My Fantasy Baseball and Football Blog

Football catchup

2009-10-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's only week 4 and I'm already behind schedule....

Team 1 (1-2)

Week 2: lost

I lost by less than 1.5 points. Schaub went off on my bench and Hasselbeck got hurt at 5 points. Disappointing loss

Week 3: Win

I played against a new fantasy football player whose favorite team appears to be the Bengals. Only 1 RB, 1 WR, and TE were not on the Bengals... I won by almost 40. Another good game from Schaub led the destruction

Week 4: Projected Points- 91.47

MOV: 4.56

This team isn't hit hard with the first bye week, only Fitz is out.

Schaub

Andre

Jennings

Holt

McGahee

Coffee

Daniels

Kaeding

San Diego

The biggest pickups in this team were the RBs. McGahee has just been on fire since the start of the season, and with Gore's injury Coffee becomes the guy to get. We'll see how this one plays out. RBs on the bench are Kevin Smith (hurt), Ryan Grant (vs Minn) and Lynch (fresh off suspension, unsure of timeshare with Fred Jackson). i also picked up Pierre Garcon, WR of the Colts, who seems to be filling in for Anthony Gonzales. Holt gets the nod because of Tenn's awful pass D. I upgraded to Owen Daniels at Te because the Raiders are the worst team I have seen in awhile and I can't count on Zach Miller

Team 2 (2-1)

Week 2 I won by 4 points largely because Matt Ryan and Nate Kaeding over performed for me and Tenn D put up -1 for my opponent

Week 3 I got crushed by Allen largely because MJD went off for 30+ points and I had no studly play.

Week 4 projections: 80.40

MOV: unknown-opponent has not fix bye weeks yet

This bye week hurts this team. I lose Matt Ryan, Fitz and the Atl D.

Sanchez

Calvin

Garcon

Coffee

Donald Brown

Heath Miller

McFadden

Kaeding

Chicago

Brown vs Seattle and Run DMC at Houston get the nod over Grant vs Minn. I was lucky to get Coffee in this league too, and I have Manningham on the bench. Not sure what to make of the young Giants WR yet, but it was a tossup with him or Garcon to fill in for Fitz. Sanchez has been managing the games well, and he will have to pass a lot vs NO I think, so the chance for some points from the off week QB is nice.

Team 3 (1-2)

Week 2 I lost because I did not start Schaub, and although Flacco played great, it wasn't enough.

Week3 I broke 100 points and won by about 6 on the back on Schaub, Celek, and SD D. I was able to overcome an MJD thrashing in this league

Week 4:

Projected Points: 85.88

MOV: only up by 4 and opponent has yet to replace Fitz. This one will be close

Schaub

Moss

Colston

Garcon

DMC

Choice

Davis

Carney

Vernon Davis fills in for Celek on the bye, who was an amazing free agent pickup at TE. I was unable to snag Coffee in this league, but Choice out of Dallas is the next best thing. With Felix out and Barber still hurting, Choice will see a lot of action vs Den, a D which has surprised everyone so far. Garcon makes the cut over Manningham again, and I'm sitting both Sproles and LT vs Pitt. That LT first round pick has come back to screw me...Kevin Smith also benched because he isn' 100%. Saint vs Jets will be interesting. i'd like to see if Revis can shut down Colston like he has shut down every other stud this year.

I'll also have my eye on the Pitt game and Rashard Mendenhall. I had to drop him for Coffee in Team 2, but with Parker battling turf toe, Mendenhall could have a good game and have value in week 5, a bad week for my RBs across the board based on byes and matchups. I'm not comfortable dropping any of my players for him yet, and I only hope I can snag him if he puts up a good game. I just couldn't pull the trigger this week.

I'll also be monitoring Darren McFadden...the Raiders are simply atrocious and the more they play, the more I realize I can't start any of their players. His time to prove himself is running out....

Football Week 2 Rosters and Thoughts

2009-09-19T06:43:00.001-07:00

Here are the rosters I'm trotting out for week 2

Team 1.

QB Matt Hasselbeck

WR Larry Fitzgerald

WR Andre Johnson

WR Greg Jennings

RB Ryan Grant

RB Kevin Smith

TE Zach Miller

K Nate Kaeding

DEF Green Bay

Roster Moves: I swapped Schaub out for Hasselbeck, Schaub has to prove himself to me now after that terrible performance. Andre might suffer a little, but there is no way you can bench that guy. Added Carnell Williams and Green Bay Def, dropped Anthony Gonzales and Chester Taylor. Gonzo is going to miss significant time, and Cadillac looks like he did a few years ago and is worth a bench spot. I don't see Taylor having a huge game until AP goes down, and I don't see AP going down against Detroit. Once again, my WRs are going to make or break the team, it will be interesting to see how Fitz deals with triple coverage all day with Boldin and Breaston banged up and less effective. Hightower could be poised for another monster game in the passing department.

My opponent has Drew Brees, so this game could be very close, or he could completely blow me out.

Projected Points: 96. MOV: 9

Team 2

QB Matt Ryan

WR Larry Fitz

WR Calvin Johnson

RB Ryan Grant

RB Kevin Smith

TE Zach Miller

W/R Darren McFadden

K Nate Kaeding

DEF Atlanta

Roster moves: McFadden gets the nod over Donald Brown at the flex spot. I took a chance on Brown and it didn't cost me, but the Raiders are showing that they can use a 2 RB system effectively and that Run DMC has value. Plus he is playing a soft D in KC. Added Atlanta Def and WR Earl Bennett, dropped Chicago Def and Jerious Norwood. Urlacher's injury makes the Bears D unplayable in my opinion, and Atlanta really wowed me. Sure it was against the Dolphins, but I think I picked up a talented squad. Bennett is an option for Week 4 when I get decimated by byes. He got the most targets from Cutler and will probably emerge as their go to receiver. I wanted to lock him up early and Norwood wasn't going to do anything huge for awhile. I guess it really only makes sense to handcuff players if you own them. I am also keeping my eye on Mark Sanchez. Another good game out of him and he'll be my backup over Cassel. I'll need a QB in week 4 for Atl's bye.

I'm up against Peyton Manning and AP, so this one could get ugly. It will be interesting to see who benefits the most from Gonzo's injury.

Projected Points: 93.61. MOV: -4.27

Team 3

QB Joe Flacco

WR Randy Moss

WR Marques Colston

WR Nate Burleson

RB Kevin Smith

RB Darren McFadden

TE Brent Celek

K John Carney

DEF San Diego

Roster Moves: I claimed Celek off of waivers as soon as I could. I couldn't risk losing a good TE option. Good riddance Anthony Fasano. Next, I swapped David Garrard and Felix Jones for Joe Flacco and Nate Burleson. It was a toss up between Bennett and Burleson, but I thought diversity would be a better plan at the start of the year. Justin Gage was also considered, but I just have a good feeling about Seattle's passing attack this year. Joe Flacco looks like a stud in the making and is just head and shoulder's above Garrard. I even decided to start Joe over Schaub. Schaub really left a sour taste in my mouth. I might be overreacting, but at least Schaub is still on the team if and when he returns to form.

The big news on this team is the LT injury. It was a risk to draft him and I even handcuffed him with Sproles so I might be OK in the long run, but there is no way I'm starting Sproles against Baltimore this week. McFadden should get plenty of good looks against KC, and that will be a key to me pulling this one out. I don't feel like any of my opponent's players will explode against me this week, so I'm pretty sure I can tip the scales in my favor.

Projected Points 87. MOV -1

Kevin Smith vs the great Minn run defense is going to be the key matchup across all my teams. I also need Larry Fitz to produce in tough coverage.

Football Week 1 Results

2009-09-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

Week 1 has come and gone, and I only managed to win one matchup.

Team 1: lost 91.94-99.42

Busts: Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson combined for 10 points.

Breakouts: Reggie Wayne and Tom Brady wrecked me, and MoJo also over performed.

A good game from Jennings, solid RB play, and excellent TE points from Zach Miller made this one closer that it should have been.

Concerns: Slight concerns for Schaub and Andre, I have Hasselbeck as a backup. Anthony Gonzales got hurt and it looks pretty severe. He is my number 4 WR right now, so I'm not sure if I should drop him or ride out the injury. It's also hard to tell if week1 numbers from WRs that had good games will stand up over the season.

Team 2 Won 92.26-78.28

Busts: No real busts here, but I should have started McFadden over Donald Brown. McFadden and Bush are sharing carries, but McFadden wracked up the yards. he did have a fumble though...Oakland looks to be an actual NFL franchise this year, and they have run the ball well the past few years.

Breakouts: Zach Miller played well and Matt Ryan went above expectations

Concerns: Chicago D loses Urlacher for the year. I'll have to look at schedules and maybe play a rotating D now.

Team 3 Demolished 67.94-117.32

Everything went wrong for me and right my opponent it seemed

Busts: Schaub, Chris Henry, Fasano, and LT, to an extent (Sproles had more fantasy points)

Breakouts: Philly D and Greg Jennings combined with starters who actually performed left me in the dust.

Concers: Fasano fumbled twice. I've already dropped up and hope to pick up Brent Celek off waivers tomorrow. More concern for Schaub but I think he bounces back. Chris Henry was targeted in the end zone, but he couldn't come down with it. LT hurt his ankle in this game, which is why I handcuffed him with Sproles. Next week San Diego plays Baltimore, so I think I'll sit Sproles in favor of McFadden in case LT's injury is serious

Notable FA players with good games:

TE Brent Celek, Ben Watson- I prefer Celek here, Tom Brady will the spread the ball more than McNabb's backup will.

WR- Justin Gage, Nate Washington, Earl Bennett, Steve Smith (NYG), Devin Hester, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, and Nate Burleson. ATL D also scored huge, but against a bad Miami team

RB Carnell Williams

Anthony Gonzales will probably become one of these players, I'm leaning towards Burleson or Gage. Chris Henry might become one as well, but I don't want to waste a waiver pick on that. I'm not ready to give up on Henry yet, he is my sleeper of the year.

I'm not ready to buy Hester, Meachem, or Henderson just yet, but they are on my radar. I like Cadillac, but I can't pull the trigger just yet.

Football Week 1 Rosters and Thoughts

2009-09-12T06:58:00.001-07:00

I've decided to just stick with 3 teams this year.

Team 1:

Matt Schaub

Larry Fitz

Andre Johnson

Greg Jennings

Ryan Grant

Kevin Smith

Zach Miller

Nate Kaeding

San Diego

I decided to drop Winslow for Miller at TE. I think Miller is a surer thing right now, and I was fortunate that he was still available after I dropped him to make room for Jennings and Holt in that 1 sided trade. That guy was collecting Bengals players, as he made another lopsided deal for Ochocinco, but it's all about having fun. Pretty sure this is his first league. My opponent this week has 13.3 points from the Thursday night Pitt vs Tenn game, but his kicker did underperform. A healthy Schaub and good WR play should lock this one down for me.

Projected Points: 99. Winning Margin: 8.

Team 2- Friend League

Matt Ryan

Larry Fitz

Calvin Johnson

Ryan Grant

Kevin Smith

Zach Miller

Donald Brown

Nate Kaeding

Chicago

I am all in on Zach Miller this year. He was dropped for RB Mike Bell, which was probably a smart move. He certainly is an upgrade over Randy McMichael. I'm rolling the dice a little with Donald Brown over McFadden. I can't trust the Oakland offense just yet (save Miller) and Brown is in a timeshare with Addai and will see plenty of carries, I hope. This week's success hinges on that decision, as we have almost dead even on projected points

Projected Points: 89.93. Margin of Victory: .56

Team 3

Matt Schaub

Randy Moss

Marques Colston

Chris Henry

Kevin Smith

Anthony Fasano

John Carney

San Diego

This week is interesting. Injuries to Walter and Berrian both make them Q, so I had to drop Walter and pick up my sleeper WR of the year, Chris Henry. Trial by fire right off the bat for him. I think Berrian has more value than Walter, so Walter was cut. This victory hinges on a few things- Schaub's legs, Chris Henry, and LT's durability. I have Sproles on the bench in case LT goes down early in the season, but I'm not comfortable starting both LT and Sproles, especially over Kevin Smith. This week is so close Yahoo projects it as a draw...My opponent picked up 8.3 points from Hines Ward, who was project at 8, so I just need one offense explosion from someone. My bet is LT.

Projected Points: 96. Margin of Victory 0

Kevin Smith is on all my teams, so he will always factor into my wins. All leagues are set up on a fractional point system, but for some reason 1 and 3 don't project fractional points.

Eagerly awaiting kickoff....

Final (for now) Football Draft

2009-09-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

My last league is a 12 man league I'm in with a few friends and friends of friends. I had 8th pick and once again went for the WR-WR draft. This league has a WR/RB flex spot instead of a third WR.

1.	(8)	Larry Fitzgerald
2.	(17)	Calvin Johnson
3.	(32)	Ryan Grant
4.	(41)	Kevin Smith
5.	(56)	Darren McFadden
6.	(65)	Matt Ryan
7.	(80)	Kevin Walter
8.	(89)	Chicago
9.	(104)	Matt Cassel
10.	(113)	Donald Brown
11.	(128)	Chester Taylor
12.	(137)	Domenik Hixon
13.	(152)	Jerious Norwood
14.	(161)	Nate Kaeding
15.	(176)	Randy McMichael

As you can see, it paid off again with two quality RBs in rounds 3 and 4. I know have Kevin Smith on all 3 teams, haha. I think I waited too late on the TE, as Kevin Boss went a few picks before I was ready to snag him, but I keep hearing the Rams offense has improved and Randy should benefit slightly from that. Matt Cassel was an awful pick up, I knew he was hurt and I need a Qb to fill in week 4. Cassel will be less than adequate at that time. Shaun Hill is on waivers, and once waivers clears I think I'm gonna make the swamp. Hixon will become Chris Henry too, Hixon has had a bad camp and preseason and Henry is a super sleeper in my book. Solid backups fill up the bench, which is something I tried to focus on doing this year.

Speaking of Chris Henry...I was OFFERED this deal in my 2nd league. Greg Jennings AND Tory Holt for just Chris Henry. I'm stupefied. I accepted in a heartbeat, but I decided to drop my backup TE Zach Miller, who is the best passing option on the Raiders. Hopefully I can reclaim him if/when Winslow gets hurt. The trade is pending review from the league, and I highly doubt that it will pass, but if it does I have no doubt that I will finish top 2 going into the playoffs.

Football Draft 2

2009-08-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

This draft went very well. I had 7th pick and a lot of players slipped farther than they should have. I'm very excited.

1. (7) Larry Fitzgerald
2. (14) Andre Johnson
3. (27) Ryan Grant
4. (34) Kevin Smith
5. (47) Marshawn Lynch
6. (54) Matt Schaub
7. (67) Anthony Gonzalez
8. (74) Bernard Berrian
9. (87) San Diego
10. (94) Kellen Winslow
11. (107) Zach Miller
12. (114) Matt Hasselbeck
13. (127) Chester Taylor
14. (134) Chris Henry
15. (147) Nate Kaeding

I was able to try the WR-WR strategy in this draft, and was rewarded when I was able to pick up both Ryan Grant and Kevin Smith as starting RBs in rounds 3 and 4, and then Marshawn Lynch(!) as a "backup" once his 3 game suspension is up. Schaub and Andre are a nice connection, and I have some options at 3rd WR.

I drated more tradtionally this time and didn't focus as much on handcuffing injury prone players. I did pick up Chester Taylor just in case AP breaks down though. This cleared up some space for a backup TE to Winslow, who is an amazing talent but a huge health risk.

I focused more this draft on not getting hosed by a bye week like I did on my first draft. I still only drafted 1 K and 1 DEF, so week 5 could still be tricky, but I am fully confident that this team has all the tools to win this league if everyone stays healthy.

Football Season! Draft 1

2009-08-28T17:21:00.001-07:00

Turns out baseball is too hard to blog about. Too many games, and I'm in too many leagues. I am doing very well, my worst team in daily league scoring is a 4th place team on Yahoo.

Tonight I finished my first of three (for now) fantasy football drafts on Yahoo. It was a 10 man league and I had 6th pick.

1. (6) LaDainian Tomlinson
2. (15) Randy Moss
3. (26) Marques Colston
4. (35) Kevin Smith
5. (46) Matt Schaub
6. (55) Bernard Berrian
7. (66) Darren McFadden
8. (75) Kevin Walter
9. (86) Darren Sproles
10. (95) Felix Jones
11. (106) Chester Taylor
12. (115) David Garrard
13. (126) San Diego
14. (135) Anthony Fasano
15. (146) Josh Brown

A few picks, mostly in the mid-late rounds were stolen 1 or 2 slots before me, but for the most part I like this draft. I had planned to try a draft WR-WR back to back plan, but when LT landed in 6th I couldn't pass. Fitzgerald flew off the board as the 2nd pick, and I couldn't see myself taking any other WR over LT. The WRs still look great, with Moss and Colston leading the charge. This could be a huge year for Berrian with Favre at the helm, but Favre is at the helm, so...

I started drafting bench players before my TE, DEF, and K because I wanted to shore up some bye week problems, particulary in week 5. Knowing I was going to have trouble in week 5, I hesitated on drafting San Diego, but it looks like I might just be punting week 5 anyway, and SD is going to be stellar this year.

After plugging some bye week holes, I focused on grabbing high-end backups. I handcuffed LT with Sproles, then picked up Felix Jones and Chester Taylor. These are lottery tickets, if the starter goes down my BE players suddenly become amazing.

I think I screwed up my TE pick, Heath Miller and Todd Heap were still available. I just missed out on Shiancoe, who I had been hoping would fall far. (He did, just not far enough)

I also think I screwed up passing on a ridiculously late Frank Gore to pick up Moss. Gore ended up going 18th! Hard to tell which 4 is better though LT, Moss, Colston, Kevin Smith, or LT, Gore, Colston, Houshmazadeh (or an equivalent WR in the mid 4th round)

This team will live and die with the WRs.

Yahoo Roto League 2

2009-05-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

This league is a great example of how different fantasy leagues can be. For a long time I had more points in this league than the league I am first place in, but I have been fluctuating between 3rd and 4th for a week or so now. Stephen Drew and Mark Reynolds have been recent additions, and I'm a little concerned that I have 3 Diamondbacks on my team, a club notoriously known for not scoring runs. Drew seems to be turning a corner though, but right now I would be a fool to not start Jeter in a blossoming Yankee lineup in a hitters friendly ball park! Napoli has been better than expected, and I am going to have a tough decision once Weiters is called up, hopefully early June.

Mike Napoli (LAA - C)	35/118	16	6	18	2	.297
Lance Berkman (Hou - 1B)	32/138	21	9	25	0	.232
Brian Roberts (Bal - 2B)	51/175	37	6	17	10	.291
Miguel Cabrera (Det - 1B,3B)	57/154	28	9	33	1	.370
Derek Jeter (NYY - SS)	48/173	27	7	21	8	.277
Corey Hart (Mil - OF)	39/159	29	4	18	3	.245
Justin Upton (Ari - OF)	45/143	29	9	26	4	.315
Matt Kemp (LAD - OF)	46/161	25	4	25	9	.286
Mark Reynolds (Ari - 3B)	41/152	27	12	25	10	.270
Stephen Drew (Ari - SS)	16/79	8	2	11	0	.203
Bobby Abreu (LAA - OF)	42/141	15	0	16	15	.298
Matt Wieters (Bal - C) NA	-/-	-	-	-	-	-


James Shields (TB - SP)	3	0	40	3.43	1.28
Josh Johnson (Fla - SP)	3	0	52	2.54	1.08
Joe Nathan (Min - RP)	1	6	16	2.87	1.15
Brian Fuentes (LAA - RP)	0	12	19	4.02	1.40
Kevin Slowey (Min - SP)	6	0	39	4.23	1.39
Chad Qualls (Ari - RP)	1	11	22	3.32	1.26
Scott Downs (Tor - RP)	0	5	22	1.86	0.78
Randy Wolf (LAD - SP)	2	0	50	3.02	1.12
Roy Oswalt (Hou - SP)	1	0	42	4.47	1.35

I'm not doing really poorly in any category, but I am hovering in the 6s and 7s in Wins, HRs, and RBIS, which is not good. The Wins has been a bit of bad luck I think, because my pitching staff is solid and improving. My ERA and WHIP have been climbing to the 6s and 7s range, a vast improvement from earlier in the year.
Bobby Abreu is currently banged up a little, and I am concerned that he isn't hitting homeruns. I picked him up as a 20-20 capable guy, but it looks like he might be more of a 10-30, with the 10 being a generous projection. The extra steals are nice though, as I think my team has power that just isn't showing itself.
I currently have a respectable 4 point cushion between me and 4th place, but I am 6 behind 2nd and a whopping 12 being first! Still plenty of baseball to play though.

Yahoo Roto League 1

2009-05-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

What a difference consistently starting Jay Bruce has made! After missing 5 HR and maybe 10 RBIs from him on my bench, I plugged him in over Adam Lind and haven't looked back. Matt Holliday is finally starting to look like himself, and because of those two players I have jumped several points in HRs and RBIs and am sitting in 1st place. Adrian Gonzalez is clearly the MVP of the team. His production has been marvelous.

Matt Wieters (Bal - C) NA	-/-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrián González (SD - 1B)	44/157	29	16	30	1	.280
Dustin Pedroia (Bos - 2B)	52/161	32	1	14	4	.323
Aubrey Huff (Bal - 1B,3B)	42/164	19	7	34	0	.256
Jimmy Rollins (Phi - SS)	41/171	26	3	16	6	.240
Matt Holliday (Oak - OF)	40/148	22	6	27	1	.270
Jason Bay (Bos - OF)	43/146	34	13	44	4	.295
Carlos Beltrán (NYM - OF)	58/158	29	6	29	7	.367
Jay Bruce (Cin - OF)	36/149	24	12	25	3	.242
Adam Lind (Tor - OF)	50/168	25	7	35	0	.298
Orlando Hudson (LAD - 2B)	60/175	30	3	27	4	.343


Mark Buehrle (CWS - SP)	6	0	33	2.77	1.10
Randy Wolf (LAD - SP)	2	0	46	2.72	1.07
Mariano Rivera (NYY - RP)	0	9	23	2.89	1.07
Matt Capps (Pit - RP)	0	8	9	7.07	2.07
Scott Downs (Tor - RP)	0	5	22	1.86	0.78
Carlos Mármol (ChC - RP)	0	3	23	3.79	1.53
Juan Cruz (KC - RP)	3	1	13	3.32	1.11
Roy Halladay (Tor - SP)	8	0	63	2.52	1.03
Max Scherzer (Ari - SP,RP)	1	0	43	3.50	1.33
Chris Volstad (Fla - SP)	3	0	45	3.64	1.12
Daisuke Matsuzaka (Bos - SP)	0	0	9	10.32	2.29

On the pitching side, Buehrle has been awesome, and Scherzer is pitching well despite not getting any Ws. I picked up Randy Wolf because he has just been sharp all year, and I need a little help in the W column. A pitcher on the Dodgers can certainly bring me some of those!
Stolen Bases are my true weakness, but I have faith that the players I am rostering now will start running. I do not plan to pick up a speed player anytime soon.

Mid May Wrap Up: Yahoo H2H

2009-05-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

Time to check in on my teams! I hope to do this once a month, just to see how I'm progressing, and analyze any important add/drops or trades for the future. Here's the only Yahoo H2H league I'm in. The big news here is obviously the Manny suspension, it's hard to replace that kind of power. I picked up Pierre to bolster my SB, Runs, and Avg, and just hope that the rest of the team can continue to produce the power. Some closer issues have come and gone, but I ended up dropping Brad Zeigler, picking up Brandon Morrow, and then dropping Brandon Morrow later. Ziegler is sick with the flu and just not pitching well in any inning he plays in, and Morrow is no longer the closer. I was able to pick up LaTroy Hawkins to shore up some saves as Jose Valverde is on the DL.

Pablo Sandoval (SF - C,1B,3B)	42/136	15	3	17	2	.309
Albert Pujols (StL - 1B)	41/128	33	13	37	6	.320
Dustin Pedroia (Bos - 2B)	45/142	30	1	13	4	.317
Jorge Cantú (Fla - 1B,3B)	33/121	18	8	33	1	.273
Michael Young (Tex - 3B,SS)	51/144	25	7	17	3	.354
Nelson Cruz (Tex - OF)	35/129	18	7	22	4	.271
Bobby Abreu (LAA - OF)	39/130	13	0	14	13	.300
Elijah Dukes (Was - OF)	30/111	12	4	23	2	.270
Juan Pierre (LAD - OF)	28/69	14	0	9	7	.406
Manny Ramírez (LAD - OF) NA	32/92	22	6	20	0	.348
Matt Wieters (Bal - C) NA	-/-	-	-	-	-	-


Roy Halladay (Tor - SP)	7	0	49	2.95	1.03
Ubaldo Jiménez (Col - SP)	3	0	34	4.72	1.50
Mariano Rivera (NYY - RP)	0	7	21	2.93	1.17
Brad Lidge (Phi - RP)	0	6	18	8.64	1.98
Mike González (Atl - RP)	2	6	23	3.78	1.14
LaTroy Hawkins (Hou - RP)	1	5	14	2.70	1.32
Kiko Calero (Fla - RP)	1	0	24	2.00	1.00
Max Scherzer (Ari - SP,RP)	1	0	33	3.35	1.33
Wandy Rodríguez (Hou - SP)	4	0	48	1.90	1.00
David Price (TB - SP) NA	-	-	-	-	-


Brandon Webb (Ari - SP) DL	0	0	2	13.50	2.00

I'm still waiting on Weiters and Price, and Webb on the DL hurts. I currently am in first place after 5 weeks, but I am losing 8-2 to the 2nd place team. I hope Kiko Calero, who I just added, keeps producing at the level he is, he would certainly help my WHIP and ERA.

The power loss from Manny could be huge, but there are not many good alternatives and trading seems to be hard in this league. I can only hope my Texas Rangers players hit a hot streak in that ball park until Manny comes back.

ESPN League 4 Update" Week 2

2009-04-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

This was probably my strongest team coming out of the draft, and after a little over 2 weeks I have a comfortable 12 point lead and am sitting pretty with 82.5 points. Everything clicked on draft day, buying quality pitching for cheaper than it should have gone and getting good hitting late. Ryan Doumit just went on the DL though, so I had to drop Scott Downs to pick up a backup C. I went with A.J. Piersynski. I like Scott Downs, but I have noticed I have been cutting him on the team's I own him on for me starting pitching. Best to keep a close eye on Downs though. My DL slot already has A Rod, so somebody had to go. I breifly thought about not playing a C, like I am doing in other leagues where I am waiting for Matt Wieters, but A.J. isn't going to kill me in average and he will be a good stop gap for the 15 days while Doumit recovers. Plus, this will be a good comparison to see if leaving the C slot empty is a better or worse plan in the long run than filling it with a non top 5 catcher...
I also just want to point out that I am grateful to the manager who offered me Josh Johnson for Jered Weaver in the preseason. Josh could make a run at Cy Young....
I do admit I paniced a little after Lincecum's too bad starts, but he came back in fine form for the 3ed. I threw him on the trading block, but there were no inquiries. Not that I would have just thrown him away, but I think I did overact and it's best to just stay the course with good pitching, even if he is not totally proven. It will be interesting to see how he pitches a year after winning the Cy Young.
I was also worried, and still am, about Joel Hanrahan, but he came in last night and picked up a save after blowing two chances to start the year.

Here's the team:

C	A.J. Pierzynski , CWS C S	11/37	3	1	2	1	.297
1B	Ryan Howard , Phi 1B S	15/44	7	2	9	0	.341
2B	Brian Roberts , Bal 2B S	21/52	12	0	3	3	.404
3B	Jorge Cantu , Fla 1B, 3B	14/41	8	2	8	1	.341
SS	Hanley Ramirez , Fla SS	14/55	6	2	10	1	.255
2B/SS	Kelly Johnson , Atl 2B	11/45	7	3	7	0	.244
1B/3B	Prince Fielder , Mil 1B S	7/40	3	1	7	0	.175
OF	Grady Sizemore , Cle OF	14/54	12	4	11	2	.259
OF	Adam Jones , Bal OF S	16/43	15	2	12	0	.372
OF	Adam Lind , Tor OF, DH S	19/54	11	3	12	0	.352
OF	Nelson Cruz , Tex OF S	13/45	8	5	13	1	.289
OF	Shin-Soo Choo , Cle OF	12/43	9	3	8	2	.279
UTIL	Aaron Hill , Tor 2B S	23/63	8	4	14	1	.365
Bench	Ryan Doumit *, Pit C DL15	11/45	5	2	9	0	.244
Bench	Matt Wieters , Bal C DTD	--/--	--	--	--	--	--
DL	Alex Rodriguez *, NYY 3B DL15	--/--	--	--	--	--	--
Bench		--	--	--	--	--	--


PLAYER, TEAM POS	ACTION	H	ER	BB	K	W	SV	ERA	WHIP
Tim Lincecum , SF SP		19	7	6	23	0	0	3.86	1.53
CC Sabathia , NYY SP		19	7	10	10	1	0	3.57	1.64
Mariano Rivera , NYY RP		4	0	0	7	0	3	0.00	0.80
Joe Nathan , Min RP		2	1	1	5	0	3	1.80	0.60
Chad Qualls , Ari RP		5	2	1	8	0	3	3.60	1.20
Chris Volstad , Fla SP		11	5	11	16	2	0	2.76	1.35
Frank Francisco , Tex RP		1	0	0	7	1	1	0.00	0.19
Josh Johnson , Fla SP		18	7	3	21	2	0	2.91	0.97
Joel Hanrahan , Was SP, RP		7	5	2	9	0	1	7.50	1.50
Paul Maholm , Pit SP		14	2	6	6	2	0	0.87	0.97

ESPN League 3 Update: 2 Weeks

2009-04-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

After drafting I felt like this was my worst team, but I am surprised to see myself in 3rd place with 61.5 place and only 1 point behind first place. This is the closest league so far, in all the other ones someone is a bunch of points ahead of second place, but in this one we are all bunched together.
This is the league where I delt Ian Kinsler, Prince Fielder, and Edwin Encarnacion for Chris Davis, Dan Haren, and Robinson Cano. Kinsler is off to a lightning fast start, and Davis is swinging and missing at everything, but Cano and Haren have given my team enough value so far that I don't regret the trade. I made a few minor add/drops along the way, picking up better pitching and swapping some OF, but no other major trade deals. I have 2 quality catchers in Soto and Napoli, but there seems to be no interest on the trade market, but now that Ryan Doumit is on the DL I might be able to ship Napoli for an upgrade in the SB department...I have a few SB guys that have been slow starters, but Napoli should be good enough to upgrade me in someway.(just checked after posting this, the team with Doumit also has Victor Martinez in the Util slot, oh well, maybe another catcher will go down?)
Here's the team:

C	Geovany Soto , ChC C	2/19	1	0	1	0	.105
1B	Albert Pujols , StL 1B	14/47	13	4	14	0	.298
2B	Chase Utley , Phi 2B	15/41	11	4	11	2	.366
3B	Pablo Sandoval , SF 1B, 3B	11/45	3	0	1	0	.244
SS	Alexei Ramirez , CWS 2B, SS	5/40	2	0	3	0	.125
2B/SS	Robinson Cano , NYY 2B	19/49	13	3	8	1	.388
1B/3B	Miguel Cabrera , Det 1B	23/47	11	4	12	1	.489
OF	Willy Taveras , Cin OF	10/35	9	0	1	3	.286
OF	Adam Jones , Bal OF	16/43	15	2	12	0	.372
OF	Adam Lind , Tor OF, DH S	19/54	11	3	12	0	.352
OF	Dexter Fowler , Col OF	9/34	4	2	5	3	.265
OF	Franklin Gutierrez , Sea OF	9/38	8	1	7	0	.237
UTIL	Lance Berkman , Hou 1B	9/44	5	3	7	0	.205
Bench	Chris Davis , Tex 1B, 3B S	7/39	5	2	4	0	.179
Bench	Mike Napoli , LAA C	6/26	4	2	6	0	.231
DL	Jose Guillen *, KC OF, DH DL15	2/12	1	0	0	1	.167
Bench		--	--	--	--	--	--


PLAYER, TEAM POS	H	ER	BB	K	W	SV	ERA	WHIP
Francisco Liriano , Min SP	17	10	5	11	0	0	5.09	1.25
Frank Francisco , Tex RP	1	0	0	7	1	1	0.00	0.19
Mark Buehrle , CWS SP	16	6	6	13	2	0	3.00	1.22
Paul Maholm , Pit SP	14	2	6	6	2	0	0.87	0.97
Dan Haren , Ari SP	12	4	3	17	0	0	1.89	0.79
Scott Downs , Tor RP	2	0	0	12	0	0	0.00	0.26
Brandon Morrow , Sea SP, RP	1	3	6	7	0	3	5.79	1.50
Manny Corpas , Col RP	7	4	1	3	0	0	6.75	1.50
Jarrod Washburn , Sea SP PP	9	2	1	8	2	0	1.29	0.71
Wandy Rodriguez , Hou SP	11	4	8	18	1	0	1.89	1.00

ESPN League 2 Update: 2 Weeks

2009-04-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

After drafting, I felt this was one of my best teams, and I am currently sitting in 4th place with 63 points, and easily within striking distance of 2nd place (66.5) First seems to have run away with it lately, tallying up 76 points, but there is still plenty of time to nibble away at that lead.
This team has been hindered with Iannetta's and Davis's slow start, plus Reyes isn't stealing bases yet, but it should all come together in the end. I upgraded some of the pitching, notably Kyle Davies after some exceptional starts to begin the year. I think he is the real deal and picked him up in a number of leagues last week. Dexter Fowler has also proven himself in m

Here's the team:

C	Chris Iannetta , Col C	3/27	3	2	2	0	.111
1B	Lance Berkman , Hou 1B	9/44	5	3	7	0	.205
2B	Robinson Cano , NYY 2B	19/49	13	3	8	1	.388
3B	David Wright , NYM 3B	13/45	8	1	4	1	.289
SS	Jose Reyes , NYM SS	17/51	6	1	5	3	.333
2B/SS	J.J. Hardy , Mil SS	5/44	3	2	6	0	.114
1B/3B	Chris Davis , Tex 1B, 3B	7/39	5	2	4	0	.179
OF	Raul Ibanez , Phi OF	17/44	12	5	10	1	.386
OF	Jayson Werth , Phi OF	11/40	5	1	6	0	.275
OF	Coco Crisp , KC OF	8/40	7	2	7	0	.200
OF	Shin-Soo Choo , Cle OF	12/43	9	3	8	2	.279
OF	Dexter Fowler , Col OF	9/34	4	2	5	3	.265
UTIL	Miguel Cabrera , Det 1B	23/47	11	4	12	1	.489
DL		--	--	--	--	--	--
Bench		--	--	--	--	--	--


PLAYER, TEAM POS	H	ER	BB	K	W	SV	ERA	WHIP
Joakim Soria , KC RP	3	1	1	7	0	4	2.25	1.00
Carlos Marmol , ChC RP	4	1	3	5	0	2	1.35	1.05
Scott Baker , Min SP PP	5	6	2	3	0	0	13.50	1.75
Brian Fuentes , LAA RP	7	4	1	4	0	2	9.00	2.00
Kevin Slowey , Min SP	28	12	2	12	2	0	5.89	1.64
Matt Capps , Pit RP	1	0	1	3	0	3	0.00	0.55
Clayton Kershaw , LAD SP PP	3	2	5	19	0	0	1.50	0.67
Mike Gonzalez , Atl RP	7	4	2	8	0	1	7.20	1.80
Joel Hanrahan , Was SP, RP	7	5	2	9	0	1	7.50	1.50
Gil Meche , KC SP	19	5	4	18	1	0	2.25	1.15
Paul Maholm , Pit SP	14	2	6	6	2	0	0.87	0.97
Kyle Davies , KC SP	13	6	8	21	1	0	2.89	1.13

ESPN League 1 Update: 2 weeks

2009-04-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

After drafting, I had decided this team was going to focus on middle relief, and basically punt wins and strikeouts since ESPN doesn't have max innings pitched. The problem with this strategy is that I didn't have enough quality save guys to make up the lost points, or a really effective WHIP and ERA anchor and innings eater to stabilize the team.
Luckily, there was an abundance of good pitching in the FA pool 10 days or so into the season, and while I am still behind in the pitching stats, I believe I have found some diamonds in the rough and can begin to reclaim some points.
Here's the roster:

C	Matt Wieters , Bal C DTD	--/--	--	--	--	--	--
1B	Mark Teixeira , NYY 1B	7/34	5	3	7	0	.206
2B	Ian Kinsler , Tex 2B	23/50	13	4	14	6	.460
3B	Edwin Encarnacion , Cin 3B	7/36	2	1	6	1	.194
SS	Jimmy Rollins , Phi SS	7/46	4	1	4	0	.152
2B/SS	Aaron Hill , Tor 2B	23/63	8	4	14	1	.365
1B/3B	Ryan Howard , Phi 1B	15/44	7	2	9	0	.341
OF	Manny Ramirez , LAD OF, DH	14/43	11	2	7	0	.326
OF	Jason Bay , Bos OF	12/41	10	3	10	1	.293
OF	Nick Markakis , Bal OF	17/50	14	2	16	0	.340
OF	Adam Lind , Tor OF, DH	19/54	11	3	12	0	.352
OF	Elijah Dukes , Was OF	13/38	5	2	8	1	.342
UTIL	Carl Crawford , TB OF	13/54	6	0	7	4	.241
Bench	Carlos Lee , Hou OF	11/45	4	2	8	0	.244
DL	Alex Rodriguez *, NYY 3B DL15	--/--	--	--	--	--	--
Bench		--	--	--	--	--	--


Brad Lidge , Phi RP	9	7	3	8	0	3	9.45	1.80
Brandon Morrow , Sea SP, RP	1	3	6	7	0	3	5.79	1.50
Brad Ziegler , Oak RP	8	2	2	6	0	3	2.57	1.43
Wandy Rodriguez , Hou SP	11	4	8	18	1	0	1.89	1.00
Mark Buehrle , CWS SP	16	6	6	13	2	0	3.00	1.22
Kyle Lohse , StL SP	13	6	3	12	2	0	2.57	0.76
Kyle Davies , KC SP	13	6	8	21	1	0	2.89	1.13
Joe Saunders , LAA SP	13	5	6	7	2	0	2.18	0.92
Kevin Gregg , ChC RP	6	4	5	8	0	1	6.00	1.83
David Price , TB SP	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Kevin Millwood , Tex SP	14	3	4	14	1	0	1.17	0.78

Going into tonight's game, I am in 5th place with 58.5 points in this 10 man league. The offense has started out slow, and the pitching stats are still down, but I'm pretty confident in a top 3 finish, which is a lofty goal considering my indecisiveness with the pitching staff. I was able to snag Kevin Gregg off of waivers too, so that should help boost my relief numbers. At the end of the year I will compare the final roster with the opening day roster and determine if picking up starting pitching was in fact the correct option.

Yahoo NL only 2 weeks Update

2009-04-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

I am surprised that my first stab at an NL only team is off to such a good start!
Here's the team:

Bengie Molina (SF - C)	10/39	5	2	9	0	.256
Lance Berkman (Hou - 1B)	7/33	3	2	6	0	.212
Dan Uggla (Fla - 2B)	11/35	6	2	12	0	.314
Ian Stewart (Col - 2B,3B)	6/15	4	1	4	0	.400
José Reyes (NYM - SS)	12/42	6	1	3	2	.286
Todd Helton (Col - 1B)	5/29	2	0	4	0	.172
Troy Tulowitzki (Col - SS)	7/30	6	3	5	0	.233
Michael Bourn (Hou - OF)	8/31	4	0	3	1	.258
Dexter Fowler (Col - OF)	6/23	4	2	4	1	.261
Josh Anderson (Det - OF)	4/13	3	0	3	1	.308
Austin Kearns (Was - OF)	4/24	1	1	4	0	.167
Elijah Dukes (Was - OF)	10/29	4	2	6	0	.345
John Baker (Fla - C)	9/27	8	1	7	0	.333
Jeff Keppinger (Hou - 3B,SS)	7/15	2	1	2	0	.467


Dan Haren (Ari - P)	0	0	17	1.89	0.79
Javier Vázquez (Atl - P)	0	0	17	4.50	1.25
Matt Capps (Pit - P)	0	3	3	0.00	0.55
Joel Hanrahan (Was - P)	0	0	5	4.50	1.25
Carlos Villanueva (Mil - P)	1	1	4	11.25	1.75
Cla Meredith (SD - P)	2	0	1	0.00	1.36
Tony Peña (Ari - P)	2	0	3	1.80	1.20
Adam Wainwright (StL - P)	2	0	17	3.31	1.59
Chris Volstad (Fla - P)	2	0	11	1.50	0.92
Yovani Gallardo (Mil - P)	1	0	9	6.94	1.29
Tommy Hanson (Atl - P) NA	-	-	-	-	-

The pitching seems incredible in an NL only league, and the offense has shown up and produced admirably early, so I am pleased all around. Since there are only half the players to work with, I haven't done a lot of add/dropping. I have some health concerns for Jeff Keppinger, and playing time concerns for Carlos Villanueva, but I think they are still better options that what is available.

Standings:

1.	cubsfan09	64	19	63	7	.276	9	8	83	4.19	1.35
2.	Bailey Homers	70	20	78	6	.261	9	0	78	2.72	1.26
3.	Cupcakes & Sparkles	54	17	68	4	.264	9	4	85	3.50	1.19
4.	Schmidty's Slammers	92	14	62	12	.302	6	1	83	4.57	1.29
5.	KG	81	22	83	12	.308	3	3	69	5.15	1.52
6.	Windfall Wallbangers	64	6	53	12	.305	4	3	82	5.00	1.42
7.	RoyalsWillLose100	45	13	76	3	.240	5	5	69	4.90	1.44
8.	Hammerin Hanks	55	15	51	5	.262	5	4	72	6.40	1.54
9.	T-Town Spitballers	46	9	42	4	.226	7	1	68	3.26	1.20
10.	Der Raumfahrer Smit	55	9	39	5	.229	4	4	76	5.94	1.56

My team is Cupcakes&Sparkles, I decided to spice up my team names a bit and give "Fighting Gamecocks" a break. I need some help in Runs and Avg, but for the most part this team has what it takes to win. This team would be a lot better if I had kept Jody Gerut and Scott Hairston on my team. Hairston is off to a tremendous start, belting a few HR and picking up a stolen base here and there. Hairston became Kerns because I thought the playing time was more important, and with Lastings Milledge in the minors Kerns would play more, but in hindsight, Hairston is still a better player and more valuable even if he splits time with Gerut. Gerut eventually became Keppinger. I wanted another CI to take over for when Helton was held out of the lineup, but Gerut is a better player and it was a mistake to let him go. Live and learn though!
Well, that's it for the Yahoo updates

2 Week update Yahoo Roto 2

2009-04-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

This is my best team so far on Yahoo.

Mike Napoli (LAA - C)	6/22	4	2	6	0	.273
Lance Berkman (Hou - 1B)	7/33	3	2	6	0	.212
Brian Roberts (Bal - 2B)	18/41	11	0	3	3	.439
Miguel Cabrera (Det - 1B,3B)	20/39	7	4	12	1	.513
Derek Jeter (NYY - SS)	13/46	5	3	8	2	.283
Matt Kemp (LAD - OF)	14/39	8	1	8	3	.359
Corey Hart (Mil - OF)	9/36	7	3	5	0	.250
Bobby Abreu (LAA - OF)	13/41	3	0	6	5	.317
Adam LaRoche (Pit - 1B)	10/38	4	3	6	0	.263
Felipe López (Ari - 2B,3B,SS,OF)	16/42	7	2	4	1	.381
Matt Wieters (Bal - C) NA	-/-	-	-	-	-	-


James Shields (TB - SP)	2	0	9	4.58	1.27
Chris Volstad (Fla - SP)	2	0	11	1.50	0.92
Joe Nathan (Min - RP)	0	2	3	2.25	0.50
Brian Fuentes (LAA - RP)	0	2	4	9.00	2.00
Brad Ziegler (Oak - RP)	0	3	6	2.57	1.43
Chad Qualls (Ari - RP)	0	1	5	6.00	2.00
Roy Oswalt (Hou - SP)	0	0	10	4.26	1.42
Gil Meche (KC - SP)	1	0	18	2.25	1.15
Josh Johnson (Fla - SP)	2	0	15	0.57	0.83
George Sherrill (Bal - RP)	0	3	5	6.23	2.08

I couldn't drop Napoli and implement the wait for Weiters plan, so this team has a catcher. With the injury to Vlad Guerrero, Napoli could see more playing time at DH, which is both and good and bad for me. It causes more of a sink in avg. but gives Napoli more opportunities to bring in the RBI.
I adopted the strategy of never starting a pitcher pitching at Texas, but Gil Meche, who was a FA earlier last week for some reason, proved me wrong by providing my bench with an absolute gem last night. Last year I didn't really play matchups and just stuck my pitchers in whenever I could. I think I'll go back to that method after his performance.
Again, I just picked up LaRoche, thinking him better than Daniel Murphy, another promising young player, right now. Randy Johnson became Matt Weiters, which is an upgrade I can certainly live with.
Kevin Slowey is having an inexplicable bad start after a good Spring. I dropped him for Chris Volstad, but he pitches today and if he is on I'm grabbing him and dropping Felipe Lopez. Lopez is a great bench player, but my team needs WHIP and ERA help and if Slowey is dialed in he is one of the best pitchers in those categories.

Standings:

1.	asn invasion	12	9	3	8.5	9.5	5.5	11	12	8	11.5	90
2.	Fighting Gamecocks	10	11	10	12	12	8.5	11	10	2	2	88.5
3.	Mac's Mashers	4	4	7.5	10.5	7	10.5	8	11	11	11.5	85
4.	sacrifice flyers	11	4	9	1	5	5.5	11	9	10	8	73.5
5.	kkkj	9	4	1	8.5	8	5.5	9	4.5	9	7	65.5
5.	Brian Griffins	3	9	11	7	9.5	12	3	2	5	4	65.5
7.	freebonds	7	12	7.5	5.5	1	2.5	5.5	8	7	9	65
8.	YankeeMania	8	6	6	5.5	4	5.5	7	6	4	10	62
9.	Ball Busters	5	9	12	3	11	1	1	1	12	6	61
10.	Spring Training	6	7	4	3	2	10.5	3	7	6	3	51.5
11.	Shag McNasty	1.5	1.5	2	10.5	3	8.5	3	4.5	3	5	42.5
12.	wolverines	1.5	1.5	5	3	6	2.5	5.5	3	1	1	30

It's a pretty tight race at the top, but if I can make strides in ERA and WHIP while maintaining a powerful offense, I don't think I can be stopped.

2 Weeks Update Yahoo Roto 1

2009-04-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

I decided to split this up into individual posts to make it easier.
Here's the 2 week update on Yahoo Roto 1 team.

Matt Wieters (Bal - C) NA	-/-	-	-	-	-	-
Adrián González (SD - 1B)	10/39	8	3	8	0	.256
Dustin Pedroia (Bos - 2B)	10/43	7	1	1	2	.233
Aubrey Huff (Bal - 1B,3B)	11/39	4	1	9	0	.282
Elvis Andrus (Tex - SS)	10/28	10	1	4	2	.357
Jason Bay (Bos - OF)	11/32	8	3	10	0	.344
Matt Holliday (Oak - OF)	10/36	1	0	9	0	.278
Adam Lind (Tor - OF)	18/49	10	3	12	0	.367
Carlos Beltrán (NYM - OF)	12/38	4	1	7	0	.316
Orlando Hudson (LAD - 2B)	16/44	9	2	5	4	.364
Jimmy Rollins (Phi - SS)	5/40	3	0	3	0	.125
Jay Bruce (Cin - OF)	6/34	4	1	5	0	.176


Roy Halladay (Tor - SP)	3	0	17	3.00	1.05
Mark Buehrle (CWS - SP)	1	0	8	2.38	0.97
Mariano Rivera (NYY - RP)	0	3	5	0.00	0.75
Matt Capps (Pit - RP)	0	3	3	0.00	0.55
Brad Ziegler (Oak - RP)	0	3	6	2.57	1.43
Carlos Mármol (ChC - RP)	0	2	5	0.00	0.88
Paul Maholm (Pit - SP)	2	0	6	0.87	0.97
Max Scherzer (Ari - SP,RP)	0	0	1	5.40	1.40
Chris Volstad (Fla - SP)	2	0	11	1.50	0.92
Daisuke Matsuzaka (Bos - SP) DL	0	0	5	12.79	3.00

This team is currently in 10th place, but that is do to a terrible offensive slump. I even picked up Elvis Andrus to help with Runs and SB while Jimmy Rollins is in his funk. The saving grace of this team is the tremendous pitching start. It's easier to make up ground in the offensive categories, and there's still 24 more weeks to go, so I'm not worried, just starting to get a little concerned. The team has offensive potential, and when it starts coming I'll be in fine shape if the pitching keeps up.
One thing I am wrestling with is that Conor Jackson is on waivers. I feel like he should be owned, but I can't justify dropping an OF for him, and I need my pitching to stay sharp. I think I'm going to have to let this one go unless Rollins breaks out of his funk and I can drop Andrus.
Here are the totals standings heading into this weekend. As you can see, I am across the board terrible on offensive, and in great shape on pitching.

1.	Mochis Team 2	53	15	72	9	.315	5	5	100	4.76	1.34
2.	doggie style	53	12	54	9	.308	3	13	59	4.06	1.04
3.	CHIEF	52	17	55	7	.249	5	6	79	3.00	1.27
4.	Rays #1	62	18	59	9	.272	6	4	66	5.40	1.56
5.	The Cat's Meow	63	16	53	7	.266	5	3	77	3.97	1.22
6.	Gashouse Gorillas 09	63	18	67	2	.279	5	5	68	6.00	1.55
6.	DODGERS09	48	20	52	7	.293	3	4	63	2.52	1.24
8.	Casper Ghosts	65	18	73	8	.305	2	5	53	5.37	1.57
9.	Yankmees	47	16	51	3	.264	7	1	100	3.69	1.17
10.	Fighting Gamecocks	41	9	52	3	.254	6	11	60	2.98	1.13
11.	I Got Worms	47	13	53	6	.267	5	5	53	4.06	1.39
12.	Homestead Greys	45	14	53	9	.229	3	3	56	7.26	1.56

Here are the standings

2 Weeks In Update

2009-04-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't get a chance to finish posting all my rosters before the season started, but I figure I can post updates once a week or so to track my progress and any significant add/drops or potential trades I am considering. Today I'll breeze through all the Yahoo teams. ESPN tomorrow. These are going to be long posts.

Yahoo H2H:
After being up 7-2 near the end of the first week, my opponent rallied to tie the matchup at 5-5. Here's the scoring summary from week 1:

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Score
Fighting Gamecocks	33	10	38	6	.254	3	6	55	4.58	1.15	5
The Herd	31	8	29	4	.255	5	5	59	2.76	1.04	5

Ks and Avg were very close and I feel like this one just barely got away from me.
I'm up 6-3 going into the weekend, so hopefully I can hold on for the win.
Here's week 2 going into the weekend:

	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	W	SV	K	ERA	WHIP	Score
Fighting Gamecocks	27	7	20	6	.293	1	4	29	4.45	1.61	6
HeavyHitters	21	7	29	4	.297	4	1	28	7.16	1.66	3

Pretty close all across. The WHIP and ERA is pretty funny because I had Brad Lidge and Randy Johnson, who have bothed pitched tremendously bad this week, but my opponent has Chien Ming-Wang, whose lovely 72 ERA and 9WHIP gave me an improbably edge.

Here's the team U'm rostering:

Matt Wieters (Bal - C) NA	-/-	-	-	-	-	-
Albert Pujols (StL - 1B)	14/43	13	4	14	0	.326
Dustin Pedroia (Bos - 2B)	10/43	7	1	1	2	.233
Jorge Cantú (Fla - 1B,3B)	12/32	8	2	8	1	.375
Michael Young (Tex - 3B,SS)	12/39	8	2	6	1	.308
Manny Ramírez (LAD - OF)	10/36	7	0	5	0	.278
Bobby Abreu (LAA - OF)	13/41	3	0	6	5	.317
Nelson Cruz (Tex - OF)	11/39	8	5	12	1	.282
Adam LaRoche (Pit - 1B)	10/38	4	3	6	0	.263
J.J. Hardy (Mil - SS)	5/36	3	2	6	0	.139
Alex Gordon (KC - 3B) DL	2/21	2	1	3	1	.095

Max Scherzer (Ari - SP,RP)	5.0	0	0	1	5.40	1.40
Johnny Cueto (Cin - SP)	10.2	0	0	12	4.22	1.59
Mariano Rivera (NYY - RP)	4.0	0	3	5	0.00	0.75
Brad Lidge (Phi - RP)	6.0	0	3	8	4.50	1.33
Brad Ziegler (Oak - RP)	7.0	0	3	6	2.57	1.43
Mike González (Atl - RP)	5.0	0	1	8	7.20	1.80
Manuel Corpas (Col - RP)	4.1	0	0	3	4.15	0.92
Roy Halladay (Tor - SP)	21.0	3	0	17	3.00	1.05
Wandy Rodríguez (Hou - SP)	12.0	0	0	8	3.00	1.25
Kyle Davies (KC - SP)	12.2	1	0	13	2.13	1.03
Brandon Webb (Ari - SP) DL	4.0	0	0	2	13.50	2.00

I'm trying to grab Pablo Sandoval off Waivers for Alex Gordon, as Gordon needs hip surgery. I just picked up LaRoche; a was trying to ride Nick Swisher's hot streak, but I think I grabbed him too late as he is starting to cool down. He only hit .143 while I started him. Lasting Milledge got sent to Triple A inexplicably sometime after my earlier post, and I grabbed some pitchers that are pitching well. I am upset at Chris Carpenter's injury. He was pitching so well, but after hitting the DL I dropped him for Corpas, since Huston Street seems to be struggling. In fact, Street pitched the 8th inning last night, which is a good sign that Corpas is now the closer. I also had Dexter Fowler, who performed decently well for me, but I foolishly dropped him for Swisher. I'll keep monitoring the young star, but for now I think Adam LaRoche or J.J. Hardy will play Util. I dropped Randy Johnson after his 2nd bad start and do not feel bad about it, Kyle Davies looks legit.
One big mistake I had was dropping Chris Volstad before he even started pitching. I was high on him, but bought into the notion that he wasn't going to be as good as I first thought after reading some reports. Turns out I was right initially, but he's gone. I did manage to gnab Scherzer off Waivers though.
As you can see, I am going with no catcher for this team until Weiters gets recalled. I'm not sure how this plan will flesh out, but I'm doing it in a few leagues. Team avg will improve, but I am not sure how much I will miss the handful of HR and offense stats that vanish. I hope Weiters gets the call up soon.

Final Rosters ESPN 1&2

2009-04-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

Quick Note: I dropped Brad Ziegler and Brandon Morrow in a number of leagues mere hours before the news broke that they would be their teams respective closers, or at least the front runner (Morrow, but no one else is in the way for him). That is a pitfall of being an aggressive manager, sometimes I act too fast. It's a habit I will have to work on throughout the year and be more patient next season.
Opening Day is fast approaching! Here are my first two ESPN teams.

Team 1: Planet Earth Cheese Viking
C: Ramon Hernandez
1B: Mark Teixiera
2B: Ian Kinsler
3B: Edwin Encarnacion
SS: Jimmy Rollins
2B/SS: Felipe Lopez
1B/3B: Ryan Howard
OF: Manny Ramirez
OF: Carlos Lee
OF: Jason Bay
OF: Carl Crawford
OF: Nick Markakis
Util: Adam LaRoche
BE: Matt Wieters
BE: Daniel Murphy
DL: Alex Rodriguez
P: Brad Lidge
P: Brandon Lyon
P: Dan Wheeler
P: Hong Chi-Kuo
P: Carlos Villaneuva
P: Leo Nunez
P: Brandon Morrow
P: Scott Downs
P: Brad Ziegler
BE: Joey Devine

This is the all RP team, clearly. Villaneuva, Nunez, and Downs should all have early save chances, either because of injury or another reason. Devine will start the season on the DL, leaving Ziegler as the closer for 2 or more weeks. Wheeler is up in the air, but I don't think Percival can be an effective closer anymore, and Wheeler should be next in line. Brandon Morrow has moved backed to the bullpen, and should be the Mariners' best option for saves.
The only real update on the offensive side of things is I switched Kazuo Matsui for Felipe Lopez. Lopez brings more power and a slight batting average hit, and the steals should be close. Daniel Murphy could have a breakout year, and Matt Wieters will be amazing when he gets promoted. I fully believe the hype for both of these players.

Team 2: North American Cheese Viking
C: Chris Iannetta
1B: Miguel Cabrera
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: David Wright
SS: Jose Reyes
2B/SS: J.J. Hardy
1B/3B: Lance Berkman
OF: Randy Winn
OF: Raul Ibanez
OF: Jayson Werth
OF: Coco Crisp
OF: David DeJesus
Util: Chris Davis
P: Joakim Soria
P: Carlos Marmol
P: Scott Baker
P: Brian Fuentes
P: Matt Capps
P: Gil Meche
P: Mike Gonzales
P: Joel Hanrahan
P: Paul Maholm
BE: Kevin Slowey
BE: Clayton Kershaw
BE: Joey Devine

Devine isn't officially DL eligible yet, but when he is I'm going to pick up Edwin Encarnacion to provide some insurance incase Lance Berkman's injury persists throughout the season. I've ragged on Encarnacion in previous posts, but he is the best option, and some say he is poised for a break out year. Baseball Prospectus thinks he will hit close to .280, and that is pretty exciting and worth a bench spot early on.

Final Rosters Yahoo Roto Leagues 1&2

2009-03-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well, Opening Day is sneaking up on us so I'll have to double my team rosters. Here's both Yahoo roto leagues

League 1:
C: Ramon Hernandez
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
2B: Dustin Pedroia
3B: Aubrey Huff
SS: Jimmy Rollins
OF: Carlos Beltran
OF: Matt Holiday
OF: Jason Bay
Util: Jay Bruce
Be: Brad Hawpe
Be: Daniel Murphy
Be: Matt Wieters

SP: Roy Halladay
SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
RP: Mariano Rivera
RP: Matt Capps
P: Brad Ziegler
P: Paul Maholm
P: Dan Wheeler
Be: SP: Max Scherzer
Be: SP Chris Volstad

Joey Devine is looking healthy in Oakland, which severly hampers Ziegler's value. He may pick up a few saves early, but once Devine gets going I think Ziegler will just be a set up man. He'll put up good WHIP and ERA, but he is now expendable. Wheeler is not an official closer either, and Tampa Bay has a ton of excellent relief pitchers, but I think Wheeler more than I like Manny Corpas, who is having an on and off spring and is in a battle with Huston Street for the closer roll.
On the hitting side, Daniel Murphy might become Eric Byrnes in the future if Byrnes starts getting regular playing time. Murphy should start platooning in LF though, so I'll see how he develops.

Yahoo League 2
C: Mike Napoli
1B: Lance Berkman
2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Miguel Cabrera
SS: Derek Jeter
OF: Matt Kemp
OF: Bobby Abreu
OF: Corey Hart
Util: Brad Hawpe
Be: Felipe Lopez

SP: Roy Oswalt
SP: James Shields
RP: Joe Nathan
RP: Brian Fuentes
P: Chad Qualls
P: George Sherrill
P: Jason Motte
Be: Josh Johnson
Be: Randy Johnson
Be: Kevin Slowey
Be: Scott Downs
The big change in this team was I accepted a trade. Corey Hart and George Sherrill for Raul Ibanez and Clayton Kershaw. Basically I'm trading Wins and Ks for Saves, but it works out because now my team is closer to the innings cap. On this team, Scott Downs was just given serious closer consideration, so I snatched him. Adding Felipe Lopez gives me an extra 3B so if Berkman's spring injury is more serious, Cabrera can shift to 1B. Lopez can also play 2B, SS, or OF, and he has a lot of speed, so he is a perfect bench player.
Both teams look good, I only wish I could send some saves from team 2 to team 1!

Final Roster: Yahoo Head to Head

2009-03-29T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, Opening Day is less than two weeks away, so I think it's time I post my final (for now...)rosters. Here's my Yahoo Head to Head team.

C Ramon Hernandez
1B Albert Pujols
2B Dustin Pedroia
3B Alex Gordon
SS Michael Young
OF Manny Ramirez
OF Bobby Abreu
OF Lastings Milledge
Util J.J. Hardy
BE 3B/1B Jorge Cantu
BE OF Nelson Cruz

SP Brandon Webb
SP Roy Halladay
RP Mariano Rivera
RP Brad Lidge
P Brad Ziegler
P Mike Gonzalez
P Johnny Cueto
BE SP Randy Johnson
BE SP Chris Volstad
BE SP Chris Carpenter

I snatched Alex Gordon out of the free agent pool to solidify my 3B spot. I think he will be much better than Cantu this year, but Cantu is good enough to keep on as a backup or trade bait if he starts hot. Gordon was dropped by another manager and I capitalized on that. I also went back to Hernandez as my catcher, choosing power over average that John Baker would have given me.
Since this is H2H, I don't have an innings cap to worry about, so having that many SP on the bench to rotate in and out gives me a slight edge on Wins and Ks.
Nelson Cruz will make it into the lineup at some point, either over Milledge in the OF or Hardy on UTIL. If Cruz runs, which he has the potential to do, he could easily be a 25/15 guy, making him flat out better than Hardy. For the start of the season I'll go with the proven Hardy though, but I am glad Cruz is on my team.
Joey Divine seems to be on track to start the season as the A's primary closer, but Ziegler should still get his chance at saves early on as the manager has stated both will have closing opportunities early. If Devine emerges as the clear guy, I'm not sure what to do with Ziegler. His WHIP and ERA numbers will still be good, so he might be worth keeping on the roster. We shall see as the season unfolds....

Yahoo NL Only

2009-03-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I am officially crazy. Last night I signed up for and drafted in a 10 team NL Only league. This is the first time I've ever done a non mixed-league, and it was challenging and fun!
I had 4th pick, here's how the draft went.

Cupcakes & Sparkles
1.	(4)	José Reyes
2.	(17)	Lance Berkman
3.	(24)	Dan Haren
4.	(37)	Dan Uggla
5.	(44)	Troy Tulowitzki
6.	(57)	Yovani Gallardo
7.	(64)	Javier Vázquez
8.	(77)	Adam Wainwright
9.	(84)	Matt Capps
10.	(97)	Bengie Molina
11.	(104)	Joel Hanrahan
12.	(117)	Elijah Dukes
13.	(124)	Ian Stewart
14.	(137)	Michael Bourn
15.	(144)	Todd Helton
16.	(157)	Chris Volstad
17.	(164)	Dexter Fowler
18.	(177)	Josh Anderson
19.	(184)	Omar Infante
20.	(197)	Tommy Hanson
21.	(204)	Jody Gerut
22.	(217)	Carlos Villanueva
23.	(224)	Gaby Sánchez
24.	(237)	Scott Hairston
25.	(244)	Austin Kearns

I made a few mistakes and some players, such as Cameron Maybin and Pablo Sandoval, went way earlier than they should have, even in an NL Only format.
This league was set up like an ESPN league instead of a Yahoo one, so there were two additional OF to fill as well as a Corner Infield and a Middle Infield. 9 spot for pitching with no distinction between SP and RP.

I am really pleased with my starting pitching, there is no doubt in my mind that if these players are all healthy I will blow away the league in Ks. My outfield is a mess though, and I had a chance to lock up SB and get a good OF player with Willy Taveras, but I used my pick on my second save man Joel Harahan. He turned out to be the only other starter besides Capps that I was able to get, although Villanueva and recent addition John Grabow both have chances to pick up saves throughout the year. Taveras went 4 picks after Hanrahan. Qualls was still available as a reliever and I just missed him when I took Hanrahan, so there's another mistake.

I dropped Kearns for Grabow and Gabby Sanchez for Jeff Keppinger. He was onll going to fill in the games that Todd Helton would be missing, and since Sanchez will probably start in the minors I went with the safer Keppinger at CI. I still have my eyes on Sanchez and fellow Marlin CI Dallas McPherson, but I don't think McPherson will start.

Like I said, just a few mistakes, such as waiting too long on OF, not locking up Taveras, and underestimating draft positions of players I really wanted on my team. Sandoval has 3B eligibilty in Yahoo and would have been a great addition.
I really don't know what to expect but this was just such a fun challenge. I can't wait to see how this league unfolds

Yahoo Roto league 2 numbers

2009-03-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

This team doesn't have quite the offensive fire power that my 1st yahoo team brings, but it is quicker and hits for a higher average.
R: 831
HR: 205
RBI: 818
SB: 140
Avg: .295

Coco Crisp on the bench gives me a stolen base boost later in the season if I fall behind in that category. These numbers, except for homeruns, are higher than last year's winning totals.

Now the pitching numbers:
W: 102
SV: 128
K: 1253
ERA: 3.52
WHIP: 1.23

These numbers are a little off because I am currently 235 innings over Yahoo's limit. I don't plan on any add/drops right now, so I'll either test the trading waters as the season progresses or just hit my max innings allowance earlier in the year (that's what happened last year and it was fine)
The saves number has a very good chance of increasing, as Brad Ziegler and Manny Corpas has an opportunity to record more saves than their projections because of teammate injuries or ineffectiveness.

I'm looking forward to how this league unfolds!

Yahoo Numbers and Stats- Roto Team 1

2009-03-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

Today I'll be tackling my first roto team in Yahoo. The projections are from ESPN since Yahoo doesn't have any posted, and as a result the analysis is just my team vs the numbers that won each category last year instead of my team vs the league like the ESPN ones. Yahoo also has different rules for pitchers, there is a max of 1250 innings pitched throughout the season.

After some preliminary numbers, I noticed I was 232 innings over the max allowed, meaning I would have to drop one starter. I chose to swap Mark Buehrle for some speed with homerun potential in Carlos Gomez. He'll start the season on my bench because of his average, but when I need steals he is an excellent sub.
All the offensive categories are currently greater than what won last year. I'm not sure if last year was just a bad year or if my team really is that good. I have not had time to go through each team in the league and compare those player projections with mine however, so I don't know how the team stacks up against competition this year.
Pitching is more down to earth. I am around the winning number for wins, but pretty far off the mark in saves. Gomez helps shore up some SB issues, but he won't start every day so I'm not sure how many saves of his will actually help. The average is hovering slightly below what won, and the strikeouts are off by 150 or so.
Here are the numbers that won last year, and here are my current numbers:
R: 887
HR: 223
RBI: 803
SB: 148 (33 coming from Gomez)
Avg: .289

W: 84
SV: 87 (Manny Corpas could push this up to over 100)
K: 983
ERA: 3.50
WHIP: 1.18

As you can see, almost all the numbers are better across the board, I'm not sure what to make of it. Perhaps tomorrow's analysis of roto team 2 will shed some light? There will be no team analysis for the Yahoo Head to Head league, since none of the stats build on themselves throughout the year like in a roto league.

All Star Team

2009-03-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

My 4th ESPN team, Milky Way Cheese Viking (see a pattern, lol) actually looks like a real all star team. It has recognized power pitching stars to go along with a powerful lineup. This team is making a run at being my best ESPN team, and, just like Team 2, my projected analysis has me finishing in first place by 2 points. On top of everything, I got offered Josh Johnson for Jered Weaver in a trade. Johnson is just flat out a better pitcher, and I took the trade after researching any health issues Josh has had in Spring. He looked amazing and so does my team.
My team is lower on the hitting side of things than I thought it would be. Below average in runs and RBIs, slightly above in homers, and average in stolen bases and batting average. Not my typical high offense team, but I do have stars such as Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder providing a lot of oomph. I can afford to shop some saves around for another hitter after closing roles become more established during the season. I've already claimed Brad Hawpe for Hideki Matsui to provided an all around better OF, and am trying to get Joel Hanrahan, who is on waivers (seems to be a trend lately, but I can't figure out why people are dropping Washington's closer). If that comes through I can steal 2 points in saves, or try to deal him or another RP for some solid hitting.
Arod on the bench provides me a decent chance of gaining ground in offensive categories in the second half of the season too, so I am far from worried. 162 games is a long time!
I'll be posting all my completed rosters during the week before Opening Day.

A Real Fixer Upper

2009-03-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the analysis on my third ESPN roto auction team. If you recall, I had a lot of trouble after the draft when I realized Miguel Cabrera does not have 3B eligibility in ESPN leagues while he does in Yahoo. This left me with Edwin Encarnacion as my 3B. Not too pleased.
After trade talks to get Evan Longoria broke down, I shifted my attention to Chris Davis. After several back and forth offers and emails, we finally agreed to terms.
I get 1B/3B Chris Davis
2B Robinson Cano (who right after I agreed to the trade reported some stiffness. I'm not too worried though) and
P Dan Haren
for
3B Edwin Encarnacion
1B Prince Fielder
2B Ian Kinsler.
On paper, this trade is not fair, but Fielder would be stuck on my bench most of the year, and Davis is far better than Edwin. The hardest part of these deal was losing Kinsler, Cano will hit for similar power numbers, but the speed loss really hurts. Dan Haren really boosted my pitching staff to amazing, if he can put together a full season. I'll have to watch him carefully as he has a history of collapsing in the second half, but his first half numbers will be phenomenal. The boost to pitching is worth more to this team than the Kinsler's SB would be. Steals can always be found in the free agent pool, great pitching cannot.
While this team still has eligibility issues, Alexei Ramirez is slated to be the starting SS but isn't eligible yet, and some speed question marks, I feel this trade boosted me greatly. I now how a competive shot at a top 3 spot, whereas before I was pretty much doomed to wallow in mediocrity. The offense is stacked and the pitching is above average, which was my draft strategy to begin with!

I will be so upset if ESPN gives Cabrera eligibility arbitrarily before the start of the season!!!

ESPN League 2 Analysis

2009-03-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

So far this team, North American Cheese Viking, is the best looking one (I still have to see how the 4th ESPN team and all the Yahoo teams stack up in their leagues). After crunching all the projections across the entire league, I determined that I would win the whole thing by 1.5 points. Not a very high margin and they were just projections, so I determined to turn my weaknesses into strengths.

Having only 5 SP, I am at the bottom of the chart for wins and strikeouts. However, simply adding a pitcher off the waiver wire would hurt my ERA and WHIP in the long run, while not bringing a substantial difference to wins and strikeouts. I did have a surplus of saves though, so I fired off a trade proposal trying to get Francisco Liriano. He is exactly the type of pitcher I need. Good strikeouts, good wins, and he keeps my ERA and WHIP near the top of the standings. It will be interesting to see what it takes, if it is even possible to get him. He is currently on a team with 8 starting pitchers, so the owner certainly doesn't need him, but can also counter with a worse pitcher. I also could use a boost in RBIs, but have not many any attempts yet.

I do have Carlos Marmol on this team as one of my many save men, but it seems that he doesn't have the bounce back mentality a closer needs. Kevin Gregg, the backup and would be closer if Marmol fails, is available on waivers, but I decided to drop Carlos Guillen from my bench and pick up Joel Hanrahan instead. Hanrahan has no competion for his job right now. Brandon Lyon and Joey Devine were also available on waivers, making this the only league I am playing in with so many saves available at the start of the year. Lyon's WHIP would kill my team though, and Devine is still going through some shoulder problems. At the first word Devine is healthy I think Hanrahan gets dropped.

I am excited about this team, and if I can get one more quality starting pitcher to help me in wins and strikeouts (so close Max Scherzer!, although he also has shoulder problems...) I have no doubt I will win this league if all my players stay healthy.
On the health note, I do have Robinson Cano as my 2B, and he is hurting. The Yanks and I both think he will be there in April, but if not Aaron Hill looks to be the best option on waivers. Kazuo Matsui is also available, but I need someone to fill the power gap left by Cano. Cano is someone to keep a very close eye on in the next few days.

Introducing the all RP team!

2009-03-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

Now that I've blogged about each team I've got, except for the weekly leagues over at mlb.com, I can analyze my strengths and weaknesses for each team against others in their respective leagues. Today I'll be talking about my ESPN auction roto league 1 team, named Planet Earth Cheese Viking, and a new strategy I am testing out.

After extensive analysis, I came to the conclusion that my starting pitching was far worse than I originally thought while drafting and modifying. The stats are actually horrendous, worst total Wins, worst WHIP, very bad ERA, and near the bottom of the league in strike outs as well. Pretty bleak outlook, but I came up with a solution.

Rather than pick up pitchers to get me wins and maybe strikeouts, while not helping at all and in some cases, hurting, my ERA and WHIP, I decided to wheel and deal my good starting pitchers for more offense and saves, and then grab quality middle relief out of the free agent pool. This strategy almost guarantees the best WHIP and ERA in the league, and if I can maintain middle of the pack or above average saves, I can emerge with more points that I would have had chasing mediocre starting pitching. This strategy needs a potent offense to work effectively, so I came up with this trade:
I get
1B Ryan Howard
OF Carl Crawford
P Joey Devine
for
1B Casey Kotchman
P Paul Maholm
P Cole Hamels
OF Randy Winn

Howard brings me the necessary RBIs, HRs, and Runs to solidify myself as a top 3 player in each of those categories. Crawford gives me some great speed and an average to help counter the dip I'll take with Howard. The rest of my team has a high average, and if my analysis was correct, I am still high enough in that category to be competitive. Joey Devine was risky, but if he recovers from his shoulder problems in time for Opening Day, or at least before May, I get the much needed boost in Saves, pushing me to above average without killing my WHIP or ERA.

This trade was accepted and is now in league review, but I am confident it will pass through.
When it does, I'll have an empty spot on my roster, which will be filled with a middle reliever. I am looking hard at Matt Thornton (again!) or Grant Balfour (why drop these guys in the first place??) The problem is, I will only have one spot open after picking up Villaneuva. I am leaning on Balfour because he has a slim chance at getting me saves. Villaneuva will do long relief, which I think is better for for WHIP and ERA (but could backfire).

I also switched C Ramon Hernandez for C John Baker. Baker has been hitting like crazy in spring and I'll take the batting average to help off-set Howard over the home runs Hernandez could offer. I'm big on John Baker and picked him up in a number of Yahoo leagues as well.

Anyway, it's an interesting strategy, and I am curious to see how it unfolds. I'll be posting final rosters of my teams during the week before Opening Day.

ESPN Auction Roto League 4

2009-03-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

My auction league 1 on ESPN underwent a radical transformatio, but I'll get to that tomorrow. Team 3 needs some help in pitching, and John Smoltz (out to June, probably) and Ubaldo Jimenez are the top choices in the free agent pool, but I need to do the same pitching analysis I did for team 1 before I execute team fixing strategy. I'd like to pick up Smoltz and keep him in the DL spot on my non Arod teams. He is not yet DL elgible, but it is a move I am looking at more and more. I can grab him and then put him on DL later and hopefully pick up whoever I dropped to grab him at that time, if I wanted to. Anyway let's get to my final ESPN auction team!

In this draft, I went for a more balanced approach and targeted elite pitchers as well as elite hitters, choosing not to overload on offense and just get by on pitching like I had in the previous 3 drafts. It looks like that strategy really only came through for me in Draft 2, as my pitching is non existent in Draft 1 and Draft 3. I have a solution for Draft 1, but that's for tomorrow's another post. I went after Ryan Howard, even though he will kill my average, to make up for not having multiple power hitters like I have on other teams.

Here's the draft

SS Hanley Ramirez 30/36
3B Alex Rodriguez 17/17
P Tim Lincecum 24/28
OF Grady Sizemore 25/27
P C.C. Sabathia 24/28
1B Ryan Howard 20/25
P Mariano Rivera 17/19
1B Prince Fielder 19/19
P Joe Nathan 17/18
2B Brian Roberts 17/18
C Ryan Doumit 10/10
P Jose Arrandondo 5/1
OF Adam Jones 6/2
3B Jorge Cantu 1/1
P Chad Qualls 5/1
2B Kelly Johnson 1/1
OF Randy Winn 1/1
P Jered Weaver 4/1
P Chris Volstad 5/1
OF Adam Lind 1/1
OF Shin-Shoo Choo 0/1
P Jair Jurrjens 1/1
P Jeremy Guthrie 1/1
P Matt Thornton 0/1
OF Hideki Matsui 0/1

Arod at 17 has huge upside, as I potentially end up spending 18 bucks for 3B (with Cantu) that could earn me close to 40 home runs if Cantu hits early and Arod rehabs successfully. My only regret this draft is targeting Ryan Doumit instead of Victor Martinez. They went for the same price and I would rather have V-Mart. Once again, I got a fantastic deal for Adam Jones, and I am surprised Hanley wasn't closer to $40.

Drop/Add/Trades/Waivers
Frank Francisco was put on waivers, so I am trying to snatch him with my 2 priority. Arod on the DL gives a roster spot, so no one to drop for a save man.

So far the final roster is as it was drafted, with the likely addition of Francisco

C: Ryan Doumit .307/60/14/59/1
1B: Ryan Howard .251/102/45/136/1
2B: Brian Roberts .293/104/10/57/42
3B: Jorge Cantu .273/70/22/77/4
SS: Hanley Ramirez .311/11931/96/29
2B/SS: Kelly Johnson .283/88/13/69/10
1B/3B: Prince Fielder .285/96/41/113/4
OF: Grady Sizemore .274/110/30/85/34
OF: Adam Jones .276/79/16/69/11
OF: Randy Winn .296/73/11/57/15
OF: Shin-Shoo Choo .298/69/14/66/6
OF: Adam Lind .281/74/20/80/2
Util: Hideki Matsui .280/71/17/73/1
DL: Alex Rodriguez .304/94/33/97/14

P: Tim Lincecum 18/0/252/2.95/1.15
P: C.C. Sabathia 19/0/231/3.33/1.13
P: Mariano Rivera 5/36/73/1.88/.82
P: Joe Nathan 3/41/83/1.48/.92
P; Jose Arrandondo 6/3/63/3.77/1.35
P: Chad Qualls 4/32/55/3.52/1.22
P: Jered Weaver 12/0/155/3.98/1.26
P: Chris Volstad 10/0/113/3.86/1.38
P: Matt Thornton 6/0/78/3.21/1.14
Be: Jair Jurrjens 11/0/133/3.69/1.36
Be: Jeremy Guthrie 11/0/115/3.71/1.24
(Be: Frank Francisco 4/29/70/3.63/1.29)

This team probably won't be tops of the board in any category, except for strikeouts maybe. With Francisco, my saves should be close to the top, certainly well above league average. This is my worst batting average team, but I have enough .300 ish hitters to even out Ryan Howard and the .270s of the outfield to be middle of the pack. ERA should be near the top, but my WHIP looks a little high, probably going to be middle of the pack there. I also expect above average, and in some cases top 3, in most hitting categories besides batting average.

This team looks solid and I do not anticipate me being as fickle with the waiver wire as I have been with my other 3 teams. Trades are also never out of the question.

ESPN Auction Roto League 3

2009-03-12T14:19:00.000-07:00

More Jason Motte speculation and add/drops to discuss before delving into my third auction team on ESPN.
The new news on the Cardinals bullpen doesn't look good for Chris Perez or Jason Motte, one of them is almost a lock to start the season in the minors. The big question remains who? With this news, I decided to solidify some holes in teams by dropping Motte. If Motte is in the big league's and available in fantasy at the start of the season, I'll have to reconsider (and fast!), but for now, I think Motte belongs on waivers, unless there is no better option available.

Yahoo Head to Head:
Well, it looks like I don't listen to my own advice. Motte is still on my roster and instead of dropping him to add RP Manuel Corpas, I dropped OF Mike Cameron from my bench. I like picking up Corpas, he is having a way better spring than "closer" Huston Street is in Colorado, and I think if Street contines to slip, Corpas starts the year as the save man. He's had and lost the role before though, but I'll take him to start the year fresh. Maybe holding onto Motte will turn out fruitful, but he is next to go if someone better becomes available.

Yahoo Roto League 1
Drop SP Joe Saunders/ Add RP Manuel Corpas. Saunders was very lucky last year, everything seemed to go his way. I can's see him putting up similar numbers this year, and I'd rather gamble on save opportunities than start a lucky pitcher who could post an ERA in the mid 4s and kill my WHIP.

ESPN Auction Roto League 2:
I lost the Max Scherzer claim, and it is really my fault for misreading the waiver wire. I had the 5th priority, but accidentally used it on Iannetta. I claimed them both at the same time, and had Max has priority one, but didn't realize that the claims resolved on different days. So I got Iannetta and became 10th in waiver order, and watched as Mad Max went to the 6th priority. He is having some shoulder concerns during spring training and might be limited in use throughout the whole season, but he will still strikeout a ton of people and I am surely going to regret not having him on my team.

That's it for team recaps, here's my lastest draft (ESPN value/what I paid):

1B Albert Pujols 29/40
2B Chase Utley 21/25
1B Miguel Cabrera 24/46
1B Lance Berkman 23/32
1B Prince Fielder 19/23
2B Ian Kinsler 17/24
P Francisco Liriana 16/17
2B(soon to be SS) Alexei Ramirez 13/20
C Geovany Soto 12/12
OF Wily Taveras 2/4
P Joey Devine 9/3
P Frank Francisco 8/1
P Jason Motte 1/1
P Brandon Morrow 5/1
P Mark Buerhle 5/1
P Jeremy Guthrie 1/1
OF Adam Jones 6/1
OF Delmon Young 6/1
OF Adam Lind 1/1
OF Randy Winn 1/1
P Grant Balfour 1/1
P Hong-Chih Kuo 1/1
P Matt Thornton 0/1
SS Yunel Escobar 1/1
3B Edwin Encarnacion 1/1

As you can see. I overpaid a ton for hitting, and accidentally ended up with a power hitting 1B that I can't use! I think Cabrera is going to be the MVP this year, but 46 was too much. Cabrera also does not have 3B eligibilty in ESPN like he does in Yahoo, so I was forced to grab crappy Encarnacion to fill a gap. Same with Alexei Ramirez, he currently does not have SS elgibilty in ESPN. He is starting there this season, so I should only have to play Escobar for a week or so before Alexei can step in. Lots of power, but not enough spots to put them in. I also was bidding on Soto just to get his price up, I did not think he would go for just 12. I would have been happy with the money to bid on another player and pick up a $1 catcher down the stretch, but Soto is a fine player and will help my team out a lot, especially in average, a category that catchers usually kill.

Drop/Add/Trades/Waivers
I propsed a few trades right off the bat to see if I could fix my 3B problems.
Lance Berkman and Francisco Liriano for David Wright and Jair Jurrjens was refused, as was
Ian Kinsler and Edwin Encarnacion for Cole Hamels and Chris Davis (this is a crummy trade looking back at it and he was right to refuse it)
I was offered Carlos Guillen and Johan Santana for Albert Pujols and Matt Thornton, but I declined. I need more power out of my 3B, especially if I'm losing Fat Albert.
Another trade I declined was Derek Lowe, Brad Hawpe, Jorge Cantu, and Rafael Furcal for Francisco Liriano, Alexei Ramirez, Prince Fielder, and Randy Winn. I feel like I am giving up way to much in that deal, and am not getting the 3B power I need.
A trade I have proposed that is currently on the table is Lance Berkman and Hong-Chih Kuo for Evan Longoria and Randy Johnson. I also need some help at starting pitcher, and this trade addresses both my needs while giving up pretty equal value, in my opinion, in return. We'll see what happens.
The only drop/add for this team so far as been
Drop Matt Thornton/ Add Chris Carpenter. I've mentioned Carpenter before, and it looks like he will be ready to go before May. He could be a real gem here. I've also mentioned how much I love Thornton, and I'll be sure to keep him in my sights.
Pablo Sandoval is on waivers, and according to the San Francisco depth chart, he is penciled in to start at 3B. I have the 2nd waiver spot, so it's almost a lock that I get him for Jason Motte. He will be a much better fit at 3B than Encarnacion is, but I think I'll still have to play Encarnacion for a week before ESPN's system gives Sandoval 3B rights. Sandoval can hit, and he might be fine as a 3B for the whole season if I can't fashion a trade for Longoria or Davis. If so, I can use one of my big bat 1B to get some good pitching, and shore up that problem. All in all, I think this is my worst team because of the holes addressed in this post, but I have the players to get favorable trades to make my team much much better.

Here's the final roster, for now (stats ESPN's projections, as always):

Final Roster:

C: Geovany Soto .288/66/22/83/0
1B: Albert Pujols .346/107/40/124/6
2B: Chase Utley .295/92/27/90/12
3B: Edwin Encarnacion .265/74/23/74/4 *shudder*
SS: Yunel Escobar .294/72/9/54/3 - I can't wait for him to turn into 20/20 potential Alexei.
2B/SS: Ian Kinsler .292/102/21/76/23
1B/3B: Miguel Cabrera .319/100/39/102/2
OF: Wily Taveras .272/75/1/29/42
OF: Adam Jones .276/79/16/69/11
OF: Delmon Young .293/57/9/57/9
OF: Adam Lind .281/74/20/80/2
OF: Randy Winn .296/73/11/57/15
Util: Lance Berkman .296/105/31/107/15
BE: Prince Fielder .285/96/41/113/4
BE: Alexei Ramirez .290/76/24/89/15

P:Francisco Liriano 15/0/210/3.15/1.22
P: Joey Devine 5/26/72/3.09/1.16 *currently has an elbow injury, need to keep watch
P: Frank Francisco 4/29/70/3.63/1.29
P: Jason Motte 3/8/78/2.86/1.29
P: Brandon Morrow 9/0/187/3.83/1.40 *also injured and shut down for spring training.
P: Mark Buehrle 14/0/135/3.94/1.33
P: Jeremy Guthrie 11/0/115/3.71/1.24
P: Grant Balfour 6/8/89/3.23/1.19
P: Hong-Chih Kuo 4/478/3.36/1.19
BE: Chris Carpenter 5/0/65/3.13.1.13

ESPN is not high on Carpenter right now, but if he continues to rehab without a problem, he will put up much better numbers. Injury concerns for both Devine and Morrow are rough though. If they look to be out for a long time I will switch them out for Tony Pena and Ubaldo Jimenez probably. I've got my eye on Jimenez anyway, he had an incredible WBC and is having a good spring. He pitches in Colorado, which diminishes is value a little, but he is the next pitcher on my list if something goes wrong. John Smoltz is also available, he is out to June though, but it's worth keeping tabs on him as well. On the hitting side, Chase Headley looks to be the best option available. He will hit 20 homeruns and get a handful of steals, but not close to double digits, and is worth keeping an eye on, but for now I need my speedy outfielders, even if they do not hit for power.

This draft was a trainwreck and I am trying to salvage what I can by trading for Longoria or Davis. Sandoval gives me some breathing room if I get him and if he becomes 3B eligible quickly.
All in all, this is my worst team.

ESPN Auction Roto League 2

2009-03-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Before delving into this team, I have some more drop/adds to address. The closer situation with the Cardinals is still murky, but Motte is having a fantastic spring. It could be anyone's job, and I suspect this will cause me headaches through the early part of the season. Alex Rodriguez is now DL eligible, so that opened up a spot on some teams as well.
Yahoo Head to Head League:
Drop SP Armando Galarraga and RP Chris Ray (from DL)/ Add RP Jason Motte- Sherrill has been named the closer in Baltimore, but I think Ray gets plenty of chances to oust him. However, he won't start at the closer role, and Motte has a chance, so I made this switch. This could go either way, and I hope Ray will be available later if any more news or changes come up.
Yahoo Roto League 2:
Drop SP Brandon Morrow/Add RP Jason Motte- This one pained me, but Morrow is having an injury concern right now and his WHIP is forcasted to be awful. I'm still a big Morrow fan and will be keeping a close eye on him.
Drop RP Grant Balfour/ Add SP Josh Johnson- For whatever reason another manager dropped Josh and I snagged him asap. I think he will be a very nice pitcher this year and help my team greatly. Balfour is solid, but I like the starting pitcher better.
ESPN Auction Roto League 1:
Putting A Rod on the DL freed up a roster spot which I used to grab P Chris Volstad. Volstad had a great rookie season last year, finishing with an ERA under 3. He won't put up a lot of strikeouts, but he is also a ground ball pitcher, meaning the home runs likely won't be there. He does have to rely on Dan Uggla's ugly defense, but I like Volstad a lot this year.
Drop P Matt Thornton/ Add P Jason Motte- Again, I'm gambling on Motte. Thornton is an amazing pitcher in real life, and will bring a low ERA and WHIP to my team, but Motte can do that and give me Saves as well.
Drop P Grant Balfour/ Add P Paul Maholm- He had a career year last year and is having a magnificient spring. He is also a very good pitcher at home. Maholm is an excellent addition to any staff that needs one more SP.

Alright, now that that is out of the way, here's my second ESPN team. I employed the same strategy of buying power hitters early and relying on middle and late round bargains on pitching, and it worked out so much better this draft than the first or third, which I will post tomorrow. This draft took place March 3rd

3B David Wright 28/38
SS Jose Reyes 27/30
1B Miguel Cabrera 24/34
1B Lance Berkman 23/24
1B/3B Chris Davis 12/14
P Joakim Soria 16/18
P Carlos Marmol 14/12
OF Randy Winn 1/4
SS J.J. Hardy 8/10
P Scott Baker 13/9
P Brian Fuentes 13/11
P Kevin Slowey 11/11
2B Robinson Cano 10/8
P Matt Capps 10/13
OF Raul Ibanez 11/7
P Gil Meche 8/3
C Bengie Molina 2/2
OF Jayson Werth 8/2
P Clayton Kershaw 7/1
P Jason Motte 1/1
OF Coco Crisp 1/1
OF David DeJesus 1/1
P Mike Gonzalez 1/1
P Matt Thornton 0/1
1B/3B Carlos Guillen 1/1

This draft came together beautfully. I got solid starting pitching and great hitting, and good speed late. I have very high hopes for this team.

Drop/Add/Trades:
Drop P Matt Thornton/Add P Dan Wheeler. Can't pass up a guy with good WHIP and solid save chances, even if I love Thornton.
Drop C Bengie Molina/ Add C Chris Iannetta- I think this is just a straight upgrade in every category except batting average, and it's not a significant dip in my opinion.
Rejected Trade: This trade was offered to me and I refused:
Trade 2B Robinson Cano for 2B/SS Ryan Theriot and OF Jack Cust. This trade doesn't help my team in any way.
On Waivers: Max Scherzer is on waivers, I am praying that my claim goes through and that Jason Motte turns into Mad Max. What a boost that would be!

Roster:
C: Chris Ianetta .266/63/18/71/0
1B: Miguel Cabrera .319/100/39/131/2
2B: Robinson Cano .302/83/17/88/4
3B: David Wright .308/112/31/109/21
SS: Jose Reyes .293/116/15/67/63
2B/SS: J.J. Hardy .281/84/26/80/2
1B/3B: Lance Berkman .296/105/31/107/15
OF: Randy Winn .296/73/11/57/15
OF: Raul Ibanez .293/86/24/102/2
OF: Jayson Werth .268/77/19/74/15
OF: Coco Crisp .276/78/9/56/27
OF: David DeJesus .293/80/10/67/10
Util: Chris Davis .280/92/33/102/5
BE: Carlos Guillen .293/77/14/71/12

P: Joakim Soria 2/40/75/1.95/.89
P: Carlos Marmol 3/36/99/2.93/1.06
P: Scott Baker 13/0/164/3.88/1.24
P: Brian Fuentes 4/32/73/3.14/1.18
P: Kevin Slowey 13/0/140/3.70/1.19
P: Matt Capps 4/28/55/2.92/1.01
P: Gil Meche 15/0/174/3.99/1.33
P: Clayton Kershaw 13/0/171/3.97/1.34
P: Dan Wheeler 5/24/54/3.60/1.08
BE: Jason Motte 3/8/78/2.86/1.29
BE: Mike Gonzalez 2/28/68/3.21/1.27

Max would be my 5th starting pitcher, if I can't get him another reliever, probably Motte or Wheeler, will have to be dropped to get a 5th starter. This team is great, and becomes amazing with Max. Scherzer's projected line is 12/0/164/3.74/1.26

ESP Auction Roto League 1

2009-03-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Quick note before I start. I mentioned yesterday that there was some contention for the Cardinals's closer role. I decided to drop Perez and pick up Brad Ziegler in my Yahoo Roto League 2.
An auction league was something that really intrigued me, so I finally signed up for one (or four..) using ESPN's free service. Auction leagues are drastically different from serpentine drafts, draft order is established only so a manager can nominate a player for everyone to bid on. Everyone has $260 and an equal shot at every player. ESPN leagues have additional roster spots: 2 more OF, 1 2B/SS and 1 1B/3B as well as 9 pitchers with no distinction between relievers and starters. The roster size is 25, including only 3 bench spots. This draft was in early-mid Feb, before any major news had occured.
Here's my team, set up as Player, ESPN predraft value/what I paid.

3B Alex Rodriguez 32/35- this was before it was known that he had a hip injury and would be out for 10 weeks, sigh.
OF Manny Ramirez 17/21
SS Jimmy Rollins 24/29
1B Mark Teixiera 24/26
OF Carlos Lee 23/25
P John Rauch 1/5- I really have no explanation why I big so much for this guy.
P Cole Hamels 22/22
P Takashi Saito 1/4- Probably overbid and ended up dropping him later
P Brad Lidge 16/15
OF Jason Bay 17/17
OF Nick Markakis 19/19
P Grant Balfour 1/5- I like Balfour a lot, and who knows who is going to save for the Rays
2B Ian Kinsler 18/18
2B/SS Christian Guzman 0/2
C Brandon Inge 0/2- I hate this move and this player and quickly dropped him.
OF Randy Winn 1/1
1B/3B Carlos Guillen 1/2
P Bronson Arroyo 0/1
P Brandon Lyon 1/3
P Manny Parra 0/1
Util Jim Thome 0/2
OF Adam Lind 1/2
P Brandon Morrow 5/1
C Ramon Hernandez 1/1
P Tony Pena 1/1

As you can see, I overpaid for almost everybody and got some pretty bad starting pitching. However, nearly everyone in the draft was overpaid, so I'm not how much to trust the prerankings. Managers come in with their own thoughts and rankings and pay for who they want. In future drafts I learned that all auction drafts are different, and players can get really over paid.
The lack of good starting pitching is a tradeoff of the strategy I used to get a lot of offense and then try for middle of the road pitching. I don't think I pulled it off as well as I would have liked, but it was my first time in an auction draft. I signed up for 3 more after this one because it was challenging and fun.

Drop/Adds/Trades:
Drop C Brandon Inge/Add P Dan Wheeler. I hate Inge and Wheeler will have a good WHIP and will probably pick up a bunch of saves this year, although he is not officially the closer yet, Percival still is.
Drop P Tony Pena/Add P Matt Thornton. I like Thornton this year, he is one of the better middle relievers in the game. He'll pick up some odd wins here and there and give me good numbers for the innings he plays and a fantastic WHIP.
Drop 2B/SS Christian Guzman/ Add 2B/SS Kazuo Matsui. I needed some steals and Matsui will stil hit for average while stealing more than Guzman, if he can stay healthy...a risk but there is plenty of cheap 2B/SS options if he gets hurt.
Drop P Manny Parra/Add 1B Casey Kotchman- This was to fill the whole left with Arod's injury. Guillen will be my 3B and Kotchman will be my 1B/3B. Parra's ERA and WHIP would have killed me.
Drop P John Rauch/ Add C Matt Wieters- Wieters was dropped by someone and I snatched him ASAP. Even if he doesn't start the year in the majors, he will be better than any available catcher down the stretch.
Drop P Takashi Saito/ Add P Jair Jurrjens. I needed more starting pitching to realistically have a chance at middle of the road win totals.
Drop P Bronson Arroyo/ Add P Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie will have a better ERA and WHIP, I'll trade Arroyo's higher K's for those stats any day.

Final Roster:
C: Ramon Hernandez .262/52/16/72/0
1B: Mark Teixiera .308/100/34/108/2
2B Ian Kinsler .292/102/21/76/23
3B: Carlos Guillen .293/77/14/71/12
SS: Jimmy Rollins .288/124/25/86/40
2B/SS Kazuo Matsui .290/68/6/37/22
1B/3B Casey Kotchman .293/70/14/78/2
OF: Manny Ramirez .317/93/32/108/2
OF: Carlos Lee .309/84/34/122/9
OF: Jason Bay .285/85/32/114/10
OF: Nick Markakis .310/99/25/110/11
OF; Randy Winn . 296/73/11/57/15
Util: Adam Lind .281/74/20/80/2
BE: Alex Rodriguez .304/94/33/97/14
BE: Jim Thome .257/92/35/95/1
BE: Matt Wieters .283/47/15/53/1

P: Cole Hamels 15/0/182/3.24/1.11
P: Brad Lidge 3/36/98/2.87/1.27
P: Grant Balfour 6/8/89/3.21/1.19
P: Brandon Lyon 4/31/53/3.66/1.41
P: Brandon Morrow 9/0/187/3.83/1.40
P: Dan Wheeler 5/24/54/3.60/1.08
P: Matt Thornton 6/0/78/3.21/1.14
P: Jair Jurrjens 11/0/133/3.69/1.34
P: Jeremy Guthrie 11/0/115/3.71/1.24

Still on waivers are pitchers Chris Volstad (10/0/113/3.86/1.38) and John Lannan (12/0/121/3.94/1.38) who I have my eye on.

I drafted and modified this team with the intentions of being near the top of the standings in all offensive categories, WHIP, and ERA, while having above average save totals, and middle of the pack wins and strikeouts. I felt that sort of mix would best help me win this league, and although it didn't quite come together, I still feel that this team will do well, but it probably will not win the whole league. Arod's injury certainly hurts my team a lot, but it is nice to know I have Thome on the bench that I can plug in after establishing a good batting average cushion.
Tomorrow I'll go over my 2nd auction draft. I utilized the same strategy and it came out much better than this draft.

Yahoo Roto League 2

2009-03-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to step it up and joined a live roto draft. I had 7th pick. Again, I focused on establishing a high batting average early and put a little more emphasis on players with high averages and high steals or 20/20 type balanced players. I held off on pitchers this draft, but also drafted a lot more than I had in the auto drafts.

1B/3B Miguel Cabrera
1B Lance Berkman
2B Brian Roberts
OF Matt Kemp
OF Bobby Abreu
RP Joe Nathan
SS Derek Jeter
SP Roy Oswalt
SP James Shields
RP Brian Fuentes
OF Rual Ibanez
SP Brandon Morrow
RP Chad Qualls
OF Brad Hawpe
SP Kevin Slowey
SP Randy Johnson
SP Clayton Kershaw
C Mike Napoli
RP Grant Balfour
RP Chris Perez
OF Coco Crisp

I am very happy with this team and so far have not nabbed anyone off waivers. I do want to note that an absurd trade (in my opinon) went through. I did vote against it.
Player A gets
2B Dustin Pedroia
SP Ervin Santana
RP Jonathan Papelbon
Player B gets
1B Ryan Howard
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Stephen Drew
SP Justin Duchscherer
and drops RP Fernando Rodney to make room.

My starting lineup looks like this, stats are projections from ESPN:
C Mike Napoli .251/67/24/67/8
1B Lance Berkman .296/105/31/107/15
2B Brian Roberts .294/ 103/10/57/42
3B Miguel Cabrera .319/100/39/131/2
SS Derek Jeter .303/96/12/74/15
OF Matt Kemp .301/95/22/84/30
OF Bobby Abreu .292/105/18/101/24
OF Raul Ibanez .293/86/24/102/2
Util Brad Hawpe .283/74/25/95/2

SP Roy Oswalt 17/0/170/3.36/1.21
SP James Shields 16/0/159/3.77/1.17
RP Joe Nathan 3/41/83/1.48/.92
RP Brian Fuentez 4/32/73/3.141.18
P Chad Qualls 4/32/55//3.52/1.22
P Chris Perez 4/23/62/3.34/1.29
BN Brandon Morrow 9/0/187/3.83/1.40
BN Clayton Kershaw 13/0/171/3.97/1.34
BN Randy Johnson 11/0/146/3.67/1.19
BN Kevin Slowey 13/0/140/3.70/1.19

A quick note on pitching before I sum up, Yahoo leagues have a 1250 maximum innings pitched rule. My current team is slated to go 1386, so I will have to pick and choose on some starts.

I like my power, average, and speed, and I think I'm in good shape on the pitching side too. My only concern right now is that Chris Perez is no longer the guanteed closer in St. Louis, it could either be Jason Motte or Ryan Franklin. Brad Ziegler from the A's is available on waivers, and with his main competition Joey Devine potentially hurt, it might be wise to drop Perez for Ziegler. I'll have to keep my eye on things carefully in the next few days. I'm not thrilled with a .250 hitting catcher, but his power numbers are worth a spot. I feel that I have plenty of high average guys to make up the difference and be competitive in this category. Most teams will also have a low average hitting player in there for added power, most likely in the C position, so I am not too worried.

One final note. Here are the stat lines that won the only Roto league I played in last year.
Runs: 822
HR: 208
RBI: 789
SB: 133
Avg: .292

Wins: 86
Saves: 129
Strikeouts: 1117
ERA: 3.37
WHIP: 3 way tie at 1.24

These are the numbers I am shooting to break in all my Yahoo roto leagues, let's hope I get there!

Yahoo Roto League 1

2009-03-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

Here's my first of many roto leagues. It was also autodrafted but I shifted my rankings around. Playing in a roto league is different than a head to head league, and I think that grabbing players who consistently have a high average is one of the most important things you can do. You can always find power or steals on the waiver wire, but it is nearly impossible to climb out of a batting average hole.

Here's the team, drafted in order, with ESPN's projections. I had 9th pick

1B/3B Miguel Cabrera .319/100/39/131/2

OF Carlos Beltran .273/105/26/105/23

OF Matt Holliday .305/104/25/100/16

SP Roy Halladay 18/0/178/3.08/1.11

1B Adrian Gonzales .282/95/33/101/0

RP Mariano Rivera 5/36/73/1.88/.82

1B/3B Aubrey Huff .294/83/26/93/3

OF Jay Bruce .281/93/29/83/7

C Matt Wieters .283/47/15/53/1

SP Daisuke Matsuzaka 16/0/170/3.45/1.32

2B/SS Mike Aviles .296/82/11/61/10

SP Ryan Dempster 13/0/172/3.80/1.30

RP Matt Capps 4/28/55/2.92/1.01

SP Max Scherzer 12/0/164/3.74/1.26

SS Kahlil Green .247/62/20/65/6

SP Jered Weaver 12/0/155/3.98/1.26

OF Sin-Shoo Choo .298/69/14/66/6

2B Placido Polanco .316/93/8/62/6

SP Manny Parra 12/0/162/4.25/1.51

SP Joe Saunders 12/0/117/4.64/1.44

I was excited to get Cabrera, but the team didn't quite come together. Luckily, I've always felt that my real strength is in trades and drop/adds, and I did quite a bit of both.

Drop/Adds and Trades:

Jered Weaver for Brad Ziegler. I needed saves and Ziegler was the best option. He might not end up the official closer, but he should get plenty of opportunities and deliver good WHIP and ERA. I hindsight, I should have kept Weaver and dropped Saunders.

Manny Parra for Kurt Suzuki. I'm not big on Manny Parra. Others think he is primed for a breakout year, but I'm skeptical. I also needed a catcher that would play from day 1, as Wieters looks to be in triple A for at least a month, and Suzuki is a serviceable option until then.

Kahlil Green for Shaun Marcum. I was blown away that Shaun Marcum. I later found out that he was out of the season. Oops.

Shaun Marcum for Mark Buehrle. With Marcum's injury I needed another starting pitcher. I've had Buehrle on a previous team, and he helped out. Plus, he has thrown a no-hitter, so he clearly has some talent. I think Mark is underrated, and I was glad to find him on waivers.

Kurt Suzuki for Ivan Rodriguez. Again, I felt that Pudge was close to signing a deal and still think he has the skills to play.

Placido Polanco for Bras Hawpe. I felt I was lacking in the power department and needed a third OF slot. I'm skeptical of Jay Bruce as well, he could be an average killer. I also had a trade pending where I wouldn't need a high average 2B.

Ivan Rodriguez for Ramon Hernandez. It began to look clearer that Pudge wasn't going to sign when I thought he would, so I picked up a power hitting catcher in a hitting friendly ballpark. I expect good things from Ramon this year, and have him on several teams. Again, he is just a place holder until Wieters starts playing in the big leagues, but he is more than serviceable in that roll.

TRADE: Miguel Cabrera and Mike Aviles for Dustin Pedroia and Jimmy Rollins. I think Cabrera will a legit shot at MVP, but the value here was too great to pass up. My 1st and 11th round picks for a 2nd and 3rd round pick seems pretty good to me. This shores up some average problems and gets me in great shape for steals. I think Rollins has some power in him too, and he could return to the 30/40 player he was in 2007. Realistically, I am expecting a 20/40 from him, which is a huge help.

TRADE: Ryan Dempster for Jason Bay. With Cabrera gone I needed some additional power. This was an iffy trade for me, but I don't think Dempster repeats his great 2008 performance. He'll still be a good pitcher, but I like the offense Bay brings to my team better.

Rick Ankiel for Chris Ray. This was when I thought Ray would be the closer. Ankiel is another power hitter who saps your average, so I wanted to stay away from him. Ray will get his shot at closer sometime during the year; I don't think Sherrill can keep it together, he did fall apart after the All Star break, and Ray has looked great in Spring Training so far.

Sin-Shoo Choo for Paul Maholm. An Attempt to shore up some pitching after the Dempster trade. Maholm has a lot of upside that I'm willing to gamble on, and put together a solid year in 2008 for a bad team.

Here's the finished product, all set to go and ready for opening day.

C: Ramon Hernandez .262/52/16/72/0

1B: Adrian Gonzalez .282/95/33/101/0

2B: Dustin Pedroia .322/105/15/71/16

3B: Aubrey Huff .294/83/26/93/3

SS: Jimmy Rollins .288/124/25/86/40

OF: Carlos Beltran .273/105/26/105/23

OF: Matt Holliday .305/104/25/100/16

OF: Jason Bay .285/108/32/114/10

Util: Brad Hawpe .283/74/25/95/2

Bench: Jay Bruce .281/93/29/83/7

Bench:Matt Wieters .283/47/15/53/1

SP: Roy Halladay 18/0/178/3.08/1.11

SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka 16/0/170/3.45/1.32

RP: Mariano Rivera 5/36/73/1.88/.82

RP: Matt Capps 4/28/55/2.92/1.01

P: Brad Ziegler 4/15/44/3.70/1.33

P: Chris Ray 4/12/40/3.94/1.27

P: Paul Maholm 11/0/138/4.16/1.36

Bench: Max Scherzer 12/0/164/3.74/1.26

Bench: Joe Saunders 12/0/117/4.64/1.44

Bench: Mark Buehrle 14/0/135/3.94/1.33

Saunders is probably the first player I drop if someone gets hot during the season.

Yahoo Head to Head League Team

2009-03-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here's the team, in draft order, that I autodrafted for my only Head to Head league this year. I was fortunate enough to have first pick. The stats are ESPN's 2009 projections.
(AVG/R/HR/RBI/SB) (W/SV/K/ERA/WHIP)

1B Albert Pujols .346/100/40/125/7
OF Manny Ramirez .317/93/32/108/2
2B Dustin Pedroia .322/105/15/71/16
SP Brandon Webb 18/0/173/3.37/1.25
SP Roy Halladay 18/0/178/3.08/1.11
RP Mariano Rivera 5/36/73/1.88/.82
RP Brad Lidge 3/36/98/2.84/1.27
SS Michael Young .294/90/13/82/8
SS J.J. Hardy .281/84/26/80/2
OF Bobby Abreu .292/105/18/101/24
OF Lastings Milledge .277/85/19/83/31
1B/3B Jorge Cantu .273/70/22/77/4
C Jorge Posada .276/62/16/75/1
SP Randy Johnosn 11/0/146/3.67/1.19
SP Johnny Cueto 10/0/173/4.57/1.36
RP Brad Ziegler 4/15/44/3.70/1.33
OF Nelson Cruz .251/74/22/83/9
OF Adam Lind .281/74/20/8/2
1B Billy Butler .279/58/14/74/0
SP Mike Pelfrey 11/0/98/4.01/1.41
SP John Smoltz 8/0/93/3.55/1.28

This draft was in mid February and I had plenty of time to tinker with my team. Thinking I was a little low on steals, my first move was to drop Butler and pick up Mike Cameron. I also don't like Posada very much, so he was switched out for Yadier Molina. Next to go was Mike Pelfrey. I dropped him and added Armando Galarraga, a pitcher that had helped my team be a success last year. Later I decided Molina wasn't right for my team and I picked up Ivan Rodriguez, thinking he was close to signing a deal with a team. Needing another save man I dropped Adam Lind to grab Mike Gonzales, who had been dropped by another team in favor of George Sherrill. I also dropped John Smoltz since he won't be pitching in the first half of the year in favor of unknown pitcher Kenshin Kawakami from Japan, but had a change of heart after reading some injury reports and dropped Kawakami in favor of Chris Carpenter, hoping that he will be ready for opening day and pitch at least a little like he did as a Cy Young winner a few years ago. Another team then dropped Ramon Hernandez, so I dropped Ivan Rodriguez, picked up Chris Ray for my DL, and then with the extra slot nabbed Hernandez. I had my eye on Chien-Ming Wang as well, but another manager beat me to him on waiver rules.

So, the team looks to be pretty settled in now, here's my final roster.

C: Ramon Hernandez .262/52/16/72/0
1B Albert Pujols .346/100/40/125/7
2B: Dustin Pedroia .322/105/15/71/16
3B: Jorge Cantu .273/70/22/77/4
SS: Michael Young .294/90/13/82/8
OF: Manny Ramirez .317/93/32/108/2
OF: Bobby Abreu .292/105/18/101/24
OF: Lastings Milledge .277/85/19/83/31
UTIL: J.J. Hardy .281/84/26/80/2
Bench: Nelson Cruz .251/74/22/83/9
Bench: Mike Cameron

SP: Brandon Webb 18/0/173/3.37/1.25
SP: Roy Halladay 18/0/178/3.08/1.11
RP: Mariano Rivera 5/36/73/1.88/.82
RP: Brad Lidge 3/36/98/2.84/1.27
P: Randy Johnosn 11/0/146/3.67/1.19
P: Brad Ziegler 4/15/44/3.70/1.33
P: Mike Gonzales 2/28/68/3.21/1.27
Bench: Armando Galarraga 12/0/134/4.26/1.35
Bench: Chris Carpenter 5/0/65/3.13/1.13
Dl: Chris Ray 4/12/40/3.94/1.27

Ray is no longer on the DL and has been designated a setup man instead of closer for Baltimore, I'm going to try to hang on to him in the DL spot in hopes that he wins the closer job off Sherrill, since he has better numbers and control. Nelson Cruz or Mike Cameron will be dropped in order to fit Ray on the roster if neccessary. ESPN doesn't think too highly of Carpenter right now, but I think he is worth holding onto just in case.

All in all I like the way this came out. I'm a little concerned about my batting average, but since this is a head to head league it isn't that big of a deal

Introduction and Purpose

2009-03-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

Greetings fantasy sports lovers! I play both fantasy football and fantasy baseball, and have an absolute blast with both, so I decided to blog about my teams and how they change throughout the season. I am currently managing 12 (!) teams, but 5 are using mlb.com's service, which using a different point system and is weekly, so there isn't much to keep up with on those teams, and I prefer Yahoo and ESPN's style and point system.
The 3 Yahoo and 4 ESPN leagues (links on the left), however, are daily and require me to stay up to date with what's going on and are much more fun to participate in.
This is only my third year of playing fantasy baseball. I joined a head to head Yahoo league about a month into the 2007 season and ended up winning the whole thing! This sparked my interest and in 2008 I played 4 leagues, including my first Roto style. I just eeked out a second place finish in the Roto league with 83 points, and also picked up a 3rd place finish in one of the 3 head to head leagues. The other leagues ended with me in 4th and 5th, so still pretty good for someone just startingt out.
This year I've got 2 Rotos and 1 Head to Head league on Yahoo, as well as 3 Roto Auction leagues on ESPN. Talk about completely different!
I plan on posting draft recaps of all my teams, plus any add/drops I've made as the season progresses to have a repository of information to look at after the season, and better prepare myself for 2010.
And don't worry if you are only a football fan, I'll be sure to be playing in a bunch of leagues this fall and blogging about my experiences.
Well, that should wrap up an intro post, I'll start posting teams later. For those of you not interested in fantasy, check out the blog www.majorleagueblogging.com in my blogroll. I blog about my favorite team, the Houston Astros, over there in my spare time, and there is a passionate blogger for just about every team.