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John Halpin
| John Halpin Fantasy Baseball Chat | (09/16/2009) |
| 3:00 | FOX Fantasy: Afternoon everyone. John will be here shortly to start answer all those playoff and keeper fantasy baseball questions you have today. Get those lined up and we'll fire away any minute now....... |
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| 3:01 | John Halpin: Howdy, folks. We'll get started in a few minutes. |
| 3:01 | John Halpin: Just checking today's boxscores - did I know Mike Cuddyer had 26 homers? Wow. |
| 3:03 | John Halpin: Late news - Dodgers skipping Chad Billingsley's next start. He'll pitch again September 23 (a week from today). Doesn't Joe Torre know some of us are fighting for fantasy titles? |
| 3:04 |
FOX Fantasy: Speaking of the Dodgers and fantasy titles, Tom in Huntington Beach is wanting to know what's up with Clayton Kershaw. |
| 3:06 | John Halpin: Note to aspiring young pitchers: Don't crash into walls in batting practice. I haven't heard when he'll come back. Hold on... |
| 3:08 | John Halpin: He's not listed as a probable starter through the weekend. I suppose they'll want to throw him once or twice before the playoffs, but it's a wait and see thing, I guess. I could see cutting him, since they'll probably baby him in the last week |
| 3:10 |
FOX Fantasy: We'll continue the pitcher talk with Hank in HotLanta...........Any other pitchers come to mind who were strong early on, but who you wouldn't touch the next couple weeks now? |
| 3:10 |
John Halpin: Hmm ... |
| 3:11 | John Halpin: Andy Pettitte is getting skipped due to "shoulder fatigue" this week. There's one. |
| 3:11 | John Halpin: Edwin Jackson is definitely fading. |
| 3:12 | John Halpin: And we knew at the trade deadline that Jarrod Washburn was about to come back to earth. Now that his knee is hurt, I'd hit the EJECT button. |
| 3:13 |
FOX Fantasy: Lloyd in Kansas City is on the clock...........Any flavors of the week you like right now who I should be grabbing for my playoff run? |
| 3:14 |
John Halpin: Yes - how about KC's very own Billy Butler, who's on fire right now? He's available in something like 93 percent of leagues around here. |
| 3:15 | John Halpin: Also, though I mention this guy in every chat, I think Rajai Davis is leading the majors in SBs since July 1 (or August 1). |
| 3:16 | John Halpin: We need a pitcher, too. Pedro is out there in most leagues. He's been phenomenal, and I'll admit that I had no idea he would be. |
| 3:16 | John Halpin: Surprisingly, Joe Mauer is 2-for-3 today. I mean, I'm surprised he's not 3-for-3. |
| 3:16 |
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| 3:17 | John Halpin: Butler sooooo doesn't look like a ballplayer. |
| 3:17 |
FOX Fantasy: What ABOUT Pedro? Is he worth a pick next season? Can he possibly be worth too much in Philly's park for an entire year? |
| 3:18 | John Halpin: Let's see if he actually plays again, or if he pulls the Roger Clemens "I only play three months a season" routine. It's probably not worth it for him unless he gets a lot of $$$ - he's better saving his bullets for the stretch, anyway. Remember how bad he was for the Mets over the past couple of years. |
| 3:20 | FOX Fantasy: Jason in Miami is lovin' an oldie but goodie these days........What am I supposed to think about Juan Uribe's home run tear recently? I guess I need to roll with the hot bat, right?! |
| 3:21 | John Halpin: I guess. I can't stand Uribe - he's one of those guys I never own. But for three more weeks, why not? Definitely if you put him at 2B or SS; not so much at 3B. |
| 3:21 | John Halpin: Also, I always mistakenly refer to him as Jose Uribe. I probably always will. |
| 3:23 | John Halpin: The White Sox have releases Bartolo Colon. I think he's celebrating by running the table on the dollar menu at McDonald's. He can throw down every item in one sitting, right? |
| 3:24 | FOX Fantasy: Yusef in San Bernardino's up.........I don't know what to make of all these suddenly strong young San Diego pitchers this season. Can you help make sense of it all for me? |
| 3:24 | John Halpin: No. |
| 3:25 | John Halpin: Seriously, Correia isn't really young. Richard is, but he's not that good. Poreda will be someday. Mujica ... eh. Thing is, they all pitch in PETCO, where you don't have to be good. You just need to hope nobody hits the ball 450 feet, and then someone can catch it. |
| 3:26 | John Halpin: Latos might be pretty good at some point. I wouldn't get too excited about Stauffer. |
| 3:28 | FOX Fantasy: Reggie's in San Antonio........John, I know the Rangers' pitching's improved this season, but is Scott Feldman the only fantasy-worthy guy, or am I missing something? |
| 3:30 | John Halpin: I think you're missing Tommy Hunter. He's not great, but he keeps the ball in the yard and throws strikes. Otherwise, you're on target. Holland will probably improve next year, and Neftali Feliz might be on the list of 20 guys I'd pay to watch play. Watch him before the end of the season if you haven't already - wow. |
| 3:31 | John Halpin: fun stat for Holland - 22 HRs in 121 IP. Holy %$#@! |
| 3:32 | John Halpin: Rumor according at @MLBastian on Twitter: Posada might get 4-gm suspension. |
| 3:32 | John Halpin: Serves him right. |
| 3:32 | FOX Fantasy: Archie's in Houston......I'm a transplanted Bostonian and was wondering why Kevin Youkilis and Victor Martinez sat out last night. Something wrong? When are they returning? |
| 3:34 |
John Halpin: Youk has back spasms, and they're not sure when he'll be back. Victor left town for "personal reasons," and there's no timetable in him, either. In short ... bench them tonight, and check the news tomorrow. If I see anything, I'll tweet it, and you can get it if you follow me at twitter.com/jhalpin37. Did that shameless self-promotion sneak past the editors? |
| 3:34 | John Halpin: Yes! |
| 3:35 | FOX Fantasy: How dare you |
| 3:35 | John Halpin: I've become a Twitter addict, by the way. I check my followers every two or three minutes. I need help. |
| 3:36 | John Halpin: I check those I'm following, I mean. |
| 3:36 | FOX Fantasy: Jamie in Milwaukee had a Cy Young sighting...........John, I saw that Jake Peavy's back now. Should I take this seriously?! |
| 3:37 | John Halpin: That's an old Cy Young sighting, Jamie. Peavy is starting Saturday, so at best he'll get four starts. I wouldn't waste my time unless I REALLY needed a starter. |
| 3:38 | FOX Fantasy: What starters DO you like who may still be available right now, if it's not Peavy? |
| 3:39 | John Halpin: Aside from Pedro? Hmm... |
| 3:40 | John Halpin: Feldman is still available in about half of leagues around here, which is ridiculous. |
| 3:40 | John Halpin: I mentioned Jeff Niemann yesterday before the Orioles hammered him. |
| 3:40 | John Halpin: And Max Scherzer is still widely available. Nasty stuff. |
| 3:41 |
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| 3:42 | FOX Fantasy: Freddie in the Burgh wants to know about Dice-K. He can't possibly be as good as he looked last night, can he? |
| 3:44 | John Halpin: No. Read my blog from this morning. He didn't throw a lot of strikes, because he never throws a lot of strikes. I might try him in a deep league, but I'd hold my breath. |
| 3:45 | FOX Fantasy: Noel's in South Dakota.............I'm a little crushed about Justin Morneau's injury. That could kill my chances this season. Will it kill the Twins too? |
| 3:46 | John Halpin: I think the Twins are pretty much dead already. Or, Delmon Young can hit .500 with seven homers in the last 2.5 weeks. Which one would you bet on? |
| 3:46 | John Halpin: Noel, is it winter in South Dakota yet? |
| 3:48 | FOX Fantasy: Chase in Memphis is hoping to find some hot young studs.........John, I need to start thinking about keepers for next season. Anyone you have your eyes on in particular? |
| 3:48 | John Halpin: Lots of guys, Chase. Matt LaPorta is one - gonna be a good slugger soon. |
| 3:49 | John Halpin: Can you get Justin Smoak, who's in the minors for Texas? Might start at 1B in 2010. |
| 3:49 | John Halpin: Travis Snider is tearing the cover off the ball right now in TOR, and he's available. |
| 3:50 | John Halpin: I'm so American League-centric sometimes. Cameron Maybin will be ready to steal bases and hit for some power for the Marlins. |
| 3:50 | John Halpin: Drew Stubbs isn't bad in Cincy. |
| 3:51 | John Halpin: And I think the Giants are going to let Bengie Molina walk so Buster Posey can catch. Posey looks like he's going to be a good hitter. Just don't expect Hall of Fame numbers from him right away, like everyone expected from Matt Wieters this year. Everyone except me, that is. |
| 3:51 | John Halpin: Did that sound arrogant? Oh, well. |
| 3:52 | FOX Fantasy: Speaking of Cincy, how do you see Jay Bruce and Chris Dickerson bouncing back next season? Those two have some crazy potential, don't they? |
| 3:52 | John Halpin: Bruce absolutely has crazy potential. I was all over him this year, and I was wrong, but I'm staying on the bandwagon. |
| 3:53 | John Halpin: Dickerson is a different story. He's not nearly as talented. He could be OK, and that's about it. |
| 3:54 | FOX Fantasy: Manuel is in the NYC........I know Milton Bradley was crazy bad early in the year, but what are the odds he can still have a big 2010? He's been hitting a ton in recent weeks. |
| 3:56 |
John Halpin: Bradley's problem is that he can never stay healthy for a full season. He's played more than 140 games ONCE. And, he'll be 32 years old next year. You want to count on him? Good luck. |
| 3:57 | FOX Fantasy: Speaking of the Cubs, how about Geovany Soto? He's been awful too, but he has 12 RBI in his last 6 games now. Can I count on him? Maybe this was just the sophomore slump?!? |
| 3:57 | John Halpin: "Count on" is a strong term. Soto had one good season. He'll probably be ranked in the 10-15 range among fantasy catchers, but don't hold me to that. |
| 3:58 | John Halpin: He might drop lower in drafts due to the fact that so many fantasy owners HATE him because he stunk so much this season. |
| 3:58 | FOX Fantasy: Just one more question............... |
| 3:59 | John Halpin: one more? |
| 3:59 | John Halpin: Nooooooo |
| 3:59 | FOX Fantasy: And it comes from Franco in Jacksonville........John, who are your Cy Young winners this season? And will either of them be first round picks in your eyes next season? |
| 4:01 |
John Halpin: I'm fine with picking a starter in the first round. If Zack Greinke doesn't win the AL award, they should stop giving it out. OK, that's an exaggeration, but if CC Sabathia gets it with five more wins and an ERA of more than a run higher, it would be silly. Not sure if Zack is a first-rounder yet. |
| 4:02 | John Halpin: The NL race is a good one. I'd probably take Lincecum, but Wainwright and Carpenter would be worthy winners. I'd take Lincecum in the first round and name my team the Fireballing Mullets. Carp and Wainwright aren't first-round guys. |
| 4:03 | John Halpin: Update: V-Mart should play tomorrow. |
| 4:03 |
FOX Fantasy: As always, thanks for stopping by today to rap baseball with us. Tune in every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 3pm EST/12pm PST for our continued fantasy football and baseball chats with all the FOXSports.com Fantasy personalities. See ya tomorrow! |
| 4:04 | John Halpin: Thanks, folks! See you next time. |
| 4:04 |
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