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Alrighty then, let’s just get the self-flagellation out of the way so I can enjoy the playoffs. Back in March, I was cajoled into providing my ten bold predictions for the 2012 season, and looking back on them, I think we can successfully get me out of the bold prediction business.

This will be quick and painful for me, but perhaps it will give you some amusement to take your mind off of any fantasy baseball related failures that this day concludes.

1. Dan Haren will win 20 games.

Since I’m going to take a beating here, I might as well tell you that I picked Dan Haren for the AL Cy Young too. It was an argument wrapped up in his rotten luck with run support in 2011, and figuring the addition of some guy named Al might help that, I thought he’d have a darn fine chance of racking up the wins. He rewarded me with 12 and what was probably his worst season since he was a rookie with the Cardinals. Super.

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The word “re-visited” can have two very different connotations depending on what it is you are re-visiting. Re-visiting a place or a time you loved – your childhood home perhaps, or your college campus – can be filled with nostalgia, happy memories and joy. Of course you can also re-visit something that makes you depressed, something that brings back horrible memories or terrible feelings.

Unfortunately, this article is likely to be more of the latter than the former. Prior to the start of the season, I laid out ten bold predictions and not only did most of them not come to fruition (which is to be expected as they were, after all, bold predictions), but many of them failed spectacularly. But, accountability matters, and so today I present to you a retrospective on ten bold predictions gone wrong.

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Prior to the season my esteemed colleagues and I put together a list of ten bold predictions, some of which actually came true. Here is a recap of Brandon Warne’s predictions and Howard Bender’s predictions, and now let’s look at mine…

1. A-Rod will hit 30 HR
Alex Rodriguez is sitting on 18 homers with three (maybe four if the Yankees have to play a Game 163 tie-breaker) games to play, so this one won’t happen. He did miss roughly six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand suffered on a Felix Hernandez hit-by-pitch, but even before the injury he had hit just 15 homers in 97 team games (25 HR per 162 games). A-Rod’s days of 30+ homers are over, as are his days of 600+ plate appearances it seems. This prediction was a bust.

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It’s been a pretty odd season for both Nate McLouth and Justin Smoak, but they have both made themselves roto relevant during the season’s final few weeks. They have hit four and five home runs respectively, and could provide a nice boost to your lineup if you need a player for the season’s final six games.
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• Mets reliever Frank Francisco will likely miss the remainder of the 2012 season after experiencing a setback from elbow tendinitis this past weekend. Manager Terry Collins indicated that since Francisco hasn’t pitched in nine days, he’d need to get some side work in before getting back into live action, but with just eight games remaining, “he’s not sure when that would take place.” The Mets closer saved 23-of-26 games with a 5.53 ERA (4.10 xFIP) and a 2.24 K/BB – his lowest since 2007 when he sported a 1.77 K/BB.
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Following the lead of my colleagues this week I’ll continue with players available to stream as  your head-to-head leagues come to a close.

David Murphy

As opposed to our own David Wiers, I’m not afraid of streaming Murphy, especially when his ownership is down to just 30% in Yahoo! leagues. Murphy has somehow been able to shed the platoon tag that’s been placed on him his whole career. Coming into the season his OPS against southpaws was .676…it’s .856 right now with a .351 batting average. That success has enabled him to turn into a fulltime player. His performance has dipped a bit in September as compared to August (.944 OPS) but he may be helped by the Rangers playing their next five games at home where he, like every other player in baseball, does very well. The A’s have a very good pitching staff and Murphy has been held hitless the past two games, but you’re not likely to find a better option owned in fewer than 50% of leagues.

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The season is winding down and in the ottoneu leagues where I am still competitive, I find myself looking to fill a few extra games and a few extra innings. There isn’t much you can do at this point to make up ground in games played, but leaving positions open when a starter gets an off day is no longer such a good option. And adding a viable SP for a game or two could be a difference maker.

With that in mind, here are two players that have been tearing up ottoneu leagues for the past 30 days – but are still available in most.

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I may hate head-to-head leagues, but I know that some of you are in championship weeks and could use a one-stop look through the pitchers coming up, especially Thursday’s starters so you can be ready when the clock strikes 3:01 am Wednesday night. You are doing that, right? Or you can stream a day in advance, if you’re no night owl. We’ll get the Weekend’s streamers for you before Thursday.

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I hate them. I hate head-to-head leagues. I won’t win a single one this year. And, obviously I’m not saying I had the best team in all five of those leagues, but I figured I’d win at least one of them.

Nope.

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This may come as a surprise to you, but I consider myself to a fairly adept computer nerd. Sure, I ‘m not A+ Certified, but I know my way around a mobo. Yesterday I attempted to water cool my machine. It didn’t go very well. Actually, that is an understatement. It didn’t go at all. I’ll have to try again next weekend. Until then, the Roto Riteup will be brought to you by my seven different fans that I had to re-install.

• As the brilliant Jeff Sullivan pointed out last week, Cameron Maybin and his coaching staff have re-tooled his swing. Thus far, the results are standing up. Over his past 30 days, Maybin his hitting .333 with 13 runs and three steals. Maybin went 2-for-4 yesterday afternoon and ran once, although he was caught stealing. The fact that he was running was a good sign however, and Maybin could reach 30 steals with a final big push. He is owned in 41% of both Yahoo! and ESPN formats despite his ability to produce runs and a high, albeit somewhat empty, batting average. I’d grab him if you can, and I would actually ponder keeping him for next year.
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