As a NFBC lifer every year is fun but it seems a main event title is becoming my White Whale.
I finished second for the third time in the last five years. I first two times I had great teams that should have won but I burned myself with bad bench/starts week after week and not paying the price on FA's that I should have bid more on and knew it.
This year was different after the draft I was not very proud of my team and could see a lot of holes that needed help. It was one of the few times I have walked away and thought I didn't have the best team. I pride myself on my drafting skills as I walk away most years not needing much help and keeping over two-thirds of my team all year with a lot of late solid picks.
Here is a look at my draft. I went in with the 2nd pick Pujols or Hanley was a lock and on the 2-3 swing I had 3B in my sights for my 2nd pick along with best player for the 3rd.
1st Hanley Ramirez SS - easy pick
2nd Joey Votto 1B - wow what a run on 3B! (Wright 17, Youkilis 20, Reynolds 22, Sandoval 23, and Zimmerman 27)
3 Victor Martinez C - didn't want a catcher early in the draft but Adrian was picked before him and he was best player.
4 Jason Bay OF - this pick killed me! I wanted Granderson and was picked right before me!
5 Nick Markakis OF - for some reason every year I think he is good for .300 with 100 RBI's with some power and speed.
6 Jake Peavy SP - Pitching run in the 5th and 6th and the last good ace on my board in Cain was picked right before me.
7 Chad Billingsley SP - Again ace SP thin needed more help.
8 Alex Rios OF - I had Rios very high on my board and it paid off.
9 Jair Jurrjens SP - Thought this was a great ERA pick to help my team.
10 Adrian Beltre 3B - I was big on Beltre this year and had him pegged as high as the 8th round but was trying to get big value out of him and did.
11 A.J. Burnett SP - Was feeling good with my staff with some big K guys and a good ERA pitcher.
12 Michael Gonzalez CL - Plan was to wait on saves and now was the time to jump on some closers.
13 Huston Street SP - At draft time it looked good ended with 9 SAVES!!! Capps and Dotel went a round later.
14 Ryan Theriot 2B - Speed at MI was flying off the board remember not wanting to pick Theriot but was only 20 SB guy left for the next few rounds at MI.
15 Brandon Webb SP - I need better sources! Though I would get 125 IP from him and he sat on my bench way to long.
16 Hideki Matsui DH - Great power option at the time of the draft.
17 Clay Buchholz SP - Gold pick was high on Buchholz
18 Chase Headley 3B - Needed OF and liked Headley's upside.
19 Chris Getz 2B - Again looking for Speed at MI this pick did not pay off.
20 Miguel Olivo C - Catcher was getting thin made a great pick in the end.
21 Troy Glaus 1B - Took a chance always good when healthy.
22 Gil Meche SP - Really thought he would have a bounce back year.
23 Buster Posey C - I always like locking up one prospect and Posey was my pick as I was not big on Olivo at the time.
24 Melky Cabrera OF - Remember I was happy with this pick at the time seen him as a good sleeper.
25 Bud Norris SP - cut and picked back up for 2nd half
26 Casey Kotchman 1B - played him too much early when he was ice cold missed out on some of Glaus hot streak.
27 Luke Hochevar SP - quick cut
28 Will Venable OF - held onto all year came up big late!
29 Matt Diaz OF - Heyward didn't go to minors quick cut.
30 Kevin Millwood SP - wish I would have cut him faster than I did.
As you can see I needed a lot of help but spent my FA money well. Early season on Leak 89. Missed out on S. Castro 139-179 but ended up with Guzman. Also picked up Cahill and Edwin Jackson. Made a big pickup on Pedro Alvarez for 29 on 5/30. On 7/11 made another big pickup on D. Hudson who had great stats after the trade. My biggest FA was 338 for Mike Minor to keep him away from the other top teams. Spent $1 more than the top 3 teams in the standings.
First place was never in sight but I did get as close as 5 points away in the last month but ended up 10 points behind. Next year should be another fun season as I hope to win that 1st main event championship!
Never did win out on a closer and put myself in a hole but did the right thing and spent money on SP's and gained points in Wins and K's 14.5/15 (109,1351). I don't think I could have finished in a money spot if it wasn't for making some key moves and knowing to give up on saves when I did.
Runner up yet again
Runner up yet again
Originally posted by Snord35:
I finished second for the third time in the last five years. while you haven't captured a title yet, i hope you realize what you've done is pretty impressive. some people would KILL to have that type of track record.
obviously you have a good fantasy baseball head on your shoulders. find out what the last ingredient is and add it to the recipe next year.
I finished second for the third time in the last five years. while you haven't captured a title yet, i hope you realize what you've done is pretty impressive. some people would KILL to have that type of track record.
obviously you have a good fantasy baseball head on your shoulders. find out what the last ingredient is and add it to the recipe next year.