FanHouse Doug Brocail

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Team who refuses to rebuild. Seriously, Drayton McLane, just keep holding out hope you can win the World Series and making your general managers deal every prospect you ever stumble across for the likes of Miguel Tejada and an overrated closer. It just keeps setting the franchise back years at a time. For now, they are solving a broken leg with a band-aid by winning 86 games and treading water.

It's become headline news across all sports outlets, primarily because Hoffman is the first to do it. You know what? Justin Miller became the first known pitcher to get the words "Billy Koch" tattooed on his bum, but that doesn't mean it should be splashing headlines across the nets. Randy Johnson passing Roger Clemens for second on the all-time strikeouts list is much more significant, but that only warranted a few sentences, eight paragraphs down in the game recap on Tuesday night. Why should the news of Hoffman reaching 500 saves be as important as it's been made out to be? Was someone else going to beat him to the punch? I thought the big deal was last year when Hoffman passed up Lee Smith. Did I miss something?

The simple truth is that saves are an overrated statistic -- one of the most overrated stats in baseball. Here's all you need to know about saves: Armando Benitez has 289 of them, Danny Graves 182, some guy named Jose Jimenez grabbed 41 in a year, and it made an All-Star out of Danny Kolb and Mike MacDougal. I can name five pitchers in the Padres bullpen who have all been more effective than Hoffman this year -- Kevin Cameron, Heath Bell, Justin Hampson, Doug Brocail, and Scott Linebrink. But none of them get any recognition because you don't stamp an "S" next to their name in the boxscore. Moreover, any pitcher who can't get three outs before they allow three runs (which is all it takes to earn a save) doesn't belong in the big leagues. You follow me?

The fact that Trevor Hoffman has 500 of them tells me two things -- he's been closing for a long time, and done a very good job of it. And the fact that nobody else has done it reminds me that closers only became a serious part of the game around 25 years ago. That's it. I can still name you another reliever I would've preferred in my bullpen for every year he was in the majors. When you break it all down, Trevor Hoffman is a very good player whose only measuring stick is a vastly overrated, and highly insignificant statistic. I am impressed that Hoffman has been able to perform at such a high level for such a long period of time, especially when other relievers are blowing out arms or losing mental stability left and right. But it still doesn't change the fact that saves are an overrated statistic.

When Padres reliever Doug Brocail dosed Rockies OF Matt Holliday a few weeks ago (the second Rockie he hit in a four day span), he tried to make us believe that it was because of a torn fingernail. Next time Brocail hits a Rockies batter, he won't have the same excuse.

Doug Brocail wasn't exactly showing off his new acrylic fingernail in the Padres' clubhouse on Wednesday, though the veteran reliever was certainly thankful to have it.
...
After two failed attempts to fix the broken nail on Brocail's right index finger, the right-hander finally had luck this week when he was fitted with an acrylic nail that gave him the opportunity to pitch again.

Don't worry Doug, we won't think anything less of you and your chick nails. (If any of our readers were in the beauty shop with him when he got it done, be sure to let us know!)

Previously at FanHouse:
Jeff Francis and Clint Hurdle Get Served! (suspensions)
Padres and Rockies Bad Blood Continues

Previously we told you about the Rockies/Padres spring training incident started by Doug Brocail last weekend. Now Jeff Francis and Clint Hurdle have been suspended for the Rockies' retaliation efforts on Tuesday.

Francis was suspended for five regular-season games ... Hurdle was banned for one game, and both were fined an undisclosed amount.

The suspension means Francis might miss a start for the Rockies during the regular season:

Francis will appeal the decision next week, according to his agent Jim Lindell ... Under terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, Francis chose to have his case heard in person, which players have the right to do within 30 days of their appeal if they travel to New York. The Rockies play at the Mets April 23-25, which is when Francis' hearing is expected to take place.

Let me see, so Brocail hits Troy Tulowitzki on Saturday, and then three days later he hits Matt Holliday, and it's Jeff Francis who gets suspended? Francis didn't even hit anyone!

I guess MLB isn't messing around this year when it comes to retaliation. That HAS to be bad news for Ozzie Guillen.

When I say Doug Brocail, you think...

Mitch Williams.

OK, maybe not. But the Padres reliever is developing a reputation as a head-hunter amongst the Rockies crowd. On Saturday he dotted SS Troy Tulowitzki on the wrist. Tuesday he followed that up by dosing slugger Matt Holliday on the hand. In a supposed retaliation effort, Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis was ejected in the 5th inning for throwing behind Padres rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff.

Francis reminded people of Sean Tracey seeming unwilling to hit Kouzmanoff, repented the fact that it was the first time he had been kicked out of a game, and is now facing a possible suspension. Now the question isn't whether or not Hurdle or Francis will be suspended -- it's should we expect more fireworks during the season?

When Padres manager Bud Black was asked if Francis' ejection was the end of the disagreement, Black said, "I think so. I hope so ... Said Hurdle: "I have no comment."

This will no doubt be a rivalry to keep your eye on during the season.