2009 FOFC Hardcore League

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

So apparently my MI spot is cursed. First Weeks out for the year, now Iwamura (Weeks' replacement) out for the year. Worst part is, Iwamura didn't even get a chance to play. Weeks went on the DL on Monday of last week, so I picked up Iwamura and put him in the lineup for today...and of course, Iwamura goes on the DL for the year today. WTF man?!

I have Jhonny Peralta (red hot this month) and Troy Tulowitzki and am willing to deal either of them for a starting pitcher or a speed/average infielder. Make me an offer...

[sterlingice]

I had started crawling back into this thing but I'm in week 2 of giving back all the gains I had made

SI

[Toddzilla]

wow - one 1-13 loss and I tanked in the standings big-time

[Travis]

Anybody looking to deal a CI? I've got some depth at MI, OF, SP and RP to look at trade wise.

[PackerFanatic]

I have been getting hammered with injuries, and it usually happens on Monday or Tuesday. I am still hanging in there in the middle, but these injuries have to stop!

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Travis

Anybody looking to deal a CI? I've got some depth at MI, OF, SP and RP to look at trade wise.

I'm willing to move A-Rod for top talent at MI or SP.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I'm willing to move A-Rod for top talent at MI or SP.

I have a lot of SP right now, take a look, I could use A-Rod.

[sterlingice]

1.		Queens Bees	60-44-8	.571	-	8-5-1	5	10
2.		Whos Down Wit OBP?	55-45-12	.545	3	8-5-1	1	12
3.		ChicksDigTheLongball	56-48-8	.536	4	8-3-3	2	8
4.		Dog Pound	56-48-8	.536	4	3-8-3	7	11
5.		Hartford Heroes	56-49-7	.531	4.5	7-5-2	12	23
6.		Insomniacs	53-51-8	.509	7	5-8-1	8	6
7.		Richmond Rhinocerii	52-54-6	.491	9	5-8-1	6	17
8.		Killing Me Smalls	50-53-9	.487	9.5	4-8-2	10	8
9.		Hunters	51-55-6	.482	10	8-4-2	11	29
10.		Blacksburg Transit	48-54-10	.473	11	1-13-0	3	7
11.		Troy Trojans	43-59-10	.429	16	5-7-2	4	4
12.		Nietzsche's Ubermen	42-62-8	.411	18	13-1-0	9	16

Forgot to add an "end of May" update. We still have everyone active, with everyone having made a move with their team in the last 2 weeks. Five of the top 6 teams are the same as the end of April with some shuffling around. However, the Queen Bees had a great month and have vaulted all the way from 9th to 1st on the strength of huge months from Ibanez, Morneau, Tejada, Pierre, and Sabathia.

Still the gap between 6th and 10th is only 4 games and even the bottom pair could vault into 6th with one of those huge 12-2 type weeks. Nietzche's Ubermen just had one last week to get him back into the thick of things.

SI

[DeToxRox]

Ugh, it'd be nice if Hamilton was healthy.

[DeToxRox]

But .. Adrian Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson might've been the two biggest steals. Not to be too selfish or anything

[MizzouRah]

Man.. it's been a tough few weeks...

[DeToxRox]

I noticed a trend with my team. Either my hitting wins me weeks or it's my pitching. I never have a consistent effort where both do amazing but on the flipside I don't have many weeks where I am losing by 5 or more.

[sterlingice]

1.		Queens Bees	95-61-12	.601	-	10-3-1	5	12
2.		Hartford Heroes	90-67-11	.568	5.5	7-6-1	11	28
3.		ChicksDigTheLongball	89-67-12	.565	6	4-8-2	2	8
4.		Whos Down Wit OBP?	84-67-17	.551	8.5	8-4-2	1	12
5.		Dog Pound	83-70-15	.539	10.5	11-3-0	7	12
6.		Hunters	79-79-10	.500	17	9-3-2	10	42
7.		Blacksburg Transit	73-74-21	.497	17.5	2-5-7	3	7
8.		Killing Me Smalls	73-81-14	.476	21	6-7-1	9	9
9.		Richmond Rhinocerii	70-88-10	.446	26	3-9-2	6	21
10.		Troy Trojans	62-87-19	.426	29.5	5-2-7	4	5
11.		Nietzsche's Ubermen	66-92-10	.423	30	3-11-0	12	26
12.		Insomniacs	63-94-11	.408	32.5	3-10-1	8	7

Queen Bees have extended their lead slightly since last month. Numbers 2-5 have shuffled a little with Hartford jumping from 5 to 2 in the last update but all remain very much within striking distance of first. After that, things have changed a bit as the Hunters continue their resurrection and now own that final playoff spot but Blacksburg and Killing Me Smalls are right behind him. Spots 9-12 will all take a good week or two to jump back into playoff contention but all it takes is one of those 10-2 type weeks to vault up.

SI

[Travis]

Was just doing a little player research and thought it might be interesting to see personal draft reviews at this point in the season, so here's a quick (relatively) run down of how I look back at the draft:

I came into the draft without a huge plan, figuring the draft order and how the first two rounds went would dictate a bit as to how I'd try to build my team. With my job I know I'm usually online for a good portion of the week so I'm usually pretty caught up with news and the sort so I don't mind playing the waiver wire game (as evidenced by the fact that I've made 14 more waiver moves than any other owner which in itself is more moves than 8 of the owners in the 12 team league have made to this point). I'm a big fan of upside and sleepers, so for me, I usually have a hard time convincing myself to take certain players early on as I have plans for those roster spots later in the draft, and in some cases that can really mess with my selection process.

1.9 - Ryan Braun (LF) - Pretty much a no brainer here given how the first round played out. Had some thought of taking one of Utley/Kinsler here or possibly Teixeira but I've had issues in LF past seasons and while I wish Braun had 3B eligibility still he was a comfortable pick for me.

2.4 - Chase Utley (2B) - My second pick of the draft and my second carry over player from last season. His injury concerns at the time had him fall to the second round and I wasn't going to let a tough position pass by me without taking the guy who I felt would end up as the #1 guy at the position even though I felt I had a pretty good sleeper lined up for later on.

3.9 - Carl Crawford (LF) - Adding a second LF this early in the draft scared me but I couldn't argue with what I felt was first round value at the tail end of the third. Rios was still on the board and the homer in me made me consider him, but the SB potential outweighed the homer urges.

4.4 - Roy Halladay (SP) - Homer urges satisfied. Felt Halladay dropped further than he should have already (4 SP already selected) and didn't think there was anyway he'd make it to my next pick. The #1 SP on my board (some obvious homer bias there, but pretty well justified for this guy).

To this point I'm feeling pretty good about my squad. I have a SP to build a staff around, two positions that are normally tough for me to fill (LF, 2B) taken care of and a category winner (Crawford) on board. Looking back now, LF wasn't nearly as thin this year as it has been in the past, but I wouldn't change any of these picks.

5.9 - Jacoby Ellsbury (OF) - A guy I had last year, figured adding him to Crawford should pretty much lock SB up for me most weeks. Figured if he could bump his average a bit closer to .300 and hit at the top of the Sox lineup that taking him here would still be a buy low situation.

6.4 - Michael Young (3B/SS) - Struggled here trying to pick between Young and Tulowitzki. Ended up going with Young as I knew he'd pick up the 3B eligibility early on in the season over Tulo's upside and hoped Tulo would fall to my next pick.

7.9 - Chris Davis (1B/3B) - Tulo didn't fall, so I tried to revamp my approach, figuring I'd play Young at SS instead of 3B, so picked up my first corner outfielder.

Oops.

Thought even if Davis hit .250ish that his power breakout this year would be a category changer, especially at this point in the draft. So far, not so much. Was also smarting because not only did Tulo get picked up, two pitchers I had been hoping to pick up next round went back to back earlier in the round (Liriano/Hernandez).

8.4 - Joey Votto (1B) - Had Votto last year, a bit of homer bias with him being Canadian and had hoped that he'd maintain his average while adding a bit more power this year. Still pretty happy with this pick even with him missing a good chunk of time recently.

9.9 - Pablo Sandoval (C/1B/3B) - Felt this was a reach at the time, but really wanted the position flexibility for him to come out and play CI if needed, which it has been. Probably could have waited a few more rounds but at this point at least 6 catchers had been taken. Also missed out on another pitcher I had hoped would fall to me this round (Greinke, who I had last year) and had he fallen, I'd have taken him and pushed Sandoval back a round. Oh how nice it would have been to have him and Halladay on the same staff.

10.4 - Joba Chamberlain (SP/RP) - Figured OF's would stick around for a while and I'd been burned on too many of the pitchers I wanted to not get back into the chase. Liked his upside and while it hasn't come all the way out so far this season, could still turn into a solid pick.

11.9 - Josh Johnson (SP) - A guy I picked up at the tail end of last season and was thoroughly impressed with. Everything I had read indicated that he'd be healthy to start the season so I was very happy to get him here while trying to assemble my rotation. Had hoped to get Jay Bruce around here but he went after my Chamberlain pick, so I started missing out on position players while picking pitchers after having the reverse happen 2-3 rounds previous.

12.4 - B.J. Ryan (RP) - Another ouch. My first closer who I thought was primed for a lot of saves given that I thought the Jays would play +.500 ball but have to win a lot of close games. Nearly went with Vernon Wells here to help my OF (and felt he'd be a nice buy low guy as I expected a bounce back season for him).

13.9 - Brandon Morrow (SP/RP) - Another ouch. Thought he'd be lights out for the Mariners as their closer. Passed on Torii Hunter to make this pick.

14.4 - Orlando Cabrera (SS) - Felt short was getting awfully thin and in case I had to play Young at 3B wanted to pick up some insurance.

15.9 - Matt Capps (RP) - Was giving thought to picking up Weiters about here so I could use Sandoval as a rover, but figured I'd nab another named closer to get a bit more value (and Weiters went two picks before this so the dilemma wasn't allowed to materialize to it's fullest).

16.4 - Mike Pelfrey (SP) - Figured he'd be a safe pick on what should be a pretty good rotation. Nearly took Justin Upton (had him previous seasons, really liked his upside), another oops pick really. Mark Reynolds here would have saved me a lot of headaches too.

17.9 - Chris Carpenter (SP) - A guy I had on my sleeper list for a long time and nearly took a round earlier. Obviously happy with this one.

18.4 - Adam Jones (CF) - The replacement for missing on Upton a couple rounds ago. Another young/upside type who has worked out awfully well. Considered Billy Butler here only to see him taken 3 picks later.

19.9 - Denard Span (OF) - A guy who could contribute in a couple categories and not really kill me in any. Stuck around my squad until very recently and was nice insurance for a while.

20.4 - Adam Hill (2B) - Maybe could have waited a few more rounds, but another sleeper I had highlighted on my list and I didn't want to risk losing him just trying to get too cute. *Very* happy with this pick and his power has helped mask some shortcomings for the rest of my team.

21.9 - Aaron Cook (SP) - Another supposed safe pick. Not glitzy but usually not too bad. Has turned it around recently but has been off the squad for quite some time.

22.4 - Matt Lindstrom (RP) - Seemed dominant at the WBC, some injury concerns at the time caused him to drop and in the end he just couldn't put it together this season. As with BJ Ryan, probably my fault. Sorry Marlin fans.

23.9 - Travis Snider (RF) - My biggest regret of the draft. Spent quite a bit of time agonizing over Snider vs Lind and went with Snider due to him being a RF vs Lind being a LF. Thought Snider would provide better power numbers under Cito (with Lind having the BA edge). Freaking ouch. By the time it was clear that he wasn't ready, Lind was gone as was a nice bat that really would have helped.

24.4 - Dioner Navarro (C) - Supposed to be a near starting calibre C that would allow me to use Sandoval at other positions.

Key word, should. That didn't happen.

25.9 - Elvis Andrus (SS) - Seemed like good upside value at this spot. Didn't cost much and ended up being moved due to injury issues during the season and needing the roster spot for other reasons.

26.4 - Hong-Chih Kuo (RP) - Oops. Seemed like a great value pick at the time and was pretty happy with it in case he got an injury promotion to closer. As with my other injured/underachieving RP picks, sorry guys.

So there you have it. 26 picks and 43 waiver moves later along with a few rejected trade offers, I still have 15 of these guys on my roster (16 just a few days ago).

No big misses in the first 5 rounds while getting bonus value for most of those picks. Big misses or should have taken other guys on a few, but out of the top 20 picks, probably only 4 that I'd really like a do over on. Did however nab 3-4 starter calibre players with the final 10 picks of the draft so I can't complain too much at all.

Worst picks: Davis (5), Ryan (12), Morrow (13), Cabrera (14), Snider (23), Navarro (24), Andrus (25), Kuo (26) (yeah, middle and very end of the draft weren't kind)

Best picks: Crawford (3), Johnson (11), Carpenter (17), Jones (18), Hill (20)

Grade: B- (just too many flat out misses to go any higher, but a couple of late gems bumps it up from a C)

[cubboyroy1826]

At the time of our draft i was questioning having taken so many Mets since i truly hate the Mets. Man did i screw up.

1st Pick - Jose Reyes - out and who knows when he will be back
2nd Pick - Carlos Beltran - out until after the All-Star break
4th Pick - Brandon Webb - has yet to make a start
9th Pick - Carlos Delgado - stick a fork in him

Now don't get me wrong i have had some pleasant surprises but man this has been a rough season.

[MizzouRah]

Last place.. what have I turned into?

[sterlingice]

Of course, I just dropped Jonathan Sanchez

SI

[PackerFanatic]

Happy to slowly be moving up (especially since in my other league, I am in dead last and 36 games out) Slow and steady wins the race!

[samifan24]

Just wanted to post to let the rest of the league know that I've had three separate trade offers nullified automatically because the other owners didn't respond to the offer within 10 days. I don't know if it just means that they didn't like the offer or have lost interest in the league but I was surprised that I didn't receive a response from several different owners. How many people check this league and/or their email weekly?

[CleBrownsfan]

I never check my yahoo account - I think I have over 1700 unread messages. I don't see that I have any trade notifications when I'm in the league page so I don't think I've ever been offered a trade...

[Travis]

I'm active there, though that said, if I don't reply for some reason within 2-3 days, best bet would be to message me here as I don't check yahoo mail at all.

[sterlingice]

I usually check twice a week- Saturday/Sunday to set next week's lineup and then midweek, like Wednesday/Thursday, to see if there are any pickups worth making. Also, I get emails if there's a trade for me.

Not sure about the nullified trade thing.

SI

[DeToxRox]

I'm with the above. I usually look for trade offers but sometimes I forget and I never check yahoo.

[MizzouRah]

I check at least 3-4 times a week, had a wrong email in my profile. Should be all fixed now.

[samifan24]

DeToxRox and I have agreed on a Lind-for-Lackey deal that will "be reflected in your Wednesday lineup." What does that mean exactly? Does that mean Lackey will be automatically placed in a SP slot next Wed? If not, if I leave a SP slot blank, will he be added to my lineup automatically? I've never accepted a trade that didn't take effect on Monday so I'm not sure.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by samifan24

DeToxRox and I have agreed on a Lind-for-Lackey deal that will "be reflected in your Wednesday lineup." What does that mean exactly? Does that mean Lackey will be automatically placed in a SP slot next Wed? If not, if I leave a SP slot blank, will he be added to my lineup automatically? I've never accepted a trade that didn't take effect on Monday so I'm not sure.

I had that question too.

I needed Lind's bat, and even if he tapers off it's still better then guys I'd thrown out there with all the injuries I've had.

[samifan24]

This is what it says on my team page:

Note: This trade will be reflected on the lineup for Wednesday, Jul 22. If you've set your lineup in advance for future dates, please note those changes will be reset to match your lineup for the day players are added.

[PackerFanatic]

That means that he would be available to you on 7/22 - obviously, since our lineups lock on Monday morning, you won't be able to use him until 7/27. I am almost 100% that he would NOT be placed into an empty SP spot. He would automatically be added to your bench until you moved him (which would be 7/27 at the earliest)

[samifan24]

Quite a run up the standings by Travis and his Hunters team.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

That means that he would be available to you on 7/22 - obviously, since our lineups lock on Monday morning, you won't be able to use him until 7/27. I am almost 100% that he would NOT be placed into an empty SP spot. He would automatically be added to your bench until you moved him (which would be 7/27 at the earliest)

Thanks. I thought this was probably the case and so I filled my lineup just to be safe.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Quite a run up the standings by Travis and his Hunters team.

He loves to do this every year

SI

[cubboyroy1826]

I think i will change my team name to the injured stiffs.

[Travis]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

He loves to do this every year

SI

So it takes me a while to remember how to play the game Besides, one bad week and I'm back to being on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. 1 big week by the 8 & 9 teams and it's going to be a very interesting race for those top 6 spots the rest of the way.

[samifan24]

It looks like my 10 week winning streak is finally over.

[sterlingice]

FYI: Trade deadline is today

SI

[PackerFanatic]

Wow, I had an 11 - 3 week and I still move down a place. These last few weeks are going to be pretty tough.

[sterlingice]

1.		Queens Bees	131-92-15	.582	-	8-5-1	5	15
2.		Hartford Heroes	125-95-18	.563	4.5	5-9-0	11	34
3.		ChicksDigTheLongball	125-97-16	.559	5.5	13-0-1	2	10
4.		Killing Me Smalls	124-98-16	.555	6.5	11-3-0	9	12
5.		Hunters	123-101-14	.546	8.5	9-5-0	10	50
6.		Whos Down Wit OBP?	111-105-22	.513	16.5	6-7-1	1	16
7.		Dog Pound	107-112-19	.489	22	5-8-1	7	12
8.		Blacksburg Transit	99-114-25	.468	27	5-8-1	3	9
9.		Troy Trojans	96-118-24	.454	30.5	7-6-1	4	6
10.		Richmond Rhinocerii	97-123-18	.445	32.5	0-13-1	6	26
11.		Nietzsche's Ubermen	92-131-15	.418	39	3-11-0	12	30
12.		Insomniacs	89-133-16	.408	41.5	8-5-1	8	8

Unlike the MLB, our trade deadline came and went with little activity. I wonder if we should make this a keeper league at some point but I kindof enjoy the entire draft every year- any thoughts?

Queen Bees are leading for the third month in a row but the top is still very competitive and no one has been able to open up a lead. Killing me Smalls has jumped into a solid playoff spot and actually pretty much all of the top 5 are "solid". That's not to say that if one of them doesn't string together a pair of bad weeks that they'd be on the outside looking in but it's as safe as can be at this point.

Whos down with OBP is hanging on to that last playoff spot but Dog Pound is hanging around in 7th, tho he hasn't checked his team since June. That said, everyone else has recent activity within the last week. The 5 of us in 8-12 are going to need a couple of great weeks to get back into contention and there are only 5 weeks of the regular season left.

SI

[CleBrownsfan]

I ( Dog Pound) check my team every week just haven't made many moves of late. I'm still hanging on

[cubboyroy1826]

Yeah i think i need the 2nd coming of Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran. Curse you Mets, new rule never draft more than one Met.

[PackerFanatic]

I think a keeper aspect might be fun. This will likely be my only baseball league next year anyway (that is, if I am invited back )

[samifan24]

I would love for this to become a keeper league next year. I think we could set and vote on keeper rules during the off-season because, after all, a keeper league drafts differently than a regular league.

This league is a blast. My only other league is a bunch of guys from high school and the playoff spots are always locked up by July or early August. It's only 10 teams and the number of rosters means great players are always available. I love the positional strategy in this league. In fact, if I may make a suggestion, I'd love to see us add a second catcher position next year.

[cubboyroy1826]

I would agree with Sami regarding adding a 2nd catcher. I would also like this to move to a keeper league after a new redraft next year because the strategy would definitely be different. Although my team is brutal this year i have had fun and would love to come back.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by CleBrownsfan

I ( Dog Pound) check my team every week just haven't made many moves of late. I'm still hanging on

Wasn't sure- again, we've had this problem in the past where you can't tell if people check in, just if they make a move. And if they have a pretty stable team, there's no way to tell.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I would love for this to become a keeper league next year. I think we could set and vote on keeper rules during the off-season because, after all, a keeper league drafts differently than a regular league.

This league is a blast. My only other league is a bunch of guys from high school and the playoff spots are always locked up by July or early August. It's only 10 teams and the number of rosters means great players are always available. I love the positional strategy in this league. In fact, if I may make a suggestion, I'd love to see us add a second catcher position next year.

I'm game for the second catcher rule- I've done it in the past but not in this league (remind me of this- some suggestions can get lost).

As for keeper- yeah, you can't change that in the middle of a season. that was just something to throw out there for next year to gauge the temperature. It would probably be pretty significantly limited like 1 IF, 1 OF, 1 P, and 1 rookie with a 1 or 2 year player limit (i.e. you can only keep the same player 1/2 years before they go back into the draft pool). I love the draft for this league, even tho it's time consuming, and I wouldn't want to take too much away from that.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

I think a keeper aspect might be fun. This will likely be my only baseball league next year anyway (that is, if I am invited back )

It's not like this league is invitation only

I just like to keep continuity from one year to the next so players from the previous year (as long as they're active), get first preference. Basically, they get a weekend or week before it's opened up to new players.

So, if you're here this year and stay active- as long as you sign in at draft time next year, you have a spot

SI

[sterlingice]

It's time to do a post mortem on my team as this is one of my worst showings in fantasy baseball ever and I felt more prepared for this draft than I had in a couple of years. Let's look at what went wrong.

My strategy the first few rounds is to draft on floor, not ceiling. I don't need amazing production from my top 5, I just need them to not suck. That way I can take more chances in the other rounds because I have solid production locked in. Then I take some chances on P's in the next 10ish rounds, gambling on high upside and going after quantity while filling in some other holes around the diamond. Then the last 10 picks are all about upside and gap filling- getting any positions I've missed with quantity and going high upside with the rest of my picks.

Also, I tried to go more for hitters this year. I'm usually pretty good at picking up pitchers, particularly in those middle rounds, so I wanted to lock in solid hitting because I'm typically a bit light. So, the thought process was "if you see a hitter of equal value or even slightly lower quality than the best pitcher on the board, go hitter" in the early rounds. I was trying to compensate for my bias towards pitchers.

So, in short: Floor early, ceiling late and hitters first then pitchers. But these are not hard and fast rules, just guidelines.



1. Miguel Cabrera - he's having a little bit of an off year; still good production but not as consistent or as good as you want from a #1 pick. Yahoo has him ranked 41 on the year in terms of actual stats. I was pretty happy with this pick at the time- not a premium position but sustained good production and young. I remember this was between him, Howard, Braun, and Utley.

Then again, looking at the first round, it was a bit of a crap shoot this year:
Pujols has played exactly to pick number (2)
Ramirez and Braun were about 5-10 picks below
Wright, Cabrera, Howard, Kinsler, Pedroia, and Texeira were a couple of rounds off
Sizemore is mid 100s in value
Reyes was hurt
Two other possible 1st rounders were Utley (exactly to pick) and Hamilton (fell off map)

So, all in all, this could have been a lot worse and it mostly played to my goal of reasonable floor with minimal risk. Braun would have been a better pick but still did pretty good. I also had this delusion that Utley might fall to me in 2, but it didn't come to pass.

2. Lance Berkman
3. Jason Bay
4. Jake Peavy
5. Magglio Ordonez

First the good- Jason Bay has performed about up to draft pick. That is all.

Oof. Peavy and Berkman are 2 of my favorites but both have been hurt for significant chunks to the season and that has just killed their values. Even when healthy, both haven't produced up to the level necessary. Magglio hasn't produced, got into the manager's doghouse, and is having his ABs restricted by ownership who doesn't want his option to vest.

Not exactly the floor I was hoping for on any of those guys. I know you can't predict injuries but both Berkman and Peavy have had occasional issues in the past. I don't think anyone could have predicted Ordonez's pile of issues. Sure, he's getting towards the part of his career where he might not produce as well but not like this.

So, rather that building a solid base where I was lacking positional scarcity but could rely on 2 big OF bats, 2 big CI bats, and an ace, I had 2 solids, 2 hurts, and a question mark.



6. (67) J.J. Hardy
7. (78) Félix Hernández
8. (91) Ryan Doumit
9. (102) Javier Vázquez
10. (115) Aaron Harang
11. (126) Kelly Johnson
12. (139) Derrek Lee
13. (150) Brian Fuentes
14. (163) Jered Weaver
15. (174) Brad Hawpe

Rounds 6-15 are where I like to fill out my pitching staff with some positional bargains mixed in. I take chances on some high upside pitchers so that I can eventually cobble together enough aces to carry my staff and then pick up solid waiver wire guys once the season begins to fill in gaps

I wasn't really happy with my middle infield. Both Hardy and Johnson felt like reaches but they also seemed like what was better than what was out there on the board at the time. Not only have they been well below expectations but they didn't even provide what little skills they are both good at (power for Hardy, average for Johnson). I've been wallpapering over those mistakes all season, tho Escobar later in the draft has been a pleasant surprise. That said, if my CI/OF guys produce, this isn't as much of a problem.

I was pretty happy with Doumit as a bargain C where he was but he's been hurt and bad all season. Tho, to be fair, if you're a C and your name isn't Mauer, Sandoval, or Victor Martinez- you've mostly sucked this year. I'm glad I didn't reach for Soto like I was considering. Hawpe and Lee were both "I've had these guys on my board for like 4 rounds and they keep falling" picks so I had to take them and they've performed well above position, helping overcome some of the other hitting issues.

Then there's the pitching- Felix (7), Vazquez (9), Harang (10), and Weaver (14). Felix and Vazquez have been aces. Wever was an ace for the first half of the season with 7-2 and a 2.08 after a June 18th shutout. He's gone 4-1 since that but his ERA has gone up to the high 3's. Harang's season stats look bad but he was really good until mid June when he was pulled from a rain delayed game. At the time, he was 5-6 with a 3.65 and struck out a lot of guys. But since, he's been abysmal, giving up 3 or more runs in 7 of his 8 outings. So, ace stuff from the staff thru mid June kept the record respectible even with the bad hitting. But when that fell apart, there went the record.

I thought Fuentes as a closer in 13 was a good bargain as the Angels generate a lot of chances and he was decent but unspectacular. He has pitched pretty much to pick number. I didn't want to get caught without any closers because a lot of fantasy players think they can just scrape by with saves on the ww but that's just not there in this league. It's too deep and there are too many roster spots so you have to take some reasonable gambles in the draft.



16. (187) Mike González
17. (198) John Maine
18. (211) Billy Butler
19. (222) Jonathan Sánchez
20. (235) Willy Taveras
21. (246) Yunel Escobar
22. (259) David Purcey
23. (270) Ian Snell
24. (283) Manuel Corpas
25. (294) Michael Bourn
26. (307) George Sherrill

Then there's the crapshoot rounds with mixed results, as they usually are. I did ok in these rounds, but, really, by this time, I was already dead.

Gonzalez, Corpas, and Sherrill were reasonable risks even in hindsight. Gonzalez lost his job and Corpas never got a chance but Sherrill made up for it. In this league, you really only need 2 closers but you should hedge your bets as, again, they can't really be found on the ww that easily. Unfortunately, at this point, I'm down to 1 closer with Sherrill moving on to the Dodgers.

None of the pitching chances worked out this year, unfortunately. Maine has been hurt/ineffective; Sanchez was bad and I dropped him the start before his no-hitter so you can think me for that one, Giants fans; Snell and Purcey both pitched bad and got demoted. Of those, I wasn't expecting a whole lot but I had some reasonably high hopes for Purcey after last season and just hoped one or two of the others would pan out.

I dropped Butler before he got on his recent hot streak. He's been solid but not spectacular- still, something you can work with in the later rounds. Escobar has filled a gap at SS/MI with competent play. Between Taveras and Bourn, I figured I'd get one speedy CF who could cover that spot as I didn't have one already. I was a little surprised it was Bourn over Taveras but he filled in admirably with almost 40 SBs, 70 Rs, and a decent average and OBP.



WW Pickups

Usually I'll have one or two really strong WW pickups to supplement my team but I haven't at all this season. Luke Scott has been the best of the bunch, filling in for the OF until he hit the wall sometime last month. Randy Wolf has been his solid but unspectacular self, occasionally getting starts. I've rode a couple of hot streaks from Russell Branyan and Gary Sheffield but those have long run their course. I've rotated in a bunch of pitchers and currently the SPs du jour are Aaron Cook and Chad Gaudin. I've rotated in a lot of MIs with a combo of Angels ones currently on the roster. Pierzynski and Saltalamacchia kindof filled my hole at C.



For some entertainment- here's what I wrote when I was talking online with a friend of mine as we were plotting the next few rounds, evaluating teams after 5/6. Let's see how that went:

Hanley, Lincecum, Holliday, Dunn, McLouth: Holliday with his horrible splits, and McLouth in 5?
-Holliday has been pretty good and McLouth not too bad

Pujols, Fielder, Quentin, Papelbon, KRod: they're done- Quentin in 3 followed by 2 closers??)
-Hate to say it, but I was right here. Closers way too early and Quentin fell of the map

Reyes, Beltran, Longoria, Webb, Roberts: Decent, overemphasis on SB for H2H
-Season for Insomniacs mostly derailed by injuries more than anything

ARod, CLee, Soriano, Kemp, Haren: Strong, lots of value, 3 OFs so far, tho
-Turns out I was right here, too. Having him steal Greinke out from under me in 8 was my biggest regret in the draft

Wright, Phillips, Suzuki, Markakis, Chipper, VMartinez: Fairly strong, Ichiro and Phillips reaches, tho
-All of these were actually pretty good value picks. His pitching hasn't been there at all, tho

Cabrera, Berkman, Bay, Peavy, Magglio, Hardy: Cabrera, Peavy have to bounce back
-Yeah, well, we just went over that above

Sizemore, Santana, Sabathia, Morneau, Ortiz, Nathan: Pretty good value but Sizemore in 1 big mistake, Ortiz locks up Util spot
-Sizemore was a big reach but lots of solid picks elsewhere with good later picks and WW claims

Howard, Manny, Hamels, Vlad, Beckett, Lee: Lots of land mines (Manny, Vlad/Hamels health, Lee fluke)
-Vlad health and Manny have been big issues; Lee ok but pitching staff full of holes

Braun, Utley, Crawford, Halladay, Ellsbury, Young: Really strong until last 2 picks; Imagine team with AGonz or Oswalt in 5 and anything else at 6
-I would have killed for that 1-4 but Ellsbury and Young were both good picks, too; AGonz would have been ok, too...

Pedroia, Rollins, Rios, Aramis, ESantana, Oswalt: Don't like Rios or ESantana that high, has MI already done, good value with Oswalt/Aramis
-...Oswalt was not so great, tho and Aramis was injured- so much for my advice; Rios and Santana were both too high; would have taken Utley at 2B over Pedroia but worked out ok

Teixeira, Upton, Youkilis, Alexei Ramirez, Mauer, Billingsley: I love teams like this; it's the all-potential team with everyone's favorite "sleepers"- they never all pan out
-The three guys who had produced for more than a year (Tex, Youk, Mauer) all were good picks; the reaches were all just that; Made some nice picks later that filled the holes, tho

Kinsler, Hamilton, Drew, McCann, Granderson, AGonz - The Texas combo has to repeat, Granderson a reach
Kinsler did fine but Hamilton did not; Granderson not a big reach, actually


Also, here was my rough sketch board before my 6th pick, too- basically a list of guys to target a round or two early:

Next Round
The above?
2B Cano (93) over KJohnson (143)
CF Victorino
OF Hawpe
1B Derek Lee

2~3 more rounds
Zimmerman (69) / Atkins (64)
Harang- greatly undervalued; look at previous years work (154)

Look ahead- SP
Wainwright
Bedard (178)
Chris Young (151)
Maine
Meche

Looking ahead- batters
Ianetta-c (138)
Konerko - injuries in first half, see second half nums, “only” 33
Butler (194)
Gordon
Burrell (168)
Adam Jones (CF, Bal)
HMatsui (180)

I ended up with Hawpe and Lee a lot later as well as Maine, Harang, and Butler.
Konerko, Wainwright, Jones all did above position
Bedard and Meche were good until injured (Meche was good until overused then ERA exploded)
Young, Gordon, Burrell, Matsui were all some combination of hurt and/or below average

SI

[cubboyroy1826]

The other thing i did not take into account was how bad the Mets new field would be for power hitters at least early on. During the draft i hemmed and hawed between Webb and another pitcher (cannot remember which one) but figured Webb had the better track record. Good write up SI. Being my first head to head league this definitely was a learning experience. I have had great luck in my auction leagues (2), mixed results in the snake draft total points leagues and this one not so good. I think i may have tried to fit the same draft strategy into too many different types of leagues. Heck it has been fund for sure.

[sterlingice]

Turns out my evaluations for this year were pretty much mediocre

Usually I do better but there was just something about this year for me.

SI

[samifan24]

I have to say I do prefer points leagues but have only played head to head leagues for the last few years. I just think things can get fluky from week to week in head to head leagues but points leagues show a better overall balance of team talent.

[cubboyroy1826]

I would still probably be in last place if it were total points.