Fantasy Sports

In an 11 team, 5x5 Roto, Mixed League, Snake Draft:

C Bengie Molina
1B Lance Berkman
2B Brian Roberts
SS Rafael Furcal
3B Aramis Ramirez
CI Kevin Kouzmanoff
MI Ty Wiggington
OF Matt Holliday
OF Carlos Lee
OF Corey Hart
OF Matt Kemp
U Jermaine Dye
U Jason Kubel

P Daisuke Matsuzaka
P Tim Lineceum
P Pedro Martinez
P Jeff Francis
P Ian Snell
P Johnny Cueto
P Kevin Gregg
P Eric Gagne
P Huston Street

Bench
OF Carlos Gomez
SS Jason Bartlett
1B Ryan Garko

Basically, my strategy was obviously to favor elite hitting in the early rounds, picking hitters for 6 out of my first 7 slots (Dice-K being the exception). Then I concentrated on pitching in the middle rounds, and scooped what I thought were bargains with Pedro in the 12th and Snell in the 16th. Maybe reached on Lincecum a bit early. Also probably accumulated a little too much speed vs. needing more pitching help and AVG and R. In terms of risk, my first 15 rounds I thought were pretty conservative with the exception of Linceum, Hart and Pedro. I took on more of the risk in the later rounds in the form of Dye and the rookies and sophomores. I think the biggest weakness other than needing saves (which I intend to snipe throughout the year via the waiver wire) will be mediocre ERA and WHIP, likely just barely better than the middle. But I think the hitting will power me home. Am I overconfident?

I like the offense. Good versatility. Not a fan of Dye, but Garko could wind up taking his spot. If Pedro is healthy and solid, you should be fine. You will need to chase saves at some point, assuming Gregg loses the job or is traded and Gagne is bad. Snell is a steal that late. I pretty much agree with your opinions.

c - I Rodriguez
c - B McCann
1b - J Loney/A Gonzalez
2b - K Johnson/P Polanco
3b - A Rodriguez/G Atkins
ss - T Tulowitzki/R Furcal

of - I Suzuki
of - M Kemp
of - D Young
of - M Ordonez
of - M Holliday
of - C N. Lee
of - S Victorino

sp - D Matsuzaka
sp - R Harden
sp - B Myers
sp - J Shields
sp - A Wainwright
sp - T Lilly
sp - J Cueto

sp - M Corpas
sp - T Percival
sp - M Capps
sp - G Sherrill
sp - J Soria
sp - C Marmol

This league is a smaller league in teams (although the rosters are very large).

Its a keeper league so my keepers were : AROD, HOLLIDAY, LEE, and ICHIRO. Keeping these guys were very expensive ( i probably wouldnt have kept Ichiro if I could go back in time although he is one of the top lead-off hitters in baseball... I had the least amount of money to spend for this years draft... My only strategy was to spend on offense again and scoop up as many cheap pitchers that I could.. I didnt spend more than 8 dollars on any of my pitchers....It looks as if I took care of AVG. (i have the most amount of .300 hitters and project to hit .290+ as a team.. Saves should be good to me as well.. Other than that things are very tight... .

Enjoy your blog. I'm in a 12 team 5/5 mixed 3 yr keeper league. We can protect between 4-7 player a year. We have a 29 man roster 23 active (14 hitters/9 pitchers) and 6 man bench

C B McCann
1B T Helton
3B M Cabrera
CI A Rameriz
SS R Furcal
2B P Polanco
MI M Ellis
OF C Beltran
OF Ichiro
OF C Hart
OF D Dejesus
OF M Bradley
UT A Beltre
UT C Crisp

SP R Oswalt
SP S Kazmir
SP J Lackey
SP I Snell
SP J Westbrook
SP D Bush
CL M Capps
CL E Gagne
CL J Accardo

Res BJ Ryan
Res R Betancourt
Res M Prior
Res Jay Bruce
Res S Rolen
Res M Alou

Pitching has injury risk but if Lackey and Kazmir come back healthy think I may have a contender.

12-team H2H, 5 x 5 plus OBP and Holds. My pitching strategy is relievers only. Last two picks kind of throwaways - was looking for SP-eligible middle relievers. Ignoring starters allowed me to go for offence plus better than average closers early. Then I filled out with late guys I had targetted, second/third tier closers and upside guys. AVE could be an issue, but as long as my relievers are solid, I should match up pretty well every week.

And here's my team! Sorry!

Round Pick Player Position
1. (11) Ryan Howard 1B
2. (14) Carl Crawford LF
3. (35) Álex Ríos CF,RF
4. (38) Garrett Atkins 1B,3B
5. (59) Nick Markakis RF
6. (62) Takashi Saito RP
7. (83) Brad Hawpe RF
8. (86) Mariano Rivera RP
9. (107) Jorge Posada C
10. (110) Huston Street RP
11. (131) Heath Bell RP
12. (134) Jonathan Broxton RP
13. (155) Andruw Jones CF
14. (158) Jason Isringhausen RP
15. (179) Édgar Rentería SS
16. (182) Kelly Johnson 2B
17. (203) Scot Shields RP
18. (206) Lastings Milledge LF,CF,RF
19. (227) Pat Neshek RP
20. (230) Ty Wigginton 1B,2B,3B
21. (251) Adam Jones LF
22. (254) Michael Bourn LF,CF
23. (275) Jorge Sosa SP,RP
24. (278) Kevin Correia SP,RP

here is my fantasy starting team.

1b ryan howard
2b jeff kent
3b aramus ramirez
ss j j hardy
of josh hamilton
of hunter pence
of billy butler
c benji molina
utl justin mourneau

pitchers

roy oswalt
roy hallady
joba chamberlin
brett myers
rich harden
mike hampton
yolandi golardo

personal analysis: i have some age in the infield, but a lot of youth in the outfield. i expect big things from my hitters; howard,morneau,ramirez and hamilton. my pitchers are rugged and durable (well, we'll see), and should give me better than average strike outs, plenty of innings pitched and low era. injuries to one of my starters randy johnson(since jetisoned off my roster), and my bench third baseman scott rolen have depleted my depth. also worrisome are the often injured jeff kent and aramus ramirez. i expect to get a good combination of hitting with power and hitting for average. what do you think of my team? coach of the cheetah's

John,

Looks like a small roster. Do you have a bench? How many teams in the league and what are the categories?

13 team, 5X5 Roto league... I had the 12th pick.

Read 'em and try not to weep...

C
Chris Snyder (298)

1B
Prince Fielder (12)
Conor Jackson (223)

2B
Ian Kinsler (67)
Felipe Lopez (249)

3B
Aramis Ramirez (41)
Kevin Kouzmanoff (272)
Edwin Encarnacion (301)

SS
Orlando Cabrera (116)

OF
Vladimir Guerrero (15)
Corey Hart (64)
Jeremy Hermida (142)
Jacoby Ellsbury (171)
Luke Scott (194)
Mark DeRosa (324)

SP
C.C. Sabathia (38)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (93)
James Shields (119)
Jeff Francis (145)
Yovanni Gallardo (168)
Clay Buchholz (197)
Micah Owings (275)
Jason Marquis (327)
Orlando Hernandez (350)

RP
Francisco Cordero (90)
Joakim Soria (220)
B.J. Ryan (246)

I had my tiers ready, was prepared to wait on closers and catchers, did my research... and then the draft started. One of the things that threw me was several teams were set to autodraft, so things were happening fast and furious and it became to hard to track all the picks on my cheat sheets. Plus, other teams were all over the place in terms of where they valued certain players. And I probably waited a little too long to jump into the closer pool because most were gone by the middle rounds.

Overall, I'm happy with my starting rotation and not so happy with my outfield. I got a lot of players I wanted, but I'm still not confident enough to know which rounds to take them in. I also lost out on a number of players I was targeting due to my draft position and the unpredictability of the other owners.

What do you think, Adam? Go ahead - I can take it.

Hey Adam,
Love the column and will continue to follow through the season. In a 12 team, 5x5, mixed league with roto scoring, here in my team and the round each player was drafted:

C Posada (10)
1B Hafner (4)
2B Kinsler (6)
SS Guillen (5)
3B Cabrera (1)
OF Sizemore (2)
OF Rios (3)
OF J. Hamilton (16)
UT Thome (12)
Bench E. Velez (2B) -- Free Agent
Bench M. Bradley (OF) -- Free Agent

P C. Young (7)
P J. Vazquez (8)
P R. Hill (9)
P B. Myers (11)
P. I. Snell (13)
RP J. Soria (14)
RP B. Wilson (17)
RP CJ Wilson (18)
Bench Greinke (15)
Bench Parra (FA)
Bench Villanueva (FA)

My plan going into the draft was to draft power and multi-cat guys early, starting pitching in the middle rounds and relief pitching late. I do not want to rely on a one category guy for steals. Having said that, I feel like I have sufficient power, particularly with Guillen at SS and Hamilton as my third OF, and I have alot of high K and low WHIP guys on my staff. My biggest concerns with this team are steals and saves. If I start to fall behind on steals I plan on rotating Velez into the lineup a couple of days each week. I am hopeful that he will be qualifying at multiple positions before long. Right now I plan on sitting Thome against lefties and using Bradley (who I think is primed for a big year).
What do you think?

Hey Adam

Any comments on Donnie Baseball's team ? Would you drop M Prior for F Gutierriz?

Donnie,

I like your team, but obviously the health of your pitching staff is a concern. That can always be filled through a trade or free agent pickup, so I wouldn't worry. If you can get Gutierrez to replace DeJesus, I would. If you have no DL spot, I wouldn't keep Prior, but it depends on how deep the league is and what type of pitchers are available.

Andy,

I like your team a lot. The OF is a little weak, but the strong infield makes up for it. Considering the depth of this league, you have a good base. There's usually an OF to pick up along the way.

Scott,

I like your team a lot. hamilton in the 16th? Can I join that league next year? Don't worry about closers. If you saw my column in Sunday's paper a few weeks back, it should ease your concerns. There will be new closers that emerge. I wouldn't bench Thome against lefties. He hit two Hrs off Sabathia today. I would try and get Velez in once his role becomes more clear. Good start.

Adam

I was hurting at SP - picked up Jonathan Sanchez (nice K/9 ratio) for M Alou. We have no DL spot (just 29 man roster - start 23) - would you drop M Prior (back in June-Pitchers park) or Dejesus for Franklin Gutierrez? Available FA's are limted:

FA SP/RP :

- M Owings.
- T Wakefield
- J Rauch

FA Bats :

- F Gutierrez
- J Cantu

Thank,
Don

Drop DeJesus for Gutierrez.

Hey Adam, love the blog. I'm in a 12 team, 5x5 mixed roto league. I ended up with:

C - B Molina
1B - M Teixeira
2B - A Hill
3B - R Zimmerman
SS - J Rollins
OF - N Markakis
OF - T Hunter
OF - C Hart
UT - J Francoeur
UT - E Encarnacion
B - J Hermida
B - C Gomez

SP - B Webb
SP - J Smoltz
SP - C Young
SP - D McGowan
SP - I Snell
RP - M Corpas
RP - G Sherrill
RP - K Gregg

I think I have a pretty balanced team, but I need a few guys to step it up from 20-25 HRs to closer to 30 (namely Zimmerman and Francoeur). I really like my starting rotation and think I did fine with closers, but will need to keep an eye on their respective situations. What are you thoughts? Thanks

Hey JD,

That looks a lot like a team I would draft. I think Francoeur is in store for a huge year. He hits 30 Hrs easily and Zimmerman can get 25-30. If Gomez is consistent, you'll want to get him in there. Monitor all closing situations closely. Average could be a concern and closers are your weakness now, but not a concern. If one of those guy's loses a job, you can get a replacement. Good draft.

Adam - any thoughts on my team? Posted without - and then with - my roster. Would welcome your comments.

You're the man, Adam, thanks. You like A Hill over P Polanco? I like Hill's HRs/RBIs, but Polanco's AVG is hard to ignore, and he just got dropped for some reason.

Adam,
Our draft was in early March so Hamilton wasn't really on anyone's radar. It's amazing what hitting .500 in spring traning will do for you. As far as Thome is concerned, yeah you guessed it, I benched him ag. CC (he was something like 0-12 lifetime before yesterday)...lost those two beautiful dingers and 4 rbis....I outsmarted myself....hope that's not a recurring theme this season.
Thanks for the input.
Scott

JD,

Polanco was likely dropped because he went 0-for-6 yesterday. Don't be an owner that hits the panic button prematurely!! David Wright had no home runs in April last season. If you need the average, get Polanco. If you need Hrs and RBIs, stick with Hill.

Steve,

I would need to see the starting lineup requirements, but this is solid. With your strategy, you should be able to win almost every pitching category each week except wins, but with the way the game is played now, relievers get enough wins. But even so, that's five of six categories. Average could be a concern, but in a weekly head-to-head, you can't wory about that. I think this stragegy will work.

Hey Adam - thanks for the feedback. We start C, 1B, 2B, 3B ,SS, LF, CF, RF, Util, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P with 8 bench spots and a DL. Have since dumped Sosa and Correia, although I see Sosa got a one-out hold yesterday. I really need SP-eligible MRs as basically I am currently wasting two spots. Any thoughts?

Steve,

Not sure who's available, but what about Carlos Villanueva? I know he's starting now, but he could be pushed to the pen when Gallardo returns. Also, why don't you grab a starter? Two starters won't hurt you.