Wise Guy Baseball 2007
John Menna's '07 Picks & Pans
Yes fans, Johnny is back. He slipped this to me the other day, under the table of course, and I in turn pass it to you.
Picks:
JD Drew - Big surprise here. I love JD coming into Fenway, the perfect park for him. Batting behind Manny and Ortiz will provide RBI chances galore. A challenge must.
Stephen Drew - Very impressive debut. A challenge option if something happens to break up the Reyes/Hanley combo.
Ian Kinsler - I see a young Craig Biggio in Kinsler. Nice power/speed combo in a great park at a relatively weak position. Should be active on challenge teams at least for his home games.
Aramis Ramirez - A challenge must even at this stacked position. Great high-average power guy whose career year has yet to happen. At 28, it's a good chance that this is the year.
Alex Rios - Terrific talent, 5-category player, excellent challenge play.
Takashi Saito - Excellent control of underrated stuff. Smart. Great home park. A top 5 closer. A play.
Ben Sheets - Obvious great talent. Probably the best pitcher in the NL. A challenge must.
Jered Weaver - Great stuff with a funky delivery. I was extremely impressed with him last season. Top 5 in the AL and of course I like him in CDM.
Scott Olsen - The best of the Marlin studs. Reminds me of Steve Carlton with that nasty slider. A little more command and he becomes elite. A challenge play at home at least.
John Patterson - Top 10 NL pitcher when healthy, excellent home start play.
Chris Young (pitcher) - I'm stealing one of Gene's boys here. Only touches the very low 90's but batters swing like it's 98. His size and funny delivery make him hard to pick up. Great home start play.
Randy Wolf - Professional pitcher. Two years removed from TJ surgery, he's ready to help us. Solid home start play.
Pans:
Bob Wickman - With quality arms behind him, a questionable play for 2007. Never seems to get the easy Save, it's usually a struggle. He's a pro but I'd stay away.
Todd Jones - Like Wickman, Jones has several good arms backing him up. He will not be closing for the Tigers by the All-star break. Don't do it.
Jeremy Bonderman - Fine young pitcher. Great slider. Statwise, not ready for CDM. I also believe the injury risk is high considering his innings total at a young age. Stay away.
Andy Pettitte - Had his career year two years ago. He should have stayed in the NL. He will win his 15 games but will hurt your ERA and WHIP in the process. Pass.
Brad Penny - I see red flags with Penny. He was laboring for much of the year, especially down the stretch. I see a breakdown at some point this year. No.
Jon Papelbon - I don't like the move to the rotation. Why move out of role where he pitched great? Is he ready to throw 200 innings? Highly questionable.
Barry Bonds - Not one thin dime would I bid for this bummmm. An embarrassment to the game. He should be banished.
2007 Addendum
As usual, I forgot to include a few players in WGB 2007. It's not as bad as the year I left out Manny Ramiriez. The two I've caught so far are Gary Matthews and Zach Duke. You are fully justified in assuming that I don't have a whole lot to say about either player.
Matthews, let's go way out on a limb and say he won't be as good as he was last year, but he's a good player who will contribute some power and speed and not hurt you in the other three cats.
Duke, well, all he needs to do is get better. The WGB draft ranking has him at #76 among starting pitchers, about the same as other rankings I've seen. He's worth a late/cheap flyer as long as you have your K's covered elsewhere. Do not, repeat do not, own two low-K starters.
I also made several minor mistakes in the draft rankings themselves. These will be fixed and in a few weeks I'll post new rankings by position.