Category Archives: josh beckett

2013 Fantasy Baseball: Top 40 Fantasy Sleepers

MLB: Tampa Bay Rays-Photo Day

My site has been flooded with Google search results from people wanting to know which sleeper they can target in their fantasy baseball drafts this season.

There are some great young candidates emerging (Wil Myers, Jurickson Profar) and some veterans picked to have a bounce back year (Josh Beckett, Heath Bell).

Fantasy baseball is going to be really fun this season. There are so many sleepers that could help you win your league this season.

I made a list of the top 40 best sleepers for the 2013 fantasy baseball season. Continue reading

2013 MLB Team Preview: Los Angeles Dodgers

forsaleThe Los Angeles Dodgers are officially all-in on competing for a World Series win in 2013. The Magic Johnson-led ownership group are working on finalizing a TV deal that’s upwards of $7 billion dollars over the course of the deal. They have the money to sign every major free agent and they started with signing pitcher Zack Greinke.

Will the ex-Boston group of Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett bounce back from an ugly 2012 season?

Is Don Mattingly a lame duck manager or will the Dodgers sign him to a new deal soon?

Here is the 2013 MLB season preview for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Continue reading

Red Sox-Dodgers Near Blockbuster Trade

In what could be the biggest trade this season, the Boston Red Sox are about to unload three of their biggest pieces to the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, the deal would send Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to Los Angeles for James Loney, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus and prospects Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster. Boston would also be kicking in money to complete the deal.

Los Angeles was awarded waiver claims for both Gonzalez and Beckett. Crawford and Punto previously went unclaimed and cleared waivers. Beckett has 10-and-5 rights, so he would have to grant permission to be traded. Crawford only has a partial no-trade clause.

The 2011 season has been a forgettable one in Boston. The turmoil that surrounded the 2010 squad that leaked to Terry Francona’s firing, has leaked into this season. To make matters worse in Boston, many players have had issues with new manager Bobby Valentine. Gonzalez was rumored to have sent a text to management wanting a meeting about Valentine. It was later said that former teammate Kelly Shopppach sent the text from Gonzo’s phone.

The Dodgers haven’t shied away from claiming big ticket players who were put on waivers after the non-waiver trade deadline. They claimed Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee earlier this month, but Philadelphia pulled him from waivers and no trade was made.

Los Angeles are neck and neck with the San Francisco Giants in the NL West race. They have new ownership and are able to open up the checkbook. The news owners want to make a splash and bring the Dodgers back to its past glory days under manager Tommy Lasorda.

Now, if only a team would claim John Lackey, Boston could start rebuilding the team from scratch.

By: TwitterButtons.com

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Sweetbob’s Fantasy F*ck/Marry/Kill – May 14th

FuckMarryKill

This is the second installment of “Sweetbob’s Fantasy F*ck, Marry, Kill.” I received some emails asking me for fantasy advice. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer all of them. You can email me at bobbymcrib@gmail.com.

Who made the list for a second week in a row? Do I trust David Robertson to close games for the Yankees? Should you begin looking for starters to replace Josh Beckett and Ubaldo Jimenez?

Welcome to “Sweetbob’s Fantasy F*ck, Marry, Kill”… Continue reading

Who Will Win American League Cy Young?

The American League Cy Young race is full of the usual suspects. You usually have a dominant picther from the Yankees and Red Sox (check), one from the AL Central division leader (check), and a few dark horses that are no longer in the divisional race (check). Check out who are the favorites and who could come from behind over their last 7 or 8 starts of the season.

Leading Candidates

Justin Verlander – He is tha anchor of a nice pitching staff in Detroit. He currently 14-7 with a 3.38 ERA and has an alarming 211 strikeouts in only 181 innings of work this season. He had a dismal 2008 season and it is nice that he bounced back. The Tigers are currently winning their division, but it could hurt him that he won’t get as much exposure as pitchers on the Red Sox and Yankees. I think he will at least finish in the top three in voting and could take the award.

C.C. Sabathia – He had a rough start to the season, but over the last two months, he has been great. It helps him that he gets a lot of run support from the modern-day “Murder’s Row” the Yankees have assembled. He has a fairly high ERA to be up for the Cy Young, he’s currently at 3.59. He is leading the league in wins (15-7) and his WHIP is 1.13, which is great. It will help him that he’s on the Yankees and that he probably should have won the award last season, but he switched leagues mid-season.

Roy Halladay – His season has been marred with “Am I getting traded?…okay, how about now?” banter all season. He has had a great year despite all of the distractions, he’s 13-7 with a 3.03 ERA. He has been a workhorse with five complete games and will easily get to 200 innings this year. He’s still a leading candidate for the Cy Young, even if his chances aren’t as great as Verlander or Sabathia’s at getting another Cy Young.

Zack Greinke – If the season ended at the beginning of June, then Greinke would have been the unanimous winner, but the Royals hit bottom and Greinke had a few bad starts. He still had a great year and is still leading the AL in ERA with a 2.43, a full .3 a head of the next guy on the list, Seattle’s Felix Hernandez at 2.73. Greinke has a 12-8 record with 5 complete games, if he were on a contender, I am confident that he would be a 20-game winner. He is also currently 2nd in the AL in strikeouts with 197. If he had run support, Greinke would be in stronger position to win the AL Cy Young.

Dark Horses

Josh Beckett – The Red Sox may not win the AL East this year, but they are fighting for their Wild Card life. Beckett has helped them by pitching well, but he has been erratic at times. He has a 3.65 ERA, but is 14-5 this year. He had a month-long stretch that he barely gave up any hits, but that streak has ended and he’s hittable again. I would say that he’s a dark horse to win it, unless he can pull out a perfect game between now and the end of the season.

Scott Feldman – The young ace of the Texas Rangers isn’t used to being considered for end of the year awards, but he deserves a little recognition. He’s currently 13-4 with a 3.87 ERA for the Rangers, but only has 84 strikeouts, but that isn’t his expertise. He has helped the Rangers contend for the AL Wild Card and with Kevin Milwood, Dexter Holland, and Tommy Hunter has transformed the Rangers starting rotation. He has too high of an ERA to win, but should garner some votes.

Jared Weaver – Weaver had a horrible first couple weeks of the season. At one point his ERA was nearing double digits. Over the last few months, he has trimmed his ERA down to 4.03. He is 13-5 with 143 strikeouts for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Over the course of his dominance, they have bolted all the way to the best record in the American League. Weaver also has a high ERA to win this award, but the way he has pitched lately could change some minds.

Jeff Niemann – At the beginning of the year, The Tampa Bay Rays were needing to trim down their starting rotation and Niemann was almost the odd man out. He has pitched great this year and especially at home in Tropicana Field, he has a 2.67 ERA at home. This season, Niemann is 12-5 with a 3.87 ERA, something that the Rays didn’t expect from him, those numbers were expected out of David Price, Scott Kazmir, or Andy Sonnanstine. He’s not a sexy pick for the Cy Young, but if can get the Rays into the playoffs and dominantly pitch the rest of the way, there’s a slim chance.

I would say that award is Justin Verlander’s to lose. He just has to stay the course and pitch consistently and he should take it home. C.C. Sabathia should finish second, but as much press that the Yankees garner, he could leapfrog Verlander if they keep winning and getting ample run support for their pitchers. At this point it’s too close to call, but when it’s all said and done, Verlander should finally win the AL Cy Young.
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A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.