Many things have changed since December when we kicked off the 2011 fantasy baseball sleeper posts. For one, the date. For two, some of these guys are no longer that sleepery. For three, hut-hut-hike! As long as you don’t reach too far, sleepers can make all the difference on your team. You’re not grabbing a sleeper in the first round. You’re not like, “Hey, Swiggy Cabrera, you go threaten death on the shot girl, I’m going with Juan Miranda.” You should have a solid foundation in the first eight to ten rounds, then mix some sleepers in after that. If you click on the names for these players, there’s entire posts about some of them with their 2011 projections. It’s magical! Anyway, here’s some sleepers for 2011 fantasy baseball:
Shaun Marcum – Member back in December when he was first traded and I started raving about him? We were younger back then and you had more hair. Also, Marcum was still sleepery then. Now? Not so much. Seems like everywhere I look people are abuzz with excitement over Marcum. Assuming you don’t pay too high of a price, he can still have value.
J.P. Arencibia - When I say punt catcher, you say Arencibia… Punt catcher… Arencibia… Punt catcher… Arencibia… Punt middle infielder… Arencibia… Gotcha.
Chris Iannetta – I refuse to write a sleeper post on him for fear it might jinx him, but I will continue to talk about how I won’t write a sleeper post on him for fear it might jinx him hoping that doesn’t jinx him. All aboard as the logic train is leaving the station!
Mike Minor - Wanna hear me make an outlandish prediction? Of course you do, you love when I sound like a damn fool. Minor will be a top 20 starter this year. If I’m right you win, if I’m wrong you win. You’re welcome.
Tim Stauffer – I love me some hodgepadres. (I also love telling girls who are walking dogs on the street, “You have a really nice poochie,” but I mumble poochie like I’m Sling Blade so they think I’m saying something else. So, ya know, you might want to think twice about listening to me.)
Edwin Jackson – Here’s the limb, here’s me out on it with Edwin Jackson. Don’t too many of youse come out too, shizz ain’t that sturdy.
Daniel Hudson – Here’s another one of those examples of guys that I was touting at the end of last year as a potential sleeper for 2011 and now we have a bunch of company. Hey, use a coaster!
Edinson Volquez – I’m anticipating a ton of comments after Edinson’s first blow up about dropping him. He walks people, you have to remain patient.
Sean Rodriguez – He’s either going to break out in the non-acne way or he’s going to go between ownable and non-ownable in most mixed leagues. Honestly, I’m not sure yet which one it’ll be and anyone that does know is a time traveler or Mayan.
Ryan Raburn – Father, I have a confession. I wish Raburn stole 7-10 bases so I could label him Mini Mini Mini Donkey. But he can’t carry that torch and, besides, who needs him to have that baggage? If Raburn has 2nd base eligibility in your league, go all-in check raising to the bettor.
Alcides Escobar – Last year, Willie Mays Hayes without the steals. This year, steals.
Ian Desmond – It’s pretty odd when you have a guy you label a sleeper last year perform and he still ends up a sleeper the following year. Are the Nats that bad to invest in? Probably, but you can put away your checkbook and just draft Desmond.
Aaron Hill – Practicing my best Saberhagenmetrics, I think Hill is going to make his owners this year happy and really piss off everyone who owned him last year.
Brandon Morrow – I hate that he’s on Rudy’s risky pitcher post, but it seemed like a given. Morrow is not the bill of good, consistent health. He’s probably one injury away from being a Bennis Carpensheeter. But his stuff is nasty.
Justin Smoak – Another guy that is probably waiver wire fodder in most mixed leagues. I’m okay with that, I’ll write the Buy/Sells every Friday like usual and tell you to pick him up when he’s hitting.
Peter Bourjos – I imagine the only trueheads that will be drafting Bourjos are those in AL-Only leagues. That’s okay, I guarantee he’ll be ownable in your mixed league too.
Drew Stubbs – Guy has a real basebally sounding name, huh? Drew Stubbs plays baseball; that’s what Drew Stubbs does. To preemptively strike against at least four comments, Stubbs is being drafted 156th at MDC. A) That’s too late. B) That’s why he’s a sleeper. C) What C?
1st real draft — 13 team roto on yahoo — extra cats beside standard 5×5 walks, extra base hits, holds — C 1B 2B 3B SS OF OF OF UTIL UTIL SP SP SP RP RP P P P P plus 5 bench spots
wanted hill badly but he went 7 picks before i took zobrist ( hoping for 20 hrs ) — looks light on stls but should be competitive — i know you hate cuddyer but i needed someone to keep third warm for youk and he could be a valuable trade chip for someone with a poor 3b ( if he starts hot ) — is arencibia better than salty? — who’s closing in tampa?
what say you grey ?? thank you for looking at my team
1. (2) Hanley Ramírez SS
2. (25) Kevin Youkilis 1B
3. (28) Matt Kemp OF
4. (51) Adam Dunn 1B
5. (54) Josh Johnson SP
6. (77) Yovani Gallardo SP
7. (80) Mike Stanton OF
8. (103)Colby Rasmus OF
9. (106)Shaun Marcum SP
10. (129)Ben Zobrist 1B,2B,OF
11. (132)J.J. Putz RP
12. (155)Carlos Quentin OF
13. (158)Andrew Bailey RP
14. (181)Ricky Romero SP
15. (184)Jose Tabata OF
16. (207)Joel Hanrahan RP
17. (210)Edinson Vólquez SP
18. (233)Neil Walker 2B,3B
19. (236)Frank Francisco RP
20. (259)Clayton Richard SP
21. (262)Michael Cuddyer 1B,3B,OF
22. (285)Brett Cecil SP
23. (288)Joaquín Benoit RP
24. (311)Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Howdy, Grey. In a 10 team AL-Only auction w/$260 budget, how high would you be willing to go on Raburn? I hope you’re right about Mike Minor, I’ve been able to get him super late in all of my mocks so far. The last time I was this excited about a Minor I lost my teaching certificate.
12-team 5×5 H2H 8-player keeper league
Grey, what do you think? Prob a little light on steals and 2nd draft I had where I just missed out on a top starter by a 2 picks.
C- McCann
1B- Morales
2B- Utley
3B- Wright
SS- Andrus
MI- Howie Kendrick
CI- Smoak
OFx5- Nelson Cruz, Choo, Pence, Snider, Raburn
UTIL- Adam Lind
BEN- Brignac
SP- Scherzer, Anderson, Daniel Hudson, Chacin, Edwin Jackson, Javier
Vasquez, Jonathan Niese, Travis Wood, Bud Norris, Mike Minor,
Narveson, Clayton Richard
RP- Valverde, Hanrahan, League, Farnsworth
I’m in the last two rounds of a keeper league draft where we lose two rounds every year. 12 team standard H2H. We have to have two offensive bench players to help with streaming. Beltran, Cuddyer, Kubel and Berkman are far and away your highest ranked players left at this point. Any reason to take any of those known commodoties or better off going with someone like Morrison, EY, Alcides, Bourjos? I have two spots to fill and they can’t be a pitcher…
Grey, how many sleepers should you aim for before you look at your team and say, “all i have are sleepers?” Five of these guys?
quick question. 5×5 12 team mixed. who would you guys rather have bumgarner or m minor??
If anyone is itching to draft, I have a yahoo default 5×5 drafting tomorrow night.
League Name: The Goobers
Password: Rocket
Hey Grey : Is Ozzy just effing with everyone and his “the closers role is still undecided” crap? I know Feb Grey liked Sale but March Grey slapped him and told everyone to draft Thornton with confidence. I’d assume with the millions they just gave Thornton he will be the closer, you still seeing it this way?
Thanks for the sleeper update Grey. What is your take on one that has caught my eye? Michael Morse put up great numbers in limited at bats due to injury last year and seems to be tearing the cover off the ball again this (meaningless, I know) spring. He’s 29 and kind of late arriving but so was Nelson Cruz, right?
Mike Morse.
Sleepery? Not sleepery?
… or will his 2011 be all dots, dashes, dits, and dahs?
Ugh. I just found out that many other of my leaguemates follow Razzball. They’re all dicks though, so I doubt they’ve bought so much as a shot of rail whiskey for you. I hope they see this.
Would you consider Alexi Ogando a sleeper??
@Hypno Toadstool:
League # 152352
I like Wells for the Tigers if he gets a starting position. Cabrera has lost a few pounds still long way to go.
The word is out about Stubbs. His ADP at Yahoo is 85 and at ESPN is 110.
Grey and/or anyone else:
what do y’think of this trade?
ten team keeper league-includes K/9 and QS….I am stacked at OF-Braun,Crawford,BJ Upton,Lind,Snider,Raburn,Swisher and J Upton.
Justin Upton for Verlander?
H2H 7×7 league (batting stats are 5×5 + OPS + K)
I have kinsler and hill at 2b, and am being offered J-upton for kinsler straight up. I only have to play 1 2b so I can trade away kinsler, but I’m worried about upton’s strikeouts. He has soo-choo also. I know upton has more upside, but do you think the K’s are worth it? Should I go for the trade with soo-choo instead, or hold onto kinsler?
Grey / commeters. Need some more trade advice (it’s been a busy offseason). I’m in a 12 team AL only 5×5 dynasty keeper ($260 cap). In this trade I would get:
Miggy Cabrera $20 (last year of his contract)
Daniel Bard $10 (stays at $10 for this year and can be extended up to 3 years for $5 each year).
I give up:
Hellickson $5
Desmond Jennings $5
(Both stay at $5 for this year and can be extended up to 3 years for $5 each year).
Overall i need power, but i just traded for Jose Bautista. We reserve 15 players. My team currently looks like this.
C: Arencibia $2
C: Brayan Pena $1,
1B: OPEN
2B: Aaron Hill
3B: Adrian Beltre
SS: OPEN
MI: OPEN
CI: Jose Bautista $10
OF: Julio Borbon $1
OF: Shin-Soo Choo $16
OF: Desmond Jennings $5
OF: Alex Rios $36
OF: OPEN
DH: OPEN
P: Andrew Bailey $6
P: Brian Duensing $10
P: Jeremy Hellickson $5
P: Brandon League $10
P: Francisco Liriano $6
P: Joe Nathan $7
P: OPEN
P: OPEN
P: OPEN
I started off with a lot more SP’s but i traded them away for bats..
Trick dad what is your situation, 12 team league or 20 team league, 3 outfielders or 5 outfielders. I like Choo but why would you trade Kinsler he looks like he could be the star of the 2nd basemen.
12 team, one of every positional batter (LF, CF, RF) & 2 Util. I would basically just use Hill at 2b instead of Util and an possibly Upton or Choo would be an upgrade over him at Util. The guy I’m trading with has Utley and is concerned.
ah sorry, 10 team mixed.
Is MDC’s default rankings, ie, the order in which the players are presented to you in a draft, based on their ADP, or is it independent of it? I ask because it seems that their ADPs are pretty misleading for a number of players, and I think it’s because they’ve buried some people far down in the rankings. Eg, “Victorino at 140? Nah, I’ll just wait for Gardner at 175.” And Pettitte’s being drafted before James McDonald.
Trick dad if he is concerned trade Hill and if doesn’t bite, his situation could get worse during the season. I would wait if he doesn’t want Hill.
Hey, a while back I believe there was some discussion about pulling player rankings from Yahoo in an easy(ish) way. If it hasn’t been addressed yet, I’ve found one. It still takes some work, but no more than copying and pasting in 1155 players 25 at a time. If anyone’s interested I can post it up here or email.
Jake in Columbus: post it
@royce!: Victorino is turning into a serious value from what I’ve seen on mocks. He’s more than likely going to be batting toward the top of the order and last year’s BA was an exception, not a rule. I see him dropping too far in mocks.
where is Ike Davis love here – his numbers were pretty much the same as Justin Upton’s numbers last year – what do you think he will produce this year grey
I have Hill, Alcides, and Iannetta. I am a believer in you, Grey! Lets clasp hands and take the dive Thelma and Louise style! (in a non-gay way of course. hahaha)
@Frank Rizzo: I agree on Victorino proving a value pick. But my point is that while he’s a good value at his ADP on ESPN (77.9), his ADP on MDC (140) makes me think that something is just going wrong there, such that MDC ADPs should not be relied upon.
@Buddo Chezuski: From your league page go to Draft Central, Pre-Draft Rankings, then Edit My Rankings. Click “All” instead of “Top 25″ for players to show, then click “Go” to update the list. In your browser, go to View>Source (or the like; this is an old Explorer) and it will load up the rankings as part of the source text (this takes a while). You can copy and paste them into Excel, then use Data>Text to Columns to cut them apart using comma separated values and clean them up. I’ve already made an Excel file of just the ranks and the names if anyone wants it (formatted Last, First and with special characters removed and some name adjustments made so it works better for LOOKUP commands I’ve used). Haven’t used Google docs yet but could probably post it there.
Grey, and anyone else, just had my biggest league draft Friday. 12 team 5×5 H2H, standard re-draft. Would love to know your thoughts, especially since I use your site like a Waffle House uses syrup. Per the norm apparently, light on steals.
1B- Morneau
2B- Kinsler
3B- Longoria
SS- Desmond
OF- Cruz
OF- Bruce
OF- Rasmus
UTIL- Zimmerman
BE- Snider
BE- Lind
SP- Gallardo
SP- Scherzer
SP- Billingsley
SP- D Hudson
SP- Hellickson
SP- Ed Jax
RP- Nathan
RP- McGee
RP- Rodney (cant wait for the 4.5 era)
RP- Venters
@barker: Cuddyer’s not a hot trade chip in any league, unless he hits 17 homers the first week of the season… Farnsworth… Salty’s fine… You light on power, steals, average and pitching.
@Clyde Prompto: Ha! Depends how badly you need Raburn. Maybe $12.
@ProjectBadass: How late are you waiting to miss out on a top starter? Hitting looks great, pitching could be major issues.
@Sos: No
@Exactly: Not all sleepers are created equal.
@anarchy burger: Both? Bumgarner
@Mr2Bits: It’ll be Thornton until it isn’t.
@nyydj2: He’s not Nelson Cruz.
@Racehorse: Ha… Worth a late round gamble, but you’ll probably drop him in most leagues by April 15th.
@dsimon: Ha
@Curt: Sure
@Ignatius J. Reilly: I’d want Upton.
@trick dad: I’d want Upton.
@MADD DAWG: I’d take Miggy.
@royce!: Not sure
@mr baseball: ~20 Homers, ~.260 average… Basically around what he did last year.
@papasmurf: Ha!
@Jared: I like the team, especially the hitting, which is where you wanna be. I wouldn’t have minded a Dempster or Kuroda type on your staff though. It looks risky/upsidey. I think you’ll be good though.
@Jared: My advice: you could use a C.
nice list — I’m retaining Bourjos at $1 in a 15 team mixed keeper league because the temptation is too strong.
Marcum’s splits vs RHP were awful last year and now he’s in a division that is very right-handed. It bears watching.
On board with the Escobar train as well. If Ned Yost will let Butler roll toward second at least 10 times, Escobar will run every time he can.
True, I kept my eye out for a safe low ERA/WHIP guy, but never found an eye-popping value. I figure one may wash up on waivers mid-summer from a pissed off/bored owner.
@royce!: Realized right after I submitted, but its Napoli haha
Just did my first draft (6X6–standard plus BAA & OPS), five keepers:
C: McCann (k)
1B: Pujols (k)
2B: Phillips (k)
3B: Aramis Ramirez
SS: Han-Ram (k)
OFs (start three): Swisher, Werth, Krispie Young
U (start two): Lind, Sizemore
Bench: Sean-Rod, Brandon Allen, Peter Bourjos
SPs (start five): Cliff Lee, Carpenter, Brett Anderson, Edwin Jackson, Jordan Zimmerman
RPs (start two): Frank-Frank, Jose Valverde
Bench: Chacin, James McDonald, Mike Minor, Tim Stauffer
I’m not wild about my OF (three OF2 or OF3s), but I like the rest of my lineup, including my starting pitching (for the first time). Thoughts?
@Grey: Quick question, I am in a 12 man H2H 5×5 standard league with 5 keepers. Currently my 5 keepers are: Pujols, Wright, Kemp, Kershaw and then an undecided spot.
I have a choice between Liriano, Stanton, and Andrus. I am heavily leaning towards Stanton because of the power potential and because I feel starting pitching is overvalued in H2H leagues and I can make up ground through streaming and the waiver wire. What do you think?
@Jason Collette: Thanks! Fair point on Marcum.
@Xar: I’m also not crazy about Carp, but your team is solid besides your outfield. Since you only start 3 there’s a chance there are guys on waivers though I have no idea how many teams play in your league.
@preptime: Stanton
Grey – can Volquez go 200 IP this year? Better question – will he? Thanks.
@Grey: 6×6 10 team daily H2H league with OPS, QS. No IP Cap. I’m obviously light on steals, but what do you think?
C – V-mart
1B – Dunn
2B – Hill
3B – Zimm
SS – Hanley
CI – McGehee
MI – Drew
OF1 – Holliday
OF 2 – Bruce
OF 3 – Adam Jones
OF 4 – Lind
OF 5 – Manny
DH – Morrison
SP 1 – Hamels
SP 2 – Liriano
SP 3 – Marcum
SP 4 – Lilly
SP 5 – Kuroda
SP 6 – Chacin
SP 7 – Nolasco
SP 8 – De La Rosa
SP 9 – Niese
SP 10 – Minor
RP 1 – Broxton
RP 2 – Frank Francisco
RP 3 – Jake McGee
DL – Johan
@Jared: I just think it’s a great testament to Grey’s position on catchers that he didn’t care that you didn’t have one.
Another weird dream: I was checking out at the grocery store and Ryan Raburn was the guest bagger. Some kind of promotion? He looked like Justin Smoak, though. And he looked like he hated bagging groceries. Why do people never look like who they really are in dreams?
@Milby: Sure
@Jonesy: Team looks very solid. Yeah, you’re light on speed but it’s okay in H2H. Your pitching staff looks great, possibly too great and you might need to upgrade your OF at some point.
@Chunk: Ha!
Let me know where I need help please. 16 Teams H2H – 12×12 with holds.
Thanx Grey.
C Jorge Posada (NYY – C)
1B Adrián González (Bos – 1B)
2B Aaron Hill (Tor – 2B)
3B Pedro Alvarez (Pit – 3B)
SS Starlin Castro (ChC – SS)
OF Matt Holliday (StL – OF)
OF Jason Heyward (Atl – OF)
OF Mike Stanton (Fla – OF)
Util Logan Morrison (Fla – OF)
SP CC Sabathia (NYY – SP)
SP Shaun Marcum (Mil – SP)
SP Brandon Morrow (Tor – SP)
RP Luke Gregerson (SD – RP)
RP Ryan Madson (Phi – RP)
P Chris Sale (CWS – RP)
P Hong-Chih Kuo (LAD – RP)
P Rafael Betancourt (Col – RP)
BN Michael Morse (Was – 1B,OF)
BN Josh Willingham (Oak – OF)
BN Jhoulys Chacin (Col – SP,RP)
BN Daniel Hudson (Ari – SP)
BN Mike Adams (SD – RP)
BN Travis Wood (Cin – SP)
Grey, in a 10 team, H2H 6×6 league (standard + BB & QS). What you think?
C – McCann
1B – Te(i)x
2B – Uggla
3B – Longoria
SS – Andrus
OF – McCutchen
OF – Krispie Young
OF – Stubbs
Util – Konerko
BN – Reynolds (nabbed him last round!)
SP – CC
SP – Gallardo
SP – Kuroda
SP – Daniel Hudson
SP – Volquez
SP – Zimmermann
SP – Kennedy
SP – E. Jackson
SP – McDonald
RP – Broxton
RP – Kimbrel
I think I have a great balance of power and speed. I need to upgrade my RP, especially with these reports of Kimbrel struggling in spring and Venters possibly being the man. Any thoughts/suggestions for me? Thanks!
Is it a bad thing that I have 5 players from your sleepers list on my team this year?:
Morrow
Volquez
Stauffer
Minor
Bourjos
I guess you can say I’m not risk averse…
Grey, I know you and others are high on Marcum in 2011. Any concerns about the recent report of “tightness” in his shoulder? When there’s already been major surgery in his backround, isn’t this something of a red flag?
Isn’t Raburn still in a battle for the left firled starting job with Boesch?
@drew: field*
@Grey: “Justin Duchscherer was unable to throw a simulated game on Sunday due to pain in his hip. He will undergo an MRI on Tuesday and it appears unlikely he will be ready to go when the season starts.” This calls for a Grey classic…’In other news, water is still wet!’
@MPZ: Hitting looks good, your starting pitching looks incredibly shallow.
@Bobby: I think a league where you draft Reynolds in the last round you should win. With that said, your average is terrible and I’m not sure you have great balance of speed and power as much as you have a few players that give you both. Pitching looks fine and the hitting should keep you in it.
@Cognoscere: No, not bad.
@Trip Wildhack: It’s not a good sign.
@drew: He might lose some ABs to him, Raburn should start though.
@BKK: Hehe
with the injury news out there, can you make a case that liriano, carpenter and grienke are becoming sleepers too?
Moved on from catgina to a pretty little poochie huh? I like your moves.
@AJK: Nope
@Wake Up: Catgina didn’t take too kindly that I was telling everyone about her. The sacrifices I make for you people.
Grey- thoughts on this draft? 12 team, H2H… 7×7 with Runs Created and OPS; with K/9 instead of K, and with QS and L. I might have too many pitchers.
C Chris Iannetta – 23
1B Mark Teixeira – 2
2B Rickie Weeks – 6
3B David Wright – 1
SS Stephen Drew – 7
LF Manny Ramirez – 11
CF Alex Rios – 5
RF Jason Heyward – 3
Util Gaby Sanchez – 17
BN Jose Lopez – 20
BN Jose Tabata – 21
BN Danny Valencia – 22
RP Jonathan Broxton – 9
RP Andrew Bailey – 10
RP Jose Valverde – 12
SP Tommy Hanson – 4
SP Francisco Liriano – 8
SP Gio Gonzalez – 13
SP Ricky Romero – 14
SP Jake Peavy – 15
SP Javier Vazquez – 16
SP Jordan Zimmermann – 18
SP Mike Minor – 19
SP Aaron Harang – 24
I made two mistakes – 1) I semi panicked and drafted Hanson based on ESPN’s draft ratings as I was running out of time. I have no idea why I didn’t take Cliffly or Josh Johnson instead. 2) I ran out of time for real, and had no one in my queue, and ended up with Alex Rios. I really hate that. I wanted Colby Rasmus and his hot fire burning in the outfield later.
Great Target list. I plan on go after about half of them (or more @cognoscere)since I loose 5 keepers this year.
16 Team/ Mixed Keeper/ R,RBI, HR, S, OBP/K, W, ERA, WHIP, S/Keep 10 with $inflation for max of 4 years
HanRam $25 last year
Ryan Braun $5 last year
Nick Markakis $5 last year
Corey Hart $5 last year
Cain $7 last year
Matt Kemp $5 2 years
Tim Lincecum $25 2 years
Gallardo $4 2 years Votto $10 3 years
Aaron Hill $7 3 years
Chris Johnson $2
David Freese $4
Alcides Escobar $7
Julio Borbon $11
Ike Davis $7
Napoli $8
Prado $7
Wright $56
Luke Scott $7
Niese $3
Venters $2
Hammel $2
Garcia $12
Duensing $2
Slowey $11
Jeff Francis$2
Our league has a buy out option which would cost me some $. Do you love any of the options so much you would pay to release a keeper like Markakis or Hart? I am thinking no but I need a second opinion.
Assuming no. My 3rdBase hole looks huge. How high do I go on Wright? Longoria, Zimm, Youk, Panda are already keepers and I know there will be a few more. I don’t trust Arod, Reynolds and Hill together might sink the Titanic, Beltre…. Not a fan…..
@Grey: Poochie is much more loyal. Plus, have you tried it with some mustard on it?
a follow up question. 5×5 12 team mixed. please rank these sps. their keeper round is next to them. bumgarner 12 m minor 12 kuroda 13 dempster 14. i know you are big on the 2 youngsters but what about dempster 24 picks later???
@Grey: Im trying to unload Carlos Gonzalez in a keeper league while his value its as high as its going to get (IMO). I Was thinking of accepting this offer but i feel like im selling him too low. Your thoughts?
I Get:
Carl Crawford and Ian Kinsler
I Give:
Carlos Gonzalez and Brandon Phillips
how do u feel about Jair Jurrjens this season. I know u avoided him like the plague last season after his injury marred spring training and that turned out to be a wise decision. He appears healthy again. Thoughts?
@dsimon: Your offense looks a little wonky considering how shallow this league is. Your pitching looks fine.
@MAC DADDY: re: Hart/Markakis — No; Wright — $35
@Wake Up: Not entirely sure what you’re asking me, not entirely sure I want to know either.
@anarchy burger: Bumgarner, Kuroda, Minor…
@Kendrys Cart Off Home Run: Not crazy about it.
@xtremehulk: He’s kinda yawnstipating in general. I’m not drafting him anywhere.
@Grey: Thanks.
It seems like a lot to give up, even though i think Kinsler is going to have a really good year. I don’t really want Crawford (Yankee Bias) but i do think he’s going to have a good year too.
Stauffer? Yes.
Minor? Yes, please.
Marcum? Heck, yes!
Morrow? Oh my, I’m getting flustered!
Edwin Jackson?
(crickets)
Ian Kennedy is still sitting on waivers. Is it worth dropping Ed Jax or Venters (who probably isnt closing anyways) to scoop him up? I know you have him just above Jackson in your starter rankings.
Meester Grey,
Keeper League w/ 16 teams – 1 pt. for TB R RBI BB and 2 pt. for SB
I draft 9th and can keep either Votto or Braun for my 1st round pick.
Also can keep either Alexi or S Drew for my 5th round pick.
Which way would you go?
Thanks!
@OregonianRedbird: Hehe
@Jared: Venters
@BingoBoy: Votto
@nyydj2:
Like morse…lotta power..def sleeper in my opinion
Just had my draft (Mixed 12 team , 5×5) and then saw the sleeper post, nice to see we agree on Sean Rodriguez, Raburn and Minor.
Only thing is I drafted Sean Rodriguez way too high (15th round, oy).
Anyways, I have 4 closers (Street, Putz, Valverde and Hanrahan) along with Sale and Walden.
Is Walden worth holding onto for era/whip/k’s potential saves, or should I use the roster spot on a backup hitter, my OF is kind of weak
Hey Grey what are your thoughts on Magglio? Last year in just half a season he had great numbers…56 runs, 12 HR, 59 RBI and .303 avg. I know he’s getting up there in age but he’s projected to bat 3rd behind Raburn and ahead of Miggy and V-Mart.
In a show of blind trust I will draft, start, and stick with Edwin Jackson until mid-May at the earliest. I don’t like it, I don’t see it, but I’m in. It almost sounds too crazy to NOT work out. Blind trust.
Hey Grey, followed you alot this year. Can you tell me what you think of my team and what I might need. I think pitching.
C Geovany Soto (ChC – C)
1B Prince Fielder (Mil – 1B)
2B Brandon Phillips (Cin – 2B)
3B David Wright (NYM – 3B)
SS Alcides Escobar (KC – SS)
CI Adam Dunn (CWS – 1B)
MI Jhonny Peralta (Det – 3B,SS)
OF Jason Heyward (Atl – OF)
OF Mike Stanton (Fla – OF)
OF Brett Gardner (NYY – OF)
OF Coco Crisp (Oak – OF)
Util Lance Berkman (StL – 1B)
SP Yovani Gallardo (Mil – SP)
SP Max Scherzer (Det – SP)
SP Jake Peavy (CWS – SP)
RP Heath Bell (SD – RP)
RP Francisco Rodríguez (NYM – RP)
P John Axford (Mil – RP)
P Edinson Vólquez (Cin – SP)
BN Seth Smith (Col – OF)
BN Dustin Ackley (Sea – OF)
BN Michael Pineda (Sea – SP)
BN Mike Minor (Atl – SP)
BN Tim Stauffer (SD – SP,RP)
BN Chris Young (NYM – SP)
BN Chris Sale (CWS – RP)
@bensbias: Grab a backup OF if you like, you don’t need Walden.
@Bobby: Blech
@Carns: Ha… Thanks!
from post above. 12 team 5×5.
What are the Rangers doing with Feliz? It seems like they’re saying he’s going back to the closer role, he says he wants to go back to the closer role, and, yet, they keep rolling him out for 4 innings?
@MetsfanJames: Peralta, Berkman and Crisp are kinda gnarly, your bench looks like this is a keeper, if it is that’s cool, if it’s not, too many young players…. In general, your pitching looks good and your hitting looks light on speed. Not bad overall.
@Black Beard: I’ve maintained that I think he stays the closer. They probably figure his arm’s young, let him throw four innings then it’ll be a breeze when he needs to throw one.
I forgot to ask about round 5 as well.
Keeper League w/ 16 teams – 1 pt. for TB R RBI BB and 2 pt. for SB
Also can keep either Alexi or S Drew for my 5th round pick.
Which way would you go?
Thanks!
Yes it is a keeper, good eye, came in with stanton and heyward in late rounds.
I looked up “gnarly” in the dictionary and it gave me defintions from excellent and great to gross and horrible. Im hoping you meant it in its postiive form but considering you were talking just bout Berkman, Peralta and Crisp, Im guessing you meant it negatively.
Hello Grey,
Had my draft yesterday. We added keepers for next year so drafted some young guys late. What do you think of my team. 12 team 5×5.
thanks
C Jorge Posada (NYY – C)
1B Joey Votto (Cin – 1B)
2B Chase Utley (Phi – 2B)
3B Chipper Jones (Atl – 3B)
SS Elvis Andrus (Tex – SS)
CI Billy Butler (KC – 1B)
MI Ben Zobrist (TB – 1B,2B,OF)
OF Matt Holliday (StL – OF)
OF Shane Victorino (Phi – OF)
OF Juan Pierre (CWS – OF)
OF Corey Hart (Mil – OF)
Util Aubrey Huff (SF – 1B,OF)
SP Cole Hamels (Phi – SP)
SP Wandy Rodríguez (Hou – SP)
SP Gio González (Oak – SP)
RP Jhoulys Chacin (Col – SP,RP)
RP Chris Pérez (Cle – RP)
P Hiroki Kuroda (LAD – SP)
P Brett Myers (Hou – SP)
BN Mike Moustakas (KC – 3B) NA
BN Alfonso Soriano (ChC – OF)
BN Ryan Franklin (StL – RP)
BN Matt Garza (ChC – SP)
BN Stephen Strasburg (Was – SP)
BN Julio Teherán (Atl – SP) NA
BN Zach Britton (Bal – SP)
(thats my friends team above, forgot to change the name on top for him)
Andrew Bailey leaving game – looks like something popped in his pitching elbow.
According to Rob Neyer, anyway.
@Grey:
yeah… I think that is attributable to two things:
1) the two picks I botched.
2) we use LF/CF/RF. I screwed up my analysis – LF was super shallow after Holliday, CarGo, Crawford, Braun, Hamilton, and Cruz. And they were all gone by pick 21. I didn’t want to double up on RF after taking Heyward.
Either way, thanks for the quick analysis. I’ll try to get you a case of bud heavies by the end of the week.
Hey Grey,
Which two would you rather have.
Dunn/Phillips or Morales/Uggla
thanks
@BingoBoy: I feel like I answered this already. Alexei’s slightly better than Drew, neither are great bargains.
@MetsfanJames: Yeah, in the negative.
@MetsfanJames: Pierre, Butler, Chipper and Zobrist are also gnarly. I prefer your team.
@Steve: Yeah, not good.
@dsimon: No problem.
@JohnDoe: Dunn/Phillips
And next week, he’ll want to be the DH:
http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/foul_territory/2011/03/now-neftali-feliz-wants-to-be-a-starter.html
Nice post. I’ll toss out some other sleepers on my radar:
Jaso
Kai’ahue
N. Walker
Moustakas
S. Castro
A. Gordon
L. Morrison
Pineda
Bedard
Capps
Fuentes
Super sleepers to keep an eye on (probably will go undrafted in most leagues):
A. Casilla
Dan Johnson
Mike Morse
@MADD DAWG: Damn thats an awful team. I’d trade helickson for Casper wells straight up.
@Grey:
In my 12-team league, I’m kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel for saves.
I have
Fernando Rodney
Kyle Farnsworth
Brandon League
Brandon Lyon
Jake McGee
I want to pick up Ryan Madson, but I’m not sure if anyone here is worth dropping. I also have Carlos Zambrano on my SP.
Is anyone here worth dropping for Madson?
Hey Grey. Thanks again for helping me win my league last year. Just had our 16 team H2H points draft (a little early, I know) and I have a couple ? for you and the razzballers. I’ll try to keep it short as possible so as not to waste your time. 1. One of the more experienced guys in my league employed a crazy strategy that kind of threw our draft out of wack. He took pitchers with about his first 10 picks. His team:
Pitchers Batters
Lester C John Buck
Verlander 1B Ike Davis
Cain 2B Neil Walker
B. Wilson 3B David Freese
Billingsley SS
I’ll just jump on the bandwagon and get some feedback on my latest keeper league draft. Each team keeps 5. This league is 12 team 6 X 6 roto with doubles and quality starts as the extra categories.
C: Iannetta
1B: Teix
2B: Kinsler
3B: Wright
SS: Furcal
OF: Braun
OF: Holliday
OF: BJ Upton
UTL: Manny Ramirez
UTL: Dexter Fowler
SP: Billingsley
SP: Daniel Hudson
SP: Josh Beckett
SP: Edison Volquez
SP: Javier Vazquez
SP: Jorge de la Rosa
SP: James McDonald
SP: Tim Stauffer
RP: Jose Valverde
RP: Craig Kimbrel
RP: Frank Francisco
RP: Kyle Farnsworth
My draft was a little wonky as we are allowed to trade away picks during the season so my first pick was essentially the 8th round (after 5 rounds of keepers). I missed out on a lot of the top starters so I really loaded up on upside SP hoping 5 pan out. Also I’m thinking about dropping McDonald to pick up Fuentes just for RP backup.
Thoughts on my team?
@Steve: Ha
@Raj: Thanks…
@Eddy: Zambrano if you need saves, though it doesn’t look like you do.
@motorcitykitty: No problem. You in a league with AJ Mass? Is there a question you’re asking?
Sorry….Anyway, nevermind the list of players……but can he win with this strategy? He said he wanted two-start pitchers in every slot, as our league sets its lineups weekly. Also, I had the last pick, and conceded taking a catcher late in the draft. I have the #1 waiver, and somehow Jaso is sitting there on waivers, unpicked in the drafrt, and my C is Avila. We start only 1 catcher. Should I waste my #1 waiver pick to improve at C with Jaso?
@cruisinkc: Lose McDonald for Fuentes. I like your team a lot. You might have some issues with pitching but good upside choices. Your hitting is very strong, so you might be able to trade some of that for pitching if you need to.
@motorcitykitty: Go with Jaso. Anyone can win with any strategy. He’s made it very hard for himself though, so it’s not a good idea what he did.
Sean Rodriguez or Danny Espinosa in 20 team keeper league – I have no 2nd baseman at this point in time
@mr baseball: Espinosa
Bailey has an appointment with the good Dr Andrews.
@Steve: Well, he’s cooked.
Did my leagues draft last night 16 teams Auction Draft
All these players went for $50 or more in the bidding
Hanley Ramírez (Fla – SS) $69 Born This Way
Adrián González (Bos – 1B) $62 Doc.Lee.Os.Cole.Huff
Evan Longoria (TB – 3B) $61 Bruklyn BushLeaguhz®
Miguel Cabrera (Det – 1B) $61 BLAZE
Albert Pujols (StL – 1B) $60 Born This Way
David Wright (NYM – 3B) $52 the Hart Foundation
Carlos González (Col – OF) $52 Danks+Swisher=Smoak
Joey Votto (Cin – 1B) $51 Bruklyn BushLeaguhz®
Ryan Zimmerman (Was – 3B) $51 LeBraun James
Troy Tulowitzki (Col – SS) $50 THE BENEVOLENT ONES
Ryan Howard (Phi – 1B) $50 _ MOZZYE’S_6-TOOLER$_
Robinson Canó (NYY – 2B) $50 Born This Way
Kevin Youkilis (Bos – 1B) $50 the Hart Foundation
@Grey: Who is better: Neftali Feliz as a closer OR Neftali Feliz as a starter? If I was going to pay $16 for Feliz the closer ($260 budget for a 26-man roster in a 10-team mixed roto league) should I also pay $16 for Feliz the starter? That would put him at #22 in my starter rankings, which seems a bit high. I had him ranked as my top closer, but it is looking more and more like he will start and may even be their ace. Thanks.
@Ron Mexico’s Papi: RPs are more scarce than SPs, plus Feliz’s stuff will lead to a few more bumps in the road than out of the ‘pen. I say drop him to around $10, depending on how the auction goes.
@Jay: That sounds pretty close. I was thinking about dropping him to $10 as well. That would put him around Buchholz, Billingsley and Hughes in my rankings, which sounds about right.
Rotation of:
SP: Timmy
SP: Verlander
SP: Bills
RP: Soria
RP: K-Rod
P: Lyon
P: Rodney
P: Hudson
BN: E. Jackson
BN: Peavy
Usual 5 categories plus losses and ks/9. Minor, Kennedy, and Fuentes are on waivers. Do I pick up any of them? Thinking hard about Fuentes after the recent Bailey/Freeze news and I REALLY like Minor for some reason.
@Wilsonian: that’s Daniel Hudson, in case you’re wondering.
@Wilsonian: Personally, I trust Fuentes a lot more than Rodney, but I would want to be certain Bailey is done for the year. It doesn’t sound good for him since Dr. Andrews’ name has been mentioned and he is seeing him so fast.
@Ron Mexico’s Papi: yeah, I totally agree with you. Plus Sosciapath has already said (in not so many words) that Rodney has a short leash and a lot of guys that could step in for him.
@Ron Mexico’s Papi: Agreed, slot him with those kinds of pitchers and see whatever the price range is.
Different league, would you take Fuentes over League?
@mr baseball: That’s insane, people must have really good cheap keepers.
@Ron Mexico’s Papi: Starter
@Wilsonian: Minor over Jackson if you like, you have enough closers.
@Wilsonian: Hold League for right now until there’s confirmation on Bailey.
@Grey: would it be the same advice for Rodney? Hold him until confirmation on Bailey?
@Wilsonian: Yup
@Grey Says:
that was not a keeper league – its just a 16 team league
no one came cheap
Chris Johnson (Hou – 3B) $17 _MOZZYE’S_6-TOOLER$_
@Grey: Re: mr baseball, well he did say it was a 16-team league, so prices should be about 30% higher than in 12-team. So I understand guys like Pujols and HanRam going for over 60. It’s the guys like Zimmerman, Youkilis, Howard, etc that’d normally go for around $40 in a 16er instead of $50+.
Youkilis for 83% of Pujols is nuts — I think 60-70% is more common. Keeper inflation doesn’t really account for that…
@Grey: Mustard on it…Sling Blade reference…
Hope you are sitting down…Harden has a setback and is shutdown indefinitely…in other news…the grass is still green…
@Wake Up: …not that we have grass here in Dubai.
Hey Grey,
Do you put the sleepers in a particular order? And are your sleepers/overrated predictions reflected in your overall rankings? Sorry if this has been covered before.
Thanks,
Neil