UB Writers MLB Predictions

Opening Day is finally upon us. Even though the Sox have to wait an extra day, several teams have kicked off their regular season schedules. If you're a baseball fan, you're smiling -- it's the greatest time of the year. Even for the casual sports fan here in Boston, this marks the best time of the year, too. Bruins and Celtics heading for their playoff schedules (playoff tickets anyone?) and the Sox kicking off their long tourney aimed at a World Series title. Nonetheless, three UB writers, including myself, have made their full set of player predictions for the upcoming season. We'll include a team prediction sometime soon as well, with standings and postseason predictions. But for now, take a look at the future of this season according to DRob, Average Joe, and Burga.

30 Teams, 30 Predictions

This is the first of hopefully many preseason blogs that I'll write before the games get underway. The premise is simple, I'll list each of the 30 MLB teams and make a prediction for a player on that team for the upcoming season. It might be predicting a breakout, or a bust, or somewhere in between. Some might seem pretty mild, whereas others might just seem crazy. But hey, that's why we call them predictions. Comments are welcome if you wish to address one of my predictions or make a couple of your own.

My Predictions:

Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters finally has the breakout season we've been waiting for, posting a 81/28/90 stat line to go along with a .298 average and finishes second among fantasy catchers, behing Joe Mauer.

Boston Red Sox: Adrian Gonzalez has his best season yet at Fenway, hitting .304 with 40 homers and 118 RBIs, good enough for the AL MVP.

New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera finally lets age catch up to him, blowing 4 saves in his first 15 appearances with and ERA over 5.00. He loses the starting job to Rafael Soriano by June and announces his retirement at the end of the season.

Tampa Bay Rays: David Price, who was among the top of the league for Runs Scored per start, sees some of that luck go away this year. Hitters start to figure him out, and although he has flashes of brilliance, he finished with a 11-10 record with a 4.11 ERA.

Toronto Blue Jays: Jose Bautista starts off hot again, making people think maybe last year wasn't a fluke after all. He'll cool down but finish with 32 homers and a respectable .270 average.

Chicago White Sox: Adam Dunn will flourish in the windy city, seeing a very favorable park and the best lineup hes played in in years. He hits 42 homers with 112 RBIs. Juan Pierre will also set his career high with 70 steals.

Cleveland Indians: Chris Perez will finish the season with 38 saves and a 2.08 ERA, making him one of the better closers to own in fantasy.

Detroit Tigers: Max Scherzer continues the success that he had in the second half of last year, finishing the season sporting a 15-7 record with 212 strikeouts and a 3.07 ERA.

Kansas City Royals: Billy Butler will take a small step forward, but not quite have the breakout season everyones been looking for. He'll put up another great average while hitting 25 homers, solid production at the deep first base position.

Minnesota Twins: Joe Nathan will regain his dominance, recording 43 saves and earning a healthy 2.33 ERA. Those who question his injury status will regret it.

Los Angeles Angels: Jered Weaver will regeress after his huge year, failing to break 200 K's again and winning only 12 games as the Angels' offense will struggle.

Texas Rangers: Mike Napoli, who will rotate at catcher, first base, and DH, will post career highs across the board with 30 homers, 64 runs, 72 RBIS, and .273 average. There's no way he won't flourish at a hitter-friendly field amidst a studded lineup.

Oakland Athletics: Brett Anderson, who was dominant before falling to injury, will regain form and be a Cy Young candidate with 12 wins, 2.74 ERA and 193 K's.

Seattle Mariners: Remember Erik Bedard? He's looking healthy and has been excelling in spring training. He's finally going to justify the package the Mariners gave up to get him by winning 13 games and posting a 2.69 ERA with 201 K's.

Atlanta Braves: Jason Heyward suffers from a sophomore slump, batting just .245 in the first half of the season with 11 homers. Watch out for his second half though, when he becomes one of the hottest players in baseball and doesn't look back.

Florida Marlins: Mike Stanton, who might struggle early on after coming back from a minor quad injury, will show everyone that the hype on him is for real, finishing with a monster 36 home runs and a solid .275 average.

New York Mets: In his contract year, Jose Reyes will play like a beast and earn a monster payday. He'll hit .300, score 115 runs, and steal 42 bases. This is partly depended on a healthy Mets lineup but I have confidence in them and Reyes will benefit from it.

Philadelphia Phillies: With injuries to half their starting lineup, the Phillies offense might struggle a bit. Cole Hamels will be traded halfway through the season for some offensive pop to make up for their injuries. Lidge comes back healthy and saves 41 games.

Washington Nationals: Jayson Werth, coming off a HUGE pay day and going from a World Series team to the lowly Nationals; will have a down year. Look for 22 homers and a .271 average in the disappointing season for Jayson.

Chicago Cubs: Aramis Ramirez, heading into a contract year as well, will finally stay healthy and put up monster numbers that mirrors his 2006 season, hitting 34 homers, knocking in 108 RBIs and boasting a .304 average.

Cincinnati Reds: Remember Carlos Gonzalez last year? This year it'll be Jay Bruce. He ended last year batting .306 in the second half and hit 15 homers in the last 34 games. Sound familiar? Look for Bruce to hit at least 30 homers this year and pushing 100 RBIs.

Houston Astros: This will be a productive year for the Astros' outfield. Hunter Pence will take the next step, hitting 30 homers with 100 RBIs, Carlos Lee will have a comeback year with 28 homers and 95 RBIs with a good average, and Michael Bourn will steal at least 60.

Milwaukee Brewers: And the good get better. Ryan Braun will post his best stats in his career, hitting .326, score 115 runs and knock in 120. And, for the first time ever, he will reach the 40 homer plateau, earning the NL MVP award.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Jose Tabata will take over the starting role and steal 45 bases, good for fourth in the league. This kid is fast.

St. Louis Cardinals: Pujols, Pujols, Pujols. Contract year. The machine will do it all. 50 homers? Sure. 120 RBIs? Easy. Batting average of .340? Check. He reveals that he actually is, in fact, a robot? Possibly...

Arizona Diamondback: Justin Upton takes another big step, popping 35 homers and stealing 25 bases. He'll struggle a little bit with average, hitting .265, but will finish among the top 20 players in fantasy baseball.

Colorado Rockies: Look for CarGo to regress a little, hitting .300 with 26 homers. He'll be very slow out of the gate, coming back down to earth from last season. When Tulowitski's undoubted power surge comes, Gonzalez will go along for the ride.

LA Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw will be the best pitcher in baseball. With a 17-4 record, 226 K's, 2.39 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP, he'll finish in the top five players in fantasy baseball and win the NL Cy Young.

San Diego Padres: Ryan Ludwick will give us another taste of his '08 season, hitting 32 Homers and knocking in 95. However, his average won't top .280. He'll be a solid 3rd outfielder in typical fantasy formats.

San Francisco Giants: Both Jonathon Sanchez and Matt Cain will finish above Tim Lincecum. With Lincecum's struggles last year and the pressure he puts on his arm, he's bound to hit a wall eventually and I say it happens this year.
 

Duckboats or Devastation?

Brad Marchand's late third-period goal lifted the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers last night, clinching a playoff spot for the black and gold for the fourth consecutive season. Tim Thomas was spectacular and the game was a little bit reminiscent of the way Boston played last season down the stretch. Sound fundamentally, protecting their own goal as a first priority. It's no secret that Bruins fans are excited. Hell, they have even gained quite a few "fans" recently. It happens every year come playoff time -- the bandwagoners jump in, acting like they haven't missed a beat all season. But whatever. The main point of discussion is about this team, not its fan base. Can the Bruins finally make the run this city has been waiting for since 1972? Will this season end with duckboats, or will just get our usual annual dose of devastation from the boys?

If you think I'm going to answer that question, you've gone crazy. Anyone who tries to answer that question has gone crazy -- well, at least if you try to answer with the "duckboats" choice. That's as silly as predicting the Red Sox were going to win the world series in any year from 1919 through 2003. But then again, it would have been foolish to predict that same world series championship in 2004. All droughts must end eventually, right? The rain will fall on this city at some point. But doesn't the 86-year curse make you cringe? Thinking about the idea that the Bruins could have a drought that long? For the math-challenged readers out there, that would mean the B's would go cup-less until the 2058 season. My far-from-existant grandchildren might be in high school by then.

By the same token, it could end in a mere two months. This squad was pretty close last season, despite the brutal ending they suffered. With a more improved team and a better seeding (although we still had home ice against Philly last May), could this B's unit quiet its critics and join the rest of the championship-littered Boston sports shrines of the 21st century? It starts from the top. Claude Julien will need to get these guys motivated every single night, period. It's not about X's and O's with Julien at this point. The B's have a system, and the players know the system. Right now, it's about chemistry, player management, roster management, and motivation. Being a moderator. If the Bruins will be able to find the grit to move past their previous failures, it will need to be instilled by their head coach, first and foremost.

But the coach can only do so much. This team needs to show the heart that it has shown for stretches this season. It needs to prove its critics wrong, the ones who say they have no balls come playoff time. Who's to say those critics are wrong? What as Boston shown us come playoff time? In my lifetime, nothing. In my parents' lifetime -- most of it, anyway -- likewise. Although Glen Wesley did come pretty close once. Those empty nets can be awfully hard to hit with the Stanley Cup on the line for a championship-deprived city.

There's loads of history and tradition on the line. How much longer can we wait for the Bruins to come around? The more years that go by, the more elusive that promised land seems to become. It takes a truly special group of men to win a Stanley Cup. I cannot say whether or not this is that special group. But they play the games for a reason, and all bets are off in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'll be counting the days until Game 1.
 

SOC: Hockey Talk, NFL Rule Changes

It's Tuesday, and just like last week, I'm going with the Stream of Consciousness. I couldn't just pick one thing to write about, and I also can't just write about the Bruins all the time. They always seem to be at the top of my list of things I want to discuss, but I couldn't just drop the other teams here. So this SOC works pretty well. We'll start with those B's mainly because they were the topic of discussion when I flicked on Felger & Mazz today.

What the Hell is Going On?
Blatant and simple question, and a valid one at that. What's going on with the Bruins? Seven games ago, the average Boston sports fan would have told you, "this is the year!!! Sayonara 1972!!!" After going 1-3-3 since their previous 7-game win streak, though, Bruins nation has been plagued with an uneasy feeling. A 5-2 shellacking from the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night didn't help, either.  This team's power play has had immense struggles since acquiring the supposed answer in Tomas Kaberle. Their goaltending has failed to produce at the same level it has all year, but I'm not about to place any blame on those guys. If you ask me, the goaltending has bailed out this Bruins team on more than their share of occasions. Defensive breakdowns are starting to get magnified now that Thomas isn't standing on his head every minute of every game. It's a big reason to be concerned if you're the Bruins. They'll try to right the ship against a much-improved New Jersey Devils team tonight at the Garden. One bright spot lately has been Tyler Seguin, who is playing with more intensity and doing more of the dirty work. He was Boston's best forward in that ugly loss to Toronto, creating several scoring chances on his own and getting robbed on two occasions by a red-hot goaltender. Look for Seguin to be a continued spark of energy as this team tries to gel back into form.

Eagles Atop the Hockey East World... Again
While the Bruins were getting toasted in Toronto on Saturday night, the Boston College Eagles took home their 10th Hockey East Championship by defeating the Merrimack Warriors, 5-3. Merrimack was a great story this season and had beaten the Eagles twice in three previous meetings, but their mojo couldn't last long enough. The teams were tied in the third period, but Cam Atkinson blasted home a one-timer to take the lead for good with less than half a period to go. It was Atkinson's second goal of the third period and his league-leading 30th of the season, helping him earn MVP honors and earn Boston College yet another trophy. Led by one of the very best lines in the nation (Atkinson, J. Whitney, Gibbons), you can look for the Eagles to make a major splash in the NCAA tournament. They square off against Colorado College on Friday night, March 25th, at 9 PM. The game is at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

NFL Kickers? Shorter Distance to Boot.
The NFL made some rule changes today. I find it funny how successfully we can just ignore the fact that there's a significant work stoppage going on. Regardless, kickers will now kick-off from the 35 yard line instead of the 30, and touchbacks will continue to be placed at the 20. I'm not really sure that I care about this rule change at all -- kickers are just going to get more touchbacks than they already do. There are already some kickers who consistently boot it out of the back of the end zone. They're just going to kick it through the uprights now. Whatever. Just start every possession at the 20 by default if that's what you're trying to get at. Secondly, though, they made a good rule change. All scoring plays will be reviewed by the booth if necessary. Just like in the last two minutes. Didn't you ever think it was a little bit stupid that a team could just be blatantly robbed of a score simply because they had no challenges left? Fortunately for the teams that were hurt by cases like that, the NFL has made a simple yet effective rule change in that department. As for the other one, though, I'm not so sure.

I'm not going to devote a section to them just yet, because I gotta run. But the Celtics got a huge win last night and helped to show people they have it in them when it comes down to crunch time. So I'm not panicking like others are. The C's are fine -- all they need is for Doc to tell them they're soft. That will get KG & company fired up.
 

The Scum of the NHL Strikes Again

So can someone tell me why they even let Matt Cooke play in the NHL? Better yet, since Penguins owner Mario Lemieux has actively spoken out about getting rid of these cheap shots in modern-day hockey -- why does he still have Cooke on his team? Mario is a pretty big legend in the NHL, right? One of the best to ever lace up the skates. Well here's the truth. Matt Cooke is higher up on the scumbag depth chart than Lemieux is on the legends depth chart. Fact. When you talk about disgraces of this league, the barbaric players who give the league its poor image -- you're looking at the biggest catalyst right here. Sure, the Boston fans have an additional vendetta. But it's rightfully so, I'd say. The bastard basically ended the career of our once-best point scorer. Oh, and then he tried to justify it and say that it wasn't even dirty. If this was a guy with a clean record, maybe I would give it half a second of thought. But Cooke has been and always will be the scum of the league, and it's a little bit alarming that the league is so afraid to take serious action against him. What ever happened to a pros-versus-cons analysis? This man brings nothing positive to your league and brings everything negative about your league to the table. Wake up and smell the roses, boys.
 

SOC: Sox Help Japan, B's Seek Win

As you may have noticed, I've been slacking lately. I haven't been posting regularly, but by the same token, the Boston sports world is at one of its calmest points of the calendar year. No playoffs, no football, and no big time college sports in this area (except for college hockey, which no one besides myself seems to care about). Things will heat up soon, but until then, I'm starting up a new segment to help myself spark some topics. SOC -- Stream of Consciousness. This post isn't about one team or one story. Just a sheet of notes that are on my mind this week in the sports world -- specifically Boston, but as usual, I'll range outside of the regional circle if the story is big enough. Shall we?

- Start on a serious note. The Red Sox have done their part in helping the crisis over in Japan over the past few days. Well-known pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima both hail from different parts of Japan, and the Sox have several other players and staff members within the organization with ties to the affected areas. They have all done their part in donating to the cause, and the Red Sox Foundation is giving its fans the chance to help as well. It's always nice to see organizations showing their human side and proving they aren't merely transaction machines that punch out game after game into the record books.

- And then there were the Bruins. Now that the Red Sox have broken their everlasting curse this century, are there any fans in Boston that suffer more heartbreak year in and year out than those in the hub of hockey? 1972 is the last time the B's won the cup. Just a few weeks ago, they kicked off what would amount to a 7-game win streak, including a 6-game sweep of a road trip. Last time Boston swept a road trip like that? 1972. This team looked like the legitimate cup contender we have been waiting for. And then we found the good old Bruins again. Losers of four straight (although they have salvaged two points via overtime affairs), it's time for the B's to pull themselves out of their slump and get back on track tonight against Columbus. Steven Kampfer is back in action, which will definitely be an upgrade over Bartkowski -- who, in my opinion, was incapable of shouldering the load he was given. The top forward line of Lucic, Krejci, and Horton has solidified itself as the Bruins' best line. Will Tyler Seguin ever see significant ice time this year? Will he get himself out of Claude Julien's dog house and earn the ice time that will help him progress? The way Boston is handling him is an argument for another day, but that will continue to be one of the main question marks heading into the home stretch.

- The great thing about this time of year in Boston is that we are still getting to watch championship contenders on the ice as well as on the court. You wouldn't know it lately, though, would you? The Celtics have dropped three of their last four games, and their rotations look a bit alarming with all the new faces. Don't get me wrong -- I think Jeff Green has the tools to be a great player in this league. I think Carlos Arroyo is the best floor general for the second unit that we've had in years. Nenad Kristic is doing a more than acceptable job at center. But the new faces are all offensive-minded guys, and they aren't exactly gelling the way we would have liked to see them gel. I'm not worried -- if we learned anything from the Celtics last season, it's to essentially disregard the regular season and rejoin the conversation in the playoffs. So I guess that's what I'll do, but I can't do it without at least a little bit of concern -- after all, it's not really fatigue or injury (aside from the O'Neals) that is bringing the squad down right now. That's the one red flag, but I'll brush it aside for the time being.

- Dammit. Talking about those other sports almost made me forget that there's no football anymore, as of right now. Over the weekend, I was talking about this with some friends. And a non-football fan actually thought we were joking when we said there wouldn't be a season next year. Of course, there still might be -- but it just goes to show how self-centered and egotistical the owners are. Both sides are, of course, guilty of some greediness. But I'm placing the blame in an 85-15 proportion on the owners. Get your heads out of your asses and fix your mistakes before you go down as the bad guys who destroyed America for one autumn season.

- Another note on the labor situation in the NFL, but this one from a player I've never really liked. It's a funny story, actually. Adrian Peterson. Those of you who know me know that I've never been a fan of his -- greatly due to the fact that he's the most overrated back in the league. But Yahoo Sports featured Peterson in a recent article, and since its publication, they have removed a few quotes from AP. Want to hear what Peterson said about the whole lockout situation? "It's modern-day slavery, you know?" Amazingly, I didn't make that up. So you really decided to go there, Adrian? To call this modern-day slavery? I guess I agree. Poor you. They make you play football? For millions of dollars? I cannot express in words my empathy for you. It's like you're a modern-day slave with these conditions. How will you ever survive? Here's a thought -- take a taste of reality, sir. Have some gratitude for the fact that you get to play the sport that you love and make silly, stupid amounts of money doing so. I know more than a few people who were dealt a worse hand than yourself.

- As a final note in my stream of consciousness, who are you all taking in the NCAA tourney? You make your brackets? If I was more advanced in computer science, I would make a database for Ultimate Boston readers to have a bracket tourney. If anyone wants to actually do that, go for it. I'll join. Just leave a comment or shoot an email and let me know, and I'll join. But anyway, I always pick my brackets boldly. You have to, right? You can't just pick the favorites... it never works that way. I found myself having chosen an all Big East final four. Crazy, right? But for the record, here it is. Among all of my other picks, coming down to the big games, my final four consists of Louisville, UConn, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh. My national championship game is between UConn and Louisville. A 3 and a 4 seed -- crazy, right? Gotta be bold. Give me Kemba Walker and his UConn Huskies for all the marbles.
 

Fantasy Baseball: Starting Pitchers

Opening Day is within 3 weeks. The weather is warming up and the snow is finally melting. It's getting closer to the pursuit of the 2011 world championship, so our preseason rankings need to wrap up soon. With Fantasy Drafts ongoing, Burga and I are hoping our input about each position is helping even a little bit. Here's our take on the Starting Pitchers for 2011.

Burga’s Rankings:
Roy Halladay
Felix Hernandez
Tim Lincecum
Cliff Lee
Jon Lester
CC Sabathia
Clayton Kershaw
Ubaldo Jimenez
Josh Johnson
Justin Verlander
Cole Hamels
David Price
Tommy Hanson
Zack Greinke
Chris Carpenter
Franciso Liriano
Mat Latos
Dan Haren
Roy Oswalt
Jered Weaver

• Roy Halladay tops both of our rankings and with good reason. He’s got everything you could want in a pitcher. Dominant stuff, experience, a potent offense behind him, and he’s outside the AL Beast now. If Felix Hernandez could only get a better offense behind him he would challenge the Doc for number 1, but right now it belongs to Halladay.
• Zack Greinke would be a sure-fire top ten option, playing for a much stronger team with an offense led by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. However, as recently stated, he’s suffering from a rib injury that he got playing a pick-up basketball. He’ll miss about a month, so he falls a few spots in the rankings accordingly and he’ll likely get off to a slow start after missing most of Spring Training.
• Josh Johnson and Chris Carpenter share similar stories when ranking them. When healthy and producing, they’re as good as any pitchers in baseball. Period. However, both come with injury concern. Carpenter had Tommy-John surgery a few years back and rebounded to a fantastic season. With Wainwright out for the season, he’ll need to be the man in St. Louis for the Cardinals to contend. Johnson’s season ended early last year with surgery, but he’s reportedly healthy for now. The upside is great, but draft with caution.
• Jered Weaver is one of the most underrated starters in fantasy baseball. Last year, he won 13 games, sported a 3.01 ERA and a fantastic 233 strikeouts. He’s being drafted much lower than his stats deserve and if you can land him as your number 2, your pitching staff is in great shape.

Average Joe's Rankings:
Roy Halladay
Felix Hernandez
Cliff Lee
Josh Johnson
Jon Lester
Tim Lincecum
CC Sabathia
Ubaldo Jimenez
Clay Buchholz
David Price
Zack Greinke
Clayton Kershaw
Mat Latos
Justin Verlander
Chris Carpenter
Cole Hamels
Matt Cain
Tommy Hanson
Francisco Liriano
Trevor Cahill

• Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Arguably the first 8 pitchers can make a case for that claim (if Halladay wasn’t pitching, that is). He works quickly, he’s accurate, his array of pitches is superb. He’s the best. Go for him first.
• A lot would argue Buchholz is high on this list. Heck, Burga didn’t include him. But if he had pitched a full season, he’d be right in the hunt for the 2010 Cy Young. After rebounding from a couple rough years, and finally showing his real potential, he could keep moving up this list.
• Greinke is out. Latos has had a rough start to Spring Training. But don’t ignore them. If you can wait a little, however, try to take another pitcher over them.
• Hamels is the third starter from Philly on the list. I think he’ll put up good numbers, but be careful. The Red Sox arguably had 3 starters on this list last year (Beckett, Lester, Lackey), and 2 out of the 3 underperformed. Proceed with caution, especially after Hamels rough 2009 campaign, lacking motivation.
• Trevor Cahill quietly had an outstanding season in 2010. With a somewhat better team out in Oakland this year, Cahill may get some more wins to support his solid ERA (not that an 18-8 year is a bad thing at all).
  

Arroyo Ready to Join Celtics Pursuit

After last night, I'm in no mood to talk about the Boston Bruins. Isn't that the great thing about Boston sports, though? There is always a promising front to discuss. Today, it's the new-look Celtics who may have finally constituted their roster completely for the pursuit of Banner 18.

Eight days ago, Carlos Arroyo was released by the Miami Heat to make room for Mike Bibby, the point guard they felt most confident with moving forward. Since Arroyo last stepped on the court for the South Beach Superstars, the team has lost 6 of its last 7 games and looks to be in complete free fall. Meanwhile, Danny Ainge picked up his phone and took a shot at the recently available Arroyo. For the point guard, it was a no-brainer to come to Boston.

He handled his interview like a true professional on Tuesday, showing no hostility toward the Heat and no desire for revenge. He expressed a desire for one thing and one thing only -- winning a championship. Didn't take him long to buy into the Celtic way, huh?

From the team's standpoint, the signing of Arroyo might be the last piece to the puzzle. Looking at Boston's newly constituted roster, 5 of the 15 players were recently acquired in the past few weeks. Of the remaining 10 players, virtually none of them seem to be on their way out of town. So this is the roster that Danny Ainge and the Celtics feel comfortable with moving forward. The question is -- is it championship caliber?

To me, I say yes. Everyone was ripping apart Danny Ainge for trading away Kendrick Perkins a few weeks ago, but here we are today with a Boston squad that looks more equipped than ever to win a title. Jeff Green has looked more and more like the player we thought we were getting, pouring in 21 points in a winning effort last week. Nenad Krstic has certainly held his own down low, and the return of Shaq and Jermaine will do great measures in further bolstering that post game. Troy Murphy will be called upon to make contributions -- not be the centerpiece. For a guy who was once a walking double-double, Murphy can definitely be a factor in building an all-around team. And with the acquisition of Carlos Arroyo, Boston has secured themselves a true back-up point guard. Arroyo is a guy who can run a team on his own, a guy who isn't any type of liability on the court. Nate Robinson was Boston's late-season acquisition last year, and he provided some great spark -- but he was a bit of a liability when it came to running an entire unit as the point guard. Doc Rivers and the rest of the staff expect that problem to be solved with the arrival of Arroyo in the backcourt.

The newcomers are all excited about this team. Guys like Jermaine O'Neal -- the first person Arroyo called once becoming a member of the Celtics -- have proclaimed that this is by far the best team they have ever played on. Players are buying into the system, and they're forming the Celtic family both on and off the court. You have to love the enthusiasm and the chemistry going on in that locker room, on the bench, and on the court. I cannot say whether this team is good enough to make another title run, but I can surely tell you that each and every guy in that room believes they are fully capable.
 

Blogging From My iPhone

Well, I am writing this blog from my iPhone. Just trying it out for future reference. I have no idea if this thing will look normal, if the picture will be aligned correctly, or what in the world will happen. But I do know that something will happen. And I also know that the Bruins are playing the Habs tonight. They will keep looking for the answer on the power play, which Tomas Kaberle was supposed to be the answer to. Since acquiring the touted puck-mover, the B's are a woeful 1-17 in the power play and are scoreless in their past 12 attempts. Granted, they have looked smooth and gotten some great chances, but the end results aren't there yet. Hopefully they will come quite shortly. Maybe even tonight, as the Bruins will look to extend their point streak to nine games.

It's the Bruins and the Habs. It doesn't get much better if you're a hockey fan. From my iPhone, DRob signing off... Sorry for any spelling mistakes, I'm still getting used to typing on this thing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fantasy Baseball: Outfield

In fantasy baseball teams, outfield provides a unique position due to its obvious depth and the fact that you can find serviceable and helpful players even in the later rounds. After round 15 you can draft outfielders who will hit .300 or 30 home runs or steal 40 bases, which you can’t say about any other position. For the first time since our rankings started, Burga and I have had substantially different rankings, so take a closer look and see who we like this year.

Burga's Rankings:
Ryan Braun
Carlos Gonzalez
Carl Crawford
Josh Hamilton
Matt Holliday
Matt Kemp
Nelson Cruz
Justin Upton
Andre Ethier
Shin-Soo Choo
Jason Heyward
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jayson Werth
Jay Bruce
Andrew McCutcheon
Alex Rios
Hunter Pence
Ichiro Suzuki
Chris Young
BJ Upton

• Finally, a little bit of differentiation between our positional rankings. Plenty of people would prefer Carlos Gonzalez over Ryan Braun, and I’ve even seen mock drafts where CarGo went first overall, believe it or not. However, Braun is one of the sure things in fantasy and he’s been consistently one of the top players in baseball. Gonzalez had a surreal season last year, but I’ll need to see him do it again before taking him as the first outfielder off the board.
• The only thing that prevents Nelson Cruz from being as high as a 2nd round pick is injury concerns. Like his teammate, Josh Hamilton, when Cruz is healthy he can put up MVP numbers and he showed us that last year. If he stays off the DL he’ll reward owners kindly with good numbers minus SBs.
• There are many young outfielders that could reach elite status this year, headlined by Jason Heyward, who showed us a glimpse of the excellence that lies in his future. Don’t sleep on guys like Jay Bruce, Mike Stanton, Andrew McCutcheon, Colby Rasmus, and Drew Stubbs, especially in keeper leagues.
• Jacoby Ellsbury was a 2nd round pick in 2010 before falling to injuries. When he’s being drafted in the mid rounds this year, he could turn into one of this year’s draft bargains. However, with Crawford in Boston Ellsbury might shift to the 9 spot, which might limit numbers just a bit.

Average Joe's Rankings:
Carlos Gonzalez
Carl Crawford
Josh Hamilton
Ryan Braun
Matt Holliday
Shin-Soo Choo
Andre Ethier
Jacoby Ellsbury
Justin Upton
Nelson Cruz
Jayson Heyward
Ichiro Suzuki
Andrew McCutchen
Vernon Wells
Jayson Werth
Matt Kemp
Chris Young
Corey Hart
Alex Rios
Hunter Pence

• Braun drops on my list based on last year’s numbers. If he has a solid year, he can easily make a case to be the best OF in baseball again. But last year, Gonzalez was a triple crown/MVP candidate. He takes the top for me.
• Matt Kemp may seem quite low. However, he only had a .249 average last year, and was extremely unmotivated at times. He could bounce back; in fact you should probably expect him too. But choose wisely, because, as seen last year, if he’s not happy, you won’t be happy with his numbers.
• My Boston bias puts Jacoby Ellsbury fairly high. But do not forget that this guy is a year removed from a 70 steal season. If he’s healthy, he can easily do it again. Possible steal in some leagues (although most of you are Boston people, so I’m sure some of you will see him taken far too prematurely in the first round.
• I’ve got Vernon Wells and Corey Hart on my list, contrary to Burga’s (Jay Bruce and BJ Upton). Hart had his career year in 2010, after a terrible 2009 campaign. Wells saw his power numbers return to 2006 form, and a change of scenery to Anaheim may help him try to maintain.