Fantasy Baseball Friday

Another week passes, another trade has been made.  I announced to the league that I'm in full "fire sale" mode at 5-10 (I won last week during the short week with a 16th inning save by Jon Papelbon.)  My goal is to improve my keepers as much as possible, which means everyone is expendable besides my top 5 guys (we get 6 keepers, so I'd obviously be willing to trade players 6 and 7 for a higher quality keeper.)  This is the best aspect of being in a keeper fantasy baseball league because certain moves actually play out in a manner reminiscent of MLB trades.  Consider me the Astros (it would be the Cubs because none of my players have no trade clauses.) 

So I mentioned a trade, didn't I?  Ok, here's what I gave up:

Jon Papelbon and Anibal Sanchez

FOR

Big Game James Shields! 

"James Shields is pitching because he's a Jewish person." -- Crazy lady on Tampa talk radio, 2010 

I agree this is not a great trade if my goal was to continue competing for a playoff spot.  However, my goal is not to compete but to improve my keepers.  Currently, my certain keepers are now: Jered Weaver, James Shields, Jose Reyes, Joe Mauer, and Chase Utley.  My final decision leaves me with Paul Konerko or Daniel Hudson (who I'm liking more and more each week.)  I also have Jose Valverde, but I've decided it is dumb to keep relief pitchers unless you have one of the top 2 or 3 relievers.  This made Papelbon expendable AND how great is it that I no longer have to have his dumb face on my team?!  What an ass clown. 

GOOD RIDDANCE.

James Shields, on the other hand, is almost 30, in the prime of his career, leads the majors in complete games, and has a savage ERA in the AL East.  Quite impressive.  I'm excited about acquiring such a quality pitcher and I've seen it is possible that he gets traded to another team.  I could imagine this guy in the NL.  He would crush bitches.  I will also say that the best man from my wedding can expect texts saying "Big Game James!" about every 5 to 6 days.  Enjoy buddy!

So what do you think?  Is this a good strategy?  Am I making the proper moves?  Keep in mind I've acquired two of the top 5 pitchers (Weaver and Shields) in the past month or so AND the top offensive player this year (Reyes.)  I feel like Billy Beane when he knew what he was doing and getting extremely lucky.  Side note: Why the fuck didn't Art Howe pinch run Eric Byrnes for Jeremy Giambi against the Yankees in the ALCS?! 

Byrnes beats this throw by literally 90 feet.  Giambi would've beat it if he slid.

I bet Phillip Seymour Hoffman could manage the A's better!  Best Man (from the previous paragraph) believes that "Moneyball" looks like a Lifetime movie.  LOL!

If nothing else, these trades have distracted me from the awfulness that is my team.  Have a fun weekend, assholes- see you on Monday.

Fantasy Baseball Tuesday

My team- "The Perfect Storm" (named after how many shitty injuries and/or slumps almost all of my players have had this year)- is still struggling.  They lost 283.17 to 312.83 to my fantasy baseball arch-nemesis and best man from my wedding.  Dammit.

Well said, George.

Anyway, before going deeper into my recent team decisions, let's look at commenter G$'s trade he mentioned in the comment section of yesterday's post.

I dealt: Hosmer, Pedroia, Jason Heyward, and Garza

I received: A-Rod, Sam Fuld, Juan OOOOOOOOOribe, and Verlander.

So I went ahead and looked up point totals on these players in my league.  I'd bet that G$ is in a categories league (correct me if I'm wrong) as most people play Fantasy Baseball that way.  I think I've mentioned previously that we rock a total points league much like Fantasy Football.  Why?  Because it is more fun and better.  We also are allowed to keep six guys at the end of the year.  I'm going to look at the trade from the perspective of our league.

Hosmer: 93 points (upside)
Pedroia: 209 points (former MVP and brother is a sex offender)
Heyward: 97 points (UPSIDE)
Garza: 137.3 points (taking advantage of a Cub fan)

A-Rod: 195 points (strained shoulder?)
Fuld: 130 points (which almost all of them came in the first 4 weeks of the season- he sucks now)
UUUUUUU-Ree-Bay: 64 points (just awful- nice contract Dodgers)
Verlander: 370.8 (one of, if not the best pitcher going right now)

As commenter Dread mentioned, Verlander and A-Rod are the two best players in the trade no matter what the stats currently say.  G$ dropped Fuld and Uribe immediately, so they don't really need to be factored into the trade.  Their stats are statistically insignificant anyway.

In our league, I would have to believe that G$ received 2 keepers and gave up 1 certain keeper (Pedroia) and 1 potential keeper (Heyward.)  Hosmer could be a keeper, but he hasn't shown he is worthy just yet.  Heyward is worthy when not hurt and playing up to his potential.  Garza is not even close.  I think the Cubs over-valued him when they traded for him.

So going by the cliche "always get the best player(s) in a fantasy trade"- G$ wins.  I can see reasons for trading the best player in a deal for other high level players to help stock a roster, but it rarely is a good idea.  Especially in a keeper league.

I don't actually think this trade is possible in our league.  For one, giving up Verlander AND A-Rod had better get you back a better haul.  I learned this lesson HARD in my early fantasy years when I had A-Rod and he struggled out of the gate as a Yankee.  I got sick of him immediately and traded A-Rod and Flash Gordon (a throw in) for Scott Rolen (4 more points than A-Rod the previous year) and Octavio Dotel (savage closer at the time for the A's.)  Dotel had elbow surgery that year and Rolen regressed.  A-Rod went on to dominate.  It was a horrible trade and it gave me perspective on exactly what level of premium players one needs to get back when trading a superstar.

Verlander is the gem in this deal.  If a Cubs fan is such a homer that they think trading Verlander in any deal to get Matt Garza as a replacement, then they deserve to suck at fantasy.  I myself, being a Cubs fan, have taken my knowledge of my favorite team and made sure I don't have any Cubs on my fantasy team.  Though, my team is currently 3-8 so I guess that hasn't helped either.  But I digress- I declare G$ the clear winner of this trade.

---

Let's talk about a deal that commenter Dread offered me last week.

Kevin Youkilis (199) and Bud Norris (207) FOR Shin-Soo Choo (129) and Anibal Sanchez (276.7)

This is not a bad trade.  Choo has struggled, but I have to believe he is going to come out of his DUI haze at some point.  Sanchez clearly has the most total points and has really come into his own as a stud pitcher in this league.  He or Daniel Hudson are more than likely getting kept this year.  I'm leaning toward Sanchez.

Youk would give me a huge upgrade at 3B as Ty Wiggington is currently filling in for me.  Bud Norris is essentially an over-achieving throw-in in my opinion.  I worry that Youklis is getting older and could get hurt at any moment.  It's tough to give up a stud pitcher like Sanchez for Youkilis.  I may have a hole at 3B that will get outscored by an opposing 3B more times than not, but my current rotation consists of Daniel Hudson, Jered Weaver and Anibal Sanchez.  Throw in whatever two-start pitcher I can find and add Jon Papelbon and Jose Valverde as relievers and that is a solid staff.  I'm actually pretty upset that this season has not gone better because I felt like my strategy was sound, but like I said- it has been a "Perfect Storm" of awfulness that has tanked my team.

So what do you think?  It's called the comment section for a reason- use it.  Any trades that you've made recently?  Break it down, suckas!

Fantasy Baseball: Week... Um... Who Gives A Shit?

My fantasy baseball year has been much less successful than this past year in fantasy football (can you say "championship?")  I would love to hang my team by a rope like it is an old man who was released from prison and can't deal with the fast pace of modern life (that's right bitches- you get Shawshank references at my site!)

So as I listen to the new Beastie Boys and contemplate exactly how these old guys can still release dirty beats with catchy hooks, I'm also trying to figure out what in holy hell I can do to help my 3-7 fantasy team.

I suppose we should go over the rules in my league before going any further.  It is a keeper league where you keep 6 guys.  No more, no less.  There are no restrictions on which positions you can keep.  If you want to keep 6 pitchers, you are probably retarded, but you can do that.  If you want to keep 6 offensive players, you are not retarded, but your team probably lacks balance.  Once the keepers are decided upon, there is a regular snake draft in our 12 team league. 

My keepers this year were the worst keepers in the history of humankind.  I thought I was making good decisions all around, but apparently not.

C Joe Mauer (so far- he's been hurt)
1B Justin Morneau (scrambled brains, injury problems)
2B Chase Utley (hurt at the beginning, but has been great since coming back)
OF Carl Crawford (just terrible for the first two months of the season)
SP Roy Oswalt (old and showing it)
RP Jonathan Papelbon (stupid face)

Recently, I made a trade to switch things up:

Carl Crawford, Roy Oswalt, and Elvis Andrus FOR Jose Reyes and Jered Weaver

I feel like this was a good move, but it has not paid dividends just yet as I played a high scoring team this past week.  Our league is a head-to-head league that works like a fantasy football league in the sense that each good thing your players do has a point value assigned to it and the highest point total wins the match up.  It is not a roto league or a league that breaks down categories.  If your team scores 300 points in a week, there is a great chance you will win, but obviously, it depends on what team you go up against.

So let's do a current roster check to see exactly how my team is:

Starting this week for me:

C Chris Iannetta, 1B Paul Konerko, 2B Utley, 3B Justin Turner, SS Jose Reyes, OF Shin-Soo Choo, OF Alex Gordon, OF Drew Stubbs, U Howie Kendrick

On the bench (offense):

Morneau, Alberto Callaspo, Mauer

Starting pitchers:

Zach Duke (spotted 4 runs in the first and couldn't get out of the 5th for a win- damn you Duke!!! I've dropped him already for next week- did I mention it is weekly line up changes?)
Daniel Hudson (I like this guy, good young pitcher with potential)
Jonathon Niese (Ohio boy, gotta like that)
Anibal "The Cannibal" Sanchez (keeper potential)
Jered Weaver (keeper for sure)
Jonathan Papelbon (still has a stupid face)
Jose Valverde (one of the best pot bellies in baseball- no one beats Todd Coffey in that regard, though)

Bench pitchers:
Bartolo Colon (someone get that man some stem cells, stat!)
Fausto Carmona (bust so far)
Edison Volquez (welcome back from the minors)
Zach Britton (lots of potential)
Adam Wainwright (on the DL but keeping him around just in case)

So there you go.  That's my train wreck of a team.  Today, I was ready to start a new week and bounce back.  However, Zach F-ing Duke blew a massive lead and couldn't get through the 5th inning.  The Tigers blew an 8th inning lead so Valverde pitched in a non-save situation.  Meanwhile, my opponent has AJ Burnett who pitched great but didn't get the win for the Yankees.  And of course, he also has Chris Perez who, in that same Yankees/Indians game, got a three strikeout save without giving up a hit.  He also picked up a Francisco Cordero save.  Needless to say, I'm already losing 54-7.  Damn. 

Was there a point to this post besides ranting?  Not really.  Feel free to rant about your awful fantasy team in the comments.  If your team is great, you can mention that as well- just know that I will put a voodoo curse on all your players and you will risk injuries by bragging.