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Subject: Really Deep NL-only deep sleeper advice
Posted by: Seattle Zen
- [46315247] Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 01:07
My buddy plays in a 12 team NL-only 4X4 14/9 batters/pitchers $260 salary cap old school keeper league. They are having their ridiculously late auction on Sunday. He is asking for advice on cheap, undervalued, end-of-the-auction players. I am plumbing the realms of depth heretofor never navigated by mine eyes and was wondering if y'all could peruse my findings; I am eliciting your advice.
Some background. This is a collection of mostly Giants fans. There is a slight West Coast bias and the Giants are obviously overvalued. They are a smart bunch, but there are bargains to be had. I'm trying rebuild by getting some cheap players who will win full time jobs (ideally, closers) and trade them off for promising keepers. I would also like to find this year's Dan Uggla if not Hanley Ramirez. You can't draft minor leaguers, they have to be in the Majors.
I'm going to recommend "barbelling" the team, breaking the bank on a couple of superstars and filling in the rest of the squad with cheapies in the $5-$1 range. Here are my suggestions:
Batters:
Col - Jeff Baker 1st/OF. If Helton is traded, he will be the 1b. No trade, still plenty of at bats.
Was- Chris Snelling OF. This guy is great if he can stay healthy and no one has ever heard of him.
Was- Ronnie Belliard 2nd. I certainly hope the Nats would keep Christian Guzman on the bench for the rest of the year and keep Ronnie and Felipe out there.
Ari - Tony Clark 1b. I bet you could get him for $2 and he'll be worth it.
Ari - Albert Callapso ss/2nd. He's filing in for Drew and will get some decent at bats, Rotowire loves him.
Chi - Matt Murton
Chi - Ryan Theriot OF/2b. He hit .314 last year in 134ab's, will get some at bats as he is versatile.
Cin - Josh Hamilton OF. Probably too much recycled hype to keep him at a reasonable price.
Fla - Jeremy Hermida OF. Rotowire prices him at $11! People have forgotten about him, he's the real deal: power and steals.
Fla - Aaron Boone 1st/3rd. No more than $2
Hou - Jason Lane OF. He and Luke Scott are platooning and Lane has shown major league power.
Mil - Tony Gwynn Jr. OF - He may get some steals
NYM - Lastings Millage OF - GET THIS GUY. He is only just turned 22, has killer speed and average. If anything happens to Moises Alou or Shawn Green, he's an everyday player.
SD - Russell Branyan - 3rd. He's a slugger and if Kouz goes down, he's in.
Stl - Preston Wilson - OF. He'll get his at bats.
Was - Dmitri Young - 1b. What trouble would Imas get into if he was forced to talk about Dmitri for an hour?
Pitchers:
Ari - Edgar Gonzalez - SP - Hey, who the hell has heard of this guy?
Ari - Brandon Medders - decent
Atl - Raphael Soriano - RP - Lights out stuff, will probably close by the end of the year, may get hurt.
Cin - Mike Stanton - RP - may get saves if Weathers sucks.
Chi - Scott Eyre. He was good the last two years, but he is a former Giant. He stunk his first appearance this season, maybe people will shy away.
Col - Ramon Ramirez - RP - not terrible
Fla - Matt Lindstrom - RP - He's real good, I like him more than Owens, who got a save. Maybe people will ignore him, but with Fla's closer situation so poor, he will probably be expensive. Go $11.
Hou - Chad Quals - RP- puts up good numbers.
LAD - Randy Wolf - SP - he should have a good year, second year after Tommy John.
Mil - Turnbow
NYM - Aaron Heilman - RP - could start if they needed him, will get many innings.
NYM John Maine - SP - GET THIS GUY. He is going to be great this year, way underrated.
Phi - Geoff Geary - RP - This guy may be the most likely to be named closer that no one is talking about. Flash is hurting and Ryan Madison, the supposed heir, sucks. Geary is the only good arm in the pen, but he stunk in one of his first outings. Get him for $2 and when named closer, we could turn him around for someone sweet.
Pit - Zake Duke
Pit - Ian Snell
Pit - Matt Capps. The Pirates have some good arms. Snell may have alerted too many people with his first start - 11k's. Zake Duke had an amazing debut in 2005, slumped 2006, is coming back this year. Capps is young, great arm, won nine games last year.
SD - Cla Meredith
STL - Brad Thompson - RP - I think he would get saves if Izzy goes down.
STL - Kip Wells - SP - I think this guy is for real
Was - John Rauch - RP - Solid.
I will urge him to go over $10 for Millage and John Maine. Am I missing anyone? Do you not agree with anyone above?
I'm curious to hear the responses, I haven't heard anyone talk about such a deep league around here. Also, now that everyone has finished their drafts, maybe people will be more free with deep advice.
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| 1 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 12:06
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Wow, the response was overwhelming.
I am eliciting your advice.
Let me clear that up for you, "I'm asking for your advice". Do I have to call you out individually?
Blue Hen, what do you think of Geoff Geary?
STLCards, what do you think of Brad Thompson and Kip Wells?
Azdbacker, what do you think of Callapso, E. Gonzalez, and Medders?
Isn't anyone else in a deep league?
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| 2 | blue hen
Leader
ID: 710321114
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 12:55
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I love the Phils but don't see them much. I generally hear good things about Geary, but there have to be better options - I'd prefer Todd Wellmeyer. Or maybe the Phils will trade for Brad Lidge.
Get Kip Wells while you can. He'll never be great, but he should be pretty good.
Callaspo is good, especially in keeper leagues.
Get Ian Snell or Matt Capps while you can.
And Hermida is good. I drafted him way too high in RIBC but he's good.
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| 3 | StLCards
Dude
ID: 31010716
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 12:59
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Kip Wells rocks, grab him quick. Not too high on Thompson, take a pass.
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| 4 | StLCards
Dude
ID: 31010716
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 13:07
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I also like Snell and Wolf as pitchers. Maybe Murton in the OF. Mostly it's just crap shoots on these guys. I think I'd take Spiezio over Wilson. Spiezio has been battling injuries but he'll play more while J. Encarnacion is recovering.
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| 5 | Mark L
ID: 25155512
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 15:00
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Jonathan Broxton of LA is a monster with 95+ stuff who will get 70-80 innings with great ERA and ratio and may even get a shot to close at some point.
I love Rich Hill of the Cubs, although his great start on Friday against the Brewers may have called too much attention to him. A K machine in the minors.
Add Tom Gorzelanny to your list of young Pirate pitchers. Snell is the best choice there, though, and if he gets too many Pitt starters he'll fall short on wins.
If he needs to fill in an OF spot in the $1 endgame he could do worse than Gabe Gross of the Brewers. Probably will only start once a week at most but he is an ace pinch hitter with excellent power off the bench.
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| 6 | Seattle Zen
ID: 46315247
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 16:08
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Thanks, all, excellent advice.
This league covets c-losers like you would not believe. Someone kept Broxton for $10. Unfortunately Rich Hill was kept as well.
Gorzelanny is an interesting suggestion. Could the Pirates win 80 games if these three starters start to click and LaRoche gets out of April alive?
Gabe Gross is an idea. He looks somewhat like a AAAA player, he's never shown any power at any level and he's 27 now, but if someone falters in Milwaukee, he'd get the at bats.
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| 7 | beastiemiked
ID: 3101646
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 16:37
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Scott Thorman for the Braves will probably go cheap and could eventually get out of the platoon he's in. He's got 1b and Of eligibility.
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| 8 | Mark L
ID: 25155512
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 16:42
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SZ - that is not only a deep league but a sharp one. I suppose someone has Alejandro De Aza from Florida, although he wasn't particularly highly touted as a prospect and won the CF job kinda out of nowhere. Speed to burn, but his hot start probably keeps him from real sleeper status.
Gross is probably going to be a spot player even if the Brewers make OF changes (for example, ending the Bill Hall disaster in CF, or actually moving Jenkins or Mench). He did hit 9 HR and 15 doubles in just over 200 ABs last year; I took him in a straight draft NL only league with 12 teams as my last pick. At that point I was looking to do no harm and he fits well into the endgame for that purpose.
Carlos Villanueva of MIL is a middle reliever for the Brewers, has a terrific minor league record and did well in a late season callup in 06. He bombed completely in his first appearance this year (walked the first 3 he faced against LA, got yanked, and they all scored) so in case no one froze him he will not likely have attracted a lot of positive attention. He is a big righthander who can strike batters out and in case Dave Bush or Claudio Vargas falter he would probably be the first to get that rotation spot.
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| 9 | clv
Sustainer
ID: 5911351713
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 17:02
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Personally think Murton, Hamilton, Hermida, and Soriano are all "automatic" targets. Like everyone else, I too like Snell and Capps as the two Pirate targets (although I like Duke as well). Braves' scouts actually project Thorman as having more power than LaRoche, but he has developed slower, and with Wilson around he likely won't get any ABs against lefties to prove he belongs in there every day (much like LaRoche and Julio Franco a couple seasons ago), and keep in mind that McCann's contract means that there's another power guy in the system looking for a new position - if Thorman struggles we could conceivably see Saltalamacchia wearing a different mitt soon and wearing it in Atlanta after the ASB (he hit two bombs yesterday). Keep an eye on Kelly Johnson as well...he's not the prototypical leadoff guy, but has more speed than Marcus Giles, comparable (if not better) on-base skills, and projects as a 25 HR guy sooner rather than later - I could think of worse places to hit than in front of Renteria, Chipper, and Andruw in a walk year.
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| 11 | clv
Sustainer
ID: 5911351713
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 17:14
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While spouting my homerism...
Another guy to keep an eye on is Kyle Davies - the organization has always been higher on him than Chuck James, and he's shown flashes of being that good, only sporadically. His first start was great, and if his next one resembles it, he's likely to stay in the rotation for good. They were only sending him down to see him get on a regular rotation in Richmond and to make sure he was all the way back - hard to tell that from 4 spring training starts. With the new pen, anybody leading after 6 in the Braves' rotation is a solid candidate to win at least 10-12 games.
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| 12 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Wed, Apr 11, 2007, 18:26
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This is great, these homer pieces of advice is just what I'm looking for.
No one has Alejandro De Aza but someone saved Alfredo Amezaga for $1. We think De Aza's buzz will inflate his price, base thieves are as coveted as c-losers.
Carlos Villanueva is a great suggestion, he should go for $1.
Kelly Johnson was kept, but I like the Kyle Davies suggestion.
Scott Thorman is intriguing. He's young, has had two good minor league campaigns and seems to have most of the first base at bats for one of the best offenses. If he stays below $7, he'd be a good buy.
There is one incentive for tanking the season, every week the waiver wire picks are taken in the inverse order of the standings. The last place team can take as many players as he wants, then the second to last goes. So, every time a sure fire stud is called up, like Cole Hamels last year, the last place team grabs him. he is assigned a $10 salary, which is great for someone like Hamels or Homer Bailey or Tim Lincecum when they are called up, not so great for most others.
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| 13 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Fri, Apr 20, 2007, 18:20
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Again, thanks for the advice from those who posted.
I found out that this season is the 20th year for this league. The championship trophy is named after Bob Dernier! Not too bound by rules or in much of a hurry, the auction took 13 hours, over at 4am. I checked in with my buddy Rich over the phone, but had to call it a night at 12:30. He wants me to fly down next year, I don't know, they get silly when they get tired, I'm sure I would get way too riled up after sitting around waiting for some clown to look up this guy's stats and start yelling.
We came into the draft with a very weak set of keepers:
Miguel Cabrerra $20
Willy Tavaras $13
Mike Cameron $19
freddie Sanchez $2
Jeff Francour $10
Miguel Olivo $2
Dave Bush $16
Cabrera is in his last year with us, we re-upped Francour for two years, making his salary $15.
My advice to Rich was to get Pujols at all costs. Last year he went for $42 and was not kept. I think that was just a little underpriced. We spent $46. Rich also purchased Juan Pierre for $33. If Pierre can hit .300, I think we have more than enough average to offset Cammy and Francouer.
There were only 5 closers available in the draft: Trevor Hoffman, F. Cordero, Jason Issringhausen, Tom Gordon, and David Weathers. This league, in my opinion, overinflates the value of closers and I was fine with punting this year, wanting to rebuild. Rich insisted we land someone. Hoffman went first for over $30, Izzy and Gordon were almost as much. We ended up with Weathers for $20 and I consider that a fair price, all things considered. Certainly a solid bargaining chip come trade time.
Having never been a part of their auctions in years past, all I had to go on were the salaries of players from years past. There were a lot of good players at really low prices, giving me hope that we could score a future stud at a low price. I figured out around hour 5 where the market inefficiencies are created: managers scared that they don't have anything at X position running up prices of the last decent X. Austin Kearns went for $24 and a few minutes later Jacque Jones went for $28! Wow! We didn't buy anyone for a long time. One moron painted himself into a corner, he had $9 left to fill nine positions!
We picked up Bill Bray for $4. Then Ted Lilly for $8. Livan Hernandez for $2!
I really wanted Ben Sheets or Jake Peavy. I wasn't on the phone when they went on the block. Peavy was an expensive $29, Sheets a reasonable $24, we got neither. When I sensed that pitchers were being undervalued, I told Rich to throw Ian Snell out. We snagged him for $11, a steal. We then landed Mike Pelfrey for a bargain $7.
One benefit of drafting a player on the DL is you get to replace him that very night, it's like getting a extra pick. To my amazement, we got Pedro Martinez for $6. At the end of the draft, we replaced Pedro and Bray with Jamie Moyer and Brian Shouse (not my choice).
As the last remaining batters with starting jobs were coming off the board, we didn't have a second baseman. We ended up with Jose Valentin for $11, not a bargain, but with no one left and his power, it filled our last need.
I was headed to bed and gave Rich my advice, get Chris Snelling, Matt Lindsrom, and some young guys. Ryan Theriot went for $17. Matt Murton was $16 and Josh Hamilton was $18.
I woke up to learn that we got Snelling for $1! Same for Lindstrom. We also scored Alejandro De Aza for only $4 and Alberto Callaspo for $2. This league seems to despise catchers. They have two catcher positions, 24 slots in a league with just 16 starters. We got Miguel Montero for $2, completely cornering the market on Miguels. Rich also ended up with Craig Counsel, they go way back.
I've always been a big Snelling fan, he was always blocked here in Seattle with Cammy, Ichiro, Ibanez, Randy Wynn, and Jeff Reed in front of him, I'm glad he's with the Nats. He has torn AAA up, but for three straight years he has injured himself. He's only 25 and I'd rather take a guy who has the ability but doesn't play because of fluke injuries than a bum who is never hurt but has low upside. All he needs to do is make a few snazzy catches in RFK, string together a hitting streak and get some face time in front of the cameras. The media will LOVE his Aussie accent and he'll blow up. If we can catch lightening in a bottle with one of those cheapies, we could afford to keep Pujols next year.
Time to sit back and start making trades.
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| 14 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Tue, Jul 10, 2007, 18:14
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Half way point - we hit bottom for one day, stunk for most of the year, but now we are coming on!
Pujols has obviously not been worth his $46 but I'm not giving up hope on this strategy. Chris Snelling was going great, then gets traded to the AL and we're left with Ryan Langerhossen, gee, thanks.
We have had only a few decent waiver wire pick ups, James Looney and Willie Harris. We traded Miguel Cabrera away, he was in the last year of his contract, for Tim Lincecum. We've made all kinds of offers to other teams, looking to trade away good players for promising keepers, but not much success. Then all of a sudden our good players start bashing and we vault from 10th-11th to 4th-5th.
Pierre has been a waste while Ian Snell was genius. Willie Taveras has been great, would like to see more HR's out of Francouer and anything other than crap from Dave Bush.
I find these deep one-league fantasy leagues a little too frustrating. When a player goes down and you have nothing but crap, I mean players who are lucky to get up to bat once a week, to choose from as a replacement, it's quite discouraging.
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| 15 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 4110481415
Wed, Jul 11, 2007, 15:49
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I play in a similar NL only league with my brother...obviously the key is the draft and having the right young keepers...not much you can do midseason. DL visits really hurt as the waiver wire is thin to say the least...we are also very limited in inseason moves.
I think you also found another key in this format is the catcher position...we always draft high there (we are not auction...use sporting news prices)...having two solid catchers when most teams have two scrubs can really help an offense. We have Marten who has obviously been key and Barrett who has been weak but still better than most.
We are currently setup for a nice 3-4 year run...having 3 year rights on Hamels, Lincecum, Gallardo, Capps...Pujols, Marten, C. Young of, C Lee...all at good prices. Been in first place since early April...just picked up Pujols/Furcal by trading Fielder/Rollins...was our last year on Fielder/Rollins so was happy to get Pujols at a cheap price and should not hurt us much this year (may even help).
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| 16 | xpdurmind
ID: 48312323
Thu, Jul 12, 2007, 00:53
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Seattle Zen,
Didn't see your post before. Up till this year , I've played in a NL only keepers 4x4 live auction league for the past 18 years with a bunch of fanatics that fly to LA every year just for the draft. (We all started out in LA). They're so NL hardcores that Mil players were also off limits until last year.
This type of league requires that you do your homework before the draft. Borders has a number of books that will help, Some of the guys come in with draft software. You will need a combination of a good draft next year, a few good FA pick ups this year and next and a few underpaid keepers in addition to some luck in your players avoiding the DL to be successful next year.
You will also have to keep track of who's drafting what player, what are they're remaining needs, who's left in the draft and how much $ do they still have available. The end of the draft is where you might be able to get your $1 gems.
Do you also have a minors draft? ( we get to draft up to 4 minor leaguers where you don't have to call them up or waive them unless they get called up and they play for 2-3 weeks before September.)
Here's a link for the top 100 prospects. It might also help you keep an eye on whom to pick up cheap during September call ups : top 100 prospects Of course you have to weed out all AL players. Another useful link
Don't draft minor league pitchers no matter how highly they are rated. I would consider them after they get a few starts in the majors. I've picked up a few gems that way: Willis and Young to name a few; And for FA prices.
Is there a battle for the 1st place? You might get a hired gun buyer from one of those managers. Landed Zambrano and Utley( minor leaguer at the time) in 2003 for Kerry Wood and Mark Grudzielanek whom I believe got injured soon after.
I'm not sure how your league is set up, but every transaction costs $. Make sure you read your league rules/constitution no matter how long it is :)
Our league only paid the top 4 finishers on a sliding scale, so unless you're in the money you need to concentrate on next year.
Tim Lincecum might prove worth it, but you could have gotten more out of Cabrera.
GL next year..
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| 17 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 19:24
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Time to resuscitate this thread. The auction is set for Saturday and I'm again asking for some deep NL sleeper advice.
We are going into the draft with eight keepers, I think we are looking a little better than last year.
Jeff Francouer $15
James Loney $10
Freddy Sanchez $7
Joey Votto $10
Tim Lincecum $10
Ted Lilly $8
Pedro Martinez $6
Ian Snell $11
If Votto gets sent to Louisville, we will keep Felix Pie and his twisted huevo for $10.
Matt Holliday and Chase Utley are the superstars on the market this year. It wasn't too difficult to decide not to keep Albert Pujols for $46.
Last year I learned how difficult it is to build a quality team by "barbelling" because this is such a deep league. I shudder at the memories of scrounging through the waiver wire like a peasant in Stalingrad during the siege. This year I'd like to have every position filled by someone who is at least a part of a platoon.
Guys we like for cheap:
Jason Nix, 2nd, Colorado.
Matt Lindstrom, eventual closer, Florida
Derrick Turnbow, eventual closer, Mil
Aaron Heilman, Mets
Jorge Canto, 3rd, Florida
Skip Shumacher, leading off, StL
Joel Pinero, real cheap, StL
JR Towels, C, Hou
I've spent countless hours reading Deep NL-Sleeper stuff all over the internet. If anyone has some local tips, I'd be very appreciative.
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| 18 | holt
ID: 341542412
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 20:47
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I don't know what level of output makes a player ownable in this league, but Schumaker has never really shown much in the minors. Only the Cardinals have an outfield/lineup so stinky that would allow him to have a job in the majors and hit leadoff. He has no power, no speed, and no RBI potential. he might hit .290. the .333 average from last season is a mirage. He'll get some starts, but Duncan and Ludwick will get more. There's also Barton and the imminent arrival of Rasmus to consider.
Towles and the relief pitchers might be decent.
Wouldn't expect a lot from Nix, but in a league like this maybe any starting infielder is ok. Same goes for Cantu (his BB:K ratio has always been wretched).
Other possible cheap infield options that come to mind are Eugenio Velez and Ronnie Belliard. Jeff Keppinger maybe?
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| 19 | aC
ID: 561401810
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 20:53
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How about Ethier?
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| 20 | holt
ID: 341542412
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 20:55
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Matt Diaz
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| 21 | Perm Dude
ID: 7221257
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 21:07
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Patterson appears to have resurrected his career in Cincinnati.
Cristian Guzman is probably worth keeping an eye on. He can't take a walk to save his life (neither can Francouer) but if he's hitting again he's certainly a guy who will put the ball into play a lot.
Tom Gordon will get some cheap save opps while Lidge is out.
Chris Volstad will probably start the year in the minors, but worth keeping an eye on as well.
Brian Bocock will be filling in at SS while Vizquel is out. He hasn't shown much of a sharp bat, but at least for a couple of weeks the job is his and it'll be interesting to see how he does.
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| 22 | aC
ID: 561401810
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 21:59
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Hannahan
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| 23 | coldwater coyotes
ID: 570432817
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 22:19
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Personal favorites for $1-5
E. Volquez
D. Turnbow
S. Podzednick (not on 40 man roster)
Y. Petit
E. Dukes
Prospects:
Steven Pearce
M. Antonelli
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| 24 | Seattle Zen
ID: 29241823
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 22:20
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holt
a job in the majors and hit leadoff.
That's enough to get a $11 bid, I kid you not. This is a twelve team league with 23 person rosters. With 16 NL clubs, there are 32 starting MI. With 12 squads filling 3 MI slots each, four teams are stuck with a non-starter. Same goes for CI. Outfielders are even worse. We start 5. There are 48 starting outfielders and 60 slots. Matt Murton went for $16 last year and he didn't have a starting position!
Jeff Keppinger - great idea. Yes, we will target Corey Patterson.
Brian Bocock, Eugenio Velez - We're going to steer clear of the ugly Giants offense. There are too many questions marks and too many Giants fans, let them squabble over those bums.
Cristian Guzman & Ronnie Belliard - good, cheap starters.
Matt Diaz and Ethier were kept.
Thanks for the input, more is welcome.
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| 25 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 344311322
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 22:38
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Manny Parra Mil Brewers SP...big prospect a couple years back but has been injured...has looked great in spring training...made the Brewers rotation.
Ryan Dempster is going into the season as the #3 starter in Chicago...not a big fan but he has looked good in the spring and who knows starting may ressurect his career...he should go cheap.
Michael Bourn OF...not that he is unknown but I would expect greatly increased numbers leading off with a starting job. ~50 steals.
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| 26 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 344311322
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 22:44
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Nick Johnson is a forgotten man in most drafts...if you use OBP he is a big plus.
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| 27 | Seattle Zen
ID: 29241823
Tue, Mar 25, 2008, 23:14
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Coldwater: E. Volquez, S. Pods, E. Dukes.
Agree on all three, especially Pods. He's worth having even if he doesn't start as a few steals here and there are very valuable. In 4X4's, steals are extremely important.
TRS: Manny Parra
Absolutely, I think he is going to be great. Don't like Dempster at all. Michael Bourn was kept, unfortunately. I am also fond of Nick Johnson, I think he will be undervalued.
This is much appreciated.
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| 28 | holt
ID: 341542412
Wed, Mar 26, 2008, 04:29
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If Nix struggles there's a good chance that Jeff Baker picks up 2b eligibility. I'd also keep an eye on Hampton and Mulder. I wouldn't place a lot of value on them in other formats but in this league they might be worth checking out.
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| 29 | aC
ID: 561401810
Wed, Mar 26, 2008, 10:25
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SZ--sorry about the Hannahan recommendation---spaced that it was NL only!
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| 30 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 4110481415
Wed, Mar 26, 2008, 10:39
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Reed Johnson who the Cubs signed yesterday will get a lot of playing time as the 4th outfielder. He will platoon with Pie and face lefties plus if Soriano/Fukudome need any time off Johnson will likely get the playing time. I would expect between 300-400 at-bats. Should be cheap.
I like Justin Upton, Johnny Cueto, Andy LaRoche, Chase Headley...longterm. Ian Stewart could be nice if he finds a spot in Colorado.
I play in a similar NL only league...we have anywhere from 9-12 teams every year. Similarly deep. With a 12 team league I understand the wasteland that is the free agent pool. Is your tema new to the league because your list of keepers seems very weak. Going to be difficult to compete if you have no first round talent...I would have considered keeping Pujols in your situation. I would focus on prospects but being an auction format even that could get too expensive.
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| 31 | mrbig
ID: 4891838
Wed, Mar 26, 2008, 10:46
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I had a 14 team NL-only keeper auction a couple weeks ago (6x6 with OBP and IP added to traditional 5x5 stats). Guys I targetted:
J. Keppinger (should get at least 350 AB as super-utility, dual position eligibility is huge in deep leagues)
P. Maholm (he's not great, but he had a few very good months last year and is at an age he can improve. At worst, he should come very cheap and has some upside)
J. Batista (he's nothing special, but he has a shot at 20 HR and should come cheap, plus he's got nice 3B/OF eligibililty)
Any of the Nationals' middle infielders. They should all end up with a decent number of at-bats and the current turmoil over who will start should decrease everyone's value. I ended up with Lopez for $15, which in a 14-team keeper league with some serious inflation, was a good deal if he gets 400 AB and 20 SB.
R. Durham - I kid you not. Got him for a buck and he should rebound to at least .250 AVG with double-digit HR and SB. If nothing else, he provides nice bench depth. What do you have to lose for a buck?
I also like Lindstrom & Cantu from FL.
Lots of cheap catchers you can target. Ruiz had a ton of doubles last year and showed 15 HR power in the minors. Snyder was very good after the break last year (new batting coach was hired) and has been great this spring. R. Paulino has been good for 1.5 seasons and bad for .5 season. He could hit 10 HR and his .290+. Towles and Soto have a little more hype adn might be overpriced. Taking a flier on Iannetta's potential might be worth it.
Wandy Rodriguez showed significant improvement last year, despite the ugly ERA and weird home/road splits.
B. Backe is worth a roll of the dice.
C. Qualls may be 3rd in line for saves, but he'll only be a buck and I don't have much faith on the guys in front of him.
N. McLouth might be getting more expensive now that he won the starting gig, but he'd be a cheap source of 15 HR and 20+ SB.
R. Winn is undervalued every year in every league.
C. Tracy - lots of people are down on him. Snagged him for $7.
Clemens and Bonds if you league allows it. If you can snag them for a buck or 2 at the end of the auction, definitely worth the risk. I grabbed Clemens to fill my last roster spot.
Fuentes - lots of 2nd year closers have lost their job. He was great after returning from injury.
M. Alou - should give you 1/2 a season of great production. He cost me a buck.
Lieber - move to bullpen decreases his value, but I think he spends at least 2/3 of season in rotation.
M. Loretta - he's nothing special, but he has nice 2B/SS/3B eligibility and do you really trust Matsui to (1) stay healthy, (2) hit outside of Coors, or (3) hit lefties? Should see 350+ at-bats.
X. Nady - should hit 20 HR and is another overlooked Pirate.
That about covers it!
Guys like Volquez, Cueto, Parra, and Villanueva weren't sleepers in my league, everyone knows about them in a deep league.
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| 32 | Seattle Zen
ID: 29241823
Wed, Mar 26, 2008, 11:08
|
Going to be difficult to compete if you have no first round talent...I would have considered keeping Pujols in your situation.
We will buy some first round talent this year. We certainly will be able to pick Albert back up for less than the $46 we spent last year, therefore we never thought of keeping him.
This is just my second season being a co-manager, this will be my buddy's third. This league is strange, there were a lot of underpriced players in the past, I don't see that continuing.
You all are right, I shouldn't use the term "sleeper" as there are no sleepers any more. I should say "value".
I like the Mike Hampton suggestion, he's worth taking a chance on.
This league only allows you to acquire players on active rosters, so no minor leaguers or Clemens/Bonds.
I like taking a cheap flier on Moises Alou. I agree that Lieber will be undervalued and spend a good portion of the year in the rotation.
Reed Johnson is a great suggestion. These NL-centric guys don't even know all the AL players. He should be a bargain.
Randy Wynn is underpriced every year.
Thanks everyone, this is great.
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| 33 | Da Bomb
Donor
ID: 487112814
Wed, Mar 26, 2008, 18:35
|
Some cheaper guys to look at who are starters/platooners:
Matt Diaz
Felix Pie
Alejandro de Aza, Cody Ross
Ty Wigginton
Tony Gwynn Jr.
Geoff Jenkins
Brendan Ryan
Dan Ortmeier
Scott Hairston
Manny Parra
Peter Boylan
Mike Gonzalez
Jon Rauch
Also keep your eye on Marlon Byrd if he's traded to the NL.
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| 34 | mrbig
ID: 4891838
Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 13:14
|
Seattle Zen, can you give us a post after the auction to let us know what kind of <$5 players you end up with. Just curious.
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| 35 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 13:24
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Absolutely.
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| 36 | aC in aZ
ID: 561401810
Sat, Mar 29, 2008, 19:34
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Nick Johnson just got the nod at 1st base.
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| 37 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Mon, Mar 31, 2008, 14:31
|
Well, it's over. Let me tell you how exhausting this auction becomes. I'm in a couple of fairly shallow mixed 5X5 keeper leagues and I spend my Feb. and March plotting trades and studying the top 200 to 250 players, all the while keeping my eyes out for deep NL bargains. This past week I cram every bit of NL knowledge I can into my brain. Because the auction is 900 miles away, I phone my buddy Rich and spend the night on the phone. Even though the 12 teams keep 6 to 8 players each, this auction takes over 10 hours!
Have you ever listened in on 12 guys cracking inside jokes and yelling over each other for ten hours on the phone? It sure sounds like they're having fun, but I end up feeling like Gen. Noriega being blasted with Metalica by the Marines for a week. I've been spending so much time and energy on fantasy baseball the past 8 weeks, this 5pm to 2 am marathon serves as a huge dose of Fantasy Baseball Anabuse. I wake up on Sunday and vomit at the sight of the Baseball Prospectus.
We enter the year with 4 good starting pitchers, one outfielder, two first basemen, and a second baseman. There were 11 shortstops kept, one team kept three! Five teams have no SS. Who is available?
Furcal
J. Keppinger
C. Guzman
J. Wilson
C. Izturis
Omar Vizquel
It becomes obvious to me that we absolutely MUST have Raphael Furcal. We also do not have a single closer, a must in 4X4. Only four are available: Valverde, Hoffman, C. Cordero, E. Gagne.
Last year I noticed, and I believe to be true everywhere, that the first few players auctioned go for a little cheaper as the league starts to feel out what the marketplace will bare. Rich insists we bid on the first one of the four up for bid, I agree. We get to throw out the second player, I suggest we throw out Furcal using the logic above. The other teams in need of a shortstop know Furcal is the only decent one available, hopefully they won't panic bid on him as the second player up.
Chad Cordero is the first player thrown out and as we agreed, we bought him for $26. We throw out Furcal next and get him for $29. Then we don't buy another player for nearly two hours, 40-50 players fly off the boards at prices never seen before. Let me list a few:
Matt Holliday $49!
Carlos Lee $43
Carlos Beltran $43
A. Soriano $41
Albert Pujols $41
Chase Utley $40
Aramis Ramirez $39
Derek Lee $38
Adam Dunn $36
Brad Hawpe $35
Jake Peavy $32
Brandon Webb $31
Willie Taveras $30
Pat Burrell $29
Jose Valverde $29
T Hoffman $29
Carlos Delgado $28!
Conor Jackson $27
Roy Oswalt $27
Dan Haren $26
Todd Helton $26
Our strategy was one closer, Furcal, and one big outfield bopper for hopefully $85. We wanted Adam Dunn, but we only had $30 to spend, so we let him go. As all these bats were flying off the boards, we focused on Andruw Jones and hoped that the monster truck spare tire around his waist will mean extra homers even though he moved to Chavez Ravine. We got him for $30 and will kill him if he hits .222 again this year. We had a plan and stuck to it, so far, so good.
Weird quirks about this league: everyone hates catchers, everyone covets closers, people under appreciate staring pitching. We are the only squad who kept so many starters and looking at the list of available pitchers, only Johan Santana (stupid, stupid inter-league trade rules!) and Cole Hamels were kept, all of the other studs were available and ended up underpriced, in my opinion. In the future, we should keep fewer starters.
This is an old school league, meaning there is no bench. This is huge because if you want to find a future stud for cheap, he is going to be taking a spot on your roster and contributing nothing, dragging you down. What I learned last year is that I wanted starters or platoon players in EVERY position. Stars & Duds just doesn't work here. The waiver wire works like this: everyone puts in a claim on whom they want. If more than one team claims player A, the team lowest in the standings gets him. Since we are not going to be one of the lower ranked teams this year, if someone is injured and a young guy fills in for him, odds are we are not going to get him. We had some abysmal middle infielders last year and this year 11 of the 16 starting second basemen were available. I wanted Jason Nix to serve as our MI.
So we have spent $55 on Cordero and Furcal, on our way to Jones, but first we get into the bidding on Rich Hill. Here are the pitching studs who have come off the board already:
Peavy $32
Webb $31
Oswalt $27
Haren $26
Smoltz $24!
Penny $23
Harang $23
Zambrano $22
Chris Young $21
Cain $21
Hudson $20
Sheets $20
Hill is the last stud and the bid is at $20. I say he's a bargain and Rich bids him up to $22 and we get him. Yeah, I think I'd rather have Chris Young at $21 but you don't get to pick and choose like that at an auction. We don't get Hill's strikeouts as this is a 4X4, but he should win a lot more games than last year, he was unlucky. That said, both of us are concerned that we don't have enough money for home runs. We don't have a third baseman yet, we still need outfielders...
At third base we targeted Jorge Cantu and at catcher I wanted two starters, ideally one of them JR Towles. We get Towles for $10 and I'm happy. Outfielders are flying off the board. We were the second highest bidders for Ken Griffey, he went for $22, Juan Pierre, he went for $25, Randy Wynn, $21. Corey Patterson went for $20! Josh Willingham for $26! Austin Kearns $25, Willie Taveras $30, Felix Pie $19, Bill Hall $21. Looking at who was left, we both agreed that we had to get Geoff Jenkins. Geoff Jenkins!!?! How low have we sunk? We are bidding against one team when the price is at $16. Each time we bid, the other team keeps going. I'm on the phone cursing, "Who is that a$$hole? Strangle that fuçker!" He costs us $20. That leaves us with only $47! and we still don't have a third baseman.
Time to cut to the chase. At third, we picked up Andy LaRoche for $12 and Jorge Cantu for $12. I was really hoping to get Cantu for $8 or $9, but we got him. We also picked up Jason Schmidt for $3 as a total flier. There is no bench, but there is a DL! Jason Nix went for $11, so we let him go and picked up Omar Vizquel for $2. All a part of our plan to fill our roster with players who have starting positions. We got E. Dukes for $5, well, he's starting right now. And our final outfielder was Scott Podsednik for $4. I was hoping for Skip Schumacker, but you don't always get who you want.
We handcuffed Chad Cordero with the LEAGUE LEADER IN WINS! John Rauch for $6 and I'm very happy to report that we got Derrick Turnbow for $1.
Rich was a little disappointed that we ended up with so many starters. He wanted to get a few more "closers in waiting" at the end of the draft and I think he has a valid point. If Gagne performs as expected, Turnbow has a good chance of ending up the closer and a closer for $1 is solid platinum either as a keeper or as trade fodder. On the other hand, I love the chance we took on Schmidt. Even if he only pitches after the All Star break, he could be a huge bargain. This is rotisserie after all, we could build a big lead in wins and make some trades to balance ourselves out.
The situation can become delicate when two friends co-manage a team. Rich actually has to work at his job and has three young kids, I'm a fantasy baseball grasshopper to his ant, so he takes my advice as I have spent too much time researching this already. During the season he spends more time researching the waiver wire, we only have weekly moves and we discuss them on the phone. As exhausting as this event was, I look at our team and like it more and more. Our goal is to do better than out sixth place finish last year and to come out of it with eight better keepers than this year. If we can't do that, something is really wrong!
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| 38 | mrbig
ID: 4891838
Mon, Mar 31, 2008, 16:25
|
Thanks for the update. The prices don't actually look that bad, once you consider inflation from having so many keepers and inflation from not having to spend $$ on bench players. The top hitters in my 14-team NL-only auction league were usually going for $40-45, which I considered a bargain (but because of my league's rule quirks, I couldn't bid on those guys). The starting pitching does seem undervalued, though perhaps that is the result of a 4x4 league (SP rule in 1 of 4 categories, RP rule in 3 of 4 categories). Your team looks pretty solid.
Congrats on getting Furcal for $29. What were the other managers thinking? My league had the same problem - all the good SS were kept. I chickened out at $36 on Furcal, and still wish I had gone $1 higher. Now I have to pray that either my $15 Felipe Lopez or $1 Jeff Keppinger can cover the spot.
Pierre for $25 after the Dodgers announce Ethier as the starter? Wow. He'll still get 300-400 at-bats, but that is still pretty risky.
Thanks again for the update.
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| 39 | Seattle Zen
ID: 49112418
Thu, Jul 03, 2008, 17:56
|
Half way point in the season and all I can say is this team is awful. I have never put together a team as bad as this horrendous bunch of injured schmucks.
Andruw Jones
Geoff Jenkins
Rich Hill
Chad Cordero
Raphael Furcal
JR Towels
You couldn't have picked a worse list of players to spend money on, but there it is.
Then consider that we kept Ian Snell, Jeff Francouer, Freddy Sanchez, and Pedro Martinez and was it any wonder that we suck.
We have made two trades, one of which was great, the other is just funny in that it exemplified our season quite well. The first trade we convinced someone to take Rich Hill off our hands. The "gem" was Blake DeWitt at his hottest of hot points, in exchange for a closer! Really! Well, a proven closer once he's back from the DL. Well, that's what the Braves said John Smoltz was going to do. He was excited as well.
Oh, the part that might just come back to really haunt us is that we included Taylor Buckholtz. Back then, it was no big deal because we had him for only a week and someone was coming off the DL, so we had to cut him. It sure looks like he will get some saves for the Rockies this year.
Our "great" trade was we dumped Francouer, who was in the last year of his contract and was going to walk at the end of the season, and Freddy Sanchez, who we stupidly offered a second season at $7. We don't want to be stuck keeping him next year. We pawned these two bums off on someone for Shane Victorino who is $6 this season and next year!
The one benefit of being in last place in this old school league is you have first crack at any and all free agents. You may not have any minor leaguers on your squad, so we got Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, and Jay Bruce as they were brought up to the majors. Unfortunately, someone has completely sold off everything and sunk to the bottom and was rewarded with Chase Headley.
The highlights of the draft was getting Dukes for $5 and Cantu for $12. We also picked up Ryan Dempster off the waiver wire and have actually put together a great pitching staff. John Bowker has been a great pick up as well.
This year is shot. We learned a lesson or two during this auction and look pretty strong for the future.
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| 40 | Seattle Zen
ID: 55352211
Thu, Apr 02, 2009, 13:58
|
Year Three! You've got to love Guru, this diary is really fun to read. I've got a auction this Saturday!
Last year was just humiliating, but things look much, MUCH better this year. Last year a team went from worst to first and we are seriously gunning to repeat the feat. Just look at this list of keepers:
Tim Lincecum $20 (locked in for three years!)
Corey Hart $6
Shane Victorino $6
Joey Votto $15 (locked in for two years)
Jay Bruce $10
James Loney $10
Jorge Cantu $12
Cameron Maybin $10
Let me give you a little insight into how we ended up with Corey Hart. He is in the last year of his $6 salary. We traded Ryan Dempster $10, Clayton Kershaw $10 and E. Dukes $5 (all of which can be kept at the salary next year as well) for him. Yes, that certainly seems lopsided, but I spent the whole offseason trying to trade away our surplus players. We could only keep eight. I like our ability to find effective pitchers at auction cheap and four category batters are gold.
I'm here to talk about our endgame strategy. This year we have even given our auction strategy a name, Five Bucks!. We've determined what went wrong last year. We were shocked by the ridiculously high auction prices for the top players and froze. After we missed out on the top guns, we overspent on what was left, the absolutely worst thing to do. This year we have set our sights on a few players whom we will not let get away. Our budget then requires us to buy five players for a buck each, hence the name.
In a 4X4 league, saves are unbelievably important. Forget all that "don't pay for saves" advice here, this ain't some mixed, shallow league. There are no saves on the waiver wire, believe me, I mean, not only are every single "second in line" guy drafted, but many middling middlemen are gone as well. This year, here is what is available in the auction:
KRod, F Cordero, T Hoffman, M Corpas, H Street, C Villanueva, L Nunez.
Four teams' closers, and you can't be sure which of these guys will end up with the job on two of the teams. Three squads do not have a closer amongst their keepers, we're one. We have decided to spend whatever it takes to get KRod. I told you, we are shooting for the Moon this year. Jose Valverde went for $30 last year. I predict KRod is at least $35. We'll pay it.
There are a ton of great players in the auction pool this year: Pujols, Wright, Reyes, Utley, C Beltran, Berkman, Carlos Lee, A Soriano, P Fielder, Aramis Ramirez, Derek Lee, G Atkins, Chipper Jones, A Dunn, Krod, C Delgado, R Zim, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, R Ibanez, R Furcal, S Drew, L Milleage, Roy Oswalt, Justin Upton.
I hope the huge number of top players keeps their prices reasonable.
We need a 2nd, SS, and a MI. I want starters for each position. Obviously, Utley is the top 2nd baseman. If he is less than $40, I would love to have him. The best of the rest are Rickie Weeks, Felipe Lopez, Orlando Hudson, Mike Fontenot, Emilio Bonifacio. Then there is Jerry Hairston Jr., the Nats' duo, Burris and Luis Castillo.
After Reyes at short there is Stephen Drew and R. Furcal. Then Miguel Tejada, Khalil Greene, Clint Barmes, Edgar Rentaria, Alex Gonzo, Jerry Hairston Jr., Burris, Eckstein, Jack Wilson, Luis Rodriguez, Keppinger.
I'm thinking of targeting Stephen Drew, Felipe Lopez and perhaps Greene for MI. We don't plan on having one of our Five Buck guys here.
We need one outfielder and one Util batter. There is no bench in this league. I think we will have our one outfielder as a Buck player. Here is whom I am targeting for that group, knowing that some of these guys will go for more than a buck:
1. Reed Johnson
2. Scott Hairston
3. Fernando Tatis
4. Matt Diaz
5. Josh Willingham
6. Gregor Blanco
7. Alfredo Amezaga
8. Matt Stairs
9. Micah Hoffpauir
10 Jason Michaels
11 Joe Mather
12 Craig Monroe
13 Brett Carroll
Hey Cubs fans, what do you think of Hoffpauir? You have to figure that Soriano or Bradley will get hurt sometime this year. Micah had great numbers in the minors last year.
I would love to have Dexter Fowler, but I have to figure he will go for $10 in a keeper league.
We have budgeted for three Buck pitchers. I have a hunch that we can get Javier Vazquez for under $20 and I want him even though strikeouts is not a catagory. Here is my thoughts regarding dollar starters:
Chris Volstad
Joel Pinero
Shairon Martis
Ross Ohlendorf
J.A. Happ
Andrew Miller
Shawn Hill
Cha Seung Baek
Tim Redding
Josh Geer
Yeah, Baek is kinda hurt and has sucked this Spring. JA Happ doesn't have a spot in the Phillies rotation, but I think he will soon. Same goes for Redding, Livan Hernandez ..?.. nah! I really have high hopes for Martis.
As I said before, every "second in line" guy is auctioned, going for as high as $11-12 to $4-5. So, if we want a dollar reliever, we have to get a third-in-line guy and hope we land this year's Salomon Torres. Here's my list:
Steve Shell - WA
Chad Durbin - Phil
Josh Kinney - STL
Logan Kensing - FLA
Tom Flash Gordon - ARZ
Saul Rivera - WA
Geoff Geary - HOU
Todd Coffee - MIL
J. Affedlt (yuck)
Catchers: This league seems to have an aversion to catchers. Many of them can be had for a dollar. Here's my list of catchers available:
Jeff Baker
Chris Snyder
Jesus Flores
Ivan Rodriguez
Yadier Molina
Carlos Ruiz
Brian Schneider
Nick Hundley
Jason Kendall
Henry Blanco
Mike Rivera – MIL
Y Torrealba
Dave Ross
Miguel Montero
Ryan Hanningan
J Jaramillo – PIT
Koyie Hill - Cubs
Is there anyone I should add to the bottom of this list, someone you think will be a decent backup?
So, what y'all think? Have any suggestions? How about some suggestions for my Five Dollar boys? And, no, I can't buy Nyjer Morgan or Aaron Cook, they were keepers! Thanks in advance for any advice.
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| 41 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 591302518
Thu, Apr 02, 2009, 23:58
|
> Hey Cubs fans, what do you think of Hoffpauir? You have to figure that Soriano or Bradley will get hurt sometime this year. Micah had great numbers in the minors last year.
He has been lights out in spring training...he can hit in the majors. He is going to make the team and get a fair amount of playing time even without injuries. Talk of resting Lee more at 1st and then as you mention the two corner outfielders will rest their share and likely spend time on the DL.
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| 42 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 591302518
Fri, Apr 03, 2009, 00:06
|
Some other cheapies you may want to investigate:
Seth Smith OF COL
Jordan Schafer OF ATL
Daniel Murphy OF NYM
Mike Fontenot 2B CHI
Emilio Bonifacio 2B FL
I have an NL draft saturday too...was just doing my homework on it tonight...
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| 43 | ChicagoTRS
ID: 591302518
Fri, Apr 03, 2009, 00:09
|
Last year: "Don't like Dempster at all."
Should have listened ;-)
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| 44 | Seattle Zen
ID: 2233830
Fri, Apr 03, 2009, 02:38
|
"Don't like Dempster at all." Yeah, I laughed at that when I reread that today.
Well, we did listen to you, just not at the draft. We picked him up after the first week, one of the smartest things we did last year.
Agree with all your cheapie advice, TRS. Yeah, I want Hoffpauir now.
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| 45 | Seattle Zen
ID: 34320611
Mon, Apr 06, 2009, 13:53
|
What a day! Someone pointed out that the NL Tout Wars auction took 5 hours to complete. Why, then, does this league, which starts with every team already having eight players on their roster, take 12 hours?! Well, there are at least two managers who are consultants and everyone knows they can't accomplish anything quickly. By the way, I'm attending via phone... I'm the man in the booth while my co-manager Rich is there in person.
As I explained above, we named our strategy Five Bucks and targeted KRod, Stephen Drew, and Javier Vazquez. We also wanted another big bat for our Utility spot, unsure who it would be.
I have a theory that the first two or three players thrown out for bids come in a little cheaper than the market because everyone is "feeling out" what the market will bear. With this in mind, we got to throw out the second player and we choose KRod. We got into a bidding war with one other team and ended spending $40. I wasn't so sure about my theory at that point, $40 seemed pretty steep. Then a long list of huge money players followed, and I had renewed my faith in that theory.
Albert Pujols $48
David Wright $49
Brandon Webb $30
Jose Reyes $50
Dexter Fowler $15
Francisco Cordero $36
Prince Fielder $40
Carlos Beltran $40
Jake Peavy $30
Lance Berkman $38
A Soriano $44
Wow. I'm feeling much better spending the extra four bucks to land KRod over FCordero. Every player, save Webb and Peavy, went for more than I imagined, but this seems to happen every year. The last big money player left is Chase Utley, who we definitely would love to have. Someone throws out Chipper Jones. His bidding stalls at $26. Rich asks me if I'm interested. "Yeah, that's way cheap." So he bids, but at this point he was at $30. Rich says "$31" and then the dreaded crickets. We were price enforcing. We already have a third baseman and a corner infielder, Chipper would be our utility.. when healthy. BAM! Chipper is ours. I howl in disappointment. Oh, MAN! This is not what we planned. Rich talks me down. I imagined Chipper worth $36. Up to that point, every big bat had gone for $5 or more dollars over my I had predicted, Chipper was the first one below. Still, I felt we had hamstrung ourselves. Chase Utley went next, now way out of our range for $48. The remaining expensive players were Aramis Ramirez $44, Carlos Lee $43, Roy Oswalt $28, Huston Street $28, Wille Tavares $27 One manager threw out Adam Dunn and an initial bid of $30. Crickets. Boy, was he unhappy with himself. Rickie Weeks - $23, Ryan Zimmerman $29, Lastings Millege $31, Garrett Atkins $27 - the first real bargain in my eyes. Jordan Schafer went for an amazing $21, his owner must have been proud yesterday, we'll see how many other days like that will follow.
The toll these ridiculous prices has upon budgets has started to sink in, so prices start coming down. Derek Lee goes for $33, Delgado $28. Stephen Drew gets thrown out and again, we are in a bidding war with one other team starting at $20. We land him for $27 - I was willing to go to $30. Rafael Furcal goes for $30 a few players later. Kevein Kouzmanoff costs $21, Edgar Rentaria is $15, Khalil Greene is $18, Carlos Zambrano $17, Ted Lilly $18.
Javier Vazquez is up. We land him for $20. We are now down to $52 and lots of slots left. I'm stoked as I have wanted to get Drew and Vazquez in my other three leagues this season and have watched other teams get them.
Trevor Hoffman and the Angry Oblique cost $27. Brad Hawpe $28, Conor Jackson $28. Milton Bradley, I love this guy, have him on my other three teams, $22. Conor Jackson $25, EEncarnacion $20. Justin Upton is only $21! And in a keeper league! What a steal!
My buddy has a total man crush on Ian Stewart, we had him last year and Rich was hoping to keep him for $10. Maybe if he had a starting gig. I told him we could get him cheaper in the draft, who would drop $10 on a bench player? Rich bet me he would go for more than $10. Much later, sure enough, he goes for $18, the same as Jeff Francouer.
Cut to the chase. We land John Maine for $10. We buy back to back players - John Baker for $6 and Jesus Flores for $4. Considering I thought they were the #2 and #4 catchers available, we are stoked. Emilio Bonifacio is our starting second baseman for $11. Mike Fontinot is our MI for $8. We land Jerremy Affeldt for $3, yeah, I initially thought "yuck", but he is considered B Wilson's replacement if needed.
It is now 1am and we need five players - one outfielder and four pitchers, but we actually have nine dollars to accomplish it. Our strategy is a success! I am totally cool with Chipper, now just stay healthy, Larry!
There are quite a few starters with jobs available and many attractive second-in-line to closers. I sign off, leaving the work in Rich's capable hands. I wake up the next morning to hear that we landed Taylor Buckholtz $5, Kenshin Kawakami $1, David Weathers $1, Anibal Sanchez $1 and much to my delight, Micah Hoffspaiur for a buck! We will place Buckholtz on the DL and replace him with one of the remaining starters still available like Joel Pinero or Ross Ohlendorff. Let's win this thing!
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| 46 | Seattle Zen
ID: 34320611
Mon, Apr 06, 2009, 22:30
|
It has begun! We have a 19 point lead after today! Worst to First! Bonifacio couldn't have made a better impression. Even Hoffspaiur knocked in a run. We hit .475 today. I think we can maintain that :)
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