TheBaseballStars

So to get a better understanding of how TheBaseballStars differ, lets play a little game shall we? The fun begins with pitching, or which type of pitchers each individual BaseballStar goes for when creating a team. It is a vision of what the perfect pitcher is so to speak.
The game is figuring out which BaseballStar you are most alike in terms of which pitcher you go for when selecting your team.

The Jon fully expects you to read this post and spend one second saying you are like The Jon, Newspaperman (heaven forbid), PoiDog (you sheep), FreeSanJose (get anger management classes), or The Oz (MIA). So why the Roy Halladay video? The Jon thought you would never ask …

The Jon = Roy Halladay

The Jon is all about the workhorse pitcher, and Roy Halladay is the best of the bunch. Keep in mind that The Jon has built The Jon’s team around Johan Santana, but it comes down to this: The Jon loves complete games, and Roy Halladay is the premier pitcher of this group as evidenced by his complete game, 1-run effort Saturday night against the Rangers with 6 Ks thrown in.

The Jon lives by the philosophy that there are no bad offenses in baseball. Every team can put up 6 to 8 runs in any given game.

The strategy is to put pitchers on your squad that you can play every single week and Halladay is that guy. The start before Saturday, he gave up four runs in eight innings against Boston. Yeah The Red Sox, the one team you don’t want your team to face. Halladay got the win because he was able to stay in the game.

Closing argument on Halladay: In his last 15 starts in 2007, he went seven or more … or more innings 11 of those times.

FreeSanJose = Cole Hamels

FreeSanJose has the uncanny ability to grab young pitchers when they make the leap. You know, when a pticher has a breakout year and leaves everyone else scratching their heads at the foresight of a manager that was sold on a guy before everyone else was. That is FreeSanJose. Man, The Jon hates him.

FreeSanJose was in on the breakout years of Oliver Perez, Ben Sheets, Randy Johnson, Francisco Rodriguez, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, Brad Lidge and Josh Beckett in 2004 … umm yeah, he won that league.

FreeSanJose never has to make an investment with a pitcher long term.

He doesn’t have to keep a guy for three years before he makes the leap, he seems to get his aces the year before through deals and then watches them take off the next season. Hamels, who has arguably been the best pitcher so far in baseball is just another example.

Newspaperman = Justin Verlander

The Jon thinks Newspaperman actually composed and sang this song. He has a Verlander Fathead on one of his walls. Sadly even a great dedication through song to this dreamy ace (Newspaperman’s words, not The Jon’s) can’t save Verlander as he struggles debunking all of the No. 1 starter hype he garnered this season.

Verlander has been Stephen A. Smith (teeerrriiiibbbllleeee) but Newspaperman can’t find in his pink heart to cut ties with his dreamboat.

Newspaperman loves to prospect.

He always grabs rookies that no one knows about and has about a 75 percent success rate of those players panning out. His outright affection has landed him Joe Mauer, Jose Reyes, his boyfriend David Wright, and Justin Morneau. He always hovers around the top of the standings because of his inclination toward young players.

Hence the Verlander selection.

Newspaperman walks a fine line of having his staff composed of No. 1 starers past their prime and young guys with the potential to break out.

This season it looks bad for Newspaperman. Yovani Gallardo has yet to play, Verlander is turning into a deer in the headlights and Francisco Liriano looks human.

PoiDog = Jake Peavy

PoiDog is versatile when it comes to pitching. He has held on to Dan Haren because he believed in his stuff and Haren at one time pitched for the A’s. But he also grabbed Peavy as part of the now infamous Johan Santana deal with The Jon. As a quick recap: There were a lot of big name guys thrown in the deal, but when it came down to it, the biggest names long term over the course of four years were Santana and Peavy.

PoiDog should have never traded Santana, but desperation through the lack of picks (a common theme) he was having in a redraft forced his hand. PoiDog’s gut feeling about Peavy rang true and he learned his lesson. No one will ever get Peavy from PoiDog. Ever.

The Oz = Bambon Mebb … err … Brandon Webb

Sorry, there aren’t a lot of youtube videos of Brandon Webb. But The Oz has been so out of it in fantasy baseball, he probably thought Brandon Webb was pronounced Bambon Mebb. Getting married and all that crap can do that for you. But here is the funny thing about The Oz: He wants to be back. His manhood has been challenged, son.

He cried, yo.

And this is where The Oz comes into play.

Over the past four years he has had no pitching. None. So what did he do? He used car salesmaned up the whole game to have four quantifiable starters to surround Purple Lips.

He got Brandon Webb in a lopsided deal and now is a major player in our leagues once again.

He also knows his stuff. This was the guy that made Pedro Martinez the No. 1 overall pick in 1999.

Yeah, the 1999 Pedro Martinez, you know one of the best pitching campaigns ever.

Add to that his knack for getting good deals done exemplified by the Webb deal and The Oz now has a staff of Webb, Chris Young, Scott Kazmir, Tim Lincecum, Oliver Perez, Shaun Marcum, Ian Snell and Jose Valverde.

So what BaseBallStar are you? What, you don’t know how to type?

Peace fools.

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