Minor League observations: Pedro Alvarez

By Jim

I apologize again for the long delays between posts, and in all honesty I meant to get this up last week. I spent a couple of nights last week at the Bowie Baysox, including an 11 K, 1 hit performance by Brian Matusz on Tuesday. But since I previously covered Matusz on this blog, I decided to talk about someone new this time.

On Friday night one of my league mates asked me to come with him to check out one of his prized prospects, the Pirates Pedro Alvarez. One of the most highly sought commodities in last year’s draft, Alvarez was taken second overall by Pittsburgh and has shown plenty of power in the minors. That power led to a promotion to Double A Altoona but since the promotion. [Read more...]

Case study: Waiver wire priorities

By Jim

I apologize for how long it has been since the previous post, it’s funny how long life can get in the way some times. So, to get back in a groove I decided to share another learning experience from “Year 1″ in my keeper league but before I talk about the move I need to give a little background.

In the single year league I play in, I found myself sitting in last place in mid-May. My pitching was horrible and weighing me down and I couldn’t find fair deals for a struggling Ryan Howard, David Ortiz or a hot Kevin Youkilis. Searching the waiver wire to fix my staff, I decided to take flyers on Gil Meche (who had just been dropped by the lone Royals fan in the league) and Ricky Nolasco. Those two moves helped me climb out of the basement and while I didn’t win the league, I was able to double my point total and earn my way into my keeper league this year. [Read more...]