Kicking Rocks: The Waiting Game

Let’s face it.  Fantasy football is for suckers.  You can have the worst draft in the world and still end up in your championship game just by being active and playing the waiver wire properly.    It is not nearly as complex nor as difficult to find success at as it is in fantasy baseball.   Still, it serves as a great distraction through the long, cold winter when all you have to keep you warm is the news from the Hot Stove League and the anticipation of your fantasy baseball draft.

But here we are in Week 16 of the NFL and most leagues have either wrapped up or will finish by the end of this weekend.  There’s no more fantasy football, your distraction is gone, and you’re still close to two months away from pitchers and catchers reporting.  Sigh.

On top of that, the majority of the impact MLB free agents have found new homes and the most exciting news is that the Rangers posted a ridiculous amount of money just to get the chance to talk with Yu Darvish.  Sorry, but that just doesn’t jazz me up.  Sure, he’s a big-time strikeout pitcher who has had amazing success in Japan, but put him in the Ballpark at Arlington and let him face some American League hitting which now includes Albert Pujols and then we’ll see where he’s at.  This isn’t Mr. Baseball and Tom Selleck is no Albert.

The Prince Fielder saga?  Sure, I’m curious to see where he ends up, but given the fact that I’m in 3 different keeper leagues and don’t own him in a single one, I can’t say that I’m hanging on each and every tweet with bated breath.  He’ll land somewhere and wherever he lands, he’ll hit home runs.  Miller Park plays to hitters very nicely, so it’s not like he’s escaping Comerica and heading to…well, Arlington.

So what else is there to do?  What else will take my mind off of this pre-spring lull?

I can celebrate Hannukah with my family, but that will only remind me that Ryan Braun, a keeper I do own, will be lost for the first 50 games of the season.  Not to mention, potato pancakes give me the wind something fierce.

I could go to my neighbors’ house and celebrate Christmas with them, but then I would have to sit and watch a bunch of people that aren’t me open a bunch of gifts from each other and, as a Yankees fan, be reminded of the fact that we have no shiny, new toys this year.

New Year’s Eve?  A quick passing evening that will undoubtedly be ruined by some amateur who either throws up on my shoes or spills a drink on my wife’s dress.  I’d rather sit at home and wait for a Prince Fielder tweet.

From there, what’s left?  January is filled with cold, crappy weather and post-holiday blues.  It’s the longest 31 days of the year followed up by the 2 longest weeks of the shortest month.  Baseball news is minimal, my keeper rosters are already set, and I’ve done as much pre-draft strategizing as I can without seeing guys in camp.

T.S. Eliot once wrote that “April is the cruelest month.”  Obviously he never played fantasy baseball nor sat through a most somber January waiting for the season to begin.

Happy Holidays to you all!