Thoughts, Ramblings, Useless information and Musings for Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Let's do a mailbag today…
Kenton (Seattle): How could you say Al Reyes is a better option then J.J. Putz, then back it up with an explanation that was as dumb as it was false? You say Reyes has converted all his save opps but, not sure if you noticed, SO HAS PUTZ (19/19). Point 2 was that Putz is an injury risk. Can you please explain? I watch every Mariners game and I'm sure I would have noticed if our star closer was hurt. I guess my question for you is how you can get away making such incredulous comments for someone named "The Talented Mr Roto"?
TMR: Well, Putz was banged up at the start of the year, and I made that statement a few weeks ago. And Reyes has been lights-out, as well. They're fairly close in value, which is what I actually said on the podcast. But to answer your question, the made-up nickname does not, in fact, have any restrictions.
Bill (Bronx, N.Y.): I am going to give you a pass in regards to the Griffey comment. Even though the TRUM did not post until Friday, I will assume that you wrote it prior to Pujols hitting his HR last night tying Griffey. You do not get a pass on the Reyes versus Putz garbage (said in a French accent). Last I checked, Putz has converted every single save opportunity he has had this year as well. I have to disagree with your take that Tampa will play more close games than Seattle. Tampa is going to lose a lot more one-sided games because of the lack of depth in both the rotation and bullpen. Putz may be a slight injury risk but perhaps no more so than Reyes. Personally, I think that a lot of the little nagging injuries and stiffness that occur during spring training get overblown. You very well may be correct that Reyes could be more valuable going forward, but your reasoning holds no water from my perspective. I do give you credit for being willing to take a contrarian position, though.
TMR: You're right on the writing Thursday night but not being posted until Friday. The contrarian position, by the way, is exactly why I put that e-mail in that column at that point…
Drew (Houston): Matty, my three favorite pastimes are baseball, apple pie and Fathers Day. Coming in a close fourth is printing the TRUM at work and going for a meeting with "John." Talk about a lot of hot air all at once. Moving on, could you give me your list of the top-five or so closers that could be traded at the deadline and who'd likely replace them? I'm in a bind for saves. Many thanks, Drew
TMR: I treasure our alone time, Drew. Thanks for sharing that. Not sure that five closers get dealt, but if I was speculating on saves, the guys I'd grab right now are: Akinori Otsuka (bet Texas trades Gagne), Rich Harden (I'm among the small camp that think he gets a shot), Santiago Casilla (if they don't the Harden route), Jon Rauch (bet Cordero gets dealt), Eddie Guardado and Chad Qualls (Lidge and Wheeler have been brutal).
Ken (Quakertown): Sorry if I sent you a message three times in a row, but my browser is not showing any confirmation or action when I hit send message. I am not trying to hump the send message button; I just have no idea if you received my message. Thanks.
TMR: This is the only one I got from you.
Gabe (Annandale): Why don't you ever talk about Justin Germano? He is 5-0 with 16 strikeouts and a 2.36 ERA and 0.93 WHIP. He is pitching lights-out as of now and is improving on the strikeouts.
TMR: Talked about him in my May 14 TRUM and again on May 22. Doesn't everyone already know about Germano at this point? By the way, 17 strikeouts in 42 innings (his actual totals) isn't "lights-out."
Steve (Boston): Shouldn't you also mention that Lowe has pitched 23 more innings than Bonderman? The K's aren't as close when you show it that way.
TMR: Agreed, but the point is the same.
Kent (Philly): Dude, three by the end of Friday? You can't even get one out. If I had the output you do, I'd get fired.
TMR: Then I guess it's good you don't have the output I do.
Anon (somewhere): Are you serious? Do you know it is Thursday already and your last TRUM is from Monday? Although I enjoy your writing (and some of your analysis), I am going to stop paying attention to you because I am just disappointed day after day when your articles don't appear. Is it that hard to write a daily column?
TMR: If that's all I had to do? Unfortunately, it's not.
Brian (parts unknown): I really like what you bring to the table, which is my reason for writing this, but I thought this was supposed to be a daily column? You write like once a week. Are your bosses pleased with your effort? Karabell writes five words to your one.
TMR: Yes, they are, but they're five times as pleased with Karabell.
Luke (Chicago): You're killin' me, Smalls! A few days after the column acknowledging the tardity (I call it tardity) of the TRUM lately, you go 0-fer! I know all of you big-timers are prepping the NFL rankings, but c'mon! Even a page-long "I'm just saying…" would be gold. But nothing? For two days?! I'm gonna have to go back to reading other material. And I DON'T wanna have to do that. Luke (still think you're the greatest, I'm just wallowing in the dearth of fantasy tidbits.)
Gabe (Germany): Matt, I wanted to start off by saying I'm a huge fan and I appreciate all the work you do for the Worldwide Leader. That being said … "Three TRUMs between now and end of day Friday, I promise." Those were your words. Now Friday rolls around and we only have one TRUM which is basically a review of a show that aired a week ago. C'mon man, if you can't make up the TRUMs that's fine, just don't tell all your readers you promise to do it and then it doesn't get done. Thanks for listening to my bitching. Still a loyal reader, when there's something to read.
TMR: I hear you all, and here's what I have to tell you. My job is not just this column. It's actually a twofold job. Here's a quote from the press release when they hired me:
ESPN has acquired the award-winning fantasy sports site Talented Mr. Roto and has hired the site's creator, Berry, as senior director of fantasy games, fantasy sports writer and on-air analyst. Berry, a four time FSWA award-winner and the 2006 FSWA Fantasy Basketball Writer of the Year, will lead product and editorial development for ESPN.com, serve as a lead writer and on-air personality and will seek to expand upon integration of fantasy sports across all of ESPN's media assets.
So, every day I do a podcast, Fantasy First Take, our Fantasy Focus videocast, two chats a week, a bimonthly column for ESPN the Magazine and this column. It takes me probably 45 minutes of research for that 1:15 seconds of Fantasy First Take. Smushed around all that are meetings and e-mails. How about this idea? This potential business? We need to deal with the splash page for the NFL Draft Kit. And the marketing of it. And the ad sales team needs to discuss the content plan. And so on and so forth. I'm slowly but surely meeting every producer, every person in charge of all media platforms, from TV to Radio to the Mag to dot-com to mobile to consumer products etc., etc. Discussing ways we can integrate fantasy into the current structure of what we do here. All of it great, all of it fun, I've got the best gig in the world. But I am hardly ever not busy. I am in the office by 8 a.m. every day and never leave before 7 p.m. And then I'm on Blackberry the rest of the night.
All that said, sometimes I get too ambitious with what I plan on doing and then can't, in terms of writing. And I have no control over when stuff is posted. So I do need to stop promising things. The TRUM is now mostly daily…
Rob (Palm Coast): Please name me the "lots of players" who will hit more than 25 home runs from this point forward. Possibly the stupidest comment I've read this baseball season … even more than the "A-Rod is still good, but not great anymore" from some stooge at what used to be The Sporting News. Perhaps you should consider a return to Hollywood writing, where you can indulge in more David Chasian man-love and write lots of stories with no endings.
TMR: Lance Berkman, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, Travis Hafner, Paul Konerko, Manny Ramirez and possibly Barry Bonds.
Dan Idell (San Diego): TMR, see I'm getting you one reader at a time. Now that the Lehho Rebassoos of New York are on board, who knows? I only write because I'm a fan. I listen to the podcast on the way to work every day and read the TRUMs when I can. Keep up the good work and, oh yeah, Go Pads!
TMR: So you did, in fact, stay classy.
Sean (Conn.): TMR, I've been in a few of your recent chats and have been reading your columns with more frequency. Thanks for the insight. While I am not sure you are 100 percent correct in your "Sopranos" theorems (will we ever really know?), I found them to be very plausible and interesting to read. Thanks for taking the time to articulate your thoughts on the season finale. Best, Sean
Mark (New York, N.Y.): You really did not write your fantasy baseball column for three days because you were trying to perfect your piece on the "Sopranos" finale? Are you serious? Honestly, I barely read your self-indulgent column as it is, but this will most likely be the straw that breaks the camel's back. I signed up for ESPN's Insider package because it has usually been a good resource for fantasy sports. If I wanted to read about some ex-Hollywood reporter's take on a boring male soap opera, I would sign up on E! Online. Do you think people were on the edge of their seats waiting for your oh-so-insightful take on the finale to a show that lost it years ago? Then you go and waste some more space in your column by devoting it to the justified reader hate mail (I am sure you must get a lot of it). What is the purpose of this, to prove to yourself and others that you have thick skin? Good ploy! Finally, at the bottom you get to some fantasy talk. I will now go back to doing what I usually do, reading Karabell and Cockcroft for fantasy and Bill Simmons for everything else.
TMR: Sean liked it.
Jonah (Spain): Why do you guys get dressed up in suits for the Fantasy Focus videos? I doubt your viewers are wearing suits; we all know you don't wear suits around the ESPN mother ship … so, why bother?
TMR: Just remember, you can only see us from the waist up.
Larry (Frederick, Md.): Hey, Mr. Berry. Note for you Fantasy Focus guys and your producer: When you do Fantasy Forward and you mention guys you like that day, those predictions are almost useless. I suppose your mental droppings are good for whom to sit or start, but if it's a guy you might pick up, they're as useless as my nipples. In the leagues I play, if I want to add a guy, that move is reflected in the next day's lineup at the earliest. What we need is you guys to come on a Monday (for example) and tell us whom to pick up for Tuesday. So yeah, I hope Kevin Mench and his head have a great game tonight, but your information is pretty much useless except for chest-thumping "hey look I called it"-ism. So please, change the Fantasy Forward to reflect the fact that a guy you mention TODAY cannot be active until TOMORROW. Capiche? FADE TO BLACK….
TMR: If you play at ESPN.com, you can make lineup changes and add/drop players up until the first pitch of that day. So that's why we do that. We take care of our own, don'tcha know.
Eric (Manhattan): Just started listening to your podcast and watching the video show. Both are flat-out terrific. You make me laugh out loud sometimes on the bus while listening to the podcast. Keep up the great work. OK, here is the question: Why doesn't ESPN air the video show on TV? It's done already. Maybe you could bulk it up a bit to fit a half-hour time slot, but jeez, they can't fit it in somewhere, on ESPN 2 perhaps? How many hours of Poker must we watch? Put the Fantasy Baseball show on!
TMR: Personally, Eric you need to be watching at least three more hours of poker a week. You're not pulling your weight.
Matthole: Hey, you have the most entertaining fantasy blog … or at least you minimize the dorkiness behind fantasy. Anyway, I need pitching and have King Felix, but you suggested in prior blogs to get rid of him. I was offered Torii Hunter for him, which is probably the optimal value I'll receive for him. However, I badly need pitching categories. Would you make the deal and trade someone else for a SP or would hold on to Felix hoping that he can return to old form or at least near old form? I was offered Wang for Francoeur, too. Thanks, and thanks for diluting stat chat with some humor. Take care.
TMR: I would rather have Hunter than Felix this year every day of the week. Do the deal. First time, by the way, I've ever been accused of minimizing dorkiness.
Dan, Washington, D.C.: Matt, I really liked your fantasy section on "Baseball Tonight" over the weekend, but only one question came to mind; why does your head shot on ESPN.com show you with much more hair than you have on TV? What happened to it all?
TMR: I ask myself the same thing every day.
Cyberstalk the TMR
Matthew Berry
