Opening Day

Ah, the moment we've all been waiting for is finally here. Opening day is always a special day because everyone still has hope that their team can contend. Its especially nice for me as an Orioles fan because its likely the last time the O's will a top the AL East division leaderboard. While my day was relatively swamped with homework and other bureaucratic mundaneness I always manage to find time for some baseball. For tonight I'll jump straight into the happenings of the Pilam Fantasy Baseball League...

Now that teams have cleared their dead weight from the draft we can get into the real transactions. As for today Chotch added Nick Adenhart of the LAA. I've always been a semi fan of Adenhart. He's put up solid stats in the minors before (10-2, 1.95 era, 99 ks in 106 IP at single A in 2007) but has been somewhat stagnant since. I did get a chance to watch Adenhart once last year when he was called up and from what I recall he had a difficult time maintaining a high 90s fastball (not good for RHP). Also he was relatively wild, which is expected from most young pitchers. But Adenhart has been thrust in the no. 3 spot by default and is coming off a decent spring performance, so there is certainly hope for this 22 yr old pitcher...

Rory made a move for Ken Griffey today. A healthy Griffey can deliver 25 HRs but we all know thats not going to happen. When he's healthy he'll be a servicable 3 or 4 OF. Messier dropped Elvis Andrus for Emilio Bonafacio. Andrus had a considerable amount of hype coming into the season as he was handed the starting SS job for TEX. However, he's done little at the plate in the minors and unfortunately for us, defense doesn't count in fantasy. Honestly, I dont know much about Bonaficio but he did hit the first inside the park HR on opening day in 41 yrs today. He doesn't offer you much in terms of power but he did steal 40+ bases 4 yrs straight from 2004-2007. Also he was batting leadoff today in an underrated FLA lineup and qualifies at 2B. All and all definitely worth a flier in an 18 team league. Finally Rich dropped Dallas Braden and added David Purcey. Purcey certainly has the ability to rack up some Ks (121 Ks in 117 IPs at AAA last year), and is coming off a pretty solid spring, but he definitely has some walk issues (10 BBs compared to 13 Ks this spring). Braden actually pitched okay today (6 IP, 3 ER, 3 Ks). Servicable but not exciting. Feeling out the available FA pitching options early in the season is key so I'm fine with this move...

Other than that people seem to be messing around with their trading block wants and needs. In doing so you blatantly admit that you had a poor draft and left yourself with some inadequancies. For me the first few weeks are about patience and I probably won't even think about trades for at least a couple of weeks...

My final rants:

1) Why does baseball open up in cold climates? Why did BOS vs TB open in BOS? Why couldn't they have opened up in TB and we wouldn't have to worry about the dreaded "PPD"?

2) The Orioles beat the Yanks today. Booyakasha...

3) Play ESPN's Streak for Cash. You pick the outcome of one matchup at a time across various sports. I become more and more addicted by the day...

Until next time