ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BASEBALL?

The outfielder

Mar 24 - Apr 6 is a heck of a long short week!

I think two teams are going to Japan for a couple of exhibition games followed by a couple of regular season games. Perhaps the rest of the teams are going to wait for them to get back before they play opening games the following weekend.

Um, would'ja believe ... the first part of that long week is short?

Tues, 3/25, 6 am ET: Boston vs Oakland in Japan.
Wed, 3/26, 6 am ET: Boston vs Oakland in Japan.
Sun, 3/30, 8 pm ET: Atlanta @ Washington
Mon, 3/31: Evereyone else

This gives the Puppies an early edge!

Yee ha.

Okay, folks who may have been observing the waiver activity and not being sure of what the heck we've been doing --

You can pick up guys on waivers (unclaimed players) if you drop a player. If you just drop a player, you've got a free spot and of course can add. But unless someone is specifically listed on the DL, you're limited when it comes to roster size and even then there are only a few DL spots. So if your team bus is hit by a truck and seven of your guys will be out for a month, you won't be able to add seven guys -- you'll have to drop a few first.

Anyway, waivers.

Go here, to the players page, to look at players. Let's say you want a starting pitcher. Pull down on the drop down, select SP and click Filter. You'll get this page. You can sort by any stat.

Keep in mind that middle relievers are often listed as both SP and RP, so check innings pitched. If you want a real SP and not a middle reliever, the guy should have hundreds of innings pitched for last year, unless he had a horrific injury. Jeff Suppan, for example, has over 200 innings pitched. He's a definite SP. But Scott Shields (he's actually just listed as an RP these days but he's the only example I can think of off the top of my head right now) has less than 100 innings pitched.

Sort by all sorts of stats. I like to sort on ERA and Ks, mainly. For a starting pitcher, those stats, plus wins and WHIP, are your biggies.

If you see someone you like, click the green cross next to their name. If they have an FA next to the green cross, they're a free agent and you should have no obstacle to getting that guy. If there's something like W (Mar 21) next to the name, it means that guy is being claimed on waivers on 3/21 (waivers take 24 - 48 hrs). But that doesn't necessarily mean you can't get that guy. If the person who's trying to claim him has, say, six waivers out there, those have to be ranked. Next to your one waiver (for sake of argument), you should win that battle.

If you select a new player, you'll have to drop an old one. Yahoo will take you to a page showing your players and you choose who gets dropped. Then they take you to another screen to confirm it before you're done.

If you don't want the guy but just want to make a comparison, click the flag next to the green arrow. The flag turns blue. This means you're watching that player. Click again to stop watching a player. You can watch your own players and here's where it gets interesting. You have to watch your players from this screen (and not from your team screen).

Then go to My Team>Watch List (the link is about 1/4 of the way from the top of the page, above the smack. Now you can see a comparison and do the same kind of sorting you could do on the main players page, but this time it's a comparison of players you personally have chosen to compare. Here's the link to that page.

Why would you pick up someone on waivers? If the man is injured (particularly a severe injury), or suddenly announces his retirement, you'll need someone else right quick.

I hope this is clear; let me know if there are any questions.

Oh, my. I will have to reread that a couple of times. I was wondering about the "waiver" column in the league standings. Some pretty big numbers next to some of our names. As I understand what you are saying, other players here are trolling in various degrees for players some of the rest of us may drop?

On a completely different topic, I thought it was very nice that the NY Yankees would take the time to stop by Blacksburg, VA, and engage in a game with the team from VA Tech on a cold and windy day in front of a packed house of 4,000 students and staff. The Yankee organization had already contributed $1,000,000 to the Hokie Fund to assist victims from last April's shootings at VPI. I heard audio of A-Rod and Jeter. They came across as very decent guys.

So, to select a new player, I have to put someone on waiver, eh? I can't pick a new player unless someone takes the first one from waiver? Or, what is this "drop a player" move?

What is a CY?

So when do I have to have my roster set? By the first real game or by the first exhibition game?

And what does that mean.. do I have to have a pitcher pitching in the (say) first real game? or are there other games played in the US/Can that day, and I can have a pitcher in one of those? Is there a link to what teams are playing each day?

Do I care if my outfielders or base players are playing in real life on any given day, as long as they're not disabled? Do I care what field an outfielder plays in in real life?

If I have to have a pitcher pitching, in Japan or elsewhere, do I put him first on the pitcher list? do I have to put the relievers in order?

What is the thing about 200 spaces for notes to yourself?

That's all ever? Or per note?


Oy vey.

Thank you, RJB.


I'm still confused and will have to clarify what I don't know again, but I'm going to go look up possible roses for a while. Heh. (I'm smarter about those.)

Some links to where you can see schedules:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/scoreboard
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/index.jsp#20080319
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/schedules/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/probables/today/

If you have pitchers pitching on any given day, you have to make sure they're off the bench. Usually pitching is announced a few days in advance, plus pitchers go in a rotation so you can predict who starts when. But injuries and rainouts can monkey with that.

As for when fielders start, assume that most of the uninjured main players (e. g. guys with lots and lots of Ks, hits, etc. are very likely to be everyday players) are playing every time their team plays, unless there's some sort of day off announced (e. g. Joe Smith got the week off to attend to the birth of his first child or whatever). Look for news stories on things like a position being platooned (shared). Or if someone is being dangled for trade bait, they might be played a lot so that other teams get a chance to scout. Rookies may play less as management generally doesn't want to bring them along too quickly.

I didn't receive the announcement that I was marrying my fantasy baseball team.
I'm sure I'll get the hang of on how all this functions.

I'm getting more and more and more confused.

I wonder if Set knows about this sort of thing.

hey fbaezer, I made a counter offer (actually two) to the trade you proposed, I could see my offer on yahoo right after I posted it but it disappeared yesterday. Did you see it?

And to add to Jespah' post ... Catchers do not typically play everyday ... or at least they get more time off than other positions. So it is not unusual to see them register no stats for a particular game.

"Mar 18 Jordan Bastian, of MLB.com, reports Detroit Tigers RP Joel Zumaya (shoulder) will be placed on the disabled list when the team breaks camp."

Are their actions I must take to place Zumaya on a disabled list, and replace him?

nevermind, I saw your rejection and you make pretty valid points

Yes, Alex, if your player is hurt you need to move him from either your starting lineup or from his seat on the bench to the DL. This will free up a slot on your roster to pick up another, healthy, player.
When the guy comes off of DL you either have to get rid of him or someone else on your roster.
P.S. You can't put him on DL until his team officially does so.

A red "DL" will appear by his name on your roster when he is officially on the DL.