A New Life for the Blog takes it in a New Direction

So, life has been hectic lately. Well, not lately lately, but like, three weeks ago lately. As of the nearer lately, life has been mellow and slow.

How does that explain my lack of posts? Easy: lack of motivation, lack of desire and, for about a week plus, lack of internet. Not to mention, I am not all warm and gooey over baseball cards right now (but I am branching out into basketball now too).

So what is this new life and new direction mean and going to be? Instead of talking about baseball cards and baseball about oh, I don't know, 90% of the time, I am going to focus 100% of my attention on the 3 major sports and the fantasy games we play with them.

I thought I would be falling away from fantasy sports while deployed, but I have found myself being pulled CLOSER to fantasy sports as something that keeps me sane (and in touch with friends and family).

I find myself tweeting again and wanting to blog again too.  I feel like if I write while I am out here and deployed, it might make the time easier to tolerate and move by more quickly.

Who knows. Anyways, I already have a couple of posts in mind, so look for some late season baseball advice and some pre-season football advice real soon.

Fantasy Baseball Update

With little cardboard on my mind (other than starting my 1st ever basketball player collection, i'll save that for a later date), I figured I would update my little blog world with the current state of my fantasy baseball leagues.

Only three really matter to me (I am in five), so those are the only three I will talk about.

League 1:  Balk Four - Card Bloggers Unite - After meandering in the middle of the pack for part of the season, I have settled into the 3rd/4th place territory for the past three weeks or so. With Josh Johnson and Ubaldo Jimenez (numbers 2 and 1, respectively, in the Cy young race) anchoring my pitching and a plethora of hot bats (including David Wright, Hanley Ramirez, Joey Votto, Aubrey huff, Rickie Weeks and Chris coghlan) things are looking up this week and, hopefully, for the foreseeable future. I have an abundance of 1B eligible players (Votto, Berkman, Reynolds, Huff) and I would really like to move one or two of them for some more pitching help.

League 2: Green Ecks and Haim - Sons of Pitches - This is my premier keeper league, in its first year. I have made a TON of trades in this league and they have me sitting pretty in second place (but TWELVE AND A HALF games out of first; seriously, that guy has an en fuego team). My latest trades had me sending Adam Wainwright/Rafael Furcal for Brandon Phillips/Kris Medlen. I needed offense and have solid pitching to withstand trading a top 3 SP. The other recent trade had me sending Alex Rodriguez and Austin Jackson and receiving Carl Crawford and Tim Hudson. Crawford is swinging the bat hot right now and stealing bases at a ridiculous clip, while Hudson has quietly been producing as a number one starting pitcher. Add those guys to Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, John Buck, Matt Kemp, Ichiro, Hunter Pence and my offensive stats are finally booming. Hudson and Medlen join a pitching staff anchored by Josh Johnson (again, he is a trend), Javier Vazquez, Stephen Strasburg (who will be a round TWELVE keeper for me, which is tremendous value), and, what I believe, is the best bullpen in the league (we count holds): Andrew Bailey, JJ Putz, Leo Nunez, Luke gregerson and Brad Lidge. We only get 5 keepers, and they are based off of the round they were drafted in, so my current 5 keeper scenario looks like: Strasburg (12th rd), Votto (3rd), Johnson (7th), Phillips (4th) and Crawford (2nd). Now, you might be wondering why I didn't include Kemp, but it is all based on value. All 5 of the guys I plan on keeping have all performed OVER there round they were drafted in, meaning they would go higher next year, whereas, there is no going higher than the 1st rd. I get a top 5 1B, top 3 2B, top 6 SP, possible top 10 SP and a top 3 OF.

League 3: Cougars 4 Lyfe - AIM Salary Dynasty - If you couldn't tell this is a) a salary league and b) a dynasty league. The only difference between a dynasty and a keeper league is that in a dynasty league, you keep everyone. In this particular league, you keep everyone who is still in contract by the end of the year. This is a team I took over during the season and the old owner was a dead beat, so it needed some work. My latest two trades have helped the team quite a bit. Trade one had me sending Carlos Pena, Alfonso Soriano, Jose Reyes and Hiroki Kuroda for Adam Wainwright, Johnny Damon, Nick Swisher and Erick Aybar. I then turned around and swapped Wainwright and Ian Kinsler for Matt Garza, Billy butler and Ben Zobrist. This made the team a) younger and b) full of more contracts that were cheaper and longer. The team could still use some work (SP is suspect and my relief corps is sketchy) and it will probably finish the season as one of the worst (currently 9th out of 12), but I plan on being active and sticking it through the end of the season.

I have a few more posts in me tonight, but not all will be posted tonight. I have a lot going on around the Balk Four HQ, so I will be taking time off from the blog, so these posts will pop up sporadically, giving me the time to prepare myself for deployment to Afghanistan.

To all the fantasy baseball managers who read my blog....

I am now a writer over on the Fantasy Baseball 101 site. I just finished up my second article for the site and hope to get more insightful articles on the site more often.

I may not be an expert, but baseball is and always will be my first true love, so reading, watching and learning way too much goes a long way in helping me make my fantasy decisions and I would love to be one of the people who helps you make yours (even you guys in the blogger fantasy league).

So head on over to Fantasy Baseball 101 and check it out!!!

Balk Four: Card Bloggers Unite Fantasy League: Team Update #1

 We are not even one complete week into the season and changes are abound on my fantasy baseball team.

That behemoth you see above (see: Votto, Joey) has recently joined the Balk Four headquarters in the second trade of the early season.

I trade Roy Halladay, Gavin Floyd and Ryan Ludwick for Votto, Alexei Ramirez and Scott Baker. I have a plethora of #1 type SP and needed an offensive boost, which this definitely gives me (Votto is a top 25 player in our setup).

Not to mention I have a few offers being bounced around, trying to improve my team just a little bit more.

Also, I head into this week's final day tied with Gonna Get Bipped, 6 categories a piece. So wish me luck in knocking in 5 or so RBI and scoring about the same amount of runs.

I will be updating my sidebar once again and will include this team plus a few other things in that sidebar (it will include a new wantlist, new trade list and a few of my favorite sites to check out). I got another post in me, but that will be reserved for later (probably during the waning hours of the Masters).

Balk Four: The Pre Season 2010 Card Bloggers Unite Fantasy Baseball Champions

Well, at least around the Balk Four headquarters, that's what the press is saying.

The draft was supposed to be live, but instead ended up being a slow, offline draft that I was highly unavailable for (primarily because of the time difference being in Germany and all), but I am, well, slightly happy with the results.

Outside of an irregular pick (the early "rules" for missing a pick were abandoned later in the draft, pretty much screwing over a few people....but nothing we can't move on from), my pitching is stacked and my offense is power heavy.

C- Geovany Soto
1B- Mark Reynolds
2B- Rickie Weeks
3B- David Wright
SS- Hanley Ramirez
OF-Jayson Werth
OF- Torii Hunter
OF- Johnny Damon
UTIL- Jay Bruce
B- Ryan Ludwick
DL- Lance Berkman

SP- Roy Halladay
SP- Dan Haren
SP- Ubaldo Jimenez
RP- Heath Bell
RP- Bobby Jenks
P- Josh Johnson
P- Cole Hamels
P- Matt Thornton
P- Jose Mijares
B- Randy Wells
B- Gavin Floyd
B- Jorge De La Rosa
B- Mike Adams

It's a 6x6 head to head league (counting stats are R, HR, RBI, SB, H, OBP x W, SV, K, HLD, ERA, OBPA), so it is a little different than your primary, 5x5, run of the mill leagues....but fun nonetheless.

The only thing I really plan on doing with the team is trading some of my excess pitching for another multi-category outfield producer (probably combine a SP with an OF for an upgrade at the position).

Feel free to give any advice you'd like, if you think you can help, I am always willing to accept a little outside help.

Look for my season predictions in my next post (uh, yeah, I know, a day or two late....but 2 days do not a season make).

2010 Fantasy Baseball Top 20 Players : 11 - 20

Here for the second half of our top 20 fantasy players for 2010.

If you didn't see the first ten, go ahead and look over HERE.

#11 - Ryan Howard - 1B - PHI - A guarantee to hit 40 or more home runs and drive in 120 or more RBI's, his power production is one of the most predictable in the game. If you can live with the average (or surround him with high average players) Howard is a FANTASTIC late 1st rd or early 2nd rd pick.
#12 - Joe Mauer - C - MIN - The absolute elite at the thinnest fantasy position, Mauer's power production last season seemingly came out of nowhere. I am not so high on his power this season (thanks to the new outdoor stadium), but he should still hit for .350 plus with 20 or so homers and ample runs and rbi's. Will easily end as a top fantasy player and #1 in the catcher rankings for a second consecutive season.
#13 - Ian Kinsler - 2B - TEX - Who doesn't love a 2B with 30/30 potential? Hell, he may have enough power potential to go 40/40, if he could ever stay healthy for an entire season, which is the only knock against Kinsler. Playing in Arlington with that powerful lineup surrounding him, you can expect another great season from second baseman #1B.
#14 - Justin Upton - OF - ARI - At the ripe old age of 22, J-Up went for a .300+, 26/20 season....with the potential for much, MUCH more. so long as the injury he suffered last season is only a fluke injury, you could be looking at the next in a long line of great fantasy outfielders.
#15 - Mark Teixera - 1B - NYY - The dearth of viable 1B continues here with the Yanks starting first sacker. One of the most consistent bats, Tex's game really stepped it up when ARod came off of the disabled list last season. With a full year of ARod and new CF Curtis Granderson in the mix, Tex may well put his finest statistical season of his career this year.
#16 - Mark Reynolds - 3B - ARI - 200 strikeouts aside, where else can you find a corner infielder with 40 homer power and the speed to steal 20 plus bags? Nowhere, that's where. The power has always been there for Reynolds and it seems as if he will be given the green light on the base paths. With Upton healthy for an entire season, I see his numbers rising slightly in the runs and RBI department and possibly on the base paths as well.
#17 - Carl Crawford - OF - TB - The surest bet to get you 10 or more home runs and 46 plus stolen bases, Crawford is an on base machine who will once again reside atop the Rays lineup. With Longoria, Ben Zobrist, a healthy BJ Upton, Carlos Pena and a few others chipping in, we should see another stereotypical top 20 fantasy season from Crawford again this year.
#18 - Zack Greinke - SP - KC - The reigning AL Cy Young is my #2 pitcher off the board. I personally don't like taking a pitcher before round 5, but if I had to, you can't go wrong with Greinke. He has always had the talent and the last two seasons he has finally shown just how great a pitcher he can be. Look for a possible bump in wins if the bullpen and offense can provide him with a few leads and then go on to protect them.
#19 - Matt Holliday - OF - STL - Pretty easy being the guy who hits right behind Pujols, huh? With the on base machine batting ahead of him, Holliday should see plenty of good pitches and have a ton of RBI opportunities. You just gotta hope the guys behind Holliday can get him across the plate 100 times or so.
#20 - Troy Tulowitzki - SS - COL - Tulo proved that 2008 was indeed an anomaly in his career by showing he is one of the 3 best shortstops in all of baseball. This shortstop thinning out as the years go by, there are very limited resources to be had. After the first 5 or so, the skill level tends to drop off pretty dramatically. So if you can't land Hanley, go for the next best thing in Tulowitzki. If he can continue to steal 20 or more bags, he may net you a bigger return then any #20 pick should.

Well, that's my pre-spring training top 20 right there. In the future I will get my overall top 100 up (with little commentary) plus some prospects to keep an eye on.

Also, if anyone else out there still has interest in my fantasy league, I still have two spots open. The sooner those two spots are filled, the sooner we can start to plan the draft.

2010 Fantasy Baseball Top 20 Players

Well, I am a fantasy baseball junkie and absolutely cannot get enough of the game. This is fueled by my passion for baseball, plus my passion for stats and competition.

Through spring training and the regular season, I will begin to have some ranks posts, opinion pots, advice posts and, possibly, mailbag posts (if enough people deem my advice worthy) on all facets of fantasy baseball.

For my first post of the year, I will go over the top 20 fantasy players for 2010.

#1 - Albert Pujols - 1B - STL - This is basically a no brainer. Many people try to argue for Hanley Ramirez here because of position scarcity and his potential to go 30/30 (30 homers and 30 steals), but you cannot pass up taking the best player in all of baseball first. You just can't. Not to mention with Matt Holliday staying in town, his numbers are sure to improve. I predict another MVP season.

#2 - Hanley Ramirez - SS - FLA - Dan Uggla staying in Florida is really going to help Hanley keep his numbers good enough to stay at #2. A consistent threat to hit 30 homers and steal 20 plus, Hanley's numbers should basically mirror what he did last year, though a bump in RBI's may be in order if Cameron Maybin finally establishes himself this year.

#3 - Alex Rodriguez - 3B - NYY - With a full season of Mark Teixera and the addition of Curtis Granderson, ARod will only improve his numbers from last season (obviously, since he was out with an injury for awhile). We could see ARod putting up his best homer totals and possibly his highest RBI output since his days in Texas, as Granderson is a huge upgrade over Cabrera and adds the element of good speed to the top of the Yankees order.

#4 - Ryan Braun - OF - MIL - The outfield position used to be the deepest position in all of baseball, with almost half of the first round picks in most drafts being from said position. As the stars got older and the up and comers never making their mark, Braun has guided himself to the top half of the draft with his consistent bat and great health. Braun is the best hitter in the bigs when facing the best pitching and could be considered being taken 3rd overall, so long as Fielder stays healthy.

#5 - Chase Utley - 2B - PHI - Probably the surest thing at 2B, Utley always produces as a top 5 to top 10 talent, year in and year out. Playing in the fun house that is Citizens Bank ballpark with an All Star line up surrounding him (including fellow 1st rounder Ryan Howard), Utley's numbers stand to be great for the next few years.

#6 - Miguel Cabrera - 1B - Showing the depth at 1B, Miggy is one of 5 1B in the top 20. It was recently revealed he has kicked an alcoholic habit that had been affecting him for awhile, which should definitely reflect in his numbers. And that is pretty ridiculous, seeing as he was putting up great numbers while being addicted, who knows how high they can go without having to deal with that. Not to mention he has lost weight in the off season. The only negative is that the Tiggers have traded Curtis Granderson for unproven Austin Jackson....so Cabrera's RBI totals may go down a bit.

#7 - Prince Fielder - 1B - MIL - Fielder makes he and Braun the first two teammates to be taken in the first round. His OPS has been downright Pujolsian (new word, bank on it being in Merriam's by next year) two of the past three years. Combining with Braun to be a one-two punch, Fielder's numbers are very consistent from year to year.

#8 - Evan Longoria - 3B - TB - 24 years old. Has two speed demons hitting ahead of him in the lineup. Has a power 1B hitting behind him. He's only 24 years old. He has hit since he came up, with no doubt power and a great eye for pitches. He's only 24 years old. He will only get better. Did I mention he is only 24 years old?

#9 - Tim Lincecum - SP - SF - The first pitcher off the board, Lincecum is coming off of back to back Cy
Young seasons and is only looking better. The Giants offense looks to be improved over last year, so this should mean more wins for little Timmy. Not to mention, none of the teams in the NL West seemed to get any stronger offensively, so he will continue to get to face weak competition (not to mention a slew of pitchers batting) and most likely roll right through to his 3rd consecutive Cy Young.

#10 - Matt Kemp - OF - LAD - One of only 4 outfielders I would consider taking in the first two rounds. He has 30/30 potential, with a good BA, high runs and potential for high RBI's. He faces weak pitching in the NL West (aside from Lincecum, Cain and Jimenez) and has a very solid offense around him (Manny, Ethier, Loney, Russell Martin, Furcal, etc.). He logged more than 300 at bats from the bottom third of the lineup last year but that has to change this season. If he gets the opportunity to bat anywhere from 2-4, watch out. He could end the season as a top 4 player.

The second half of my top 20 will be posted later on in the week. If you have any questions regarding any facet of fantasy baseball - trade help, running a league, joining a league, keeper decisions or league set up - don't be afraid to email me. I have a fiery passion for fantasy baseball and I strive to help anyone who asks (even people in the leagues  was in would come to me for advice...and I was playing AGAINST these people).