By Chris St. John
INTRODUCTION
The Platoon Advantage (the site you are reading right now) started an ottoneu league with a few friends and here is my obligatory post about the draft. If I seem to post this begrudgingly, it is because I am. This is a mandatory post and my overlords here would fire me and sue me for all of the millions I am earning with this.
I picked my team name using the baseball-reference random page feature. It led me to a player named Monte Pfeffer with four career plate appearances and I liked the sound of it. I then found a rhyming word with Pfeffer and went with it. There is no historical information to confirm or deny the reports that Monte Pfeffer ever owned a heifer. Play-index bonus: Pfeffer is the only player to ever have a career in which he played in only one game, had four plate appearances, no walks and one hit by pitch.
STRATEGY
I had never done an auction draft before, so I was a little worried about being behind in that area. Thankfully, this was a common theme throughout the draft room, which made me feel more comfortable. In order to have a plan of action, I googled "baseball auction draft strategy" and found the idea of nominating expensive players that I didn't really want. This makes other teams spend more money so you are in a better position with the players you really want. This worked with my other strategy of taking really good young players, who turned out to be popular with everyone (imagine that).
Showing posts with label fantasy baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy baseball. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Fantasy Man
The Common Man spent part of tonight engaged in battle, scrapping over ballplayers with several other bloggers in the Baseball Bloggers Fantasy League, organized by Zach Sanders of MLB Notebook, like the 2002 Texas Rangers over a loose needle. This is The Common Man's first foray into fantasy baseball in some years, as the time-suck of grad school and fatherhood conspired to keep him otherwise occupied.
So it was with a neophyte's sense of excitement and trepidation that The Common Man waded once more into the fantasy forum, hoping to cobble together a winning squad against the likes of Charlie Saponara of Fantasy Baseball 365.com, tHeMARksMiTh of Way Gack and Gone, David Bloom of BaseballHappenings.com, Conor Cashel of 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba, as well as the aforementioned Sanders and frequent commenter/occasional guest columnist Bill (amongst others). The process was made more challenging by the somewhat arbitrary stats Zach chose for the pitching side of the league, which included walks allowed (but not hits or WHIP) and, believe it or not, holds. Hey, it wasn't The Common Man's league and he's not complaining. Just bemused. The idea, Zach argued, was to encourage owners to choose non-standard relievers, rather than just going with closers. Anyway, next year, The Common Man is pushing for BAwRISP,2Outs. The other stats are OBP, SLG, HR, RBI, Runs, SB, K, Wins, ERA, and Saves.
Anyway, The Common Man is largely pleased with his squad, ChristianBale's Unbridled Fury. He drafted 5th overall, and took Jimmy Rollins. Here's the roster:
C Victor Martinez, Chris Iannetta, Matt Wieters
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Orlando Hudson
3B Carlos Guillen, Josh Fields, Troy Glaus
SS Jimmy Rollins, Yunel Escobar
OF Nick Markakis, Justin Upton, Milton Bradley, Rick Ankiel, Jason Kubel, JD Drew
SP Brandon Webb, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Joba Chamberlain, Gavin Floyd, Kyle Lohse, Joe Saunders
RP Brad Lidge, Jonathan Broxton, Juan Cruz, Huston Street
The Common Man's strengths are obviously catching and starting pitching. Also, he has some good high-upside guys in the OF. He could probably use more saves (which could happen if Street ends up closing in Colorado), wouldn't mind more power, and an upgrade at 2B. He figures he can use one of his catchers (probably Iannetta), one of his top four starters (Joba?), and Escobar to get that done. The Common Man doesn't plan to bore you with updates very often, as he understands that reading about someone else's fantasy team can be an awful lot like watching paint dry. But, should he significantly out- or under-perform, The Common Man will be certain to let you all know and perhaps solicit advice from time to time. After all, he's new at this (again).
So it was with a neophyte's sense of excitement and trepidation that The Common Man waded once more into the fantasy forum, hoping to cobble together a winning squad against the likes of Charlie Saponara of Fantasy Baseball 365.com, tHeMARksMiTh of Way Gack and Gone, David Bloom of BaseballHappenings.com, Conor Cashel of 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba, as well as the aforementioned Sanders and frequent commenter/occasional guest columnist Bill (amongst others). The process was made more challenging by the somewhat arbitrary stats Zach chose for the pitching side of the league, which included walks allowed (but not hits or WHIP) and, believe it or not, holds. Hey, it wasn't The Common Man's league and he's not complaining. Just bemused. The idea, Zach argued, was to encourage owners to choose non-standard relievers, rather than just going with closers. Anyway, next year, The Common Man is pushing for BAwRISP,2Outs. The other stats are OBP, SLG, HR, RBI, Runs, SB, K, Wins, ERA, and Saves.
Anyway, The Common Man is largely pleased with his squad, ChristianBale's Unbridled Fury. He drafted 5th overall, and took Jimmy Rollins. Here's the roster:
C Victor Martinez, Chris Iannetta, Matt Wieters
1B Adrian Gonzalez
2B Orlando Hudson
3B Carlos Guillen, Josh Fields, Troy Glaus
SS Jimmy Rollins, Yunel Escobar
OF Nick Markakis, Justin Upton, Milton Bradley, Rick Ankiel, Jason Kubel, JD Drew
SP Brandon Webb, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Joba Chamberlain, Gavin Floyd, Kyle Lohse, Joe Saunders
RP Brad Lidge, Jonathan Broxton, Juan Cruz, Huston Street
The Common Man's strengths are obviously catching and starting pitching. Also, he has some good high-upside guys in the OF. He could probably use more saves (which could happen if Street ends up closing in Colorado), wouldn't mind more power, and an upgrade at 2B. He figures he can use one of his catchers (probably Iannetta), one of his top four starters (Joba?), and Escobar to get that done. The Common Man doesn't plan to bore you with updates very often, as he understands that reading about someone else's fantasy team can be an awful lot like watching paint dry. But, should he significantly out- or under-perform, The Common Man will be certain to let you all know and perhaps solicit advice from time to time. After all, he's new at this (again).
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