Fanfest!
In the ninth episode, Thomas and Danny talk about the SF Giants FanFest, Lou Piniella’s new job with the Giants, and give their over/under thoughts on the Giants outfielders.
Check it out on iTunes, or on the RSS feed. We look forward to your feedback, either by commenting here on the blog, emailing us at giantspod@gmail.com, or our Twitter feed.
*Disclaimer: This article is meant for the novice fantasy baseball player who has some idea of traditional fantasy baseball rules and scoring, especially in reference to Head to Head leagues, although the information is still roto-relevant. Because I am a Giants fan, and this being giantspod.net, I will use the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants in my examples. (That never gets old)
Pre-Draft and Draft:
Know your home team and what to expect from them. Who is fantasy relevant, and who has more team oriented contributions which don’t necessarily matter in traditional fantasy baseball scoring?
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In the offseason after the 2006 season, the Giants were reeling. Only 3 years after a wire-to-wire season ending in playoff humiliation, they finished just 76-85, good enough for 3rd place, and just half a game above the 4th and 5th place teams. Their ace pitcher Jason Schmidt was leaving for the hated LA Dodgers, leaving the team without a strong pitcher to lead their staff. Noah Lowry, the Giants’ rookie phenom, had spent the year fighting injuries, and his future looked uncertain. Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez were years away from hitting their stride as starting pitchers, and Brian Wilson was an unknown quantity, playing 7th-fiddle to a bullpen led by closer Armando Benitez, who needs no introduction to fans who remember those dark years.
Meanwhile, the front office was facing the unwelcome but inevitable retirement of Barry Bonds, the greatest baseball player of the modern era, who had yet to get himself a World Series ring. Bonds had just come off his first full season without being in the top of MVP voting in 16 seasons (he sat out injured most of 2005), and his mortality was starting to show itself.