Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 15.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

2010 All-Surprise and All-Disappointment Teams

2010 All-Fantasy Team

CORY’S PICKS

Beckett @
Pettitte

Hochevar @
Tomlin

Liriano @
Verlander

Guthrie @ Cecil – great
second half by Guthrie

Vargas @ Niemann -
Vargas finally faded, especially on the road

F. Garcia @
Pineiro

Hunter @ Cramer – Hunter
still useful in easy matchups

Wainwright @
Gorzelanny

T.
Hudson @
Zimmermann

Myers @
McDonald

Gee @ Blanton
- Blanton still useful in easy matchups

Miller @ M.
Rogers

Lincecum @ Chacin
-
Chacin better away than home, but overall worth the gamble

Ely @ Enright
- mirror images!

Arroyo @
Young

***Zach says “I’m passing on Beckett. He’s 0-2 with an 11.17 ERA and 2.28 WHIP in four starts vs. the Yankees this year. This one could get ugly. Agree on rest.”

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 15.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

2010 All-Surprise and All-Disappointment Teams

2010 All-Fantasy Team

CORY’S PICKS

King
Felix @
Hill

O’Sullivan @
Talbot

Price @
Sabathia

Lee @ Braden – Braden
fading in September

Suppan @
Burres – Burres pitching well and Cards mailing it
in

Figueroa @
Detwiler

Bumgarner @
Dempster

An. Sanchez @
Gallardo

Francis @
Kennedy – Kennedy on a serious finishing kick

Latos @
Kuroda – hang with
‘em!

 

ALL-FANTASY TEAM   
  
C    Joe Mauer
1B  Miguel Cabrera
2B  Robinson Cano
3B  Jose Bautista
SS  Hanley Ramirez
OF  Josh Hamilton
OF  Hunter Pence
OF  Carlos Gonzalez
SP  Roy Halladay
SP  Adam Wainwright
RP  Billy Wagner

FINAL GRADES

Overrated-underrated 092010.xls

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 15.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

2010 All-Surprise and All-Disappointment Teams

CORY’S PICKS

Carrasco @
Blackburn

Jackson @
Anderson

Davies @
Scherzer

Davis @ Burnett -
Burnett unsafe at any speed

Pauley @
Drabek

Millwood @
Lackey – giving Lackey one more shot

Wilson @
Haren

Hanson @
Oswalt

Wandy
@
Marquis

Lohse @
Morton

Niese @ Sanabia -
Niese has faded badly

J.
Sanchez @ Wells – wish I
could trust Wells. Maybe next year.

Cueto @
Wolf
- Wolf is finishing with a flourish

Jimenez @
Lopez

Stauffer @ Lilly
-
the Dodgers can’t score, so roll with Stauffer

Hey everyone,

It’s that time of year again! Time to unveil the 2010 All-Surprise and All-Disappointment teams. Be sure to watch today’s 411 to get in-depth analysis from Siano and Schwartz but here are the rosters. On tomorrow’s show we’ll reveal the All-Fantasy team and grade Mike and Cory on their preseason underrated and overrated picks.

-Zach

ALL-SURPRISE TEAM   

C    John Buck
1B  Aubrey Huff
2B  Martin Prado
3B  Jose Bautista
SS Alex Gonzalez
OF  Carlos Gonzales
OF  Chris Young
OF  Andres Torres
SP  C.J. Wilson
SP  Brett Myers
RP  John Axford

ALL-DISAPPOINTMENT TEAM   
  

C    Chris Iannetta   
1B  Lance Berkman
2B  Gordon Beckham
3B  Pablo Sandoval
SS  Yunel Escobar
OF  Grady Sizemore
OF  Nate McLouth
OF  Matt Kemp
SP  Javier Vazquez
SP  A.J. Burnett
RP  Chad Qualls

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 15.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

CORY’S PICKS

Chen @
Galarraga

Shields @ Hughes -
both are too HR prone to trust here

French @
Rzepczynski

Bergesen @
Buchholz

Carmona @ Pavano -
hang
with ‘em!

Buehrle @
Cahill

Lewis @ Big
Erv

Minor @
Halladay

Happ @ Lannan – Happ too
hot prior to last start to ditch yet

Westbrook @
Maholm

Pelfrey @ Mendez – Pelfrey
finishing strong

Cain @
Zambrano – Big Z pitching…
good

Volquez @ Bush – Volquez a
big risk but high reward

De La
Rosa
@ Saunders

Richard @
Billingsley

***Zach says “I’d pitch Richard. Don’t get discouraged by one dreadful start @ Coors. Clayton had allowed 2 ER or less in each of his previous six outings. Agree on rest.”

Hey guys,

So here it is. One final update to the Pitch or Ditch category chart before we put a stamp on the 2010 season.

PoD chart September 15.pdf

Most of you are probably very close to reaching your innings limit so feel free to take an even stricter approach when deciding whether or not to pitch a borderline guy. But as you’ll notice, we too have raised the bar, adding a couple more DTMs and demoting a few pitchers from grads to PoD.

A reminder as to how the chart works:

We’ve
divided all the starting
pitchers in the Majors into four groups:
Aces, Pitch or Ditch graduates, Pitch or Ditch guys and DTMs (players
you shouldn’t even think about starting right now). Keep in mind that
these
classifications are geared towards 12-team mixed leagues.

Good luck to all as you make your final push towards a title!

-Zach

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 2.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

ZACH’S PICKS

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 2.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

CORY’S PICKS

Big Erv @
Carmona – not trusting Erv
much but it’s the Indians!

Pavano @
Buehrle

R. Lopez @ Volquez -
not trusting Volquez but a decent gamble

Morton @
Pelfrey – Pelf doing better lately, and it’s the
Pirates!

Stauffer @
Westbrook

Lilly @ J.
Sanchez

***Siano says “I’m
a little concerned about Stauffer since it’s not cushy Petco but Cards are
looking lifeless so not a terrible gamble if chasing a
win. Agree
on rest.”

***Zach says “I’d sit Stauffer. One solid outing vs. the Giants isn’t enough to gain my trust, and the Cards rank 3rd in the NL in runs scored. Agree on rest.”

Pitch
or Ditch is a strategy for (ideally) daily mixed leagues in which you
pick up
starters on a day-to-day basis based on how well they are pitching and
their
upcoming matchups, then cut them in favor of new guys the next day. The
concept
is that the shallower the league, the more quality starting pitching is
available on the free agent wire, so rather than drafting expensive
starters,
it’s better to build a strong offense and bullpen and let the free agent
wire
populate your starting staff during the season. As a bonus, a handful of
“PoD”
guys emerge each year as worth keeping all year long, like Jair Jurrjens
last
year or Cliff Lee in ’08.
__________________________________________________________________________________

PoD chart September 2.pdf

Top 10 by position for 2011

CORY’S PICKS

Kazmir @ Tomlin – can
Kazmir do it twice? I’ll watch and wait

S. Hill @ Arrieta -
Arrieta as many walks as K’s this year

Nova @
Garza

Bonderman @
Holland

Liriano @
Danks

Gonzalez @
Greinke

Matsuzaka @ French -
Dice-K likes Seattle but I don’t trust him

D.
Hudson @
Wood

Hamels @
Mendez

Duke @ Dickey
- Dickey sub-2.00 ERA at home

Livan @
Jurrjens – Jurrjens erratic but I trust him at home vs.
WSH

Capuano @ Norris -
Norris too erratic to trust vs. good offense

Wells @
Wainwright

Garland @
Hammel

Kershaw
@
Zito

ZACH’S PICKS