Friday, July 15, 2005

Game 89: Pirates at Cubs

Kerry Wood and Josh Fogg.

Where's Zach Duke? He's about the only pitcher I'm excited to see these days. Maybe McClendon, since he realizes he won't be back next year, can get loose and manage Japanese-style, sending Duke to the hill night after night. Give him a shot at 30 wins.

In other news, boy am I glad I picked up Chris Shelton in my fantasy league. He's catcher-eligible, and he's been a godsend. I've shot into first place, and I'm poised to humiliate graciously defeat Bones and Scoop in yet another season.

The moral of the Shelton story has something to do with trying to be too perfect. I believe that DL discarded him because he couldn't play a position well enough. It's consistent with the criticisms he's had of Ramirez and C. Wilson. The two most valuable things in baseball are veteran starters and power bats. We've done an OK job grooming and collecting starters, but only experience makes them veterans. Time to do something about the power bats. Rather than wait for Mr. Perfect, we should make room for Mr. Available.

At this point, if I'm DL, I go get Ryan Howard and start calling him Little Pops. And I do that before Kip Wells reveals that his wing hurts. And before Howard establishes himself as a ten-million-a-year player.

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