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Okay, it's time to see if our NFBC guys have the writing skills and the prognosticating skills to help out our readers in Fantasy Sports Magazine. I'm looking for 20 Top Sleeper Picks in 2009 and rather than pay some crusty ol' industry veteran the money to write this, I'm reaching out to my crusty ol' NFBC crowd for free content!! There's an autographed Pete Rose baseball for the person who picks the best sleeper by the end of the year.



I can't remember who won last year, but I'll forward a baseball to whoever wins the prize. Alexei Ramirez or Nate McLouth were pretty damn good picks, that's all I remember.



I'm looking for one paragraph on why you think that player is a good sleeper for 2009. You can e-mail it to me at greg.ambrosius@fwmedia by Wednesday, Jan. 28th or post it here for all to see. Best 20 nominations will reach the second issue of Fantasy Sports Magazine for tens of thousands of fantasy players to see. Consider this 15 seconds of fame during your allotted 15 minutes of fame!!!



Who's up first?? It's time to put this article together.

u know i'm good for one

is weiters taken?

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko II:

is weiters taken? I can write that one!!

I ALREADY wrote that one

Originally posted by Captain Hook:

I ALREADY wrote that one Now that you're a full-time writer, you can dig deeper for another Sleeper nomination. And no Diamondbacks, either.

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko II:

u know i'm good for one If you remember, last year in Gekko's Challenge we had to pick the player that made the biggest difference on a team, 20th round and later and explain why. I picked Carlos Quentin and gave a detailed answer. Did I win? No, you picked whoever said Andy Marte.



To give you some credit you said it was a good answer.



This year I hope I win something.

I drafted Quentin in the 23 round in the SUPER one of the NFBC biggest leagues [20.000 1st place] and struk gold im them hill's.But it turned out to be fool's gold as i cut him in week 2 and everyday day i had to think about it.That was the worst cut of my life and happy it's a new season.

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

Okay, it's time to see if our NFBC guys have the writing skills and the prognosticating skills to help out our readers in Fantasy Sports Magazine. I'm looking for 20 Top Sleeper Picks in 2009 and rather than pay some crusty ol' industry veteran the money to write this, I'm reaching out to my crusty ol' NFBC crowd for free content!! There's an autographed Pete Rose baseball for the person who picks the best sleeper by the end of the year. You can present mine to me in Vegas this year for Pence in '07!

Originally posted by eddiejag:

I drafted Quentin in the 23 round in the SUPER one of the NFBC biggest leagues [20.000 1st place] and struk gold im them hill's.But it turned out to be fool's gold as i cut him in week 2 and everyday day i had to think about it.That was the worst cut of my life and happy it's a new season. Feel ya Eddie! I dropped Fuentes the week before he took over and I ended up chasing saves all year with Valverde as my only closer. Finished 2nd as well and those 30 saves would have been enough to get us 1st, ugh....got impatient and refused to drop Jerry Owens cause we needed speed potential as mush as saves potential. I think at the time we were hanging onto Kelvim Escobar as well. Just **** poor management on our part. Still hurts!

Originally posted by Crazy Like a Fox:

quote:Originally posted by Gordon Gekko II:

u know i'm good for one If you remember, last year in Gekko's Challenge we had to pick the player that made the biggest difference on a team, 20th round and later and explain why. I picked Carlos Quentin and gave a detailed answer. Did I win? No, you picked whoever said Andy Marte.



To give you some credit you said it was a good answer.



This year I hope I win something. [/QUOTE]dem the breaks kid

Originally posted by Fudd:

quote:Originally posted by Crazy Like a Fox:

quote:Originally posted by Gordon Gekko II:

u know i'm good for one If you remember, last year in Gekko's Challenge we had to pick the player that made the biggest difference on a team, 20th round and later and explain why. I picked Carlos Quentin and gave a detailed answer. Did I win? No, you picked whoever said Andy Marte.



To give you some credit you said it was a good answer.



This year I hope I win something. [/QUOTE]Not to mention, you were all over Headison Volquez when everyone was touting Cueto as the second coming of Mario Soto. [/QUOTE]Thanks Fudd, that's true, but for all those few that I get right, I was equally wrong on a number of players. I really thought Delmon Young was going to flourish in Minnesota. Where did his power go? He hit 20 homers in 86 games playing in AA. He now has 26 homers in 344 major league games. Still only 23. He's going to have to step his game up, he didn't show anything last year that tells me he matured. A decent play in the 10th round but can still disappoint. Hell, at this point I want him to show me once. I still think he can be a stud one day, but it might be a couple years away.



Alex Gordon is another one I liked. I think these guys show that this game is so much mental, you can have all the talent in the world and fall flat on your face.



This year I'm going to focus more on balance and draft more conservatively ala Fudd, and take chances in the right spots. My drafts were horrible last year, I took too many chances early and my draft strategy stunk. I've got to right this ship in 2009.

This year I'm going to focus more on balance and draft more conservatively ala Fudd, and take chances in the right spots. My drafts were horrible last year, I took too many chances early and my draft strategy stunk. I've got to right this ship in 2009. [/QB]The best paragraph in a post that you have had to date. You've turned off of the Yahoo Highway and taken the NFBC ramp. Follow your own advice and you will do well.

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

quote:

This year I'm going to focus more on balance and draft more conservatively ala Fudd, and take chances in the right spots. My drafts were horrible last year, I took too many chances early and my draft strategy stunk. I've got to right this ship in 2009. The best paragraph in a post that you have had to date. You've turned off of the Yahoo Highway and taken the NFBC ramp. Follow your own advice and you will do well. [/QB][/QUOTE]So true.



Looking back at most of my failed season drafts be it football or baseball...the common ingredient is too much risk, and not using the "show me twice" principle.



Although it may be a bore to own so many Joe Blow players...the Joe Blows are ususally vets with job security and proven track records that you can count on to be in the lineup and produce each week.



Live and learn.



~Lance

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:





I can't remember who won last year, but I'll forward a baseball to whoever wins the prize. Alexei Ramirez or Nate McLouth were pretty damn good picks, that's all I remember.



Greg,

Last year I gave you the write up for Alexei Ramirez. Nate McLouth had better stats than Ramirez, but Alexei was a true unknown last January and I would like to think it was a tie for best sleeper pick. I would consider it an honor to try and co-defend the title for best fantasy sleeper.



As a Cub fan I’m going to go with a player that just received a new lease on life away from the Cubs.



Felix Pie, OF, Baltimore

For the second time in four seasons (2006 Corey Patterson) the Baltimore Orioles have traded for a past Chicago Cubs prospect. Felix Pie will start the 2009 season as the Orioles left fielder and probable eight or nine hitter. Pie’s greatest asset is his speed. Although he has just 11 major league steals, Pie stole 117 bases over parts of 6 seasons in the minors.



Last season Pie struggled early in the season with the Cubs after winning a starting job out of spring training and was eventually sent back to the minors. This trip and others had run Pie out of minor league options with Chicago and precipitated a trade. Pie now gives the Orioles, a team that was eighth in the league in steals, another base stealing threat to go along with Brian Roberts.



At the age of 24, Pie still is young enough to live up to his prospect label and a season of 30+ steals with low double digit home runs are possible for an Orioles team going with young talent this year.



Russel

I'll put some submissions here soon as I don't want to have folks duplicate them, but so far I've received these:



Jason Motte

Juan Rivera

Jason Motte

Felix Pie

Neftali Feliz



Not all of them will make the Top 20, but so far that's what we have, so don't duplicate them. Thanks all.

Originally posted by rucrew2:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:





I can't remember who won last year, but I'll forward a baseball to whoever wins the prize. Alexei Ramirez or Nate McLouth were pretty damn good picks, that's all I remember.



Greg,

Last year I gave you the write up for Alexei Ramirez. Nate McLouth had better stats than Ramirez, but Alexei was a true unknown last January and I would like to think it was a tie for best sleeper pick. I would consider it an honor to try and co-defend the title for best fantasy sleeper.



As a Cub fan I’m going to go with a player that just received a new lease on life away from the Cubs.



Felix Pie, OF, Baltimore

For the second time in four seasons (2006 Corey Patterson) the Baltimore Orioles have traded for a past Chicago Cubs prospect. Felix Pie will start the 2009 season as the Orioles left fielder and probable eight or nine hitter. Pie’s greatest asset is his speed. Although he has just 11 major league steals, Pie stole 117 bases over parts of 6 seasons in the minors.



Last season Pie struggled early in the season with the Cubs after winning a starting job out of spring training and was eventually sent back to the minors. This trip and others had run Pie out of minor league options with Chicago and precipitated a trade. Pie now gives the Orioles, a team that was eighth in the league in steals, another base stealing threat to go along with Brian Roberts.



At the age of 24, Pie still is young enough to live up to his prospect label and a season of 30+ steals with low double digit home runs are possible for an Orioles team going with young talent this year.



Russel [/QUOTE]What happened to Luke Scott, he die or something.

Originally posted by KLN:

quote:Originally posted by rucrew2:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:





I can't remember who won last year, but I'll forward a baseball to whoever wins the prize. Alexei Ramirez or Nate McLouth were pretty damn good picks, that's all I remember.



Greg,

Last year I gave you the write up for Alexei Ramirez. Nate McLouth had better stats than Ramirez, but Alexei was a true unknown last January and I would like to think it was a tie for best sleeper pick. I would consider it an honor to try and co-defend the title for best fantasy sleeper.



As a Cub fan I’m going to go with a player that just received a new lease on life away from the Cubs.



Felix Pie, OF, Baltimore

For the second time in four seasons (2006 Corey Patterson) the Baltimore Orioles have traded for a past Chicago Cubs prospect. Felix Pie will start the 2009 season as the Orioles left fielder and probable eight or nine hitter. Pie’s greatest asset is his speed. Although he has just 11 major league steals, Pie stole 117 bases over parts of 6 seasons in the minors.



Last season Pie struggled early in the season with the Cubs after winning a starting job out of spring training and was eventually sent back to the minors. This trip and others had run Pie out of minor league options with Chicago and precipitated a trade. Pie now gives the Orioles, a team that was eighth in the league in steals, another base stealing threat to go along with Brian Roberts.



At the age of 24, Pie still is young enough to live up to his prospect label and a season of 30+ steals with low double digit home runs are possible for an Orioles team going with young talent this year.



Russel [/QUOTE]What happened to Luke Scott, he die or something. [/QUOTE]Reports (in January of course which have little or no value in March) have Scott being moved to DH with Huff at 1st.

I heard after the Pie trade that Scott would dh againest righties.He's not a great fielder and doesnt hit lefties well.[that is Scott].

Originally posted by KLN:

quote:Originally posted by rucrew2:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:





I can't remember who won last year, but I'll forward a baseball to whoever wins the prize. Alexei Ramirez or Nate McLouth were pretty damn good picks, that's all I remember.



Greg,

Last year I gave you the write up for Alexei Ramirez. Nate McLouth had better stats than Ramirez, but Alexei was a true unknown last January and I would like to think it was a tie for best sleeper pick. I would consider it an honor to try and co-defend the title for best fantasy sleeper.



As a Cub fan I’m going to go with a player that just received a new lease on life away from the Cubs.



Felix Pie, OF, Baltimore

For the second time in four seasons (2006 Corey Patterson) the Baltimore Orioles have traded for a past Chicago Cubs prospect. Felix Pie will start the 2009 season as the Orioles left fielder and probable eight or nine hitter. Pie’s greatest asset is his speed. Although he has just 11 major league steals, Pie stole 117 bases over parts of 6 seasons in the minors.



Last season Pie struggled early in the season with the Cubs after winning a starting job out of spring training and was eventually sent back to the minors. This trip and others had run Pie out of minor league options with Chicago and precipitated a trade. Pie now gives the Orioles, a team that was eighth in the league in steals, another base stealing threat to go along with Brian Roberts.



At the age of 24, Pie still is young enough to live up to his prospect label and a season of 30+ steals with low double digit home runs are possible for an Orioles team going with young talent this year.



Russel [/QUOTE]What happened to Luke Scott, he die or something. [/QUOTE]Thank you! Your response seems to validate my pick of Pie as a sleeper. Luke Scott will be the primary DH for Baltimore this year.

Wow! You guys are fast. I couldn't even get my own answer in before you guys did.

Originally posted by DOUGHBOYS:

quote:

This year I'm going to focus more on balance and draft more conservatively ala Fudd, and take chances in the right spots. My drafts were horrible last year, I took too many chances early and my draft strategy stunk. I've got to right this ship in 2009. The best paragraph in a post that you have had to date. You've turned off of the Yahoo Highway and taken the NFBC ramp. Follow your own advice and you will do well. [/QB][/QUOTE]Thanks Doughboys. I admittedly am a work in progress. I feel like I'm pretty good at projecting stats, and very good at in-season management, but putting together a balanced team on draft day that has the edge over the rest of the league has been my biggest challenge.



What's interesting is my first NFBC league 2 years ago (WTA), I drafted very conservatively and ended up 2 points out of 1st place. If not for 5 rbi's and 2 homers I could have been in the Main Event 2008.



Then in 2008 I came in way overconfident. I researched more than I ever had before.....by far, 100's of hours, and for some reason I tricked myself into thinking I uncovered all these hidden gems and ended up screwing myself in the foot. Too many risky plays and risky strategies.



I'm glad last year happened because it was a humbling experience. I played in my competitive private 11x11 (12 team) league for 5 years, 3 1st place finishes and a 2nd place finish. I'm not used to losing. I'm still trying to get a handle on a 15 team - 30 round draft and I hope to be competitive again.

crazy,



if you ever need a job you can do your research for RoundTrippers headquarters which is north of gekko industries....i see you coming back with a vengence this year...a little bit of humble pie has never hurt anyone its just not too apetizing. believe me, i ate alot of it last year. i still believe the RoundTrippers have what it takes and my track record speaks for itself. the biggest adjustment i will be making this year is 1. to watch more late baseball games. i , like childs, feel i have an eye for talent and last year making the adjustment to living on the east coast and running a small business and falling asleep before the west coast games started was my demise. 2. i will reduce the number of menial leagues. i did a ton of 125 wta leagues and it was too much. i would rather do 5 big leagues than 10 little ones....lesson learned 3. i will still adhere to the basics for my personal evals but will be adding more criteria without too much paralysis by analysis...hope to find the right balance here. 4. i am hoping that my experience at the AFL will pay off. watching the young kids made me feel like i was coaching back in college. we used to go on the road often and scout our opponents and i loved it...spotting a weakness or staying away from a strength gave our team a nice edge. i saw alot of great talent and hope it becomes a valueable resource. good luck and you can forward your resume. also, you may want to admit in public RT got you in our sidebet...