For those members from last year.....Riley traded to Rangers

[Bloody Nipples]

this is what I wrote in that thread:

The thing I most like about him is his .089 batting average against. That really tells you something. But that wouldnt mean anything if he walked a lot of guys (see Rick Ankiel (sp?)), but he doesnt, at least not enough to be alarming.

I dont think that hyping Riley on the Cafe has ANY effect on his play. THis is a great place, but how many MLB pitchers visit this site to see how they are doing? I would bet my Bloody Nipples that 99% if MLB players dont even know this place exists, and the only one who does is Pete Rose, once again trying to get a hand up on his moneymaking practices. As for supernatural forces, jinxes and curses, I dont think that the Cafe has THAT much influence in the world.

Wrong on both accounts

[SHOCKandAWE]

Getting traded to Texas is like saying your career is over!

Of course maybe he can get some pointers from Chan Ho

[.38 Special]

this is what I wrote in that thread:

The thing I most like about him is his .089 batting average against. That really tells you something. But that wouldnt mean anything if he walked a lot of guys (see Rick Ankiel (sp?)), but he doesnt, at least not enough to be alarming.

I dont think that hyping Riley on the Cafe has ANY effect on his play. THis is a great place, but how many MLB pitchers visit this site to see how they are doing? I would bet my Bloody Nipples that 99% if MLB players dont even know this place exists, and the only one who does is Pete Rose, once again trying to get a hand up on his moneymaking practices. As for supernatural forces, jinxes and curses, I dont think that the Cafe has THAT much influence in the world.

Wrong on both accounts

I don't think anyone should beat themselves up over this thread. Re-reading it...and laughing at my thought process at the time I realized it was a good lesson learned. Last year this site guided me through my first fantasy baseball year. I finished 15+ games ahead of the everyone else in an established league. I did not win, but that is another story. The point is, with all the usefull information on this site, sometimes there is a miss (albeit the very rare occasion). Those of us who use the site, to help us make decisions or contribute to help others make desicions do so knowing that these are all projections, thoughts and commonly, opinions of other people. We need to grasp these scouting reports, rumors, projections as tools and not gospel, and in the end go with our guts. If we were to simply follow every word to a "T" in the cafe.....what fun would that be, in no longer would be your team. A lot of people bought the hype on Riley, and a lot of people did not. I don't regret taking a chance on him.....I didn't lose much.

[Madison]

We gave up Nivar for Riley?

Stupid Hicks (Meaning Tom Hicks, the owner, not directed at anyone other than Tom Hicks), stupid Rangers.

Sheesh. We need pitching....but Riley?

Oh man, oh man........

At least they are saying he will be in the bullpen. About the only plus is that they can waste him away in mop up duty.

[slomo007]

8-o

We gave up Nivar for Riley?

Stupid Hicks (Meaning Tom Hicks, the owner, not directed at anyone other than Tom Hicks), stupid Rangers.

Sheesh. We need pitching....but Riley?

Oh man, oh man........

At least they are saying he will be in the bullpen. About the only plus is that they can waste him away in mop up duty.

Mad, do you really think the Rangers could have gotten more for Nivar? IMO, he was practically worthless anyways. Better than trading him for a washed up veteran, at least Riley does have upside.

[AcidRock23]

I have to confess guys......it was me who started that thread last year. "MATT RILEY......GO GET EM NOW!!!"
Does this mean that anything I now post will lose all credibility??
I hope I didn't cost too many championships with that Posting.

so....who do you like this year?

[rickscogland]

I'm hurt ... that was the best thread ever? What about the "Johan Santana + Bone Spurs = Tommy John surgury?" thread here ...

http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/foru ... tommy+john

I wasn't the guest who started it, but I kept it moving!

[Cooner]

well, i found ONE good post in that thread...

These are reasons I usually rely on my own judgement...

This is one of the best peices of advice - if I may call it that - that I've ever seen at the Cafe. Two things I've discovered in my year of hanging out in the cafe: It's important to trust yourself and there is a powerful pyschology of conformity here. People's viewpoints tend to converge on one-another.

Personally I'm keeping Riley on my roster. I watched his first start against Boston and some of his start tonight. Even though his control was off tonight he showed me the same good stuff as the first time. That makes me believe that he is still one of the better upstart pitching gambles.

But I don't deny that I 'm influenced by posters that know no more than I do. And sometmes it's at the expense of my better and more informed intuition. There's an important lesson here about not buying into the self-fullfilling hype machine that sometimes cranks here in the Cafe.

Ahh, and I forgot how funny that TJ thread was... it's dangerous to read at work- tears are currently rolling down my cheeks as I try to keep from laughing...

[jonnyblack]

I followed the Riley Thread last season and never posted. I have a problem picking up lower tier pitchers in the AL East, no matter what the "upside" (i just love the subjectivity of this baseball ambiguity). That being said, i didn't really think the thread was as much funny as just wierd.

I don't like Head Cases, especially for pitchers. If you look at first and second tier pitchers, many of them portray an outside appearence of stoicism and self-control. This guy is a party guy and a bar fighter. I didn't give him a second look last year (easy for me to say, now), and now that he has gone to Texas to let his career die, we obviously shouln't give him a look this year. As , always, we never know what will happen. Maybe he and Orel sex Hersheiser will gel, and Riley will make us all look like a direct dichotomy of genius and fool.

What kind of year do you guys think Ankiel will have this year?

[chrispistol3]

How do you guys like the new Riley photo?