The minor league draft for one of my baseball dynasty leagues is currently underway, and I need to put together a good haul to get my team re-tooled for a big run in 2014 or so. It's a points league, generally quite standard, but with some slight adjustments to make hitters a bit closer to pitchers than in the normal points format where pitchers are significantly more valuable. Pitchers still have a slight advantage, though. The rosters have 2 catchers, 6 outfielders, and MIF and CIF spots. I came in with a bigger short-term need in pitching, so that's where I focused early. The available pool of players included all players in the 2011 MLB draft, international free agents, and any prospects that were not owned by June 1st, 2011. The league has 16 teams.

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Format: Yahoo standard, Head-to-Head, 12 Teams - drafting from the #8 position.

Draft Results:

Thoughts:

* Happy with my first 6 or 8 rounds (most noticeable weakness - power at 1B)

*SP corp is pretty solid - no big leaps here and no wildcards - should know about what to expect from that crew

*RP group was mainly drafted with the intent of ERA and WHIP control and adding K's - drafted mainly set-up guys with low ERA and high K's for the position.

*Decent speed on the team but doubt I will win any batting titles

*I should be competitive with the pitching group for most all categories except saves

*Bounce backs from Mauer and Rasmus will go a long way to helping solidify the offence.

I welcome any feedback - this was a good warmup for the money leagues coming up

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to set my rotation heading into this season and I have 4 options to choose from to select my final 2 arms.

Here are the choices...

Tim Hudson

Matt Harrison

Jake Peavy

Erik Bedard

Tim Hudson was a no-brainer until I found out he had back surgery that might keep him out for the 1st month of the season. Furthermore, I'm not sure how this surgery will impact his stuff/performance. Matt Harrison is a guy that I expected to fail, but never did. He pitched well all season long, showed good stuff, and is very young. My concern is that he pitches in Texas (although he has good gb rates and low hr rate), and doesn't get as many Ks as he should based on his arsenal. Jake Peavy and Erik Bedard are twins as far as I'm concerned as both represent high risk and high reward.

If you were in my position, which 2 would you select? FYI, 5x5 Roto Keeper League.

Thanks all!

#1

I get: Kobe Bryant and James Harden

I give: Lebron James

should i counter with James and a filler for Bryant and Curry? Who should the filler be?

#2

I get: Andre Miller

I give: Serge Ibaka

#3

I get: Paul Pierce, CJ Miles, Courtney Lee

I give: Serge Ibaka, James Johnson

#4

I get: Paul Pierce, CJ Miles, Luke Ridnour, Patrick Patterson

I give: Serge Ibaka, Chuck Hayes, James Johnson

He canceled this trade but instead offered:

I get: Antawn Jamison

I give: Serge Ibaka

Thoughts? Should I do any of these? Will any of them help take my team out of the dumpster?

Here is my team:

pg- Ben Gordon

sg-Jason Richardson

g- Carlos Delfino

sf- Lebron James

pf- Serge Ibaka

f- Nene Hilario

c- Chuck Hayes

c- Byron Mullens

util- James Johnson

util- Evan Turner

bn- Klay Thompson

bn- George Hill

bn- Josh Howard

bn- Andray Blatche INJ

bn- Rachard Lewis INJ

The FA pool is very light, however, here are some names that might be of interest- please give feedback: Richard Jefferson, JJ Hickson, Carl Landry(INJ), Wes Johnson, Rodrigue Beaubois, Matt Bonner, Taj Gibson, Kawhi Leonard, Markieff Morris, Wilson Chandler (NA), Marreese Speights, DJ White, Kirk Hinrich, Vlad Rad, etc. Do you think any of theses players are worth picking up? If so who should I drop to get them.

Thanks in advance. Your help is much appreciated.

PS. Sorry about the formating. It was doing wierd things on my computer.

All you really need from a closer is his saves. The WHIP and ERA, so what!? Ks, whatever.

You just need saves, one category out of ten standard categories. Why pay for a guy that effects only 1/10 of your categories. Trying to find out who will rack up the most saves for you can be easy. Other cases can be hard.

Here are a few situations where a Craig Kimbrel or Sergio Santos can appear from the ashes of a 9th battle.

Baltimore Orioles- We all got a glimpse of Jim Johnson's ninth inning with his 7 September saves. However, his 5 summer blown saves were not very appealing for his save rate until he was totally given the job come September. Kevin Gregg on the other hand blew seven saves with the job for most of the year while holding a 4+ ERA and losing his job in September. Gregg is not the guy I'd want pitching my 9th inning and it looks like the Orioles feel the same.

Chicago White Sox- No one likes to return to someone who lost their job as bad as Thornton. Four of his first five appearances were blown saves. It is time for change. Small sample size but, Addison Reed struck out 12, walked 1, in 7 and a third innings of work. Not as strikeout heavy as Kimbrel but, he may emerge the closer come May. I will plan on drafting Reed as the closer after someone over values Thornton just because their draft sheet says so.

Houston Astros- Wait two weeks in, take whoever has the job then and be ready to hover over the waiver wire. In a standard league, no one is going to draft Lopez or Carpenter

Los Angeles Dodgers- You've heard this many times before, Jansen has the stuff but Guerra has the job. My pick: Jansen, injuries are the only risk. He could be this years Craig Kimbrel.

New York Mets- Instead of solving the Rauch/Francisco problem, the Blue Jays just gave it to the Mets. Francisco will be the guy but if you take him be ready to snatch up Rauch if Francisco were to get hurt or start to struggle.

Oakland Athletics- This bullpen faked it through last season without Bailey and now they must get though a full year. I see several job switches between Balfour and Fuentes. Balfour should start with the job pending a spring fallout and I believe he gets more saves than Fuentes in the end.

St. Louis Cardinals- Not for nothing but World Series closers aren't that reliable the year after their postseason run. Brian Wilson and Brad Lidge are just a few of the guys that couldn't handle the following season.

Toronto Blue Jays- Santos may have the job for now, but Cordero is more proven with 37 saves last year and a 2.45 ERA. He may find himself with the job if Santos can't handle the Canadian 9th Inning

I know you disagree so let's here it.

So I've played fantasy baseball with my friends on yahoo and ESPN before, but never really had any real strategy or urge to win or learn to get better. Recently I got that urge and am curious if any has any tips on how to get started. First of all can someone tell me the website were i could join or a create a league that has a minor league portion to the teams, because that sounds interesting. Also is there any like golden rules that i should know as to not embarrass myself?

Thanks, any and all help is appreciated.

It's important to go into a draft with a perfect vision of what you want to leave the table with. However, you must be willing to just let your perfect vision go. Nothing is worse than watching your picks slip away and then continuing with that vision only to find your team with more holes than swiss cheese.

I know you are going to disagree but... here is my perfect draft:

I like to pick later in the first round

Round 1 Hanley Ramirez

Ladies and Gentlemen, it was only one year. If I can get this Marlin with pick 9 or 10 he will do more than return value. He has to face adversity and that will bring the best out of him. Also, I know that no one thinks that Reyes will play every game. Oh and one more thing, he'll be 3B eligible by mid April pending injury.

Round 2 Ian Kinsler

Brett Sayre has written enough about this guy. He plays on an offense where there are more than enough counting stats to go around. The average can leave a significant dent but at this scarce a position I'd rather have him than wait and hope I get Uggla or Utley.

Round 3 Andrew McCutchen

Too many seasons he has been alright and this year is his for the taking. I have no problem with filling short and second before coming to the deepest position.

Round 4 Paul Konerko

He's old. However he managed to make a terrible White Sox Season into a great year for him. He will be bating along side a well-improved Adam Dunn (See my post in titled "He's Not Dunn") and a change in manager. The bating average won't be .300 again but the power is still strong

Round 5 Mike Napoli

I'm not going to wait until I am stressing over Wilson Ramos falling 7 spots to me in the 20th round. He's getting the playing time that he never did before and like I said about Kinsler, the counting stats will be there in an offense like the one in Arlington.

Round 6 Carl Crawford

I play in a league of Red Sox fans so this slot may be way to late, or way to early. He apologized and is moving on. The man APOLOGIZED for his bad season. Something tells me that he is willing to make an improvement.

Round 7 Alex Rodriguez

"The hate has gone too far" said Nate Ravitz about some football player that fell to far in drafts. I don't think the statement has been more true than right here. The contract looks bad, he looks bad, but this pick looks good. He may not be the A-Rod of old but I think he'll give it a go one more time.

Round 8 Matt Moore

Like I said in my post in titled "When to Take Pitchers (And A Lot of Them)" He's the real deal. I have no problem with taking him as my ace, but I hope to back him up with a few more pitchers to come.

Round 9 Shin-Soo Choo

It was one year. The injuries will not recur and he will go back to being a top 25 outfielder .

Round 10 Adam Wainwright

It was TJ. His team just won it all. He wants to come back and pitch. 2+2=success.

Round 11 Matt Garza

The strikeouts are worth drafting by themselves. He was a bit too unlucky last season and may not get you the wins, but a #3 starter like Garza is fine with me.

Round 12 Jason Heyward

90% better can't be worse than 2011. After a promising 2010, this guy has turned into a high-end post-hype sleeper.

Round 13 Cory Luebke

It's PETCO. The Padres are going to need someone to step up big time after losing ace Matt Latos and closer Heath Bell. This is going to be the guy.

Round 14 Dee Gordon

40 stolen bases easy. The Dodger offense is slow moving and they are going to need to get things going off the top with Gordon's bloop single and steal of 2nd.

Round 15 Johnny Cueto

He's and ace and by May he will out pitch the new guy Latos while keeping your ERA and WHIP in check

Round 16 Mark Reynolds

80/35/80 is a steal in the 16th and the versatility of first and third eligibility allows for roster moves without many restrictions.

Round 17 Brandon Morrow

He's a solid #6 with the K/9 of an ace

Round 18 Jason Kipnis

Mostly just a flier on what could be a solid starter

Round 19 Jesus Montero

He may not be catcher eligible now but incase Napoli goes down, I'll take 20+ HRs

Round 20 Colby Rasmus

New place for a whole year. Sweet!

Round 21 Adam Dunn

See post in titled "He's not Dunn"

Round 22 Kenley Janson

Craig Kimbrel, part 2

Round 23 Bryce Harper

As of now he's here, but he will climb

Round 24 Jim Johnson

Kevin Gregg, really?

Round 25 Addison Reed

Matt Thornton isn't the guy.

I know you disagree, so tell me what I did wrong or who is over/under valued.

After an amazing postseason, specifically the World Series, David Freese is likely to be overhyped going into 2012. Take a look at the various reasons why you shouldn't buy into him. I gotta say I didn't realize how awful his GB/FB ratio was, and there's very few who can have one that high that (A) aren't speedsters and (B) productive hitters, especially in HR. http://www.rotomanagers.com/2012/02/player-profile-david-freese.html

Do you think Freese is capable of a breakout, or will he simply be average at the position, a guy who maybe makes the top-12? Or, will he be hurt again, and we'll have to wait for 2013 to find out what he'll be?

Hey guys,
We are creating a dynasty baseball league that will be run on ESPN. Everyone will get to choose a team, with salaries and much more. I just ask that everyone remains active all year and to have a good time. The league is half full now, hopefully can get 12 or so more by Friday. Please have good knowledge of minor league players, and please consider the commitment it will take to compete in this league.

If interested, shoot the league commissioner an email at codyz_bullz92@yahoo.com

Thanks,
Mike

His name may be Dunn but he's not.

Adam Dunn was ranked 36th overall in 2011 by ESPN experts. 36! now some people are leaving him out of their mock drafts.

The entire White Sox team was a disappointment in 2011 and hopefully crazy Ozzie was the problem.

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