2007 Team by Team Preview - Fungoes

The Defending Champion Fungoes

Starting Pitching:
Halladay, Penny, Washburn, Wakefield - Halladay is great; the others are not bad

Bullpen:
Papelbon, Jenks, Crain, Sanchez - Papelbon will just be silly; the others are good, but Papelbon is on a different level of good

Catcher:
J.Molina - great arm; no offensive skills
Redmond - outstanding vs lhp; doesn't hit rhp
Miller - good vs lhp

Infield:
Berkman (1b-2, lf/rf-3) - murders rhp (1.142 OPS) and will even gain in the clutch; vs lhp he will still have good onbase numbers but not as much power; not sure if he'll be at 1b or in the outfield, but wherever it is, he'll be a big part of this team's offense
Counsel (2b-2, ss/3b-3) - good utility guy; not enough offense to be the starter at 2b, but there are no other options at the moment
Aybar (2b/3b-4) - seems to single in two runs every fucking time he comes up... but i digress; he'll have a good hitting card again this year, especially vs lhp; damn shame he got a 4; no, really, i'm being sincere
Zimotherfuckerman (3b-1) - I have to learn to let things go.
Ensberg (3b-3) - low BA, but tons of walks; good power as well
Greene (ss-2) - pretty good vs lhp; not so much vs rhp

Outfield:
Ibanez (lf-4) - excellent vs rhp, but probably a platoon guy; also will excel in the clutch
Sizemore (cf-1) - becoming one of the elite cf'ers, but will be extremely unbalanced; he will pound rhp but has an onbase average of .290 vs lhp
Francoeur (rf-2, cf-3) - can do some damage vs lhp; not so good vs rhp (.278 onbase)
L.Gonzalez (lf-4) - showing his age, but still not bad vs rhp
Figgins (lf/cf-3, 2b/3b/ss/rf-4) - great speed but had an off year offensively and defensively

Designated Hitter:
Ensberg, Ibanez, Aybar, and Gonzalez are all candidates. Ensberg is blocked from getting any time at 3b, and will have a good enough card to be in the lineup

Uncarded Guys:
Cameron Maybin is the #1 rated prospect in the Detroit Tigers' system. A talented outfielder whose only fault appears to be a tendency to strike out too much.
Mike Pelfrey threw 21 innings for the Mets last year and is considered their #2 rated prospect.

Draft Status:
The Fungoes pick last in each round. Of the 5 teams at the bottom of the draft, he is the only one who still owns all of his own picks.

Outlook:
The Fungoes may never come down from the high of winning the 2006 Higdon, and he'll be tough again in '07. The Fungi will have one of the top starting pitchers and THE best reliever. His offense will revolve around Berkman, and where he plays him (1b/lf/rf) will probably be determined by what he is able to draft. The Fungoes have a lot of players with unbalanced cards, so depth will be important, but there are a couple of holes to fill too (2b & wherever Berkman is not playing). Still... anybody with Papelbon at the end of the game will be a factor. The other issue is playing in the NERDD. Four of the top 8 teams in NASOMA play in the NERDD, and they can't all go to the playoffs... but three of them might.

Next teams up: Wahoos, Zaps, Mavs