Thaller | rotoballs

Pre-Season Award Show 2013!

by rotobrian

These awards have no correlation with fantasy.

Going back to look at last year, all of us were homers and picked Yonder Alonso to win the NL Rookie of the Year. How wrong we were. We were equally wrong when Matt Moore and Yoenis Cespedes were picked to win the AL ROY. We never said these predictions were any good. Predictions are like…well…let’s just say everyone has one and they stink. In fact, the only correct prediction made last year by our team was calling Miguel Cabrera the AL Most Valuable Player by Jared Cothren. Bravo, Jared. Bravo.

Here is this year’s list. Just don’t bet your life on it.

	RotoBrian	Jared	Butler	Shorty	SD Wooden	Thaller
NL ROY	Jedd Gyorko	Shelby Miller	Oscar Taveras	Julio Teheran	Jedd Gyorko	Shelby Miller
AL ROY	Wil Myers	Wil Myers	Wil Myers	Wil Myers	Wil Myers	Wil Myers
NL CY	Cole Hamels	Stephen Strasburg	Clayton Kershaw	Clayton Kersahw	Cole Hamels	Stephen Strasburg
AL CY	Justin Verlander	Felix Hernandez	Justin Verlander	Felix Hernandez	Felix Hernandez	Justin Verlander
NL MVP	Ryan Braun	Andrew McCutchen	Joey Votto	Joey Votto	Justin Upton	Matt Kemp
AL MVP	Miguel Cabrera	Miguel Cabrera	Mike Trout	Evan Longoria	Miguel Cabrera	Prince Fielder

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March 13, 2013

Rotoballs Top 100 Players for ’13

by rotobrian

So after a grueling process of ranking and re-ranking, we bring you the Top 100 players for 2013 from Rotobrian, SDWooden, Backdoor Jared, Madbank Thaller, Shorty, and Smuggling Plums Butler. These rankings were made with a 5×5 rotisserie league in mind. On the right side of the table are the Composite Ranks. Use the comments section to air your praise or grievances. -rotobrian

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February 23, 2013

Player Profile: Prince Fielder

by The Van Buren Boys

It’s all smiles ’round here.

The story behind Prince Fielder isn’t unlike that of a tall tale. A larger than life kid, son of a larger than life baseball player, toting around a gargantuan piece of lumber, launching home runs into different Detroit zip codes. It’s the sort of thing that, after Prince (he even has a majestic name) is dead and gone, people will still talk about, embellishing it even more. He’s two shakes away from owning an ox the size of Mount Rushmore.

Now that Fielder isn’t a prepubescent phenom, and his fable has transformed into non-fiction, Tiger fans have that glossed over “I just had Thanksgiving dinner” smile on their faces; perfectly content. Fielder isn’t complaining, either, as he always looks like he’s just had a turkey (or two)…oh, and he’s got $214 mil. stuffed under his kids’ race car beds.

Every folk tale also needs a villain, or a trickster, and in this case it’s Prince’s father, Cecil. Reportedly it’s a broken, if not completely nonexistent relationship between the two. Cecil, as told by Prince, was a terrible father. I’m sure if you ask Cecil, he will tell a different story (“Hey, what other kid got to take batting practice with Sweet Lou?”). Either way, Prince seems on a mission to stick it to his old man, with his words and his play on the field.

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December 9, 2012

Rotoballs Offseason Podcast: Episode 1, Part 1

by rotobrian

Here’s part one of our little opus. We talk about the history of Rotoballs and the Winter Meetings. Part two will be released tomorrow.

Thanks to Chris Wollard and the Ship Thieves for providing the music for this episode.

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July 17, 2012

Rotoballs Midseason Awards Extravaganza!

by rotobrian

It’s that time of year where we, fantasy owners, like to boast about our players. We have enough data to evaluate who’s having a bad season and who’s having a fantastic season. Without further ado, here are our writers’ (Brian “Rotobrian” Dorsey, Adam “Madbank” Thaller, Ryan “Smuggling Plums” Butler, and Jared “Backdoor Slider” Cothren) awards.

First Half Awards (based on stats prior to All-Star Game):

	Rotobrian: Rotoballs creator, editor, and writer	Madbank: Contributing writer	Smuggling Plums: Contributing writer	Backdoor Slider: Contributing writer
AL ROY	Mike Trout	Mike Trout	Mike Trout	Mike Trout
NL ROY	Bryce Harper	Bryce Harper	Bryce Harper	Bryce Haper
AL MVP	Josh Hamilton	Miguel Cabrera	Mike Trout	Josh Hamilton
NL MVP	Andrew McCutchen	Andrew McCutchen	Andrew McCutchen	Ryan Braun
AL CY	Justin Verlander	Justin Verlander	Chris Sale	Justin Verlander
NL CY	R.A. Dickey	Clayton Kershaw	Matt Cain	R.A. Dickey
Biggest Flop AL	Carlos Santana	Mike Napoli	Carlos Santana	Kevin Youkilis
Biggest Flop NL	Rickie Weeks	Tim Lincecum	Camron Maybin	Tim Lincecum
Biggest Surprise AL	Adam Jones	Chris Sale	Chris Sale	Mike Trout
Biggest Surprise NL	Michael Bourn	Carlos Beltran	R.A. Dickey	Andrew McCutchen

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March 13, 2012

Player Profile: Jay Bruce

by The Van Buren Boys

Is this the year Jay vaults into the upper echelon?

Anyone living in Cincinnati can tell you the 1970s were a long time ago. Gone are the days of the Big Red Machine and Pete “Please Let Me in the Hall of Fame” Rose. Because of this people living and working in Cincinnati have had a long time to stew over the drought of success. Well, my friends, the times are about to change. The Cincinnati Reds are on the verge of taking over the NL Central. They’re loaded with talent, and thanks to the lapse in judgment by two of the premier clubs in the division, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder have defected to the American League, leaving the door wide open for the “Baby Reds” to capture the Central crown.

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March 4, 2011

Top 10 Prospects for 2011 and Beyond

by The Van Buren Boys

by Adam Thaller

Baseball takes more time and effort to develop a young player than in any other sport. There is no magic formula for success. As a fantasy baseball owner, this makes prospects a tricky subject. If you are in a keeper league you always want to have your eye on who is having success in the minors and which players are making the jump to the big club. If you are playing in a standard league, prospects can still be important if you have the right timing.

Last year, Buster Posey, Stephen Strasburg, Neftali Feliz, and Jayson Heyward were the young players that all fantasy owners coveted.

Here’s the top talent brewing down on the farm, and some of these guys will see big league action this year.

1. Mike Trout, Anaheim Angels: Last year in the minors Trout’s stats were stellar: .341 BA, 173 hits, 10 HR, and 56 steals. He was named the Minor League Player of the Year and his power numbers are only going to get better as he also slugged .490. And because he is only 19, it’s tantalizing to think what this kid will become. MLB ETA: late 2011 to early 2012.

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