Beware of small sample sizes still applies. We are three weeks into a twenty-six week marathon. With that said I am not panicking or feeling good about anything just yet, so here are some thoughts and observations regarding first few weeks of the baseball season.
I was at a bar with a friend last week and we were talking about my boy Nelson Cruz. I said that I did not want to sound greedy, but last year he had 33 homers and 20 steals. At that point he had seven homers (in 14 days) and zero steals. I said, tongue in cheek, that I wish he would hit a few more singles so he can steal some more. And what do you know? One week later Ol' Nelly is sitting on seven homers and FIVE steals. This guy is such a stud it is not even funny. I think 40/20 is looking like a lock with upside for more.
STRUGGLING. A few of my rock steady veterans are struggling big time right now, including Aramis Ramirez, Shane Victorino, and Brandon Phillips. I spent $19, $15, and $27 on them, respectively. Everyone will go through a three week slump at some point during the season, it just happens to be magnified when it is the first three weeks of the season. So this is me not worried. Not one bit. The only thing that bothers me is Ramirez's strikeout rate. He usually makes contact in 85+% of his at bats, however right now he is only in the 60's. Again, small sample size. Not worried yet. If I did not own him I would be trying to buy low on him.
Man, I really hate injuries. My main goal every year is to just stay healthy. I am confident enough in my player evaluation and drafting skills that if my teams were to stay healthy then I will undoubtedly be in the mix for the title at the end of the season. Last year, in the league in which I dominated, my only injury troubles were to Jason Bartlett and Asdrubal Cabrera, two solid middle infielders who each spent about a month on the DL. I was able to overcome their losses pretty easily as their five month contributions were so much more than my preseason expectations that it was not possible for them to hurt me. So, as you could imagine, I freaked out a bit when my co-ace, Brett Anderson, came out of his start on Saturday after throwing six dominant innings and only 80 pitches. The first report was that he had elbow tightness, which is scary as hell, but that has been revised to just a cramp in his elbow muscle and he is not expected to miss his next start. Thank. God. Phew. That would have been killer. I also had Brad Hawpe go on the 15 disabled list yesterday. I'm okay with this, he had been in and out of the lineup with a quad injury so he just needs to sit out and get right. I have a surplus of outfielders so this shouldn't hurt me too badly, I'll just be losing some power and getting some speed in the lineup (I have been juggling Hawpe, Chris Coughlan, and Scott Podsednik for two spots).
Everything else is on schedule, most of my guys are starting to do what I thought they would do. I would love to see Erick Aybar, Anaheim's leadoff hitter, start running more. I believe he is only 2-4 on the base paths so far, very, very unusual for a Mike Scoscia team. Again, I am mostly sitting on my hands and evaluating until around Memorial Day, then I will look at the standings seriously and analyze my strengths, weaknesses, and needs.
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Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Checking In On The Trinity Killers
After two weeks I'd like to check in on The Trinity Killers (my keeper league team). My "beware of small sample sizes mantra" still rings true this early in the season, but there are always observations to be made:
Kurt Suzuki - off to a very slow start but I love the fact that he DH's on his 'off days'. The fact that he will get more at bats than just about every other catcher is a huge advantage in itself as his counting stats will increase as a direct result. His batting average should pick up to the .270 range eventually and once again I have a solid $1 catcher.
Adrian Gonzalez - this guy really deserves to play for a real team in a real ballpark. Opposing pitchers never have to give him anything close to hittable because nobody else in that lineup scares them. But dude still rakes. I assume he will be traded by mid-season due to impending free agency. When he does his numbers should jump up a bit and he could finish with 45 homers and 115+ RBIs.
Brandon Phillips - sloooooooooow start but I'm not worried even a little. B-Phil has established himself as one of those guys who you just check his numbers at the end of the year and you have 20/20 second basemen. I put a premium on reliability and this is the poster child here.
Hanley Ramirez - another slow start here but not worried at all. Assuming full health we're looking at a guaranteed top five overall player, he just needs to get it going.
Marco Scutaro - doing what I expected. Chipping in here and there across the board but clearly won't win any one category for you. Currently getting bonus lead-off at-bats while Jacoby Ellsbury nurses a rib injury. Hitting atop Boston's lineup = lots 'o runs.
Troy Glaus - yet another slow starter for me, but he hit a BOMB at Petco on Wednesday and I am hoping that gets him going. Just stay healthy Troy. If he plays in 140+ games he will hit 25+ homers.
Joey Votto - cash money in cleats. I love watching this kid play. He is so young but has such incredible command of the strike zone. If only the 1-2 hitters in Cincy could get on base then Votto would be an RBI monster. Bonus: four stolen bases in the first two weeks. I always thought he could chip in around 7-10 based on his minor league track record but this pace is ridiculous. This is one case where after two weeks you can look at someone and say "he is going to have a special season".
Jayson Werth - hey, what do you know? Slow start and missed a few games with a minor hip injury. Only one homer and no steals yet after a 36/20 job in 2009. Two weeks down, twenty-four to go. Not. Worried.
Jason Kubel - this guy's just a professional hitter, I love his approach. He's looking much better vs. lefties, too.
Carlos Gonzalez - has missed half the season to date with a strained hammy. He is back though and jacked his first homer yesterday. Mega-upside remains, just need to see some steals.
Brad Hawpe - another one of my walking wounded - missed about four games with a quad injury. When he has played he's been much better than the $7 I paid for him. Quietly productive even when not hitting bombs. I'm enjoying the Brad Hawpe experience.
Rajai Davis - what you see is what you get. I drafted him to steal me a bag once every ten at bats. So far he's doubling that rate. Talk about an empty 50+ steal guy though, he really brings nothing else to the table. Hoping I can build a nice lead in steals over the next month or two and then flip Rajai for another need (which is looking like it is going to be power).
Chris Coghlan - peeeee yewwwww. Kid's been awful and injured. Great combo. With my pick up of the red hot Scott Podsednik I have Coghlan resting comfortably on my bench until he shows some signs of life. Optimistic he picks it back up. After all, I drafted him for a .300 10/10. He is close to that by default.
Scott Podsednik - spitting hot fire. Hitting .457 with seven steals overall. He swiped me 3 bags this week since I picked him up for $3 in our weekly FAAB run. One of my better players so far, I expect him to drop off considerably at any point so I am just milking this for as long as I can. Hopefully his drop-off will coincide with Coghlan's upcoming hot streak.
CC Sabathia - a notorious slow starter, has had a rough go at Fenway, then dominating starts vs the Rays and Rangers. That is probably the three best offenses in the AL (not counting the Yanks, obviously). If he tacks on a big time April/May to his usual dominant June-September, then we'll be looking at the AL Cy Young winner.
Dan Haren - looks a little rusty, which usually would not bother me at this point, except for the fact that Haren is famous for dominating first halves and poor, poor second halves. He is still striking guys out at a high rate, he is walking guys a little more than he is used to, but who cares. Danny Haren is going to be fine.
Yovani Gallardo - ugh. I am starting to worry that Gallardo just isn't what we all think he is, which is a budding Ace who just needs to overcome his control issues. He walks so many guys it is so frustrating. I still believe, but if anyone came at me with a decent trade offer I would be all ears.
Scott Baker - last year he started the year on the DL and then was awful for his first month back. After that he rocked a sub-4 ERA and was money, but nobody realized it because they were too busy looking at his composite stats. Well, everyone but me. With full health to start the year he has 2 big time outings and one poor one and looks great in the process. As long as he limits the walks I can deal with the occasional long ball.
James Shields - I think he peaked. Three years ago, that is. He is not the big strikeout guy he was in 2007 anymore. He looks more of a grind it out, 4+ERA guy. Great. But still, if my big dogs do their thing then there is a place for Jimmy Shields in my rotation.
Ted Lily - getting healthy, expected to be back with the big club this weekend. I will welcome him to the squad with open arms.
Billy Wagner - looks great but not getting many save opps. Those come in bunches so no worries there. Loving the K-rate.
Rafael Soriano - not looking as dominant as last year. In a related story he is pitching in the AL this year. Getting me the saves which is most important, just not striking fools out at even close to the same clip as last year.
Octavio Dotel - has given up at least one run in just about every one of his outings so far. Fortunately he is getting a bunch of multi-run cushions for his save opps. He is just making it interesting. Also had a blown save/win the other night - love those.
Matt Capps - note to Jim Riggleman: Matt Capps is not a five out closer. That is all.
So as you can see it has been an interesting first two weeks, but at the risk of repeating myself: it is only two weeks, beware of small sample sizes. In another two weeks I will check out the standings and start to assess strengths and weaknesses. Then I will monitor them more closely over the following four weeks. Come Memorial Day I believe the standings finally have some merit and I will be able to start making some trades. Until then, I am just sitting tight unless someone comes to me a deal too good to pass up.
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Kurt Suzuki - off to a very slow start but I love the fact that he DH's on his 'off days'. The fact that he will get more at bats than just about every other catcher is a huge advantage in itself as his counting stats will increase as a direct result. His batting average should pick up to the .270 range eventually and once again I have a solid $1 catcher.
Adrian Gonzalez - this guy really deserves to play for a real team in a real ballpark. Opposing pitchers never have to give him anything close to hittable because nobody else in that lineup scares them. But dude still rakes. I assume he will be traded by mid-season due to impending free agency. When he does his numbers should jump up a bit and he could finish with 45 homers and 115+ RBIs.
Brandon Phillips - sloooooooooow start but I'm not worried even a little. B-Phil has established himself as one of those guys who you just check his numbers at the end of the year and you have 20/20 second basemen. I put a premium on reliability and this is the poster child here.
Hanley Ramirez - another slow start here but not worried at all. Assuming full health we're looking at a guaranteed top five overall player, he just needs to get it going.
Marco Scutaro - doing what I expected. Chipping in here and there across the board but clearly won't win any one category for you. Currently getting bonus lead-off at-bats while Jacoby Ellsbury nurses a rib injury. Hitting atop Boston's lineup = lots 'o runs.
Troy Glaus - yet another slow starter for me, but he hit a BOMB at Petco on Wednesday and I am hoping that gets him going. Just stay healthy Troy. If he plays in 140+ games he will hit 25+ homers.
Joey Votto - cash money in cleats. I love watching this kid play. He is so young but has such incredible command of the strike zone. If only the 1-2 hitters in Cincy could get on base then Votto would be an RBI monster. Bonus: four stolen bases in the first two weeks. I always thought he could chip in around 7-10 based on his minor league track record but this pace is ridiculous. This is one case where after two weeks you can look at someone and say "he is going to have a special season".
Jayson Werth - hey, what do you know? Slow start and missed a few games with a minor hip injury. Only one homer and no steals yet after a 36/20 job in 2009. Two weeks down, twenty-four to go. Not. Worried.
Jason Kubel - this guy's just a professional hitter, I love his approach. He's looking much better vs. lefties, too.
Carlos Gonzalez - has missed half the season to date with a strained hammy. He is back though and jacked his first homer yesterday. Mega-upside remains, just need to see some steals.
Brad Hawpe - another one of my walking wounded - missed about four games with a quad injury. When he has played he's been much better than the $7 I paid for him. Quietly productive even when not hitting bombs. I'm enjoying the Brad Hawpe experience.
Rajai Davis - what you see is what you get. I drafted him to steal me a bag once every ten at bats. So far he's doubling that rate. Talk about an empty 50+ steal guy though, he really brings nothing else to the table. Hoping I can build a nice lead in steals over the next month or two and then flip Rajai for another need (which is looking like it is going to be power).
Chris Coghlan - peeeee yewwwww. Kid's been awful and injured. Great combo. With my pick up of the red hot Scott Podsednik I have Coghlan resting comfortably on my bench until he shows some signs of life. Optimistic he picks it back up. After all, I drafted him for a .300 10/10. He is close to that by default.
Scott Podsednik - spitting hot fire. Hitting .457 with seven steals overall. He swiped me 3 bags this week since I picked him up for $3 in our weekly FAAB run. One of my better players so far, I expect him to drop off considerably at any point so I am just milking this for as long as I can. Hopefully his drop-off will coincide with Coghlan's upcoming hot streak.
CC Sabathia - a notorious slow starter, has had a rough go at Fenway, then dominating starts vs the Rays and Rangers. That is probably the three best offenses in the AL (not counting the Yanks, obviously). If he tacks on a big time April/May to his usual dominant June-September, then we'll be looking at the AL Cy Young winner.
Dan Haren - looks a little rusty, which usually would not bother me at this point, except for the fact that Haren is famous for dominating first halves and poor, poor second halves. He is still striking guys out at a high rate, he is walking guys a little more than he is used to, but who cares. Danny Haren is going to be fine.
Yovani Gallardo - ugh. I am starting to worry that Gallardo just isn't what we all think he is, which is a budding Ace who just needs to overcome his control issues. He walks so many guys it is so frustrating. I still believe, but if anyone came at me with a decent trade offer I would be all ears.
Scott Baker - last year he started the year on the DL and then was awful for his first month back. After that he rocked a sub-4 ERA and was money, but nobody realized it because they were too busy looking at his composite stats. Well, everyone but me. With full health to start the year he has 2 big time outings and one poor one and looks great in the process. As long as he limits the walks I can deal with the occasional long ball.
James Shields - I think he peaked. Three years ago, that is. He is not the big strikeout guy he was in 2007 anymore. He looks more of a grind it out, 4+ERA guy. Great. But still, if my big dogs do their thing then there is a place for Jimmy Shields in my rotation.
Ted Lily - getting healthy, expected to be back with the big club this weekend. I will welcome him to the squad with open arms.
Billy Wagner - looks great but not getting many save opps. Those come in bunches so no worries there. Loving the K-rate.
Rafael Soriano - not looking as dominant as last year. In a related story he is pitching in the AL this year. Getting me the saves which is most important, just not striking fools out at even close to the same clip as last year.
Octavio Dotel - has given up at least one run in just about every one of his outings so far. Fortunately he is getting a bunch of multi-run cushions for his save opps. He is just making it interesting. Also had a blown save/win the other night - love those.
Matt Capps - note to Jim Riggleman: Matt Capps is not a five out closer. That is all.
So as you can see it has been an interesting first two weeks, but at the risk of repeating myself: it is only two weeks, beware of small sample sizes. In another two weeks I will check out the standings and start to assess strengths and weaknesses. Then I will monitor them more closely over the following four weeks. Come Memorial Day I believe the standings finally have some merit and I will be able to start making some trades. Until then, I am just sitting tight unless someone comes to me a deal too good to pass up.
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Thursday, April 15, 2010
Status Check
I know its only been ten days, but I wanted to run through my Cool HWIP roster player by player and talk about each player's start. Keep in mind that I have the MLB Extra Innings package so I have watched all of these players intently, which carries much more weight than their numbers at this point.
Kelly Shoppach - 8 total at bats and he is on the disabled list. Awesome. I need a new catcher and pickings are slim on the waiver wire. I am currently deciding between Miguel Olivo and John Baker. Good times.
Kevin Youkilis - he is in mid-season form already. Dude is just an OBP machine, his command of the strike zone is so ridiculous that almost 50% of the time he either takes a walk or is patient enough for a pitch that he can drive. My most expensive player is going to pay big dividends for me.
Brandon Phillips - off to a so-so start, I think he has one homer and one steal, which is a 25/25 pace so I'm okay with the numbers. Only complaint is that it seems he is struggling at the plate with runners in scoring position. Not worried though, his numbers will be there at the end.
Erick Aybar - not running like the lead-off man for a Mike Scoscia team would be expected to. He is still the lead-off guy on a potent offense. I love his game in general, I think he'll get going sooner than later.
Aramis Ramirez - horrible batting average after a week and a half but has two taters. With A-Ram, all you worry about is the health. If he plays 150 games then he is a lock for .300-30-100. Just stay healthy big fella.
Adam LaRoche - a traditional slow starter. I think he has actually looked really good at the plate, just no homers yet (and that is why he is on my team). But normally he's a disaster in the first half, so if he can just be decent for now and then have his usual second half fiesta then we might be looking at 35 homers.
Kelly Johnson - tough to get a read on a guy hitting in front of the pitcher. He struggled in his first few games, then had three bombs in his next three games. With Miggy Montero on the DL, KJ moved up a spot in the order and is hitting seventh now. His one game with two bombs came out of the two slot - if he can move up into a more pivotal lineup spot, his numbers can be elite. But right now I'm still expecting the same 15/10 I was two weeks ago. Hasn't attempted a steal yet which is a little annoying but not panicking yet.
Nelson Cruz - do I really need to say it? Damn this boy is on fire. He spit hot fire like Dylan from Chappelle skit (what up Lupe). Six homers in his first thirty at-bats. If I can be a little picky, I mean I'm expecting twenty steals out of the kid so how about some singles so we can run a bit, heh? I love you Nelson.
Andrew McCutchen - Love. I just love watching this kid play baseball, that is all there is to it. I really regret not going the extra buck on him in my keeper league because I would love to be in the Andrew McCutchen business for the next four years. For now I only get to enjoy him in 2010 - maybe that will make me appreciate him more. One homer and five steals so far - he's gonna go 20/40.
Shane Victorino - struggled a bit out of the gate. Everyone blamed it on his new lineup spot (seventh). Now that J-Roll hit the DL, Vic is hitting lead-off and in his first game in the spot he went 4-5 with a triple, homer, and four RBIs. Maybe it was the lineup spot. He should get at least two and probably four weeks worth of lead-off ABs. Word.
Denard Span - one of the guys who watching him play is so much more important than his numbers after ten days. He's hitting under .200, but he is taking so many walks. He has so many long at-bats. When he does get on he is stealing bases and scoring runs. Basically, he is playing about as well as you can with a .150 batting average. Right now he is Larry Bird on an off night. When his jumper was not going down he would crash the boards, play defense and make sick passes. That's Denard Span right now.
Bobby Abreu - it must be Bobby. Bobby's just doin' his thang. Nothing to see here, just keep moving along while this thirty-six year old continues to be an OBP monster while contributing a little pop and speed.
Martin Prado - even though he is on my bench I am still keeping tabs on him. He's doin' his thang as well which is basically an empty .300 average. His biggest value to me is his multi-position eligibility. Any offensive player besides my shortstop and catcher can get injured and Prado will be able to fill in for them. Love that.
Cole Hamels - two bad outings vs. Washington. Well, bad outings surface stats wise. His strikeout and command numbers are there. Not worried.
Brett Anderson - twelve shutout innings to start the year. Kid just looks nasty, he's gonna be fun to own. Lets get to the seventh inning though in your next start, okay Brett? Thanks.
Scott Baker - one poor outing and one great outing. If he can avoid the terrible start he had last year then he's gonna be just fine.
Kevin Slowey - lacking his patented pinpoint control. Strikeouts are there though, he'll be fine.
Hiroki Kuroda - only one start so far but it was a beauty. Hopefully a harbinger of things to come.
Ian Kennedy - first start gave me a lot of hope. Second start was ugly. Has given up four homers so far. Jury's still out.
Brett Myers - ugly first outing, then had a beauty last night vs. St. Louis. Has ten K's in thirteen innings versus just three walks. I am cautiously optimistic.
Jason Hammel - did not get to watch his start but the numbers seemed decent enough, and it was at Coors where I already decided never to start him (due to his career numbers there, not because I am scared of Coors). He'll get some starts for me for good road match-ups.
Joakim Soria - kid is electric when he gets to pitch, unfortunately his team hates him and he is just not going to get enough opportunities. Love his skills though.
Kevin Gregg - just picked him up two nights ago. His stats won't start for me until Monday but he has officially been named the closer. Crossing my fingers that this one's gonna work out. If not, plenty of other saves will come into the league.
One transaction note - after Myers' great start last night, I offered him straight up for Brad Lidge. Trying to sell high I guess, but Lidge is injured and not even assured the closer spot when he returns. I'm willing to take my chances though.
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Kelly Shoppach - 8 total at bats and he is on the disabled list. Awesome. I need a new catcher and pickings are slim on the waiver wire. I am currently deciding between Miguel Olivo and John Baker. Good times.
Kevin Youkilis - he is in mid-season form already. Dude is just an OBP machine, his command of the strike zone is so ridiculous that almost 50% of the time he either takes a walk or is patient enough for a pitch that he can drive. My most expensive player is going to pay big dividends for me.
Brandon Phillips - off to a so-so start, I think he has one homer and one steal, which is a 25/25 pace so I'm okay with the numbers. Only complaint is that it seems he is struggling at the plate with runners in scoring position. Not worried though, his numbers will be there at the end.
Erick Aybar - not running like the lead-off man for a Mike Scoscia team would be expected to. He is still the lead-off guy on a potent offense. I love his game in general, I think he'll get going sooner than later.
Aramis Ramirez - horrible batting average after a week and a half but has two taters. With A-Ram, all you worry about is the health. If he plays 150 games then he is a lock for .300-30-100. Just stay healthy big fella.
Adam LaRoche - a traditional slow starter. I think he has actually looked really good at the plate, just no homers yet (and that is why he is on my team). But normally he's a disaster in the first half, so if he can just be decent for now and then have his usual second half fiesta then we might be looking at 35 homers.
Kelly Johnson - tough to get a read on a guy hitting in front of the pitcher. He struggled in his first few games, then had three bombs in his next three games. With Miggy Montero on the DL, KJ moved up a spot in the order and is hitting seventh now. His one game with two bombs came out of the two slot - if he can move up into a more pivotal lineup spot, his numbers can be elite. But right now I'm still expecting the same 15/10 I was two weeks ago. Hasn't attempted a steal yet which is a little annoying but not panicking yet.
Nelson Cruz - do I really need to say it? Damn this boy is on fire. He spit hot fire like Dylan from Chappelle skit (what up Lupe). Six homers in his first thirty at-bats. If I can be a little picky, I mean I'm expecting twenty steals out of the kid so how about some singles so we can run a bit, heh? I love you Nelson.
Andrew McCutchen - Love. I just love watching this kid play baseball, that is all there is to it. I really regret not going the extra buck on him in my keeper league because I would love to be in the Andrew McCutchen business for the next four years. For now I only get to enjoy him in 2010 - maybe that will make me appreciate him more. One homer and five steals so far - he's gonna go 20/40.
Shane Victorino - struggled a bit out of the gate. Everyone blamed it on his new lineup spot (seventh). Now that J-Roll hit the DL, Vic is hitting lead-off and in his first game in the spot he went 4-5 with a triple, homer, and four RBIs. Maybe it was the lineup spot. He should get at least two and probably four weeks worth of lead-off ABs. Word.
Denard Span - one of the guys who watching him play is so much more important than his numbers after ten days. He's hitting under .200, but he is taking so many walks. He has so many long at-bats. When he does get on he is stealing bases and scoring runs. Basically, he is playing about as well as you can with a .150 batting average. Right now he is Larry Bird on an off night. When his jumper was not going down he would crash the boards, play defense and make sick passes. That's Denard Span right now.
Bobby Abreu - it must be Bobby. Bobby's just doin' his thang. Nothing to see here, just keep moving along while this thirty-six year old continues to be an OBP monster while contributing a little pop and speed.
Martin Prado - even though he is on my bench I am still keeping tabs on him. He's doin' his thang as well which is basically an empty .300 average. His biggest value to me is his multi-position eligibility. Any offensive player besides my shortstop and catcher can get injured and Prado will be able to fill in for them. Love that.
Cole Hamels - two bad outings vs. Washington. Well, bad outings surface stats wise. His strikeout and command numbers are there. Not worried.
Brett Anderson - twelve shutout innings to start the year. Kid just looks nasty, he's gonna be fun to own. Lets get to the seventh inning though in your next start, okay Brett? Thanks.
Scott Baker - one poor outing and one great outing. If he can avoid the terrible start he had last year then he's gonna be just fine.
Kevin Slowey - lacking his patented pinpoint control. Strikeouts are there though, he'll be fine.
Hiroki Kuroda - only one start so far but it was a beauty. Hopefully a harbinger of things to come.
Ian Kennedy - first start gave me a lot of hope. Second start was ugly. Has given up four homers so far. Jury's still out.
Brett Myers - ugly first outing, then had a beauty last night vs. St. Louis. Has ten K's in thirteen innings versus just three walks. I am cautiously optimistic.
Jason Hammel - did not get to watch his start but the numbers seemed decent enough, and it was at Coors where I already decided never to start him (due to his career numbers there, not because I am scared of Coors). He'll get some starts for me for good road match-ups.
Joakim Soria - kid is electric when he gets to pitch, unfortunately his team hates him and he is just not going to get enough opportunities. Love his skills though.
Kevin Gregg - just picked him up two nights ago. His stats won't start for me until Monday but he has officially been named the closer. Crossing my fingers that this one's gonna work out. If not, plenty of other saves will come into the league.
One transaction note - after Myers' great start last night, I offered him straight up for Brad Lidge. Trying to sell high I guess, but Lidge is injured and not even assured the closer spot when he returns. I'm willing to take my chances though.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010
How YOU Doin'?
It is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a marathon, not a sprint. I need to repeat this mantra to myself roughly 1,048,580 times per day. Just over one week of the baseball season has passed. There are twenty-five more of them. Beware of the small sample size. Whether you are in first or last place, we are still comfortably in the part of the season where one great day or one horrible day can send you to first or last place easily. With that said, lets take stock of how my first 10 days have gone, where I stand, if I've made any moves, etc.
Keeper Team:
As of right this second I am in sixth place and twelve points out of first. After each of my five starting pitchers have pitched twice, I can comfortably blame their slow starts for my slow start. CC Sabathia followed up a pretty bad start (fantasy wise) against Boston with a almost no hitter vs Tampa on Saturday. Dan Haren has one great and one horrible start under his belt. Yovani Gallardo and James Shields have both sucked twice. And Scott Baker has split his first two starts. Once these guys find their groove I'll have no worries. My four closer strategy is already paying dividends as I lead the league in saves so far. My offense has been pretty average so far but all I need from them is to be just a little above average and I'll be set. The verdict? It's all good in the hood. Not worried at all, this team is a winner barring injuries. What's that? Have I stayed healthy these first ten days? Um, no. I have Brad Hawpe day to day with a strained quadriceps, and he was off to a scorching start. I have his teammate Carlos Gonzalez day to day with strained hamstring, he too was off to a monster start although he is 0-2 on the base paths. Then there is Jayson Werth who Monday's game with a undisclosed hip injury. Supposedly its fine and it is totally minor, yet he is already known to be sitting out Wednesday's game. Awesome. All in all these ailments are not major so I am not too worried....yet. I have not yet made or received any trade offers in this league, however I have made two free agent pickups. The first pickup for everyone in the league was a freebie in terms of roster space, meaning you do not have to drop anyone as rosters expanded by one spot. With this freebie I picked up Gio Gonzalez, starting pitcher on the Oakland A's for $1. Each team gets $35 in FAAB (free agent acquisition budget). You can bid anywhere from $1 to $35 on a player, so there is a maximum of 35 pickups for the year. They must be used wisely. My second transaction was dropping Gil Meche and picking up outfielder Scott Podsednik of the KC Royals. Meche is a combination of injured and bad, so he was dead weight. Meanwhile, Pods is off to a scorching start with five steals in the first week. I immediately put him in my lineup for one of my injured guys and he rewarded me with a steal off the bat. Good Pods, good boy. BTW - my team name here is The Trinity Killers - I'll be referring to it as such going forward instead of "my keeper team".
Redraft League:
I'll be referring to this squad by its name as well in the future, Cool HWIP. This team is off to a pretty good start. The offense, its strong suit for sure, is plugging away as expected with a nice mix of power and speed from my big dogs. Some guys are off to slow starts like Aramis Ramirez and Adam LaRoche. Others are scorching like Andrew McCutchen (five steals) and Nelson Cruz (five homers). If we were able to nab a second closer in the auction we'd be even further ahead but Joakim Soria was only able to secure one save in the first week (blew one vs Detroit on a clutch homer by Miguel Cabrera - can't blame him there). All in all, its going according to plan and I'm happy with where I'm at here. I made one trade offer this week trying to turn one stud closer (Soria) into two good closers (Chad Qualls and Jon Rausch) to a team that had a surplus of closers. They said no, can't really blame them. I was offered Ryan Franklin straight up for Brett Anderson, I had to laugh and tell the guy he was not even close. I don't think he was trying to insult me though, he was just using it as a starting point as his next offer included Jonathan Broxton. It was hard turning down anything containing a top three closer but I am sticking to my guns that I will find a closer on the waiver wire eventually. Which leads me to my next point - in this league there is no FAAB, instead there is a traditional waiver wire priority system. As of last night I was sitting in the #2 spot. At about 9:30pm last night Kevin Gregg, Toronto's "setup" guy collected his third save in as many opportunities while their "closer" was watching from the bench after blowing his third save the night before. I decided to put the waiver claim in on him and as I'm typing this post, manager Cito Gaston has named Gregg the team's closer until further notice. Yay, me. If he can keep up the pace I'll be all set in saves and can chill on cruise control until some other needs arise.
That's about it for now - I'll keep you posted on how the rest of the week plays out.
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Keeper Team:
As of right this second I am in sixth place and twelve points out of first. After each of my five starting pitchers have pitched twice, I can comfortably blame their slow starts for my slow start. CC Sabathia followed up a pretty bad start (fantasy wise) against Boston with a almost no hitter vs Tampa on Saturday. Dan Haren has one great and one horrible start under his belt. Yovani Gallardo and James Shields have both sucked twice. And Scott Baker has split his first two starts. Once these guys find their groove I'll have no worries. My four closer strategy is already paying dividends as I lead the league in saves so far. My offense has been pretty average so far but all I need from them is to be just a little above average and I'll be set. The verdict? It's all good in the hood. Not worried at all, this team is a winner barring injuries. What's that? Have I stayed healthy these first ten days? Um, no. I have Brad Hawpe day to day with a strained quadriceps, and he was off to a scorching start. I have his teammate Carlos Gonzalez day to day with strained hamstring, he too was off to a monster start although he is 0-2 on the base paths. Then there is Jayson Werth who Monday's game with a undisclosed hip injury. Supposedly its fine and it is totally minor, yet he is already known to be sitting out Wednesday's game. Awesome. All in all these ailments are not major so I am not too worried....yet. I have not yet made or received any trade offers in this league, however I have made two free agent pickups. The first pickup for everyone in the league was a freebie in terms of roster space, meaning you do not have to drop anyone as rosters expanded by one spot. With this freebie I picked up Gio Gonzalez, starting pitcher on the Oakland A's for $1. Each team gets $35 in FAAB (free agent acquisition budget). You can bid anywhere from $1 to $35 on a player, so there is a maximum of 35 pickups for the year. They must be used wisely. My second transaction was dropping Gil Meche and picking up outfielder Scott Podsednik of the KC Royals. Meche is a combination of injured and bad, so he was dead weight. Meanwhile, Pods is off to a scorching start with five steals in the first week. I immediately put him in my lineup for one of my injured guys and he rewarded me with a steal off the bat. Good Pods, good boy. BTW - my team name here is The Trinity Killers - I'll be referring to it as such going forward instead of "my keeper team".
Redraft League:
I'll be referring to this squad by its name as well in the future, Cool HWIP. This team is off to a pretty good start. The offense, its strong suit for sure, is plugging away as expected with a nice mix of power and speed from my big dogs. Some guys are off to slow starts like Aramis Ramirez and Adam LaRoche. Others are scorching like Andrew McCutchen (five steals) and Nelson Cruz (five homers). If we were able to nab a second closer in the auction we'd be even further ahead but Joakim Soria was only able to secure one save in the first week (blew one vs Detroit on a clutch homer by Miguel Cabrera - can't blame him there). All in all, its going according to plan and I'm happy with where I'm at here. I made one trade offer this week trying to turn one stud closer (Soria) into two good closers (Chad Qualls and Jon Rausch) to a team that had a surplus of closers. They said no, can't really blame them. I was offered Ryan Franklin straight up for Brett Anderson, I had to laugh and tell the guy he was not even close. I don't think he was trying to insult me though, he was just using it as a starting point as his next offer included Jonathan Broxton. It was hard turning down anything containing a top three closer but I am sticking to my guns that I will find a closer on the waiver wire eventually. Which leads me to my next point - in this league there is no FAAB, instead there is a traditional waiver wire priority system. As of last night I was sitting in the #2 spot. At about 9:30pm last night Kevin Gregg, Toronto's "setup" guy collected his third save in as many opportunities while their "closer" was watching from the bench after blowing his third save the night before. I decided to put the waiver claim in on him and as I'm typing this post, manager Cito Gaston has named Gregg the team's closer until further notice. Yay, me. If he can keep up the pace I'll be all set in saves and can chill on cruise control until some other needs arise.
That's about it for now - I'll keep you posted on how the rest of the week plays out.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Redraft League Auction
On Saturday April 3rd, my fourteen team mixed league had its auction. This is possibly my favorite day of the year (and that does not even count the fact that the auction is followed by the Final Four. 12 hours of heaven). I like this auction more than my keeper league auction for a few reason. First, in the keeper league everyone pretty much has half of their rosters filled already, so it only lasts half as long. Second, I only really know a few guys in the keeper league. In this league, I've been playing with these guys for a long time now, there is a lot of pride and bragging rights on the line. Now that I set the record last year for most points in a season (129) and largest margin of victory (23), I have a ton of bragging rights and more importantly, I have a title to defend. Every chance I got I reminded everyone who won the title last year. Gracefully, of course.
For the first time every I executed my auction strategy pretty much to a tee. Usually in an auction atmosphere, all it takes is one guy in the room to like the same guy as much as you do and the bidding can get out of control. Once this happens you either wind up overpaying for one of "your guys" or you let the other guy overpay and you are left there needing to regroup and re-prioritize. Every year I prepare for an auction by making an ideal team, guessing that X player will go for Y value. This is an impossible endeavor as it is not realistic to say how thirteen other people are going to value every player. Nonetheless, I try. So I put together my "dream team" and then make plan b's, c's, and d's. Then as the auction goes on, in the dynamic environment that it is, I just roll with the punches and adjust and re-adjust as the market is established.
But this year? Different store. I somehow nailed almost every player value within a few bucks. It was uncanny. For instance, on my dream team, I had Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis for $19 and $30, respectively. Within ten minutes after the auction started, I owned both of these players for $19 and $30. This continued for most of the day. There were two instances where this did not happen and they were huge in terms of shaping my team.
First, I had my eye on Carlos Lee as I do every year. I'm a huge fan of consistency and reliability and that is what El Cabayo brings to the table. I know he is not going to hit 35-40 homers anymore, or steal 10 bases for that matter. But he is as solid as a .300-25-100 as there is. And that has a lot of value in my eyes. Let everyone else chase the shiny new objects (I'm looking at you, Jason Heyward). Anyway, the other thing I love is guys with 20 homer/20 steals pedigrees. I like to have as many guys as possible who can fill up the stat sheet on any given night as opposed to specialists, whether it is a 40 homer masher (at the expense of batting average i.e Carlos Pena) or a 60 stolen base thief (at the expense of power and/or average i.e. Michael Bourn). With that said, I need a little variety, and that is where Carlos Lee came in - I wanted to add him to an OF corps of Nelson Cruz (30 hr 20 sb 2009), Shane Victorino (10/30), Andrew McCutchen (10/20 in little more than half a season), and Denard Span (10/30). I decided on a hard cap of $25 on Carlos. He went for exactly $25 and it was not to me. So immediately I had to decide how to re-allocate that budgeted money. I wound up getting Bobby Abreu, another 15/25 type for $15. This means I will probably be a little light on power (but now better on speed). This led me to say I now need to pay what it takes for Adam LaRoche - one of "my guys" who I had pegged for around $10. I wound up getting him for $16 in order to assure me some more pop. Not the worst thing, I have no problem drafting for value and then trading for needs down the road.
The second curve ball was spending a few bucks over budget here and there - and before I knew it it added up and I was priced out of the closer market. I planned on spending about $15 on two closers. Early on I bid $11 Joakim Soria - half price enforcing, half thinking that was great value - and I the bidding stopped there. So now I need to find a sub-$5 closer. Didn't happen - I walked out of the draft with only one closer, albeit a stud one. So now I am left to play waiver wire closer roulette all year until I find another closer. The good news is that a ton of saves come into the league every year due to injury and job losses. I just hope I can find one before I am too far out of the saves derby.
So here's the squad:
Kelly Shoppach $1 - whatever, don't care about catchers
Kevin Youkilis $30 - .300/30/100 in the bank
Aramis Ramirez $19 - a $30 player when healthy
Adam LaRoche $16 - little pricey but I think he earns it, love his shot at 30/100 in the new digs
Brandon Phillips $28 - 25/25 in the bank out of my 2B? Yes please.
Erick Aybar $5 - love this guy - gonna contribute a quiet .285/25 steals/100 runs
Kelly Johnson $3 - my sleeper special, gonna go 15/10 as people say "really?". Really.
Nelson Cruz $28 - a straight up monster - has 40/30 upside
Andrew McCutchen $19 - 20/40 upside - serious mancrush here
Shane Victorino $15 - ho hum, .290/10/30/100+
Denard Span $15 - ho hum part 2, .290/10/30/100+
Bobby Abreu $15 - just hope this isn't the year he stops, need .290/15/25/100/100
Martin Prado $5 - my reserve guy who could fall out of bed and hit .300 and plays 1b/2b/3b
Cole Hamels $16 - an ace at a tier 3 price, I love when people focus on last year's stats only
Brett Anderson $13 - gonna go for $25+ next year
Scott Baker $9 - love that people refuse to buy into this guy, he's cash money in cleats
Kevin Slowey $5 - similar to Baker, a control freak with decent enough K/9 numbers
Hiroki Kuroda $3 - love
Ian Kennedy $1 - out of the Bronx and into the NL, this kid's gonna be special
Brett Myers $1 - my fantasy kryptonite, there is a fantasy ace somewhere in this guy
Jason Hammel $1 - underrated solid numbers last year, underrated money #'s away from Coors
Brandon League $2 - here's hoping Aardsma blows it and I'll have my 2nd closer, or.....
Joakim Soria $11 - here's hoping he breaks the saves record
All in all, I think this might be the best draft I've ever had in any fantasy sport. Imagine if I got a 2nd closer, then I'd really be in business. I'll need to acquire saves and probably some power in-season, but that shouldn't be an issue, especially since I'll have some speed and possibly even SP depth to trade from.
Can you say 'Repeat'? How 'bout 'Dynasty'? Get use to it.
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For the first time every I executed my auction strategy pretty much to a tee. Usually in an auction atmosphere, all it takes is one guy in the room to like the same guy as much as you do and the bidding can get out of control. Once this happens you either wind up overpaying for one of "your guys" or you let the other guy overpay and you are left there needing to regroup and re-prioritize. Every year I prepare for an auction by making an ideal team, guessing that X player will go for Y value. This is an impossible endeavor as it is not realistic to say how thirteen other people are going to value every player. Nonetheless, I try. So I put together my "dream team" and then make plan b's, c's, and d's. Then as the auction goes on, in the dynamic environment that it is, I just roll with the punches and adjust and re-adjust as the market is established.
But this year? Different store. I somehow nailed almost every player value within a few bucks. It was uncanny. For instance, on my dream team, I had Aramis Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis for $19 and $30, respectively. Within ten minutes after the auction started, I owned both of these players for $19 and $30. This continued for most of the day. There were two instances where this did not happen and they were huge in terms of shaping my team.
First, I had my eye on Carlos Lee as I do every year. I'm a huge fan of consistency and reliability and that is what El Cabayo brings to the table. I know he is not going to hit 35-40 homers anymore, or steal 10 bases for that matter. But he is as solid as a .300-25-100 as there is. And that has a lot of value in my eyes. Let everyone else chase the shiny new objects (I'm looking at you, Jason Heyward). Anyway, the other thing I love is guys with 20 homer/20 steals pedigrees. I like to have as many guys as possible who can fill up the stat sheet on any given night as opposed to specialists, whether it is a 40 homer masher (at the expense of batting average i.e Carlos Pena) or a 60 stolen base thief (at the expense of power and/or average i.e. Michael Bourn). With that said, I need a little variety, and that is where Carlos Lee came in - I wanted to add him to an OF corps of Nelson Cruz (30 hr 20 sb 2009), Shane Victorino (10/30), Andrew McCutchen (10/20 in little more than half a season), and Denard Span (10/30). I decided on a hard cap of $25 on Carlos. He went for exactly $25 and it was not to me. So immediately I had to decide how to re-allocate that budgeted money. I wound up getting Bobby Abreu, another 15/25 type for $15. This means I will probably be a little light on power (but now better on speed). This led me to say I now need to pay what it takes for Adam LaRoche - one of "my guys" who I had pegged for around $10. I wound up getting him for $16 in order to assure me some more pop. Not the worst thing, I have no problem drafting for value and then trading for needs down the road.
The second curve ball was spending a few bucks over budget here and there - and before I knew it it added up and I was priced out of the closer market. I planned on spending about $15 on two closers. Early on I bid $11 Joakim Soria - half price enforcing, half thinking that was great value - and I the bidding stopped there. So now I need to find a sub-$5 closer. Didn't happen - I walked out of the draft with only one closer, albeit a stud one. So now I am left to play waiver wire closer roulette all year until I find another closer. The good news is that a ton of saves come into the league every year due to injury and job losses. I just hope I can find one before I am too far out of the saves derby.
So here's the squad:
Kelly Shoppach $1 - whatever, don't care about catchers
Kevin Youkilis $30 - .300/30/100 in the bank
Aramis Ramirez $19 - a $30 player when healthy
Adam LaRoche $16 - little pricey but I think he earns it, love his shot at 30/100 in the new digs
Brandon Phillips $28 - 25/25 in the bank out of my 2B? Yes please.
Erick Aybar $5 - love this guy - gonna contribute a quiet .285/25 steals/100 runs
Kelly Johnson $3 - my sleeper special, gonna go 15/10 as people say "really?". Really.
Nelson Cruz $28 - a straight up monster - has 40/30 upside
Andrew McCutchen $19 - 20/40 upside - serious mancrush here
Shane Victorino $15 - ho hum, .290/10/30/100+
Denard Span $15 - ho hum part 2, .290/10/30/100+
Bobby Abreu $15 - just hope this isn't the year he stops, need .290/15/25/100/100
Martin Prado $5 - my reserve guy who could fall out of bed and hit .300 and plays 1b/2b/3b
Cole Hamels $16 - an ace at a tier 3 price, I love when people focus on last year's stats only
Brett Anderson $13 - gonna go for $25+ next year
Scott Baker $9 - love that people refuse to buy into this guy, he's cash money in cleats
Kevin Slowey $5 - similar to Baker, a control freak with decent enough K/9 numbers
Hiroki Kuroda $3 - love
Ian Kennedy $1 - out of the Bronx and into the NL, this kid's gonna be special
Brett Myers $1 - my fantasy kryptonite, there is a fantasy ace somewhere in this guy
Jason Hammel $1 - underrated solid numbers last year, underrated money #'s away from Coors
Brandon League $2 - here's hoping Aardsma blows it and I'll have my 2nd closer, or.....
Joakim Soria $11 - here's hoping he breaks the saves record
All in all, I think this might be the best draft I've ever had in any fantasy sport. Imagine if I got a 2nd closer, then I'd really be in business. I'll need to acquire saves and probably some power in-season, but that shouldn't be an issue, especially since I'll have some speed and possibly even SP depth to trade from.
Can you say 'Repeat'? How 'bout 'Dynasty'? Get use to it.
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Friday, April 9, 2010
Keeper League Auction
Okay - here is what I came into the 2010 auction with (remember, anyone I have here I signed to a contract in one of the previous three seasons):
1B - Adrian Gonzalez $10 - signed through 2010
1B - Joey Votto $4 - signed through 2010
SS - Hanley Ramirez - $28 - signed through 2010
OF - Jayson Werth - $6 - signed through 2010
OF - Jason Kubel - $6 - signed through 2011
SP - CC Sabathia - $33 - signed through 2010
SP - Dan Haren - $13 - signed through 2010
SP - Yovani Gallardo - $9 - signed through 2011
SP - Scott Baker - $6 - signed through 2012
SP - James Shields - $1 - signed through 2010
SP - Gil Meche - $4 - signed through 2010
I also had $13 in penalties counting against my cap coming into the season based on guys who I have cut in the past who were still under contract.
As you can see, I have a ton of cash coming off the books at the end of the season. The only guys I have signed past this season are Kuble at $2, Gallardo at $9, and Baker at $6. Is this a good thing? Yes and no. It's good because what I have learned over the past few years is that it is hard enough predicting who is going to be good THIS season, let alone predicting a players performance one, two, or three years down the road. The other great thing about this is that I'll have a ton of cash to blow at next year's auction. The bad news? Having a ton of cash does you no good if most of the good players are already under contract. These are things to consider mostly after I have drafted my team and when I am assigning contracts.
Heading into this year's auction I thought my starting pitching was pretty much stacked. My strategy was to go heavy on offense and get as many closers as possible. Since this league allows you to change your starting lineup every day, and also limits innings pitched on the year to 1,450, I have learned that it behooves you to have a ton of relievers because you can keep four or five of them in your lineup at all times and just cycle in your starting pitchers on the days that they pitch. It also allows you to accrue innings more steadily while giving you opportunity for saves, cheap wins, strikeouts, etc.
Here's how it turned out:
C Kurt Suzuki $1
3B Troy Glaus $3
2B Brandon Phillips $28
SS Marco Scutaro $12 (don't ask, it was circumstantial)
OF Chris Coghlan $10
OF Brad Hawpe $7
OF Carlos Gonzalez $20
OF Rajai Davis $8
RP Billy Wagner $10
RP Rafael Soriano $10
RP Octavio Dotel $8
RP Matt Capps $6
SP Ted Lilly $6
SP Jason Hammel $2
I did not love this team at first, but when looking at the whole team together I am very happy. I think I can pretty much dominate pitching and be middle of the road in all offensive categories. If it works out that way that should be enough for a title. It is just tough for me to rely on pitching. I'm a hitting guy, it is so much more reliable and pitching is so inconsistent year to year. I'll consider this an experimental year. Either way I'll be starting from pretty much a clean slate next year as Jason Hammel is the only guy I signed for more than one year. I just did not love any of my guys as long term prospects. So there you have it, solid team top to bottom with expectations nothing short of a championship. I'll keep you updated.
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1B - Adrian Gonzalez $10 - signed through 2010
1B - Joey Votto $4 - signed through 2010
SS - Hanley Ramirez - $28 - signed through 2010
OF - Jayson Werth - $6 - signed through 2010
OF - Jason Kubel - $6 - signed through 2011
SP - CC Sabathia - $33 - signed through 2010
SP - Dan Haren - $13 - signed through 2010
SP - Yovani Gallardo - $9 - signed through 2011
SP - Scott Baker - $6 - signed through 2012
SP - James Shields - $1 - signed through 2010
SP - Gil Meche - $4 - signed through 2010
I also had $13 in penalties counting against my cap coming into the season based on guys who I have cut in the past who were still under contract.
As you can see, I have a ton of cash coming off the books at the end of the season. The only guys I have signed past this season are Kuble at $2, Gallardo at $9, and Baker at $6. Is this a good thing? Yes and no. It's good because what I have learned over the past few years is that it is hard enough predicting who is going to be good THIS season, let alone predicting a players performance one, two, or three years down the road. The other great thing about this is that I'll have a ton of cash to blow at next year's auction. The bad news? Having a ton of cash does you no good if most of the good players are already under contract. These are things to consider mostly after I have drafted my team and when I am assigning contracts.
Heading into this year's auction I thought my starting pitching was pretty much stacked. My strategy was to go heavy on offense and get as many closers as possible. Since this league allows you to change your starting lineup every day, and also limits innings pitched on the year to 1,450, I have learned that it behooves you to have a ton of relievers because you can keep four or five of them in your lineup at all times and just cycle in your starting pitchers on the days that they pitch. It also allows you to accrue innings more steadily while giving you opportunity for saves, cheap wins, strikeouts, etc.
Here's how it turned out:
C Kurt Suzuki $1
3B Troy Glaus $3
2B Brandon Phillips $28
SS Marco Scutaro $12 (don't ask, it was circumstantial)
OF Chris Coghlan $10
OF Brad Hawpe $7
OF Carlos Gonzalez $20
OF Rajai Davis $8
RP Billy Wagner $10
RP Rafael Soriano $10
RP Octavio Dotel $8
RP Matt Capps $6
SP Ted Lilly $6
SP Jason Hammel $2
I did not love this team at first, but when looking at the whole team together I am very happy. I think I can pretty much dominate pitching and be middle of the road in all offensive categories. If it works out that way that should be enough for a title. It is just tough for me to rely on pitching. I'm a hitting guy, it is so much more reliable and pitching is so inconsistent year to year. I'll consider this an experimental year. Either way I'll be starting from pretty much a clean slate next year as Jason Hammel is the only guy I signed for more than one year. I just did not love any of my guys as long term prospects. So there you have it, solid team top to bottom with expectations nothing short of a championship. I'll keep you updated.
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Thursday, April 8, 2010
Intro
Welcome to the initial post to my 2010 fantasy baseball blog. I play in two leagues and plan on updating my progress on a daily basis. If my season is as successful as last then this will be fun for me. If it's not, well, then it'll probably be pretty miserable. I like both leagues equally which is rare. Usually when I play in more than one fantasy league I care about some teams more than others. Here's the background on my leagues:
Keeper League
Thirteen team mixed rotisserie auction league. As opposed to most keeper leagues that get to designate their keepers right before the season starts, after we buy a player in the auction, we have one week to sign that player to a contract. The contract can run anywhere from one to four years. There is no salary escalation. If you sign someone for more than one year and he sucks or gets injured, your only recourse is to drop him, in which case 60% of his salary will count against your salary cap the following year, 40% the year after that, and 20% the year after that (assuming he is signed for 4 years). You can also trade said player and then the contract is no longer your problem, but that is much easier said than done. This league is awesome, the auction, salary cap, and contract situation adds so many layers of strategy that aren't seen in normal fantasy leagues. It is not perfect though. It is not deep enough for my liking. I would love to expand to fifteen teams but I have a feeling this won't ever happen. In my next post I'll detail my 2010 roster, expectations, and mindset before, during, and after the auction in relation to the players I rostered and how they fit in. In 2009 I finished in second place, 2.5 points out of first place. Not only was this an excruciatingly small amount to lose by, but I had a large lead through most of the season. On paper my team was far superior to everyone else's. But I blew it, no other way around it. 2.5 freaking points. I vow to get revenge this year, I will win this league if it kills me.
Redraft League
Fourteen team mixed rotisserie auction league. Very similar specs as the other league except there's one more team and three fewer roster spots. In this league we only start seven pitchers as opposed to the standard nine (I way prefer nine), and only twelve offensive players (keeper league starts thirteen with the thirteenth being an extra utility spot). I love this league also. This league is comprised of mostly guys I know that are all cocky and love to talk trash. So you can imagine how much I loved it last year when I not only won the league, but I set a league record for most points (127) and margin of victory (23). At my auction last week I walked around with my chest puffed out so far it was ridiculous. I have no doubts I can match last year. Well, I have no doubts I can win again. Scoring 120+ and winning by 20+ might be getting a little greedy, but God knows I'm gonna try.
So in my next few posts I'll tell you how my teams filled out and why I rostered certain guys, what my strategy going into the auctions were and if they worked out or not.
Throughout the season I plan on giving daily updates of the standings in both leagues, how my boys are playing, trades and free agent pickups I make, etc. It's going to be a fun journey, enjoy the ride with me!
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Keeper League
Thirteen team mixed rotisserie auction league. As opposed to most keeper leagues that get to designate their keepers right before the season starts, after we buy a player in the auction, we have one week to sign that player to a contract. The contract can run anywhere from one to four years. There is no salary escalation. If you sign someone for more than one year and he sucks or gets injured, your only recourse is to drop him, in which case 60% of his salary will count against your salary cap the following year, 40% the year after that, and 20% the year after that (assuming he is signed for 4 years). You can also trade said player and then the contract is no longer your problem, but that is much easier said than done. This league is awesome, the auction, salary cap, and contract situation adds so many layers of strategy that aren't seen in normal fantasy leagues. It is not perfect though. It is not deep enough for my liking. I would love to expand to fifteen teams but I have a feeling this won't ever happen. In my next post I'll detail my 2010 roster, expectations, and mindset before, during, and after the auction in relation to the players I rostered and how they fit in. In 2009 I finished in second place, 2.5 points out of first place. Not only was this an excruciatingly small amount to lose by, but I had a large lead through most of the season. On paper my team was far superior to everyone else's. But I blew it, no other way around it. 2.5 freaking points. I vow to get revenge this year, I will win this league if it kills me.
Redraft League
Fourteen team mixed rotisserie auction league. Very similar specs as the other league except there's one more team and three fewer roster spots. In this league we only start seven pitchers as opposed to the standard nine (I way prefer nine), and only twelve offensive players (keeper league starts thirteen with the thirteenth being an extra utility spot). I love this league also. This league is comprised of mostly guys I know that are all cocky and love to talk trash. So you can imagine how much I loved it last year when I not only won the league, but I set a league record for most points (127) and margin of victory (23). At my auction last week I walked around with my chest puffed out so far it was ridiculous. I have no doubts I can match last year. Well, I have no doubts I can win again. Scoring 120+ and winning by 20+ might be getting a little greedy, but God knows I'm gonna try.
So in my next few posts I'll tell you how my teams filled out and why I rostered certain guys, what my strategy going into the auctions were and if they worked out or not.
Throughout the season I plan on giving daily updates of the standings in both leagues, how my boys are playing, trades and free agent pickups I make, etc. It's going to be a fun journey, enjoy the ride with me!
best mortgage deals | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Marine VHF | Dog Stroller | pvs 14 | backgammon set | Info Prodigy Review | The Linden Method | wooden rabbit huches | high performance car insurance
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