Made from 100% pure humility
As I started to write my article “Remember When…?”, a retrospective of the 2009 fantasy season with an accounting of some of my picks and suggestions, I realized that I have one major topic to address first. I was reading a Matthew Berry (The Talented Mr. Roto) mailbag article on ESPN.com and one of the things that he mentioned in response to an email really stuck out. The reader asked where he was finishing in his fantasy baseball leagues and if it bothered him to not win each league in which he played. Berry’s response was simple. I’m paraphrasing here, but it was something to the effect of, “I would rather be right about my player picks that I give you than to win any of my leagues.” I have to say that I couldn’t agree more.
Obviously, as an “expert”, there is a certain level at which you’re expected to play, and nothing brings more joy to an opponent’s face than to beat a guy who is trying to make a living out of writing about fantasy baseball, but Berry is 100% right. Things happen in leagues all the time. Trades don’t pan out, injuries happen, plenty of stuff beyond your control. But to tell you that Edwin Jackson is going to have a breakout year and then be right about it, well, that’s just validation….and good business in my mind. I feel good about the pick, you take me up on my suggestion and we all find success and look like geniuses. Win-win in my book.
But there was one call in particular that I feel deserves it’s own post; one that did not go in my favor. If you don’t know to which call I am referring, let me take you back to a post from March 4th. It was a debate where we discussed opposing views on Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth, and one in which I must regretfully apologize for steering you in the wrong direction. It’s time for me to sit down at the table and with great humility, eat my words.
If you haven’t clicked the link to backtrack, allow me to share a few of my more choice statements…
“Jayson Werth is the prototypical one year wonder. He goes from fantasy uselessness to having a great year and is now destined to return to the crap heap from whence he came.”
“The kid can’t stay healthy.”
“So what…he comes to the Phillies, beats out a tomato can like Geoff Jenkins, has one good year and now he’s a perennial 20-20 threat?”
“ Save yourself the aggravation and let your competition have him.”
Proven to be "Werth the wait."
In somewhat of a modest defense, I will say that when Werth was with the Dodgers, I used late round draft choices to grab him super cheap because I thought he was going to be a serious break-out candidate in his younger years. I owned him 2 years in a row and watched as he languished on my bench whether it was due to inconsistent play or injuries. After that, I had given up on him. I wasn’t going to waste any more time (or a roster spot) on a guy who wasn’t going to contribute to my fantasy squad.
His first year in Philly was more of the same as he only garnered 255 at bats and while he may have hit .298, he only kicked in 8 HR and 7 SB. He was anything but special. And even as the 2008 season began, Werth was not given a starting job until the team realized that Jenkins (yes, the tomato can) was even more of a waste and handed the starting gig to Werth. Well, when Werth responded with a batting line of .273-24-63-20, he became a bit more popular in fantasy circles. I, however, was not buying it. One healthy year, hitting in a band box like Citizen’s Park was not enough to convince me. No way was I buying into the hype.
Well, today consider me convinced, more or less. In his second full season as a starter, Werth is currently hitting .269 with 34 HR and 92 RBI and has 14 stolen bases. With 10 games to go, he still, although highly unlikely, can hit that 20 SB plateau and become a proud, returning member to the infamous Club 20-20. I wish the batting average were a little higher, but you can’t deny those power numbers. And with the rash of speed out there this year and in years to come, I’d more than sacrifice 6 stolen bases for an extra 6 to 10 home runs. Hell, my slice of humble pie is so big that I even traded for Werth right around midseason and he’s definitely been an integral part of my team finishing in the money this year in one league.
Crow...it's what's for dinner.
But I can be the bigger man here and say that I was wrong about Jayson Werth this year. Maybe I was too hasty in writing him off or maybe I was just too stubborn to let last year’s numbers sink in. Whatever the case may be, my esteemed apologies for bashing him so heavily, and if you were unlucky enough to let him go by due to my words, well then a big ol’ “oops!” is all I can say.
Now though, the question that is put forth to me, and a decision that I will put off for a little while is what to do with him next year. The league I own him in is a keeper league and I don’t see, especially after these last 2 seasons, the Phillies doing anything with him but starting him every day in their outfield. The ballpark is just right and the hitters around him make him even better. Can he maintain? My Magic 8 Ball says “It is Certain”, but there’s a little piece of me that is still holding back. Probably because I know deep down, that if I do end up protecting him, then 2010 will be the year that he gets hurt in April and spends the rest of the year on the DL. Oy vey!
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh yeah!!!!! Happy Birfday to me. Werth is a stud. And a cog in the MACHINE that is the philly offense. Here’s to another deep run in the playoffs. If we only had a closer…..but what are the chances that comes back to bite us……ugg….
I knew you’d enjoy….