Casey Stengel

At the end of the 1960 season, Casey Stengel was fired. He has been famously quoted as saying that he would never make the mistake of being too old again.
That being said, Jack McKeon's 16th major league managing season begins now. He's played with Kansas City, Oakland, Florida, Cincinnati, and San Diego. Now, he's back with Florida. Since May 27th, the Marlins have won 3 times. Since June 10th, they haven't won. Theoretically, there's no Josh Johnson, but they weren't really winning for him. There's Anibal Sanchez, but they can't win for him either. The other teams wait until he leaves, and then they pound on the relievers.
And with signing an 80-year old man to the helm (shouldn't we be worried about Florida managers in the same way we were worried about John McCain keeling over and dying if he was president?), there's nothing to lose. Florida is bad. Not Houston bad... YET, but it's going to happen. Florida sucks. The offense is anemic. The bullpen is "nicht so gut." The pitching staff is pretty much non-existent.
Mike Stanton hits home runs, but... Mike Stanton strikes out at least 1 time per game (almost once every 3 at bats).
Gaby Sanchez is .304 with 12 home runs, but what does it matter if it's for a losing cause?
Anibal Sanchez has an ERA under 3.00, but as I said, if he can't pitch complete games and get 3 runs from his team, what good does it do.
So that said, if Jack McKeon is the new Casey Stengel, who is Marv Throneberry? Who is Choo Choo Coleman? Sure, there's Don Zimmer and Richie Ashburn (that said, Ashburn hit .306, but don Zimmer made Dan Uggla seem like Rogers Hornsby with a .077 average), but this was 1962. They weren't exactly who we remember them to be today. That's why they were 40-120-1.
And it's highly probable that the Marlins will win 8 more games and best the 1962 Mets, but are they really that much better (especially in light of hospitalization)?
So if they want to give the reins to McKeon... good luck and enjoy the ride.

Colby Rasmus

I'm really going to do it this year - not like last year when I quit in futility. This will be my fifth year taking part in fantasy leagues, which is as much of a commitment as this website is. It requires patience and dedication to a 162-game schedule. Attention issues aside, a good draft and no injuries will keep the fires stoked until September 28th. It requires serious "research" to do determine who is coming up in the world of rookies, and it requires getting rid of injured players so that statistics aren’t jeopardized. Many people will start, but few will finish. I'm living proof. Having a quick blast of energy at the beginning is essential to having a chance, but it’s not everything.
All in all, it’s as much a part of the game as the game itself, but it involves divorcing oneself from loyalties on the field. Where once I wouldn’t draft Yankees due to my hatred of the team, I have had four of them over the years (Rivera, Matsui, Gardner, and Jeter), which means that while I won’t be rooting for them, I’ll take their statistics in the same way that I will take other player’s great games.
This year, I started off with an option to get Robinson Cano, probably the best second baseman in the game, if I got pick 6 as the 6th picker; however, someone else grabbed him first, so I ended up with Roy Halladay and took the 7th pick (a league of 6 people - I didn't want to play with also rans more than I had to this year) of Joey Votto. All in all, I also got Josh Hamilton, Cliff Lee, Joe Mauer, Dan Uggla, Michael Young, and Mike Stanton for a rather solid looking team.
Already, my competition wants Colby Rasmus - for Raul Ibanez of all people. Let's be honest... I may have a couple of Phillies on my team and be from PA, but a rapidly aging mid power outfielder in decline already... nah. Perhaps, he should have offered Jason Heyward, but that's most likely asking way too much.
Granted, Rasmus has an upside... 23 homers and .276 batting average with 12 steals, and 148 whiffs, BUT he hates Tony Larussa, and that says a lot to me. Sure, he wanted off the team last year and Phat Albert thought he should have been jettisoned, but considered that Ryan Ludwick had already left for San Diego (dumb, dumb, dumb), Colby wasn't moving. And if he moves this year, he may have a bounce year in a non-Larussa burg. And if he doesn't, he could get even better than he already is. After all, he's only 2 years in the bigs...
So in the words of Hayden Panettiere, “bring it on. It’s all or nothing.”
Let the fantasy season begin!