Sunday, February 28, 2010

"Around the Candlestick": Divisional Prospects Looks, M's Hernandez vs. A's Anderson Debate, "Four Eyes" Panda, Giants Win

Sorry, I'm feeling a little low after Canada won that Gold Medal game against the US today in hockey. Seriously, Sidney "Freaking" Crosby won it...as he always does. I don't know why, but I'm getting tired of seeing the kid dominate so much. It's kind of tough to explain this feeling. I don't hate the Pittsburgh Penguins, and my favorite hockey team, the San Jose Sharks, plays in the West, so they don't face each other very often.

Who knows why I am starting to develop an annoyance with Crosby. Maybe he's too clean cut. Maybe he's too perfect. Maybe I like Alexander Ovechkin way more and Crosby is just too opposite from him. Maybe if I cared more about hockey I'd figure all this stuff out.

Oh well. Silver ain't bad, U.S. I sure as heck wasn't expecting a silver medal this year. So really, I can't complain.

Anyways, on a lighter note, let's look at some things "Around the Candlestick" style.


2010 MLB Fantasy Prospects By Division Series

As I have said countless time before, I have a lot of respect for Stephen Sheridan and the job that he and his crew of writers are doing at MLB Fantasy Prospects. MLBFP definitely helped put my blog more out there and Remember '51 has definitely skyrocketed in terms of page views and readers since MLBFP put me on their recommended reading list.

That being said, I'm not just doing this to be a nice guy. MLB Fantasy prospects has some great stuff, and now, writer Ben Carsley has a series that looks at the Top 10 prospects in each Division. I have looked at a few of them (AL West, AL Central and NL West) and they are all really impressive. As far as the NL West, three Giants make the list, with Buster Posey at No. 1, Madison Bumgarner at No. 2 and Zach Wheeler at No. 11.

If only general manager Brian Sabean and manager would wise up with Posey. Everybody and their mother seems to have jumped on the Posey bandwagon except them.

Brett Anderson of the Oakland A's vs. Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners

The link I posted is where the most debate is going on (including my own comments on Hernandez vs. Anderson), but other interesting articles concerning this debate are located here (Anderson being the best pitcher in 2010) and here (the 10 Best Pitchers of 2009).

Basically, Bleacher Report writer Nathaniel Stoltz claims that Anderson will be the best pitcher in 2010 and his second half hints that he is due for big success next season, perhaps even more so than Hernandez. Now, technically, Stoltz is a Featured Columnist for the Oakland A's on Bleacher Report, but don't let that fool you. He's actually a lot more objective than you think, and he rests his Anderson argument mostly on Fielding Independent statistics.

It's a interesting point, and he makes a lot of good arguments, but I disagree mostly because a.) Anderson's 2009 paled overall in comparison to Hernandez's (Fielding independent pitching stats included. b.) Anderson's second-half hype was a bit overrated (his August was okay, not great) and c.) Anderson pitched almost sixty less innings than Hernandez, so Anderson had the benefit of a fresher arm in comparison to Hernandez (thus, naturally the small regression in the second half last season.

Nathaniel is holding to his guns on this one apparently though. Now, I'm not saying Anderson can't be a good pitcher (he was a rookie after all last year), but he's not better than Hernandez at this point.


Pablo Sandoval Needs Glasses...Apparently


Thanks to Obsessive Giants Compulsive for bringing this story up. Absolutely incredible. Sandoval couldn't see well last year and he led the Giants in every offensive category by leaps and bounds. What can he do next year? I don't want to think about it. It makes my head hurt just thinking about.


Giants Win Puts Remember '51 on their Giants Blogroll 

Not much to say but thanks to Giants Win for putting Remember '51 on their Giants blogroll. A great Giants site that definitely connects you with every and any Giants news story imaginable. Definitely check it out when you have a free moment. Big D, the blogger at Giants Win, doesn't miss a thing.

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