The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

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Glenneration X
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The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun Apr 07, 2013 7:32 am

When my very first NFBC team made its run up the Main Event standings from bottom 10 to top 15 during the summer of 2009, dreams of winning it all my rookie season filled my head. That team stalled in September, but the dreams of winning an NFBC overall title were cemented from the experience.

The next season's September run to the top 2 of the overall and eventual top 4 overall finish brought the dream even closer to a reality. I could almost taste it.

Unfortunately, true reality slapped me in the face over the past two seasons as the best I could accomplish in the Main Event is a top-3 league finish each season, never truly contending in the Overall either year.

Though I'm proud of cashing each year I've taken part in the premier high stakes fantasy baseball contest that is the NFBC Main Event, my quest for the Overall remains. I'm taking three shots at the title in this my 5th year in the contest, one team that was drafted in Las Vegas during the first draft weekend of the event, one drafted in NYC during the second weekend, and one drafted Online mid-week.

I will be running 14 teams in total this year, as promised to myself a reduction from the number I ran last year.....15. :) I know, not quite as big a reduction as promised, but addiction's truly a bitch. On top of the three Main Event teams, I've also taken part in the Diamond, Ultimate Auction, 12-team Joe Berg Super, three XII's, a pair of Online Championships, Max's 1000 Slow, KJ's MLBC Contract league, and one shot at the FBPC inaugural baseball contest. As someone who loves this game, it should be a fun, fun year.

I've kept a blog of my fantasy baseball experiences on these boards each year I've been in the event since my 2nd season. I thought of passing on it this year as the 12 hours a day I dedicate to my career and most of the balance of my free time spent with my kids have made pastimes such as this blog a tougher proposition to make happen. The series I'm writing for BHQ has also seemed to make a blog here somewhat redundant. However this blog is something I've enjoyed writing over the years. With my wife and kids visiting my mother-in-law today, my FAAB already completed, and my body recovering from ice skating for the first time in 16 years at my neice's birthday yesterday (yes I was disgraceful, but my 5-year old son was a natural and I think I have the next Messier in the family :D ), now seems like the perfect time to just sit back, relax, and start this year's blog.

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Glenneration X
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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun Apr 07, 2013 10:04 am

I thought I'd start this year's blog with a recap of my Main Event drafts and my thoughts behind each pick as I made them. This is something I've done each season I've been part of the contest, and something that I've revisited at the end of each season to learn from both the thought processes that worked and more importantly, didn't work.

My first Main Event draft took place 1st weekend in Las Vegas.

My Vegas experience this year was much different than the one I had last year. Last year was my first visit to Sin City since the birth of my son, nearly five years prior. At the time, I wasn't sure when and if I'd return there again. So I made sure to enjoy not only the NFBC drafts that I was taking part in there, but all that Vegas had to offer. And I did. Of the six nights there, I probably totaled enough sleep to make up for one night, and bypassed sleep completely three of those nights. The nourishment of choice was alcohol and I don't think I went more than an hour at any time without a drink in my hand. Whenever not drafting, I was at a gaming table, a club bar, the hotel pool, or somewhere having a grand old time. Though I was there to draft, the drafts became somewhat secondary to the Vegas experience. The consequences of my actions though didn't become fully apparant to me until Sunday that weekend. There I was sitting at the draft table at the Diamond, having not slept the night before, 10am and still having alcohol in my system from the prior night, and looking around the table at the Juprinka's, RT's, DiDonato's, Chad's, KJ's, Particelli's, Kirves, etc. etc. that I'd be drafting against in just a few minutes for a league for which I'd invested a $10K entry fee, when I realized I had committed a big "Uh-oh!" Well, at least all I had to do after the Diamond that day was take part in the Ultimate Auction!! Jeez, what an ass I was.

This year I handled things a bit differently. Not only had I attended the Vegas drafts the previous March, but in September as well for the NFFC/FFPC/FFWC live football drafts. This was my 3rd Vegas trip in a year and the need to experience all that is Sin City was no longer a priority. Instead I found myself spending more time enjoying the NFBC events themselves. I slept every night, only had one drink the entire week, passed on every chance to enjoy the Vegas nightlife, and spent more of my free time hanging around the Bellagio drafts chatting with my fellow drafters than at the gaming tables. Most of my time alone was spent relaxing at the pool (laptop in hand reviewing draft strategies and last minute news), at the gym (one needs to be in shape to be a great fantasy sports athlete :) ), shopping the hotel malls for wife and kids (a practice started last year as my wife's take for being so "understanding" about my Vegas trips), or starting each day or ending each afternoon on the laptop teleconferencing with my kids (my son waking me up each morning at 8am his time....5am my time :? .....to go on the computer so we could talk :D ). A conversation with the great Juprinka as we both discussed whether we were going to go out with MtM on one of his nightly expeditions of Vegas one particular evening struck home. The one line Juprinka said that meant the most...."I'm here to draft." So was I. This year I realized it.

My preseason drafts heading into the live events this year were somewhat light. I'd only taken part in KJ's MLBC Contract league (a format as fun as it gets but that doesn't really do much as far as prep), Max's 1000 Slow (nice prep but having taken place a full month prior to the live events), and an Online Championships draft a couple weeks prior to get a feel for the pace of a fast draft and current draft flow. This was a far cry from what I had in store for myself once the Vegas drafts commenced. I had eleven drafts scheduled over a 10 day period until opening day with only two days off from drafting during that stretch, one my travel day home from Vegas. Still, I felt ready.

My first day of drafting in Vegas was that Friday and I made that my 12-team draft day. I took part in a XII early followed by Joe Berg's 12-team Super that night. I enjoyed both drafts and feel I put together competitive teams, but I purposely scheduled my 12-team drafts for the first day as I feel it to be the easier draft format (sorry Joe ;) ). I felt that day would give me some insight into current draft flow and up-to-date player market "values" (sorry Doughy ;) ) and prepare me for the three "Primetime" events I had over the next couple days, the Main Event on Saturday, followed by the monster Diamond/Ultimate Auction Sunday that would end my Vegas draft weekend.

I scheduled the Main Event as my only draft that Saturday, partially to be well rested for Sunday's big draft and auction, but also because it's the Main Event and I wanted to enjoy the time prior, during, and after the draft that makes that day always so special.

This draft had some heavy hitters participating, among them one of the heaviest of all, our two-time Main Event champion and HOF, Lindy. At least he'd be across the table from me, he having the 13th pick, mine being number 6.
The following is my draft recap for that team and some thoughts for each pick as I made them:

1.6 - Andrew McCutchen OF - Having been awarded the 6th pick, I anticipated either Kemp or McCutchen being here for me. With 1B being deeper this year and the top options there and the rest of the IF all having some question marks, I had no problem taking a five-category contributor in this spot even at OF which is a position I often wait on.

2.10 - Adrian Beltre 3B - A power/average option (how I typically look to build my teams early) at a scarce position, I was a little surprised but happy to see him still on the board. I briefly considered Price, but decided I'd wait on pitching to build a power/average base instead.

3.6 - Ian Desmond SS - Five pitchers are off the board. I again consider a pitching option here as I picture a run on the balance of premium starters in the 3rd/4th rounds as is typical in NFBC drafts. However, I decide to wait a round in order to grab Desmond here. I'm high on Desmond this year as a player who took that step up to meet his potential last season and is both a power and speed contributor at a scarce position. I now have what I believe is a strong power/speed/average base on offense and two scarce positions filled in the first three rounds.

4.10 - Madison Bumgarner SP - As anticipated, pitching is starting to go off the boards, but there are several solid options that remain. I may have taken Aaron Hill here if he fell one more pick, but when he went the pick just before me, it solidified my thoughts on taking my first SP here. I consider Bumgarner, Scherzer, Sale, and Medlen. Scherzer and Sale's anticipated K's make them very appealing options, but I believe Bumgarner to be slightly undervalued this year due to his late season fade last year, but someone I'm expecting big things from this year. When all is equal, I always go NL for pitching, especially in a park as appealing as AT&T.

5.6 - Kris Medlen SP - Scherzer and Sale are both gone by the time the draft gets back to me making Medlen the easy pick for me as I wanted to double up on SP in 4/5. From what I've seen of the live drafts this year, I may be slightly higher on Medlen than most as I've seen him go more often than not towards the bottom of the second tier of pitching rather than the top/middle where I have him rated. I believe the difference in K-rate between he and the other options in that tier to be the reason, and a valid one. Still, I expect very strong ratios from Medlen this year and when combined with Bumgarner, should allow this team to absorb some high K pitchers with ERA/WHIP risk later in the draft and in FAAB.

6-10 - Wilin Rosario C - Catchers are starting to come off the boards, seven gone already and Napoli was just picked. Part of my draft strategy this year is to grab a top catcher early whenever possible, but after the run starts. I believe the catcher tier after Posey this year to be extremely deep (and equal in value), but significantly stronger than the tiers that follow. I wanted at least one from that tier in every draft. I would wait 'til the run started and then grab one while they were coming off the board. Rosario seemed to be the one I drafted most often. A potential 30 HR's from the catcher position should be very useful when looking at speed only OF options later in the draft.

7-6 - Shin-Soo Choo OF - This wasn't really part of the draft plan. Although I like Choo to rebound in his new environments this year, in most drafts I've seen to this point he's been taken off the boards a bit earlier than I have found comfortable drafting him. I also haven't typically focused on a 2nd OF this early considering the later draft options usually available at the position. However, 7th round for a potential 20/20 contributor in a great offense who shouldn't hurt BA seemed like a player that fit the way this team was being built very well. I now have three potential 20/20 contributors in my first 5 offensive picks. I liked the way this offense was coming together.

8-10 - Chris Davis 1B/OF - The 6th round gutted the 1B position in this draft as Konerko, Rizzo, Hosmer, Howard, and Ike were all taken in that round and Trumbo followed prior to my pick in the 7th. I thought about grabbing Chris Davis in the 7th as I still needed to fill the position and thought he was the last option in that tier, sure to be taken shortly by someone with the 1B run in full bloom. Still, I thought Choo the better fit at the time and just accepted that Davis wouldn't make it back to me. However, not another 1B went in the 18 picks between my Choo pick and here. I grab Davis without thinking twice.

9-6 - Melky Cabrera OF - A 3rd OF in my first 9 picks is a vast departure from my typical draft strategy. However, a strong BA base is a major staple of what I try to accomplish early. With the recent Rosario and Davis picks, I felt the need to strengthen that base once again and in Melky also obtained a contributor in all 5 categories and a potential big contributor in the often forgotten category of runs.

10-10 - Jason Grilli RP - Relief pitchers are starting to go off the board. I grab one that I like more than most.

11-6 - Brett Anderson SP - I like Anderson a lot this year to have a big bounceback year if he can remain healthy. That's always the question with him. However even if he does, I'm not sure he was the right pick here for this team. I already have Bumgarner and Medlen as my first two SP's for this team, and their main contributions figure to be the ratios while maybe being a little light on K's. That fits Anderson's profile as well. An upside K option may have worked better here. My first choice here was Mike Minor and I think he may have fit better, but he went the pick just prior.

12-10 - Glen Perkins RP - Relief pitchers with the job and some security are pretty much off the board. I'm surprised to see Perkins still there with some of the options already taken prior to him. I see no way he makes it back and with just a couple options at the position remaining, maybe none of them make it back, so I grab Perkins here.

13-6 - Dan Uggla 2B - One of the issues with grabbing three OF's early is that you will likely have to fill the scarcer positions with less appealing options. 2B being such a weak position this year, I may have waited a little too long there. With all of the negatives that Uggla brings, he does play in what should be a dynamic offense this year and he does have power. This team can certainly use an infusion of power at this point and I'm hoping that I built up enough BA coverage in the early portions of the draft to absorb Uggla's likely BA drain.

14-10 - Alexi Ogando SP - A mid-teens target in my drafts this year, this is one of the SP's with K upside that I'll need to come through if this Bumgarner/Medlen/Anderson staff is going to compete in K's.

15-6 - Alejandro DeAza OF - One of my strategies in each of my drafts this year was to fill out my speed category with what I saw was a large tier of speed OF's usually available in the late teen rounds. In this draft, with the Uggla pick already on the board, I felt the need to draft one with a little more BA coverage. With Pagan, Span, and Fowler grabbed in the last two rounds, I jump on DeAza here as one of the last of those options.

16-10 - Adam Dunn CI/1B - Yikes!! What was I thinking? Power was quickly disappearing from the remaining draft pool. With my remaining OF options earmarked for the speed that I still needed to fortify, I needed an infusion of power at CI. Dunn supplies that. Still, Dunn and Uggla??? My immediate thought when thinking of those two together and the consequences to this team's BA prospects....Ugg, I'm Dunn!

17-6 - Mike Saunders OF - One of the OF's I'm high on this year for a step up if given the full opportunity. Speed, power, fences moving in at Safeco. Hopefully, Raul Ibanez doesn't take away too much of his time. :?

18-10 - Tim Hudson SP - Probably a bad pick. Solid pitcher, but I needed more K upside here.

19-6 - Shelby Miller SP - This is the type of pitcher I needed to focus on the balance of this draft. Upside, upside, upside, especially in K's.

20-10 - Justin Maxwell OF - I like him this year. Even with the BA drain, potential 20/20 options as a 5th OF don't grow on trees. Still, with Uggla and Dunn already rostered, he's a bad fit here. I will need to look for a better option in FAAB.

21-6 - Oscar Taveras OF - At the time of the draft, there were questions on Beltran's availability for the start of the season. Does he get his chance sometime down the line? Can I afford to hold onto him that long?

22-10 - Phil Hughes SP - Hughes had a mini-breakout last year and I believe his draft ADP to be a slight overreaction to his spring health woes. He does bring some of that K upside I need to fill out my staff.

23-6 - Brian Roberts 2B/MI - The in-his-prime Roberts brought some speed, some power, and some BA coverage. All things this team needs (especially the BA coverage). The question was what Roberts do we get and can he stay healthy? Of course, by day 3 of the regular season, the 2nd part of that question was answered.

24-10 - Dylan Bundy SP - A flyer, already dropped.

25-6 - Yasmani Grandal C - I waited a long ways on 2nd catcher. This is what happens sometimes when you do. He showed some pop and average in his small sample size last season. Out on suspension, I'm hoping he gives me the same when he returns.

26-10 - Mark Teixeira 1B - I know he's hurt and there were rumors of surgery....but the 26th round? If he can make it back and Dunn's too much of a BA drain, I can slot him there and even though Tex's big BA days are long gone, I can expect better than Dunn's likely Mendoza line showing.

27-6 - Andy Pettitte SP - Professional pitcher. Shouldn't help too much, shouldn't hurt too much. A pitcher like this is often usable during the course of a long season.

28-10 - Kyle Kendrick SP - Showed a big jump in both skills and results 2nd half last year, but still flying under the radar. If that skills jump is real, he will be a big help to this team.

29-6 - Eduardo Nunez MI - Not a bad reserve as he can supply speed at what will likely be a few positions. With the bevy of Yankees IF old and/or injured, he should have no shortage of opportunities this year. At worst, he's Jeter's replacement for the entire first month.

30-10 - Kurt Suzuki C - Drafted to cover the time Grandal's on suspension, already dropped for Kratz.

Summary - This team's off to a great start (for the first 6 days ;) ), but does it have the players and is it built correctly to last 26 weeks? I see some significant holes that definitely need to be addressed. I believe whether I am able to and how I address those holes in-season will determine how this team performs throughout the year.

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Glenneration X
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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun Apr 07, 2013 11:59 am

With the end of the Diamond and Ultimate Auction on Sunday, I spent the next 24 hours enjoying a little bit more of the Vegas experience I had refrained from to that point before taking the red-eye home late Monday which got me back to Long Island sometime early Tuesday morning. However, there was to be no rest for the weary. I had the NYC drafts the following weekend and prior to that I had an online XII scheduled my first day home on Tuesday, the FBPC Main on Thursday, both of which sandwiched the 2nd of my three NFBC Main Event drafts to take place Wednesday.

This 2nd Main Event team is the one I was hired to chronicle for BHQ. Since I already provided my draft strategy and pick by pick thought processes on this draft for that site, I will just provide the draft itself here and a couple quick summary thoughts at the end.

As per a typical Online draft, this one had both its share of heavy hitters and names that I did not recognize. Both Chad and David Longood were participants in this draft. This was the only draft of my 13 "standard" drafts (disregarding KJ's MLBC draft) where I received a top-3 pick even though my KDS for every draft this year was 1-15.
The following is a quick rundown of how this team was put together.

1.3 - Mike Trout - OF

2.13 - Edwin Encarnacion - 1B

3.3 - Cole Hamels - SP

4.13 - Aramis Ramirez - 3B

5.3 - Aaron Hill - 2B

6.13 - Wilin Rosario - C

7.3 - Jose Altuve - MI/2B

8.13 - Ian Kennedy - SP

9.3 - Paul Konerko - CI/1B

10.13 - Hanley Ramirez - SS

11.3 - Greg Holland - RP

12.13 - Mike Minor - SP

13.3 - Cory Hart - OF/1B

14.13 - Lance Lynn - SP

15.3 - Alejandro DeAza - OF

16.13 - Carlos Marmol - RP

17.3 - Lorenzo Cain - OF

18.13 - Peter Bourjos - OF

19.3 - Ryan Madson - RP

20.13 - Phil Hughes - SP

21.3 - Tyler Flowers - C

22.13 - Dan Straily - SP

23.3 - Shaun Marcum - SP

24.13 - Marc Reynolds - UT/1B

25.3 - Will Venable - OF

26.13 - Yunel Escobar - SS

27.3 - Kyle Kendrick - SP

28.13 - Corey Luebke - SP

29.3 - Juan Nicasio - SP

30.13 - Erik Bedard - SP

Summary - One of the big questions for me heading into this draft was that if given the opportunity whether I would draft Mike Trout in the 3-hole or follow the BHQ party line on Trout being a shaky proposition as a 1st-rounder. One week into the season, much bigger questions need to be answered. Thanks to the injury to one of this team's foundation players in Aramis Ramirez and the lightning quick implosion and loss of the Cubby closer role by Carlos Marmol, both the 3B and 2nd closer spots in my lineup need to be addressed. With noone on this team's roster currently capable of filling those roles, I will need to address via FAAB, and quickly.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun Apr 07, 2013 8:31 pm

This brings us to the final draft weekend of the 2013 NFBC season which I attended in NYC. Eleven drafts in the books, three to go. A live XII late Saturday in NYC, an Online Championship draft Easter morning to give one last feed to the vein (yes, my wife was pissed), and of course the last of my three NFBC Main Event drafts Saturday afternoon.

I've attended the NYC drafts each of my 5 years in the NFBC. As much as I love now being part of the Vegas drafts, the NYC drafts remain my home base and I'll always draft there as well.

This draft had easily the toughest lineup of participants of any of my prior Main Event drafts. When Tom was announcing charter members who were attending the NYC drafts for the NFBC's 10th anniversary season, there were 8 in this draft alone, more than the rest of the NYC drafts combined. Included among them some of the most well known players in this contest, Eddie Gillis, Joe Thelen, Nick Cassavettes, and John Hogan among others. Add in a pair of respected industry writers to the league in Nate Ravitz and Cory Schwartz and this league appeared on face value to be quite the shark tank.

I had the 7th pick in this draft. The following is a summary of how my draft progressed with some of the thoughts behind each pick as they were made:

1.7 - Matt Kemp OF - Heading into this draft, I was debating on whether to start with Votto or Cargo here. However, this draft was one of several that saw Bryce Harper pushed up drastically from the prior weekend. With Harper going 4th, Matt Kemp fell to this spot where I was happy to grab a player whose ceiling is as high as any in the game. Of course, Kemp's shoulder does present some serious risk, likely the only reason he would be available here. Still, in an overall when you hope to finish on top of 435 contestants, sometimes downside needs to be overlooked for potential upside.

2.9 - Evan Longoria 3B - Beltre and Reyes went the two picks prior. I had hoped that either would continue to fall to me. Neither did. I debated between Longoria and Pedroia, two nice options at scarce positions, but decided on Longoria due to his power upside.

3.7 - Dustin Pedroia 2B - I'm not really sure why Pedroia fell to the middle of the 3rd round. I double checked my I-phone to assure that I didn't miss any injury news and then grabbed a player I was considering a full round earlier.

4.9 - Madison Bumgarner SP - As the turn to the 3rd round was made with Pedroia still on the board, I watched intently pick after pick hoping he'd continue to fall. However, if he hadn't I was prepared to take a pitcher in that spot. At the time, there were several aces still on the board that I would have loved to anchor my staff. As expected though, by the time my pick came around in the 4th, there were a helluva lot less. I felt lucky to have a tough choice between two pretty good options that still remained. I chose Bumgarner over Jered Weaver due to fears over Weaver's reduced velocity and K-rate.

5.7 - Kris Medlen SP - Feeling that I may have created an offensive edge with my 1st three picks, I thought it wise to strengthen the pitching side of the ledger with an immediate SP followup to my Bumgarner pick. For a 2nd Main Event draft and 3rd draft overall, I end up with the Bumgarner-Medlen pair topping my staff. These two are as big a key to my 2013 fantasy baseball success as any players I've drafted. I'm a little shy of the K's I'd like to have after drafting two pitchers, but the ratios should be solid.

6.9 - Aramis Ramirez CI/3B - Already having drafted Longoria earlier, 3B was not a need. However, I was very surprised to see Ramirez still on the board here. I thought a pretty consistent .290/25/90 middle of the order bat would be a real nice fit for my CI position. I felt he had a lot less risk, especially at BA, than some of the 1B still available at this point. Of course I didn't take into account the risk of awkward slides into 2B that lead to DL stints. :?

7.7 - Wilin Rosario C - As typical, catchers have started coming off the boards during the 6th and 7th rounds and I decide to take mine here as well. I have Rosario on all three of my Main Event teams. For all three, I felt his power at a scarce position would be a nice advantage.

8.9 - Jesus Montero C - The second tier of power starters, Samardzija, Harvey, Morrow, etc. have been drafted in the last two rounds, but Josh Johnson, the last I have in that tier, was still undrafted and headed towards me. I felt a 3rd arm here would help keep my pitching in line with what I felt was a strong foundation on offense. However, Eddie Gillis grabbed Johnson with the pick just before mine. With that tier of starters now tapped out, I decided to create an edge elsewhere by pairing up my 2nd catcher one round after my first. Montero seems to fall a bit further than the other catchers I have in this tier, but I feel his upside is as strong as any. If both catchers stay healthy and produce as I expect, it could give me a huge advantage in power, counting stats, and even average.

9.7 - Shane Victorino OF - Closers start to go. I decided to wait and instead grab some speed in a player that I feel will also contribute a dozen or so HR's and a decent BA as well.

10.9 - Chase Utley MI/2B - Another player that I'm mildly surprised to see still undrafted. Closers continue to slowly but surely come off the boards, but though I was definitely monitoring, I put the bullpen on the back burner for at least another round to take a possible edge at MI here.

11.7 - Mike Minor SP - Jon Niese was taken a few picks earlier. I decided to push closers another round to assure I get one of the upside pitchers I'm very on this year for my 3rd SP. I feel his K upside makes a nice fit for the Bumgarner-Medlen start to my staff.

12.9 - Jason Grilli RP - Closers were taken 3 of the 4 picks prior to this one. That was enough to stop me from continuing to put off taking my 1st. I grab one I seem to get quite often. It was real tough passing on both Brett Anderson and Alexi Ogando, two pitchers I'm very high on this year, but the last thing I needed was to be shut out on closers and that was becoming a very real possibility.

13.7 - Brandon League RP - Neither Anderson nor Ogando made it back to me. I'm not sure it mattered anyway. League was the last of the closers left before the Marmol/Veras/CIW tier and I felt absolutely compelled to grab him here. Eddie Gillis told me that I took him just before he did as he was also waiting on 2nd closer.

14.9 - Carl Crawford OF - I wanted to revisit SP here, but also felt the need for speed. I'm again mildly surprised to see Crawford still on the board and feel that he's a perfect fit to how this offense is coming together.

15.7 - Julio Teheran SP - Having waited to continue building my staff, I felt that an upside starter was a must here. Upside starters that I like are starting to come off the board quickly as Homer Bailey, Shelby Miller, and Jarrod Parker all were drafted in the last round. Teheran has been flying up the boards in recent drafts due to his torrid spring, not as much in this draft though. I felt he was a perfect fit here as a SP4 with the talent and ceiling for so much more. This is one of the key picks for me in this draft. If Teheran comes through, I feel this team could have real potential.

16.9 - Cory Hart 1B - I still haven't filled my 1B position, so I gladly accepted the one month wait on Hart. Though I'll have to figure out other options in the meantime, if Hart comes back healthy, he'll provide a power/average bat as a May reinforcement to this team.

17.7 - Derek Holland SP - Another upside SP that I like this season. How much did Holland's illness affect his production last year? He was on many a breakout list heading into last season. I'm betting now fully healthy, there's a chance that breakout comes a year late.

18.9 - Lance Berkman UT/1B - Berkman will provide solid coverage for Cory Hart at 1B until Hart's return and then can slot into my utility spot. As long as he stays healthy, Berkman still swings a sweet bat.

19.7 - Leonys Martin OF - Peter Bourjos, one of my regular targets this year, was earmarked for this spot but was taken two picks prior. I shift to Martin as I still wanted speed here and had recently heard that Texas was going to give Martin a perpetual green light. A platoon player to start the season, if he starts off hot, he'll take the fulltime role.

20.9 - Ryan Madson RP - Hopefully he gets healthy and takes his role as closer before too long. A risk/reward pick, at season's end this pick could be looked at as a real steal or a total waste. We'll see.

21.7 - AJ Griffin SP - Another upside starter that I like to help fill out the balance of my staff.

22.9 - Edinson Volquez SP - A hope and pray pick that I'm hoping and praying will help with K's without doing too much damage to ratios. I won't give Volquez too much rope.

23.7 - Stephen Drew SS - Well, I probably waited too long to fill the SS position. Drew does have talent, but can never stay on the field. He's starting the season hurt yet again, but is at least due back Wednesday.

24.9 - Brandon Beachy SP - If I can hold onto him until the 2nd half, he might be able to help a staff that is relying on a lot of risky bets coming through.

25.7 - Travis Snider OF - I've bet on Snider way too often over the years. It was annoying to see Gaby Sanchez get the first two starts over him to begin the season. I dropped him today.

26.9 - Brett Myers SP - I have Myers on several teams. He always has returned a profit at low cost each time he's been made a starter. The rough spring was concerning. Another player with a short leash.

27.7 - Franklin Gutierrez OF - A power/speed option that's a forgotten man these days due to his never ending string of injuries. Supposedly healthy and atop an improved lineup with the fences moving in, this could be a flyer that helps out.

28.9 - Patrick Corbin SP - Good spring, some skills, we'll see.

29.7 - Brian Dozier SS - Coverage at SS until Drew comes back, will be multi-positional in a week, but does he have any usable skills? I think he just might.

30.9 - Nate McLouth OF - The Betemit injury will result in almost full time AB's for a couple months. If he can produce even close to what he contributed the end of last year, he'll be a steal here.

Summary - I think the way the draft fell left a decent amount of value (sorry Doughy) coming to me on the offensive side throughout the draft. However, this team does have a few pretty clear holes left on offense and will be relying on a little more upside than I'm typically comfortable with on the pitching end. But I think this team has some serious potential if I can plug those holes and if some of that pitching upside does come through.

This ends my Main Event draft reviews. Now 6 months of work remain to see if one of these teams can pose a challenge and reach what all those who entered the Main Event are striving towards, the 2013 NFBC Main Event championship.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:06 pm

In mid-January, I drafted a team in KJ's MLBC Contract league, one of the most interesting and entertaining draft formats I've taken part in this hobby.

For anyone who hasn't played in or is unfamiliar with the format, players are drafted based not only on the anticipated stats that they can be expected to produce during the year, but also on their 2013 MLB salaries at the time of the draft. As per a typical draft, the price to obtain a player is the pick used to draft him. The twist is that in addition to the draft pick, you also pay 1/100th of 1% of that player's major league salary into the prize pool kitty. That might not seem like much. After all, if a player's salary is $500K, the cost to a team that drafts him would only be $5. However, if a player was instead making $10 million, then then the cost would be $100....in real dollars. Have a few Yankees, Dodgers, or Blue Jays rostered and you might have to take out a mortgage to afford your team.

The following is the pitching staff I drafted for this league, the draft pick utilized and the cost in real dollars next to each choice:

Max Scherzer (2) $38
Johnny Cuerto (5) $74
Addison Reed (7) $5

We'll take a break here to point out that I don't think I was doing too badly so far, spending somewhat wisely and cautiously. Well that didn't last long. I soon went on a drunken spending spree akin to handing my wife the keys to a shoe store and a credit card with no limit. The rest of my drafted staff:

James Shields (8) $103
Matt Cain (10) $208
Rafael Soriano (14) $110
Roy Halladay (16) $200
Josh Johnson (19) $138
Frank Francisco (20) $65
Chris Carpenter (25) $125
Brett Myers (26) $70
Scott Baker (FAAB immediately after draft) $105 in FAAB

Yikes! Well over a Grand spent in real dollars.....for that staff!!! Three of the pitchers injured by the start of the season and dropped during the very first FAAB. The rest producing a 6.66 (fitting numbers for this staff from hell!) ERA and 1.63 WHIP to date following Josh Johnson's stellar outing this afternoon. Now that's what I call a return on investment.

To think, I could have had Sale, Bumgarner, Medlen, Harvey, Ogando, Lynn, Cobb, Kimbrel, and Wilhelmson for the cost of Francisco alone and had enough left over for two packs of Marlboro's to boot!!

Next year I go cheap on pitching instead of .......

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun Apr 14, 2013 5:22 am

We should have seen the signs this spring.....

Hanley Ramirez
Chase Headley
Curtis Granderson
Mark Teixeira
Brett Lawrie
Jason Motte

.....all slow draft top-10 round draft picks injured long term before we even reached the Main Events.


Then the season starts innocently enough with the early (though completely expected) first week injury to Brian Roberts. However that turned out to be just the tip of the early season injury carnage iceberg as the hits kept coming as one by one our teams' drafted starters and stars continue to go down for extended DL stays......

Ryan Ludwick
Aramis Ramirez
Freddie Freeman
Michael Saunders
Jason Kubel
Wandy Rodriguez
Jered Weaver
Zack Greinke
Kyuji Fujikawa
Jose Reyes
Yoenis Cespedes
Johnny Cuerto
(Am I forgetting anyone? Hard to keep count at this point. :? )

Throw in the day-to-day hell many of us are dealing with on top of that with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hill, Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Eric Hosmer, Eric Aybar, Mike Morse, Coco Crisp, Angel Pagan, and many, many others and it's amazing any of us can fill a lineup right now.

And annual injury stalwarts Tulo, Longoria, Utley, Crawford, Beltran, and even Youkipuss haven't even missed a game to injury yet!

What a rough first two weeks. I thought last year was bad. With all these injuries and resulting holes in our lineups, today should be a very interesting FAAB Sunday.

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In this picture: Someone in each of our starting lineups.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by PGromek » Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:00 pm

good stuff Glen. I enjoy reading.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:41 am

PGromek wrote:good stuff Glen. I enjoy reading.
Thanks Paul, I do appreciate you checking out the blog. Good luck in all your leagues this year.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Mon Apr 15, 2013 8:55 am

So this morning I woke up to find that my very early, very short reign atop the NFBC Main Event overall standings has ended. Well, at least the lead stayed in the neighborhood as fellow Farmingville resident, stellar player, and all around great guy Jeff Dobies took the top spot today. Even though he's a Yankees fan, there's no arguing how good a player and person he is and it's great to see someone like him in the lead.

So what does falling out of the top spot of the Main Event do to my fantasy baseball psyche at this early juncture? Ummm, pretty much nothing. What did being in the top spot of the Main Event mean for my fantasy baseball prospects for this season at this early juncture? Again, pretty much nothing. It's still way, way, way too early. When just one great or bad start, just one big or bad day with the bats can still affect a jump or drop of hundreds of points in the standings from one day to the next, it's hard to put any credence in where your team stands in early April.

That's not to say that it isn't very cool to see your name atop an Overall leaderboard at ANY TIME, or league standings for that matter. Nor is it to say that I didn't go to bed each night praying for world peace, health for my family and friends, AND a baseball strike and/or lockout to end the season immediately. It's just to say, give me the lead with two weeks to go rather than two weeks in and then I'll feel a bit (or a lot :D ) differently.

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In this photo: Prayers unanswered. :(


While it's way too early to start planning on how to spend your league or overall winnings, it's also typically way too early to get down on a team. I always think back to Bobby Jurney's jump from 2nd from the bottom to Main Event champion in 2008, the year before I first joined this contest. Or my own rise from bottom 10 to top 15 from end of May to end of August my rookie season (and yes, I know I bring that up A LOT :P ). Still, it's a reminder to myself of what is possible. It's one of the reasons why I typically never throw in the towel. It's why I'm sometimes that pain in the ass league member we all curse still making FAAB moves in September with a team hopelessly out of the race.

This year though I may have found a team that challenges my predisposition to never quit on a team.

That team is an Online Championship squad that was drafted for a league that was both posted on the boards and filled last minute one Sunday about a week before the 1st weekend Main Event. Having not drafted in about a month, I thought it would help me get a current feel on draft flow and market value with the live drafts approaching. I did like the team I ended up drafting. Little did I know at the time that the team was cursed. :?

It wasn't long before the team from hell started giving hints that it was indeed possessed.

About an hour after the draft completed, I read the news that my 4th round pick Chase Headley had jammed his thumb that day, but that it wasn't serious. :roll: That diagnosis would worsen the next day and continue to worsen until it was determined that he'd miss the start of the regular season.

Bad timing on the draft, but one player does not a team make. However, player 2 in this demonic tale would soon follow.

The very next day, 2nd round pick Hanley Ramirez jammed his own thumb. Another day, another thumb, another top draft pick lost for the start of the season.

Well, at least this team made it to the start of the regular season without any further complications, barely.

Two weeks in and 2B Aaron Hill has missed close to a week after being hit by a pitch on his wrist (what is it with this team and hand injuries :? ), top drafted closer John Axford has been demoted, number 2 starter Johnny Cuerto has been placed on the DL, and top starter Zack Greinke has become the poster child on these boards for the anti-charge the mound crowd after being tackled by Carlos Quentin into a half season stay on the shelf. :o

Ummm, yikes. This squad definitely needs an exorcism. If ever I was going to throw in the towel on a team.......

Well, wait a second. There was an inkling of good news yesterday. Headley's recovery has been going great and he might be back as early as tomorrow!! Screw it, like I said it's still too early to give up, I think this team still has a chance. ;) :D
Just in case though, anyone have the number to a good exorcist?

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In this picture: Zack Greinke tries a new revolutionary method of rehab.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:20 am

We all have those players. You know who I'm talking about. The ones year after year we roster thinking this will be the season that they reward our faith in them. The ones we keep finding reasons to go back to year after year even though they let us down year after year.

Erik Bedard is one of those players for me.

While everyone else was rushing to their FAAB pages to up their bids on Jose Fernandez, I'd show how much smarter I was. I'd instead make much smaller investments on my guy Bedard and be rewarded right off the bat with a stellar 2-start week. It looked so promising for the first game, in Oakland's huge pitcher's park, both of the A's middle of the order bats Cespedes and Reddick on the bench, their speedy leadoff hitter Crisp in his first game back from a leg injury.

And I was rewarded, with a Bedard 2-hitter!! Of course, those 2 hits came over only 7 batters. He walked 4 of the other 5. One of the 2 hits, a 3-run homer that mercifully knocked him out of the game and brought an end to the pain.

Final line: 1/3 inning, 2 hits, 6 runs, all earned, 4 walks, and one K.

At least the squads I started him for weren't any that I really cared about, only a pair of Mains, the Ultimate Auction, Joe's 12-team Super and KJ's MLBC. :? :(

Well, at least he got the one K to help my counting stats for all those teams. :roll:

Greg, can I retract my Jose Fernandez posts from Sunday and have a do over on FAAB?

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I'll make myself feel better by imagining this photo being taken just prior to that ball being fired off Bedard's noggin. 8-)

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by KJ Duke » Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:38 am

◄ On the left, guy who won Jose Fernandez for $280
On the right, Lowy watching Bedard game after $1 bid ►

Image

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Quahogs » Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:29 am

:lol: :lol: :lol: ah KJ thanks for the laugh !

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:20 am

There seems to be a lot of anger on the boards these days due to the non-stop rash of injuries, closer carnage, and starting pitcher blowups that have ravaged our lineups and places in the standings during the early stages of this fantasy season.

After the Aaron Hill diagnosis last night of a 4-6 week stay on the DL wrecked the fantasy prospects of yet another several of my squads, I thought of following up KJ's post above with another animated GIF demonstating my anger and frustration. Image

However, I instead decided to try to cheer myself up with an animated GIF along different lines. :D

For anyone else who needs a break from a rough early season, enjoy a GIF of Miss Upton celebrating the latest Mets victory.....

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Aaron who?

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:51 am

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vs.
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Tonight, those who broke the FAAB bank for Jose Fernandez get their initial chance at some ROI, but in Fernandez's first start against one of the better MLB lineups and in one of the tougher hitter's parks. How he performs in this setting could be a real indication on what can be expected from Fernandez moving forward.

While those who missed out on Fernandez get their first look at Tony Cingrani to help decide on whether to make similar bids on him this coming FAAB Sunday as a consolation prize for losing out on Fernandez last week.

No matter what happens, I really look forward to this game. It's games like this that make me happy for my investment in MLB.TV. :)

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Mon Apr 29, 2013 9:25 pm

When I was younger and first becoming passionate about sports in the mid to late 70's, the games that most captured my imagination were those that matched up one great player against another. Although based within the context of team sports, there was always that one on one matchup or rivalry that seemed to transcend the rest of the game for me. In football, it was Bradshaw vs Staubach. In hoops, of course Bird vs Magic. In baseball, then as it is today, it was the games that featured one all-time great pitcher taking the hill against another.

There were so many great pitchers in baseball when I first grew to love the game. Nolan Ryan, Jim Palmer, Luis Tiant, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Vida, Fergie, Catfish, Gaylord and on and on.

However as a Mets fan, I have no qualms in stating that the greatest of them all was Tom Seaver. The Mets were already past their '69 Miracle and '73 Ya Gotta Believe teams when I first started following them regularly. They had become a mediocre team, not yet the M Donald Grant dismantled disgrace of the late '70's, but no longer a serious contender. However, we still had Seaver. He made the team special. We had the greatest pitcher in the world and no other team could say that. He was my favorite player then and remains so to this day.

The villain of this story was Steve Carlton. I despised Carlton. He played for the hated Phillies, at the time a team that won the division year after year. He reached the record of 19 K's in a game before Seaver did. He matched Seaver's record of three Cy Young awards and then surpassed it. He even stole the 1977 Cy Young award out from Seaver's deserving hands the year Seaver was traded away by the Mets. He was the one pitcher in the National League who dared to challenge Seaver's rightful claim as best pitcher in the game. I really, really hated Carlton.

Seaver vs Carlton was a regular occurance during their HOF careers. 17 times in all. Often times on Opening Day or during big games in September. Their best against our best when it counted most, the way it's supposed to be. Their final matchup was on Opening Day 1983, Seaver's triumphant return to Shea Stadium and the franchise he made great. Seaver and the Mets won 2-0. I was in the stands that day.

Carlton may have finished his career with more Cy Youngs than Seaver, more strikeouts, more career victories. Still, they faced each other 17 times. Seaver was 11-3 in those games, Carlton 2-12. Seaver wins the rivalry.

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A decade later, the Mets again had the best pitcher in baseball, Doc Gooden. Unfortunately, there was no perfect foil at this time to play the villain. The other great pitchers of the time playing in the other division or the other league. And even when Doc got to face off against the player probably considered the other most dominant pitcher of the time, Roger Clemens, in the World Series, the matchup failed to live up to expectations.

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Flash forward to today and the Mets once again have one of the great young pitchers of a generation in Matt Harvey. What makes it all the more special is that within his division are other young pitchers with the elite arms and the elite skills to one day be part of the debate along with Harvey for title of the greatest pitcher in baseball. Two weeks ago I got to watch Harvey beat Steven Strasburg. Tonight I watched him outpitch Jose Fernandez. Some day soon I'll watch him face off against Julio Teheran. Will one of these pitchers play the Carlton to Harvey's Seaver? We have many years to find out. It should be fun watching.

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I have Harvey on none of my fantasy teams this year. I won't make that mistake again. Still, I look forward to every one of his starts. As a fantasy baseball player, it's painful to watch him pitch so well for others. As a Mets fan, I don't care. The future is bright in Queens.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Outlaw » Wed May 01, 2013 12:49 pm

Wheeler coming soon, and me thinks he will be better than Harvey...let the goods times roll again in Flushing. in the late 60's and early 70's we would take the LIRR morning train in the summer and sneak into Shea for day games at like 8am in the morning and then my dad would pick us up on his way home from work. We used to sleep in the press box until BP... The good old days

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Thu May 02, 2013 7:24 am

Outlaw wrote:Wheeler coming soon, and me thinks he will be better than Harvey...let the goods times roll again in Flushing.
No doubt Mike. Let's not forget that some feel the ceiling for Noah Syndegaard is the highest between he, Harvey, and Wheeler.

That's not to mention that Wheeler and Syndergaard would be joining a staff that already includes the already dominant Harvey, as well as other talented young starters in Niese and Gee and young flame throwing relievers in Parnell and Familia. Or that a bevy of additional great arms are rising through the system in Montero, Mazzoni, Fulmer, Tapio, Mateo, Pill, etc. etc.

Though not as deep, there's a few hitting prospects hopefully on their way as well to help David Wright, Ike Davis, and a rejuvenated Lucas Duda provide some run support for these talented young arms in D'arnaud, Flores, Nimmo, and Cecchini.

I saw a similar dynamic in the early 80's when Doc, Darling, and Sid were joined by Darryl, Dykstra, Mookie, and Hubie to set the stage for a decade of dominance. Now we just need to find our Hernandez and Carter and we should be all set. :)

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Fri May 03, 2013 11:12 pm

The Fantasy Gods are truly a cruel bunch. Coming into this week, I was starting to feel pretty good about my teams. Most managing to stay competitive in the season's early going.....and about to get healthier.

A quintet of inured and infirmed that I have on multiple rosterss were due back, Hanley Ramirez, Aramis Ramirez, Ryan Zimmerman, Michael Saunders, and Shane Victorino. My teams almost across the board have one or two of these guys. The cavalry was coming!!!

The Fantasy Gods noticing the hint of a smile decided they couldn't have that and quickly wiped it off my face with a pair of Monday (of course) extra inning injuries to Peter Bourjos and Coco Crisp, damaging over half my teams. And then as soon as I was able to pull those guys from my starting lineups on Friday, the Gods struck down Chris Davis and the momentary presence of Hanley Ramirez from too many of my teams to count with a few well aimed lightning bolts from the heavens (or more likely somewhere much lower :evil: ). Not to mention the Youkitis that Carl Crawford and Troy Tulowitzki are inflicting on my squads, which should come as no surprise. (I mean what the hell are heavy legs?) :roll:

So I'm back to trying to figure out how the hell I'm even going to be able to field full lineups, let alone having to do so with the likes of Brian Dozier and Wil Venable for the few teams where I still can. :(

Well at least the Gods took Brett Anderson and Josh Johnson as well to keep some injury balance for both the offensive and pitching sides of the ledger. :?

There are days that I truly hate this hobby and curse the Fantasy Gods. :x
Seriously, why do I play this game???


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In this picture: The Fantasy Gods aiming for one of my last healthy players. :shock:

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Tue May 07, 2013 10:05 am

My birthday was this past Sunday. I turned 77 years old. :o Not really, I'm actually a few decades younger, but there are sure days I don't feel like it. I had a conversation with a friend recently that when looking back to when I turned 40 a few years ago, it now seems like a turning point. Not that the date itself had any significant psychological meaning for me. I didn't start chasing younger women or racing motorcycles, no mid-life crisis here. To me, each year is just a number. Inside, I still feel like I'm in my 20's. However, physically....another story.

I've played sports for what seems like my whole life. One of three brothers seperated by only a couple years in age, sports was everything to us. Between little league or school games always on the schedule to pickup street or sandlot games whenever we had a free moment to get one together, there was always a game to play. And we played everything. Baseball, football, hockey, hoops. It didn't matter what as long as we were playing something. I continued playing heavily into my late 20's until the year before I got married. That year included participation in a baseball league, softball league, flag football, a pair of deck hockey leagues, and a church basketball team. :D

However as the years went by and marriage, starting a home and family, and the time restraints of moving up in my career all conspired to limit the time I could spend on personal recreational activities, I started giving up the teams I had been playing on one by one. My body also started demanding a more casual approach to sports. As my 20's rolled into my 30's and then eventually my 40's, the ability to bounce back from a day or night of ball became a little more difficult. Playing a 10pm hoops game at my friend's church or a midnight deck hockey game and then being ready to get up for work at 6am the next morning started becoming a bit more challenging than it used to be. Even actually heading out to a game that late after a long day at work started becoming more of a chore than something I looked forward to. Man, it sucks getting older. :(

Eventually I was down to just playing Sunday morning softball and when my twin baby girls were born 3 summers ago, I gave that up as well to spend more time with the family. Now my sports participation is limited to the softball game we play at the annual Father's Day picnic, a round of golf here and there, a few hours a week at the gym, and watching my Mets, Jets, Rangers, and Knicks on the tube or at the occassional game. Oh, and of course there's fantasy sports. Thank God for that. I can still get my competitive juices flowing there.

And then there's my son, Joseph, now 5 years old. He already has the same love of sports that his father, his grandfather, and his uncles always had. There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't grab both our gloves and ask to have a catch. When at his cousin's birthday party at the ice skating rink a couple weeks back, he was the first on and last off the ice and only took a break to have some cake. When at another party a few weeks earlier at the bowling alley, he was rolling balls down the lane long after all the other kids had moved onto throwing quarters into the video game machines. For my birthday, he "bought" me (with his mother's help of course :) ) a football with the Jets logo emblazoned on it. Each day and night since, we've tossed it back and forth.

I signed Joseph up for a baseball clinic this spring. The morning of my birthday was the second of eight Sundays he'll be attending this spring. This was the first class that they split the kids up to play a game. Joseph was the second to bat. He hit the ball a country mile (well, maybe a father's rose colored glasses are a small part of that description 8-) ) and ran to first. He was easily safe. The coach gave him a high five and told him great job. Immediately afterwards, Joseph turned his head to seek me out. We caught eyes. I saw how proud he was. I was even more proud. It was a great moment. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present.

My days of playing baseball have faded. My son's are just beginning. I think I'll enjoy his moments even more than my own.


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Thank God neither of us throw like this but I'd be proud of Joseph no matter how he threw.
(But man, do I love that commercial. :D )

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Wed May 08, 2013 7:41 am

We owe Daniel Okrent and Glenn Waggoner a huge debt of gratitude. Without them, who knows if this great hobby of ours would be as big as it is today or even here at all in its current form. However, they are not without fault. After all, when they were deciding on the four pitching categories to go along with the four hitting categories for that original Rotisserie league, they settled upon wins, ERA, WHIP......and Saves. :x

Seriously, why saves? They could have just as easily gone with strikeouts. After all, saves at the time was a relatively new statistic, only official for about a decade. It's not like they made game winning RBI's an offensive category. :? Strikeouts did get added once the game was expanded to 5x5 rotisserie, but who knows if it would have even been expanded just to add saves if that had not been an original category?

The reason I bring this up...... I HATE CLOSERS!!!

I know I make that statement year after year, but I really do HATE CLOSERS! Seriously, what do they bring to the game. Just pain. They come in for an inning, blow a save, destroy your WHIP and ERA, cost your starter a win, and just give you non-stop agita for as long as they're in the game. Then they get hurt and you're forced to spend half your FAAB bankroll on the next one inning WHIP killer to just do the same thing all over again.

It's only Wednesday and this week we've already seen Hanrahan and Putz get hurt, League give up another couple runs in a game he couldn't even save, Holland, Rodney, and even the great Kimbrell blow saves. And I'm sure I'm leaving out a disaster or two.

It's why I try to never spend on closers in the draft. Those who spent a foundation draft pick or 10% of their auction budget on Kimbrell certainly didn't anticipate weeks like this last one from him. Give me the cheap guy and once in a while I'll get lucky with a Grilli this year or a Johnson last season. Of course, when you wait on closers you sometimes end up with the unmitigated disaster that is Carlos Marmol on your teams like I did this year. Still, even those who spent more ended up with the unmitigated disaster that is John Axford on theirs (I had him here and there too by the way. :( )

Nonetheless, my main point is I HATE CLOSERS!!! There is no category that is more luck based than saves. We should correct the one wrong that Okrent and Waggoner committed and do away with the category. Maybe we can replace it with GB % or something. Anything would be better.

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Money » Wed May 08, 2013 8:44 am

Glenneration X wrote:
It's why I try to never spend on closers in the draft.
The only draft (12 team super) that I was in with you Glenn you took Chapman at 6.4. The jury is still out on that one. I agree with you saves is a very frustrating category.
Joe

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Wed May 08, 2013 7:17 pm

Money wrote:
Glenneration X wrote:
It's why I try to never spend on closers in the draft.
The only draft (12 team super) that I was in with you Glenn you took Chapman at 6.4. The jury is still out on that one. I agree with you saves is a very frustrating category.
I hear ya Joe. Still, that was the only team in the 13 NFBC leagues I took part in this year that I drafted either Kimbrel or Chapman. For whatever reason, it was part of my strategy in that draft. Looking back though, I wish I had done there what I did for most of my other teams and waited on Grilli instead. :)

By the way, I took a peek at last week's Main Event FAAB results and what do I find.....

Heath Bell (Ari) $25 NFBC Main Event Las Vegas March 23 League 3 Quahogs ME LV
Heath Bell (Ari) $7 NFBC Main Event Las Vegas March 23 League 4 Gigglin for CC's
Heath Bell (Ari) $7 NFBC Main Event Las Vegas March 30 League 1 SportsDraftDaily.com
Heath Bell (Ari) $27 NFBC Main Event Online March 27 8 pm ET League 3 Quahogs ME OL

I guess that's why some are in the Hall of Fame while the rest of us are on the outside looking in. :?

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Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sat May 11, 2013 8:56 am

It would be tough to find a better time to be a New York sports fan.
(Unless you root for the horrid and aged Yankees that is.) :P


However, it's more than just the reincarnation of Tom Seaver and a future that looks so bright in Queens....

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Because right now and for the next few weeks, baseball is taking a back seat to a pair of other sports in this town and Citifield leaves center stage to Madison Square Garden.


As my Knicks continue their march towards destiny and their inevitable clash with the evil Lebron and the Heat.....

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And the King takes over these next two games by stonewalling the evil Ovechkin and the Caps to continue their march towards a Stanley Cup......

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I'm feeling 1994 in the air. We can start talking '86 again in a couple months. ;)

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Glenneration X
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Location: Long Island, NY

Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Sun May 12, 2013 6:13 am

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Unfortunately, I've been overruled and we're doing the brunch instead. :)
Still, to all the Moms out there, enjoy your day, and to all the sons and daughters, enjoy the time with your Moms.
Happy Mother's Day everyone.

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Glenneration X
Posts: 3730
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:00 pm
Location: Long Island, NY

Re: The Chase Continues - A Fantasy Baseball Blog

Post by Glenneration X » Mon May 13, 2013 9:02 pm

It still feels like the baseball season just started, that our Main Event drafts were just the other day. It's hard to believe that instead we've actually entered the 8th official week of the NFBC season, that a pair of MLB teams will play their 40th games tonight, and with that we're now at the quarter pole of our fantasy seasons.

It's still early, but no longer too early. By now our teams have created a baseline for which we can truly see where we need to improve in both positions and categories. It's still a bit premature to get caught up in the standings, but the days of moving up or down 20 points in the league standings off one very hot or cold night are over.

The following is where I stand in my leagues coming into to tonight and a brief commentary of how I feel about each team at this point:

Diamond League - 3rd place, 87.5 points
Bobby Particelli's been running away with this league, now holding a 30 pt league over 2nd. The rest of the top 10 in the standings have been bunched up, with as little as 10 points seperating us from one another this week. The tight standings has allowed my team the opportunity to jump from 10th to 3rd, just off a couple hot nights this weekend. Of course, that means I could be back in 10th just as quickly. Still, Granderson's back this week and Hanley in a few to hopefully provide an infusion of much needed power, and JJ Putz's injury has finally allowed me to get a 2nd closer in the lineup in Heath Bell, so maybe I can stay out of 10th for a while.

Ultimate Auction - 1st place, 123 points
I have no idea how this team has managed to sneak into this position, but I'm hoping the Fantasy Gods allow me to stay here for a while. I'm relying on a lot of overachievers right now, so it won't be easy.

Main Event Las Vegas - 1st place, 116 points, 18th overall
This team has come out of the gates firing on all cylinders, except for the one category I knew would be an issue coming out of the draft, batting average. Sitting at a mighty .250, all I have to say to all the kids out there who might also consider an Adam Dunn / Dan Uggla combination....just say NO! :( I better figure out this category quick as sitting right behind me in 2nd right now is no other than the Great Lindy. :shock: I don't see this team holding him off for long, probably not even for the night.

Main Event Online - 5th place, 100 points, 93rd overall
This is the team I'm covering for Baseball HQ and though it's not where I dreamed of it being when I accepted the assignment, at least I'm not embarrassing myself. With Hanley & Aaron HIll already on the shelf, I'm hoping Altuve's injury tonight is not long term. Already starting Chris Nelson & Derek Dietrich, how much worse of a MI can this team survive?

Main Event New York - 2nd place, 98.5 points, 98th overall
When I drafted this team, power was the last thing I was worried about. However, Kemp, Pedroia, Aramis Ramirez, and Jesus Montero have help lead this team to its current Judy status. Luckily the pitching has overachieved. If a couple of my Judy's can turn it up a bit and the pitching holds up, I'll feel a whole lot better about this team's chances.

KJ's MLBC Salary Cap League - 2nd place, 111.5 points
70 points on offense, 41.5 points in pitching. Why the disparity when I spent evenly on both? Matt Cain, Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson, Johnny Cueto, Chris Carpenter, etc. etc. etc. Enough said.

Max's 1000 Slow Draft - 6th place, 81 points
Spring training was not kind to this team and it's been DOA since. Where it stands now is likely it's high point. When you're forced to start the likes of Marlon Byrd weekly this early in the season, that says it all about the depth you've created. Even as a Mets fan, I'm having trouble with that one. :?

Joe Berg's 12-Team Super - 4th place, 74 points
I was in 1st place in this league just a week ago. Since then I've been passed by the likes of Juprinka, Particelli, and Dobies. Let's just say I don't like my chances looking up at that trio. My pitching has started to nose dive a bit in this league. I'll need Verlander, Medlen, & Peavy to show more than they've shown to date if I'm going to have any hope of catching these guys or keeping some of the other sharks in this league from passing me as well.

XII Las Vegas - 8th place, 54 points, 162nd overall
The worst performing of all my teams during the first quarter of the season. I look at this team and can't figure out what's wrong with it or how to fix it. The curse of the 12-teamers.

XII Online - 3rd place, 78.5 points, 49th overall
I look at this team and can't figure out why this one is competitive or how to get it over the hump. The curse of the 12-teamers.

XII New York - 1st place, 94.5 points, 4th overall
I look at this team and can't figure out why it's doing so well or how to keep it there. The curse of the 12-teamers. :P

Online Championships 3/17 draft - 4th place, 73 points
This team paid full price for Hanley and Headley the week prior to their spring training injuries, has since lost Aaron Hill, Cameron Maybin, Peter Bourjos, Zack Grienke, Johnny Cueto, and Brett Anderson as well, and had John Axford destroy its WHIP & ERA prior to losing his closer role. Yet, it's still in 4th place? The blessing of 12-teamers. :D

Online Championships 3/31 draft - 4th place, 79 points
Ya probably know what direction I am heading with this commentary.... 8-)

FBPC Main Event - 2nd place, 98.5 points, 19th overall
My one try at another contest, a contest filled with fantasy baseball sharks looking for ROI and fantasy football players looking at the same. It's the same format as the WCOFB used to run, a format that I've had some success playing in the past. 14-teamer, 10 pitchers. Different, but at least it's not a 12-teamer. :D Joe, if you're reading, I'm just having some fun here. :P

A quarter of the season done. Thus far, several of my teams remaining in the hunt. Hopefully during the next quarter, the teams that have started strong will remain so and those who haven't will have made up ground. It's a long fantasy baseball season. Long, long way to go, and hopefully a blast of a good time the whole way through.

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