So I'm sure people are approaching their fantasy drafts...who are some players to stay away from or look out for? I'm not big on Joe Nathan too early, don't know about his elbow condition, just had to be sent back to Minnesota

stay away from Jose Reyes

I think Ben Zobrist is going to be a quality player you can get in the 4th - 6th round depending on your league size...in Yahoo he has 2B, SS, OF eligibility and is a good 5-tool player

I'm helping a buddy draft tonight and don't want to accidentally pick somebody and have another guy in the draft be like "lol you know he's out for 4 months right"

3/7/2010 6:02:58 PM

More No

3/7/2010 6:05:02 PM

please guys, i have a match draft tonight

3/7/2010 6:17:09 PM

If Reyes drops to Round 6 or 7 absolutely pick him up. He is 100% recovered from last season. He has an overactive thyroid that he is going to need to take medicine for but it is NOT a concern. He will be fine for opening day and I expect a BIG year.

3/7/2010 6:20:35 PM

interesting...i just saw he wasn't generally selected as a top 5 SS like he has been in the last number of years...I'll keep that in mind

3/7/2010 6:22:22 PM

Obviously you're going to want to go Hanley, Jeter, Tulo and Zobrist beforehand but I'd certainly take Reyes over the likes of Alexei, Drew or Rollins.

I also like Yunel Escobar if you don't feel safe with Reyes. I think he'll have a big year in 2010... he was actually really good last year and I've seen some fantasy sites listing up in the double digits among SS...

V Is Strasburg even created in Yahoo yet? If so, then maybe a late round pick but I don't think he'll be up anytime in the first half... I've heard UNBELIEVABLE reports out of camp about him though. Pudge saying that his slider is not only unhittable, but nearly uncatchable...

[Edited on March 7, 2010 at 6:28 PM. Reason : x]

3/7/2010 6:25:04 PM

what about somebody like Strasburg? (^not sure) They'll tactfully keep him out of the majors temporarily for future arbitration purposes but when its all said and done could he be a top-20 SP? top-50?

Think he'll put up numbers like Hanson did last year?

Who are some other rookies/AAA guys to keep an eye out for? What 'Matt Weiters' are there this year?

I also changed up my league's scoring format this year

Last year it was AVG, R, RBI, HR, SB, XBH and W, L, SV, K, ERA, WHIP

I added OBP and Quality Starts

[Edited on March 7, 2010 at 6:31 PM. Reason : .]

3/7/2010 6:26:21 PM

I've been making my "big board" for a couple days now. I love Halladay pitching in the NL East, he's currently listed at 17, I'd grab him first round probably. I also like Soriano (TB) and Mike Gonzalez (BAL) who should both be closing, gonzo is going pretty late and has been real good when he's closed as long as he's healthy.

I don't really know about any injuries, but the only person I would do some research on is Shin-Soo Choo, who is supposed to do 2 years of military service before he turns 30, and he'll be 28 at sometime this year, so who knows what's going to be up with him.

3/7/2010 11:47:26 PM

here are the draft results from last night...the league has 9 starting pitcher spots, 3 relief pitcher spots, and 4 UTIL spots fwiw

1 Albert Pujols, StL 1B
16 Matt Kemp, LAD OF
17 Joe Mauer, Min C
32 Troy Tulowitzki, Col SS
33 Cliff Lee, Sea SP
48 Johan Santana, NYM SP
49 Pablo Sandoval, SF 3B
64 Jose Reyes, NYM SS
65 Josh Johnson, Fla SP
80 Ben Zobrist, TB 2B
81 Jake Peavy, CWS SP
96 Manny Ramirez, LAD OF
97 Jonathan Papelbon, Bos RP
112 Carlos Quentin, CWS OF
113 Scott Kazmir, LAA SP
128 Carlos Beltran, NYM OF
129 Jered Weaver, LAA SP
144 Asdrubal Cabrera, Cle 2B
145 Brian Fuentes, LAA RP
160 Jason Kubel, Min OF
161 Vladimir Guerrero, Tex DH
176 Frank Francisco, Tex RP
177 Mark Buehrle, CWS SP
192 Jonathan Sanchez, SF SP
193 Alex Gordon, KC 3B
208 Erik Bedard, Sea SP
209 Vernon Wells, Tor OF
224 Aaron Cook, Col SP
225 Nick Swisher, NYY 1B
240 Leo Nunez, Fla RP
241 Kyle Lohse, StL SP
256 Chris Young, Ari OF

3/8/2010 10:09:37 AM

Kemp is a top 5 player

Him falling to 16 instantly tells me that league is full of mongloids

3/8/2010 10:11:54 AM

with 9 starting pitcher spots, people just overvalued pitchers...i was more surprised at where utley fell

ROUND 1
1 Albert Pujols, StL 1B
2 Hanley Ramirez, Fla SS
3 Tim Lincecum, SF SP
4 Ryan Braun, Mil OF
5 Alex Rodriguez, NYY
6 Prince Fielder, Mil 1B
7 Ryan Howard, Phi 1B
8 Miguel Cabrera, Det 1B
ROUND 2
9 Mark Teixeira, NYY 1B
10 CC Sabathia, NYY SP
11 Roy Halladay, Phi SP
12 Chase Utley, Phi 2B
13 Evan Longoria, TB 3B
14 Felix Hernandez, Sea SP
15 Justin Upton, Ari OF
16 Matt Kemp, LAD OF

3/8/2010 10:13:58 AM

BTW we're holding a live draft in Charlotte toward the end of the month, location unknown at this point

Few spots open in a league that's been around since 2002 or so

Decent buy in...let me know if theres any interest

3/8/2010 10:17:27 AM

any advice for an auction draft? This is my first year in one of those leagues

3/8/2010 10:24:31 AM

^The newest 'auction' strategy is to aim for everything BUT power. It's like a bastard version of the LIMA plan

also

Quote :

"that league is full of mongloids"

3/8/2010 11:05:32 AM

its not even my league

glad you could jump in to say it was mongoloids though

where were you to jump in last night and give advice before the draft

3/8/2010 11:11:55 AM

Joe Nathan could miss the entire season.. looks like he'll be sliding to the very bottom of my board, although I'm sure somebody will take them and I'll have a good laugh in their face

3/9/2010 12:06:22 PM

anyone doing a TWW mlb.com fantasy league again this year?

3/9/2010 12:11:02 PM

is aroldis chapman going to start the season in the minors? should I pick him up and drop Mark Buehrle?

Should I drop Kerry Wood for Jon Rauch? Wood is probably going to be traded to a team who needs a closer (maybe the twins) so I feel like he may be worth holding onto. Rauch is supposed to be in a battle for the Twins closer spot, he'll get the first crack at it but he might wind up losing the job before the season even starts

3/9/2010 6:04:18 PM

Aroldis has no other pitches, he won't be in MLB for most of the year, there's really no reason to have him right now. I would wait for the Twins to decide something, honestly without hearing anything, I'd expect Guerrier(sp?) to be their closer unless they trade for somebody, but it's worth waiting the two weeks to see if Nathan is as hurt as they think he is.

3/10/2010 12:36:19 AM

Yeah luckily my draft is the Sunday before opening day so Nathan will have one more chance to test his arm, but as a realistic Twins fan, I don't expect him to throw a single third of an inning this season and hope he is ready for next year. Although TJ surgery is beastly; he might come back throwing 102 mph.

3/10/2010 12:42:31 AM

I think my strategy this year is to wait until late for outfielders...you can get some guys with huge upside like Josh Hamilton and Jay Bruce pretty late this year

3/10/2010 2:04:11 AM

I did a mock draft last night because I'm a big loser...8 team league, I had the 3rd pick...went with Braun...3rd pick is tricky decisions

1. Ryan Braun (Mil - OF)
2. Prince Fielder (Mil - 1B)
3. Ian Kinsler (Tex - 2B)
4. Adrián González (SD - 1B)
5. Jacoby Ellsbury (Bos - OF)
6. Brian McCann (Atl - C)
7. Mark Reynolds (Ari - 1B,3B)
8. Adam Wainwright (StL - SP)
9. Josh Johnson (Fla - SP)
10. Bobby Abreu (LAA - OF)
11. Josh Hamilton (Tex - OF)
12. Tommy Hanson (Atl - SP)
13. Denard Span (Min - OF)
14. Asdrubal Cabrera (Cle - 2B,SS)
15. Lance Berkman (Hou - 1B)
16. Gavin Floyd (CWS - SP)
17. Hiroki Kuroda (LAD - SP)
18. Alexei Ramírez (CWS - SS)
19. Chad Qualls (Ari - RP)
20. Leo Núñez (Fla - RP)
21. Justin Duchscherer (Oak - SP)
22. Chipper Jones (Atl - 3B)
23. Álex Ríos (CWS - OF)

3/10/2010 5:32:41 PM

I'd say you took asdrubal too high, he's a solid player but really not a good option for fantasy except avg.. might hit 10 HRs if he has a great year, steal 10-15 bases, but they he probably won't score a whole lot or drive in a lot without Victor Martinez, grady getting traded halfway through the year, etc.. Just my opinion of him, I don't like him unless it's pretty late.. him and Uggla, I hate Uggla

3/10/2010 5:35:48 PM

I'm not good at fantasy baseball because I let one season cement my opinion on a player.. like I'll probably never draft Josh Hamilton again after he fucked me last year and I always end up with Ben Sheets because he was good for me a long time ago

3/10/2010 5:43:26 PM

is Aroldis Chapman going to be like Volquez and Cueto a few years ago?

He is a Reds pitcher, threw two scoreless innings today, 3 Ks, hit 100mph a few times

3/10/2010 7:16:03 PM

Grady Sizemore is not going to get traded out of Cleveland this season, thats a touchy subject for me

^that was the same reason I asked the question earlier in the thread. I have Buerhle (sp?) on my roster right now and Aroldis is available for pick up, was thinking about swapping them, even though Buerhle is going to be playing all year while we dont know whats going on with Chapman

[Edited on March 10, 2010 at 9:14 PM. Reason : asdf]

3/10/2010 9:11:54 PM

haha my bad, i didnt know who he was when i originally read your post

3/10/2010 9:19:34 PM

first draft of the year for me last night, i think this was about the order, it was live though so I'm not positive. Standard 5x5, 10 teams, 3rd pick

2B Chase Utley
SS Troy Tulowitski
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Joey Votto
OF Jayson Werth
SP Cliff Lee
Util Derrek Lee
OF Adam Lind
OF Shin-Soo Choo
SP Ubaldo Jiminez
Util Carlos Pena
P Jered Weaver
P James Shields
P Matt Garza
RP Rafael Soriano
C Mike Napoli
RP Mike Gonzalez
BN Michael Cuddyer
BN Rick Porcello
BN Erik Bedard
BN Randy Wells
BN Garrett Jones
BN Jose Lopez

Also, Jason Heyward went like 9th round.. which is pretty rediculous, but I guess people are buzzing about him more and more so he's going earlier and earlier now..

[Edited on March 12, 2010 at 10:01 AM. Reason : JH]

3/12/2010 9:57:15 AM

Read an article on espn that said Werth was due for a big drop off

Something about how half his homers were "just enough", barely over the fence, and typically players like that regress with power numbers the next year

Said to expect more like 20-25 bombs than another 36

Don't mean to shit on your parade

3/12/2010 10:00:31 AM

I dont really buy into that, dude's been on the rise for a while now (at least it seems that way, I'm not looking at any stats) I think he's in a perfect environment in that lineup and should be fine

3/12/2010 10:04:19 AM

Quote :

"Kemp is a top 5 player"

no, he's not.

3/12/2010 10:25:29 AM

Nice breakdown, Buster Olney!

3/12/2010 10:27:25 AM

Here's my team. I made a few bold moves drafting Glaus, Heyward, and Lidge. Glaus will probably not be a good pick up but I wanted to grab him before someone else did if he started to play well. Definitely glad I took Heyward though.

C Joe Mauer, Min C, DH
1B Mark Teixeira, NYY 1B
2B Dan Uggla, Fla 2B
3B Chipper Jones, Atl 3B
SS Yunel Escobar, Atl SS
2B/SS Alexei Ramirez, CWS SS
1B/3B Adam Dunn, Was 1B, OF
OF Jason Bay, NYM OF
OF Jason Heyward, Atl OF
OF Juan Pierre, CWS OF
OF Brad Hawpe, Col OF
OF Rajai Davis, Oak OF
UTIL Yadier Molina, StL C
P Cliff Lee, Sea SP
P Adam Wainwright, StL SP
P Jonathan Papelbon, Bos RP
P Tommy Hanson, Atl SP
P Jair Jurrjens, Atl SP ]
P Brad Lidge, Phi RP
P Derek Lowe, Atl SP
P Mark Buehrle, CWS SP
P Matt Capps, Was RP
Bench Paul Konerko, CWS 1B
Bench Russell Branyan, Cle 1B
Bench Troy Glaus, Atl 3B

[Edited on March 12, 2010 at 10:31 AM. Reason : a]

[Edited on March 12, 2010 at 10:31 AM. Reason : d]

3/12/2010 10:30:14 AM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/fantasy/02/23/player-rankings-top200/index.html - 7
http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/mlb/news?slug=bf-bigboard-baseball - 13

Quote :

"Matt Kemp Fourth In Fantasy Drafts? Really? Personally, I don’t see any scenario that Kemp would figure into the top four players selected on draft day, but I’ve heard rumblings of people willing to do it, ahead of Ryan Braun and Chase Utley (the top three as Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez & Alex Rodriguez). I like Kemp as much as the next guy. I have him ranked as the second outfielder off the board and a sure fire first round pick, but taking him in the top four just seems curious to me, even if you put Ryan Braun in the Top Three. He’s a stud offensive player, as he displayed early and often in 2009: 606 At Bats .297 Batting Average (180 Hits) 26 Home Runs 101 RBI 97 Runs 34 Stolen Bases .352 On Base Percentage .490 Slugging Percentage .349 Batting Average on Balls in Play There is no number there that I don’t think he could repeat. * He’s a career .299 hitter * The power came courtesy of a very realistic 14.4% HR/FB (his career mark is 13.6%) and 38.3% flyball rate * He stole 35 bases in 2008 * He’ll be joined in the lineup by the likes of Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier, meaning there will be plenty of opportunities to both score and drive in runs He’s a star and we all know it, but what is the justification for taking him over someone like Braun (or Utley for that matter), who has: * Home Run totals of 34, 37 and 32 the last three seasons. The 32 HR year (2009) came courtesy of a 34.1% flyball rate when he had been at 44% his first two seasons. He has a realistic chance of reaching 40 in 2010. * Has posted a career average of .308 including seasons of .324 and .320 * In 2009 posted 114 RBI and 113 R. Considering he shares a lineup with Prince Fielder, he should easily be just as good as Kemp in both categories, meaning they both should push 100/100. The only place where Kemp has the advantage is speed, though Braun is no slouch there having stolen 15, 14 and 20 bases over the past three seasons. Is he going to reach the 30+ plateau? Probably not, but he more than makes up for his “shortfall” there with the immense power he possesses. Maybe it’s just me, but I just don’t see it. Braun is an absolute stud player and that’s not a knock on Kemp. While Kemp could push 30/30, Braun could go 40/20. With the ability to get speed late in your draft, I’m more than happy to take a player who helps there, but has tremendous power as opposed to the player with better speed and less power."

3/12/2010 10:32:39 AM

Here's Sportsline's predictions on Breakouts, Sleepers, and Busts so far, I'd say I agree with most of it:

Breakouts
Adam Jones
Clay Buchholz
Jacoby Ellsbury
Joba Chamberlain
Phil Hughes
BJ Upton
Edwin Encarnacion
Gordon Beckham
Matt LaPorta
Scott Sizemore
Billy Butler
Scott Baker
Kevin Slowey
Howie Kendrick
Brett Anderson
Franklin Gutierrez
Chris Davis
Tommy Hanson
Ricky Nolasco
John Maine
Stephen Strasburg
Geovany Soto
Joey Votto
Johnny Cueto
Bud Norris
Yovani Gallardo
Andrew McCutchen
Colby Rasmus
Stephen Drew
Ian Stewart
Chad Billingsley
Kyle Blanks
Jonathan Sanchez

Sleepers
Brian Matusz
Chris Tillman
Adrian Beltre
Nick Johnson
Sean Rodriguez
Shaun Marcum
Gabin Floys
Travis Hafner
Ryan Raburn
Alex Gordon
Fracisco Liriano
Brandon Wood
Ben Sheets
Milton Bradley
Julio Borbon
Jason Heyward
Anibal Sanchez
Jeff Francoeur
Brad Lidge
Ryan Madson
Elijah Dukes
Xavier Nady
Jay Bruce
Roy Oswalt
Casey McGehee
Andy LaRoche
Brad Penny
Kelly Johnson
Carlos Gonzalez
James Loney
Mat Latos
Madison Bumgarner

Busts
Mike Gonzalez
Marco Scutaro
Curtis Granderson
Ben Zobrist
Aaron Hill
Alex Rios
Jhonny Peralta
Brandon Inge
Scott Podsednik
Jim Thome
Torii Hunter
Rajai Davis
Cliff Lee
Michael Young
Chipper Jones
Jorge Cantu
Francisco Rodriguez
J.A. Happ
Nyjer Morgan
Alfonso Soriano
Hunter Pence
Alcides Escobar
Garrett Jones
Ryan Franklin
Edwin Jackson
Miguel Olivo
Manny Ramirez
Heath Bell
Benjie Molina

It could be argued that some of those "breakout" candidates have already broken out...but what CBS is stressing is that for whatever reason on those guys (injury, bad year, etc) they are undervalued this year and are prime to outperform their draft position...guys like BJ Upton, Geovany Soto, etc.

3/12/2010 10:38:06 AM

I'm not going to argue Kemp as a no brainer decision to go ahead of Braun and Utley

But I will say he should definitely go ahead of the pure power/no speed guys listed ahead of him on that board like Cabrera, Texiera and Fielder

Steals are 10x more valuable in fantasy than in real life, and the 30+ he gives you over guys like that far outweights the 10-15 more homers and 20-30 RBIs they might put up

3/12/2010 10:43:23 AM

Quote :

"league is full of mongloids"

3/12/2010 11:05:55 AM

Did you mean: mongoloids?

3/12/2010 12:51:01 PM

the busts list is dubious at best... Benjie Molina? he's never had an OPS over .785. podsednik has had barely had one solid year (wire to wire) in the MLB, let alone in fantasy baseball. I don't get it.. are these guys being over-drafted because the drafters are idiots?

3/12/2010 1:22:40 PM

Their general claim is that a bust is anyone who doesn't perform as well as his draft position.

Now whether they are using ADP or their own projections or something else I have no clue.

I suppose the argument on someone like Podsednik might be that he might not even finish the year as a starter, so he's probably not even worth a final round flier.

3/12/2010 1:51:27 PM

We just held our auction yesterday. It's a 10-team keeper league 5x5 categories.
Just looking for a team evaluation

Starters:
C- Brian McCann* $16
1B- Joey Votto* $3
1B- Adam Dunn $24
2B- Jose Lopez $7
SS- Troy Tulowitzki* $1
MI- Elvis Andrus* $6
3B- Brandon Wood $7
3B- Mark DeRosa $4
OF- Ryan Ludwick* $15
OF- Carlos Quentin* $18
OF-Jeff Francouer* $9
OF- Denard Span $8
OF- Shin Soo Choo $19
U- Rajai Davis $10

P- Roy Halladay* $19
P- Clay Buchholz* $3
P- Jeff Niemann* $3
P- Wade Davis $6
P-John Lackey $14
P-Daisuke Matsuzaka $8
P- Kenshin Kawakami $5
RP- Joakim Soria $14
RP- Ryan Franklin $7
RP- Brad Lidge* $12

Bench:
1B- Justin Smoak* $3
OF- Jason Heyward* $3
P- Vin Mazzaro* $3
OF- Desmond Jennings $3
3B- Brett Wallace $3
P- Madison Bumgarner* $3

*-denotes a player I had kept from last season

[Edited on March 14, 2010 at 11:38 AM. Reason : spelling]

3/14/2010 11:37:18 AM

what's the most you should spend on one player in a $300 budget auction? 40?

[Edited on March 16, 2010 at 1:11 PM. Reason : .]

3/16/2010 1:10:39 PM

I am in a 30 player $260 cap league and players went over $40. I think $50 would be reasonable for certain players. But it all depends on how many players you have to put on your roster.

3/16/2010 5:53:22 PM

23

I'm willing to go $50 for Hanley Ramirez, just didn't know if that was outrageous... or if I'd even have to go higher

3/16/2010 9:45:18 PM

4th round too high for Adam Dunn in an OBP league? No avg

3/16/2010 10:55:59 PM

so whats the word with Jose Reyes? I've read reports saying that he is still getting tested for the thyroid problems and even when they stabilize he is going to be eased into baseball activities. Is he going to miss significant amount of playing time because of this?

a guy who owns him in one of my leagues put him on the trading block, and I figure I could get him for super cheap right now, but is it even worth it?

NyM410 I'm looking at you

3/22/2010 9:58:23 PM

holy fuck auction drafts need a shorter clock on the back end, the last 100-150 picks were brutal

also fuck my league for having 2 extra infield spots and 9 pitchers

3/23/2010 9:48:23 AM

^ Yeah I was in a brutal draft this weekend where dudes logged in on Yahoo and then decided to let autopicker draft for them. That was okay in the first few rounds, but good God it sucked huge balls at the end when I and the other active managers were waiting 90 seconds for some ass clown to let Yahoo draft Christian Guzman.


Also I accepted this trade offer yesterday. Dude in this league sole purpose is to assemble the Twins team. He got Joe Mauer, Chipper Jones, and Matt Capps. I got Justin Upton, Ichiro, and Cole Hamels.

I think Chipper is going to have a bounce back year and I hate to lose Mauer as he is so much better than the rest of the catchers, but Upton could have a huge year, Ichiro is guaranteed 300 BA, 100+ runs, 30+ SBs, and Hamels could be back with Halladay as the Phils #1. What do you guys think?



[Edited on March 23, 2010 at 10:41 AM. Reason : xcv]

3/23/2010 10:40:00 AM

yeah it's a decent trade

yeah, we had two auto-pickers in our draft which made it impossible to get any kind of steals in the middle rounds... I did okay, I overpaid like a bitch for Hanley but I got Kinsler for $27 and Bay for $22 so I think it evened out

3/23/2010 10:42:29 AM

I'd have to see what other OF you have on your team but at face value I don't like it. Mauer is an offensive force at a value position and I think Chipper has a huge year knowing it's Cox's last.

Hamels should improve after his Verducci effect season, but it's always a risk in that ballpark and he is still having trouble leaving his pitches up in the Spring (not that the Spring really matters but that was a huge issue for him last year).

** Also, I'm sure everyone already knows but Strasburg will start in AA. He'll surely be called up in May or so though IMO. It's just to put off "starting his clock" early. If you are not high in waivers and he is in your league he's worth a low round pick IMO.

DROD, no updates on Reyes yet. Should know in a week or so but I'd expect him to miss April and probably be back at the start of May.

[Edited on March 23, 2010 at 10:46 AM. Reason : x]

3/23/2010 10:44:09 AM