Noooooo!

I’ve been a super fantasy baseball nerd for about a decade now, and will say that Yahoo! has the best fantasy baseball out there.

So when I read this on Deadspin, my reaction was “Noooooooooo!”: (ellipsis mine)

If Microsoft’s proposed takeover bid fails, according to a February 4 article in the New York Times, Yahoo Inc. might then consider selling its company in piecemeal, with Yahoo Sports “sold to a company like ESPN.” …

Based on a down-and-dirty review of the fantasy sports marketplace, if either ESPN or CBS Sports were to attempt to purchase Yahoo Sports, the number of traditional websites that host fantasy sports games would fall from three to two–a general red flag in terms of competition law.

51 days ’til Opening Day

There are 51 days left until that best day of the year, MLB Opening Day.

51 is also the number of strikeouts Eric Gagne had last season.

Gagne will remembered both for his dominance as a Dodger and for his terrible two-month stint in Boston last season. It’s amazing how low he’s fallen compared to how great he was.

Take a look at how he did from 2002-04: (82 1/3 innings each season exactly)

2002: 1.97 ERA, 114 K, 16 BB, 0.86 WHIP, 52 SV
2003: 1.20 ERA, 137 K, 20 BB, 0.69 WHIP, 55 SV
2004: 2.19 ERA, 114 K, 22 BB, 0.91 WHIP, 45 SV

And a look at how he’s done since then combined (67 1/3 innings total over three years):

2005-07: 3.41 ERA, 76 K, 25 BB, 1.25 WHIP, 25 SV

And his performance in Boston (18 2/3 innings):

Boston: 6.75 ERA, 22 K, 9 BB, 1.88 WHIP

I wonder how he’ll do with the Milwaukee Brewers this year. On the one hand, Gagne had a .474 BABIP for Boston, (batting average on balls in play), exceptionally high for a pitcher and usually indicator he’ll regress to his mean. On the other hand — Gagne’s name did show up in the Mitchell Report, and he hasn’t talked about it yet. From MLB.com: (emphasis mine)

Brewers officials have not heard from reliever Eric Gagne since his name appeared in former Sen. George Mitchell’s report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, and the team isn’t sure how Gagne will address the issue when he reports to Maryvale Baseball Park.

In fact, club officials said they are not sure when Gagne will report, only that they expect him to be in Phoenix by Feb. 16, when pitchers and catchers are required to check in, and to be on hand for the first official workout on Feb. 17.

At least Gagne hasn’t said he took a vitamin B-12 shot. But then again, he still might.