After a strong performance as the Mariners closer in 2012, Tom Wilhelmsen opened the 2013 season in that same role for the Seattlers. Unfortunately, things didn’t go nearly as well this time around. After entering the month of June having allowed just 2 runs over 24.0 innings, it all unraveled from there. He battled control problems, issuing 9 walks in 10.2 innings, and lost his closer job temporarily. He regained his job in early July, but then lost it again for good a month later, before being demoted to Triple-A. With the team currently without their incumbent closer, a new man of the bullpen had to be anointed. Enter Danny Farquhar, otherwise known as “Lord” Farquhar, a nickname I lovingly assigned him.

@bulkner_chip @TheRealTAL Of course! And he is now to be known as Lord Farquhar.

— Mike Podhorzer (@MikePodhorzer) August 4, 2013

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Episode 86
Today’s episode of The Sleeper and the Bust is a very special one. I make my triumphant return to hosting duties and am joined by both RotoGraphs editor Eno Sarris and six-time Tout Wars champion Larry Schechter. We discuss Larry’s new book, Winning Fantasy Baseball, and talk auction and snake draft strategy.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @mikepodhorzer or @enosarris on Twitter and tweet us any fantasy questions you have that we may answer on our next episode.

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via the feed.

Intro by DJ Sinton (no, contrary to popular belief, I do not moonlight as a rap star)

Approximately 45 min of fun.

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In mid-June of last season, I reminded you readers not to forget about Erasmo Ramirez. At that time, he was still simmering at Triple-A after recovering from some mysterious arm injury. But, he posted his highest strikeout rate at the level and paired it with his always good control. So concerns about his health disappeared and it was time to look forward to his imminent promotion.

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We here at FanGraphs are big fans of Indians starter Corey Kluber. Well, at least Carson Cistulli is. He founded the Corey Kluber Society in mid-June, and as far as I’m aware, made Kluber the subject of the only society FanGraphs has founded to date. Are you a member? And after a breakout 2013 performance, it would appear that Kluber is indeed deserving of such attention.

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Matt Cain has been the picture of consistency and high-quality consistency at that. From 2009 through 2012, he pitched around 220 innings each season, posted ERA marks between 2.79 and 3.14 and struck out 171 to 193 batters. A typically weak Giants offense hampered his win total, but he was the fantasy ace who usually cost a bit less than the others. Perhaps us sabernerds simply kept waiting for the bottom to drop out and his apparent good fortune to fade, which depressed his price. But that never happened.

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A month ago, the Nationals acquired Doug Fister in a bizarre trade that only required the team to give up a decent starting pitcher prospect, a middle reliever and a utility infielder. Aside from making Nationals fans happy that a solid starter has been added to their rotation, fantasy players get to look forward to a starting pitcher making the move to the National League, which is usually beneficial. Fister ranked as just the 57th most valuable starting pitcher this year, but a move to the other league could boost his draft stock.

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Since the end of the 2011 season, I have been a fan of Homer Bailey. After that year, I recapped his performance and finished with a command to readers to “go the extra dollar, as 2012 may finally be his year.” My crystal ball was obviously working, as 2012 was indeed Bailey’s breakout year, at least from a surface stats perspective. I then projected his first career sub-4.00 ERA and boldly predicted that he would outperform Ricky Romero.

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You may or may not know this, but I’m a Braves fan. However, I’m no prospect guru and am typically very unfamiliar with every club’s farm system. Unless a player is a top prospect heavily hyped everywhere, I probably never heard of him. So it should be no surprise to learn that when Alex Wood made his debut in Atlanta, I had no idea who he was. But now I do. And I’m excited.

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One of the things I find amusing about playing fantasy baseball is that I regularly flip-flop on my assessment of players. One year I will hype a player and believe him to be undervalued, then the following year I will switch gears and suggest that same player won’t be worth his price. This is precisely what happened with Chris Sale. In 2012, he transitioned into the White Sox rotation and I was the head cheerleader. I liked him so much in fact that I boldly predicted that he would not only be the most valuable White Sox starting pitcher, but that he would also outearn every member of the Diamondbacks rotation. He did just that. But then the 2013 season came along and I was singing a different tune.

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Well not quite. The Angels front office would likely be a bit annoyed if Hector Santiago visited Disneyland during their home games, rather than show up at Angel Stadium. Two weeks ago, Santiago was part of the three-team trade that sent him from Chicago to Anaheim. Eno Sarris summed up the winners and losers of the deal at that time, but I am going to expand upon the Santiago analysis.

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