Dear MLB Network, Part I

The last few days I’ve had the great pleasure of watching the MLB Network while watching over my newborn daughter during the day time and in the early morning hours. And one thing has become increasingly more apparent: There is no new content on this channel during the weekend.

For the love of God, can someone in New York mix in something new? I don’t care if I end up watching the Yankees pummel the Red Sox for an entire day. Anything but another re-run of the 1986 season.

Burnett and the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry

What the hell are the Yankees thinking giving A.J. Bruentt upwards of $16 million a year for the next five? Burnett is a bum. He’s a high-strike-out guy who can’t do anything when it really matters. In my opinion, the Yankees just took a step backward with this move. Now they’re sinking more than $40 million a year in two pitchers. This coming a year after the Yankes refused to mortgage the future (read: Hughes and/or Joba) for Johan. Unbelievable.

I think Derek Lowe will be the better acquisition this offseason.

The one good part of this signing is that the Yanks may have removed themselves from contention for Mark Teixeira.

That’s Benito Teixeira, not Mark

I’m trying to wrap my head around the notion that Mark Teixeira might be a Red Sox soon. It seems almost too good to be true. Initially I thought the BoSox might be fine without him, but when it donned on me that this talented slugger is only 28years old and in the prime of his career, this suddenly became a must-have acquisition.
Teixeira in a Sox uni would make me very happy. While all of Red Sox Nation is forever grateful for Mike Lowell’s contribution to the ’07 title, the addition of Teixeira — which would result in Lowell’s departure via trade — could be a move that really turns the Sox into a force to be reckoned with for the next decade. If the Sox sign Tex, Boston could head into 2009 with Teixeira, Pedroia and probably Youkilis all locked up for the next half-decade.

Open Letter to Terry Francona, baseball minds alike

I can’t help it. Every time I see Tim Wakefield, I think of 2003. I think of Aaron Boone. I think of a floating knuckle ball that never hits the catcher’s mitt. I think of lost dreams and heartbreak. And I know I can’t be the only one. Boston fans have had much to cheer about since 2004, but you can’t tell me that all is well in your in mind when you see Terry Francona send Wakefield to the hill every fifth day. You can’t tell me that disaster is not the first thing on your mind.

The Oz vs. The Jon — it’s going to be a long week

I looked at a pitching matchup between two starters as what would set the tone of my matchup this weekend with The Jon. It was his top starter Johan Santana vs. Ian Snell, one of my lower guys (3-4-5 are all about the same for me at this point). I figured if Snell and the Pirates could pull out a win against Johan, that would set a nice pace for me.

As the more astute among you know, that showdown was scheduled for Monday — but got postponed because all of New York stops when A-Rod hurts his leg. Or something like that. I’m not really sure. So a day late, we got Johan vs. Ian, and the subtext of The Oz vs. The Jon.

More on that in a second, but first, a musical break with another Santana:

What The Jon needs is ..

See that video up there? That is the best debut of all time in the second best fake sport of all time. Why this video? Why Chris Jericho now? Because The Jon is getting it handed to him by FreeSanJose this week. FreeSanJose even resembles Jericho in a whiny, selfish sort of way. Now The Jon knows what you are thinking. This is where The Jon complains about how FreeSanJose’s team has done him wrong, blah, blah, cry, cry, Newspaperman, sniff, sniff.

C’mon, this is The Jon. Yeah C.C. Sabathia nutted up and got 11 Ks. Chase Utley and Pat Burrell are going to a place few power hitters go. So what. That is fantasy baseball.

But the one thing The Jon could use is Curtis Granderson. Why? Thought you would never ask.

Fantasy Baseball frustration: Save J.J Putz!!!

TheBaseballStarsNote: We will look at the players that have been disappointments on our respective teams. Obviously Newspaperman has no disappointments because he is the Michael Jordan of baseball. We now turn our attention to The Oz, who got permission from his wife to come out and play. And J.J. it is The Jon, not The Brad. Enjoy.

I had a couple picks that looked plain dumb on draft day. One was Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who I knew had been sent to AAA, but drafted anyway. The other was Kelvim Escobar, whose injury I didn’t know about and who never made it only my roster anyway – since I had more draft picks than roster spots.

Neither of those guys, though, is my most disappointing draft pick of this year.

At this point, it’s the guy who has given me exactly one good day of fantasy worth: J.J. Putz.

Astro-Logical

Over the past several years, the Houston Astros have brought out one of the dullest offensive lineups in the bigs. I mean, if you could differentiate Geoff Blum from Morgan Ensberg from Mike Lamb in a police lineup you should be eligible for free season tickets. No longer will that be the case in H-Town. While nobody will confuse this offense with the BoSox or Yanks, this should be the surprise producer of 2008.

This ain’t fantasy football where too many good players on one team cannibalize each others production.

Draft advice: Top 20 Starting pitchers

Every league has a pitching guru. Not to toot my own horn, but more times than not, I proudly proclaim that mantle. Once upon a time, I insisted on keeping five pitchers. But even I know that’s not a sound strategy. I prefer to take one or two studs early and fill in my staff with high-upside hurlers on the young side of 30 who are capable of becoming dominant. I’ll leave low-WHIP, low-ERA, low-K, low-risk guys for someone else. Our rankings largely reflect that philosophy. Although The BaseballStars had a pretty wide level of varience — some of our top-10 pitchers didn’t even appear on everyone’s top-20 list — I would feel perfectly comfortable following this list straight down.

Draft Advice: Top 10 Third Basemen

There will be no dispute as to who the best third baseman in fantasy baseball is. Alex Rodriguez recaptured his spot atop the fantasy world last season, leading the league in both home runs and RBIs, making a fool of all those who doubted him. But where things begin to get interesting is at No. 2. There’s two clear cut choices, and then an outsider who beat out two solid contenders for the National League Rookie of the Year. With the influx of young talent, third base isn’t as shallow as it used to be. All five BaseballStars participated in this vote, hence the higher vote count.