The House of Crouse 4.25.08

Posted by Mark Crouse on 04.25.2008

It's the Mark's birthday edition of the House! All the latest fantasy baseball news, NFL Draft and NBA playoff analysis, and good clean sports talk fun await you! And an Orioles fan gives Yankees fans a peek into their future!

Greetings, and welcome to another edition of The House of Crouse. The NFL Draft is this week, baseball is in full swing, and the NBA playoffs are halfway interesting to me for the first time in a long time. We'll touch on all these topics, as well as visit The Soapbox.

In personal news, I received an XBOX 360 from my family for my birthday (4/25, mark your calendars!). Yes, I know, jump into the 21st century, Mark. In my defense, I had a Wii since November. I pretty much needed a 360 for Rock Band, which has proven to be the greatest video game ever invented. I know I'm behind on all these items, especially for readers of this site. I also played a demo version of MLB 2K8 and was impressed visually, but kept throwing what the game accurately deemed "meatballs." Since The Show is not produced for 360, I'll probably rent 2K8 and put some time into it. Stay tuned for my review in a future House of Crouse.

And now...fantasy news and notes!

-Frank Thomas was released by the Toronto Blue Jays Monday. Thomas is hitting .167 this year, and although he knocked in 95 runs last year, the Jays cut ties with the DH. Two questions arise from his release; will someone sign The Big Hurt, and is he a Hall of Famer? I think a team that needs a spark from a hitter off the bench will sign Thomas for a stretch run, but his attitude and inability to play the field limits his potential suitors. The right situation has to come along, and no team will be in enough need to risk the potential chemistry problems until at least July.

In my opinion, Thomas is not a HOF'er. While he had a run of dominance and has over 500 home runs, I think a precedent has to be set with players that spent their careers primarily as a DH. If I had a vote, I wouldn't elect Thomas. Nothing against the guy personally, I just don't think he distinguished himself enough to overcome the fact that he's a one-dimensional player.

-Yovanni Gallardo made his much-anticipated return to the mound for the Brewers Sunday. He threw 112 pitches in seven innings and only allowed one run in a no-decision. This is great news for anyone who drafted Gallardo and sucked it up for three weeks waiting for the second-year ace to return from knee surgery. While it's only one start, Gallardo's situation is slightly different than most injured pitchers'. The Brewers gave him a chance to fully recover from a non arm-related injury and he should return to form quicker than, say, Francisco Liriano. I don't see why Gallardo can't be a top 20 starter the rest of the way, making a leap of faith in the late middle of your draft a good gamble.

-Detroit Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson is scheduled to return in the next week from a broken finger. The Tigers really miss Granderson at the top of the lineup, a spot which is currently being occupied by the immortal Clete Thomas. Although he is a strikeout machine like most of the Tiger lineup, Granderson's speed and ability to get on base one way or another allow Detroit to score runs without hitting homers. He will be very valuable to fantasy owners when he returns, since, like Gallardo, his injury does not affect his most valuable asset, in Granderson's case, his legs. A 30-30 season is still possible if he is not being brought back too early.

-Phillies second baseman Chase Utley leads the majors with nine homers and 20 RBI as of Tuesday. Barring injury, Utley should have a breakout season in his fourth full season in the majors and at 29 years of age. 40 homers and 120 RBI for a second baseman is huge, since only Brandon Phillips and B.J. Upton can hit 30 homers without batting .250 to hit them (I'm looking at you, Dan Uggla). He's a beast, and likely should have gone a few spots higher than he did in everyone's drafts considering position scarcity. If you have Utley, hold onto him, since there are no trends to indicate that he's a second-half swooner.

-Check in next week for the first annual House of Crouse Snap Judgement Awards, honoring those players who make us cut bait too soon, give up too early, and hang on too late. We'll analyze a month of fantasy stats to see who's off to a fast start and will keep it that way, and who is struggling and will turn it around.


Let's check in with some other sports news.


-The NFL Draft kicks off on Saturday at 3 PM ET. Thanks to ESPN and the NFL for fixing the one problem fans that actually watch the draft have always had: too much time between picks. This year is the first where each team gets ten minutes between selections instead of fifteen, hence the later start.

The Miami Dolphins have already announced their signing of Michigan tackle Jake Long to a contract with less guaranteed money than last year's #1 overall pick, JaMarcus Russell. Smart move by Parcells and the Dolphins. No one pick would have made a 1-15 team a contender, so take what some think is a franchise left tackle.

-The NBA playoffs are suddenly watchable to casual fans like myself, at least in the Western Conference. This is likely because we have four first round matchups featuring teams that could have made NBA finals in any year in the Eastern Conference. For the record, I'll predict the Los Angeles Lakers to defeat the New Orleans Hornets in the Western final, if only because they'll have home court and because New Orleans will be weakened by a knock-down-drag-out series against San Antonio.

The Lakers will meet Boston in the finals after the Celtics defeat the Orlando Magic after overcoming LeBron James' Cleveland Caveliers. The fact is that LeBron himself is the second best team in the East, but the King will meet Boston in the second round. In the NBA finals, Boston defeats Los Angeles in a six game series featuring more highlights from the Showtime Lakers-Bird, McHale, Parish Celtics than fans can possibly watch.


And now, I'll get some of my vitriol off my chest in this week's edition of...The Soapbox!


This week, New York Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner expressed his desire to see pitching phenom Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation, much to the dismay of the team's general manager Brian Cashman, who steadfastly has kept Chamberlain in a setup role to closer Mariano Rivera.

If I was a Yankee fan, my head is in my hands upon hearing this news. Apparently, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree for the Steinbrenner's, except Hank hasn't learned the lessons his father has over the years. Professional sports franchises hire general managers to make personnel decisions, and they hire managers to give their input on how that personnel should be utilized. It is not in the owner's, or co-chairman's list of responsibilities to publicly chime in on how players should be used.

If this was Kansas City or Seattle, it is bad enough, but having this distraction in New York amplifies the potential distraction to the club on the field. Hank needs to know his role if he wants his team to win ballgames, since he is only doing harm by going public with his views.

I haven't even addressed the fact that Steinbrenner's opinion if wrong, since that facet of the issue is the least of the Yankees worries. Nonetheless, Chamberlain belongs in the bullpen if for no other reason than because he is extremely successful in that role. Why fix something which isn't broken? It is true that the Yankees need another starter in the wake of Phil Hughes' start and that Mike Mussina is something less than reliable. But by making Chamberlain a starter, you remove a known commodity (a top-echelon setup guy that shortens games to seven innings) for a hope that the youngster can be a dominant starter. Not to mention that the team has no other candidates to perform Chamberlain's setup role even competently.

The last reason Chamberlain should not be moved to the rotation is that his future role with the team will likely be as Rivera's heir as closer. John Smoltz and Dennis Eckersley come along only so often. It is best to keep a pitcher in one role until he cannot perform in that role. Yes, Chamberlain was a starter in the minors, but I'd rather have a dominant closer over a fourth starter.

Being an Orioles fan, I know what happens to a team when its owner can't keep his hands out of the on-the-field decisions of a team. Baseball people are baseball people because they know the game. As an owner, you are not qualified to decide who starts and who relieves, who to draft, and which trades to make. Peter Angelos is just now realizing this, and only now are the O's making headway in their rebuilding process. Fortunately, the team was able to sign Andy MacPhail to compose the team. I would not have been surprised to see MacPhail avoid the Orioles after Angelos forced out previous general managers Pat Gillick and Frank Wren. If they are not careful, the Yankees could be subject to the same kind of decline the Orioles have experienced.


That's all for this week. Check back next week for more fantasy tidbits, as well as my NFL Draft analysis. I'll even be more original than to give each team a letter grade. Take that Dr. Z!

In the meantime, drop me a line at [e-mail]. Godspeed.