2/10/12

Baseball: Cecil on Prince, Fantasy Catchers, Mike Morgan, Ryne Duren


Baseball:  Cecil on Prince, Fantasy Catchers, Mike Morgan, Ryne Duren

Cecil Fielder said Prince has no relationship with any members of their extended family, including his ill grandparents; he "hides behind" agent Scott Boras' representatives to dodge discussing his family; and he shows no appreciation for those who helped him along the way. For example, Cecil Fielder said: "We all knew the kid was obese. He had a hard time running to first base without getting tired. You don't transform your body by yourself, you've got to have trainers, you've got to have people cooking for you, there's a lot of things that go into that. ... "There's a lot of people that wish he would get over whatever he's got going on with his self. ... And once he gets rid of that, I think those people he needs to reach out to other than me, I think hopefully he will." http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/2/4/2770661/prince-cecil-fielder-comments

Catchers: Mike Napoli (ADP 46.37, #2 catcher) is going way too early! Napoli's .344 BABIP inflated his batting average to .320. A .279 BABIP in 2010 yielded a .230 batting average. In 2011, his 25.4% HR per flyball led all hitters with at least 300 at-bats. In 2010 it was 19.3%, and in 2009 it was 16.5%. The ballpark switch certainly helped, but luck also was a factor. Only 5 of his HRs were no-doubters, per Hit Tracker. Also, his H% jumped from 28% in 2010 to 35% in 2011 (a career high). Alex Avila (ADP 109.50) and his .366 BABIP is also overrated. I prefer waiting on the deep catcher position to drafting Napoli in the 3rd or 4th rounds, or Avila in the 8th or 9th rounds, Wait on guys like Matt Wieters (ADP 99.34) or Miguel Montero (ADP 103.34) rather than Napoli, and J.P. Arencibia (ADP 180.00) or Wilson Ramos (ADP 208.22) rather than Avila. In one-catcher leagues, if you drafted Napoli you made a mistake. If you are going to reach for a catcher early in a draft, then reach for Carlos Santana (ADP 36.81), who is going to be so good this year they will make not one but two tourism videos honoring Cleveland. http://www.rotoauthority.com/

After a five-year hiatus, baseball saw the next straight-to-the-majors player when the Oakland Athletics selected Mike Morgan fourth in the June 1978 draft. Morgan, eighteen years old, had just graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas. He debuted with the A's on June 11, 1978, pitching a complete game, but taking a 3-0 loss to the Orioles. Morgan lost his next two starts, as well, and was sent to the minors for the remainder of the season. Morgan started 1979 at AAA, was called up mid-season, and posted a 2-10 record in thirteen starts. That earned him another year in the A's farm system and, eventually, a trade to the Yankees in 1980. Thus began Morgan's career as a major league nomad. He pitched for twelve different teams over parts of four decades. His most successful season came in 1992 with the Chicago Cubs. In 34 starts, Morgan posted a 16-8 record, with a 2.55 ERA over 240 innings, for a 142 ERA+. Morgan played his final three seasons with the Diamondbacks, pitching mostly out of the bullpen. He pitched in his last game in September 2, 2002, a 19-1 drubbing at the hands of the Dodgers, going 1⅓ innings and giving up three hits and one run out of the bullpen. He ended his career with a 141-186 record and a 4.23 ERA over 597 games. http://mlb.sbnation.com/2012/2/4/2769203/straight-to-the-majors-the-players-who-skipped-the-minors-on-their

Ryne Duren (b. 1925) was a hard-throwing relief pitcher with bad eyesight, who intimidated hitters by squinting through bottle-thick glasses and intentionally throwing his first warm-up pitch back to the screen.  He was a three-time All Star and led the American League in saves in 1958. http://fairandunbalancedblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/baseball-losses-in-2011.html

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