[MLB]Closer Status - ST Louis Cardinals

[心得]


[出處] 以下文章引用自:

http://www.rotosavants.com/2009/01/closer-status-st-louis-cardinals.html

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[文章]

The mentioned options are Chris Perez, Jason Motte and Ryan Franklin. Although some reports had mentioned Chris Carpenter as an option. This report seems to be only if medical reasons demand it. That has not happened yet so we won't address him.

The first option Chris Perez who hasn't shown great control in the majors yet, but given time that should get better. As a reliever it is much more likely for a good K/9 guy like Chris to have an elevated LOB% and beat his FIP, so his ERA being lower than his FIP doesn't concern me much. I would like to see him a bit more before he starts closing, but a slow transition this year might be good for him.

Jason Motte is the next option and as a converted position player he makes an interesting choice. You can see his learning curve as his K/9 actually increased at each level to 14.85 at AAA this year in 66.2 IP. He had a great 12 game stint in the majors and continued a great K/9 of 13.09 and a K/BB of 5.33. This is a small sample size, but looks consistent and in a full year will probably fall to the 11-12 K/9. He is probably the best option, but even less experienced, but could compete with Perez as the season goes.

The last option is Ryan Franklin who saved 17 games last year, but blew 8 games. Ryan Franklin is a poor option with a low K/9 and only one season since 2002 where his K/BB was over 2.50. My guess is he'll be given a shot though since he has shown good results in St Louis these last 2 seasons and closing experience.

The correct choice long term has to be Jason Motte at this point with Perez as a setup and closer if Motte fails (not likely). I wouldn't be surprised if they start Ryan Franklin in April as closer, but start working Chris Perez in as the season goes.

Fantasy Impact
For fantasy I would leave this situation alone for now. Until you know for sure who is going to close I wouldn't draft any of them. Jason Motte could be useful for K's, but he should be a free agent pickup later. If he gets the job at any point this season though he could be a top 5 closer next year.

[MLB]2009 Fantasy Baseball Second Base Rankings

[心得]


[出處] 以下文章引用自:

http://www.crookedpitch.com/486/2009-fantasy-baseball-second-base-rankings/

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[文章]

This is going to be the shortest list so far as I rank the players by position. Why is that? Well, I’ll answer that, as well as many other questions that I know you all will ask before you can blow up my inbox with hate mail.

B.J. Upton is not on this list, he’ll be in the outfield rankings. Alexei Ramirezand Mike Aviles will be in the short stop rankings and Mark DeRosa will be in the third base rankings. Yes, I know they have second base eligibility, but I’m placing them in their projected position. I may go back and do a multiple eligibility list, and I may not. How’s that for setting expectations?

You also have a number of position battles going on. There’s Getz versus Nix in Chicago, Barmes versus Baker in Colorado, Burris versus Velez versus Frandsen in San Francisco and Antonelli versus Gonzalez in San Diego. Until winners are announced in those races, they’re not making the list.

Also, Orlando Hudson and Jeff Kent are missing from this list as they have yet to sign anywhere. I’ll include them once they do.

Here are the 2009 fantasy second base rankings:

1. Chase Utley | Philadelphia Phillies - He’s vowed to be ready by Opening Day. That’s good enough to make #1 on this list. A healthy Utley is the best second baseman in baseball, from a fantasy perspective.
2. Dustin Pedroia | Boston Red Sox - I’m going to be the first one on my block to grow a pair and launch Pedroia up where he belongs; #2 on this list. He hits better than Kinsler, scores more and drives in more. Plus he’s the reigning AL MVP! For all that is good in this world, hear me… Pedroia should be #2 on the fantasy second base rankings!
3. Ian Kinsler | Texas Rangers - Had Kinsler played in 157 games like Pedroia, he would have surpassed Pedroia’s numbers easily. But, he didn’t. In fact, Kinsler hasn’t played in more than 130 games in his career. Until he proves that he can stay healthy, he’s riding in the back seat of Pedroia’s car.
4. Brandon Phillips | Cincinnati Reds - Phillips is a perennial 20/20 guy and I bet he brings his batting average back up towards the .270 range this season too.
5. Brian Roberts | Baltimore Orioles - This guy approaches double digit home runs, 40 stolen bases, and a .300 batting average every year. I’m thinking .290/10/38 in ‘09 and he’ll score 95 as well. Solid!
6. Dan Uggla | Florida Marlins - Uggla is the first guy on this list who doesn’t steal bases. But, he does mash the ball with the best of them. Don’t expect his average to rise above .265, but you can bank on 25+ home runs, probably 30.
7. Robinson Cano | New York Yankees - If only Cano batted in the first half the way he did in the second half, he would be elite. That just doesn’t seem likely to happen though. He should get his batting average back up to .300 this season, but the 14-18 home runs he showed us last year seem to be his benchmark.
8. Jose Lopez | Seatle Mariners - How did Lopez emerge in ‘08? Fewer strikeouts, more walks, and a reasonable hit rate. Expect ‘09 to look more like ‘08 than ‘07. I’m thinking .280/15/75.
9. Kelly Johnson | Atlanta Braves - This should be the third year in a row that Johnson quietly hits around .275 and gets fantasy owners double digit home runs and stolen bases.
10. Placido Polanco | Detroit Tigers - If only Polanco had a touch more pop in his bat or speed. If only… He’s a solid .300+ hitter and he’ll score tons of runs.
11. Howie Kendrick | Los Angeles Angels - Kendrick is the person on this list most likely to outperform his ranking. If healthy, he could easily hit .315 with 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases. He’s also just as likely to fall and rip open his spleen to further prove to Angels fans that he’ll never reach the 100 game plateau. High risk/high reward here.
12. Alexi Casilla | Minnesota Twins - This 24-year-old can burn and should be given more green lights on the base paths in ‘09. He’s probably more like a .270 hitter than .280, but could reach double digit home runs with 550+ at-bats.
13. Rickie Weeks | Milwaukee Brewers - Every year I hear that Weeks’ true hitting skills were shown in 2006 with his .279 batting average and not the garbage we see every other year. If you’ve said this recently, or in the past, I’m telling you that you’re wrong. Weeks is a .235 hitter who benefitted from an extremely high hit rate in 2006. He will, however, plant 15 homers in the seats and come close to scoring 100. You’d just better have a plan to make up for his sloppy batting average.
14. Freddy Sanchez | Pittsburgh Pirates - Sanchez always seems to get you close to a .300 average with 8-10 home runs and 75 to 85 runs scored. Nothing should be different in 2009.
15. Kaz Matsui | Houston Astros - 20 stolen bases in 375 at-bats with a .293 batting average in ‘08? Draft him late just for those numbers and jump for joy if he reaches 500 at-bats.
16. Mike Fontenot | Chicago Cubs - With DeRosa out Fontenot finally earns the starting job in Chicago. I may be going out on a limb here, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see .285 with 13 home runs, 60 RBI amd 75 runs scored.
17. Felipe Lopez | Arizona Diamondbacks - Lopez hit .283 last year and gave glimpses that he could have a power surge of sorts. A few more home runs (read:11) and stolen bases (read:15) make Lopez somewhat relevant.
18. Aaron Hill | Toronto Blue Jays -Hill is walking more and striking out less which will help him bring his average back up. Don’t expect .291 as his hit rate was abnormally high in ‘07. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see .280-.285 with 10 home runs.
19. Akinora Iwamura | Tampa Bay Rays -What you saw last year (.274/4/48/91/8) is pretty much what you get.
20. Mark Ellis | Oakland Athletics -Ellis isn’t really a .233 hitter. A hit rate plunge was likely the culprit in driving his average down in ‘08. He won’t hit much higher than .255 though, but he will blast 12-16 homers and reach double digit steals.
21. Blake DeWitt | Los Angeles Dodgers - Dewitt started over Kent in the playoffs and that trend should remain true whether or not Kent comes back. Don’t expect his batting average to head north much, but he could hit a few more home runs.
22. Luis Castillo | New York Mets - He’s slowing down a bit and striking out more, which doesn’t bode well for his only perceived value of batting average, runs scored and stolen bases. This guy is trending downward.
23. Asdrubal Cabrera | Cleveland Indians - Strikes out a lot, but strangely walks a lot too. Until we figure that out, think of Cabrera hitting .265 with 8-10 home runs and 8-10 stolen bases.
24. Adam Kennedy | St. Louis Cardinals - Gets at-bats in St. Louis mainly because of his glove. How many of you use fielding statistics in your fantasy leagues?
25. Alberto Callaspo | Kansas City Royals - Doesn’t offer much other than a .280 or so batting average in ‘09.
26. Anderson Hernandez | Washington Nationals - If a .250 hitting second baseman with very few home runs and stolen bases fits into your fantasy agenda, this is your guy.

[Ericsson]SingTel and Ericsson to present “live” showcase of Mobile Broadband at 21Mbps

[心得]


[出處] 以下文章引用自:

http://my.ocworkbench.com/bbs/showthread.php?p=442483

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[文章]

Thursday, Jan 08, 2009

More entrepreneurs and professionals working from home offices can now take their businesses out of their homes and work anywhere.

Singapore, 8 January 2009 – Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel), both leading telecommunications players, will unveil “live” faster mobile broadband performance at up to 21Mbps this weekend in conjunction with the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Singapore.



SingTel customers will enjoy faster connectivity on next-generation mobile devices for multimedia downloads, applications and digital content streaming. The higher speed mobile connection, known as High Speed Packet Access of HSPA evolution, will create a richer and seamless mobile broadband experience for customers anywhere, anytime. This will set new standards for uploading/downloading and data delivery in the telecommunications industry.
For example, with the 21Mbps high-speed network, customers can download music files or large email attachments up to three times faster than the current speed of 7.2Mbps. Ericsson had earlier supplied SingTel with a strong and robust HSPA mobile broadband network capable of providing download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps.

A “live” demonstration of high-performance mobile broadband services that SingTel’s forthcoming 21Mbps mobile network can offer will be showcased at the Ericsson pavilion located at Sentosa Cove. SingTel has invited some of its customers for a glimpse of the fast-speed capability shown via high-definition video streaming, videoconferencing and online gaming.
Mr Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s Chief of Consumer, says: “Our customers continue to demand a seamless experience while accessing rich multimedia content and innovative applications over our mobile broadband network. SingTel is pleased to offer our customers greater flexibility and mobility at higher speeds, which will empower them to collaborate and innovate fluidly without borders, whether they are at work, home or on the go.