Fantasy Baseball Teams/News/Updates

[wadc45]

I am going to start a thread for people to talk about their drafts and whatever else is newsworthy in the roto world...

I am in the third (and final) year of a three year keeper league on ESPN. We were at 99.7% and 98.6% as far as league production is concerned the last two years. The drop off last year was because one owner out of the twelve stopped participating. That person's team was sold to someone else for this final year. This may be my last year doing serious fantasy baseball as it is too time consuming.

We are each allowed five keepers. After getting burned by Aaron Boone going into the 2004 season, I decided to focus at the end of 2004 on bettering my keeper situation, since I was out of the running. My keepers this year were Hank Blalock, Michael Young, Miguel Cabrera, Carl Crawford, and Victor Martinez. Each team has the following positions: C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, 5 OFs, 2B/SS, 1B/3B, Utility, 9 active pitchers, 3 bench spots, and 1 IR spot.

Here is how my draft went (I had the 4th pick, then the 21st, 28th, etc.):

Round: Player
6: Eric Gagne (the owner who had him kept Brad Lidge instead)
7: Bret Boone (fills by 2B spot with a potential stud if he bounces back)
8: David Wright (probably too early considering I had Blalock but I couldn't resist)
9: A.J. Burnett (200+ Ks now that he is healthy)
10: Shingo Takatsu (I started the second run on closers)
11: Livan Hernandez (needed another quality starter)
12: Danys Baez (some cheap saves should be stick with TB)
13: Jason Giambi (all the on-field news has been good lately, could be a major steal and 1B is deep is he doesn't pan out)
14: Zack Greinke (looking back one of my few picks I am not happy about)
15: LaTroy Hawkins (could be a huge steal if he keeps the closer job once Borowski is healthy)
16: Lew Ford (potential 20/20 and the best OF on the board at the time)
17: Bronson Arroyo (primed for a monster year)
18: Matt Holliday (most experts expect 30+ HRs out of him, love Coors sluggers)
19: Casey Blake (fills my Util role or another 1B/OF spot if necessary)
20: Clint Barnes (needed a 2B/SS to fill that spot, and I like his upside, especially now that he may be hitting leadoff)
21: Jeremy Reed (.300 and 25+ steals in round 21 is fine with me)
22: Wade Miller (will start the season in the IR slot, allowing me to pick up Jesse Crain)
23: Salomon Torres (could be the closer in Pittsburgh if Mesa falters)
24: Joel Pineiro (supposedly is looking sharp and won't have to be the ace of the staff)
25: Craig Monroe (an absolutely steal, 30 HR potential in the last round)

So my lineup looks like this:

P: Eric Gagne
P: A.J. Burnett
P: Shingo Takatsu
P: Livan Hernandez
P: Danys Baez
P: Zach Greinke
P: LaTroy Hawkins
P: Jesse Crain
P: Salomon Torres
Bench: Joel Pineiro
Bench: Bronson Arroyo
IR: Miller

C: Victor Martinez
1B: Jason Giambi
2B: Bret Boone
SS: Michael Young
3B: Hank Blalock
OF: Miguel Cabrera
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Lew Ford
OF: Matt Holliday
OF: Jeremy Reed
2B/SS: Clint Barnes
1B/3B: David Wright
Util: Casey Blake
Bench: Craing Monroe

I honestly don't think my draft could have gone much better, except I am a little short to start on starting pitching. This is definitely the best draft I have had out of the three years. Hopefully I get some backdoor wins out of my closers and middle relievers. Giambi is the big question mark. If he and Boone can bounce back to hit around .275 and hit 30+ HRs each, I will be happy. At least if Giambi falters, 1B is so deep I should be okay. Right now, guys like Ben Broussard, Adam LaRoche, Nick Johnson, and Casey Kotchman are available, or I could use Blake there and pick up the best available player to fill my utility spot. My league puts a huge premium on speed and saves, two areas I am strong in.

Any input or feedback is welcomed...good luck!

 

[wadc45]

anyone with any info on when the Red Sox plan to put Miller on the DL would be appreciated too. All I can find is that he is probably going to miss the first month of the season, but I can't but him in the IR slot until he goes on the DL.

c'mon...someone else post their fantasy draft results. I'd love to see who everyone else is drafting.

 

[redskinbucksfan]

I don't have access to the order I picked them in, but it is a 14 team, no keeper league, and here is my team.

Active:

1B Mark Texeira
2B Jeff Kent
SS Nomar Garciaparra
3B Dallas McPherson
OF Scott Podsednik
OF Milton Bradley
OF Jason Bay
C AJ Pierzynski
DH Cliff Floyd
CI Shawn Green
MI Angel Berroa
P Jason Schmidt
P Carl PAvano
P Freddy Garcia
P Kelvim Escobar
P Russ Ortiz
RP Brad Lidge
RP Danys Baez
RP Jeremy Affeldt

Reserves
OF Jeremy Reed
IB Carlos Pena
P Kip Wells

It's tough in the 14 team league...

 

[wadc45]

Teixeira, Bay, Garcia, Reed, Lidge, and Schmidt are all great gets. I think Kent is a bit of a risk but they have a solid lineup. The park is the only thing that could hurt him. I really like Berroa and Nomar to bounce back nicely. McPherson is the big question mark. Some people think he could put up huge numbers and win ROY over Reed, or end up back at AAA because of the logjam between him, Rob Quinlan, and Casey Kotchman at 1B/3B/DH.

14 teams does make it tough. I thought 12 with 25 rounds was a lot, but 14 teams with 22 rounds spreads the talent out even thinner.

 

[Piney]

14 teams does make it tough. I thought 12 with 25 rounds was a lot, but 14 teams with 22 rounds spreads the talent out even thinner.

14 Teams? I wish... I am in a 20 team league that will be drafting Saturday morning. Of course this is my big league with each team paying $100 to get in and first place getting $1,250. Thankfully it is a head to head league over Roto. I am hoping one of the big 3 drop to me at #4, if all else fails I pick Miguel Tejada and wait until #37!!! OUCH!

About your initial draft I actually like Zack Greinke, but just a tad bit early. Won't get you wins but should help your ERA & WHIP.

Oh yeah, Wade Miller from what I heard was he might be back in May.

 

[wadc45]

14 Teams? I wish... I am in a 20 team league that will be drafting Saturday morning. Of course this is my big league with each team paying $100 to get in and first place getting $1,250. Thankfully it is a head to head league over Roto. I am hoping one of the big 3 drop to me at #4, if all else fails I pick Miguel Tejada and wait until #37!!! OUCH!

About your initial draft I actually like Zack Greinke, but just a tad bit early. Won't get you wins but should help your ERA & WHIP.

Oh yeah, Wade Miller from what I heard was he might be back in May.

Nothing wrong with getting the best producing SS in the game. But that is a hella long wait for another pick. I couldn't imagine being in a league with 20 teams. The only thing great about our league is how competitive it is. You have to be on top of everything that is going on, because every year it goes down to the wire. The league production percentages speak for themselves. Make sure you post your team on here after your draft.

Definitely too early for Greinke...it is the one pick in the draft that pissed me off. I could have done better with that pick. Here's how that round went:

14th:
1: Lyle Overbay
2: Matt Lawton
3: Rafael Palmeiro
4: Zach Greinke
5: Bob Wickman (already had three closers at that point)
6: Omar Infante (why?)
7: Matt Morris (may start season on the DL)
8: Erubiel Durazo (I could have taken him, but I had just taken Giambi in the 13th)
9: Mike Adams (see Wickman)
10: Greg Maddux (not great, not bad)
11: Larry Walker (a steal if he stays healthy...big IF)
12: Brad Radke (same as Maddux)

Didn't really miss out on anything there except for maybe Durazo. A better pick for me might have been Jeremy Bonderman, who went in the 16th, Chris Carpenter, who went in the 15th, or Jake Westbrook, who went in the 16th.

 

[Piney]

I really like Bonderman this year and I am hoping he slips through the cracks to me. But I would not have minded Maddux or Radke in that spot.

Yeah, that is the one thing about 20 teams. Only about 14 will be very competitive, the other 6 play every year and are horrible. Must be nice to not care about throwing money away. But it makes the draft very interesting as they don't do homework and pick according to the Yahoo Ratings. Easy to figure who will be gone or not when it snakes around.

It is a long wait but it is real important to do your homework and reverse draft the players you want at the lower levels to help you decide what direction you are going. I have studied so many mock drafts so I have ideas who will be available. My draft board is quite interesting, I rated the top 4 players then between 5-30 just crossed them off not thinking they will get to me. Makes you realize what direction you need to go.

 

[wadc45]

Anyone looking for some potentially ultra-cheap saves:

The Red Sox have reached a tentative agreement with the Rockies on a deal to send Byung-Hyun Kim to Colorado for an undisclosed minor league player, the Boston Herald reports. The deal is pending approval by Red Sox ownership, who must agree to the provision of paying more than $5.6 million of Kim's $6 million salary.

He won't be handed the closer job because the Rockies have already committed to Tsao, but if Tsao continues to battle injuries, there is a good chance that Kim could end up with a few saves this year.

The fun things about a draft that deep is scouting prospects...guys like Jason Bartlett, Huston Street, or Gabe Gross. But it means you really have to do your homework.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

kim couldnt keep the ball in the park in arizona/boston.....what makes you think he can get the job done in colorado?

 

[wadc45]

kim couldnt keep the ball in the park in arizona/boston.....what makes you think he can get the job done in colorado?

who else is going to close games in Colorado if Tsao continues to battle injuries? like I said...some potentially cheap saves. Shawn Chacon was absolutely God-awful, but he still picked up 35 saves last year and was probably available at the very end of most drafts. Kim could be that guy this year.

from today's chat on ESPN:

Tristan H. Cockcroft: (10:08 AM ET ) I think Kim would probably find his way into that closer's role if he does wind up there. If you can grab Kim as a free agent in larger leagues -- think deep reserve lists -- then it's worth a shot. He's almost assuredly going to be traded the next few days. Don't expect a good ERA or WHIP in Coors, however.

 

[Piney]

I have a written rule for all of my fantasyt teams... NEVER pick up a Colorado pitcher but ALWAYS take Colorado hitters :)

Which is why Holliday is a huge target for me, when to pick him will be very interesting though.

 

[wadc45]

I think that is pretty much everyone's rule, unless you are desperate for saves. Maybe Jeff Francis can break that rule?

Holliday is a bargain slugger. I expect something around .280/25+/80+ out of him this year. I am also hoping that Barnes at least locks down the #2 spot in the order if not the leadoff spot (that's where he has hit his whole minor league career). There was some talk that he may hit leadoff over Miles, but then in yesteray's game, Atkins hit second behind Miles and Barnes hit 7th.

Kim to Colorado went through last night. Tsao may still start the season on the DL.

 

[wadc45]

Gagne going on the DL hurts. Supposedly Brazoban or Carrara will close while he is out.