Baseball notes 2.11.10: Lots of Wang, Damon close to a home?
Yawned about 20 times just compiling the information for this post, the only saving grace is Chien-Ming Wang‘s last name.
It’s about writing this in the early morning hours and contemplating the headlines: Dodgers want Wang, Nationals looking at Wang. Yes, it’s juvenile, but even hardened newshounds like myself still get a chuckle when a person/place/thing provides a harmless but comical wordplay smorgasbord like this.
Even the actual headline — Wang to choose new club in 7-10 days — brings a smile.
Beware reader because this pitcher is going to be in the news the next couple of days. He is the last top-line free agent pitcher yet to sign and should be able to throw off a mound very soon. However, despite all the headlines he’ll grab and whatever analysis you hear, you don’t really want Wang on your fantasy team. (What? IT’S HIS NAME. What do you want me to do?)
Wang is going to rack up some innings, but his strikeouts are completely unimpressive, along with his recent ERA and WHIP. He could bounce back, but he’s not going to win 19 games with the Nationals — his most likely new home — so that eliminates two of the four categories you can expect out of starting pitchers.
If you waste your last pick on Chien-Ming, there’s no harm. Just don’t wait all season to drop him for a free-agent acquisition.
Johnny Damon, OF, free agent — Another free agent who will likely sign soon, Damon’s latest offer was a 1-year deal from the Braves. Damon would be a better fit on an AL team, but who knows how many offers he’s entertaining? At this point, I expect him to be a Brave. Despite how good he was in 2009, playing time will be the determining factor for Damon’s fantasy value in 2010.
Adeiny Hechevarria, SS, free agent — On the heels of Aroldis Chapman’s signing, another Cuban defector is churning through the rumor mill. Apparently the Angels are interested in the 19-year-0ld. A half dozen other teams sent some scouts to see him, too, so he could be looking at an eight-figure contract, according to ESPN. Hechevarria is a name to remember for end-2010/2011.
Carlos Delgado, 1B, free agent — If a decent offer isn’t there, Delgado has said he’ll retire. The slugger is 37-years-old and is just 27 homers shy of 500. Hopefully, he can catch on as a part-timer somewhere and get enough at-bats to reach the milestone. If anything, Delgado will be a very low end waiver wire/injury stop-gap in 2010.
Yahoo fantasy baseball an ESPN fantasy baseball – The two most known and used fantasy baseball league providers went live with their games this week. I’ll be playing in multiple leagues on each site. Links: Yahoo fantasy baseball, ESPN fantasy baseball.
There, told you it needed juvenile jokes to make it exciting. Luckily, pitchers and catchers begin reporting Feb. 17.
