Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fantasy Baseball for Dummies

I've been playing Fantasy Baseball since the 1993-1994 season - when my team consisted of Darren Daulton, Mike Stanley (who seemed to hit a HR every game), John Kruk, Jeff Bagwell, Carlos Baerga, Jack McDowell (22 Wins), Phil Plantier, and Chuck Carr (58 Stolen Bases). In my virgin season, I had my greatest free agent pickup: I discovered Pedro Martinez as a lowly middle reliever on the Dodgers.

According to my Yahoo Sports trophy case, I've been in a Fantasy Baseball drought - the last time I won First Place was 2004 (I finished in Second Place in 2006). Being a post-draft optimist, I believe this is going to be my year. I refined my draft strategy from last year: load up on offense (I didn't pick a pitcher until the 7th round where I had to pull the trigger on Chad Billingsley), pick a catcher near the end (last year I drafted Bengie Molina who lead all catchers with 95 RBIs - this year I landed Jorge Posada), and wait on relief pitchers (the position is too unpredictable and you can always pick one up on the waiver wire). Here is how my team looks:

C: Jorge Posada
1B: Justin Morneau
2B: Dan Uggla (who I officially have a man crush on)
3B: David Wright
SS: Stephen Drew
OF: Carlos Beltran
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury
OF: Torii Hunter
Util: Carlos Pena
BN: Mark Reynolds

SP: Chad Billingsley
SP: James Shields
RP: Brian Fuentes (K-Rod had 62 SVs with the Angels)
RP: BJ Ryan
P: Ricky Nelasco
P: Derek Lowe
P: Zack Greinke
BN: Randy Johnson
BN: Scott Baker
BN: Troy Percival
BN: Kevin Gregg

My only fault in the draft - although I'm a Yankees fan, I'll be forced to root for David Wright / Carlos Beltran (on the lowly Mets) and Jacoby Ellsbury (on the much hated Boston Red Sox). My biggest sleeper prediction: Cameron Maybin on the Florida Marlins (he'll be good for 40+ SBs).


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