SB Nation User Blog: seton hall snake pit

Trot Nixon for Johan Santana

seton hall snake pit — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:51:20 -0000

Trot Nixon was traded in the this weekend to the Mets for a player to be named later (Johan?) OR cash. The Mets have had little to no corner outfield production this year and Trot was hitting .300+ in hitter friendly Tuscon. The Mets activated him right away and there's a good chance he'll be in the starting lineup today.

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080613&content_id=2908275&vkey=news_ari&fext=.jsp&c_id=ari

Who leaves first?

seton hall snake pit — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:41:30 -0000

I was just bored and thinking about our current personnel. We have 8 solid major league starters at every position all of which will probably be coming with a hefty contract someday. My question is who do you think will be gone first. Obviously O-Dawg is more than likely gone and EB will be done after 2011, so that leaves let's say 7 players that we'd love to see stay but will potentially not be with us within 5 years: Drew, Reynolds, CoJack, Upton, Young, Micah, Snyder, Miggy, Tracy (yeah I know that's 9, I kept coming up with names). Who's gone in the near future who stays? This is kind of a depressing thought process I'm asking of you, but it's a good off day discussion.

In my opinion I don't see Drew sticking around too long. He's played great but he'll more than likely be asking for much more money than we're willing to pay, plus he's very low on the list of priorities. I hate to say it but after his contract is up I don't think Drew will be with us any longer.

Alternatives to Hudson

seton hall snake pit — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:23:49 -0000

If we do not resign Hudson what would we do at second base? Would it end up being Benafacio's job to lose or do we give Jamie D'Antona a chance to switch over from third and have a go at it. He's hitting really really well for the Sidewinders right now. What do you all think? Can D'Antona make the switch? I think it would make a very interesting spring. extra word

Diamondbacks 10th best Franchise in all of Sports

seton hall snake pit — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 21:01:41 -0000

Diamondbacks 10th best Franchise in all of Sports

ESPN just recently did a rating of the best sports franchises in all of sports and guess who was number 10. The Diamondbacks. It feels pretty good to be ranked so high. The rankings were based on fan experience, players efforts, ticket pricing so on and so forth. Its an interesting read to say the least.

Reality vs. The Optimist

seton hall snake pit — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:24:15 -0000

So I came up with this crazy idea to compare our players to the numbers they are putting up in fantasy leagues across the internet. I will mostly be using the point totals from MLB.com’s league, just because it is easier to judge by their scoring system. I’m going to run down the hitting point getters real quick to help you learn what these points mean. So here it goes….

Single = 1
Double = 2
Triple = 3
Home Run = 4
Run = 1
RBI = 1
Walk = 1
Stolen Base = 2
Caught Stealing = -1

Chris Young- It is a bit shocking to see CY doing so well in the fantasy world when he is struggling so mightily in the real world. I mean the guy is hitting a meager .213 BUT he does have 5 HR, 17 runs scored, 3 SB and 10 RBIs. So although the hit total is meager his slugging percentage and increased number of walks (14) has kept him near the top of the scoring board. As of today (April 24) he has scored 83 points. That is enough to have him weighing in as the 16th best OF option in the league right now. It is a bit worrisome to be facing him when he does get that BA up. But, until then he’ll have a place in most starting lineups do to his increased discipline at the plate.

Justin Upton- Now Upton to start the year was a late round draft pick in most leagues. Everyone knew of his potential upside, but no one expected to see it immediately. He is hitting at the mark of .375 with 5 HR, 12 runs scored, 13 RBIs, and 7 walks. What is keeping him in the starting lineup is that BA, the kid is on base constantly and that gives enough RBI and R potential to keep him in there. There is no doubt that everyone is happy with his real life performance as well as his fantasy performance. He’s scored 84 points, enough to tie Manny Ramirez for 14th best OF option so far.

Eric Byrnes- Here’s a shocker. Yeah he’s performing pretty well in the real world. He’s hitting .287, with 3 HR, 16 runs, 14 RBI and 10 walks but that doesn’t seem like it would be translating in the fantasy world as he’s not making big plays, but it does. Are you ready for this? Captain America is doing well enough to the 6th best OF in the game right now. Shocking isn’t it. Somehow it all adds up to a solid 89 point total.

Notes- The outfield is outperforming every other team in the league right now. The only other team to have more than one player ranked ahead of our worst OF (CY) is Boston. They have Manny and Ellsbury ranked 14th and 9th respectively. Many teams don’t have a single OF ranked higher than our 3. That is as impressive as it gets. Does that mean we have the best OF in the league? No. It does mean however that the potential to claim that moniker is there.

C- Needless to say this is where our team is floundering a bit. Chris Snyder has just not been able to find the rhythm that he had in Spring Training. Snyder has lacked enough hitting that he ranks as the 16th best fantasy catcher so far (43 points). He’s hitting a melancholy .204 with 0 HR, 10 walks, 10 RBI and 6 runs scored. Now he has seen a little life come back to his bat in the past few nights and most catchers are sitting around a score of 50, so one big night would be all he needs to move himself into the top 10.

1B- Another pleasant surprise here. Connor Jackson is just on fire right now, and in the fantasy world he is just now starting to turn heads. He’s hitting .359, with 19 runs scored, 3 HR, 17 RBIs, 9 walks and most surprising a stolen base. He’s good for 90 points through the first 3 ½ weeks. That sets him at 4th place among all major league 1B; a mere 9 points behind Albert Pujols who is walking at a ridiculous pace (20). Expect him to come down to earth a bit, but so will everyone ahead of him. CoJack is looking to be a premiere 1B option this season.

2B- The Orlando Hudson or O-Dawg to most of you. Mr. Dawg is coming in at 8th on the fantasy charts this time around. His stats don’t look great .262 BA along with 12 runs, 3 HR, 13 RBIs and 6 walks, but he’s a respectable 73 points but not anywhere near the top of the charts because of Chase Utley’s (126 points) ridiculous hot streak. O-Dawg will probably not catch him anytime soon but a big game could drop in the top 5 quite easily. 2nd place is within grasp as Dustin Pedroia has only 85 points.

SS- Mr. Stephen Drew has done an OK job fantasy wise at SS. It hasn’t been anything amazing. He’s hitting .284, 12 runs, 3 HR, 8 RBI, and 6 BB. That is good enough to put him 13th on the short list of SS’s in the league. He’s score 64 points which is just behind Michael Young yet still ahead of names like Troy Tulowitzki (48) and Orlando Cabrera (60). Tops in the category are Hanley Ramirez (110) and Rafael Furcal (106).

3B- Mark Reynolds who has slowed a bit in the last week or so still finds himself tied for 2nd of the list of fantasy 3B. He’s hitting nearly identical to Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez. Both have a .288 average with 6 HR and 20 runs scored. A-Ram has 16 RBI to Reynolds’ 19, and Mark has 12 walks and 1 SB compared to Ramirez’s 13 BB and 1 CS. 6 points separate Iron Man from the top (David Wright) of the fantasy world.

Pitching- The pitching staff is the premiere staff so far not only in fantasy but in the real world as well. A 3.10 ERA, with 15 wins, given up 64 ER, 157 H, 69 BB, and struck out 151 is good enough for 247 points. That’s pretty good isn’t it? Damn straight the second place Oakland A’s (who happen to be pitching 2 former DBacks) have a mark of 202. The staff has been dominant so far and you would do good to ride them the rest of the year.

So there you go. That is hopefully just the first installment of a series of comparisons if the response goes well. So tell me what's good, what's bad or if this idea just needs scrapped overall.

Don't Make Me Laugh

seton hall snake pit — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:51:02 -0000

I was just watching ESPN and a commercial for the upcoming SportsCenter came on. The quick flash at the episode was and I quote, "Coming up, are the Cubs the team to beat in the National League?". Talk about a laughable. The DBacks going into today are the league leaders in RBIs, 3B, Total Bases, SLG %, ERA, Ws, and we place in the top 5 in nearly every other major hitting AND pitching category. Doesn't that make us the team to beat? How are the Cubs the team to beat?

CoJack NL Player of the Week

seton hall snake pit — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:37:54 -0000

CoJack NL Player of the Week

"Jackson led the National League with 10 RBI and 10 runs scored and he tied for the N.L. lead with 27 total bases and two triples. The 25-year-old Jackson hit .480 (12-25), including three home runs and two doubles. He recorded a 1.080 slugging percentage and a .519 on-base percentage... Tourneau, the world's largest watch store, will award Conor Jackson with a luxury Swiss Timepiece, suitably engraved, in recognition of his accomplishments."

What do you think?

seton hall snake pit — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:29:28 -0000

I'm thinking about putting considerable money (80 cents) on the DBacks today. Am I too confident about tonights game? Someone tell me I'm a smart man or a complete idiot. Talk me down from the ledge or encourage me to climb higher. I don't have the confidence to do this on my own. Help me out here. This is a must have bragging rights bet, if this tanks then life will go on but I'll feel like an idiot for a day or two. Any comments pro or con would help me in my decision.

He's right!

seton hall snake pit — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:58:16 -0000

Eric "Captain America" Byrnes, OF, Arizona Diamondbacks: Byrnes was known by this colorful, animated nickname when starring for the Licey Tigers in the Dominican winter leagues, and it's perfect to describe his all-out, hair-on-fire style of play. But somehow the name hasn't been brought back to the States, where he's tragically known as "Byrnsie." D-backs fans, you have the power to change this.

http://arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com/news/article_entertainment.jsp?ymd=20080417&content_id=2541862&vkey=entertainment&fext=.jsp

Doug Miller is right. I know we've tried to find a new nickname for EB but I don't believe that we had a solid list of suggestions. I move that we call EB, Captain America until something better arises. Suggestions? Critiques?

Alex Romero Super Sub of the Week

seton hall snake pit — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:00:34 -0000

Alex Romero Super Sub of the Week

Romero was named by ESPN as the super sub of the week. Nice little bit of recognition for the young guy.