No matter what your opinion is of David Ortiz(notes) as a fantasy commodity — or as a designated hitter, corporate pitchman, or motivational speaker — you need to accept the fact that his recent profanity-enhanced comments were completely reasonable.
After Tuesday’s loss to the Yankees, Ortiz was asked about the slow start to his season … which happens to be only seven at-bats old. This was his response, via the Boston Herald:
"(Bleep) happens. Then you guys talk (bleep)," Ortiz said. "Two (bleeping) games already. (Bleepers) are going crazy. What’s up with that, man? (Bleep). There’s (bleeping) 160 games left. Y’all (bleepers) go ahead and hit for me."
In fantasy leagues right now, (bleepers) are also going crazy, and not just about Ortiz.
Adam LaRoche(notes) was dropped 2,128 times in Yahoo! leagues on Tuesday, presumably because he’s 0-for-8. Erik Bedard(notes) was dropped 2,122 times, even though he’s DL-eligible. Carlos Zambrano(notes) was fired 1,895 times after his horrid opener. (OK, that drop probably felt good. But still, Carlos has useful days ahead. It’s not unusual for him to be a mess in the season debut). Julio Borbon(notes) was cut 1,679 times after going 0-for-4. Jason Frasor(notes) was canned by 1,614 of you after blowing a save. Stephen Strasburg(notes) was dropped 1,580 times, apparently because fantasy owners didn’t like the way he handled media day at Double-A Harrisburg.
We often tell you to manage your fantasy teams aggressively, but we don’t endorse vengeful or reckless management. There are, as Ortiz mentioned, 160 games left. Baseball is a game in which it takes long stretches of time for a player’s true talent level to become apparent. One of the habits possessed by all losing fantasy owners is their tendency to infer too much from too little information. Don’t be that gamer. Please understand that (bleep) happens.
Of course if it’s clear that you have a panicky owner in your league, then now would be the time to pick clean their roster. Those managers generally lose interest by mid-season when they’re no longer in the trophy hunt and football sign-ups open.
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