Keeperstown (2014)

[Dwight Strawberry]

It’s that time of the year again…We were treated to such a great Super Bowl, Spring’s around the corner, and hot dog sales are about to go back up. What time is it you say…well, it’s baseball time. God’s gift to sports fans.

Year 5 is upon us…The Wood Anniversary. Last season saw a race go down to the wire with our resident Muslim taking the crown. Good job Hasib; if you ever want to trade back for Starlin Castro, I’m all ears.

Any who…Let’s get down to business. The season starts on March 22nd due to some bullshit ass games being played in fucking Australia. Crocodile Dundee is going to throw out the first pitch and Bud Selig is going to give Russell Crowe a handy. Fuck that shit.

So, the draft is set for Thursday, March 20th at 10pm EST. I’d like to keep it this date, so, make plans now to be there.

Keeper Deadline is Wednesday, March 12th. Select 11 keepers, same as past seasons.

League dues are $25.00 just like years past. Same payouts as well

1st $225
2nd $100
3rd $25

Draft order is as follows (Waiver Priority in parenthesis):

Power Outage (8)
Planet Whore (9)
Detroit RISP (5)
The 109ers (12)
Beantown Bullies (13)
AntlerSpoozzz (10)
Keep it .300 (14)
HoJo’s Heros (3)
Ball Lickers (2)
Can of Corn (6)
Slippery When Wet (11)
Don Zimmer’s Revenge (4)
Roy’s Jive Turkeys (7)
Can’t Hanley the Truth (1)


Other than that, get ready for some baseball folks. Good luck and may God Bless you all.

-Commish

[Dwight Strawberry]

If anyone is interested in moving a 1B, holla.

The following players are available as well as the #2 overall pick:

Ryan Braun
Josh Hamilton
Yoenis Cespedas
RA Dickey
Matt Garza

[Philaflava]

Really anyone on my team is moveable, though I think Miggy and Utley stay. Not that anyone wants Utley just saying.


1 Miguel Cabrera - 1B/3B
2 Chris Davis - OF
3 Xander Bogaerts - SS/3B
4 Jacoby Ellsbury - OF
5 Justin Upton - OF
6 Chase Utley - 2B
7 Cole Hamels - SP
8 Jered Weaver - SP
9 Trevor Rosenthal - RP
10 James Shields - SP
11 Jim Johnson - RP
12 CJ Wilson - SP
13 Francisco Liriano - SP

[Gregg Popabitch]

Everyone on my team is movable except for Mike Trout.

C - Wilin Rosario
1b - Brandon Belt, Matt Adams
2b- Dustin Pedroia, Jed Lowrie (SS eligible as well)
3b- Pedro Alvarez
SS- Hanley Ramirez
OF- Mike Trout, Alex Rios, Coco Crisp, BJ Upton, Avisail Garcia, Carlos Quentin

SP- Madison Bumgarner, Jordan Zimmerman, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray, Marco Estrada, Alex Wood, Randall Delgado, Rick Porcello, Jake Odorizzi
RP- Greg Holland, Jason Grilli, Huston Street, Ryan Cook

[Tommy Bunz]

Looking to make a pre-draft deal or two. I am thick in OF, SP & RP. Looking for some bats and some speed.

2B - Robinson Cano
3B - Chase Headley
OF - Jose Bautista
OF - Matt Holliday
OF - Adam Jones
OF - Austin Jackson
OF - Carl Crawford
3B/OF - Nick Castellanos

SP - Matt Cain
SP - Matt Moore
SP - Patrick Corbin
SP - Shelby Miller
SP - Jeff Samardzija

Closers: Joe Nathan, Jonathan Papelbon, Casey Janssen, David Robertson

[Roy Johnson]

I'd like to trade Anthony Rizzo for Jose Abreu.

C: Jon Lucroy
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Brandon Phillips
3B: Anthony Rendon
SS: Jurickson Profar
OF: Yasiel Puig
OF: Adam Eaton
OF: Leonys Martin
UT: Anthony Rizzo
BN: Nolan Arenado

SP: Chris Sale
SP: Cliff Lee
SP: Hisashi Iwakuma
SP: Jarrod Parker
SP: Corey Kluber
SP: Tyler Skaggs
RP: Aroldis Chapman
RP: Ernesto Frieri

[Dwight Strawberry]

Trade made...

Planet Whore sends his 1st round pick (rd 12) and Bobby Parnell

to

Go Sox for Allen Craig and his 2nd round pick (rd 13)

[Gregg Popabitch]

Send me your best offers for Han Ram, Pedroia, Bumgarner, and/or Zimmerman. Emails or PMs only please.

[Philaflava]

If anyone wants Justin Upton or James Shields holla.

[Dwight Strawberry]

Draft tonight...10pm EST

[Roy Johnson]

Bringing out the whiskey tonight, son.

And I'm gonna need it after Aroldis Chapman took a 115 MPH line drive to his face. Gone for two months, just like that.

[capable_keL]

Bringing out the whiskey tonight, son.

Is the wife okay with this? Did you run it by her first? Not sure if this is a good move, less you want to get fucking divorced

..pretty sure you dont want that

[Dwight Strawberry]

Draft Day deal made!

Planet Whore sends Clayton Kershaw, Josh Hamilton, and his 6th round pick

to

Keep it .300 for Andrew McCutchen, Julio Teheran, and his 9th round pick.

[Gregg Popabitch]

lol

[Tommy Bunz]

Not a sexy draft but I had too many holes to fill to put together a functioning roster for this year. Think I filled my benches with some decent upside plays. Speed will be a problem for me again this year but other than that its a decent squad.

C - Jonathan Lucroy
1B - Matt Adams
2B - Robinson Cano
SS - Alexei Ramirez
3B - Chase Headley
OF - Adam Jones
OF - Jose Bautista
OF - Matt Holliday
Util - Pablo Sandoval
BN - Jorge Soler, Colby Rasmus, Jon Singleton, Grady Sizemore, Drew Stubbs

SP - Matt Cain
SP - Matt Moore
SP - Shelby Miller
SP - Jeff Samardzija
SP - Kevin Gausman
SP - Martin Perez
SP - Nathan Eovaldi

RP - Joe Nathan
RP - David Robertson
RP - Tommy Hunter
RP - AJ Ramos

[Dwight Strawberry]

Hats for bats...keep bats warm.

My offense gives me wood. My pitching may give me nightmares. Let's do this!

C - Brian McCann
1B - Allen Craig
2B - Ben Zobrist
SS - Starlin Castro
3B - David Wright
OF - Andrew McCutchen
OF - Ryan Braun
OF - Yoenis Cespedas
BN - Mike Napoli
BN - Mike Moustakas
BN - Chris Owings
BN - Peter Bourjos
BN - Jared Salty
BN - Nick Franklin

SP - Julio Teheran
SP - Garret Cole
SP - R.A. Dickey
SP - Matt Garza
SP - Ian Kennedy
SP - John Lackey
SP - Derek Holland (DL)

RP - Nate Jones
RP - Jim Henderson
RP - LaTroy Hawkins
RP - Tyler Clippard

[Philaflava]

​I set out to get a little younger, but also to off-set some of the vets I did pick up to help me this year. Torri Hunter is damn near 48 years old​​, but as a #3 hitter in that line-up he is a lock for 90 runs and 80 RBI and he'll hit for average too.​

Next year I'll have to move Miggy to 1B, but I'll be able to use Castallenos or Bogaerts there. V-Mart should be catcher eligible soon so he'll get me all similar numbers as Hunter in that line-up which is a big help out of that spot. I added a bunch of Phillies because fantasy wouldn't be the same without them, however only 1 of them will actually start for me. I'm expecting bounce back years from Upton and I pray Davis still gets his power numbers. I had to snag Tavaras, when he fell to me, who I think will be a 30+ HR hitter one day. He, Xander and Nicky C will lead my youth movement. My pitchers all depend on health. Hamels will be out maybe a month so I have to rely on pretty good (not great) pitching from Haren, Jimenz and Burnett. I have a good feeling my wins and k's will be near the top but I worry about their health. My RP is basically my two keepers I had. Rosenthal is the Jewish Aroldis Chapman and Double J will net me 35-40 saves in Oakland. Mix in some waiver wire closers and I'm right there. On paper it may not look sexy, but I love my balance and the 3 prospects.

​C - Victor Martinez (1B), Carlos Ruiz
1B - Chris Davis, Ryan Howard
2B - Chase Utley, Kolten Wong,
3B - Miguel Cabrera (1B)
SS - Xander Bogaerts (3B)
OF - Justin Upton, Jacoby Ellsbury, Torri Hunter,
DH - Nick Castallenos (3B)

BN - Oscar Taveras, Aaron Hicks, Marlon Byrd,

SP - Cole Hamels, James Shields, Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Ubaldo Jimenez, AJ Burnett
RP - Trevor Rosenthal, Jim Johnson, Jonathan Broxton, Brian Wilson

[Philaflava]

C - Brian McCann
1B - Allen Craig
2B - Ben Zobrist
SS - Starlin Castro
3B - David Wright
OF - Andrew McCutchen
OF - Ryan Braun
OF - Yoenis Cespedas
BN - Mike Napoli
BN - Mike Moustakas
BN - Chris Owings
BN - Peter Bourjos
BN - Jared Salty
BN - Nick Franklin

SP - Julio Teheran
SP - Garret Cole
SP - R.A. Dickey
SP - Matt Garza
SP - Ian Kennedy
SP - John Lackey
SP - Derek Holland (DL)

RP - Nate Jones
RP - Jim Henderson
RP - LaTroy Hawkins
RP - Tyler Clippard

Your offense is offensive. You'll get all the power numbers needed, especially if Cespedas bounces back. I'm not sold on Castro but he still has time to figure it out. I actually think Owings will be better in the long run. Your OF is the best in the league. I think Braun will hit 28 and swipe close to 25. I like the Moose pick up, another one who has potential but needs to figure it out. You'll probably drop Franklin and Salty before June hits.

Your SP has potential because I think Cole and Teheran are sick but you're banking on Dickey to be decent (which I think he will) but the rest of them are all forgettable kind of pitchers. It must suck to own Ian Kennedy. Holland that little pervert won't even pitch until June or July. No way Hawkins keeps that job for more than 2 months with Sexy Rex knocking. But your bats are sick and you should be able to do very well based on that alone. But losing the best SP in baseball is not easy.

[Gregg Popabitch]

I'm actually scared of Gloss' team for the first time since i've been in this league.

[Tommy Bunz]

Its a nice squad. But have to say I would be shocked if VMart actually got the reps at catcher to be eligible by even the all star break.
He's 34, has history of leg injuries, just missed an entire year and isn't actually a good reciever at all.
He's way more valuable to the Tigers at DH with Avila (whose a good defensive catcher) behind the plate. They might let him get a couple reps in spring training to appease him but lets be real here.

[Gregg Popabitch]

Team Name- Trout Detective

C- Matt Wieters, Travis D'Arnaud
1b- Brandon Belt, Justin Smoak
2b- Dustin Pedroia, Kelly Johnson (2b/3B/OF)
3b- Pedro Alvarez
SS- Hanley Ramirez
OF- Mike Trout, Alex Rios, Michael Morse, Josh Willingham, Gregory Polanco

SP- Madison Bumgarner, Jordan Zimmerman, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray, Marco Estrada, Tyler Skaggs, Trevor Bauer, Dylan Bundy
RP- Greg Holland, Casey Janssen, Chad Qualls, Danny Farqhuar

The past two years i've hated my drafts and the past two years, I've finished 2nd and 1st respectively. I'm pretty convinced at this point that just having Trout or Miggy Cabs alone can help you get to the middle of the pack and you should be able to finish in the top 3 if you manage your team effectively and aren't lazy about it. I didn't like some of my keepers this year so I decided to go a little young and after winning the ship last year, I feel like I can afford to do that if I'm just real to my fan base about my intent, which is a ravenous bunch. I fully expect to contend but I passed up the chance to take better players in order to have one eye on the future. I really love my pitching staff. I'm surprised Gregory Polanco fell to me where he did. I feel like most of my hitters have flaws but they all balance each other out somehow (it's what I was talking about with managing my team effectively). I really like Wieters to have a good year this year. I like Kelly Johnson's ability to play 3 positions and I'm mostly going to play him against right handers only. I feel like I have another top 3 finish in me but I will stop short of saying that I will repeat......if Trout gets hurt, my whole team will fall apart so I will forever cross my fingers.

[Gregg Popabitch]

But have to say I would be shocked if VMart actually got the reps at catcher to be eligible by even the all star break.
He's 34, has history of leg injuries, just missed an entire year and isn't actually a good reciever at all.
He's way more valuable to the Tigers at DH with Avila (whose a good defensive catcher) behind the plate. They might let him get a couple reps in spring training to appease him but lets be real here.

Yeah, if I'm the tigers, I only play him at catcher a few games this year. He's too valuable a hitter to let him get hurt. And he has too much of a history of that.

[Philaflava]

How many games does he need to play in our league 5?

[Gregg Popabitch]

I think he needs to make 10 appearances, right?

[Tommy Bunz]

5 starts or ten appearances. Still would be surprised if it happened by the all star break.

[Philaflava]

Team Name- Trout Detective

C- Matt Wieters, Travis D'Arnaud
1b- Brandon Belt, Justin Smoak
2b- Dustin Pedroia, Kelly Johnson (2b/3B/OF)
3b- Pedro Alvarez
SS- Hanley Ramirez
OF- Mike Trout, Alex Rios, Michael Morse, Josh Willingham, Gregory Polanco

SP- Madison Bumgarner, Jordan Zimmerman, Mike Minor, Sonny Gray, Marco Estrada, Tyler Skaggs, Trevor Bauer, Dylan Bundy
RP- Greg Holland, Casey Janssen, Chad Qualls, Danny Farqhuar

So you know, I had Polanco at the top of list for at least 4 rounds before you finally took him. I told myself not to get prospect happy because it rarely wins leagues. 3 was the limit for me but if I didn't snag Tavares he would have been mine. Like I said, I told both Nick and Kev to get him because I thought he was going to go undrafted. He is the 2nd best OF in Pitt who isn't even on their major league roster yet.

Your SP is strong and I like the gambles with Skaggs, Bauer and Bundy, though I feel only 1 might pan out and none will be putting up championship type numbers you need. Gray, Estarada and Minor are all safe bets and Bum and Zimmerman are a nice 1-2 bunch. You're right, Trout makes it easy. You can totally slack in other positions when you have a guy like him. Your BA might be an issue with Wieters and Pedro Alverez and Morse but you certainly have the power. I know he has been proving everyone wrong these past years but I always feel like Rios is due for one of those typical down years he has. You got great help at 1B, 2b and SS too.

[Philaflava]

5 starts or ten appearances. Still would be surprised if it happened by the all star break.

Some Yahoo leagues are 1, some 5. I think this one is 5. Detroit plays the NL a lot the first month.

[Gregg Popabitch]

No Yahoo league is 1 game for a position eligibility change. If that's the case, I wish I had Wade Boggs the year he pitched for one inning. I'd start him at RP and get a .330 batting average out of that slot.

Here's the thing with Wieters and Alvarez.....I've read enough advanced stats to feel like that both can bat .250 next year (with Wieters actually hitting more HRs). The thing with advanced stats is, you can make yourself believe anything if you look hard enough at them. Thing is I have enough hitters that hit for average to counter act them if they don't hit for .250.

But I feel like at least Wieters will. I made a post about him in another PF thread before. His BABIP was 30 points lower than it usually is. So I'm banking that he'll hit 10 points better for his batting average. Also his flyball percentage increased something fierce last year while his HR/flyball ratio dipped. That should be good for a couple more HRs at least even if his batting average doesn't normalize.

[Philaflava]

Then maybe it s ESPN then?

Victor Martinez got the start at catcher for the Tigers on Saturday and went 1-for-3 against the Astros.
With the Tigers playing early games in NL parks, Martinez will have one-game catcher eligibility quite soon in fantasy leagues. Those who need him to play in five games behind the plate to qualify will likely have to wait considerably longer, but it sounds like he'll get there eventually. Mar 15 - 4:47 PM

[Philaflava]

No Yahoo league is 1 game for a position eligibility change. If that's the case, I wish I had Wade Boggs the year he pitched for one inning. I'd start him at RP and get a .330 batting average out of that slot.

Here's the thing with Wieters and Alvarez.....I've read enough advanced stats to feel like that both can bat .250 next year (with Wieters actually hitting more HRs). The thing with advanced stats is, you can make yourself believe anything if you look hard enough at them. Thing is I have enough hitters that hit for average to counter act them if they don't hit for .250.

But I feel like at least Wieters will. I made a post about him in another PF thread before. His BABIP was 30 points lower than it usually is. So I'm banking that he'll hit 10 points better for his batting average. Also his flyball percentage increased something fierce last year while his HR/flyball ratio dipped. That should be good for a couple more HRs at least even if his batting average doesn't normalize.

I agree that he should hit higher in both BA and HR, but I don't get caught up in "advanced stats" because anything can tweak that. Say he gets an oblique or his knees become a little sore and has trouble driving the ball? Just go on trends and set a reasonable curve. He is only 27 and with that line-up no reason he shouldn't produce. I think he'll be around 26-28 HR by the end of the year. He probably will be closer to Pat Burrell type numbers offensively tho. But I'm sure you'll take .255 any day for him.