RotoSynthesis Blog Posts for Erik Siegrist

NFL Deep Sleepers

Wed, 9 Sep 2009 22:00 PM 0000

I do Deep Sleeper posts early in the baseball season (my biggest hit this year was Casey McGahee, I think) so I figure I'll toss one out on the eve of the NFL season too.

Strasburg's Nickname

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:00 AM 0000

Now that the kid has signed, it's time to talk about something really important: what his nickname is going to be in the majors.

Where Will Vick Land?

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:00 PM 0000

Is anyone going to give the former Falcon another chance?

Destined To Be a Raider

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 41:00 AM 0000

After years of squabbling with the Cowboys over his contract, his playing time and his parking space (OK, the last one is a joke... I think) Greg Ellis finally got cut loose by Dallas and signed with Oakland. It was a uniform he was born to wear.

Mitch Stetter, Sooper-LOOGY

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 38:00 AM 0000

Maybe it's the fact that he pitches for Milwaukee. Maybe it's the fact that he's considered little more than a lefty specialist. But Mitch Stetter has gotten very little attention despite being on something of a crazy tear over his last five games.

In that stretch, he's faced 13 batters. One of them, Troy Tulowitzki, beat out an infield single to shortstop. Another, Victor Martinez, grounded back to the mound and reached on a fielder's choice.

The other 11 struck out.

St. Wieters Day Live Blog

Fri, 29 May 2009 03:00 PM 0000

With today being a fantasy baseball national holiday and all, due to the ascension of Matt Wieters, I figured it would be as good a day as any to crank up the liveblogging machine. Except, of course, that Wieters' debut is delayed by inclement weather. Boo Mother Nature! I hope the liveblogging machine produces a ton of CO2. In the meantime, Josh Outman was cruising until Marlon Byrd just tied it up in the seventh and the rest of the 7 o'clock games are about to start. Let the St. Wieters Day festivities begin!

Umps Out Of Control, Again

Sat, 16 May 2009 56:00 PM 0000

This is almost becoming too commonplace to be worth a mention, but there have been a couple of questionable objections in the last couple of days that warrant some notice.

Letting the Boys Play

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:00 AM 0000

So the Red Wings-Blue Jackets series ended with its inevitable conclusion last night, but Thursday's 6-5 Detroit win was nothing like the first three games. Columbus actually showed up for this one, finally showing the grit and fight you'd expect from a Ken Hitchcock-coached team. They rallied back from two deficits and were matching the more-talented Red Wings hit for hit and blow for blow... only to be called for too many men on the ice with about 90 seconds to go.

Dealing From Strength

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 33:00 AM 0000

In my NL-only league (CBS Sportsline's 'experts' league - 5x5, non-keeper) my team is off to a very good start, currently sitting in what appears to be a sustainable second place. I think I've seen enough so far to make some determinations on where I can shore up the roster, however, and who I can afford to deal, so I thought I'd run through my thought process to help out anybody in similar situations in their leagues.

Are The Marlins This Good, Or Are The Nats This Bad?

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 49:00 AM 0000

A tale of two franchises...

Bonifacio-Mania!

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 30:00 PM 0000

It's still only a week into the season, but the more I see of Emilio Bonifacio the more I'm convinced he's going to be a real weapon for the Marlins, and not just the speedy equivalent of Tuffy Rhodes.

Deep Sleeper Tuesdays: Hayden Penn

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:00 AM 0000

With the regular season underway, I'm going to shift the focus a bit on DST to only those players currently on a big league 25-man roster. In a few weeks, once we have a decent sample of game results to look at I'll start dipping back into the high minors for players that might get called up down the road.

Ron Washington Rulez

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 33:00 PM 0000

I think Washington understands his job requirements. Two examples from today's loss to the Orioles:

First, he plays some little mind games with Chris Davis in an effort to shake him out of his slump. For the second day running he indicates that Davis will get a day off, only to stick Davis in the lineup at the last minute. Davis responds Monday with three hits, including a mammoth upper deck home run off Koji Uehara.

Then, with two outs in the ninth inning of a one-run game, Ian Kinsler on second base and David Murphy (pinch-running for Andruw Jones) on first, Washington calls for a double steal which barely works (Gregg Zaun one-hopped the throw to second). It's all for naught when Marlon Byrd strikes out, but it was a damn gutsy call.

Despite their embarrassment of pitching riches in the minors, the Rangers are all about offense right now. If every move Washington makes is geared towards squeezing every possible base and run out of them, it'll mean an extra win or two at the end of the year.

Shutout Sunday Liveblog

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 49:00 PM 0000

Aaron Harang throws a shutout, Josh Johnson runs out of steam and loses one in the ninth but still gets the CG win (and bests a 12 K performance from Johan Santana), and Kevin Millwood throws seven clean innings only to see CJ Wilson screw it up in the eighth. And Tim Lincecum, Erik Bedard and Dan Haren are just getting going in their late afternoon contests. Could be a very good day for fantasy pitching staffs.

Friday Live Blog

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 30:00 PM 0000

Sigh.

In the Brewers-Cubs game this afternoon, after Bill Hall got a bloop double that Alfonso Soriano lost in the sun to put runners on second and third with two outs, Jason Kendall came to the plate with Braden Looper on deck. Lou Piniella called for an intentional walk of Kendall.

Jason Kendall 2008: .246/.327/.324
Braden Looper 2008: .254/.299/.333

In fact, Kendall's slugged better than .333 just once in the last four years. And if you remove Kendall's seven intentional walks last year (racked up due to his hitting eighth rather than any actual threat he poses) from the equation his OBP is .312.

Basically Piniella just walked a guy to pitch to his doppelganger at the plate. Good job, Lou.

My New Favorite Beat Writer

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:00 AM 0000

Chico Harlan, who now works the Nationals beat for the Washington Post and who wrote the great piece on Kory Casto I linked to last week, hit another home run last night with a column about how beat writers can lose their objectivity during spring training on the team they cover.

Day Two Live Blogging

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 55:00 PM 0000

Got a chance to fire up the MLB.tv today... I doubt today will have quite as many highlights as Opening Day, but yanevahknow.

If You Only Read One Baseball Human Interest Story This Spring

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 30:00 AM 0000

Make it this one, by the Washington Post's Chico Harlan. Just a fantastic piece of writing.

Casto is almost the prototypical Quadruple-A player: high (but not too high) draft pick, touted (but not too touted) by scouts as he was coming up, two-time organizational Player of the Year when the organization was still recovering from Omar Minaya's gutting during the Expos' dying days... he's a guy who's gone as far as his talent and drive can take him, and it's not quite far enough.

Dunno about you, but I can relate.

Deep Sleeper Tuesdays: Jason Lane and Lindsay Gulin

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 29:00 PM 0000

Once more into the breach, with a couple of minor league veterans, before the games start mattering.

Summing Up the Nationals in One Sentence

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 29:00 AM 0000

Of course if this were a contest Julian Tavarez probably already won it, but this gem (hidden in amongst the usual "Look Marge, they're bonding!" spring boilerplate) caught my eye in a piece up today on the Nats' web site, about why there's optimism in camp this year:

"The Nationals, at 12-14-2, are in the midst of their best Spring Training since 2004, when they were known as the Expos."

Jim Bowden Still Haunting the Nationals

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 53:00 PM 0000

Sure, there is a little hope in Washington. Jordan Zimmermann is looking fantastic in camp, Nick Johnson is still healthy, the sun is shining. But if you had any doubt that this was still Jim Bowden's team, or that it'll take a while for new/interim GM Mike Rizzo to climb out of the hole his former boss left the organization in, consider the case of Dmitri Young.

Jeter Doesn't Have a Drink Named After Him

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:00 AM 0000

Leave it to a Boston bar to kick a Yankee when he's down.

Deep Sleeper Tuesdays: Matthew Brown and Junichi Tazawa

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 45:00 AM 0000

Deep Sleeper Tuesdays travels to the AL side of the equation this week, looking at one guy trying to avoid a Quadruple-A label, and another who nobody really knew what to make of coming into the spring.

The Pirates' Secret Weapon

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:00 AM 0000

While the Pirates didn't make any front pages with their offseason acquisitions, one signing could end up having a big impact on the fantasy fortunes of their pitchers: first base coach and 'unofficial' infield coach Perry Hill.

MLBPA Running Out Of Feet To Shoot

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 28:00 AM 0000

I'm one of those people who reflexively takes a union's side in just about any union/management dispute, especially in sports. Neither the "they should be happy playing a boy's game" argument nor the "spoiled millionaires" argument holds any sway with me, and the "higher salaries equals higher ticket prices for the little guy" argument has been debunked time and time again. If there's money to be made, and there clearly is, then the players generating the revenue should get a large share of it, and their union should be there for them to make sure they get it.

This is not one of those disputes.