It’s hard to avoid anything about Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. If you haven’t checked out these articles on Roethlisberger, check them out.
If you’re like me, you want to keep up with the NFL news going down this weekend.
The start of free agency is always a busy time of the year, and this year, especially, with it being an uncapped year, makes things even more interesting.
Foxsports.com has a solid blog to keep you up-to-date with what’s happening around the league. And if you want more, check out profootballtalk.com.
Rick’s picks for Thursday (3-04):
NFL mock drafts litter the Internet these days.
Everyone has an opinion, everyone wants to add their two cents. Everyone wants to be the next Mel Kiper Jr.
There’s probably too much out there, to be honest.
But if you want to get an idea which player your favorite NFL team might be eyeing in April, the mock draft can feed your frenzy. You probably think there’s not enough out there.
Either way, if you have even a slight interest in the draft, there’s one cool utility out there that can help you make a little more sense of the mocks.
Scout.com has a tool called the Mock Draft Muncher. If you like mock drafts, you need to check it out. It lists the most popular selections for teams out of 32 mock drafts. There’s also a draft simulation.
The Muncher is a cool tool.
Congratulations to Johnny Damon.
He turned his career year with the Yankees (24 home runs, 82 RBIs) into another contract.
Damon got an $8 million contract from the Tigers, who needed a leadoff hitter.
If you do anything with Damon, don’t expect a similar stat line with the Tigers.
Ten home runs might be the max.
OK, you followed the link.
You’re pretty sure you know all there is to know about baseball.
Alex Rodriguez will have an MVP season, Tim Lincecum will win another Cy Young, and the Pirates will continue to lose.
Well, put your knowledge to the test by entering the Times-News Fantasy Baseball Challenge.
E-mail me at rick.green@timesnews.com with Fantasy Challenge in the subject line. In the message, tell me why you should be picked to join a 5×5 mixed league. Also in the message, tell me what year you think the Pirates will have a winning season.
I’ll see you on the fantasy baseball diamond.
OK, you’re at the top of the draft, but not high enough to draft Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez or Alex Rodriguez. You’re thinking of going with a pitcher. (I won’t get into that debate now, but let’s go with it).
Two names top your list for pitchers: Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. Which one do you take?
Here’s what they did last year:
Pretty impressive numbers from each pitcher. You can’t go wrong with either one.
Lincecum had better numbers than Halladay, except for the wins. I’d expect that to change this season.
With the Phils, Halladay becomes a 20-game winner. You might see a slight increase in the ERA moving to Philadelphia, but the Ks should increase. Halladay has strung together four straight impressive seasons, all with 200-plus innings pitched. That might be my only concern. Otherwise, Halladay has been an impressively consistent pitcher.
Lincecum doesn’t have Halladay’s track record, but he has some filthy stuff. I don’t expect the Giants to have an impressive team, so the wins might not be there this season again. With the numbers Lincecum posted last year, he should have won 20 games with a little support.
If given the choice between the two, I’d give a slight edge to Halladay.
Let’s stick with the top of the board at the shortstop position for our second exercise of debating players.
The Mets’ Jose Reyes is returning from an injury-plagued season that likely will make his stock drop. On the other side, we have the Phils’ Jimmy Rollins and the Yankees’ Derek Jeter.
Here’s what they did last season:
The thing that stands out with Derek Jeter is the home run total. He hit 18 last season, but 13 came at Yankee Stadium. The second thing that sticks out with Jeter is his age: 35. How long can he keep this up? I wouldn’t expect an average of 330+ this season. The stolen bases could start to drop off as well.
With Jimmy Rollins, I’d expect him to bounce back from a disappointing season. Most of his struggles took place in the first half, which could have been caused by injury. He’s worthy of taking a chance on regaining his form from 2008.
Unlike Jose Reyes, which is a huge injury risk. Although 26, he makes me nervous as a high fantasy pick. With him, the stolen bases will be plenty — if he’s healthy. I wouldn’t risk it with Jeter and Rollins on the board.
If I’m going shortstop, and these three guys are on the board, I’m going Rollins, Jeter and then Reyes. And I might even pass on Reyes until the risk is more suitable with a lower draft position.
With baseball season approaching, I thought it would be good to take a look at comparable players and see who would be a better choice this season for fantasy baseball.
For starters, we’ll take a look at some first basemen: the Phils’ Ryan Howard, the Brewers’ Prince Fielder and the Yanks’ Mark Teixeira.
Here’s what they did last season:
Generally speaking, I think Teixeira might go earlier in drafts because of his Yankee status. And you really can’t go wrong with an anchor like that at first base, unless you can get Albert Pujols.
But say you can’t draft Pujols. Who’s the choice out of the three we’re looking at?
My pick is Prince Fielder. He’s younger than the others, hit for more home runs last season and tied Howard with RBIs. My second choice is Big Tex, followed by Howard.
What sours me on Howard, if you can call it that, is the lower batting average. At .270 or so, he’ll hurt your average, so you’ll need to find someone to offset it.
Was that Peyton Manning doing his best Brett Favre impersonation Sunday night?
Late in Super Bowl XLIV and his team needing a score, Manning could have risen to the upper-echelons of quarterbacks will a TD drive.
Instead, he looked like Favre, throwing an interception was returned for a touchdown.
Manning can pad his stats like Favre and might end up breaking many of Favre’s records when it is all over. What he really needs to do is win when it counts.
He historically hasn’t done that.
Many thought he shook that label with the Super Bowl XLI win in Miami. Instead his interception brought back those memories.
Deion Sanders called it a choke job on NFL Network. The other panelists thought that was harsh.
Sanders was right on the mark. Manning shouldn’t throw an interception in that situation, just like Favre.
What Manning could use is a little bit of Ben Roethlisberger.
When Big Ben needed to take the Steelers on a winning drive to win the Super Bowl last season, he succeeded.
If you’re keeping score, that makes it Big Ben 2, Peyton 1 in championships.
I’ll take that score over 300-yard games any day.
