CowboysPride.NET is coming back

The Counselor is IN:

CowboysPride.NET is coming back. Cowboys Pride merged to with Sports Jabber last July. It has been operating under their site since them.

I am partnering with my buddy Doyle to bring new life to Cowboys Pride. The site will be up and fully running on April 1, 2010. Look for future updates about this.

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Fantasy Baseball Prospects 2010

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Here is a list of prospects that I like. Prospects are young players who may still be in the minors, rookies, or other young guys yet to fulfill their potential in the majors.


SP Wade Davis - Tampa Bay
Davis is built like a Tight End- 6'5" and 220lbs. He has 4 solid pitches including a 90+ mph fastball. He was a strikeout fiend in AAA with 7.9 per 9 innings. I expect Davis to make the Rays rotation out of camp.


SS Alcides Escobar - Milwaukee
Escobar is known for his defense but put up very impressive offensive numbers in AAA last year- .298 BA and 42 SB. He can add a lot of speed to your team for low price.


SP/RP Neftail Feliz - Texas
Feliz had a good year in AAA last year but was outstanding as a reliever for the Rangers with a 1.74 ERA. It is possible he might move to the rotation and if he does, his average and whip will go up but I look for him to adapt. He is a year or two away from dominating but is worth picking up especially in keeper leagues.


OF Jason Heyward - Atlanta
Heyward blew through the minors last year and showed why he is a great hitting prospect. He could make the starting lineup in the outfield for the Braves by Opening Day.


1B Justin Smoak - Rangers
Smoak will be pushing Chris Davis for the 1B starting position by this time next season so Davis better pull it together today. Smoak brings a good glove, batting average, and on coming power. Look for Smoak to start in AAA and light it up.


2B Scott Sizemore - Detroit
In the weakest fantasy position, Sizemore could make a difference this year for your team. He brings 20/20 potential with .300 BA. He is the kind of kid you will root for even if you are not a Tigers fan or own him on your fantasy team.


OF Austin Jackson - Detroit
Jackson would still be in the minors this season if he was still with the Yankees farm system. But Jackson was traded to the Tigers and they are licking them chops to see what this speedster can do. He is slated to be the opening day starting Center Fielder for the Tigers. He should steal between 25-35 bags.


OF Julio Borbon - Rangers
Borbon is the starting Center Fielder for the Rangers. He is a more polished Jackson and may have a bit more speed. I believe Borbon will swipe 30-40+ bases for you.


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Cowboys Pride Radio special edition

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As most of my readers know, I am the co-host on the Cowboys Pride Weekly Radio show on Blog Talk Radio. This week, Doyle and I will be making a huge announcement. Please tune in for the announcement on Thursday March 4, 2010 at 8:00 PM CST.

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32 Team Mock Draft @ Sports Jabber

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The fine folks at Sports Jabber, aka the Wally World of sports sites, is having a 32 Team Mock Draft. If you would like to try your hand at the being the General Manager for a team and pick the first 3 rounds of the NFL Draft, this is the game for you. You will need to sign up with Sports Jabber but it is a free sign up. There are several teams left. Here is a link to the post. If you stop by there, let them know I sent you.

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MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft

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As The Fantasy Sports Counselor, I like to experience new and unique fantasy leagues. I am currently in the middle of a unique fantasy baseball draft. Most fantasy baseball leagues will not start drafting until very late January through early April but this one starts early. This will help me get prepared for the rest of the fantasy baseball drafts by forcing me to examine players now.

The league I am participating in is a a MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft over at Talk-Baseball.com, a fun baseball centric forum. The draft preparation started with each team selecting a roster of a current MLB team (set on Jan 1, 2010). Not only do you have that team's roster as a base but their salary total for last season as your salary cap. You use last season's salaries for players and have to stay under that cap. Here are their categories: OFFENSE: OBP, HR, R, RBI, SB and PITCHING: W, S+H (saves plus holds), SO, ERA, WHIP.

After selecting your team, you take the 40 man roster and cut it down to 10-25 players. You need to be conscience of last year's salaries and the fantasy value of these players. You could take the full expected 25 man roster for a team but it should depend on the team you select.

After submitting keep roster, they have a 15 round draft of available free agents but you take on their salaries from last season. There is a lot of strategy to this. You have to weigh the fantasy potential of the player against their salaries and your team needs. Since you are not going in empty handed, you may or may not have specific positions of need that may need to be filled first. A small market team will be looking for more value and potential of a player over a fantasy stud that has a huge salary.

After the draft, you can have a roster up to 40 players until late in March where you have to set your 25 man roster. You must have your team lineup meet (Active-C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, IF, LF, CF, RF, [yes you have to have 20 games at an outfield position to qualify] OF, U, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP- and 6 bench spots and one spot for a DL) and be under your salary cap. You also need to leave enough room to pick up other players for injuries and replacements.

I selected the Texas Rangers, since they are my favorite team and were still available. There are some benefits to picking the Rangers and some challenges. The big benefit is this team is loaded with young talent at the position players which have low salaries. They have a solid starter in Josh Feldman, who is young, talented, with #1 pitcher potential for #5 starter salary. They also have a solid closer and set up guy. The challenges I face in selecting the Rangers stem from their lack of quality starting pitching beyond Feldman and some of their young talent has not produced on the field yet such as Chris Davis at 1st base.

My first two picks were the high salaried stud pitcher - Roy Halladay and then the more moderate salaried Cy Young winner Zack Greinke to shore up my pitching staff. I then picked up 1B Kendry Morales, who has a fairly low salary, so I can let Chris Davis sit on the bench and develop as a prospect.

This is a fun experience and different than any other fantasy league I have been a part of. If you are looking for a new fantasy baseball challenge, let me encourage you to check out a MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft. It will bring a lot of new wrinkles to your fantasy baseball season.

As the draft continues, I will try to update FSC on the status of my team and the challenges I face.

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