"2011 Zzzzz Team" - Drafting a Fantasy Baseball Team Solely Comprised of "Sleepers"
by mahoney1213 on Jan 27, 2011 5:04 PM EST
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PrintIn today’s age of the internet where Twitter updates can heavily impact which players you start or sit on your fake team, does the term "sleeper" really exist anymore? More than likely, 90% of your fellow league-mates is aware of the next big thing and will try to beat you to the punch. Rather than call this post a "sleeper" post, per se, I have decided to try something a little different: Assemble a team that will compete in 10 or 12 team standard rotisserie leagues (even head to head) solely by drafting outside of the top 100 players, per MockDraftCentral’s latest ADP Report. Let’s assume the roster set up will be C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, 5 OF, UTIL, 9 P and 8 bench players (30 total). Standard 5x5 rotisserie categories apply.
If you happen to have your draft and either autopick chooses players you don’t want in the first 9 or 10 rounds, or if you’re a little drunk and miss all of those rounds, then please rely on my guide below and you’ll still be able to compete all season.
C Carlos Santana Cleveland Indians (ADP 115)
OBP of .401 before knee injury de-railed impressive rookie season
1b Carlos Pena Chicago Cubs (ADP 190)
BA liability, all or nothing swinger hit 46, 31, 39 and 28 HR’s last 4 seasons
2B Aaron Hill Toronto Blue Jays (ADP 168)
Despite unlucky .196 BABIP, still hit 26 HR’s
3b Mark Reynolds Baltimore Orioles (ADP 131)
Similar to Pena, no way he can hit below .200, again right?
SS JJ Hardy Baltimore Orioles (ADP 319)
Injuries have shortened last two seasons, should bounce back in Camden
MI Gordon Beckham Chicago White Sox (ADP 203)
Hit .310 in 2nd half and has supposedly put on 15 lbs of muscle in off-season
CI Justin Smoak Seattle Mariners (ADP 334)
Former top prospect unlucky in 2010
More after the jump:
OF Michael Stanton Florida Marlins (ADP 132)
Has power to hit 50 HR’s; how many players can say that? Hit 43 between minors and majors in 2010
OF Chris B Young Arizona Dbacks (ADP 173)
30-30 threat bounced back in 2010
OF Drew Stubbs Cincinnati Reds (ADP 179)
The next Grady Sizemore? If he improves BA, it could happen
OF Jose Tabata Pittsburgh Pirates (ADP 257)
Bill James’ projections big on Tabata this season
OF Domonic Brown Philadelphia Phillies (ADP 272)
See "Tabata, Jose"
Utility Adam Lind Toronto Blue Jays (ADP 178)
Did Jose Bautista steal Lind’s power in 2010? Went 35-114 in 2009.
P Max Scherzer SP Detroit Tigers (ADP 101)
9.3 K/9 since brief minor league stint in 2010
P Brandon Morrow SP Toronto Blue Jays (ADP 124)
Led majors in K/9 in 2010, needs to work on control to become stud
P Dan Hudson SP Arizona Dbacks (ADP 122)
2nd in league to Felix Hernandez in QS % in 2010
P Francisco Rodriguez RP New York Mets (ADP 150)
K-rod slipping due to personal issues?
P Jeremy Hellickson Tampa Bay Rays (ADP 185)
Hellboy will go higher as season draws near
P Joe Nathan RP Minnesota Twins (ADP 215)
Keep eye on health, but former # 1 closer bargain at this ADP
P Craig Kimbrel RP Atlanta Braves (ADP 227)
If Kimbrel handed closer job in ST, Billy Wagner-clone
P Jhoulys Chacin SP Colorado Rockies (ADP 255)
Youngster in same mold as Ubaldo and Jorge de la Rosa
P Chris Sale RP Chicago White Sox (ADP 294)
If handed the closer job, absolute steal
Bench Ian Kennedy SP Arizona Dbacks (ADP 218)
Bench Ricky Nolasco SP Florida Marlins (ADP 183)
Bench Jonathan Broxton RP LA Dodgers (ADP 206)
Bench Homer Bailey SP Cincinnati Reds (ADP 345)
Bench 2B/OF Eric Young Jr Colorado Rockies (ADP 336)
Bench OF Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (ADP 207)
Bench 1B/CI Ike Davis New York Mets (ADP 210)
Bench OF Tyler Colvin Chicago Cubs (ADP 216)
While most teams try to find the next biggest thing, I advise you to go for bounce-back candidates. Most fantasy players have a mindset of "what have you done for me lately?" Take advantage of that. This team is also living proof you can absolutely wait for pitching and still assemble a balanced team.
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Offense
Some solid picks but it should challenge for the worst batting average in mixed league history ;)
by ddfuuhr on Jan 27, 2011 6:52 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Re
I was thinking that while writing, but it is SO hard to find .300 players in the lower rounds in drafts. At least with this team you have power plus speed, so you could afford the hit in .AVG. Plus Reynolds and Pena can’t hit below .200 again right??!!? As long as your entire team doesn’t bat .200 and trade for an Ichiro-type to negate the low averages, you should be just fine!
That's easy
Just grab Freddy Sanchez and Markakis and spot them in vs. L and R, respectively. If Beltran and Beckham come around on their sleeper promise, that would cancel out Pena and Reynolds to a decent degree.
I’m convinced Beltran has a Cliff Floyd 2005 season (34 HR/12 SB/.273/.863) left in his tank. Maybe a little lower on the HR (25 or so) and a little higher on the average and OPS (.290/.880 or so). I would take that in the 18th. Dude can still hit.
Santana's still got a lot of hype
not sure if he qualifies as a “sleeper”…maybe Montero?
doh
missed your ADP req. can’t believe he’s outside the top 100, though!
by PrincetonCubs on Jan 27, 2011 10:24 PM EST up reply actions
I wasn’t planning on including Santana…I’m sure as the season draws closer, his stock will rise. I was actually thinking about including Chris Iannetta from Colorado Rockies, which probably would have fit better in the above article. Iannetta has no competition this year and may actually hit 20 HR’s.
agreed on Iannetta
if he doesn’t hit this year, do the Rockies let him go or trade him?
Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.sbnation.com
www.minorleagueball.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Jan 30, 2011 11:01 AM EST up reply actions
I think they’d end up trading him and have a Catcher act as a placeholder until Rosario is ready. I have high hopes on Iannetta though with no Olivo to steal AB’s from him.
Catcher is almost always a time-share though...
What you want are guys who DH or play first on their “days off”(ala Victor or Buster)
agreed
Rosario, if healthy, could be up in 2012 at some point,
Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.sbnation.com
www.minorleagueball.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Feb 1, 2011 10:56 PM EST up reply actions
Can't Be Done
An All Sleepers Pitching staff can easily be accomplished in a mixed league as pitching performance is sufficiently unpredictable to provide sleepers late in the draft. Hitting does not offer the same as the categories are accumulative, and the full-timers do not see enough fluctuation year-to-year to offer the chance to get them late.
Nevermind, you have 7-13 teams all looking for the free production from the free agent pool once the season starts.
Fair point
I noticed it was very difficult to put together hitters using this strategy. As you mentioned, pitching performance is unpredictable, and not every starter holds up year in and year out.
However, it doesn’t mean it can’t be done for hitting. This method also assumes you drafted your first 9-10 players already. You have to hit on a few consistent hitters there, right?
Let’s see how this approach would work if you tried it in 2010:
C Buster Posey, SF or Geovany Soto, Chicago
1B Paul Konerko, Chicago
2B Dan Uggla, Florida
3B Casey McGehee, Milwaukee
CI Jose Bautista, Toronto
MI Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee
SS Elvis Andrus, Texas
OF Carlos Gonzalez, Colorado
OF Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh
OF Drew Stubbs, Cincinnati
OF Corey Hart, Milwaukee
OF Chris B Young, Arizona
Utility Vlad Guerrero, Texas
This is just one example of many “what if?” scenarios. It’s a lot easier to look back at the undervalued players we COULD have drafted. It was possible to draft a good number of these players at excellent value, and I’m saying the same for the players above. Granted it’s pretty much hit or miss, but if you hit, you could hit big i.e. Bautista, CarGo. CarGo spent time on almost all of my teams last season. It can be done, and you’d be surprised at the 2011 breakouts…
FWIW
I remember the NL 4×4 roto league here on SBN two years ago. I won that league by a pretty good margin and I am sure I started out with the worst offense in NL roto history. But like every year there are some surprises and I was able to grab many of them. There’s always more surprise hitters than pitchers, except for the volatile closer position.
But pretty much every year anyone could take a group of non-drafted players and compete in any league- maybe not win at a .750-.800 clip but can certainly be .500+. And most of the guys that make the impacts are the ones totally undrafted by the “experts”.
YEP
Happens every year…someone goes undrafted and helps fantasy owners win leagues….just like there is a 1st round bust every year.
Ray Guilfoyle
www.faketeams.com
www.sbnation.com
www.minorleagueball.com
by Ray Guilfoyle on Feb 7, 2011 4:34 PM EST up reply actions
Well...
I don’t consider any of these players “sleepers.” It’s more a list of players casual fantasy players may not know of who could therefore have decent seasons appear seemingly out of thin air.
by Peter Bear Clement on Feb 10, 2011 3:09 PM EST reply actions
I use the term "sleeper" loosely...
My first paragraph states that there really isn’t such thing as a “sleeper” anymore. I use all players that were currently outside the top 100 at the time per MDC
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