Originally posted by Gordon Gekko II:
I’m only in one on-line championship league, and my strategy for that (12 teamer) is different than I used for the main event (15 teamer). So, there are no worries in posting my main event team. If you have opinions, please post them. Thanks in advance.
From the 2 hole…
1 Poodles
2 Alex Ramirez
3 McCann
4 Billingsly
5 Beckett
6 Broxton
7 Hunter
8 Iannetta
9 J.Lopez
10 Milledge
11 A.Jones
12 E.Dukes
13 C.Gomez
14 Jurrgens
15 Lyon
16 Thome
17 Blake
18 S.Marshall
19 Zimmerman
20 A.Cabrera
21 Smoltz
22 Arrendondo
23 Blanton
24 Owings
25 Overbay (I think)
26 Happ
27 A.McCutchen
28 Crede (I think)
29 Saito
30 J.Lewis I don't see a problem with jumping for players if they are the "right" players. You "reached" pretty far on close to half your first 10 picks, I hope you're right about them.
The positive: Power and steals are exceptional.
It's obvious you had goals and hit them. BA might be a slight problem here. There's more than a few guys who hit for a higher avg than I'd anticipate in 2009.
I see your base projection for Alexei and it's reasonable but you forgot to mention a glaring weakness in Alexei's game that few people notice, his lack of runs. His .317 on-base percentage hitting low in the lineup is a big indicator. He will probably score around 75 runs in 150 game season. His power looks to be for real. Even if he gives you 25 homers, his BA could seriously be around .260-270 with low runs and 15 steals.
He's scary to me. So scary that the top 4 rounds are better off passing, yet you got him in the 2nd. He could be this year's Tulowitzki. You might hit on him, I think the risk outweighs the reward though.
Jose Lopez broke out last year and was consistent but he did hit .252 just a year earlier. He might be closer to .280 this year.
McCann's another guy who I think is a little overrated this year. You could have gotten V-mart in the 4th or 5th and gotten similar numbers albeit with 10+ more runs. V-mart's advantage over all the other catchers is his 550 at-bats he gets as he DH's here and there. Most catchers get 450-500. Before last year's injury, V-mart had 3 years in a row with a .300+ BA, McCann hit .270 in 2007 so that .300 BA isn't something you should write in stone.
Torii Hunter was an excellent pick in the 7th round, it's funny how much he has dropped.
Adam Jones is a great upside pick this year.
If I just look at your individual picks on offense I'm not entirely impressed, but if I look at the whole, it's very solid. Excellent job. I like the fact that you go after guys you like without focusing too much on the ADP, which is the kiss of death.
Your pitching is another story:
3 of your top 7 starting pitchers are still trying to win the 5th spot in their own rotation.
Josh Beckett (could be in line for the CY, pray he stays healthy) Nice pick.
Billingsley - You went overboard for Billingsley. I'm not as enthusiastic as most but of course there's upside. Don't be surprised to see a similar season to 2008 though. That whip will continue to be in a rough territory with that high walk output. Sure, he could win a Cy Young if everything fell right, but that whip isn't something you're going to like. Half his months last year he had a whip of 1.48++. He just walks too many hitters now. It's kind of hard to predict breakout performance from a pitcher if his control is not as great as you want. That's not something you can flip a switch on. Don't get me wrong, Chad has big upside in the coming years, if he improves his control just a little bit from last year then you've got real nice pick there. That pick makes me think you might pay too close attention to Shandler.
Still, top 2 starters are very good, and probably better than 2/3 of the league.
Jair Jurrjens is a very nice pitcher, I expect him to have an even better year this year.
Top 3 starters look solid, then the bottom falls apart.
Sean Marshall (could be improved this year, might be a drop)
Jordan Zimmerman (might get sent down)
John Smoltz (I like this pick ALOT but he's on your bench for 2 months), you've got to have solid pitchers in place.
Blanton - He looked great in the postseason, but I'm not really understanding this pick.
Micah Owings - My #1 true sleeper - has the potential to be your 3rd best starter.
Maybe I missed something, I only see 6 SP's who will actually start the year in the rotation,
I see a lot of question marks in your pitching. Too many. A lot of responses have been, you have hit your projections (offense) yada yada, what kind of projections does everyone see for your pitching staff?
You do get respect because you've won, deservedly. If you win with THAT team, then you have my ultimate respect. I've heard you're a real nice guy outside of the message boards, I hope you bring some more of that into your board presence.
I'm sure we disagree about your team here, but you have won in this format, and I have not.
Good luck on your season.
"Hit a home run - put your head down, drop the bat, run around the bases, because the name on the front is more - a lot more important than the name on the back."
Ryne Sandberg (my favorite player of all-time)