Monday, June 11, 2007

Gaudin or Miller

I got a great baseball question from Butch, which I thought I'd post for everyone to see...

Butch said...
Hey man, where you been?Not much of a basketball fan but I have a baseball question for you, so I'm hijacking this thread!First off, gutsy call with Tomo Ohka as a free agent pickup. It didn't work out but still, you went out on a limb, you had a logical argument, it was a guy who was going to be available. It didn't work out but hey. I would rather read a pick like that than read the 1,000 posts about how I should run out there and claim James Shields or Chad Gaudin or Fausto Carmona... those ships have sailed! (But you had them all before they left the dock, nice job)So anyway, I have the great fortune of having picked up Gaudin and Andrew Miller, but unfortunately, we play old-school Rotisserie League rules where you have to drop the player you claimed in order to activate him. In other words, I had Miller, I reserved Miller and claimed Gaudin. Now Miller is back; I would have to release Gaudin to activate Miller.I could then immediately put in a waiver claim for Gaudin but everyone else would get a shot at him too.Which one would you keep? It's a keeper league, auction draft... either guy would cost $6 to keep next year.


Butch said...
oops, just one other point, my plan is either to activate Miller, drop Gaudin and then claim Gaudin, or drop Miller and then claim Miller. But as I said, my chances of getting either guy back aren't great. I'm middle of the pack right now and hoping to move up, but as I said, it's a keeper league, so next year is always on my mind.


Hey Butch...
First off, I'm not done with Ohka yet. I still have him on my fantasy team, and hope he turns it around. History says he will, but he will be on a short leash. I also thought Robinson Tejada would be better than he has been. No Ranger starting pitcher has posted a sub-4.00 ERA in the last 10 years except for Kenny Rogers and Ismael Valdes. All of the Ranger starters are over 6.00 this year.

Gaudin and Shields have been outstanding. The A's pitching staff in particular has been unbelievable, and if Lenny DiNardo is still available in your league, he might be a good short-term guy. The A's typically want to play low-scoring games, which benefits the pitchers' stats. I know that fans on Athletics Nation had been clamoring for Gaudin to replace Kennedy in the rotation since last year, and it looks as though they were right.

Now to your question about Miller and Gaudin. I have been high on Miller for a couple of years, but I drafted Alex Gordon and Dustin Pedroia instead in the first round of my minor league draft (Miller went later in the first round). I think Miller is one of those rare rookies that you can stick right in as a starter in your fantasy league. He will probably be wild at times, so expect some ugly starts this year. It's a very tough choice between he and Gaudin. Can you trade one of them and keep the other?

If I had to choose one, I would choose Miller. Gaudin is great right now, but he has limited experience as a starter, and we still have the hot summer months to play. I like Miller's potential as a long-term guy more than Gaudin's. I definitely think he will get more K's, and Detroit probably gives him a very good chance to get some wins as well.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do...

2 comments:

Butch said...

Hey, thanks for the response. I did as you suggested and kept Miller, but actually was able to sneak Gaudin through waivers -- nobody claimed him as I dropped him right after his bad game on Thursday (4.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 2 K -- ouch). I'm starting to get a little worried as he's had three bad starts in a row (5.06 ERA, 2.25 WHIP, 13 BB, 7 K in 16.0 IP).

But now I hear Miller might go down again for Kenny Rogers. It's been one of those years :)

Scott said...

Gotta hang onto Gaudin a bit longer to see if he reverts to his early-season form. Nice job getting him through waivers.

I was able to snag Jonny Gomes off the free agent pile in my league. I had to drop mackowiak to get him, but i think it's a good deal.