A Week Ago Tomorrow

Call off the dogs ... a review of last Friday's draft is upon yee.

Actually, let me take a step back and, in the interest of managing expectations, first tell you what this post is not. It is not a round by round, pick by pick rendering of the draft, nor is it a minute by minute, moment by moment recitation of who did what and who said what. What it is is a Top 11 ranking of the night's memorable quotes and, where appropriate, a little commentary to add color and hue to the sometimes context-less quotes. More thorough rundowns of the makeup of each team will be the subject of future posts.

So without further ado, the quotes.

11. "Bevormo, get me a Singha." Teatro

This quote leads things off because it was one of the first quotes of the night. Mareeco, God bless him, had ordered a lot of gourmet, and not-so-gourmet, beers from Direct Fresh and took off from work early so he would be at his apartment to receive the delivery. Then he took the beers and strategically placed them throughout his living room in large tin buckets filled with ice. I was sitting on the windowsill between Teatro and one of the tin buckets. Hence, the quote.

I should also note that this particular quote was repeated 7 more times.

10. "If you order Dominos, can you get some wings? I don't eat cheese." Teatro

Teatro, for all his excellent attributes, has one major weakness: he can't eat cheese. It's really a shame because he is very cool otherwise.

9. Mareeco: "What's O'Flannel's number? Let's get this going." [dials O'Flannel and starts talking to him] "Yeah, Yudek's here. We're startin'. You're on the clock." [talks to O'Flannel for another minute then hangs up] "He wants to make the pick in person. He's in the building. He's waitin' for his wife in the lobby."

You see, O'Flannel, who recently moved from New York to Boston to live a block from Fenway Park (yes, that was the reason he moved), was in D.C. for a meeting with key members of the United States government (no b.s.) and was flying in from said D.C.-location to participate in the draft. Due to traffic he was running a bit late and, because he had the first pick of the draft, Mareeco called him to find out who he wanted to draft. Apparently, Tam was just in the lobby of Mareeco's building waiting for his wife to arrive. I don't know if this is really quote worthy, but I find it funny that O'Flannel was standing alone in the lobby while we were all upstairs drinking, and he wanted to wait until he got upstairs to make his pick. Not sure why it strikes me as funny, but it does.

8. "Yudek. Today." Prismante, 10 seconds into the time for Yudek's pick.

Prismante is a man of little patience. This quote is illustrative of really every other pick in the draft. As soon as the clock started to run, Prismante would start harping on the guy to make a pick, the 5 minute limit be damned. This was probably because Prismante wanted to hurry things along to his next pick so he could draft an injured pitcher (see quote 4).

7. Geleaux: "I'll take Weeks."
McDavies (derisively): "Hmph, 40 errors."
Geleaux (mocking): "Hmph, 30-30. (beat) Why don't you trade A-Rod again."

This was a good exchange. Geleaux took Weeks with his second pick and McDavies didn't think too much of it. As you can see, Geleaux didn't waste time in responding.

6. Mareeco: "I don't know how to use the Williams Sonoma timer. I'm not gonna lie."

As a wedding gift last year, Mareeco received a Williams Sonoma timer. The timer kept going off at odd times throughout the draft. Hilarity ensued.

5. Zaggy: "If I'm thin, I'm good looking ... That doesn't help me now."

D'Artagnan Zagarofsky, owner of the Angry Americans, may have been the funniest guy at the draft. This was my favorite of many good quotes from him. His delivery was spot on and I'm not sure if it will translate here. If there was a context for the quote, I didn't get it, but instead just heard Zaggy say this seemingly out-of-nowhere. I then laughed.

4. Prismante [after taking Prior and Smoltz]: "And with my next pick ... Dr. James Andrews."

Prismante also drafted Gagne, Rolen, Benitez, Nomar and Drew Brees.

3. Zaggy: I'll take ... Barry Bonds. (pause) I just threw up in my mouth.

Zaggy is a hearty Mets fan and has no reason to like Bonds. This is a great example of how fantasy baseball can corrupt your soul, where you are forced to cheer for a guy like Bonds every time he steps to the plate because if he hits a bomb your fantasy team benefits. Luckily, I am able to avoid this problem which is why my team has Jake Peavy, Clay Hensley and Trevor Hoffman. Trades for Scott Linebrink and Josh Barfield are in the mix. Dave Roberts' and
Dewon Brazelton's presence in the free agent pool have been duly noted.

2. Mareeco [sitting up straight suddenly and saying in a loud voice at a random point in the draft] "I'll take Scott Shields!"
O'Flannel: "Mareeco liked that pick. He sat straight up."

This was funny because I was watching Mareeco as he made the Shields pick and the ferocity with which he sat up and said "Scott Shields" was startling, and I was thinking to myself that Mareeco must be really excited about that pick just as O'Flannel said what he said.

1. Octagon: "I'll pick Shea Hillenbrand."
Mareeco: (scrunching face in pain) "That ... is not ... a good ... pick."

This drew a pretty big laugh from the group. I don't even think Hillenbrand is that bad. It was the way Mareeco kind of distorted his face and slowly said his words. It seemed as if he was saying it slow because he was trying to think of a creative and funny synonym for "pick" but then decided to f-it and just said "pick" which mirrored what Octagon said. For that, it ended up being real funny.

So there you have them. Good times, indeed.

Geleaux Visits BuccoLand South

As you are well aware, last Friday night was the league's official live draft. Fourteen dudes crowded into Mareeco's Upper West Side apartment for some 'za, NCAA basketball and, of course, the picking of live baseball players for our "fantasy teams." 'Twas good wholesome fun and a full report is forthcoming. First, however, we have a report from Geleaux, the owner of Operation Shutdown, who spent last week in Bradenton perusing a little Bucco Spring Training. Thankfully, he had his blackberry on him at all times and filed dispatches with the Bevacqua Files throughout the trip.

His first report came down the line on Thursday the 16th at 10:46 p.m. while watching Mexico play the U.S. in the WBC. Please note as you read this that whatever Geleaux saw didn't stop him from drafting Oliver Perez in the draft.

In other news, op is - I don't want to say done - but hurting. He barely hit 88 tonight - fball probably averaged 85. Ouch.

Ouch indeed. Geleaux, Teatro and our friends over at Buried Treasure and Bucs Dugout (see links at right) are probably hanging themselves. Of course, on the bright side, OP has such a good head on his shoulders he probably was strategically holding back in this Spring outing to save his arm for the regular season. That has to be the case.

Geleaux reported in again the next afternoon.

At mckechnie field post game. I can honestly say this is the only place in the world people are lined up to get rajai (sp?) Davis' autograph.

In the second row behind the first base bag for tomorrow's game. Fantastic.

As editor of the Bevacqua Files, I think you'll appreciate that I have no problem letting my on-the-spot writers file dispatches without first confirming the spelling of key figures about whom they are reporting. That's the kind of freedom of expression we provide here for our contributors. That and I have no idea who "Rajai Davis" is so I could not correct Geleaux (a) if he did spell the name wrong, and (b) even if I wanted to.

A few minutes later, Geleaux had a brush with "greatness."

So I wander over to the cages to see what is going on, and who is taking a few cuts but the duffer.

Holy shyte.

As you know from earlier posts, The Bevacqua Files are fans of the Duffer. It would have been much better if it were Furmaniak though. Oh well, you can't see all the Bucco beasts in just one trip to Bradenton.

Geleaux hit the field again the next day and didn't slow down with his reports.

I'm roughly 20 ft from dl.

"DL," for the uninitiated, is David Littlefield, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Buccos. Basically, his position has the same prestige in Pittsburgh as Ben Roethlisberger's toenail trimmer boy. There was talk among a few of the owners in the league last week that Geleaux, if he saw Littlefield, would engage him in conversation and ask him, among other questions, why he screwed over Brad Eldred by signing Sean Casey. Alas, if Geleaux did have that conversation, he has not notified the Bevacqua Files of the details.

Geleaux, of course, is not a one-track individual. He was there for Bucco baseball, but he also had time to peruse the crowd.

The groupie situation is not good here in bradenton. One superstar, her mediocre friend, and that's about it.

Sounds like a game during the regular season at PNC. Oooooooh ... SNAP!!

But I digress. Closing things out, Geleaux spent the next week with his family at Disney World and, though he occasionally outdid himself and filed reports like this ...

In other news, I spent most of my day here at disney world thinking about how hot the 101 dalmations witch looked during the parade. Hot.

... he was able to route back to baseball and offer some draft advice in between oogling Disney characters.

Didn't see OP in bradenton, but I did watch his outing in the wbc. Brutal. Never topped 88. Fastball averaged 86. No control.

Did see gonzo in the pen and in a game. He complained of 'forearm' problems when he was warming up. Was booed during the game for not covering first on a grounder.

The furmaniak was also not looking good. Prognosis: don't draft any bucs.

Sage advice. Of course, both Gonzo and OP were taken in the draft ... by Geleaux and Teatro, the league's two Bucco fans.

Blockbuster ... And I Don't Mean MI:3

Earlier this week Dr. Rosendowell and DJ Dozier and Friends pulled off an entertaining trade. Reardon Rosenrosen sent around a notice to the league after the commissioners approved the deal.

Please be advised that the following trade between Dr. Rosendowell and DJ Dozier and Friends has been accepted and approved by the league's commissioners:

Dr. Rosendowell gives: Jimmy Rollins, Felix Hernandez, and Dr. Rosendowell's 5th round draft pick.

D.J. Dozier gives: Alex Rodriguez and DJ Dozier's 5th round draft pick.

As usual, Dr. Rosendowell is amenable to further trade discussions; please let us know if you have any interest in making a deal.

Many thanks.

Though parting ways with A-Rod is risky, the move does give DJ Dozier three high-upside pitchers: Hernandez, Harden and Carpenter. Of course, not every owner thought highly of the deal, particularly the group of owners who are out in Vegas right now for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Nolan Yudek (Vipers), Tatt Mareeco (Committee), Tam O'Flannel (Skillz) and Raul Prismante (Team Italy) all flew to Vegas on Wednesday for their annual 4-day college basketball gambling extravaganza. But that did not prevent them from following league activity. Mareeco opened up the gates.

On behalf of the entire sports book at Mandalay Bay (we polled them) I'd like to say that is the worst trade ever and McDavies is retarded. Hell even the chicks at scores were making fun of Mcdavies when we told them about that trade.

Yudek later confirmed Mareeco's, and the "chicks at scores," view of the trade.

He is not lying. In fact when we told one girl she peed her pants.

Worst. Trade. Ever.

McDavies, of course, was not about to sit back and take this heat sans response.

I'm going to file away these e-mails for re-consideration this summer. And not that I feel the need to justify the move to you herbs (oh dammit, who am I kidding, yes I do), but take a look at the numbers from last year:

124 194 29 1 48 130 21 91 369 12
115 196 38 11 12 54 41 47 292 12

Arod was coming off an MVP season. Rollins got off to an uncharacteristically slow start. Even still, the difference in Runs, Hits, and Errors is negligible. Arod has a huge advantage in HRs and RBIs, and solid advantages in BBs and TBs. Rollins has huge advantages in 3Bs, and solid advantages in 2Bs and SBs. So basically, if you net out the advantages, I lose big in 1 category. In exchange for that 1 category and swapping positions in the 5th round, I get the best pitching prospect in baseball. Granted, King Felix could still flop and make me look stupid, but if he has a solid, let alone spectacular year, I like the trade.

All of that said, I am starting to feel a bit like Isiah Thomas by virtue of stockpiling "talent" in one position to the potential detriment of my team. So get in while the getting is still good -- I invite all of you to take advantage of me in similar fashion with offers for what's left of my roster.

Cogent. Well-reasoned. And, depending on who you ask, either dead wrong or spot on. Only time will decide the debate.

Spring Training Breakdown: Hitters

Halfway through Spring Training it is time for The Bevacqua Files' "First Annual Mid-Point of Spring Training Superficial Analysis of Players Who Are Playing Well."

Should this blog continue as planned for multiple seasons, this feature will become as synonomous with March 15th as Thanksgiving is with November 24th.

The point of this feature is to take a look at which players are dominating the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues in some of the categories used for scoring in this fantasy league. Today, we start with hitters and look at four of the ten hitting categories: 2B, 3B, BB, and HR.

Keep in mind as you analyze these numbers that they have little or nothing to do with how these players will perform once the season begins April 2.

Doubles (2B)

1. Doug Mientkiewicz (KC) - 6
2. Josh Barfield (SD) - 5
3. Angel Chavez (SF) - 5
4. Luis A. Gonzalez (Col) - 5
5. Brandon Inge (Det) - 5
6. Scott McClain (Oak) - 5
7. Joe McEwing (KC) - 5

A quick glance at these numbers says two things: (1) Angel Chavez is officially on my draft board; and (2) Kansas City is going to win the AL Central. One interesting point to note is that McEwing is a friend of the owner of this league's Team Italy, and is therefore officially one of the Bevacqua Files' favorite players. It remains to be seen, however, if that will translate to joining the roster of any team on draft day. But in all seriousness, only Inge and maybe Gonzalez are potential draftees in the league, though if Barfield continues to knock the cover off the ball he may rate a late round pick by a certain 'Drino fan who is writing this sentence.

Triples (3B)

1. Felix Pie (ChC) - 3
2. Jeff DaVanon (Ari) - 2
3. J.D. Drew (LAD) - 2
4. Choo Freeman (Col) - 2
5. Bill Hall (Mil) - 2
6. Howie Kendrick (LAA) - 2
7. M. Maier (KC) - 2
8. Kerry Robinson (KC) - 2

Two things jump out at me when looking at this list: (1) the Cubs did right by 86ing Corey Patterson; and (2) Kansas City is going to win the AL Central. Seriously, I've always liked Kerry Robinson. In 2004, in 92 ABs for the 'Drinos, he batted .293 with 11 bags and scored 20 runs. The man, when he gets on base, gets around and gets in. I like that in a baseball player. It comforts me. What doesn't comfort me, as a 'Drino fan at least, is the potential for J.D. Drew to stay healthy and put together a stellar season. People forget that the Dodgers had the early lead in the NL West last season before injuries shattered their ice-cold hearts. With Drew, Nomar, Furcal, Gagne, and Penny, they have the potential to place quite a few players on fantasy rosters, and, perhaps sneak out a Division Championship. Damnit.

Walks (BB)

1. Jeff DaVanon (Ari) - 11
2. Brady Clark (Mil) - 9
3. Marlon Anderson (WSH) - 8
4. Ryan Church (WSH) - 8
5. Jeremy Hermida (Fla) - 8
6. Jim Thome (CWS) - 8

An intriguing list. Put aside the fact that DaVanon and Anderson, barring injuries, likely won't play a significant fantasy role, the others on this list are all potential mid-round picks that could explode. Starting from the bottom, Thome is an obvious question mark, probably a safer bet than Bonds to last the season, but no guarantees. If healthy, and hitting in Comiskey, he could be back to his old Peoria, Illinois beast ways. Hermida, in my mind, is wholly legit. Though young, since this is a 10-keeper league he might be worth grabbing now and holding onto until he matures to full beastdom. Church is in that 27-28 year old prime. He plays at RFK, but should improve his 2005 numbers. And finally, Brady Clark is a legitimate sneaky-star that may or may not fall to later rounds. The Brewer lineup should also pack some more punch this year so his R and RBI will likely increase.

Bombs (HR)

1. Ryan Howard (Phi) - 8
2. Edwin Encarnacion (Cin) - 6
3. Ian Stewart (Col) - 5
4. Jeff Baker (Col) - 4
5. Eric Chavez (Oak) - 4
6. Chris Duncan (StL) - 4
7. M. Jones (NYY) - 4
8. R. Mulhern (Cle) - 4
9. Phil Nevin (Tex) - 4

Howard has been the story of the Spring, and the player whose performance might best indicate a true breakout fantasy season. If he continues this pace over the next week, I could see someone taking him in the first round of the draft next Friday. Baseball pundits are all waiting for the Ian Stewart-era in Colorado, though apparently that may be on hold in lieu of the Jeff Baker-era. And finally, Nevin ... beast.

Incidentally, Bonds ranks tenth in the league right now with 3 home runs ... in 9 at-bats.

Dizzyspiznersal Drizzaft

As promised, yesterday was the league's dispersal draft. Precisely on schedule at high noon, Nolan Yudek, the league's highly-compensated technology czar, sent around this e-mail ...

DJ Dozier & Friends are on the clock. 5 min McDavies.

... which set off a flurry of draft picks over the next hour and a half that, when all was said and "Dunn" (read on to see how I just totally stole a line from Tom Teatro, owner of Mitro Nitro), the non-keeper teams had, with the exception of The Kurt Bevormos, three players each.

Thanks to the work of Yudek and Geleaux, who kept a running log during the draft, my work is basically done. I'll recreate the log below. Yudek's administrative posts are in red; the picks are in the actual words of the actual owners at the actual time they picked. You can read it from the bottom up ... you know, for suspense ... or just start from the top down and find out the last pick first. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to.

Draft Log

1:24: Adam Dunn is off the board. DISPERSAL DRAFT CONCLUDED.

1:23: Teatro: Dunn and done

1:22: Felix Hernandez is off the board. Teatro is on the clock. 5 min. LAST PICK.

1:21: Rosendowell: King Felix, a.k.a. Felix Hernandez

1:16: Chone Figgins is off the board. Dr. Rosendowell is on the clock. 5 min.

1:16: Octagon: Chone Figgins

1:14: Brad Lidge is off the board. Octagon is on the clock. 5 min.

1:13: Mareeco: Brad Lidge

1:07: Little Italy picks Crazy Los, aka Carlos Zambrano. Mareeco is on the board.

12:58: Victor Martinez is off the board. Little Italy is on the clock. 5 min.

12:57: Rosendowell: V-Mart, aka Victor Martinez.

12:56: Chris Carpenter is off the board. Dr. Rosendowell is on the clock. 5 min.

12:55: McDavies: Carpenter

12:51: Rich Harden is off the board. McDavies is on the clock. 5 min.

12:50: McDavies: Harden

12:45: Jimmy Rollins is off the board. McDavies is on the clock. 5 min.

12:44: Rosendowell: J-Roll, a.k.a. Jimmy Rollins

12:43: Little Italy picks Roy Halladay. Dr. RD is on the clock.

12:41: Little Italy is experiencing technical difficulties. Commissioners are addressing the situation. Little Italy is still on the clock.

12:35: Jose Reyes is off the board. Little Italy is on the clock. 5 min.

12:35: Mareeco: Jose Reyes.

12:31: Carolos Beltran is off the board. Mareeco is on the clock. 5 min.

12:30: Octagon: Carlos Beltran

12:30: Chase Utley is off the board. Octagon is on the clock. 5 min.

12:29: Rosendowell: Utley

12:29: Alfonso Soriano is off the board. Dr. Rosendowell is on the clock. 5 min.

12:28: Teatro: Soriano

12:25: Jason Bay is off the board. Teatro is on the clock. 5 min.

12:24: Teatro: Bay

12:22: Jake Peavy is off the board. Teatro is on the clock. 5 min.

12:22: Bevormo: Peavy

12:17: Bobby Abreu is off the board. Bevormo is on the clock. 5 min.

12:17: Octagon: Bobby Abreu

12:15: Derek Lee is off the board. Octagon is on the clock. 5 min.

12:14: Mareeco: I'm taking D. Lee.

12:14: Little Italy picks Vladamir Guerrero. Mareeco is on the clock.

12:10: Little Italy is experiencing technical difficulties. Commissioners are addressing the situation. Little Italy is still on the clock.

12:04: David Ortiz is off the board. Little Italy is on the clock. 5 min.

12:02: Bevormo: Papi

12:01: Alex Rodriguez is off the board. Bevormo is on the clock. 5 min.

12:01: McDavies: AROD

And that was that. As noted above, it was 1:23 when Teatro sent in his Dunn pick to conclude the draft. Some semblance of reality resumed moments later.

Whirling Dervish

The owner of the team DJ Dozier and Friends, one Gil McDavies, stirred some minor controversy today by, first, asking that tomorrow's noon dispersal draft be pushed back a day to accommodate an unforeseen work conflict, and then, once that request was summarily rejected by the league, notifying everyone - for the first time - that his "GC" would be available to draft in his stead.

Whoa whoa whoa ... hang on there, Gil. Your what? Your "GC"? Don't you know the third rule of this fantasy league: no unannounced co-owners, GMs or GCs? Surely you know that rule because you were involved in The Incident That Lead to the Rule's Adoption and are therefore well aware of the rule's purpose to keep Those Who Have Been Banned From the League from secretly infiltrating the league as silent co-GMs.

In any event, McDavies' initial mail was harmless enough (though I can say that the nudge at a certain Padre pitcher who may or may not soon be a first-round pick of The Bevormos, did not go unnoticed by Bevormos' co-owner, and blog namesake, Kurt Bevacqua):

Any chance we can get the dispersal draft done today? Conflict popped up for tomorrow. Here, I'll get us going:

With the 1st overall pick in the 2006 dispersal draft, DJ Dozier & Friends selects:

Jake Peav….ah, just kidding Bevormo -- not after he got Pearl Harbor'd by team Japan yesterday.

DJ Dozier & Friends selects: Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees.

Assuming my proposal to draft today is summarily rejected (yawn), how much time do we get between picks tomorrow? If it's spaced out enough -- I will be back to the office in time for my 2nd pick.


As mentioned above, the league quickly denied McDavies' request to move back the dispersal draft. Geleaux responded on behalf of the league and, rather efficiently, spliced in a few housekeeping matters regarding the draft:

Your suggestion has been heard but rejected. Dr. Rosendowell needs another day to make trade offers then rescind them for fear they might be accepted.

Does 5 minutes between picks work? That gives people time to make trades. If a trade is made my suggestion would be that the new owner of the pick gets 2 minutes - presumably they know who they are taking at that point. Obviously there is no requirement to take the entire 5 (or 2) minutes prior to selecting.

Also, since this is via the internets, I think we should probably dispense with the 'Vikings Rule'. It will definitely be in play during the live draft, but the last thing we want is people claiming their email was held up, etc.

If there are any serious time conflicts with tomorrow at noon just let us know and we can work around them. Again, the whole thing shouldn’t take more than an hour.

One last item - if you are keeper team and don’t want to be on the email chain give us the word when you get a shot.

Upon receipt of that e-mail, McDavies shot back with notice of his previously unknown "GC":

I will have my blackberry with me, so I should be alright for a noon start tomorrow. In the event of an unforeseen service break, however, I have granted the GC of DJ Dozier & Friends, Rake Boon Dan Brass, authority to select and trade players if I am absent. I have attached his e-mail address. Please make sure to include him on the e-mail chain once the festivities begin.

Von Do Well, one-half of the Dr. Rosendowell front office, still smarting from the rigorous "vetting process" he underwent before being allowed to enter the league as a co-owner, responded quickly:

I heartily object to Dozier's employment of a "GC" without prior authorization. Obviously this is a poorly designed attempt to circumvent the "Dr. RosenX" Rule, whereby any team owner wishing to share his management responsibilities and/or league costs must be subjected to an intense vetting process.

On that topic, who is this mysterious Mr. "Boon Dan Brass"? He sounds highly suspect. Please advise.

After receiving some info on Mr. Boon Dan Brass, Von hit back:

The [information I received] offers nothing in terms of vouching for Mr. B's fantasy baseball character. In fact, what's to indicate that he's not Canadian?*

Indeed, if it's the same Rake Boon Dan Brass that I remember from law school, his credibility is shaky at best. In fact, he was well known for hiding large quantities of poker chips in his pockets in an effort to disguise his overall chip stack, misrepresenting the number of beers that he consumed in a given night, and frequently falling asleep in class.


In the end, after a few more e-mails that are far too long, far too detailed, and far too humorous to be published here, McDavies' request for a "GC" was denied.

* Von Do Well did not actually mention Canada here. Canada is merely a stand-in country. But, for the purposes of this blog, this league does not allow "Canadians."

Keeper Keeper Bo Beeper ...

The dispersal draft is this Tuesday. My excitement for the draft is second only to my excitement for the Fighting Illini's upcoming Sweet Sixteen upset of Connecticut.

As a reminder, seven teams will participate in the dispersal draft: The Kurt Bevormos, DJ Dozier and Friends, Dr. Rosendowell, The Committee, Little Italy, Mitro Nitro and The Octagon. The draft will take place over e-mail, with each owner e-mailing their pick to the commissioners and copying the other owners of the league. Trades during the draft are allowed and very possible. The time limit for picks has not been set but there is talk of a five minute limit.

But what, you ask, of the other five teams in the league, the so-called "keeper teams." Those squads chose to keep three players each and won't participate in the dispersal draft. They could, of course, trade one or more of their keepers for a pick in the dispersal draft and, based on the chatter I am hearing among the league owners, a deal along those lines sounds very possible.

Here is the list of keepers organized according to the team that kept them:

Operation Shutdown
Pedro Martinez
Mark Teixeira
Johan Santana

ZAGS
David Wright
Miguel Tejada
Manny Ramirez

The Vipers
Todd Helton
Carl Crawford
Travis Hafner

Team Italy
Roy Oswalt
Miguel Cabrera
Mark Prior

Skillz that Killz
Phat Albert
Michael Young
Lance Berkman

Some of these keeper choices were obvious, others were a tougher call (Skillz kept Berkman over Derrek Lee, The Vipers kept Hafner over Ichiro, and Operation Shutdown kept Pedro over Soriano). But however you cut it, each of these teams has a nice base from which to enter the regular draft on March 24.

Blockbuster ... And I Don't Mean the Video Store

The first trade of the season is done ... and done.

Yesterday afternoon, after nearly a week of on-again off-again negotiations, The Kurt Bevormos traded their second and third round picks in the dispersal draft to Dr. Rosendowell for Dr. Rosendowell's 1st pick in the dispersal draft. The deal also included the two teams switching picks in the eighth round, a round in which, due to the snake-fashion of the draft, Dr. Rosendowell would have picked higher than the Bevormos.

So practically, how does this play out? The Kurt Bevormos now draft 2nd and 6th in the March 14th dispersal draft, but sacrifice their other two dispersal draft picks. Dr. Rosendowell, on the other hand, loses out on a first round pick, but gets four picks in the dispersal draft and, because the fourth round is a reverse-snake round, has the 3rd pick of the fourth round.

To summarize (and this took at least seventeen minutes of writing down numbers and counting forward and backwards for me to figure out), through four rounds of the draft The Kurt Bevormos will have the 2nd, 6th and 46th picks, and Dr. Rosendowell will have the 9th, 13th, 16th, 20th and 39th picks. Additionally, in the eighth round, the Bevormos now grab the 87th pick and Rosendowell has the 94th.

What this means in player terms is that The Kurt Bevormos now have a choice of Vlad, Papi, Lee or Abreu with the 2nd pick, and then a likely choice of Bay, Soriano or ... PEAVY with the 6th pick. And then probably either Brian Schneider or Victor Diaz with the 46th.

Scheduling Matters

Early this week the league's Commissioners decided on the schedule for the upcoming dispersal and regular drafts and informed the rest of the league of the relevant dates and times. To remind you, the Commissioners are myself (owner of The Kurt Bevormos), Geleaux (owner of Operation Shutdown) and Tam O'Flannel (owner of Skillz That Killz). You could compare it to Rome's First Triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus, or if you prefer, take Tom Teatro's (owner of Mitro Nitro) slightly sardonic characterization of the panel from a recent e-mail: "I love this three headed commissioner godzilla."

Additionally, Nolan Yudek, proud owner of The Vipers, is the proclaimed (acclaimed?) "technology czar" for the league and fills in as a pseudo-commissioner when needed. He was invaluable in setting up the league on Yahoo. He is also invaluable to the league because, if the last two seasons are any indication, he will strategize to win the triple and inherited runners scored categories, but no others.

Anyway, here is the e-mail Geleaux sent to the owners earlier this week:

After a rough canvass of the group's various conflicts, we are going to have the dispersal draft at noon on March 14th and the live draft will be at 8pm on March 24th. A few people might be late for the 24th, and Von Do Well [along with Reardon Rosenrosen an owner of Dr. Rosendowell] has a 'friend' in town so he will be in and out (no pun intended, of course), but it looks like it will work for most people. Those who are late (or unable to attend) can call in picks, or send emails, or use semaphore. Whatever works. Apparently we will have access to a speakerphone, although I'm not banking on that actually happening.

The dispersal draft will be conducted via the 'internets'. All of the dispersal teams, plus any interested keeper teams, will be included on the email chain. Hopefully everyone can make it into the office by noon.

There will be strict, and short, time limits for both drafts. In other words, no longer will '30 seconds' be the automatic answer when someone questions how much time is left. Getting a beer is the only valid excuse for drafting beyond the time limit.

Tatt Mareeco, whose Upper West Side apartment is popular both for its location and its 50 inch flat screen HDTV, added a follow up e-mail later in the day:

I have several things to add:

1. I got a timer thing from Williams and Sonoma for either a Wedding gift or Christmas. Either way it will be used. You do not want to be like the Minnesota Vikings on draft day.

2. No delayed picking b/c you're getting a beer. There will be at least two tubs of beer which will be within arms reach of everyone.

3. I will be hosting unless a problem arises in which case we will move to casa de Yudek, unless somebody else really wants to host.

On the by and by, the draft dates are set. All that's left now is the drafting.

Very Peavy-like

Peavy pitched three innings for the United States against Mexico today before Buck Martinez replaced him to start the top of the fourth with Mike "You Forget That I Was Instrumental in Helping the Blue Jays Win the World Series in the Early '90s" Timlin. To summarize, Peavy faced nine batters over three innnings (the mininum for all you math majors), induced two double plays and did not allow a run. In a word, he was dominant.

A pitch-by-pitch, batter-by-batter account follows:

Batter 1: Karim Garcia
Pitch 1: Outside, just off the plate (ball is deservedly thrown into the dugout after the pitch as keepsake I will likely purchase on Ebay someday - Peavy is given fresh ball).
Pitch 2: Inside, moves Garcia off the plate. (Sutcliffe says that Peavy probably threw the first pitch outside on purpose to ensure it would not be fouled off, but "he's trying to throw a strike now." Hey Sutcliffe, I have a tape of Game 5 of the '84 NLCS if you want to get together and watch it sometime, buddy.).
Pitch 3: Low and in. Garcia makes a little contact and hits an easy groundball to Utley ... who slips on the grass and falls and his throw pulls Lee off the bag. Garcia safe at first.

Batter 2: Jorge Cantu (I have a special interest in this at-bat because Cantu was on the Bevormos' last season and performed impeccably).
Pitch 4: Fastball tailing in, called strike.
Pitch 5: Chest high and in, Cantu tips it foul.
Pitch 6: Fastball up and over the plate, Cantu grounds it to A-Rod, who flips it to Utley and on to Lee for the double play.

Batter 3: Vinny Castilla (A battle of teammates. Peavy seems neither concerned nor interested.)
Pitch 7: Fastball middle-in. Castilla grounds it to Jeter and on to Lee for the third out.

First innning summary: 7 pitches, 1 hit (official scorer effs Peavy and gives Garcia a single when Utley slipped), 1 double play.

Batter 4: Erubial Durazo
Pitch 8: Down the pipe, strike looking.
Pitch 9: Down the pipe, a ton of movement, strike looking.
Pitch 10: Down the pipe, a ridiculous amount of late movement, fouled off.
Pitch 11: Inside, diving down and in. Ball.
Pitch 12: Fastball at Durazo's knees, exotically absurd late movement puts ball out over the plate just as it passes by Durazo. He can do nothing with it. Strikeout looking.

Batter 5: Luis A. Garcia
Pitch 13: Inside, Garcia hits soft grounder to Jeter who throws low to Lee. Lee can't scoop it and Garcia is on base. (This one is clearly an error and hard evidence that the U.S. infield is part of a vast inter-league conspiracy to make Peavy pitch from the stretch.)

Batter 6: Adrian Gonzalez (Again, Peavy does not seem concerned facing Padre stalwarts.)
Pitch 14: Some kind of strike. (Candidly, I turned my head to look out at my Times Square view for this pitch and missed what happened in the game. Odds are it was an incredibly nasty pitch which would explain why Gonzalez was in tears when I turned my attention back to the screen.)
Pitch 15: Inside, carves off Gonzalez's wrists and "may have broken his bat." Lee fields the grounder cleanly and the U.S. turns the easy double play. (Conspiracy?)

Second inning summary: 8 pitches, 1 error (Jeter ... phooey), two Adrian Gonzalez wrists, 1 double play.

Batter 7: Geronimo Gil
Pitch 16: Fastball just nips the outside corner.
Pitch 17: Rising, moving fastball. Gil fouls it the opposite way.
Pitch 18: Cut fastball (according to Sutcliffe at least) that dives away and outside and into the dirt. But it dives late and Gil swings and misses and strikes out.

Batter 8: Mario Valenzuela
Pitch 19: Outside corner, moving ... but hits the corner for a strike.
Pitch 20: Foul ball, inside off the wrist.
Pitch 21: Fastball looks like its rising, but then dips just under the swinging bat of Valenzuela. K.

Batter 9: Juan Castro
Pitch 22: Just off the plate, outside. Ball.
Pitch 23: Low strike, Castro laces a soft liner to left center, Griffey eases over and makes the catch.

Third inning summary: 8 pitches, all heart.

In other news, Derrek Lee and Chipper Jones (a two-season Bevormo player who desperately wants to be drafted on to my team again) both went yard in the United States' 2-0 victory.

WBC Update

A few brief notes about the World Baseball Classic, which ramps up again tomorrow with a full slate of games.

- Korea upset Japan 3-2 last week, highlighted by Seung Yeop Lee's (5-11 in 3 games, 3 bombs, 14 total bags) two-run 8th inning bomb off Hirotoshi Ishii in front of Crown Prince Naruhito and 40 some thousand other Japanese fans. Chan Ho[ffman] Park closed out the game with his second save in three games, inducing Ichiro to pop up for the game's final out. I did not see the at-bat but it is all but certain that Chan Ho's stuff was absolutely nasty.

- Speaking of Korea's squad ... in an earlier post (see below) I predicted that Yong-Taik ("Y.T.") Park would dazzle U.S. baseball fans during the Classic and make a name for himself over on this side of the Pacific. Watching Korea's opening game against Chinese Taipei, however - and to my utter dismay - I noticed that In-Sik Kim (the Korea manager) started Jong Beom Lee in centerfield in place of Y.T. Park. I of course was outraged and took it as a personal affront. Turns out, wouldn't you know, that In-Sik may know something about his players as J.B. Lee has done nothing more in three games than go 5-9 with 3 2B, a .556 avg. and 1.525 ops. Not to mention he was on base when S.Y. Lee hit aforesaid game-winning bomb off Ishii. I will note, in the interests of saving face, that Y.T. Park has gone 1-2 with a 3B. Just give him a shot, In-Sik. I implore you.

- Finally, as you are all well aware, Peavy goes tomorrow against the vaunted team from the United States of Mexico. Early prediction: 65 pitches, 62 strikes, 2 tactically brilliant brushbacks, 1 bomb to Vinny Castilla. Tune in at 4:00 est. on ESPN2.

"First egg is about to come out."

So said Tatt Mareeco, the owner of the team named The Committee (shortened from "The Committee To Elect Sweet Lou Whitaker to the Hall of Fame" because the text box on Yahoo's fantasy baseball website doesn't have space for the full name) who organized Friday's draft lottery. Mareeco went out and bought twelve colored plastic eggs and printed labels bearing the name of each team. He then punched a whole in the lid of a box, put the eggs inside, and, as we gathered in the 18th floor conference room at our office at noon, had one of the owners of Dr. Rosendowell (they are the league's only co-owned team) pick out the eggs one by one. David Stern, though invited to attend as an honorary observer, was unexpectedly absent.

Geleaux summarized the results of the lottery in an e-mail to the league later in the afternoon:

Thanks to the efforts of Mareeco, we have completed the lottery with little to no controversy. The fact that it was observed by a majority of the league helped.

In the end it was decided that the fairest (and easiest) way to pick the order would be to simply pick numbers 1-12 for each team. The 5 keeper teams have forfeited their picks for the first three rounds. Keep in mind that the order snakes throughout the draft, so the 1st pick in the first rd is the last pick in the fourth.
Here is the order - and the picks each team will get through the first four rds (aka the dispersal draft and the 1st round of the live draft). Keep in mind the dispersal draft numbers (1-21) are skewed downwards slightly:

1. D.J. Dozier and Friends (1, 14, 15, 48)
2. ZAGS (47)
3. The Kurt Bevormos (2, 13, 16, 46)
4. Little Italy (3, 12, 17, 45)
5. Operation Shutdown (44)
6. Team Italy (43)
7. The Vipers (42)
8. The Committee (4, 11, 18, 41)
9. The Octagon (5, 10, 19, 40)
10. Dr. Rosendowell (6, 9, 20, 39)
11. Mitro Nitro (7, 8, 21, 38)
12. Skillz That Killz (37)

The "dispersal draft" that Geleaux mentions in his e-mail, and that has been referenced in prior posts, is the result of a (contentious) league vote that allows the veteran owners (i.e. those owners who owned teams the past two seasons) the option of keeping three of their layers in exchange for sacrificing their first three picks of the draft. It was a good option for some of the league owners, Geleaux's Operation Shutdown for example, who kept Mark Teixiera, Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez, arguably two first round picks and perhaps a high second rounder.

Six owners in all chose to keep. The owners who opted not to keep, as well as the new owners, are in the so-called "dispersal draft" and for the first three rounds will choose from any players in the bigs, with the exception of the 18 kept players (the list of keepers will be the subject of a later post).

What made the dispersal draft option appealing to some of the veteran owners of the league is that, as mentioned in this blog's first ever post, three of the owners from the league's first two seasons were booted from the league under evidence of impropriety. All the players from those three teams are now available in the draft, including some of the top players on any draft board: A-Rod, Papi, Abreu, Bay, Vlad and Derrek Lee. My team, The Kurt Bevormos, chose to enter the draft (giving up my guaranteed rights to Jake Peavy who was on my roster last season), and fell into the second pick.

Assuming A-Rod goes to D.J. Dozier and Friends, will Derrek Lee join The Kurt Bevormos? Or will Vladdy? Perhaps. Or perhaps The Bevormos will enter into some kind of transaction, and move further down in the draft. As the closing line in Geleaux's e-mail makes clear, anything is now possible:

All kept players and draft picks are fully tradeable from this point on.

Linkage

You may notice over to the right of this post a few links to other websites. My goal here is to throw up links to some of the excellent blogs out there about each of the favorite teams (this is getting wordy ... I really should not have had that seventh g&t tonight ... yeah right, I had three) of each of the owners in the league.

I begin, of course, with Padre blogs, and two good ones are already linked on the right. Ducksnorts and Gaslamp Ball are solid 'Drinos fans, and, though more Padres blogs exist out there on the Web, I am going to limit two links per favorite team. (If you are like me and want to read as many Padre blogs as possible, Ducksnorts and Gaslamp link to a few others).

So, in this regard, in the upcoming weeks there will be links to blogs about the favorite teams of other owners. By my count, this league has fans of (besides the Padres) the Buccos, Le Mets, Red Sox, pseudo-Astros (a few family members of some of the owners either live in the Houston area and regularly attend 'Stros games, or, in one instance, consult with the 'Stros Brass on baseball operations),Tigers, Cardinals, and kind of, the Nats (one of this league's two Pirates fans lives in D.C. and visits RFK on a regular basis).

There may be a few others but I don't have them in mind at the moment.

X. Nady - Certifiable Beast

I suppose by now you have heard of Xavier Nady's game last night - 4 -4, grand slam, 6 RBIs. The AP even quoted David Wright as calling him an "MVP."

"Nady already has my MVP vote," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "Every ball he hit, he hit hard."

Why the interest in Nady? Well, as the title of this blog suggests, and as my earlier posts confirm, I am a Padrinos fan (you will often hear the Padres referred to on this blog as the "Padrinos" or just "'Drinos" ... it is a term, I think, that connotes both cuddly adoration and complete and total exasperation and is therefore entirely apropos of Padres fandom). Nady was drafted out of Cal by the Padres, shepherded through the Padres farm system, and then brought to the majors for duty under the sometimes overly-cautious eye of Bruce Bochy. During his time with the Padres, Nady was always doing one of three things: (i) riding the pine because Boch wouldn't play him; (ii) striking out against tough right handed pitching, usually after swinging at the first pitch and getting behind in the count; and (iii) roping bombs off the Western Metal Supply Building. He never could curry Boch's favor, however, and is now a Met, having coming over in a straight up deal for Mike Cameron.

My issue with this is that, and I haven't checked the exact dates, Nady is 27 and doesn't turn 28 until November 14. That is precisely when "man strength" starts to kick in, not to mention, if you are like Nady and have already had three-plus years of experience with major league pitching, some of the little keys to hitting start to click and then mesh along with your natural talent. Bottom line [hold your breath for a bold prediction]: with a guaranteed 500 ABs a year, Nady will average 30 home runs a season from now until he is 35. At least.

How does this affect the fantasy league? Needless to say, if Nady is on track to hit 30 bombs, he will be highly sought after as an outfield starter. But, moreso, this fantasy league is, among the 12 owners, populated by one Padre fan, three Mets fans, one guy who used to play for the Mets, another guy whose Dad used to coach for the Mets, and two other guys who are just your basic Nady-philes (this would be Geleaux as well as the owner of the team Skillz That Killz, both of whom accompanied me to Petco last season for a "scouting trip" during which Nady (a) roped a bomb off the Western Metal Supply Building and (b) smoked a triple to the 411 foot sign in right centerfield).

In fact, after word of Nady's Met debut spread last night, the excitement was palpable.

From the owner of the team Dr. Rosendowell, a Met fan from Queens who is new to the league: Now [Bevormo's] definitely entering the dispersal draft...a chance to build his team around the X-factor?

And from the owner of the team D.J. Dozier and Friends, another Met fan, not from Queens, who is a half-season veteran of the league: Hello dispersal draft for senor nady.*

In short, Nady's season is being watched closely by this league.

*(If you are wondering what is meant by "dispersal draft," that will all be explained in later posts.)

WBC ... So It Begins

Not gonna lie to you ... I'm getting excited twitches about the World Baseball Classic. Despite that, as predicted, some of the big names (Pedro, Wagner, Vladdy, Manny) are retreating to the comfort of Spring Training (probably a good thing for the fantasy league - less chance for injuries to marquee players), I am officially "into" this tournament. And to start things off, we have a monstrous matchup tonight between South Korea and Chinese Taipei. This game is so big, that Stephen Elessseressrer of MLB.com (via Padres.com) is reporting that, according to Chan Ho Park, Chan Ho Park was up late last night scouting the Chinese Taipei lineup.

Park also said that he had been up late the night before studying film of Chinese Taipei, hinting that regardless of what [manager In-Sik Kim] may say, Park is planning to see some action Friday.

(Relax, I can joke about Chan Ho because he is one of the venerable old, er, veteran group of starters - along with Shawn Estes, Woody Williams, and Andy Ashby - competing for three spots in the Padres rotation. And I am one of the vast group of Padre fans hoping against hope that he, along with the others, gets his act together this season and pitches as well as he used to with the Dadgers).

But with all due respect for Chan Ho, I am more interested to watch another Park, who comes with rave reviews from MLB's World Baseball Classic homepage:

Keep an eye on: Yong-Taik Park. One of the best total-package center fielders in Korea, Park also has speed and some power. He led the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] with 90 runs scored and 43 stolen bases in 2005, and the young All-Star will be a scoring threat with Seung-Yeop Lee and [Hee Sop] Choi hitting behind him.

Once I have a chance to review the fantasy league's complex drafting and waiver rules to see if Yong-Taik will be available in our upcoming draft, this game may even take on more meaning than it already has.

So let's get this thing rolling. First pitch is in less than an hour.

Bucco Ties

As with most fantasy leagues (and really with the great majority of life's endeavors) the quality of the league is dependent on the people involved. And we have some good peoples. My thought is to introduce them all gradually by describing their actions and, in a way, letting them introduce themselves through their own words in e-mails that I will cut and paste into this forum. Biographical info will, of course, be dispensed as necessary to understand certain comments either they - or I - make.

One such instance where a little bio is necessary is happening right ... now.

The owner of the team Operation Shutdown (one of the founding teams in the league and a holder of one of the not-so-sought-after seats on the Commissioner's Panel) is a hearty fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Though he hedges that affinity with a nearly equally hearty adoration for the Boston Red Sox (apparently he grew up near both Pittsburgh and Boston ... yet still turned out almost normal), his tickets would be behind the Buccos dugout should those two teams ever meet head to head in an October contest (Grapefruit League games don't necessarily count, and the game we both attended at Fenway last season - with two other owners in the league mind you - only marginally more so, though Joe Table did punch out Billy Mueller in the ninth to preserve a 2-0 Bucco shutout. Geleaux, the moniker of this owner for the purposes of this blog, may or may not have been standing in one of the old concrete aisles at Fenway as this happened waving his Buccos ballcap).

Anyway, knowing what you now know about Geleaux, you can imagine his dismay when he sent this e-mail this morning, copying a headline from what I presume is a Pittsburgh-area paper:

Holy shyte. Throw the draft strategy out the window, again:

Duffy slowed by shoulder

Chris Duffy will be the designated hitter today and will not play center field until Monday because of a previously undisclosed left shoulder injury.

General manager Dave Littlefield said the injury dates to last season and a catch Duffy made against a wall. He called the move to not start Duffy right away "precautionary."

Well, what can I say. This is disappointing on many levels, not the least of which is that - as anyone who saw Duffy play last season knows - this could set back the development of good young defensive centerfielder with a propensity to lace doubles into the outfield gaps. Not to mention, the Buccos fan base is about to hang themselves. Luckily for them they are almost all also Steelers fans (including Geleaux) and can take heart that Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward are absolute beasts. It's also disappointing because, as you can read from Geleaux's e-mail above, he was considering the Duffer as a late round draft pick this season. Though the members of the league do have a running joke that Geleaux drafts/picks up many many Pirates (he had Duffy, Doumit, Perez, Duke, Maholm, Eldred and Salomon "The Beast" Torres at various times throughout last season), Operation Shutdown has had plenty of success (upper division in each of the two innaugural seasons).

As Geleaux characterized the development in a later e-mail:

Complete disaster. If it has been bothering him since last season how is it suddenly going to be better tomorrow? Disaster.

Fortunately the Furmaniak tore up Manatee Community College pitching yesterday, so there is some hope.

That "hope" Geleaux writes of is, of course, J.J. Furmaniak. Find out more about J.J. at this site discovered by Geleaux during his daily search for Bucco blogs: http://jjfurmaniak.blogspot.com

Background and Beginnings

Welcome to the first post of the first blog ever done about a baseball fantasy keeper league. Okay, that is probably not an entirely accurate opening sentence, but if you are going to question every thing I write in this blog, this relationship just isn't going to work.

That said, allow me to provide you with a little background for this blog, and, at the very same time, the league itself.

The fantasy keeper league in question is entering its third season, but this season will undergo a variety of changes. Long story short, one of the original league founders has, for reasons we will not discuss here, been booted from the league for, shall we say, conduct unbecoming a fantasy baseball player. We also booted his brother and one of his friends just because of the taint.

So, putting that nasty business behind us, we are starting the league anew. It is the same league, but also a different league. Items falling under "same" include the same categories (10x10, more on that later), nine of the same owners who have the option of keeping three of their same players, two (out of three) of the same league commissioners, the same entry fee (two hundy U.S.), and many of the same waiver and drafting rules that frustrate and annoy the majority of the league owners. Some of the "different" are three brand new owners, a new website (Yahoo), and one new league commissioner (yours truly). In short, there is a lot to look forward to.