The Bream Team:  Another year  and another strong and steady season followed by a disappointing postseason.  To give you an idea just how disappointing, sit right down and digest this fact. The Breamers entered the 2012 playoffs as a #3 seed.  Their lowest seed since 2009 (and that's as far back as I went).  You read that right.  2009 & 2010 they went to the dance as a #1.  2011 saw No-Knees Bream slip all the way to the #2 spot, then in this past season they "eeked" into the playoffs as a #3.  Thats 4 years of rock solid engagements only to be left at the altar.  It's that kind of heartbreak that would eat away at a lesser man.  You would expect a normal person to get discouraged and stray way from the winning formula that drives him to the promised land.  The thing is, Skipper Sid is no normal man.  Armed with a tour de force of keeper options, look for the Sid Squad to come out swingin this year.  When asked for a quote on his team's state of mind with Draft Day 2013 on the horizon, the manager never even broke stride as he rattled off this gem summing it all up.  "It's dark as fuck on the streets and my hands is all bloody from punchin concrete".  Ho-lee shit.  For you vanilla honkies out there, let me see if I can make my latest Rosetta Stone purchase pay off and translate this stuff for you.  Basically, times around Bream Camp are strained at best, but that doesn't deter this man, no sir.  Even though he can't even see what he's throwing at, he's still punching.  Punching to the point that lacerations appear on his hands.  Right now he's only hitting concrete, be it walls or streets, but by God, he's still hitting.  Will this be the year he finally connects with a dude's face.  I like his chances.  Standing in his corner is a who's who of MLB superstars.  Perennial Sid ally is Troy Tulowitzki and don't expect this year to be any different as Tulo is really the only shortstop that provides much in the power offensive categories.  A fact that makes keeping Tulo that much more appealing is that in doing so you drop the ADP of fellow keeper candidates Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder.  Sacrificing rounds 1,2, and 3 to get those 3 faces on your mast head would make just about anyone feel warm and fuzzy.  Knowing that he is heading into the season with 3 of the best offensive players in the league only makes Sid feel like he should swing harder.                                 __________________________________________________________
Lord of Nations: Ooooof. Man would I love to have some of Gob Bluth's forget me now pills right about, well, now.  After 2 years with solid and promising seasons, 2013 turned out to be a dumpster fire.  Where did it all go wrong?  Hmmmm, I don't know.  Was it keeping human turd Desmond Jennings?  Was it drafting Tim Lincecum over CC Sabathia because Sabathia and his ho-hum 8-inning 2 run starts bored me after having him in 2010 and 2011?  Was it forgetting to wear my American flag headband?  It is likely a myriad of reasons, but the most likely being the third option I listed.  Fortunately though, not all was lost. Being able to turn my back on the 2012 season so early on will hopefully prove to be a blessing now 9 months later.  In making my bid for GM of the year I turned to trading anyone with a heartbeat for 2013 picks.  And like rats on a sinking ship, the talent went flying out the door.  Four rats I refused to move were Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera (who legally changed his name to this in the offseason), Jared Weaver (who made the transition from losing love interest Clayton Kershaw pretty seamless), David Wright (who came along with Weaver via trade) and Edwin Encarnacion (probably the best GM move made by the LoN all year).   The only decision left to make is who will be the odd man out when the LoN make history and get their name engraved on the Puckett Bucket.  Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera, you are my Dwayne Johnson, glad to have you aboard.  Edwin Encarnacion with an ADP of 20 doesn't have much pressure to meet expectations heading into the 2013 season (Desmond Jennings, you keep your goddamn mouth shut!!). The 2 on the bubble are former HornsofCons feature David Wright and the Golden Locks that are Jared Weaver.  With the number of pitchers' names that have already been written about currently has me leaning towards those Golden Locks.  Now if only I can remember my headband and parlay that collection of acquired draft picks into a playoff contender come March 31st.
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Twinks & Bears: 2012 Champions. Nuff said. Everything seems to be all roses up in the world of Twinks & Bears, but his adoring public is getting restless. Taking a page out of chess master Garry Kasparov's playbook, the T&B have followed up 2 titles in 4 years by maintaining his status quo and choosing to remain a recluse. Ever so intimidated by the bright lights of the big city that we call the draft, T&B would rather hole up and look at grainy images of balls and beer drinking through the safe little world of G-chat while the real men are out on the front  lines battling it out in the trenches facing the enemy toe to toe and insert war euphemism here.  Life sure must be good back in the ivory tower while we blue collared workers slug through a tumultuous draft day by pulling up our boot straps and rolling up our sleeves to assemble our teams.  Winning a title, great, but I hope it feels cheap.  Mailing in his likely keepers from deep in his northeast bunker, we learned that the revered wizard behind the curtain is most likely keeping Reds first baseman Joe Votto and local minions Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.  Votto is the only one that may be in question out of that trio.  Strasburg is a hometown hero and thanks to the Nats front office being total pussies and saving sweet little Stevie's arm, he should be fresh coming into a new year.  Also, when reviewed against the other pitchers who won't be available on the 9th day of March, that ADP of 6 is an absolute steal.  Bryce Harper has to be kept thanks to the hefty price tag that he came along with.  As I'm sure all of you remember, and if you don't I'm sure you can hear about it as T&B still screams about it in night terrors, he traded Mr. Everythng Mike Trout to acquire the mohawked madman.  Bailing on him at this point would be a slap in the face to T&B fans everywhere.  Honestly, I don't think the keeper situation is that much of a question.  The real question is, will we finally get to see the man behind the curtain?  We'll see (we won"t). _______________________________________________________   The Seal Clubbers: Once again heading into a season The Seal Clubbers have no choice but to feel optimistic, simply because it would be hard to do much worse. After what seemed like the bubonic plague rolling through The Clubber locker room, the team was hit with the losses of one key player after another. 2012 keeper and team cornerstone, Jacoby Ellsbury, only managed to accrue 303 at bats leaving his team flapping in the breeze for much of the year. I blame the bad karma that probably cropped up when the mad scramble started o even locate the head Walrus Whacker on Draft Day 2012 The Happening. The newly found Seal Sergeant turned in a valiant effort and tried drafting over the phone amidst friends, family, party, and parades, his fate was already sealed. Actually, kudos to you sir. Although you couldn't make the draft personally, you put in a solid effort replicating the atmosphere although you were nearly 300 miles away. Since I'm a little tardy putting out this edition of the Trash Can Fire Report, I have the power of knowledge. The Clubbin Seals have decided to follow the league trend, or set it, and keep multiple power pitchers. Taking Yu Darvish and David Price out of the already shallow pitching pool and sacrificing relatively late rounds while doing so, definitely puts the squad in the catbird seat when it comes to addressing the SP slots. Hot newcomer Todd Frazier, who spells his name with in my opinion one D too many, rounds out the 2012 holdovers and counts as a value pick after he maxed out his ADP for 2013 by coming out of nowhere in 2012. New Orleans has won the bid to host the 2013 Draft which puts it in the Clubbers backyard, not literally unless he's subletting from the Re-Tods. _________________________________________________ Business & Leather: Making his way east, surely while sitting on one of those b-hole donuts, I can only imagine that Business & Leather is wondering what it takes to see this thing through. Johnny Spreadsheet has managed to assemble some of America's finest talent under the age of 20 year after year and its this youth and exuberance that finds him as a perennial fixture in the postseason. It may also be this youth and lack of experience that sees his team fizzle every year come the dog days of September. Things may be a little different this year as it appears the free-lovin San Franny hippie may have found a nice blend of youth and experience as he has chosen to keep proven commodity but still young Adam Jones, the aptly named Chase the Magnificent, and who I would consider the elder statesman of the trio, Carlos Gonzalez. Those 3 guys come out to an average age of 27.6 years. This year it looks like almost all of Business & Leather will be able to rent cars for now. These strict new guidelines may be what caused Giancarlo Stanton to receive his walking papers this offseason. Don't think that a reunion isn't in the works though, as the B&L keeper game plan has left him open to draft in round 1 and one can only assume the right fielder formerly known as Mike is sitting squarely in the cross hairs. Something else that may be fun to keep an eye on early in the draft is the demeanor of the now west coast manager. Assuming we start the draft sometime around lunch the Leathery Businessman's mind will still think it's sometime around 5 a.m. I just hope he brings plenty of rice-a-roni to push us through what I'm sure will be another blur.....Ok, San Francisco checklist: Gay reference (got it, sort of), time zone reference (got it), rice-a-roni (got it). What does that leave?...Ummm, I hope you take a street car to the draft (Fewf, touched em all)......................... I apologize for the uber weak closing but at this point I'm a little burnt out studying everyone else's 2012 and 2013 season. It's time to put down the word processor and pick up the ol' notepad and abacus. See you gents March 9th!