Krankor

I just saw this come across ESPN and thought it was big enough news to get its own thread. I can't say I'm very surprised. His entire comeback seemed too good to be true. Discuss.

Yahoo.com is reporting that Ankiel recieved the shipments from January 2004 to December of 2004, and Glaus recieved shipments between September 2003 and May 2004. Glaus went on the DL in late July 2003 with a shoulder injury and missed a ton of games in 2004 because of the same injury.

Here's the issue. Yes he stopped recieving it before the ban, but did he stop using it before the ban? That's what Ankiel and the Cardinals need to make public immediately. HGH was banned in 2005. Ankiel recieved a year supply in 2004 of the drugs. He would have finished using that supply at some point in 2005. Depending on what the exact dates are Ankiel could be fuck.

I hope D-Wade is healthy to start the season. Good thing I'm keeping Deron Williams. He should be able to keep my assist totals up if Wade misses any amount of time. I'd think there should at least be two spots open. Bob and IK Cool Jew never checked their teams after the first month of the season and just left them for dead. Barron had some good players too. I sent some trade offers that never got a response.

I love it. It's a ton easier to use than Baseball America's site.

I do a fair share of Fantasy Leagues. I have cut my total number of leagues back quite a bit because it was getting too time consuming. I mainly enjoy baseball and basketball leagues. I still participate in a few football leagues but I just don't find fantasy football as fun because if you get a shitty draft pick you are automatically going to have a hard time beating whatever team has the hot number one running back. I never play in any money leagues because I just don't find that appealing to bet money on guys that could end up getting hurt or teams tanking games for more draft lottery balls, Celtics. Growing up I used to be a huge baseball fan. I knew literally every player on every team from watching games, playing baseball video games, and moving from an east coast to the midwest gave me more reasons to keep track of what the Phils and Orioles were doing. I stopped watching baseball for a few years once all the Big Mac, Sosa, Bonds bullshit started up because it was obvious as hell those guys weren't clean. Brady Anderson 50 home runs in a season? Give me a break. I have to partially credit fantasy baseball in getting me back in touch with what every player is doing in the league and renewing my interest in the game. The thing I enjoy the most about fantasy baseball is it's ability to make you better aware of young players that are on the verge of being the next superstars in the game. To me that's fun and interesting. If I wasn't doing Fantasy Baseball I wouldn't have any clue who guys like Ryan Braun, Phil Hughes, and Justin Upton are. I think its a positive thing that people know and care about other players in the league that aren't on their favorite team. The mindset of only paying attention to your favorite team because every other team in the league sucks is just dense. Why would you not care about what other teams are doing? It's somewhat useful to know how other teams are performing when your favorite team squares off against them. I think actively participating in fantasy sports makes you a smarter sports fan in the long run. ESPN sucks, but I swear to god, their fantasy analysis is horrible. I feel sorry for anyone that actually listens to anything they say in any of their fantasy segments because half the time its either blatantly obvious or dead wrong. All they need to do is show highlights of the games and a box score at the end of the clip that has more than 3 players listed.

I like how after I traded all my 'valuable' players away my team started winning. Since the initial mega trade for Prince Fielder my team has gone 24 - 13. This week I'm up 10 - 1. Those wins account for roughly 30 percent of my total wins for the entire season. I'm very optimistic about next season. Keepers for Random Hero as of September 1st, subject to change 1. Prince Fielder 1b Brewers (Round 6) 2. Homer Bailey SP Reds (Round 8) 3. Micah Owings SP Diamondbacks (Undrafted) 4. Justin Upton OF Diamonbacks (Undrafted) 5. Scott Baker SP Twins (Undrafted) 6. Clay Buchholz SP Red Sox (Undrafted) I've got a ton of prospects that I'm keeping. There is a chance that some of them might not be in the yahoo player pool at the start of the season. I know the Twins and Red Sox both are going to have a lot of arms to choose from for starting pitchers, especially Boston. Buchholz was a stud down in the minors. Hopefully in the remaining games, he can prove he's worth a spot in the rotation. Baker, in the past two months, has been the Twins second best pitcher. I think he should be able to make the opening day roster. With Liriano coming back next season, I'm hoping that Baker will remain in the lineup and Bonser, Silva, or Garza will get sent packing. If for whatever reason any of those don't make the cut I'll use these two as alternates. 1. Gary Matthews Jr. OF, Angels (Round 14) 2. Lastings Milledge OF, Mets (Round 20)

Tell me about it. My entire pitching staff has been pure shit because of all the injuries to my drafted starters. I'm going to call this a rebuilding year for my team.

Thanks for the pm pinjockey. I'm signed up with the team name Random Hero. Both the 27th and 28th work for me as long as the draft time isn't anytime before 7pm eastern time.

Eight is way too many. There's no way I could fill that requirement. I'd have to just keep some late round jobbers and just drop them after the draft was over. Five or six has to be the absolute max with a minimum of four keepers required.

Ok. This will be long and this will state every reason why I would trade 5 quality batters for 1 23-year old All-Star that is putting up NL MVP numbers in his 2nd season and has a keeper draft value of round 6. I'm probably going to restate some points a few times but just hear me out. First off, ten players are involved in the trade, not just 6 like everyone assumes. Four of them are not really of any interest to me so Verne is just dropping them to quicken the process. My team is in 18th. His team is in 16th. I don't see why this is an issue. It's not like this trade is from an 18th place to the 1st or 2nd place team for a less talented player. Prince Fielder is a legit superstar already that is having an incredible year. It's not even like he's having a so-so year. At his current rate he has to be considered an NL MVP candidate. My team is buried. I've had to deal with too many injuries the first month of the season in batting and every starting pitcher I drafted has either been dropped, sent to the minors, or has been injured the entire season. There's no way a team can recover from that. I'm trying to trade away hitting talent for a solid value keeper for next year. I clearly stated around the 4th of July that I was doing this. I offered similar trades to at least 10 teams and they all were rejected, because no one wanted to make any major moves. Everyone called the proposals interesting but they didn't want to gamble and make a major move. I only had 2 people actually offer me anything that I can remember and they were an under-producing outfielder that would have been a 5th string outfielder that wasn't better than anything I currently have. Each counter-offer was for Chone Figgins. I did not intend on keeping any of the guys I traded because their draft value was way to high. And the only guys I'd be interested in drafting again next year in a later round would be Pierre and Figgins because of the stolen base factor. Prince Fielder is a keeper. He's young and has tons of upside. He's putting up NL MVP numbers this year. I offered Verne upgrades at the batting positions he had some weaknesses at, and at the stat categories he had weaknesses at. Verne has a solid pitching staff and his team just needed an upgrade at some of the batting positions. The stats so far this season for the guys I traded vs. Fielder. Runs 233, 26 HRs, RBIs 208 , SBs 68 vs. Runs 63, HRs 30, RBIs 71, SBs obviously 0. If you add Bartlett along with Fielder it puts the runs up around 100, HRs basically the same, RBIs around 100 and roughly 20 steals. Which I don't think is a bad deal for a keeper. You have to also consider in the trade. Prince Fielder is a keeper. If you're just comparing stats, yeah the trade isn't remotely even. I'm making the trade for future production out of Prince Fielder. I offered some pretty one sided trades to some teams for guys with a lot less experience and talent then Fielder. I offered some pretty nice deals for Ryan Braun and Hunter Pence but both managers weren't budging because of the added factor that those players are going to be keepers and they'd need a lot more to make the deal go down. So I think because Fielder is a great keeper prospect with good draft value for the production that he will output it adds an extra value to him. That is why the price is so steep for a manager to actually make a trade involving a young player putting up NL MVP type numbers that was drafted in the 6th round. Who cares if it's a 5 for 1. Verne could have thrown in the other 4 guys instead of dropping them. It makes no difference those guys were not what I was after in the deal, all I wanted was Fielder. I would have dropped every single one of those guys except maybe the SS from Minnesota. I'd only keep Bartlett just because of the hole I'd have at SS after the trade. Would it have made people feel better if instead of Verne straight out dropping the four players traded them to me so I could drop them in a week? Yeah the stats would have compared a lot better because I'd get 2 starting pitcher prospects in Youman and DiNardo, who is having a solid rookie campaign, along with a backup catcher and a guy that I would use at SS. More than likely I would have shopped Bartlett because someone could probably use the SBs he gets. Fielder is having a better season than Albert Pujols, Derek Lee, Justin Morneau, David Ortiz, and Ryan Howard. The only 1B eligible player ranked higher than Fielder is Sheffield because of his 16 stolen bases. Fielder is a more economical draft keeper. Would the owner of Pujols trade him for Helton, Matsui, and Young? I highly doubt it. Alex Rodriguez is having a comparable season to Prince. A-Rod has 20 more runs than fielder, 1 more HR, and 10 more RBIs. Would the league think this would be a terrible trade for A-Rod? I'm sure Verne has his own reasons for making the trade. I'd assume he's trying to have a more competitive team and get the most talent while a guy like Fielder has a really high value and can demand that high of a trade. Plain in simple I'm the team giving up 5 guys for 1. I think it's a fair trade. I think it's a good deal for my team next season. My team's HR totals this season will already be much improved just by acquiring Fielder. The defense rests.

Let the fire sale begin. I said about a month ago I was going to start trading people away at the beginning of July, well now is the beginning of July. My team just can't compete with the fact that everyone that I drafted to be my 4 starting pitchers has been on the DL. So everyone must go, I'm starting the rebuilding process for next year now. I've got some quality pieces on my team that definitely can help a couple of teams get better and get in to the playoff hunt or help keep a team in the playoff tier. Like I said, everyone on my team is up for grabs so I'm just going to list my entire team. C Johnny Estrada - for a catcher nice run and rbi numbers 1b Todd Helton - typical Helton numbers with his always high obp 2b/3b/OF Chone Figgins - Has been on fire the past month. 20 runs 15 rbi 13 sb .467 obp .536 slg 3b Edwin Encarnacion - prospect 3b Kevin Kouzmanoff - prospect, slightly lower numbers than Encarnacion SS Michael Young - solid runs and rbi numbers SS Cristian Guzman - was on fire with runs before getting sent to the dl OF Juan Pierre - 2nd in the league in stolen bases OF Gary Matthews Jr - the steroids are helping him get stats in runs, hrs, rbi, and sb OF Hideki Matsui - solid runs and rbi numbers OF Jonny Gomes - good hr totals since being recalled from the minors OF Felix Pie - prospect player, should get good sb numbers when the cubs find a constant spot in the outfield for him SP Chad Gaudin - Good numbers for a guy I expected to be my 5th starter this year, 2.92 ERA for the season SP Micah Owings - Prospect, nuff said. I wasn't expecting to have to have him in my lineup this season SP Jeff Weaver - Has been on fire the past month with a 1.65 ERA and a 1.07 Whip SP Jake Westbrook - Has been very solid since returning from the DL with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.00 Whip SP AJ Burnett - Solid numbers early on. Now on the DL until the beginning of August SP Chris Carpenter - DL currently on rehab assignment, reports say he should be back by the end of July SP Jorge Sosa - Good numbers for the Mets until he recently went on the DL RP Todd Jones - Saves, has been solid all year RP Al Reyes - Saves, has been good all season, just recently went on the dl RP Octavio Dotel - Saves, he's been great the past month That should be everyone. I'm mainly after good prospects for next season. Collectively my team doesn't work well together but I know there are some pieces that can help someone else out. I have no problem trading 2 guys for the 1 guy I'm after or even 3 guys for the 1 guy I'm after in certain situations if the stats require it. If you want to package some crap you want off your team along with the 1 guy I'm after I'll be fine with that. I might offer some intial trades to a few teams for a guy that I'm really after. I'm not sure what stats you are looking for or positions you need improvement at so for the love of god hit the counter offer button and let me know.

I don't know why they just didn't call someone up from the minors instead of signing Mesa. Ryan Madson started 17 games last year for the Phils so they could move him back into the starting rotation since he does have some experience. He hasn't been to terrible so far this season.

I've already started to see fantasy football magazines in the stores. I'll do it again. I think I signed up really late last year and was in the 2nd league. I really don't care what league I'm in this year, as long as I'm in one of them. I have to do better than the generic 10th place I got last year.

Hey I'm up 9-0 so far this week. I'm sure that won't last and I'll get blown out on Sunday. The past 3 weeks I've had a big lead all week only to see it vanish on the weekend. My team seems like one of the small market teams in MLB that every year unloads a ton of talent around the all-star break just to get a ton of prospects. I'm going to call this year a rebuilding year... When Chris Carpenter comes back from the DL I'll take any trade proposals.

Christ, I never posted my keepers. I'm going to go with Dwyane Wade and Deron Williams. I might add a third keeper but for right now I'm pretty sure I'm going with those 2 guys.

EAST Detroit d. Orlando: Detroit shouldn't have any problem with Orlando. Orlando could squeak out a win by accident but I'm not going to count on it. Chicago d. Miami: Chicago is actually flying under the radar. Wade isn't anywhere at the level of play that he was last year. Chicago is a much-improved team this year and was constructed in the off-season to deal with teams like the Heat. Chicago has had the majority of its problems this year with teams like New Jersey that are quick and play a style of offense similar to the Bulls. The series is at home for Chicago and they are a much improved road team this year. I see no reason why they should bounce Miami from the playoffs. Toronto d. New Jersey: Toronto is a solid team. The only flaw right now is lack of experience. I think Bosh should be able to neutralize the play of the New Jersey big men. If Toronto can keep Mikki Moore at bay I don't the scoring from Carter can carry the Nets alone. Richard Jefferson still isn't at 100%. Cleveland d. Washington: Cleveland shouldn't have a problem with Washington because of the injuries on the Wizards. If any other team were playing the Wizards this would be a sweep but Cleveland seems to lack a certain focus this year. I think they very well could lose in the 2nd round against an experienced team like New Jersey. WEST Dallas d. Golden State: Golden State always seems to play well against Dallas. Dallas has a lot of trouble matching up with the slashing style of the Golden State guards. Dallas is a superior team and should win the series but it should be a fun series to watch. Utah d. Houston: Houston is the hot dark horse pick with T-Mac and Yao but Utah is a good basketball team. Carlos Boozer is a monster. This will be one of the more interesting West series to watch. T-Mac and Yao will need a lot of help from the supporting cast to defeat Utah. Denver d. San Antonio: I like Nene and Camby vs. Duncan. I think Nene and Camby will have a better series and make Duncan a non-factor most of the time. Denver seems to have finally meshed at the right time. The Spurs have a ton of experience but if Denver can play their style of game I don't think the Spurs can keep up. Phoenix d. LA Lakers: The Lakers will get run out of the gym. They don't have enough weapons on their team to score 115 points each game. The Suns shouldn't have any problem with the Lakers. I see no reason to watch any games in this series unless its the only thing on TV.

When the season started, I had no clue what Team Walter Herrmann's team name was referring too. I had no clue he was an NBA player on the Bobcats. Turns out he wasn't horrible. White Tigers vs. The Alfdogg Asylum White Tigers leads The Alfdogg Asylum 6 to 1 with 2 days worth of games left for the League Championship. Three categories are still up for grabs so Alf could come back. I'm pretty sure I have 3rd place locked.

I got Micah Owings. I had been watching him in spring training and he was a stud last year in the minors. I don't think the Diamondbacks intend to keep him up all season just because they don't want to kill his arm. If he keeps pitching like he did his first 2 starts they might consider keeping him in the rotation. Either way, I don't intend to drop him if they send him back down to AAA. My pitching staff is a cluster fuck anyways. Every time I pick up a guy that looks like he's going to be a consist holds guy the closer goes down and that guy becomes the closer. I want to get 3 Relief Pitchers into my lineup but I don't trust my starters enough yet to go at least 6 innings on a consistent basis. My opponent has a dead Mike Mussina in their starting lineup. If their two starters tomorrow have issues, they might not hit the minimum innings requirement. I really could lose the wins. Dealing with 4 injuries has put me in 18th place...

Well so far this week I've racked up 2 more guys on the DL. Bringing the total of 5 guys so far this season, one of which has been dropped. Hideki Matsui and Chris Carpenter are the newest two. I couldn't get Matsui out of the lineup in time so he's going to log a bunch of nothing for me this week. Once again I'm probably going to be pressed for innings pitched. Thankfully AJ Burnett had a quality start tonight. This season isn't looking very promising. I thought a lot of the older players I had would break down later in the season. Not the first week. This team is going to take some serious work to try and turn around.

I just racked up my 3rd player on the DL so far this week. My pitching staff has completely exploded already. I have recorded 8 innings pitched between 2 starters and 2 relief pitchers. I was slightly happy that Chris Carpenters start on Sunday didn't count because he had a bad 7.5 ERA over 6 IP. John Patterson, a 14.73 ERA over 3.2 IP, and AJ Burnett, a 27.0 ERA over 2.0 IP, both have managed to make Carpenter's start look like a gem. For some reason Carpenter's next start is getting skipped in favor of Kip Wells, Which fucks me out of a few innings because I could have started Mike Maroth instead and got probably 5 innings out of him. Patterson and Kei Igawa are scheduled to pitch on Saturday. That's it for my starting pitchers for the remainder of the week. They would have to both go 9 innings for me to have any chance to make the innings requirement. And that would only happen if they both have no hitters going and I know damn sure that isn't happening. My batting categories seem on par with what I expected. I will without question have the lowest HR totals in the league.

According to the Week 1 match up, it starts April 1st ending on April 8th. I think once round 19 ends we should just call that a day on the draft and MJ should assign players or take requests from PMs. I agree with Bored Round 19 really should be done tommorow night and then that should be the end of it. We need time to get are players from the bench to their actual starting spots. If I recall from other drafts all the players start off benched. MJ, i'm pming you a list of a few players.

I would have taken Sosa a while ago, but he still hasn't been added to the player pool.

Garret Anderson OF, Angels Because 2 Angels just wasn't enough already.

Luis Castillo 2b, Twins