe your top 8-10 players based on how you value them. For instance mine would be something like:

1. Miguel Cabrera
2. Prince Fielder
3. Chase Utley
4. Yovani Gallardo
5. Alex Gordon
6. Matt Holliday
7. Phil Hughes
8. Stephen Drew
9. Jeremy Hermida
10. Jamie Shields

I'm sure that will change a fair amount by June 1, though hopefully the players won't.

Not sure if my top 10 or so would even be comprised of major leaguers. It would look something like

Lincecum
McCann
Harden
Zimmerman
Young
Escobar
Bradley

and then some of my prospects that I'm quite fond of like Sosa or Noonan would mix their way in. I think my team sucks after this exercise.

So who's going to do a "top core" thread in their blog? I think its a pretty cool idea.

not Z.

I did it

Cubs wrote:not Z.

hahaha..

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZing!