Highest Upside....Hamels, Lincecum or Dice K.

[Yoda]

why isn't it a fair comparison?

since lincecum made his mlb debut 4 years later then king felix, why hasn't he pitched better than felix did? felix hernandez went higher in drafts following his debut season than tim lincecum will dream of next year. yeah it isn't a fair comparison... to felix hernandez.

i included the smiley because it was was just a fun comparison, but i guess i should have expected the people with lincecum manmeat in their mouth would get all huffy about it.

You know I've read a lot of your posts lately and most if not all of them are irrelevant and/or inaccurate. Also, the only time I've seen people get personal is if they start digging themselves into a hole. Get it?

[Kingctb27]

Out of the 3 I would have to say that Lincecum has the highest upside, but at 5'10 and 165 lbs he is definitely the biggest risk of the 3 guys. Not many pitchers careers equal longevity at that size. Add that to the fact that his windup looks like he hurts himself after every pitch and I am worried about him.

lmao

[Yoda]

Out of the 3 I would have to say that Lincecum has the highest upside, but at 5'10 and 165 lbs he is definitely the biggest risk of the 3 guys. Not many pitchers careers equal longevity at that size. Add that to the fact that his windup looks like he hurts himself after every pitch and I am worried about him.

lmao

What part of me laughing at your post didn't you get?

[sportsguy138]

you guys must be seriously dense if you don't acknowledge the comparison. top prospect (more hyped than lincecum imo) bursts onto the scene for half a season and put up better numbers than lincecum. now 2 years after that opening season and he still has a lot of potential, but really hasn't yet developed into what people were hoping for at this point. i could think of a few other pitchers i'd have rather kept than king felix 2 years ago. having "potential" on your fantasy team is pretty fun but it doesn't help you win leagues.

He still has an unbelievable amount of potential. This is only a 21 year old that can hit up to, what, 98 MPH? Despite that, he has a dirty curve with a change-up that works very well also. He also has a nice slider, but before this year at least, didn't want him to use it to prevent wear and tear on that arm. He puts up a great K/9 ratio and induces a high percentage of ground balls. This kids great and will become a very strong pitcher soon enough.

i'll find reassurance in the fact that the original "i don't get it" comment was made by the guy in last place of like 5 different cafe leagues though

No offense, but that's not fair tgalv. You don't know what's happened in his leagues and he could be in last place for various reasons that you're not aware of. Of course, I'm sure everyone has their bad luck, but when you have a lot of your top performers before the year started tremendously under performing, with the additions of injuries, that can have a big impact on how you place in the standings.

[HOOTIE]

I have loved Lincecum before he ever came up. But i love Hamels too. Took Hamels in last years Hamels/Cain debate. I could be wrong on this, but i have always like Lincecum over the more hyped Hughes/Bailey. Tough call. Lincecum, but Hamels right there.

[os_gamejunkie]

I pretty much hate Hamels because I traded him for Oswalt this year and I own Lincecum. But my vote goes towards Hamels. His change-up is so sick and effective. I think you can get more quality innings in your career with a change-up as your out pitch over a 4-seamer or curveball.

[Fantasy Man 27]

why isn't it a fair comparison?

since lincecum made his mlb debut 4 years later then king felix, why hasn't he pitched better than felix did? felix hernandez went higher in drafts following his debut season than tim lincecum will dream of next year. yeah it isn't a fair comparison... to felix hernandez.

i included the smiley because it was was just a fun comparison, but i guess i should have expected the people with lincecum manmeat in their mouth would get all huffy about it.

Wow man, get a life. Stop personally attacking people in this thread. It's cheap, and frankly immature.

Potential:
Tim Lincecum
Cole Hamels
Daisuke Matsusaka

Next Year:
Cole Hamels
Tim Lincecum
Daisuke Matsusaka

Safest:
Daisuke Matsusaka
Cole Hamels
Tim Lincecum

[Bloody Sox]

I think the "risk" factor with Lincecum is overrated a bit. There's no reason, including his small stature, to think he's going to break down. If anything, Hamels is a bigger injury risk since he has in fact been injured multiple times while Lincecum has not.

With that said - for keeper leagues, I'd never look beyond next year (especially with pitchers) so the risk is already mitigated somewhat. I agree with most here on the upside (Lincecum, Hamels, Dice-K), but since I'd never look beyond next year I'd rank them:

Hamels: Best combination of "stuff" and experience (he got a 1/2 season last year to settle in)

Dice-K: Should win 18-20 again next year and should be more consistent after an adjustment period this year. His numbers are pretty darn close to Hamels' right now.

Lincecum: Will be playing on a god-awful Giants team next year that might only win 50 games. See: August 6, 2007.

By the end of next year, I bet that list will be inverted.

[jorwoods]

May be biased as a Lincecum owner , but isn't Hamels the one with an injury history?

Having to choose between Hamels and Lincecum for the future would be tough, but just because Lince is smaller means he's going to break down faster? I don't buy it. I also like Lince in the pitcher's park, playing against the crappy NL West offenses over Hamels in the HR launching pad against the strong NL East.

I'm not a believer in Dice-K, he's last on my keeper list:

Lincecum (by a thread) over Hamels, then Dice-K.

[Yoda]

Felix's AAA numbers do not compare to what Lincecum/Hamels did. I always thought that Felix was brought up too fast and while he enjoyed success in his rookie season, it was only 80 IP and didn't really work through rough patches like Lincecum/Hamels did in their rookie seasons. Plus Lincecum/Hamels have a lot more experience under their belt once they arrived due them being older than Felix. It's not really fair to compare Felix's situation with anyone except maybe someone like Cain or Hughes.