Keepers and the Hype Monkey

I just made my first trade of the offseason in my keeper league, and am trying to shake the Buyer's Remorse that always hits me right after a deal is consummated, except for those rare few which are such obvious fleecings that all I can do is giggle and try not to feel too guilty.

This was not one of those, however. I gave up Odalis Perez, whom I had for a paltry $7, and the rights to A-Rod at $40 which I was not going to exercise anyway. In return I received Rafael Furcal at market price ($17), and the Jeremys Affeldt ($1) and Bonderman ($10). I addressed my two glaring weaknesses at SS and RP, but can't shake the feeling that my pitching is going to be much worse for the loss of Odalis, whose game far exceeds his reputation due to the miserable run support he got last year.

But enough about me, let's talk about Jayson Stark.

Reading Stark's latest work, it occurs to me that an expression to which I was introduced only recently fits him to a T. The term is "hype monkey." A hype monkey, as it was explained to me, is someone who throws out superlatives with such reckless abandon that they soon lose all meaning whatsoever. Rather than simply saying a movie is funny, it must be "the funniest movie ever made." You get the idea.

Stark apparently thinks that being a Yankee is, like, the craziest thing ever, and Randy Johnson couldn't possibly be prepared for it. Now I've never been a Yankee, although another Brian R. Doyle sure as heck was. I do, however, have some idea of what Yankee fans are like, and what the press coverage is like, etc. And I'm just not convinced that playing for the Bombers is such a radically different proposition than playing for any other team, save for the money and the short right field porch. Stark apparently disagrees:

"He'll be expected to dominate now because he has to. That's what he's doing here. He has been brought to this time, this place, this team because the entire season has been built around the concept that having a nonstop, relentless, left-handed dominator is merely the key to everything." [Emphasis Stark's]

Hype Monkey.