This year I have three fantasy baseball teams playing in yahoo leagues - two Rotisserie and one head-to-head. I also have one team playing in an ESPN league (also Rotisserie).
And you can well imagine the effort/time it takes to get your daily rosters just right. The pain of having benched for instance, Kosuke Fukudome, and later watching him hit a home run and driving 3 RBI's, well is best left un-described. And its been only two weeks since the 2009 baseball season began.
And you can well imagine the effort/time it takes to get your daily rosters just right. The pain of having benched for instance, Kosuke Fukudome, and later watching him hit a home run and driving 3 RBI's, well is best left un-described. And its been only two weeks since the 2009 baseball season began.
I find fantasy baseball more complex and the very nature of the game is such that it can drive a fantasy owner compelely insane. There are plenty of reasons. For one - There are a lot of players who you can pick from and who are equally capable of performing on your team and unlike football where by merely investing in top talent (with atleast 1 top WR, two decent RB's and a good QB you can qualify for the playoffs in a head-to-head league) guarantee results, baseball has so many players in so many positions that outside of the top 50 best baseball players, you have a plateau of several decent players who have great upside and potential to manouvre your team into a winning position. The key - Identify players who have shown potential and haven't reached their ceiling.
Second - The baseball season runs for a staggering 162 games and more often than not you are likely to have your best players, or players you're banking on, going through a lean phase and in its in these situations you'll have to truly manage your team and players, juggling your rosters and making hard choices. For instance, you drafted Jimmy Rollins, one of the top Shortstops in baseball, and who usually guarantees 20-25 home runs, and around 30-35 stolen bases with a reasonable batting average of .280-.300. But he is going through a real tough patch, and he is hitless for almost a week - what do you do? You obviously bench him, but at the same time you can't drop him yet since he may pay-off later. Couple that with a player sitting on waiver wire who is absolutely killing it, so now you're left with the choice of dropping some other player, clearing roster space, and hope the player you pick from the waiver wires continues to kill it and hope Jimmy rollins finds some form going. However time is a luxury in head-to-head leagues.
In head-to-head leagues you need to get the wheels churning every week. Or else you might have the team with the best stats at the end of the season in total, but you don't have enough wins in each week to earn you a playoff spot. And then again, most experienced fantasy players would trade Jimmy Rollins almost immediately. Most analysts preach the mantra of ruthlessness.
Also you have the additional problems of platoons - earlier the bench players were pinch hitters, pinch runners, utility players or merely backups. With the advancement and wide availability of baseball statistics (splits, batter-versus-pitcher matchups), and the acceptance (or dependence) of the managers who use them, some of today's managers experiment with match-ups a lot. A hitter will play only against lefties and not against right handed pitchers. So for such players, the fanstasy manager needs to perenially keep an eye out against opposing pitchers before deciding whether to start a batter, even if he is producing runs etc. But this applies only to small population of hitters. Most of the top hitters are likely to play irrespective of whether left-hand or right-hand pitching.
Here are my teams as they stand on April 17th 2009.
ESPN League (Rotisserie)
NJ KILLER CUBS
SLOT PLAYER, TEAM POS
C Ryan Doumit, Pit C
1B Miguel Cabrera, Det 1B
2B Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B
3B Adrian Beltre, Sea 3B
SS Rafael Furcal, LAD SS
2B/SS Elvis Andrus, Tex SS
1B/3B Marco Scutaro, Tor 2B, 3B, SS
OF Carlos Lee, Hou OF
OF Carlos Beltran, NYM OF
OF Alex Rios, Tor OF
OF Curtis Granderson, Det OF
OF Adam Dunn, Was OF
UTIL Mike Lowell, Bos 3B
P Mariano Rivera, NYY RP
P Rich Harden, ChC SP
P Ted Lilly, ChC SP
P Carlos Marmol, ChC RP
P Aaron Harang, Cin SP
P Erik Bedard, Sea SP
P Huston Street, Col RP
P Chris Volstad, Fla SP
P Kevin Gregg, ChC RP
Bench Pablo Sandoval, SF 1B DTD
Bench Manny Corpas, Col RP
Bench Gavin Floyd, CWS SP
Probably my best drafted team of the four - Good Power hitting, speed and pitching.
Yahoo Team 1 (Rotisserie)
Navaneeth Pos Player
C Jorge Posada (NYY - C)
1B Paul Konerko (CWS - 1B)
2B José López (Sea - 1B,2B)
3B Evan Longoria (TB - 3B)
SS Ryan Theriot (ChC - SS)
OF Torii Hunter (LAA - OF)
OF Manny Ramírez (LAD - OF)
OF Kosuke Fukudome (ChC - OF)
Util Adam Lind (Tor - OF)
SP Carlos Zambrano (ChC - SP)
SP Dan Haren (Ari - SP)
RP Jonathan Papelbon (Bos - RP)
RP Mariano Rivera (NYY - RP)
P Kerry Wood (Cle - RP)
P Huston Street (Col - RP)
P Jeremy Guthrie (Bal - SP)
BN Derrek Lee (ChC - 1B)
BN Elvis Andrus (Tex - SS)
BN Chris Young (Ari - OF)
DL Alex Gordon (KC - 3B) DL
BN Fausto Carmona (Cle - SP)
First team I drafted this season. A couple of star players - Langoria and Manny Ramirez (gotten off to a cold start) and some decent support - Jose Lopez, Fukudome, Lind. The hitting is nowhere close to the ESPN team, but the pitching is dominant with Zambrano and Haren starting and two great closers - Papelbon and Rivera. This will be one of those teams I'll have to continously work with through-out the season, relying on waiver wires and sleepers. Currently 6/12
Yahoo Team 2 (Rotisserie)
TwoTimesNavaneeth Pos Player
C Geovany Soto (ChC - C)
1B Justin Morneau (Min - 1B)
2B Kelly Johnson (Atl - 2B)
3B Edwin Encarnación (Cin - 3B)
SS Jimmy Rollins (Phi - SS)
OF Nelson Cruz (Tex - OF)
OF Nick Markakis (Bal - OF)
OF Vernon Wells (Tor - OF)
Util Ryan Howard (Phi - 1B)
SP Ricky Nolasco (Fla - SP)
SP Paul Maholm (Pit - SP)
RP Bobby Jenks (CWS - RP)
RP Frank Francisco (Tex - RP)
P Clayton Kershaw (LAD - SP)
P Chris Volstad (Fla - SP)
P Bronson Arroyo (Cin - SP)
BN Jay Bruce (Cin - OF)
BN David Ortiz (Bos - Util)
BN Mike Cameron (Mil - OF)
BN Max Scherzer (Ari - SP,RP)
BN Roy Halladay (Tor - SP)
A better rounded team with better hitters (both in terms of power and speed - Howard, Morneau, Markasis) and some great starting pitchers (Halladay, Volstad, Nolasco, Kershaw). A little tuning up and can be a top four team. Currently 3/12.
Yahoo Team 3 (Head-to-Head)
ThreeTimesNavaneeth -Pos Player
C Brandon Inge (Det - C,3B,OF)
1B Kevin Youkilis (Bos - 1B,3B)
2B Dan Uggla (Fla - 2B)
3B Michael Young (Tex - 3B,SS)
SS J.J. Hardy (Mil - SS)
OF Torii Hunter (LAA - OF)
OF Raúl Ibañez (Phi - OF)
OF Grady Sizemore (Cle - OF)
Util Denard Span (Min - OF)
SP Chad Billingsley (LAD - SP)
SP Jon Lester (Bos - SP)
RP Francisco Rodríguez (NYM - RP)
RP Kerry Wood (Cle - RP)
P Mark Buehrle (CWS - SP)
P Aaron Harang (Cin - SP)
P Scott Baker (Min - SP)
BN Lance Berkman (Hou - 1B)
BN Ryan Theriot (ChC - SS)
BN Chris Iannetta (Col - C)
BN Dexter Fowler (Col - OF)
BN Bronson Arroyo (Cin - SP)
On paper probably one of the better teams drafted. But since this is team is played in a head-to-head league, and due to slow start of the normally reliable Lance Berkman and others, it lost the 1st match-up of the season and currently sits at the bottom of the league. But personally I believe this was a good draft. With power hitters like Uggla and an excellent mix of run-producing players like Sizemore, berkman, youkilis. The pitching is decent too - with Billingsley, Lester and Scott Baker. I'm confident this team will rally in the coming weeks to make it to the playoffs.
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Second - The baseball season runs for a staggering 162 games and more often than not you are likely to have your best players, or players you're banking on, going through a lean phase and in its in these situations you'll have to truly manage your team and players, juggling your rosters and making hard choices. For instance, you drafted Jimmy Rollins, one of the top Shortstops in baseball, and who usually guarantees 20-25 home runs, and around 30-35 stolen bases with a reasonable batting average of .280-.300. But he is going through a real tough patch, and he is hitless for almost a week - what do you do? You obviously bench him, but at the same time you can't drop him yet since he may pay-off later. Couple that with a player sitting on waiver wire who is absolutely killing it, so now you're left with the choice of dropping some other player, clearing roster space, and hope the player you pick from the waiver wires continues to kill it and hope Jimmy rollins finds some form going. However time is a luxury in head-to-head leagues.
In head-to-head leagues you need to get the wheels churning every week. Or else you might have the team with the best stats at the end of the season in total, but you don't have enough wins in each week to earn you a playoff spot. And then again, most experienced fantasy players would trade Jimmy Rollins almost immediately. Most analysts preach the mantra of ruthlessness.
Also you have the additional problems of platoons - earlier the bench players were pinch hitters, pinch runners, utility players or merely backups. With the advancement and wide availability of baseball statistics (splits, batter-versus-pitcher matchups), and the acceptance (or dependence) of the managers who use them, some of today's managers experiment with match-ups a lot. A hitter will play only against lefties and not against right handed pitchers. So for such players, the fanstasy manager needs to perenially keep an eye out against opposing pitchers before deciding whether to start a batter, even if he is producing runs etc. But this applies only to small population of hitters. Most of the top hitters are likely to play irrespective of whether left-hand or right-hand pitching.
Here are my teams as they stand on April 17th 2009.
ESPN League (Rotisserie)
NJ KILLER CUBS
SLOT PLAYER, TEAM POS
C Ryan Doumit, Pit C
1B Miguel Cabrera, Det 1B
2B Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B
3B Adrian Beltre, Sea 3B
SS Rafael Furcal, LAD SS
2B/SS Elvis Andrus, Tex SS
1B/3B Marco Scutaro, Tor 2B, 3B, SS
OF Carlos Lee, Hou OF
OF Carlos Beltran, NYM OF
OF Alex Rios, Tor OF
OF Curtis Granderson, Det OF
OF Adam Dunn, Was OF
UTIL Mike Lowell, Bos 3B
P Mariano Rivera, NYY RP
P Rich Harden, ChC SP
P Ted Lilly, ChC SP
P Carlos Marmol, ChC RP
P Aaron Harang, Cin SP
P Erik Bedard, Sea SP
P Huston Street, Col RP
P Chris Volstad, Fla SP
P Kevin Gregg, ChC RP
Bench Pablo Sandoval, SF 1B DTD
Bench Manny Corpas, Col RP
Bench Gavin Floyd, CWS SP
Probably my best drafted team of the four - Good Power hitting, speed and pitching.
Yahoo Team 1 (Rotisserie)
Navaneeth Pos Player
C Jorge Posada (NYY - C)
1B Paul Konerko (CWS - 1B)
2B José López (Sea - 1B,2B)
3B Evan Longoria (TB - 3B)
SS Ryan Theriot (ChC - SS)
OF Torii Hunter (LAA - OF)
OF Manny Ramírez (LAD - OF)
OF Kosuke Fukudome (ChC - OF)
Util Adam Lind (Tor - OF)
SP Carlos Zambrano (ChC - SP)
SP Dan Haren (Ari - SP)
RP Jonathan Papelbon (Bos - RP)
RP Mariano Rivera (NYY - RP)
P Kerry Wood (Cle - RP)
P Huston Street (Col - RP)
P Jeremy Guthrie (Bal - SP)
BN Derrek Lee (ChC - 1B)
BN Elvis Andrus (Tex - SS)
BN Chris Young (Ari - OF)
DL Alex Gordon (KC - 3B) DL
BN Fausto Carmona (Cle - SP)
First team I drafted this season. A couple of star players - Langoria and Manny Ramirez (gotten off to a cold start) and some decent support - Jose Lopez, Fukudome, Lind. The hitting is nowhere close to the ESPN team, but the pitching is dominant with Zambrano and Haren starting and two great closers - Papelbon and Rivera. This will be one of those teams I'll have to continously work with through-out the season, relying on waiver wires and sleepers. Currently 6/12
Yahoo Team 2 (Rotisserie)
TwoTimesNavaneeth Pos Player
C Geovany Soto (ChC - C)
1B Justin Morneau (Min - 1B)
2B Kelly Johnson (Atl - 2B)
3B Edwin Encarnación (Cin - 3B)
SS Jimmy Rollins (Phi - SS)
OF Nelson Cruz (Tex - OF)
OF Nick Markakis (Bal - OF)
OF Vernon Wells (Tor - OF)
Util Ryan Howard (Phi - 1B)
SP Ricky Nolasco (Fla - SP)
SP Paul Maholm (Pit - SP)
RP Bobby Jenks (CWS - RP)
RP Frank Francisco (Tex - RP)
P Clayton Kershaw (LAD - SP)
P Chris Volstad (Fla - SP)
P Bronson Arroyo (Cin - SP)
BN Jay Bruce (Cin - OF)
BN David Ortiz (Bos - Util)
BN Mike Cameron (Mil - OF)
BN Max Scherzer (Ari - SP,RP)
BN Roy Halladay (Tor - SP)
A better rounded team with better hitters (both in terms of power and speed - Howard, Morneau, Markasis) and some great starting pitchers (Halladay, Volstad, Nolasco, Kershaw). A little tuning up and can be a top four team. Currently 3/12.
Yahoo Team 3 (Head-to-Head)
ThreeTimesNavaneeth -Pos Player
C Brandon Inge (Det - C,3B,OF)
1B Kevin Youkilis (Bos - 1B,3B)
2B Dan Uggla (Fla - 2B)
3B Michael Young (Tex - 3B,SS)
SS J.J. Hardy (Mil - SS)
OF Torii Hunter (LAA - OF)
OF Raúl Ibañez (Phi - OF)
OF Grady Sizemore (Cle - OF)
Util Denard Span (Min - OF)
SP Chad Billingsley (LAD - SP)
SP Jon Lester (Bos - SP)
RP Francisco Rodríguez (NYM - RP)
RP Kerry Wood (Cle - RP)
P Mark Buehrle (CWS - SP)
P Aaron Harang (Cin - SP)
P Scott Baker (Min - SP)
BN Lance Berkman (Hou - 1B)
BN Ryan Theriot (ChC - SS)
BN Chris Iannetta (Col - C)
BN Dexter Fowler (Col - OF)
BN Bronson Arroyo (Cin - SP)
On paper probably one of the better teams drafted. But since this is team is played in a head-to-head league, and due to slow start of the normally reliable Lance Berkman and others, it lost the 1st match-up of the season and currently sits at the bottom of the league. But personally I believe this was a good draft. With power hitters like Uggla and an excellent mix of run-producing players like Sizemore, berkman, youkilis. The pitching is decent too - with Billingsley, Lester and Scott Baker. I'm confident this team will rally in the coming weeks to make it to the playoffs.
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