OT Fantasy Baseball - All Advice Welcome

[Morgado]

Okay time for an OT career thread while I vulture for TCY. Some of my old undergrad friends from the dorms made a fantasy baseball league and needed more players. I don't know squat about baseball, but what the heck. It's an excuse to trash talk with them. We are using NL players only so that teams have to use some non-stars in their lineups.

My Current Roster:

Hitting

C Todd Hundley
1B Richie Sexson
2B Edgardo Alfonzo
3B Fernando Tatis
SS Tony Womack
LF Pat Burrell
CF Preston Wilson
RF Jeromy Burnitz
UT Jose Vidro

Hitting Bench

Ron Belliard
Lance Berkman
Julio Lugo
Derrek Lee
Benny Agbayani
Placido Polanco

Pitching

SP Kevin Brown
SP Rick Ankiel
SP Javier Vazquez
RP Trevor Hoffman
RP Robb Nen
RP John Rocker
RP Matt Mantei

Pitching Bench

Ugueth Urbina
Tom Gordon
Kerry Wood

Pretty weak hitting lineup, but I was really going after pitching in my predraft ordering.

Any and all assistance would be gladly appreciated! I have nothing to lose since i'm not a baseball fan, so i'll be trashing it up like a mofo... heheh...

Scoring in our League:

Statistical Categories (Batters):

Runs
Home Runs
Runs Batted In
Stolen Bases
Walks
Strikeouts
Fielding Percentage
Batting Average
On-base Percentage

Statistical Categories (Pitchers):

Wins
Losses
Saves
Home Runs
Strikeouts
Batters Grounded Into Double Plays
Holds
Earned Run Average
(Walks + Hits)/ Innings Pitched

Current standings (links won't work - ignore them):

Overall Points
Rank	Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	FPCT	AVG	OBP		W	L	SV	HR	K	GIDP	HLD	ERA	WHIP		TOTAL
1	Sexy Ultra Cool Kids	5	4	7	5.5	5	3	5	3	2		5.5	6.5	4.5	6.5	2	2.5	6	5	6		84
2	Rabid Wombats	3	1	4.5	1.5	3	2	4	6	3		4	6.5	7	6.5	5.5	5.5	2.5	7	7		79.5
3	Killer Rabbits	7	5	4.5	7	7	7	3	7	7		2.5	1.5	1.5	4	4	2.5	2.5	2	3		78
4	smokin'-it-up	1	2.5	1.5	5.5	6	4	7	1	4.5		7	4	4.5	1	7	7	2.5	6	5		77
5	Stalkers For Hire	2	2.5	1.5	3.5	2	5	6	5	4.5		1	4	4.5	5	3	5.5	6	3	2		66
6	Still Not Last	4	6.5	6	3.5	1	1	1	2	1		5.5	4	4.5	2.5	5.5	2.5	6	4	4		64.5
7	Rape and Pillage	6	6.5	3	1.5	4	6	2	4	6		2.5	1.5	1.5	2.5	1	2.5	2.5	1	1		55
Overall Statistics
Rank	Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	BB	K	FPCT	AVG	OBP		W	L	SV	HR	K	GIDP	HLD	ERA	WHIP
1	Sexy Ultra Cool Kids	16	5	21	2	12	20	.985	.241	.320		3	1	1	2	18	1	1	3.81	1.08
2	Rabid Wombats	13	2	17	0	9	27	.977	.270	.321		2	1	2	2	33	2	0	2.05	0.84
3	Killer Rabbits	24	6	17	5	21	12	.975	.309	.436		1	3	0	5	24	1	0	7.00	1.63
4	smokin'-it-up	10	3	10	2	14	19	1.000	.226	.333		4	2	1	10	36	3	0	3.44	1.17
5	Stalkers For Hire	11	3	10	1	8	18	.990	.265	.333		0	2	1	4	23	2	1	6.27	1.77
6	Still Not Last	14	8	19	1	7	28	.954	.238	.306		3	2	1	8	33	1	1	6.03	1.45
7	Rape and Pillage	17	8	16	0	10	13	.964	.263	.340		1	3	0	8	15	1	0	9.16	1.88

------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[This message has been edited by Morgado (edited 04-11-2001).]

[Morgado]

After just one day of MLB play with our league in operation, the bitching and moaning and whining has begun. One guy "accidentally" dropped Rolen. The guy who picked last in our draft snagged Rolen and added that to hiw Griffey-Sosa-Bonds lineup.

cheeze executed a blockbuster 4 for 4 deal with smokin'-it-up that sent Piazza and chumps to smokin for Larry Walker, Javy Lopez, and two chumps. Almost everyone in the league thinks cheeze was smokin on that one.

Interesting note is that Renteria is in the FA pool. I am trying to figure out if I should dump someone and grab him. I think i'm okay at SS with Womack, but Renteria is pretty damn good. The guy who had Beltre dumped him into FA, so i'm going to watch him about a week or so before he comes back from injury.

------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[This message has been edited by Morgado (edited 04-08-2001).]

[QuikSand]

For what it's worth (possibly quite little), it strikes me that with the categories that you are using, the value of closers would be less than in a more "traditional" rotisserie-style game. Such categorical games tend to exaggerate the value of saves-- your system seems to almost minimize their value.

You've invested heavily in closers (it's clear)-- I wonder about the wisdom of doing so.

However, from the similarity of your roster to that of "cheeze," I'm guessing that perhaps you are limiting teams to only three active starting pitchers. Curious...

If holds and saves are categories of equal value... check for Scott Strickland of Montreal. If he's unclaimed, consider an investment-- he ought to get holds, and is an excellent pitcher who (because he's behind an incumbent closer) doesn't get much hype in traditional roto outlets.

The depth of the benches seems to be likely to cool anyone's need to trade-- and to increase the dependence on "stars" depite your early description.

If you're fishing for more serious thoughts... I'm happy to offer, given some more details.

Enjoy...

[Morgado]

Quik,

Thanks for responding! I need help hehe...

Originally posted by QuikSand:
For what it's worth (possibly quite little), it strikes me that with the categories that you are using, the value of closers would be less than in a more "traditional" rotisserie-style game. Such categorical games tend to exaggerate the value of saves-- your system seems to almost minimize their value.

You've invested heavily in closers (it's clear)-- I wonder about the wisdom of doing so.

Heh, I have no idea WTF I am doing. I don't even know what a hold is. Basically I entered mlbtalk's fantasy baseball rankings as my draft order and ran with that. The guys i'm playing with aren't hardcore baseball fans either, so I doubt the commissioner had any idea what to set up in the way of scoring. It was really ad hoc - we didn't even have anything mentioning walks for the batters until the last minute.

I'm not even exactly sure how the scoring works. I looked at the breakdown and what it looks like is we get points for where we rank in the league for each stat. So if I lead all teams in saves, I get a 7. If i'm second, I get 5 points, etc. Then if I lead in ERA, I get 7. And so on. It's like we're competing in each statistical category for points. I have no idea if that's normal in fantasy/roto baseball.

However, from the similarity of your roster to that of "cheeze," I'm guessing that perhaps you are limiting teams to only three active starting pitchers. Curious...

Yeah, it's three starters and four relievers active per day. I'm kinda pissed because I put Urbina on the bench today and he picked up a save.

If holds and saves are categories of equal value... check for Scott Strickland of Montreal.

Stalkers For Hire already has him. Hmm, he picked up a hold today.

The depth of the benches seems to be likely to cool anyone's need to trade-- and to increase the dependence on "stars" depite your early description.

Well, the way i'm figuring is that you're right - dominant players will be the ones that give the bulk of the scoring. But the idea was to make it so that we didn't have stars at every position... so everyone has to have some non-stars on their rosters.

Interestingly enough, only one trade has gone through so far, but three or four of the teams have been waiving and signing like mad. We have about 20-30 transactions per day in our league.

If you're fishing for more serious thoughts... I'm happy to offer, given some more details.

Oh most certainly! I need all the help I can get!

BTW, what is a Hold anyway? Something a setup man gets?

------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[This message has been edited by Morgado (edited 04-08-2001).]

[ibdb]

I'm also playing in a Fantasy Baseball League for the first time. I know a little about baseball, but haven't followed the game very closely in about 10 years. I've found myself much more interested in the game since I started playing manager myself.

As for your question:

Holds. Earned when a relief pitcher enters a game in a save situation (see SvOp, below, for definition), records at least one out, and leaves the game without having given up the lead.

See http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics/glossary.html for other key statistical terms defined.

------------------
Proudly lowering the curve in fantasy leagues across America

[Morgado]

ibdb,

Thanks man! I was going to go looking for a list of terms but didn't have time today. Too many damn undergrads waiting until the last minute to get advising before registration.

------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[Subby]

Morgado -

Some thoughts:

1) Trade Rocker and Mantei for hitting. Closer value (as pointed out by Quik) is pretty low in your league. Rocker and Mantei might help you in one category (saves) but will blow up your WHIP. Hoffman, Nen, and Urbina are sufficient for closing. Try and look for 2 or 3 setup guys to increase your chance of improving Holds. Terry Adams of LA comes to mind here. So does John Franco in NY.

2) You are going to finish last in strikeouts and obp. Try and package Preston Wilson with John Rocker or Manntei for someone who strikes out less than 180 times a year.

3) You have a gem in Kerry Wood. He is going to have a big year this year. Make usre you get his starts and DO NOT trade him.

4) You have a gem in Vidro. Don't trade him either.

You have a great pitching staff...maybe trade Vasquez for a hitter. Hang on to Brown, Ankiel, and Wood and you will win the pitching strikeouts category...

[Morgado]

Subby,

I sent a message to smokin'-it-up and Mike seems interested in my offer of a RP swap. His roster:

Damian Miller

Travis Lee

Craig Biggio

Tony Fernandez

Barry Larkin

Gary Sheffield

Andruw Jones

Ron Gant

Chipper Jones

Sean Casey

Mike Piazza

Dmitri Young

Todd Hollandsworth



Jeff D'Amico

Julian Tavarez

Darren Dreifort

Kerry Ligtenberg

Antonio Alfonseca

Billy Wagner

John Franco

Kevin Appier

Dustin Hermanson

Brian Anderson

Andy Benes

I want to go after Franco plus either Piazza or Jones. How's Preston Wilson plus Rocker and Mantei for one of those pairs?

[This message has been edited by Morgado (edited 04-11-2001).]

[Subby]

I doubt he would pull the trigger on that deal - maybe you can throw in Hundley and try and get Piazza...

Mantei, Rocker, Wilson, Hundley for Piazza, Franco.

He may do it...

[Morgado]

Subby,

The only problem is that would leave me without a CF. I'd have to sign a chump to fill the spot... is Piazza enough of an upgrade over Hundley to justify losing production from CF?

------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[Subby]

Is Hollandsworth in FA? Lankford?

[This message has been edited by Subby (edited 04-11-2001).]

[ibdb]

Hollandsworth was on the prospective trading partner's roster.

Wilson in CF has a huge strikeout problem. You really don't need huge offensive numbers from his replacement if you can avoid the potentially significant negatives his strikeouts create. Decent numbers in other offensive categories without the huge drag from strikeouts probably pull your replacement CF close to or ahead of Wilson.

Or, I could be wrong. It may not matter, though, as I'd be hard pressed to give up Piazza if I were him. There really aren't that many dominant Catchers out there.

------------------
Proudly lowering the curve in fantasy leagues across America

[Morgado]

Hmm, i'm not so sure he's interested anymore. Anyway, here are CF in free agency who have played a significant amount of games thus far:

Marquis Grissom

Michael Tucker

Adrian Brown

Danny Bautista

Ruben Rivera

Damon Buford

Gary Matthews

Juan Pierre

Milton Bradley

Glen Barker

Mark Little

Devon White

Calvin Murray

Ray Lankford apparently isn't even eligible for CF in our league. Rape and Pillage has him tho.

cheeze seems desparate for closers. He asked me to "cut him a break" and figure out a deal to send Mantei to him. His roster:

Paul LoDuca

Rico Brogna

Mark Grudzielanek

Phil Nevin

Orlando Cabrera

Luis Gonzalez

Mike Darr

Larry Walker

Chris Truby

Javy Lopez

Daryle Ward

Bubba Trammell

Fernando Vina

Peter Bergeron

Rafael Furcal



Wade Miller

Octavio Dotel

Jamey Wright

Jeff Fassero

Dennis Cook

John Riedling

Mike Timlin

Amaury Telemaco

Curt Schilling

Kevin Tapani

John Smoltz

------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[Morgado]

Just completed a trade of Mantei for Javy Lopez. Got a new offer...

Rape and Pillage:
Griffey Jr., Ken
Lankford, Ray
Tapani, Kevin

For

Rabid Wombats:
Hoffman, Trevor
Womack, Tony

Anyone have any commentary, seeing as how Griffey will be benched for some time? I think I can afford to waste a bench spot, and Hoffman hasn't been doing squat for me so far (but I know Hoffman is a badass).


------------------
The 64 Dollar Question: What *is* The FOF Journal?
AIM: BlueWhiteHoser

[EagleFan]

Don't do it. Griffey is a whining little primadona. Okay, I let my dislike for Griffey get in the way of that trade I guess.