The Buzzies: 5/20

Wow

     So our presenter this week has been around for a while, but hasn’t lost a bit of her hot-ocity.   Strangely enough, it was not easy to find this picture of her.  While plenty of the new sexy actresses fall all over themselves to pose 3/4 naked for any old magazine, Jennifer Aniston apparently is a little more discriminating.  We at Rotobuzz.com are very flattered that she sees this opportunity to present our Buzzie for MVP as worthy of her time.

     The last two weeks produced a ton of quality candidates to consider for MVP.  There is Ryan Zimmerman who had his hit streak snapped, but still put up great power and RBI numbers for his owners.  Roy Halladay won all three of his starts with great ratios.  We also cannot forget that David Wright hit .472 for his last 53 ABs.  However, our winner for this time period was great in all 5 categories.  When you consider that his great numbers came from such an unlikely source, the decision became easy.  Please join us in congratulating our winner of the Buzzie for MVP…….

Jason Bartlett!!!!  Bartlett was surely gotten late or cheap in most drafts, but is paying dividends that are equal to some of the biggest names in the game.  Over the last two weeks he has helped fantasy teams immensely with a line of: 2 HR 12 RBI, 11 R, 5  SBs, and an average of .426.  Usually, if we are talking about a shortstop with those type of numbers, it is Hanley, Rollins, or Reyes.  Not this time.  Keep it up Jason.

I'm droppin' the hammer

       Cole Trickle Award:  This award is handed out to the fastest of the fast.  Coco Crisp has been just that over the last two weeks with a MLB-leading 9 stolen bases without being caught once.  Those that drafted him were hoping that with a full time role he could produce quality stats across all five categories.  So far he has been coming along nicely after a slow start.

     Punchado Award:  I doubt this award needs much explanation.  This dude struck out a total of 21 times in 43 ABs over the last two weeks.  Sure, he is right there with the leaders in HRs, but that .186 BA over this scoring period has hurt his owners.  Carlos Pena has only 2 HR and 5 RBI to show for this display of swinging and missing.

Who knew Hoffman was still this good

     Welcome Back Kotter Award:  We give this award to a player that started the season on the DL.  He came back, and is now pitching with as much dominance as ever.  Over the last two weeks, Trevor Hoffman has shown us that he can still perform by going 5/5 in his save opportunities.  Not only did he convert them all, but he did not allow a single run or even a baserunner.  The names have all changed since he’s been around, but to Hoffman we say, welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

     Clydesdale Award:  We love those big strong horses that bring us beer.  Much in the same way, baseball managers love those starters that can give tons of good innings.  Jered Weaver has been such a horse over the last two weeks.  Not only did he pitch 24 innings with a 1.88 ERA and 0.71 WHIP, but included in that were two huge, bullpen-saving complete games.  With the struggles that the Angel bullpen has been having lately, there is no question Mike Scioscia loved Weaver’s performance.

     On the DL Award:  No, this isn’t about a player on the disabled list.  It is about the down low, and being on it.  You probably did not notice this player’s numbers.  Most people wouldn’t.  Unless you own Jerry Hairston, there is no way you could guess the line that he has put up over the last two weeks.  He hit .327 with 2 HR 7 RBI, and 4 SBs while leading the league with 15 runs scored.  It appears as though Chris Dickerson and Lance Nix have fallen back out of favor in Cinci, and Hairston will continue to get the majority of playing time until he gets hurt again (at which point he will win a different kind of On the DL Award).

It's gettin' hot in here, so take off from first base.

     Get Him While he’s Hot Award:  With the signing of Manny Ramirez, the fantasy value that Juan Pierre had went away even faster than Juan can run.  But since Manny is a cheating scumbag (allegedly), Pierre has gotten a chance to show that he is still more than capable of being an every day player in the big leagues.  Much has been made of the huge contract he signed and about how it was this contract that was keeping him from being a player the Dodgers could trade.  For Pierre owners, this is a ray of hope that he can prove to another team (White Sox?  Hello?)  that he is worth the money for a team looking for a leadoff hitter.  He should steal about 20 bases before Manny comes back, which pretty much earns the money that was spent on him in most leagues.  If he does get traded, his value spikes hugely.

written by Keith J. Giordano