Wednesday April 23, 2003
Last year, I did a blow-by-blow account of the draft that everyone else found mind-numblingly dull so I won’t go into that again. I will say this – the highlights of the draft? Watching the Van Burens erupt into turmoil not once, but twice (and over Brandon Duckworth and Brian Lawrence!) Waiting for new nicknames from Barmak (Vinnie Pads, $5…Vinnie Pads, $5…) and of course, the FS-J-Hate battle for Aramis Ramirez, while Benny P stood outside, shaking with fear that J-Hate would actually let the FS win out.
So…I desperately wanted Albert Pujols, but Rozy Cheeks was willing to pay approximately $260 for him, so I bowed out after $50. That left me with hitters Chipper Jones, Shawn Green and Brian Giles (aka “Bri-Gi”) and therefore on paper the best outfield in the league, in my opinion. The infield has issues on the corner (Big Fat Mo and Yo Adrian Beltre…) but is sick up the middle with Jeff Kunt and Edgar Rent-to-Own, and Eli Marrero/Damian Miller behind the plate is more than adequate. I went into the draft thinking of Jason Kendall if I was going to get a catcher – seemed clear he was going to bust out – but I really knew I’d have to punt the position, and I did better there than I even had hoped.
The First Few Weeks of the Season…
To quote Ashton Kutcher, “Dude, where’s my offense?” Jeff Kent started well and then disappeared. I think I got more out of him last season at this time when he was on the Disabled List. Chipper has more small injuries than Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary and Brian Giles is actually on the DL. (I didn’t actually cry that day…but I got misty.) Lately, I’ve been doing the Leo Mazzone rock in my office and chanting, “It will turn around, it will turn around.” My co-workers seem to be keeping their distance.
On the other hand, my Avoid Griffey at all Costs strategy really pays off every year. It astounds me that others in the league STILL have said they’ll pay for him next year. Ah, talent…now we know why Sabean paid what he did for Neifi Perez. No, on second thought, we may never understand that.
My team hit a new low for ineptitude with a total of 16 points a week or so ago. Now, since we only have 10 categories, it’s not quite apples-to-apples with prior years, but there’s simply no way to cut that pie without finding out that my team is currently really, really bad.
Things are picking up…I can tell it’s happening because I’m starting to get those “try and rip him off for slumping players” trade offers. Hey, I say this with love – I do appreciate it. Really. It’s part of the fun. And I just might bite one of these days…if my team is THIS bad in a few weeks, I just might have to.