Thoughts on my satellite team?

EliGrimmett · Post by **EliGrimmett** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 3:09 pm

Any thoughts on this team? Mine went like this during the draft, "Crap, I don't have enough power". And that thought ran through my head every single round of the draft from the moment I took Mauer first. I think my power ended up OK at the end, but what do you think? Too many risks? Too few risks? What would you have done differently?

C Joe Mauer

C Matt Wieters

1B Paul Konerko

3B Alex Gordon

CI Mark Derosa

2BJose Lopez

SS Jose Reyes

MI Brian Roberts

OF Nick Markakis

OF Hunter Pence

OF Cody Ross

OF Ryan Ludwick

OF Denard Span

U Franklin Gutierrez

BN Marco Scutaro

BN Scott Rolen

BN Cameron Maybin

Tim Lincecum

Ryan Dempster

Randy Wolf

Mat Latos

Jon Garland

Chris Young

Jason Marquis

Marc Rzepczynski

Charlie Morton

Jake Westbrook

Francisco Cordero

Trevor Hoffman

Joe Nathan

rockitsauce · Post by **rockitsauce** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:06 pm

what rd for Wieters?

I don't like SP after Timmy....also Nathan? couldn't he be out the whole season? that was last I heard, (that it was possible ) anyway if he's pitching in May, guess that's awesome.

I know you've got Rolen behind Gordon (won't he start on DL too), but I woulda got a better CI when I imagine ya took 'Kakis. Unless that guy starts stealing again I don't see what all the fuss is...overall though good mix in OF

reyes? better be in there or u in trouble w/ da sb's babe.

I was wondering if someone would employ this strategy in a satellite...whether it be Mauer/VMart, whomever the 2nd catcher was....you've got cojones muchacho!

EliGrimmett · Post by **EliGrimmett** » Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:19 pm

You know, I didn't really care for my pitching either, but it seemed as though every time I went to grab someone they'd get taken right before my pick so I'd have to grab the next guy on my list. But, in my pitching staff's defense, even if you include Chris Young and Latos I would have had a 3.48 ERA last year and a 1.248 WHIP with these same players and a 3.78 ERA in 2008. So I'm hopeful that they'll be able to at least not completely suck.

Wieters was in the 6th. I've actually drafted Mauer and Wieters in another satellite as well. And Mauer in another league! If Mauer goes down my whole season goes up in smoke!!!

Nathan most likely won't pitch and I'll drop him and replace him with the same player I was going to take during the draft who remained undrafted. Win/Win situation.

I got Rolen and Scutaro to fill in for Gordon and Reyes. Hopefully I don't need fill ins for Rolen and Scutaro!

An interesting note: I took Roberts in the 7th round. I had to do some research during the draft on that one to make sure he didn't get surgery or something as I thought that was awfully late for him to still be available.

Bobby D · Post by **Bobby D** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:31 pm

A little too much risk for my taste. Even if Roberts comes out of this healthy, I doubt he will be stealing many bases with a potentially bad back. Stolen bases are almost half of his value. Who knows when Reyes will be back and how well he will do. You have all of your SB potential tied up in two injury risk guys. I don't really like your OF depth either.

Pitching is a little sketchy after your top 3 starters. Latos could be solid, but that is banking a lot on him. I don't see much upside with the rest of the staff.

I hope Roberts and Reyes pan out for you, good luck!

moose1squirrel2 · Post by **moose1squirrel2** » Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:04 pm

Really like the Latos and Rzepczynski pitching depth either one can be more than just a matchup pitcher--

Outfielders Pence probably hits the 3 hole this year and my way of thinking being undervalued

Would help your cause if Lopez would play more than a couple of games at third

Other thought might be to grab a would be closer in waiting even if Nathan comes back later--maybe Wheeler-Hawkins-Adams

Anywho good luck to you

JAGUAR · Post by **JAGUAR** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:27 am

this team is dead in the water . a power ci in the 1st would be way better than mauer . will mauer put up the same ba / power in the new field. i can't see why anyone would ever take a catcher in the 1st or 2nd rd . those 1st 2 rds are for power and more power . you gave up to much to take mauer . your pitching yuck it flat out stinks . you have no mr to back up your starters. this teams needs more power / speed / saves /era/whip .how much better this team would be with say a 8th rd catcher and a 1st rd ci . good luck this year if you keep drafting mauer to early . mauer could be ok taking him in a 12 man draft not 15 . the ONLY catcher ever worth a top pick is PIAZZA in his big gun days .

JAGUAR · Post by **JAGUAR** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:33 am

just another tib pit, you should light a candle for tim ( cy youngs ) lincecum . because if he goes down or has a down year this team might be a seller dweller . sorry but i call em as i see em .

SUPERFLY · Post by **SUPERFLY** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:30 am

I have to agree a bit.. A few problems I see..

The Power looks lacking.

The corners have to be the weakest in the league

I would like to see one more pitcher after Dempster.

Gavin Floyd, Scott Baker type..Maybe even a Jorge De la rosa.. In the end, the others could come in though...Upside is there.

Nice gamble on Nathan, but I am sure he will be your first drop once the season starts...Should have left a couple of the SPs on the Waiver wire and grabbed an upside reliever that might sniff saves at some point to give you optoions..

Any team with an infield of Brian Roberts, Jose Reyes and Alex Gordon better buy insurance and do lots of praying...A bit too much playing time risk here...

Hope the 3 all come in for you and can stay healthy though... Actually, Not really...I dont any of them in any league so it means my competitors do own them and I prefer those 3 stay unproductive for selfish reasons...

JAGUAR · Post by **JAGUAR** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:36 am

we seem to think some what alike , superfly . i really liked alot about the team you drafted . at least the guys you talked about . you got a 3rd base / ci with your first pick . then covered your mi/sp early .got 1 big gun of early . the of this year is deeper than ever . so wait on of .in a 15 man league there are only 5 starting of per team = 75 . there are 30 ml teams 3 starters per team = 90 . so even if all 15 in your league use a of for there utl spot . that is only 90 total .my thinking anyway .

EliGrimmett · Post by **EliGrimmett** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:36 pm

I enjoy the criticism and it will definitely make me look at revamping my strategy but a few key points in regards to my team if only because I think the term "dead in the water" is far from accurate.

Hitting:

This team last year hit 267 HR with a .289 BA (inserting Rolen and Scutaro for Reyes and Gordon since neither played much). That's an average of 19.1 HR per player which would have been enough for about 70% of the HR points and 93% of the BA points in the overall last year.

What I also think is being overlooked is the effect of having far superior players occupying 14% of your hitting roster.

For example here are two other teams who appeared to "load" up a little more power early on with CI and wait longer on catcher.

One team had Arod, Billy Butler, and Todd Helton, which is a much better CI than mine while drafting Martin and Kendall at the C position. I chose this team because all these players were drafted by this one team in roughly the same rounds I took my players. Maybe your projections show something different, but mine have me ahead in all the cats except SB. The popular site BHQ would have me ahead in 3 of the 5 cats and only slightly behind in BA.

Another team similar to the "load up on CI" early strat is this one with Fielder, Reynolds, and Chipper and then Posada and Baker at C. This team, using my projections actually comes out well ahead in HR by 30 and RBI by 40, but within a few runs and a far lower BA. Also, this team's picks were all taken at a much early draft spot on average than mine were.

And being at the back of the draft I didn't have a chance to land any power hitting CI that I trust more than I trust Mauer.

Pitching:

I mostly agree with you guys on this front. I wasn't really happy with my squad though I do get to dump Nathan now and grab someone else.

Only time will tell if I'm even close to right, but I thought I'd through out a little more about my thoughts on taking Mauer in the first. I think more than Mauer in the first is that I followed it up with Lincecum - I think that was the point when the power started slipping a little each round in what was available and became harder to make up.

One key point that I think is overlooked a lot when constructing teams is that HR and SB are only two of the five hitting cats - R and BA are often overlooked at the expense of trying to obtain the mythical Childs(ian) 75/75 split.

The two early catchers make up for the runs and BA disaster that you inevitably get when you wait on catchers.

Thanks again for the comments and they will definitely be put to use for future drafts.

SUPERFLY · Post by **SUPERFLY** » Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:56 pm

Now thats how to state your case in a reasonable manner! Nice counterpoints.

A couple things I want to point out though. While your team isnt a total punch and Judy team and last years HR totals are nice, it is kind of selective..

Here is why. you substituted Scutaro and Rolen HR totals for Brain Roberts and Jose reyes over a whole season in your example. Problem is that you really dont plan on having to use those guys for much time in 2010 if B rob, Alex and Reyes prove healthy early on...

The next part of using just last year and selectively replacing the injury prone guys is what you gain in a few extra HR, you will lose in SB mightily...By selecting out HR totals from last year for players you replaced the injured guys with, you are losing the 70 + Sbs that Roberts and Reyes and gordon were projected for in 2010. In reality, Rolen and company will hopefully be short term placeholders for the injury guys you drafted...

So even if you replaced the 2010 HR totals of reyes and company, you are going to lose many more points in Sbs at the same time...

You did a nice job of not waiting until rd 22 for your second catcher..I do however think you might have been better off passing on weiters in rd 6 for a Adam Dunn type at 1b and grabbing a very solid and very underrated AJ perz type as your second catcher in rd 13, 14 or 15 instead of weiters and Derosa... Adam dunn and AJ Perz or Weiters and derosa? As of today, I would take AJP and Dunn....We wont know which combo is better until Oct 1 though...

I like the way you presented your case though...Maybe I discounted the power a little more than I hould have....But if this team does have 260+ ish HR without the projected Sbs of Reyes and Roberts, it will be all for nothing...260 HR can easily be middle of the pack if others loaded up on power.. In the middle, many times its only 5 HR that separates 4 spots in HR...

I do thin B AVG is sometimes forgoten and we may focus on the HR/SB s a little much, but this team still has more health risk throughout than I would be comfortable with as a whole..

IF Reyes comes back on APR 21 and is Ryees of Old, then things look good..You need B roberts to not let his nagging back sap his little power and keep him from running....If Reyes Steals 28 and ROberts swipes 20, it may be too much to lose..

Rolen in for Gordon for 3-4 weeks should be negligible... Its Reyes and Roberts that are the key to your team...

I wish you luck and like the way you presented your counterpoints..

Remember......This is just my opinion. Who the heck knows if I know what the heck I am talking about....If you like the team and feel confident, then that should trump my thoughts....Who the heck am I? Good Luck

JAGUAR · Post by **JAGUAR** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:50 am

well you say that ba is under valued . do you know why . i looked back at my teams from last year .288 took the 15 pts . last was .271 1pt . not much from 1st to last .so yes i think get the other cats and ba will work it self out .

EliGrimmett · Post by **EliGrimmett** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 5:52 am

SUPERFLY: Thanks for the comments. I do realize I was fudging a bit with how I was coming up with the numbers, but there really aren't any clear cut ways to look at a team with injured players from last year. And even without the steals from the the Scutaro/Rolen substitutes that team would have still finished with 76% of the hitting points in the overall competition and had 128 SB.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all this to convince anyone that this is my favorite team of all time. I'm actually not thrilled with the Reyes/Roberts/Gordon risk that I added to it, but I'm also not completely appalled by the team and I do think it may compete given just a little luck in the pitching and health on the offensive side.

And...this is also why I have 6 satellite teams this year! Trying all kinds of strategies. Two to go.

Edit: This just in:

"Reyes (thyroid levels) has been cleared by team doctors to resume baseball activities, the Bergen Record Mets' blog reports.

Spin:

Reyes' thyroid levels were normal, so he will fly to Port St. Lucie Tuesday and be in camp Wednesday. The news brings with it the possibility that Reyes could be back in the Opening Day lineup for the Mets."

There's some good news for this team!

[ March 23, 2010, 12:04 PM: Message edited by: EliGrimmett ]

headhunters · Post by **headhunters** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 8:26 am

both roberts and reyes are cleared to play. roberts said he is "back" and reyes said he is gonna be a "steal" in any round after 2. like your team. heck- ya if lincecum goes down it sucks. if he does you can enjoy your summer while 50% of the players will be grinding it out to finish 4-11. those spots don't pay anyway. ps- lincecum is trying to do somwthing that hasn't been done since probably before ww2 so the odds of him being a stud again are long- but that is why they play the games.