Rejuvenated Ken piecing together a good season

In our four-plus seasons, we've only had one manager resign, but could we have been close to a second one?

"I'll have to admit, the roller coaster ride I went on last season took a lot out of me and made me very unsure of what to do regarding the future," Ken said.

"But this year I feel so much better about my team and feel I have plenty of talent to compete and also some young talent that I'm excited about the future for."


Those words are a bit ambiguous and tough to interpret, so take them for what they're worth. But one thing we know for sure: Ken is back, and possibly better than ever. With a 4-2 record, he sits alone atop a weak Twitter Division with a team built from the draft.

His keepers - Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford, and Bronson Arroyo - have been arguably the worst trio of keepers among all teams. But he's managed to win, regardless, and often he's won handily.

"I believe that the beginning of my draft wasn't anything too special, but I excelled in the later rounds with picks like (Neil) Walker, (Carlos) Beltran, (Ricky) Nolasco and Jaime Jesus Garcia. My latter part of the draft definitely is directly linked to our success thus far."

But let's get back to the keepers for a second. We really ripped Ken's decision to go with Arroyo, and he finally admitted it was a mistake, along with a trade he made - Clayton Kershaw for Corey Hart and Derek Lowe - last year during a mediocre season.

That's left him thinking - hoping - that at the very least Lee and Crawford will come around as the season progresses.

And now that Ken is back and enjoying life as a fantasy manager again, he's not afraid to throw some verbal barbs. No surprise, as our sources tell us he has posters of Rex Ryan hanging in his room.

• When questioned about not having any real huge wins: "I felt beating Jack, who is ranked above me, was a good win and beating the scrubly team we played last week (Andy) for the division lead was a big win as well."
• When questioned about this week against his rival, Mike, who is also the #1-ranked team: "I got this week for sure."

It's fun to have a rejuvenated Ken. And most importantly, for Ken, it's fun to win again in this league.
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Assessing the draft: Turd n the punchbowl

(Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts briefly breaking down each team's draft. It will culminate in the debut of the 2010 Power Rankings at the end.)

Ken surely knows how it feels to underachieve. He's been a fan of those type of professional teams his whole life. It's safe to say he underachieved last year. One of the favorites during the regular season, Ken didn't win the division, and then he was quickly extinguished in the first round. Will this year be any different?


Focus: Hitting. We know Ken really liked his team last year, and that was mainly hitting-based. He was happy to nab Carl Crawford when the speedy outfielder fell to him in the first live round, and he followed it up with a big bopper in the Panda. One has to think Ken will enjoy checking his hitting stats in nightly box scores.

Storyline: Ken's lack of chat during the draft was an obstacle for him to overcome. The fans watching from home wondered if Ken would make a mistake due to not having the ability to read the chat in real-time and not being able to type. But, he did not, instead using technology to his advantage and dialing some numbers on a cell phone to communicate.

Headscratcher: After taking Crawford, was there too much of a focus on speed? Julio Borbon, Denard Span, Raji Davis...all nice to have, but necessary? Ken doesn't have much power, lacking a 30 homer guy and having just one 100 RBI guy. Some believe he should have paid more attention to power than speed once he got Crawford.
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Assessing the draft: Manager of the Year

(Editor's note: This is the latest in a series of posts briefly breaking down each team's draft. It will culminate in the debut of the 2010 Power Rankings at the end.)

A renowned trash talker, Mike could not back up his words last season. Since making it to the finals in the first year, he's been nothing but a giant disappointment, finishing the last two seasons under .500. Does that stop him from talkin smack? Of course not. But another season like the last two, and he might want to walk around with a paper bag over his head.


Focus: Hitting. Going into the draft with two ace pitchers who strike out batters for a living, it was no surprise to see Mike go the hitting route. A little interesting to see him draft three bench hitters - could that present problems during the season to the point where playing the wrong guy costs him a win?

Storyline: Mike waited forever to draft a live pitcher. And by then, he was digging a little deep searching for starters. Is he comfortable going into the season with Scott Baker and John Danks as his third and fourth starters?

Headscratcher: If he was going to go speed in the first round, was Jacoby Ellsbury over Carl Crawford the right pick? Stats and history would probably say no. Maybe Mike knows something we don't.

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