Fantasy Baseball, Cheap Alternatives
March 25, 2009
Category: 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft, 2009 Sleepers
Admit it, you stay at the Luxor because it’s adjacent to the Mandalay Bay at a third of the price (and they have inclinators instead of elevators!). You see a bottle of Acme Store Brand Tomato Sauce Medley and you think that’s not aftertaste, that’s a persistence of flavor! Photoshop — bleh! You have scissors and paste! Cellphone? You can yell really loud. This, friends, is the economy of our times, so why not use some of that thriftiness towards fantasy baseball? Sure, everyone would like to have ten first round picks and start Miguel Cabrera at their Utility spot, but it’s just not feasible. You need some cheap alternatives. Anyway, here’s some players that are going very early in fantasy baseball drafts and their cheap alternatives:
Adrian Gonzalez – Yes, his homers have been trending up, but he plays his home games in Petco and his average is trending down. He also needed almost 700 plate appearances last year to accumulate 36 HRs.
Cheap Alternative: Paul Konerko will match Gonzalez in power and be a lot closer in average than you might think.
Brian Roberts – Hey, it’s Grey’s favorite whipping boy. In 600 ABs last year Roberts hit .296 with 9 home runs and 40 steals.
Cheap Alternative: Kaz Matsui hit .293 with 6 home runs and 20 steals in only 375 at-bats. If Matsui can avoid Jockular Sphincteritis, he should be fine late in a draft.
Chris Davis – What no one knew in Port Charles is Chris Davis is really Bill James’s biological son fathered out of wedlock with the au pair. On next week’s General Hospital!
Cheap Alternative – Mark Reynolds.
Derek Jeter – Shocker, I know. I wonder if he was butt ugly and got no poontang if he would be as overrated as he is. Wait, let’s ask Khalil Greene.
Cheap Alternative: Anyone. I keed. Mike Aviles will match Jeter’s numbers. So if you think you need Jeter on your team, take a deep breath and grab Aviles eight rounds later.
Ichiro Suzuki – Itchy-san is projected for 7/.315/35. Those numbers make me want Brian Roberts, at least he’s at 2nd base. Seriously, you people are going to give me an ulcer. Why do you want to see Grey suffer? Why?!
Cheap Alternative: Cameron Maybin. Sure, he may hit .260, but whatever. Learn to cope, it’ll help you later in life.
March 26th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Hey everyone,
So I’m keeping a close eye on my waiver wire as the closers are slowly starting to disappear and I desperately need to stabilize that position.
Right now I have Jenks, Devine & Hanrahan. I would like to have 4 on my roster but right now there is not one player I want to drop for a closer that might not even have that role when the season starts.
The wire looks like this (with someone picking up Gregg yesterday)
-Cardinals: Motte/Franklin (Motte has had a great spring training)
-Rockies: Corpas
-Mariners: Corcoran
-Marlins: Nunez
-Rays: Possible sub for Percival, he’s old
-Brewers: Possible sub for Hoffmans position, again he’s old
Thats basically in the order I have been watching them. I just don’t know when to make a move & what move to make. I’d like to wait till we hear who is going to be closer in Anaheim so I can drop Devine for someone but who knows when that will happen. I don’t want to drop anyone else on my roster but if I had to for another closer who would it be? & is there any other team I should be watching regarding closer position?
C-Napoli
1B-A Gonzalez
2B-Utley
3B-A Ramirez
SS-Reyes
OF-Upton, Pence, Abreu
U-Pena
BN-Ibanez, T Hunter, J Lopez
SP-Peavy & Beckett
RP-Jenks, Hanrahan, Devine
P-Billingsley, Wainwright
BN-Bedard & Slowey
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@Nick: Jeez your league is shallow. Who sponsors it – The Hills? Given you don’t have an MI slot and you have Utley, I’d drop Jose Lopez. Second recommendation would be Slowey since he’s your 6th SP in a league you cannot start more than 4.
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March 26th, 2009 at 6:11 am
This post is good news…….I think, since I own Davis, Reynolds, and Maybin.
But what peaked my interest was Kaz Matsui. My starting 2b is Jose Lopez and I have Fontenot as a backup. Believe it or not, Kaz is on our waiver wire. I hate to let go of my Cubs and have a small crush on Fontenot, but would Kaz be a better option? He gives me some categories that Jose wouldn’t.
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March 26th, 2009 at 6:11 am
@Nick: I’d just try and wait to see how things play out. If you have to drop someone i’d almost say slowey? I’d hate dropping Lopez, even tho you have utley… all the RP’s you listed are snatched up in my league, the main closers plus most backups are taken! How many team league is this? 8-10? Motte might be the best bet outta the group listed, but to be honest all of them are by committee or has an injured closer thats on the mend and almost back….
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March 26th, 2009 at 6:17 am
In other news…….Scott Lewis has been given the #4 starter spot in Cleveland. Is he now relevant?
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March 26th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Who is a better crappy endgame closer pick: Manny Corpas, Leo Nunez, Chad Cordero or Chris Ray?
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March 26th, 2009 at 6:47 am
@Rudy Gamble: “Who sponsors it – The Hills?” Very nice.
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March 26th, 2009 at 7:14 am
@ Iowa — Ray has pitched well this spring and Corpas could start the season as the closer. I’d probably go Corpas, then Ray. Not sure about Nunez, looks like Lindstrom is coming back soon. Cordero just looks too weird.
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March 26th, 2009 at 7:17 am
@IowaCubs: I’m having the same question. I really like Ray as a last-round pick and I think he ends the season with more saves than Corpas but… you gotta go Corpas here, I think, if both are available.
Oh, Huston Street, where have you gone?
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March 26th, 2009 at 7:23 am
@Doc: @Baron Von Vulturewins: Yes, these are my thoughts, too. My heart is with Ray, but my head is with Corpas. I’m in a slow draft, so if both come around to me, that’s a CLOSER WIN!
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March 26th, 2009 at 7:43 am
@IowaCubs: Is this the same draft you asked about yesterday? What is this, draft-by-mail?
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March 26th, 2009 at 7:43 am
i SNAPPED up nunez when the lindstrom rotator cuff deal broke… looks as if lindstrom is progressing and its not as bad as it seemed? closers are a dime a dozen and by game 1 they’lll flip flop again… i’m holding on nunez til i hear word otherwise….
Plus i stacked my offfense and bench to the point i should be able to deal for a closer, just depends on your league…
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March 26th, 2009 at 7:45 am
commenting on the actual article we’re posting under…. how much does ichiro’s value go up in a H2H league that has 10 hitting cats. It breaks down singles, doubles, trip, HR’s, SB’s, avg, runs, rbis, K’s, and BB….
I mean its awesome he hits for high average, and gets you tons of hits, but pretty much he’s going to boost your singles totals, not much else in the hitting stats, and get you SB’s?
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@Frank Rizzo: Lopez can be traded and then you can pickup Kaz, if you like. I wouldn’t drop a guy that should be able to fetch something in a trade.
@Frank Rizzo: I like Anthony Reyes better, but Lewis is worth a flier if you have room.
@IowaCubs: Ray, Corpas, Cordero, Nunez, in that order.
@Tony: He’s overrated and if he loses one step as he gets older, all of those infield hits become outs.
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March 26th, 2009 at 8:40 am
@Grey: Thanks for answering Grey. I wasn’t considering dropping Jose Lopez for Kaz, since Lopez is my starter. I was considering dropping Fontenot for Kaz.
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March 26th, 2009 at 8:54 am
@Rudy Gamble: My league is 10-team H2H. & technically you can have 5 starting pitchers start but I definitely want to fill up 1 or 2 of those 3 ‘P’ slots with Closers.
Quick question to anyone who has played H2H on Yahoo, can you change your roster daily or do you have to set it at the beginning of the week?
I hate to drop J Lopez since he has 1B & 2B eligibility
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March 26th, 2009 at 8:58 am
@Baron Von Vulturewins: It’s the slowest, most painful draft I’ve ever been a part of. It’s like papercuts to my eardrums bad.
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March 26th, 2009 at 9:16 am
@IowaCubs: What’s the timetable? Does each team have 24 hours to choose?
They know the season starts in like a week, right? Get a move on!
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@Frank Rizzo: Eh, you’re fine.
@Nick: You decide if it’s daily or weekly changes.
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March 26th, 2009 at 9:23 am
@Nick: My yahoo H2H league is daily transactions, i really don’t like weeky deals…. you gotta pay more attention in daily leagues.
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March 26th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Brandon Lyon’s grip on the closer role weakening after allowing four consecutive HRs? I guess Rodney has been just as bad recently though…
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@sean: Yeah, Lyon’s still the closer. But he’s obviously not the safest one out there. He could still get 30+ saves though.
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March 26th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I go to the Luxor for Carrot Top.
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@James: My man is buff.
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March 26th, 2009 at 11:19 am
@Grey – and his face is scary to look at, but his show was pretty solid. Apparently, he gets a lot ass, which is cool as well.
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March 26th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Grey – What are your thoughts on Anibal Sanchez in NL only leagues? I know he’s had injuries, but just 2 years ago he had a pretty good year and seems fine in spring.
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@James: That’s always cool.
@Colin: Rudy likes him more than I, but it’s hard to go wrong in NL-Only leagues. They’re so deep as it is. As long as you’re not dropping anyone worthwhile, why not?
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March 26th, 2009 at 11:56 am
As I’ve mentioned before, all 8 keepers of mine are hitters, and I’m drafting Fielder and Beltran with my first 2 picks. I’ll be looking at pitchers like Sanchez as my 4th or 5th starter. I’m going to try to grab a couple Ryan Dempsters this year.
Looking at Sanchez’ K rate…2 and 3 years ago, it wasn’t that great but last year (in 51 IP) he was 1 k from 9/9 k rate…why do you think that was? Did he have a new pitch last year?
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@Colin: I don’t see any major changes in his velocity or pitches. The projections have him more as a 7.5K/9 IP guy which seems to fall in between. I like him as a low risk/solid upside guy in NL-only leagues or really deep mixed leagues.
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March 26th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
LoL…of course as I was writing this, Sanchez gets destroyed by the Orioles.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
dont hear much about the braves rookie hanson,,starting in minors but with glavine im wandering if he`s worth stashing
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@Colin: I wouldn’t lend too much credence to that.
@AL KOHOLIC: I don’t think he’s back for a while.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
thanks, i need to make a few moves and didnt want to hold a needed spot on him,,what about saunders,he should start opening day at home against oak. ,keep him for a start or drop him for backups,i know you hate him and i dont project a great year but oak.??
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@AL KOHOLIC: Keep for Oakland and see how he does, but I don’t like him at all.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Love the call on Konerko. I think AGonzo is turning into a better real baseball player, increasing his BB% and other stats ever so slightly, but it’s not really going to show in fantasy, not on that team, not in that park
If you supplement Paul Konerko with Hank Blalock when he’s at home against righties, I think you will get better production than Gonzo.
Gonzo could have a great year, with fangraphs valuing him at $20m, but we don’t adjust for parks in here in fantasyville.
If he gets traded though, I’d say he’s borderline top 5 1b.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
im weak at sb`s, 12 team 5×5 latin 9 league,,bourns out there but i dont see pulling another in his favor ,any sleeper guys capable of 30+ out there
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Would you give up Purple Rain Fielder for Alexei Ramirez?I currently have Kelly Johnson at 2nd and a bench consisting of Cruz/Spilborghs.
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@bpasinko: Yup.
@AL KOHOLIC: Grab Bourn, he can steal 50 bags.
@JPH: I’d hold tight.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
@Grey: He offered Alexei Ramirex/ Francisco Rodriguez for Fielder…still hold tight?
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
I actually want Konerko in my league, but the team that has him missed the draft and its his first year in fantasy.
Is it fair to offer him Gregg (if he’s announced as the closer) for Konerko if he is on his bench, he has berkman at 1b, chipper at 1b/3b, ortiz at util, and laroche also on bench? His only closer is BJ Ryan
I know you should be cutthroat for wins, but I don’t wanna rip off a first timer and give him no incentive to follow.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
iyi capitan,,bourn again i shall be,,maybe sober this time,lol,im grabbing twins cassilla,he has 4 sb this spring think he gets 30??
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@JPH: You realize Johnson to Alexei is only a 10 HRs upgrade, right? Who’s going to be your 1st baseman? Do you need saves?
@bpasinko: That’s fair if Gregg’s the closer.
@AL KOHOLIC: At 2nd, he’s safer. Sure, go Casilla.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
@Grey: He swapped Rodriguez out for Heath Bell…
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
@Grey: I have Morneau at first, Fielder was my utility and I had Cruz/Spilborghs on bench.
I do need saves but I don’t know if I want to give up Fielder. I might as well drop Maine/Spiborghs and pick up Motte/Corpas or Corpas/Gregg
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
great ,dont know how you do this non stop,but im glad you do thanks again,,
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
one more,,catchers,,reds hernandez spring stinks,,him,laird or colorado`s baker
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@JPH: I think you can do better for Fielder.
@AL KOHOLIC: R. Hernandez.
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March 26th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
thats who i have now,,ill stick with him,REDS fan anyway,sice Kentucky has no team,we call the reds home team,years of pain but IF the pitching comes around,we will see some light
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Who do you take at the end of a deep mixed league draft (i’m already decent in saves aka I can sit on someone even if they arent closing right away): Perez, Motte, Ray, Gregg, Ziegler, Devine
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@Adam: Motte, Ray, Ziegler, Gregg, Devine, in that order. And I think they should all be owned.
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I agree. These guys are going sleeper happy at the end and ignoring guys that can help immediately.
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Is Motte pronounced like the apple sauce or like the river around a castle, I’ve heard both.
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
HOPEFULLY LIKE CLOSER
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
@AL KOHOLIC: Amen to that.
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
@bpasinko: It’s Motte, like the Hoople.
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
@HardLuckSchleprock: Hey, you’re not me, you’re my alter ego…….get back in the pit.
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March 26th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
@HardLuckSchleprock: I meant to say that, doh!!!!!!!
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March 26th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
lol @ khalil greene
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March 26th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Coco Cordero Alert Level: Red
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@Josh: Hmm… Maybe he is injured. Weather would be his backup. Maybe Bray, but I doubt Dusty goes to Bray.
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March 27th, 2009 at 3:47 am
Paul Konerko? Are we talking about the same guy? Looks and runs like he’s 43? The guy who last year never had a batting average higher than .247 at any point in the season? He did hit 22 homers, but 9 came in September. Waiver wire wait ’till he heats up then be prepared to drop him in a week or so. I’m not sure I consider his 57 fewer RBIs a bargain.
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March 27th, 2009 at 5:33 am
@Moonlight’s Grahams: Best case scenario: Konerko ’09 = Delgado ’08.
Everyone was saying the same of Delgado last year — looks old, washed up, lost his batspeed. Konerko’s not that old yet and he showed in September he still has skills. Could be a nice late round addition. If he tanks, he won’t have cost you much.
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March 27th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
@Grey: I was saying that Behrans was copying you, not the other way around. You know this is the first thing all of the big bloggers read everyday.
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March 29th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Great post. I agree with all of the cheap alternatives except Konerko.
Just don’t like him anymore. Wouldn’t pick him anywhere.
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