No matter when we start, I think it'd be great to find out what draft position everyone is going to have asap. Helps with planning a little bit.

C $15 Carlos Ruiz C-PHI Last catcher on the board that I thought could contribute anything meaningful.

1b $99 Adrian Gonzalez 1B-SD Paid too much but I think SLG instead of RBI's bumps his value a lot.

2b $30 Kelly Johnson 2B-AZ I didn't realize he is one of those sleepers that everyone thinks is a sleeper so had to pay full price

3b $50 Aramis Ramirez 3B-CHC 3B super shallow this year, bummed I didn't get Youk but I think this would be the first on the list I got at a decent price

SS $30 Jason Bartlett SS-TB considering what Everth Cabrera went for I like this price.

OF $80 Manny Ramirez OF-LAD paid to much, but I don't think he is done yet

OF $87 Adam Dunn OF/1B-WSH surprised I got him for less than $100

OF $56 Andre Ethier OF-LAD Dodger fan, what can I say. If he figures out lefties gg

OF $21 Juan Pierre OF-CHW considering the situation he is in I don't see him stealing less than 45 bases

OF $6 Scott Podsednik OF-KC Good Price if he can still run

CIF $90 Joey Votto 1B-CIN Probably gonna be better than Gonso for $9 cheaper

MIF $21 Alexei Ramirez SS-CHW surprised I got him, happy I got at least one 20/20 candidate

UTIL $28 Nick Johnson 1B-NYY Elite OBP (which in that line up means runs, hoping for double digit homers in the new park and no time on the field)

SP $39 Ricky Nolasco SP-FLA Cat 1

SP $30 Matt Garza SP-TB Cat 1

SP $32 Scott Baker SP-MIN Cat 1

RP $86 Jonathan Broxton RP-LAD Paid too much, but I'm a Dodger fan so at least I paid to much for one of my guys.

RP $5 Kevin Gregg RP-TOR had to check to make sure he was still the closer, not bad for price

P $11 Francisco Liriano SP-MIN Twins closer one time!

P $18 Tim Hudson SP-ATL Cat 2

P $17 Rich Harden SP-TEX Cat 2

P $5 John Maine SP-NYM Cat 1

Bench $10 Adrian Beltre 3B-BOS hoping for a HR spike for Fenway, average player in a good line up at shallow position with guaranteed playing time is never bad in a deep league

Bench $14 Jason Kubel DH/OF-MIN always underated

Bench $4 Adam Kennedy 3B/2B-WSH pretty sure I was drunk when I made this nom, fml. I will cut him as soon as possible. He will always have a special place in my heart for crushing SF in the '02 series

Bench $24 Gavin Floyd SP-CHW Cat 1

Bench $5 Chris Getz 2B-KC few 2B with SB upside this year. Hopefully KC is dumb enough not to play Callaspo

Bench $5 Coco Crisp OF-OAK I always here Harold Reynolds' voice when I read his name

Bench $4 Brandon Lyon RP-HOU Pretty sure he will be the Closer in Houston

Bench $7 Shaun Marcum SP-TOR Cat 2

My pitching strategy was to get one elite closer and hopefully one mid tier (which was supposed to be Qualls) and one scrub reliever. I never spend a lot on Starters. There always seams to be more Brandon Webbs than Josh Hamiltons every year. With 3 Million left over I have a good chance of trading for a closer or getting a servicable on eoff of waivers.

Cat 1 is something I stole that is readily found on the internet. Essentially you take talented but inconsistent pitchers that have crossed the 500 inning mark and invest in them. A lot of us seemed to agree that Nolasco, Garza, and Floyd were worth investing in so I don't feel like I am giving away any trade secrets. I hoped someone would go 6 on Maine tbh, but he qualifies sort of.

Cat 2 is something I always do, which is try and get good pitchers that were running playing well before they got injured and have missed a season or so. Now that I check has Rich Harden really pitched over 100 innings 2 years in a row? I just assumed he was coming off an injury.

CLIFFS:

tl;dr/please flame my team

My team has a mix of absolute superstars and low-mid level value players starting at every position. The plan is to start my superstars every day, obviously, and work an intricate platoon at the rest of my positions. I constructed my lineup carefully so I can streamline my platoon through all the positions. Check out all my position eligibilities. For example, if I like Dejesus' (OF) match-up that night better than Polanco's (CIF), I can platoon Dejesus in fairly easily by swapping Cuddyer down. I have flexibility like this all over my lineup, and it was purposely done to cover up my gambles (Beltran, Weeks, Reyes, Chipper to a lesser extent) if they don't pay off. The ONLY position I lack depth at is catcher. Considering Mauer plays plenty DH to keep him fresh, I'm not worried.

SBs are quite obviously my biggest weakness and SLG and HR are my biggest strengths.

My pitching strategy should be fairly obvious. We'll see where I get my innings from.

C $103 Joe Mauer C/DH-MIN

Thought he was a steal at 103. Will be the cornerstone of my team for years to come. No catcher is even remotely close in value. Power spike last year? Sure, but I don't expect that big of a regression. He'll hit over 20 easy.

1b $103 Mark Teixeira 1B-NYY

One of the elite first basemen in MLB hitting in the best lineup in baseball. OBP, SLG, R, HR... everything but SB is here.

2b $59 Dan Uggla 2B-FLA

Meh. Not my first choice for 2B, but one could do a lot worse. In a league that starts a 2B, SS and MIF these positions become an absolute premium. He'll contribute heavily in SLG and HR with good OBP and potentially great Rs.

3b $47 Chipper Jones 3B-ATL

Like a vintage wine, Chipper Jones should get better with age... BUTNAHHH. However, this guy can still get on base with the best of them and has the potential to hit over 20 HR.

SS $91 Jose Reyes SS-NYM

My biggest gamble of the draft. Obvious health issues aside, Reyes is one of the top SS in baseball. After the top 3-5 fantasy SS, the rest drop off a freaking cliff, thus the high price. However, the value I gain over the next available and reasonably priced option is well worth it. I have Reyes valued at over $100, even considering his health issues. Before last year he was extremely durable, putting up over 700 PA per year. Assuming he is healthy I can expect 50+ SB, a .350 OBP, high 400s SLG and 15-20ish HRs. Uh, that's pretty freaking nice out of SS TYVM! Oh yeah, 100+ Rs too. Probably one of the more underrated fantasy players this year (even at this price).

OF $65 Nick Markakis OF-BAL

The one player I don't feel like I "profited" on when it comes to value, but I am a huge Markakis fan (always have been for some reason), and he's only going to get better as he enters his prime. Rs, HRs, SBs, OBP, SLG... he's got it all. A real quiet MLB superstar.

OF $38 Carlos Beltran OF-NYM

Another gamble. Obviously Beltran had the knee surgery, but if he's anything close to what he was before, $38 is a steal. A "five tool" player when it comes to our scoring system, hopefully he'll be patrolling the OF for me by early May.

OF $22 Michael Cuddyer OF/1B-MIN

Cuddyer's offensive prowess out of the 1B position probably is worth $22, but he'll be starting in my OF, jumping his value quite a bit. If he can hit 30 again, unlikely IMO, he'll be a freaking steal. Even if he doesn't, for $22 it won't take much for him to give me great value out of the OF. OBP is a concern. A minor gamble.

OF $16 Ryan Ludwick OF-STL

Can't believe I got him at this price. Another Cuddyer like gamble, it won't take much for me to squeeze every penny of my $16 out of him.

OF $5 David DeJesus OF-KC

A pretty great pickup for $5. Played in a platoon format, this guy can really make some $$ for me with his OBP and SLG.

CIF $8 Placido Polanco 2B/3B-PHI

Another guy to use effectively in a platoon format... he'll juice my OBP and help pick up a couple SB.

MIF $52 Rickie Weeks 2B-MIL

My 2nd biggest gamble, but I think this guy is ready for a breakout year. He could become a real stud and be someone 5 years from now I'm glad I have as a centerpiece of my team. Let's hope he stays healthy. I have the depth to cover him if he doesn't though.

UTIL $36 David Ortiz DH-BOS

Yeah, whatever. Screw da Red Sox, but at this price he's worth it. If I can get 20+ HR out of him I'll be pleased. Who knows? Maybe he's back on the juice again. I'll probably sit him vs. lefties pretty often.

SP $86 C.C. Sabathia SP-NYY

lol at $86 dollars I was cackling to myself as the auction ticked off. Sick, sick value. Considering IPs, Ws, Ks, ERA, and WHIP... one of the best pitchers in fantasy baseball.

SP $76 Javier Vazquez SP-NYY

A minor gamble. Vazquez has always been very solid, putting up high IPs and Ks. Even if his ERA goes up this year (obv it will), he will provide me great K/IPs and that's important in this league.

SP $4 Jeremy Guthrie SP-BAL

Who knows how long he'll stay on my team... if he can get out of his funk and start pitching like I think he's capable of he could be a massive steal. Unlikely, though.

RP $79 Mariano Rivera RP-NYY

The Great One (at a Great Price)... probably the best fantasy closer in baseball and if not he's a close second behind Broxton (who you did not overpay for another_rack)

RP $9 Hong-Chih Kuo RP-LAD

A member of my elite, non-closer relief force. Providing low WHIPs, Ks/IPs and ERAs since 2010. Also could pick up the closer's job if there is an injury.

P $4 Barry Zito SP-SF

Picked him up to get IPs out of him if I need them. No idea how long he'll be on my team. At least I don't need to pay him 130 mil over 7 years.

P $4 Joel Pineiro SP-LAA

Same as Zito. He ran hot last year. I know that. We'll see. I'll ride him out for a little.

P $9 Hiroki Kuroda SP-LAD

One of my core starters and a guy I think is highly underrated. I'd value him at around 30 (although I wouldn't pay that).

P $4 Mike Adams RP-SD

One of my favorite picks. See: Kuo, but the possibility of picking up a closer's job here is pretty big since he's going to probably be the setup man and Heath Bell trade rumors are about as popular as Lindsay Lohan drunk pictures.

Bench $4 Melky Cabrera OF-ATL

I think Melky has a really high upside in Atlanta. We'll see how often he plays. A bit of a homer pick.

Bench $5 Juan L Rivera OF-LAA

One of my OF/1B/CIF platoon members. Put together a $20+ season last year... could again this year. Good value if so. Also will need him while I wait for Dye and Beltran to come around.

Bench $4 Orlando Cabrera SS-CIN

Will start opening day for me and act as Reyes insurance. You could do a LOT worse for a SS, and if I need to start him every day of the season, then I'm fine with that. He won't hurt my team, as many SS would.

Bench $5 Jermaine Dye OF-CHW

Phenomenal value if he only had a team. It won't be long until he's playing somewhere, and I honestly think he'll be a regular part of my lineup for much of the season.

Bench $4 Brandon Inge 3B-DET

lol I was drunk when I nominated Inge I'm pretty sure. GREAAAAARRRRRR?

Bench $7 Sergio Romo RP-SF

Another member of the non-closer patrol. See: Kuo.

Bench $7 J.P. Howell RP-TB

Ditto to the above. Can't believe I got him, Kuo or Romo for as low a price as I did. Adams was a slight surprise. $27 for all 4 of them... giving me, probably, around 200 IP of sub 3 ERA, low WHIP and extremely high Ks with saves and Ws mixed in. They are kinda like a super pitcher transformer or something. However, the obvious and clear downside is they take up 4 roster spots and will not provide me nearly enough innings to reach the minimum without a lot of help from my starters. Basically I'm going to have to start ****ty guys (Zito, Guthrie) to reach my min, and I'm hoping the performance of my RPs will balance that out.

Bench $4 Koji Uehara SP-BAL

Another pick I'm really happy with. I have him valued in the double digits, and he could put a real nice season together in Baltimore. He'll be one of my innings eaters.

coming shortly i hope

I also think that is a really good price on Kuroda.

almost all the teams completed - but it could still shake up some with how fifield and nutshot round their teams out.

here's how i have it so far: (optimal lineups for teams, not necessarily ones they will run with)



levarkin has the best trade pieces, and geoff has the most salary he can take on.

edit:

oh and i'll flame all your teams when i get around to it later.

looks like awesomenutshot will have homers covered lol

exit,

I guess projections like that are somewhat helpful. They give you an idea of where a team is strong and where its weak. Although I think its frequently wildly inaccurate so I don't know if its helpful at all really.

You have me down for 246 HRs this season. Totals for my starting 13 from last year.

Reynolds 44
Morales 34
Swisher 29
J. Lopez 25
C. Davis 21
G. Jones 21
Guiterrez 18
Montero 16
Escobar 14
C. Gonzalez 13
K. Blanks 10
F. Lopez 9
Gardner 3

Total: 257


F*** half my team only played 1/2 the season or less. How the hell do you figure they'll bash out less Home Runs with wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more at bats?

Its at points like this I say print out your projections so I can wipe my ass with them. They're always off and in cases like this wayyyyyyyyyyyy off. I might have 7 or 8 guys hit 30 HRs this year and I'm projected for 6th place in this league in HRs, not unless I have 2 major injuries.

And then I could go about pretty much every other team in this league and point out at least one category that you're wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy off base for their team on.

TC,

I was assuming that most of us knew that projecting future performance was an inexact science. I am confident that whatever source exit is using is likely more accurate than your wishful thinking. I wouldn't be surprised if your main power sources will hit less homers than last year, but very surprised if they did.

AR

Did this per request, results were:

List Randomizer

There were 13 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Pecota
2. Fifield
3. Jokes
4. ThunderCoff
5. Levarkin
6. Thay3r
7. sergsz
8. exitonly
9. Karak
10. primetime32
11. another_rack
12. awesomenutshot
13. Cutlahhhhhh

Timestamp: 2010-03-20 13:50:37 UTC


Have to head out but if a screencap is needed as proof I can do it when I get back.

Can you be bought? If so how much?

Woo! Thanks Tuq.

Also, I'm obviously using different projections than Exit, and while the order is shuffled around, I also have me, Jokes, and Karak as the top teams.

You overpaid on some position players and did well with your pitchers, generally. Gonzalez, Votto, and Ruiz set you back a lot, and Manny was definitely an overpay, as you observed. Still, nice pickups with Ramirez, Beltre, and Bartlett.

Despite Harden's risk, that's a good price. Gavin Floyd could work out really well and for what you paid, it's hard not to like Lyon.

You got lots of good value in your hitters, and only overpaid for Mauer and maybe Weeks and Reyes, considering the risk. Teixeira's price still looks good, considering that he was picked during the initial frenzy.

I'm a bit puzzled by the reliever strategy. I guess we have different replacement levels?

SHIP IT

My favorite picks for another_rack are Gonzo, Dunn, Votto (a little pricey, but still solid), Ricky Nolasco (I really wanted him, but couldn't pay that much. Big rebound expected), Liriano (he seems healthy to me, but still too much risk for me to go after him).

If Liriano is healthy and effective and Garza and Nolasco do what I think they will, I really like the top of your rotation. Lots of power pitching. Scott Baker is kind of meh to me, but I just think he's over-hyped sometimes.

Hudson, Harden, and Maine are all really risky if you were planning on getting any substantial innings out of them, especially with the money you dropped on the first two guys.

Getz could be a nice pick-up, I tried to sneak him through as an expendable bench guy.

Johnson would be a sick utility guy, but I just don't think he'll be able to stay healthy, even as a DH. Nothing really jumps out at me on offense.

I think you have a solid, competitive team, but there doesn't seem to be much upside, aside from a few pitchers.

****

Karak has a team that I could easily see winning it all this year, only to suck over the next few seasons. There are a few prime pieces in play: Mauer, Markakis, Sabathia. Maybe Texiera, but I think he's slightly over-rated as far as being "elite."

But a lot of other key positions run the risk of aging "quickly" or seeing their performance significantly drop off due to a known injury. Reyes' lower body issues from last season may reappear, but he's only 26 so he could still be very productive (and was paid accordingly). Beltran is coming off of double-knee surgery, is a starting NL outfielder, and turns 33 in April. Price aside, that would make me wary of leaning on him too heavily.

Chipper almost retired because his body was so beat up last year, Ortiz could turn into a pumpkin at any time, Cuddyer peaked last season, and given Ludwick's career track he probably peaked in 2008 (career highs in OBP: .339, .375, .329, in that order). Rickie Weeks is also coming off an injury riddled year, but I think he's a nice pickup.

The pitching strategy is going to either look brilliant or damn foolish. There is definitely a lot of value to be had at those prices, but I wouldn't want to place the fate of my pitching cats in the hands of relievers, no matter how good they were last season (they're in the bullpen for a reason).

I think you're putting a lot of pressure on having a good draft to fill in potential holes. Even so, this team will probably finish in the top three.

ROGGED

This format looks familiar...hmmm...

You're going to take Santana, right? RIGHT????

Sure.

With the first overall pick in the inaugural 2+2 Small Stakes Dynasty League Rookie Draft, Pecota takes:

Ryan Leaf, Quarterback, Washington State

please note you may trade rookie draft picks

did we ever decide on a format for allowing people to stop drafting or only sign so many rookies or whatever?

Think we decided you needed to draft all 10.