2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft

Grey

Fantasy Baseball, Fun With Numbers III

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 54 Comments

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Now it’s time for everyone’s favorite game, Fantasy Baseball, Fun With Numbers.  Ding, ding, ding… Bassoon… Triangle!  Triangle!  Triangle!  Cow bell!  More cow bell!  One last ding.  In today’s installment of Fantasy Baseball, Fun With Numbers, we’re going to look at some hitters and try to figure out if maybe the numbers tell a different story than their names tell.  Anyway, here’s the latest in Fantasy Baseball, Fun With Numbers:

Player A – In 241 Post-All-Star ABs, 40/12/33/.232
Player B – In 190 Post-All-Star ABs, 35/12/30/.316

Player A is Raul Ibanez, Player B is J.D.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Best 2010 Fantasy Baseball Team

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 76 Comments

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Okay, so it’s not the best 2010 fantasy baseball team, but, man, that title sings, right?  This is the best 2010 fantasy baseball team that I can put together when drafting a player from every 12 players, according to my top 300 for 2010 fantasy baseball.  So it would be nice if I was in a league where someone drafted Lincecum in the first round and I was able to take Longoria and Howard, but since they’re both in the first 12, according to the rules I’ve set up for myself, I can’t take them both.  Also, as we all know, once you get into the 100s, there’s wide gaps between ADP and where players are actually taken.  People tend to look at team need over value.  For this exercise, I’m going to limit myself to a player just like in a snake draft, no matter what.  So if I choose Pujols, I can’t take another player until the 24th pick, then a player from somewhere in the next 12 picks.  It should still be my ideal team… Or not.  Let’s see, shall we?  Bee tee dubya, this team is 5×5, one catcher, 5 OFs, MI, CI, 1 UT, 9 P, 3 Bench.  Anyway, here’s the best 2010 fantasy baseball team:

C:  Chris Iannetta (15)

1B: Albert Pujols (1)

2B: Brandon Phillips (4)

SS: Elvis Andrus (10)

3B: Ryan Zimmerman (3)

MI: Alcides Escobar (16)

CI: Ian Stewart (9)

OF: Justin Upton (2)

OF: Adam Jones (5)

OF: Raul Ibanez (8)

OF: Corey Hart (13)

OF: Ryan Ludwick (18)

UT: Brandon Wood (24)

P: Josh Johnson (6)

P: Cliff Lee (7)

P: Matt Cain (12)

P: Jonathan Sanchez (17)

P: Gavin Floyd (21)

P: Mat Latos (23)

P: Francisco Cordero (11)

P: Octavio Dotel (14)

P: Bobby Jenks (19)

BENCH:

P: Brandon Lyon (20)

P: Scott Downs (22)

P: Matt Lindstrom (25)

So what do you think of my fantasy fantasy team?  Don’t like it?  Go to the top 300 and make up your own fantasy fantasy team and post it in the comments.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

2010 Fantasy Baseball Tiers

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft, 2010 Fantasy Baseball Rankings | 100 Comments

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I’m a pretty harsh critic of Razzball, but occasionally we’ll post things that I even feel are extremely helpful.  Usually these are done by other people for our site.  One of those things was the Fantasy Baseball War Room. (Now with an NL-Only and AL-Only version.)  Another helpful thingie-ma-whosie is the 2010 fantasy baseball tiers, brought to you by regular commenter and all-around solid F.O.R., Figgy.   This fantasy baseball tier sheet is like the Cliff Notes version of the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

2010 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Companion Piece

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 89 Comments

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One recurring question regarding my 2010 fantasy baseball rankings is why do I have so and so above so and so if I say I like the second so and so better than the first so and so?  Okay, so I’ve never received that exact question, because that’s massively confusing.  Here’s a variation of the so and so question that you might actually recognize.  If you look at my top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball post, I have Scott Sizemore below Crapolanco.  But I also say in that post how I wouldn’t own Crapolanco.  So I’d take Sizemore before Crapolanco?  Yes and no.  I’d wait until Polanco was drafted, then I’d draft Sizemore.  Why exactly?  That late in a draft I’m going with upside over the predictable.  Then why not just put Sizemore above Crapolanco?  A few reasons:  1) If I only ranked players I’d own, there would be maybe a 100 total guys across all rankings.  2) Crapolanco does have value.  His preseason value is above Sizemore.  Crapolanco has less risk, but, as previously mentioned, I don’t want less risk that late.  Some drafters may.  3) Sizemore may not even have the value I’m giving him there.  He’s a risky upside pick.  I’m putting him in the rankings so you know I like someone.  I’m putting flashing lights around a player’s name in the player blurb.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Marginal Orlando in Land O’ Lakes

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 34 Comments

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Orlando Hudson to the Twins.  Anyone ever wonder about how Disneyland and Disney World are both in an Orange County in two different states?  Weird, right?  Yeah, deep thoughts with Grey Albright.  So Orlando Hudson goes to the Twins and retains the same value he’s had with every other team.  You can set your watch to “Blah” and Hudson will get there every time.  He’s around the same value as Crapolanco.  He’ll slide into the two hole in the lineup and slash around 85/10/65/.290/10.  As they say, a better real baseball move.  And by “they,” I mean whoever says that.  The best part of signing Hudson is that Twins fans can say see-ya to Casilla as a starter at 2B and punt Punto to under 200 plate appearances.  Anyway, here’s some more signings and goings-on for 2010 fantasy baseball:

Orlando Cabrera — To the Reds.  Orlando Cabrera is slightly more exciting than Hudson, but really it couldn’t have been more yawnstipating.  O-Cab brings a bit more speed potential with a slightly lower average.  Think 80/10/75/.275/15.  Not a bad name to look at late at MI, but you’ll definitely grow bored of him sometime in April.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Mocking ESPN’s Mock Draft

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 106 Comments

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Have to go through a lot other ‘perts’ turd nuggets to find some kernels of truth, right?  So I took a looksie at ESPN’s mock draft.  These guys (and maybe girls, cause I don’t even recognize some names — Becquey?  Is that the phonetic pronunciation of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway’s abbreviation, BQE?  No idea.) make their living by doling out fantasy baseball advice, but, as Tim Gunn would say, the problem is they’ve been in the monkey house too long.  Here’s Gunn’s explanation, “When you first walk into the monkey house at the zoo, what do you do?  You cover your nose and think, “This place stinks!” After some time, you’ve adjusted a bit, “Well, I guess this isn’t so bad.”  Then later, you don’t even notice the smell.”  ESPN builds a bunker, doles out advice but has no idea what the stench is like.  To get poetic on you, they think their feces smells like Reese’s Pieces.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Lou Poulas

2010 Fantasy Baseball War Room

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft, Lou Poulas | 235 Comments

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While Grey and Rudy do a great job of breaking down everything you need to know for 2010 fantasy baseball, drafts still trip me up.  I’ve been lamenting my inadequacies from the past 3+ years which resulted in an inordinate amount of time number crunching in Excel.  My quest – a draft day “war room” that allowed me to keep my finger on the pulse of the league while minimizing my effort.  I don’t know about you, but I prefer to keep track of more things as opposed to fewer.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Beane’s Going Up Sheets Creek

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 49 Comments

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I’m beginning to think with Billy Beane that the emperor’s wearing no clothes.  Moneyball is still a great book, Joe Morgan is still a moron and Chad Bradford is still an underhander.  Those things are true.  But the A’s were 4th in the Majors last year in steals — what happened to steals cost outs?  Not to mention, Beane’s team hasn’t been competitive in three seasons.  Was Moneyball just a symptom of the era?  Was it simply fortuitous that Beane’s coronation came during the era of the three run homer?  Was Moneyball a by-product of steroids?  Would Moneyball be written today?  Hard to imagine Michael Lewis sitting down with a GM of a sub-.500 club and polishing his pedestal, right?  And none of this has to do with fantasy baseball or Ben Sheets.  (I wrote the preceding the other day, then right before I posted this I saw Sky Andrecheck wrote an SI piece in the similar ballpark.  Literally.)

If Sheets can stay healthy, he’s liable to return more than his ADP.  That “if” is ginormous.  That “if” sits next to you on a plane and you can’t put down the armrest.  You show up at a party of 500 Tongans and that “if” is the second biggest thing in the room after the buffet table.  You hook up with that “if” at a bar and people will think you’re beer goggling.  Okay, I think I made my point.  The other issue with Sheets is his falling K-rate.  Back in 2005, if Sheets was healthy, he was a Cy Young-type performer.  Regularly posting 200+ Ks and next to no walks.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
Grey

Can’t Stop The Mock

| 2010 Fantasy Baseball Draft | 43 Comments

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Took part in another mock draft the other day.  This mock team didn’t mock up as well as my last 2010 fantasy baseball mock team.  I underestimated how low catchers would fall.  In the 12th round — a round and/or around where I usually like to start thinking of catchers in 12 team leagues — Montero was staring at me in my Beetlejuiced-sized head (that picture of me above the post is actual size) and I just couldn’t turn him down at the 154th pick overall.  But then Soto sat there for another 5 rounds.  If I would’ve known I could’ve took Soto with the 200th pick, I would’ve took a better 4th outfielder, a better 3rd baseman and a better corner infidel.  But it didn’t work out that way.  Such is life.  I still think my team is solid.  The draft was a Mixed league, 5×5, 4 outfielders, an MI, a CI and 9 pitchers, any combination.  (FYI, rankings will start again Tuesday morning.  I’m on birthday-long-weekend until tonight.)  Anyway, here’s a 2010 fantasy baseball mock team, some thoughts on certain players and where I drafted them:

Round 2 – Jose Reyes – Usually when I draft speed of Reyes’s caliber, I ignore speed for the rest of the draft.

Please, blog, may I have some more?