Fantasy Baseball Tip

I want you to think back on your last fantasy baseball draft, and think about when you selected your first and second relief pitchers. Hopefully, you didn't draft them earlier than the 12th round, and if you did, hopefully you've learned your lesson. If you haven't, I'm here to teach you a little something about the art of the fantasy closer pickup.

Out of the 52 Major Leaguers who have a save to their name, guess how many have over 15 innings pitched? The answer is, are you ready? One. One pitcher, Roman Troncoso. The majority of the players remaining have somewhere between 7 and 11 innings pitched. If you're in a head-to-head league, thats bad, but in a rotisserie league, that can be terrifying. A lot of people excuse there nonsensical drafting of a closer so earlier by saying it will greatly help their K's, WHIP, and ERA. In reality though, it won't. If a player will only get you 50 to 80 innings, the percentage of his innings to the whole won't make a signifigant difference, so neither will any of his other stats (aside from saves of course). You just shouldn't draft a player so earlier if he will only truly benefit you in 1 category and wont harm (or really help) you at all in the others. Instead, get players that can help you in 3 of 5 batting categories or piching categories.

Another reason to not draft a pitcher high is because you can always always ALWAYS find saves later, whether that later is a few rounds later in the draft, via free agency, or both. Example? The player with the most saves, Heath Bell (8 saves, 0.00 ERA, 9 Ks), went undrafted in several leagues and always went very late in the others. Same goes for Frank Francisco (7 saves, 0.00 ERA, 10 Ks) and Chad Qualls (6 saves, 1.80 ERA, 14 Ks). Compare that to players who went between 10 and 18 rounds before them like Jonathan Papelbon (6 saves, 1.74 ERA, 10 Ks), Kerry Wood (5 saves, 7.20 ERA, 16 Ks), and Brad Lidge (4 saves, 6.52 ERA, 12 Ks), and you'll find that there really is no advantage to taking closers earlier rather than later.

Closer watch

A handful of teams, whether the reason is injury or ineffectiveness, now have a different closer ending games for them. You should consider picking these players up and squeeze every save and strikeout you can out of them.

• Scott Downs-Replacing the injured BJ Ryan.
• Ryan Franklin-The main St. Louis closer, hasn't given up a run in 7 innings .
  
• Brad Zeigler-Teammate and would-be save stealer Joey Devine is out for the year.
• Todd Coffey-The interim closer til Hoffman gets back (which should be a week or so). still, could net you a save or two in the mean time.
• Rafael Soriano-Has been the Braves most effective closer thus far.
• Carlos Marmol-Sweet Lou likes him more in the 8th, but he will get a few spot saves every now and then and will help you greatly in Ks.
  
• Manny Corpas-Took over for Huston Street, hasn't been effective yet though.

Here are some other players who aren't closers yet, but who you should keep a serious eye on in case something happens.

• Chris Perez-Having some control issues, but he's the most talented reliever the Cardinals have.
  
• Dan Wheeler- Troy Percival isn't exactly the poster boy of durability. When he breaks down, Wheeler will be next in line for saves.
• Jason Grili- Newly appointed closer Manny Corpas has already struggled and Grili is posting a 1.29 ERA.
• Chris Ray-I know he's not doing well, but neither is George Sherril.
  
• Tommy Hunter-Could pull an Adam Wainwright and close for the Braves down the stretch (if they're in contention)
  

Fantasy Baseball team updates

This week...definitely wasn't my finest week ever. Almost all of my teams lost ground in the standings. Here's the recap of Week 2.

Team 1:
I started out the week with high hopes. I was only 1/2 game out of first place and was playing a team that didn't win a single category the previous week. All of my hitters decided to pick this week to not do jack squat (which I guess isn't really too bad of a thing) and my pitchers only did average. I finished this week 3-7-3 but am still in 2nd place, now 3 1/2 games back of first.

I dropped Chad Qualls and Howie Kendrick for Fernando Rodney and Orlando Hudson, respectively. Also, I plan on taking offers for Russell Martin, Troy Tulowitzki, and Chris Davis within the next few weeks.

Team 2:
Same story as team 1. I was right in the thick of things, playing a team that got dominated in Week 1, but got hammered instead. I dropped 8 out of 10 categories to bury me in 7th place, 7 1/2 games behind 1st.

I was pretty busy on the free agent market, dropping Chris Young (OF), Kevin Slowey, Ryan Zimmerman, Scott Baker, Huston Street, and Randy Winn (who I also added this week) for: Randy Winn, Jeremy Guthrie, Kevin Millwood, Travis Snider, and Manny Corpas. I am currently shopping; James Loney, Howie Kendrick, Kelly Shoppach, Carlos Villanueva, and Jeremy Guthrie.

Team 3:
This team didn't entirely suck this week, but also wasn't lights out unstoppable. I finished the week against a pretty good team with a 9-11-2 record and am now sitting in 3rd place, only 3 games out of 1st place.

I dropped Joba Chamberlain and Max Scherzer for Fernando Rodney and Joel Hanrahan (I had no closers) and am shopping arond Chris Iannetta.

Team 4:
This was easily my best team this week, the only team I had that had a winning record. I finished the week 8-4-0 and am currently in sole possesion of 1st place-a single game ahead of the two players tied for 2nd.

I dropped Kevin Slowey, Jason Motte, Vernon Wells, and Jared Weaver for Kevin Millwood, Fernando Rodney, and Manny Corpas.

I'll be back with more updates on how my teams are doing next Monday. Feel free to ask any fantasy questions!

Buy Low/Sell High Canidates

I know its early in the season, but its never too early to be thinking of your teams long term success. The best way to do this? Like many things in life-buy low and sell high-meaning trade away players who are performing way better than expected (if you don't think they can keep it up) and trying to get under performing stars whose owners may be getting nervous.

The SELL HIGH group. If you own one of these players, consider trading them soon while their values are still high but if you don't, don't let go of too much for them.

• Emilio Bonifacio (2B/3B-FLA)
  
• Nick Swisher (1B/OF-NYY)
• Jack Cust (U-OAK)
• Marco Scutaro (2B/3B/SS-TOR)
• Kyle Lohse (SP-STL)
• Kevin Milwood (SP-TEX)

The BUY LOW group. If you happen to own a player on this list, just wait it out. If you don't start sending trade proposals pronto while you can still get them for cheap(er).

• Ryan Braun (OF-MIL) He has injury concerns right now, but I don't think they're too serious which is great news. The "injury" drives his value down even more.
• Mark Teixeira (1B-NYY) Also has injury concerns. Keep an eye on his injury.
• Jimmy Rollins (SS-PHI)
• Prince Fielder (1B-MIL) Started off slow last year too but ended up alright.
• Chris Iannetta (C-COL) He'll be a top 5 or 6 catcher by the end of the year.
• Brandon Webb (SP-ARI) There's no better time to steal a player than when he lands on the DL
• Cliff Lee (SP-CLE)
• Roy Oswalt (SP-HOU) Look at his 2nd half last year
• Ricky Nolasco (SP-FLA) Peter Gammons likes him-and he knows more about baseball than all of us...combined
  

Attention!

If any of you are football fans, check out my blog on the goings-ons of the NFL world at http://nflep.blogspot.com/. Right now I am doing a team by team preview of the upcoming draft and will be posting plenty of other stuff on there.

Also, within the next week, I will be sharing a few pointers on the Art of the Unfair Fantasy Trade. It will show you a few of my tactics for trying to get as much as you possibly can in a trade (and then some).

Quick update on my teams.

In my first league, I finished the week undefeated, posting a 9-0-4 record and am currently sitting in 2nd place only 1/2 game behind 1st. I've dropped Jason Motte, Erik Bedard (not smart), and Lastings Miledge for Frank Fransisco, Chad Qualls, and Nelson Cruz.

The second league, I'm currently in 4th place with a 6-3-1 record, but only 1/2 game behind teams 1A, 1B, and 1C. I signed Jonny Cueto to fill in for Scott Baker who is currently on the DL and have released Manny Corpas for Aaron Harang, Jason Motte for Carlos Villanueva, Jonny Cueto for Kyle Davies, and Chris Young (OF) for Randy Winn.

The third league, I am in 2nd place with a 14-6-2 record and am only (again) 1/2 game behind first place. I picked up Aaron Harang off waivers to replace BJ Upton while he is on the DL, and dropped Jonny Cueto in favor of Florida's Chris Volstad.

In the last league, I am once again in second place by, yep, you guessed it, 1/2 game. I had a pretty solid week, finishing 7-3-2. I have dropped Joey Devine, Kevin Slowey, Jason Motte, and Wandy Rodiriguez (who I had picked up in place of BJ Upton who is on the DL) for Edwin Jackson, Jeremy Guthrie, Kevin Milwood, and Fernando Rodney, respectively.

All in all, I'd say that I am off to a very solid start in all of my leagues and I can see myself being in contention until the end of the year (lets hope).

Fantasy Baseball early season tip...

Many of you may be in this scenarion right now; the first week of the season is almost complete and the 'studs' you have drafted like Jose Reyes, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Tim Lincecum etc. are doing absolutely AWFUL. So what should you do when this happens-when your big name stars are struggling so terribly?

You see, baseball is unlike any other sport on earth. The best hitter in history could go 2 weeks without getting a single hit while on the other hand some no-name scrub could get a hit in 8 straight ABs. Does that mean you should drop greatest-hitter-ever for no-name-scrub? Definitely not. Instead, just roll with it and do nothing. They will right the ship eventually.

However, if your star player has gotten around 150 ABs or 60 IP and they still are destroying your team, it may be time to trade them (but never drop them, someone will almost always be willing to trade for a big-name guy)

One thing you can do to take advantage of your impatient fellow-fantasyers is to send out trades early for any struggling superstar and see if you can get lucky.

What should you do with...

Its a short list today, but here we go...

Freddy Sanchez-3B (PIT)
Stay Away. He was a very solid hitter 2 years ago, but his play has declined ever since. He's started off the season very hot, but it won't last.

Ryan Spilborghs-OF (COL)
Keep an eye on.
He's not guaranteed any playing time, but if he gets consistent ABs, consider picking him up.

Zach Miner-P (DET)
Pick him up. I made it a point to pick him up in three of my leagues because I had a feeling that he would break through. Threw one game, I'm looking like a slight genius.

Kosuke Fukudome-OF (CHN)
Pick him up. But release him or try to trade him as soon as the All-Star break comes. Last season he batted 62 points lower and had an OPS 151 points lower in the second half than he did the first.

Yovanni Gallardo-P (MIL)
Pick him up. I can't see him being available in many leagues, but I was able to sign him in two leagues so he's worth a talk. He has dominating stuff, plain and simple.

Top under the radar players (Hitters)

A list of the players that are truly undervalued in fantasy baseball that you should consider picking up.
There will be no Pablo Sandoval's or Justin Upton's on this list-players that everyone is calling underrated so therefore...they are no longer underrated and have become overrated in fact.

CATCHER:
Kelly Shoppach (CLE)- (Available in 58% of leagues)
Will get plenty of opportunities to catch and he hit 21 HRs last season.

Jared Saltalamacchia (TEX)- (Available in 63% of leagues)
Everyone is so high on Taylor Teagarden this year that Salty has been sort of pushed to the side. He's still very young and talented so he could break out at any time.

Jesus Flores (WAS)- (Available in 93% of leagues)
Not a ton of people are familiar with him but he has produced pretty well in his 170 career big league games. He won't win you any leagues single handidly, but if one of your catchers gets injured or is struggling, have him on your radar.

FIRST BASE:
Adam LaRoche (PIT)-(Available in 60% of leagues)
Sure, he always starts out slow, but after his month or so of being far below average, he can really contribute-as evidenced by the 25 home runs he hit last season.

Todd Helton (COL)- (Available in 82% of leagues)
Did you not see the Spring he had this year? I'll be the first to tell you that spring stats are meaningless...most of the time, but I think they can be a strong indicator of someone who had a down year due to injury will perform in the upcoming season. He could be a major upgrade as your backup 1B.

SECOND BASE:
Mark Teahan (KC)- (Available in 83% of leagues)
A 27 year old who has had a couple of off years after posting a very solid 2006 campaign is a player that I would normally keep an eye on anyway. Throw in the fact that he is now moving to 2B and also has eligibility at 1B, 3B, and OF...this player could really help you out.

Ronnie Belliard (WAS)- (Available in 97% of leagues)
In 297 ABs last year, he hit 11 homers and batted .287. He is the Nationals starting second baseman. He has additional eligibility at 1B and 3B. If you are in need of some position flexibility and potential for a solid season at a shallow position, Belliard is your man.

THIRD BASE:
Chase Headley (SD)- (Available in 88% of leagues)
In about half a season's worth of ABs, he hit 9 HRs and drove in 38 runs. Now those aren't exactly what you would call starter caliber numbers, but provided you have little depth at either 3B or OF, you should seriously consider picking up Headley.

Scott Rolen (TOR)- (Available in 94% of leagues)
Yes, he more than likely will go down with some sort of injury in a month or two, but if your current third-baseman is out, A-rod and Glaus owners, you could pick Rolen up for a very solid stretch of games before the inevitable injury comes his way.

SHORTSTOP:
Jason Bartlett (TB)- (Available in 94% of leagues)
There is no real reason to own Bartlett, unless your team is in absolute dire need of steals and the shelf is completely barren of shortstops-if thats the case, then feel free picking him up.

OUTFIELD:
Adam Lind (TOR)- (Available in 56% of leagues)
But that number is probably plummeting in a hurry, and rightfully so. This kid (he's only 25) has a good makeup at the plate and has real big league power on his 6-1 215 lb frame. Drop one of your backup outfielders for this kid, you'll be glad you did.

Luke Scott (BAL)- (Available in 94% of leagues)
If your team is very average-heavy and needs a slight boost in the HR category, pick up Scott. Don't be alarmed when your team BA goes down slightly, thats to be expected with a career .226 (and sliding) hitter, but he still has solid pop in that bat.

Randy Winn (SF)- (Available in 80% of leagues)
Of the free-agent OFs, he is as close to the anti-LukeScott as you can really get. The power has all but left the bat of this 34 year old, but he is very crafty on the base paths and a solid batting average guy. Expect a .300 average and 20 or so steals with a dozen HRs tops.

David DeJesus (KC)- (Available in 84% of leagues)
A .300 hitter that reached double digit steals and homeruns, moving back to a much more natural position. Sign me up.

Andruw Jones (TEX)- (Available in 97% of leagues)
If any Ranger outfielder or DH not named Josh Hamilton should struggle out of the gate, Jones-who is in much better shape than he's been in years-would be first in line to step in and take those ABs. If he can get to 400 at-bats, I could see him hitting about 20 HRs with a .250 to .270 BA.

What should you do with...

Aaron Harang-SP (CIN):
Pick him up. He was able to hold a potent Mets lineup to 1 run despite not having his best stuff. He could net you 15 wins and 200+ Ks.

Nelson Cruz-OF (TEX):
Pick him up. This kid is quickly shaking the "Quad-A" label that had been thrust upon him earlier in his career. He's been on a tear since entering Triple-A last season and I don't see him slowing down much this year barring injury. He could easily drive in 100+ runs hitting cleanup for the Rangers.

Hank Blalock-1B/3B/DH (TEX):
Wait and see. Yes, he did hit a fairly mammoth shot today, but I'm very wary of him because of his injury history. He could hit 25 HRs this year, but then again he may only play 50 games.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia-C (TEX):
Pick him up. (If there isn't a ton of depth at catcher in your league). He has the skill set to be a very productive catcher, but he will be splitting time with another young stud in Taylor Teagarden.

Kevin Milwood-SP (TEX)
Pick him up. His numbers were greatly inflated last year thanks in part to some awful luck. He should be significantly better this year.

Felipe Lopez-2B/SS/3B/OF (ARI)
Pick him up. This super-utility player will allow you to focus more on having just the best players as backups instead of worrying about getting each position covered, and he'll provided solid average, steals, and runs while doing so.

Tony Clark-1B (ARI)
Stay away. He's not promised playing time, and has a very difficult time making contact. No thanks.

Cesar Izturis-SS (BAL)
Stay away. Had a nice first game of the season, but there's a reason he was the last batter on a well below average Baltimore team.

Emilio Bonifacio-2B/3B (FLA)
Pick him up. Only if you want a lot cheap steals, an average average, and little help in the other categories. You could do worse with a backup 2B/3B.

Paul Maholm-SP (PIT)
Pick him up. This guy was a very solid pitcher last year, and is only 26. I think he puts together a season similar to last year.

Jason Motte-RP (STL)
Pick him up. So what, he had one bad outing. This kids stuff is electric. He may get dropped by a few trigger happy owners, so pick him up and relax with the 30+ saves you just picked up.

Adam Lind-OF/DH (TOR)
Pick him up!!!! Before the season, I thought he would be the best hitter in the Blue Jays lineup, and Monday's performance didn't calm those thoughts down any. Could hit 30+ HRs this year.

Travis Snider-OF (TOR)
Stay away. The glow of a shiny new prospect is always something to ogle after, but most of the time they leave you with a major feeling of disappointment. Don't get me wrong, this kid will be great-just not this year. If you're feeling lucky though, I wouldn't try to convince you not to take him.

Thats all for today. Stay tuned for tomorrow-I'll list my top young players and have another list similar to this.

What should I do about...

Now that baseball season is finally here, it kicked off last night with a 4-1 win by the Braves over the Phillies, I will be posting a daily (or almost daily) tab of:

• Under the radar players you should keep an eye on
• Low value players who had breakthrough game(s) and whether or not you should try to get them
• High value players who are struggling and if you should try to deal them or not.
• Anything else fantasy baseball related really.

That being said, lets get to it.

Jeff Francoeur (ATL):
Stay away. Sure he hit a home run yesterday, but it really wasn't all that impressive of a blast, and it was his only hit of the game. He has tweaked some things in his stance, but I'm not sold he's back to his old self again.

Jordan Schafer (ATL):
He did hit a home run in his first big league at bat and did finish the day 2-3 with a walk. That being said, I wouldn't take the bait on him. He was a Double A player last year, and if you project his stats out to a 550 AB season, they would be: 16 Homeruns, 80 RBIs, 72 Runs, 28 Doubles, and 130 or so strikeouts. His AA numbers weren't even worthy of fantasy starting material, so why would you want that on your team?

Brett Myers (PHI):
He did give up 3 HRs yesterday and didn't have his best command, but I don't think there is any reason to freak out on him. Give him a few starts and he should be back to the Brett Myers of last year (post all star break).

Check back tonight and I'll have some more updates on today's players.

MSN Fantasy Baseball

I just got done drafting the weirdest draft I've ever been apart of. Its an 8 team MSN (head-to-head, points) league and their was two problems with this league.

1.) MSN's draft rankings are RIDICULOUS! Victor Martinez was the 42nd ranked catcher in the draft room!!!! Josh Hamilton was ranked in the 30s, Chris Davis was available in Round 18 and probably would have been around even later because you had to scroll through half of the third base pool to find him.

2.) I don't think anyone except for me and one other person knew what the crap we were doing so I was able to get a lot of those players that the rankings hid...

*The commissioner changed the draft time the night before to 9:30 AM so i missed the first 11 picks, but here is my draft

1/7: Matt Holliday (Would have picked Pujos, yes he was still there)
2/10: Lance Berkman (would have picked Ryan Braun)
3/13: Josh Hamilton (good with this one)
4/26: Jimmy Rollins (good)
5/29: Ichiro (would have picked Ian Kinsler)
6/42: Magglio Ordonez (would have picked Nick Markakis)
7/45: Derek Lee (would have picked BJ Upton)
8/58: Jermaine Dye (would have picked Brian McCann)
9/71: Chad Billingsly (would have picked Evan Longoria)
10/74: Carlos Delgado (would have picked Felix Hernandez)
11/87: Andy Pettitte (would have picked Geovany Soto)

and now for when I started drafting, and who I would be picking
if I was there for the entire draft

12/90: Brandon Phillips (Brandon Phillips) -ranked 95!?
13/103: Carl Crawford (Carl Crawford) ranked 108!?
14/106: Matt Cain (Fransisco Liriano) I didn't see that Liriano was available because I didn't scroll down enough
15/119: Troy Glaus (Jay Bruce)
16/122: Zack Grienke (Erik Bedard)
17/135: Victor Martinez (same) WOW....
18/138: Chris Davis (same)...
19/151: Pablo Sandoval (same)
20/154: Stephen Drew (same)
21/167: Howie Kendrick (Jonathan Broxton)
22/170: John Danks (Carlos Marmol)
23/183: James Loney (same)
24/186: Heath Bell (same)

I am currently working on trading Jermaine Dye, Carlos Delgado, Andy Pettitte, and Troy Glaus

Fantasy baseball league, team 3

My third team is in a head-to-head, 5X5, 10 team, point per category league. This draft kind of has me a little bit nervous because I don't really like my offensive depth and I'm not sure how I'll do in the saves category but everything should work out alright.

My strategy was to mainly focus on getting the best hitters regardless of position through the tenth round, and then start focusing on filling specific needs and categories after that. (Round/Pick in parentheses)

C-Brian McCann (5/41)
1B-Prince Fielder (3/21)
2B-Dan Uggla (8/80)
3B-Chipper Jones (6/60)
SS-Hanley Ramirez (1/1)
OF-Carlos Beltran (2/20)
Of-Nick Markakis (4/40)
OF-Curtis Granderson (7/61)
U-Nelson Cruz (OF) (14/140)
U-Andre Eithier (OF) (15/141)
B-Stephen Drew (SS) (9/81)
B-Ryan Zimmerman (3B)- (10/100) I didn't want to draft him, but I figured I'd just use him as trade bait and use him strictly as a back up til i get rid of him.
B-Howie Kendrick (2B) (12/120)
B-James Loney (1B) (16/160)
B-Chris Young (OF) (18/180)
B-Kelly Shoppach (C) (20/200)

SP-Rich Harden (11/101)
SP-Matt Cain (13/121)
SP-Adam Wainwright (17/161)
RP-Jason Motte(23/221)
RP-Manuel Corpas (22/220)
P-Scott Baker (SP) (19/181)
P-Kevin Slowey (SP) (21/201)
P-Huston Street (RP) (24/240)

I know that I have both of Colorado's potential closers. Once they decide who will be getting the saves and who won't, I will drop the one who won't for another bullpen arm.
I currently have 2 trade proposals out right now, to teams who have very weak outfield players/depth since my team is rather loaded in the outfield. Those trades are

1. Chris Young

for

Roy Oswalt

2. Chris Young and Kevin Slowey

for

Yovanni Gallardo and Erik Bedard

Fantasy Baseball Draft Strategy

There are millions of ways you can draft a fantasy baseball team; you can draft for young potential, you can draft proven veterans, you can draft your favorite players, focus on pitching, punt categories, focus on hitters, and thousands more. Many of us use a combination of several of these strategies, but the two ways I have found to be the most useful over my youthful three years (10 teams) of fantasy baseball are....

#1: Draft the best available player (preferably for an active manager)
----This idea is pretty simple, but it is a lot harder to really execute successfully than you would think. The idea, as I'm sure you well know, is to simply take the highest rated or best player available with your pick-regardless of position. You could end up with a solid all-around team this way, or you could end up with a logjam of players at a position and little to no depth or talent at another. Don't fret if the latter scenario happens though. Since you have such depth and skill at a certain position, other teams in your league will be hurting for a solid starter to plug into their lineup at that position. What you do next is simple, trade off your excess players at the position for well above what you normally could get for that player. Often times the other manager will feel as if he has to do the trade because he is running low on options, if he doesn't accept right away, keep sending proposals to he (or she) and other owners and you will eventually hit the jack pot.

#2: Fill all of your starting hitter spots first, then draft pitchers with upside
----This is the strategy that I use the most and have the best results with. To me, pitchers are far too hard to predict (they get hurt more and often without warning, they fall off the map quicker, etc) so, with your first 8 to 10 (or more) picks, fill out all of your hitting positions and maybe grab a few high quality or big-time potential players for your bench, and then for the remainder of your draft focus on getting the highest upside pitchers left. Sure, you will probably guess right on about half of the pitchers you pick, but that is why there is a free agent pool. You can add and drop your struggling pitchers for other pitchers who are putting up great numbers.

-The thing you have to remember though is...leagues aren't won with the draft. Sure a good draft will ease the road to victory, but you have to always be on the lookout for possible free agent additions and trades and such to make your team as good as it possibly can be.

If any of you have any thoughts, tips, ideas, or questions that you would like to share, don't hesitate to comment.

Good luck to everyone this year on all of your drafts and leagues.

Fantasy baseball league, team 2

Hey everyone, hope you all are having a great day

My second team is in a 10 team league with an 11X11 head-to-head, point per category win set-up

The team...

C-Russel Martin (3B) (5/41)
1B-Prince Fielder (3/21)
2B-Brandon Phillips (4/40)
3B-Chipper Jones (9/81)
SS-Hanley Ramirez (1/1)
OF-BJ Upton (2/20)
OF-Curtis Granderson (6/60)
OF-Bobby Abreu (10/100)
U-Adrian Gonzalez (1B) (7/61)
B-Hunter Pence (OF) (12/120)
B-Chris Iannetta (C) (15/141)
B-Mike Aviles (2B/SS) (17/161)
B-Brad Hawpe (OF) (18/180)

SP-Chad Billingsly (8/80)
SP-John Danks (20/200)
RP-Joba Chamberlin (11/101)
RP-Max Scherzer (16/160)
P-Matt Cain (13/121)
P-Yovanni Gallardo (14/140)
P-Zack Grienke (19/181)
B-Jonny Cueto (21/201)

My strategy for this draft was to completely ignore saves, knowing full well that I will be able to pick up several cheap saves via free agency and trades. I drafted hitters first to fill out my starting line up, then I focused on picking the best available player (upside factored in), whether it was a starting pitcher or a batter.

I currently have proposed 2 trades:
Hunter Pence (OF) and Max Scherzer (SP/RP)
for
Delmon Young (OF), Justin Verlander (SP), and Huston Street (RP)

and:
Hunter Pence (OF)
for
Cameron Maybin (OF) and Matt Garza (SP).

As you can probably well tell, I am not a fan of Hunter Pence. I think he is extremely overrated and will be a huge bust for the ADP he normally falls at (I picked him up with a pick 12th round, about 50 picks later than his ADP). I picked him up just to use him as trade bait since many people view him as a potential superstar (hopefully not).

Alright everyone, thanks for stopping by. If you all have any questions or comments about anything fantasy related, including but not limited to: baseball, football, basketball, or Scarlett Johansson, feel free to ask away.

Also, if you are a MLB fan or NCAA basketball fan, be sure to check out my other blogs!

Fantasy Baseball Leagues

As i previously stated, I am a fantasy sports nerd-just want to throw that out there before i say anything else...

I am currently in five baseball leagues, four of which have drafted. My "strategy" i guess you would call it was to take the best available hitter (slightly biased towards the shallow positions) early and then load up on potential pitchers late, knowing I will be able to pick up several solid starters (ah, hello alliteration) and many a new closer will poke through the waiver wire dirt throughout the year.


Team 1: This league is an 8 team 5X5 format

C-Brian McCann (7/50)
1B-Albert Pujos (1/2)
2B-Dustin Pedroia (4/31)
3B-Russell Martin (C) (6/47)
SS-Jimmy Rollins (2/15)
OF-Carl Crawford (5/34)
OF-Matt Kemp (8/63)
OF-Curtis Granderson (9/66)
Util-Mark Teixeira (1B) (3/18)
B-Chris Davis (1B/3B) (14/111)
B-Troy Tulowitzki (SS) (15/114)
B-Howie Kendrick (2B) 16/127)
B-Lastings Miledge (OF)(17/130)

SP-Felix Hernandez (10/79)
SP-Rich Harden (11/82)
SP-Edison Volquez (12/95) *All three of these picks were by the computer, I was about to get Aramis Ramirez in the 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds but my computer froze...crushing i know
RP-Heath Bell (18/143)
RP-Joel Hanrahan (21/172)
P-Matt Cain (13/98)
P-Erik Bedard (20/159)
B-Brandon Morrow (19/156)

In this league, I plan on trading Russel Martin or Brian McCann and maybe a bench player or pitcher for a legit 3B and shoring up my pitching throughout the year mainly on the free agent market. I don't trust pitchers at all-they are far too injury prone and inconsistent-so therefore i feel it is okay to go off of potential then find some diamonds that fell threw the cracks and focus on batting categories.

Team 2 will be posted tomorrow. Thanks everyone for visiting. If you have any fantasy questions-baseball, football, basketball-comment me with your question and I will do my best to help you all out. Best of luck everyone and good night.