http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/115 Recent articles about Gustavo Chacin en-us Down in Dunedin I lucked into catching rehab assignments for BJ Ryan, Gustavo Chacin & Armando Benitez. Is Ryan ready to rejoin your fantasy roster? Exclusive notes & photos within. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:26:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/232100 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/232100 Prior to the start of the 2007 season, the GNUru identified the Top 10 Pitchers (http://www.thegnuru.com/content/view/39/27/) that were being touted by the big boys of fantasy baseball (CBS Sportsline, Yahoo, ESPN, etc.) as sleeper and breakout picks. These players were thought to be "Sexy Picks" and many were draft higher than expected due to their perceived value. Now that the season is at the midpoint, the GNUru is here to look back and grade himself with either a thumbs up or a thumbs down. You're not going to get that kind of evaluation over at the big boys! Thu, 12 Jul 2007 16:11:49 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/19483 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/19483 It's surprising to see these three struggling but if they improve their starting pitching and bullpens they can turn a losing season into a winning season. Fri, 25 May 2007 21:07:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/14793 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/14793 The GNUru realizes that just about every fantasy sports publication has some magic formula to predict this year's crop of breakout players. For some it's the 27-year old benchmark, 3rd year of MLB experience, or even the number of games played or innings pitched. At first glance these 'trends' may King Felix or King of Hype?appear to hold some weight, however, many of the players that fall within those categories, fail miserably. While there are always a handful of players that do break out and fill their fantasy team owner with glutinous pride, the majority of players become prime candidates for the plague known as Sexy Pick Syndrome (SPS). So what's to make of all the hype? Nothing. Predicting a pitcher's success has little to do with arbitrary age class or magic innings pitched. It is all about talent. Talent includes both stuff (the ability to make hitters look silly at times) and guile (the pitchers craftiness). As such, the GNUru will attempt to breakdown the fantasy baseball hype machine in a 2 part series of both pitching and hitting breakout trends. Today, the GNUru will take a look at pitching trends and how it will affect player values this spring. First let's have a look at last years cream of the breakout crop: Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Erik Bedard, and Aaron Cook. While those pitchers had respectable seasons, their success is not enough to compensate the major whiffs- Noah Lowry, Rich Harden, Jorge Sosa, Daniel Cabrera, and Zach Greinke. In fact, if you targeted 3rd year pitchers, you success rate is no different than if you ignored MLB service time all together. The GNUru is not going to claim the ability to predict who will breakout and who won't (no one should), but knowing how players are valued (relative to draft position) among other owners can help you put together a winning combination. So without further adieu, here is the GNUru's Top 10 over-hyped breakout candidate pitchers heading into the 2007 season. Mon, 16 Apr 2007 22:42:57 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/12409 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/12409 Note: Please follow the link and read our entire posting on this one before commenting Gustavo Chacin and Barry Bonds are simply two easy targets to choose. Feel free to sub the names ,but please don't reply with "Nothing has been proven on steroids, DUI, etc". This is not the point of the article. What we are trying to do is gather opinions on which TYPE of player should be vilified more, the DUI type or the Steroid type. We look at this problem in two ways, firstly the micro (small) and marco (large) potential problems that both types may cause. Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:27:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/11384 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/11384 Here at Sportable, an athlete getting a DUI earns them an automatic article, no questions asked. This week's moron is Gustavo Chacin, pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. Chacin was arrested early Friday morning in Tampa Bay and charged with a DUI after registering a blood-alcohol content of .15. He posted his $500 bond and stumbled on his way. Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:02:48 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/11248 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/11248 Remember all of those incredibly talented young pitchers in 2006? Justin Verlander and Jared Weaver proved not only to be two of the best pitchers on their team, but two of the best in the entire league. Anibal Sanchez threw a no-hitter and Jonathon Papelbon almost won a Cy Young as the closer of the Red Sox. The good news is that they're young and should be around for years. The bads news is that their 2007 season could have 'extremely disappointing' written all over it. As Tom Verducci of SI points out, young pitchers who have had their workload increased by 30+ innings over the prior season, more often than not, don't make it through following year unscathed. Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:22:56 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/5950 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/5950