The 2021 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[stevenash]

Let's see your squad...

More details later.

At 12 and 13 I had this available to me.
(Yelich went at 11, one pick before me)

In between 12 and 20 I had these pitchers and outfielders to consider.
Remember now after round 5 all very good outfielders and pitchers, and 2B will be gone,
Forget about it, if you want a top 2B, top two OF and top two staff ace starting pitchers and if you don't have them after five rounds you just ain't getting any one of them.
So with 12 I had a choice of Bellinger 1B/OF eligible, or Harper for OF.
It could have gone either way I went Harper.

Now I had 4 staff aces available to me ranked 13-20.
All four all had amazing qualities.
I could have gone Beuhler, Giolito, Darvish, or Bauer.
I went with off of what I've seen in the past with my own eyes.
I went with my trusted opinion, I don't always agree with all the 'experts'

I did not take Beuhler, he's a lot like Greinke being quality arms but unstable in the head.
I did not take Bauer, I feel he's a terrific pitcher but way overrated.

That leaves me with two options, and I had six hours to decide this because I knew where I was choosing now.
Giolitto who I have always loved his stuff, his command, and everything he does as a pitcher.
Or Darvish who I can not say a bad thing about ever as a pitcher.

Darvish is getting older (well, we all are) he more iikely to break down.
All things being equal, i went with my gut, my instinct, this was the selection of my draft.
Your ace of your fantasy team will make or break your season.

My gut, my instinct, said Giolito. And I took him.
It's my season, it's my team, if I lose because Darvish had a better season, or if I win because I was right about Giolito, well I can live with all that because it was me, the GM, who made that decision.

So now I have

OF1 Bryce Harper
SP1 Giolito

Mind you I don't pick again until end of round 3 (36) and the start of round 4 (37)

Then I have to wait forever until round 5 and 6, and at pick 61 (the first pick of round 6, mine) that's it, your cream of the crop at every position is gone.

Tell you what I did in rounds 3 and 4 (overall 36 and 37 ) when I get back, but I think you have a good idea what I did at the end of round 3, and you damn well know what I did in round 4 for two reasons, one of those very reasons is very valid.

[BigSpoon]

Most likely the Pirates, it has to be.

Looking good so far.

[JMobile]

Big teams having a hard time on opening day

[Cross]

Cubs offense still sucks, wtf.

[jrgum3]

The Giants bullpen continues to be bad. At least the offense was good and they got a tremendous start from Kevin Gausman but it was all for naught as the Giants bullpen blew a 6-1 lead in the 8th. It's going to be a long year if their bullpen can't get guys out.

[stevenash]

Whit
3 for 5 with a homer 2 runs scored and 2 RBI

That kid is pretty good huh?

KC 14-10 like we didn't see that coming.
I said earlier in the month just bet the over every KC game.
All sticks and not good pitching =over every game.

[Otters27]

Dawgs howled early in the innings today

[EmpireMaker]

Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson doubled in his first at-bat of 2021 on Thursday, but the club then pulled him out of the game as a result of right hamstring tightness. The Twins will re-evaluate Donaldson on Friday, manager Rocco Baldelli told Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com and other reporters. While this fortunately doesn’t appear to be a calf problem for Donaldson, who has dealt with those in previous seasons, it’s nonetheless disheartening for Minnesota to see him deal with yet another health problem at the outset of the campaign. The former AL MVP only played in 165 regular-season games from 2017-18 as a Blue Jay and Indian, and after a healthy 2019 with the Braves, the Twins signed him to a four-year, $92MM contract. Donaldson appeared in just 28 of a possible 60 games in the first year of the deal, though.

• The Red Sox and right-handed reliever Matt Barnes discussed a contract extension during the spring, but there’s little optimism about a deal coming together, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com writes. That leaves the 30-year-old on track to reach free agency next winter, and in the meantime, he’ll earn $4.5MM this season. The hard-throwing Barnes, a career-long member of the Red Sox, has pitched to a 4.08 ERA with a 29.9 percent strikeout rate in 337 1/3 innings since debuting in 2014. He amassed 60-plus innings in each season from 2016-19.
• Free-agent right-hander Brad Peacock is healthy after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery last October and will hold a showcase for interested teams Friday in Florida, MLBTR has learned. The 33-year-old Peacock’s shoulder troubles limited him to a mere three appearances in 2020, his last season as an Astro, but he was an effective swingman for the club during the few preceding campaigns. Between 2016-19, Peacock recorded a 3.48 ERA and a 28.7 percent strikeout rate across 128 appearances (42 starts) and 320 1/3 innings.
• Catcher Curt Casali earned a $500K bonus when he landed a spot on the Giants’ season-opening roster, per Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area. Casali, whom the Giants signed to a $1.5MM contract in free agency, will back up Buster Posey. He earned that deal after a three-year stretch with the Reds in which he hit a respectable .260/.345/.440 with 18 home runs in 485 plate appearances.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Padres and Darvish blew a 6-1 lead but grinded back to get the lead and I'll take an 8-7 win.

[Chi_archie]

Padres and Darvish blew a 6-1 lead but grinded back to get the lead and I'll take an 8-7 win.

Roller coaster

[Stallion]

Josh Donaldson is hurt already LOL

[BigSpoon]

Josh Donaldson is hurt already LOL

Not surprised, you don't get less injury prone as you age into your mid 30's.

[JMobile]

Red Sox are sorry. Only 2 hits

[stevenash]

Padres and Darvish blew a 6-1 lead but grinded back to get the lead and I'll take an 8-7 win.

An ugly win is better than a pretty loss.
Case in point, KC yesterday.

[Otters27]

Wild MLB night here.

As and Angels both trying to come back

[jrgum3]

Wild MLB night here.

As and Angels both trying to come back

I'm hoping they both lose as I bet the Astros and White Sox. Also bet the Giants who tied the game in the last inning. Would be great if the dogs are barking tonight after Miami and Atlanta let me down yesterday.

[mr. leisure]

Miami really screwed me .

[Cross]

Giants with a solid comeback win.

[EmpireMaker]

April 2, 3:05pm: Sanchez has mild inflammation in the back of his shoulder and will rest for a few days, De Nicola tweets. The Marlins don’t have a timetable for his return, but it should be a slow process, per Mish (Twitter link).
10:50am: Sanchez will undergo an MRI, tweets Craig Mish of the Miami Herald.
April 1: Prized Marlins righty Sixto Sanchez cut his most recent throwing session short due to what the Marlins termed “slight discomfort” in his right shoulder, tweets Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. He’ll be evaluated over the coming days as the Marlins determine a course of action. MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola adds that Sanchez had been slated to throw around five “innings” and 75 pitches in a simulated game but cut things short after just the second frame, at which point he informed the team of the discomfort.
While the decision is being tabbed as a precaution at the moment, there’s some obvious concerning when any pitcher complains of shoulder pain. Sanchez was optioned to the the Marlins alternate site earlier this week, but that decision was only made because he was behind in his throwing after being in Covid-19 protocol earlier in camp. He’d thrown just eight innings during Grapefruit League play, and the Marlins hoped to get him built back up at their alternate site, with an eye toward a mid-month debut in the rotation. The shoulder issue, however, could obviously impact that timeline.
Sanchez made his big league debut in 2020 and impressed through seven starts, pitching to a 3.46 ERA with a 20.9 percent strikeout rate, a 7.0 percent walk rate and a massive 58.0 percent ground-ball rate. He’s considered one of the 10 to 20 best prospects in all of baseball and is viewed by the Marlins as a future linchpin of the rotation. He accrued 103 days of Major League service time in 2020, so there’s no real service-related benefit for the Marlins keeping him down at this time; he’d need to be in the minors through late July in order for his path to free agency to be pushed back another year.

[Chi_archie]

Wild MLB night here.

As and Angels both trying to come back

White sox slam the door shut

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Hosmer carrying the Padres the first 2 games.

Tatis and Machado will round into form eventually.

[stevenash]

Hosmer carrying the Padres the first 2 games.

Tatis and Machado will round into form eventually.

I drafted Hos in the 10th round. A gift.

My regulars are.

1B Hosmer
2B Whit
SS Suarez
3B Moncada
OF Conforto
OF Castelanos
OF Harper

I analyzed this team after the draft and I was pleased.
And I like my pitching.

Off to an early 8 point lead but it's only game 2 of 162

[Stallion]

Miami really screwed me .

I bet the Under, it wasn't even close.

[stevenash]

Whit's going nuts again at the plate

So far 2 for 4 again, still playing

HR
2 R
4 RBI

I think I'm hearing chants of "MVP"

[JMobile]

Boston still sucks. It's sad

[stevenash]

Boston still sucks. It's sad

It's a mess.

John Henry overpaid for Sale.
Henry couldn't afford Mookie's new asking price so you wound up with him.
They over estimated Benintendi they think and won't pay him what he's going to want going forward so they flipped him to us (KC) for a cheaper version (Cordero) as a KC fan I love it.
I think, not sure, but I think they still have to pay Pedroia.
The farm system they neglected is in ruins and the only money they spent is on a good armed but very brittle Garret Richards.

Glory days of Fenway Nation are long gone and will be for a minimum of 3 to 5 years.

[BigSpoon]

Blue Jays rotation after Ryu is a hot mess.

[stevenash]

Blue Jays rotation after Ryu is a hot mess.

My KC rotation is a hot mess after today too.
But I'll take a 2-0 start to the season every time though.

[jrgum3]

Sucks watching the Giants bats get shut out after putting up 13 runs in the first two games. Seattle started a righty and all of the sudden the Giants offense gets stymied. We'll see if this is a trend but the Giants did this last year where they hit against lefties and couldn't do anything when a righty was on the mound. Now they go to San Diego to face the red hot Padres so they better hit like they did the first two games or else this could be a nightmare start to the season.

[EmpireMaker]

Marlins righty Elieser Hernandez left today’s start in the third inning due to what the team described as “inflammation in his right biceps tendon.” Hernandez experienced a big velocity drop after his previous two innings of work, and manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola) that he initially thought it could be a recurrence of the blister problem that has bothered Hernandez in the past. Mattingly didn’t have any updates about Hernandez’s status after the game, other than to say “obviously, it’s something that we’ll have to be careful with.”
After posting a 3.16 ERA over the small sample size of 25 2/3 innings in 2020, Hernandez was being eyed by the Marlins as a candidate for a much more extended breakout this year. However, with Hernandez now possibly sidelined and Sixto Sanchez and prospect Edward Cabrera already nursing injuries, Miami already finds itself short on pitching depth. The Marlins have a bit of flexibility due to off-days both tomorrow and on April 9, but with Hernandez possibly facing an IL stint, De Nicola suggests the club could again look to acquire some veteran starting depth to replace the recently-retired Gio Gonzalez.
More injury updates from around baseball…

• X-rays were negative on Michael Brantley’s right wrist after the Astros slugger was hit by a pitch from Oakland’s Cole Irvin today. Brantley remained in the game to play left field in the bottom half of the inning, but was replaced by pinch-hitter Chas McCormick the next inning when it was Brantley’s next turn at the plate. Manager Dusty Baker told MLB.com’s Alyson Footer and other reporters that the team initially feared a much worse injury: “I went out to talk to Michael, he couldn’t feel his fingers….He’ll probably be sore for a couple days. He couldn’t turn the bat head over so he’s day to day until then.” McCormick was playing in just his second career big league game today, though on a Houston club that was already lacking in outfield depth, McCormick looks to be the top fill-in option if Brantley has to miss a significant amount of time.
• Right-hander Silvino Bracho suffered a left oblique strain in his final spring outing, Giants manager Gabe Kapler told Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group and other reporters. Bracho is back playing catch but he will kept off a mound for the next 7-10 days. The oblique problem represents yet another health setback for Bracho, who missed all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery and then pitched only a single inning in 2020 due to both a setback in his TJ recovery and then a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. With 89 2/3 total MLB innings on his resume, Bracho had spent his entire pro career in the Diamondbacks organization before signing a minor league deal with the Giants during the offseason.
• Nick Senzel left the Reds’ first game of the season due to a shoulder injury, but the outfielder returned to action today as a midgame defensive substitution. He also received one plate appearance in the Reds’ 9-6 victory over the Cardinals. There was certainly reason to fear the worst given Senzel’s lengthy injury history, though manager David Bell told reporters (including the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith) that Senzel’s issue was “nothing serious” and that Senzel could be “back in the lineup in a matter of a day or two.”

[Cross]

Ok, I’m taking Royals overs and cashing all year boys.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Ok, I’m taking Royals overs and cashing all year boys.

Looks like they have a very deep lineup.

They will be an interesting and exciting team to watch.

[Otters27]

Lots of Comebacks this opening weekend

[stevenash]

Ok, I’m taking Royals overs and cashing all year boys.

Been saying this all spring training,

[Stallion]

Ok, I’m taking Royals overs and cashing all year boys.

Good to know. Thanks for the tip.