If anybody wants to tell the story of their RCL season, here's the place to do it!

I stumbled upon Razzball during the 2010 season and stuck around, as it was obviously a great site to be informed and entertained. So 2011 was my first RCL experience.

I joined Eddy's RCL 9 as I could tell from his frequent comments that he'd be easy to beat. (Just kidding. He won that league handily.) Then more and more leagues were being formed and I figured I should do my part and become a league manager, so Cracking The Whip was formed. RCL 9 went pro, and since I'd do anything for money, but I won't do that, I dropped out of that league. I also ended up joining RCL 5 and RCL 33 when others dropped out shortly before their drafts, giving me 3 chances to embarrass myself. I did prove that drafting is not my strong point in fantasy baseball.

After I put up a post here in the Forum, Grey and Rudy suggested I become the RCL commissioner, in exchange for free fantasy advice. Figuring this would give me a big advantage, I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, I spent so much time commissioneering, my teams suffered. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!)

I was never really in contention to win any of these leagues, but a good time was had.

Cracking The Whip



The Vincibles were my highest scoring team, helped by being in a league with several abandoned teams. I ended up making 40% of the total moves in this league.

The Draft

12 Adrian Gonzalez, Bos 1B 108/27/117/1/.338
13 Prince Fielder, Mil 1B 55/22/73/0/.288
36 Jose Bautista, Tor 3B 105/43/103/9/.302
37 Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B 91/18/79/14/.302

I was happy with my 1st 4 picks, though I immediately went against Grey's advice by starting with 2 first basemen. These 4 hit .311 for me with 369 runs, 110 HR, 372 RBI, and 24 steals. I traded Fielder for Tim Lincecum on July 22, as I needed help to get my ERA below 4. Lincecum gave me 5 wins, 71 Ks, 2.02 ERA, and a WHIP of 1.18.

60 Chris Young, Ari OF 64/17/54/12/.247
61 Shane Victorino, Phi OF 90/17/56/18/.284

Decided I should start on my outfield. Young and Victorino were not a disaster, but didn't provide quite what I hoped. And, of course, I could have had Granderson.

84 Roy Oswalt, Phi SP 42K/4 W/3.79/1.33
85 Neftali Feliz, Tex RP 53K/2 W/31 S/2.79/1.16

Oswalt as my first starter did not work out. Feliz had good numbers, but taking him this early was probably a mistake.

108 Jose Tabata, Pit OF 23/3/7/13/.245
109 Drew Stubbs, Cin OF 92/15/43/40/.244

For the first month I thought Tabata was a great pick, but that didn't last. Happy with Stubbs' runs, homers, and steals.

132 Jonathan Broxton*, LAD RP 10K/1 W/7 S/5.68/1.89
133 Manny Ramirez, TB OF 0/0/1/0/.059
156 Travis Snider, Tor OF 17/3/27/8/.213
157 Edinson Volquez, Cin SP 46 K/3 W/5.70/1.65

If I was a drinker, I would say this is where the alcohol really kicked in.

180 Ryan Dempster, ChC SP 151 K/10 W/4.73/1.43

My top winner and strikeout pitcher!! Enough said.

181 Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Min 2B 1/0/2/1/.208

204 Joel Hanrahan, Pit RP 59K/39 S/1.76/1.02

Nice pick!!!

205 Brandon Lyon*, Hou RP 5K/3 W/4 S/7.15/2.12
228 Javier Vazquez, Fla SP 9K/1 W/2.76/1.35

Vazquez could have been my top pitcher. I owned him 3 different times for a total of 16.1 innings.


229 Edwin Jackson, StL SP 30K/2 W/4.88/1.63
252 Matt Capps, Min RP 1K/1 W/1.80/0.60
253 Miguel Tejada, SF SS 3/0/4/0/.182

Ignored shortstop and ended up with Tejada. Eventually got decent numbers from Hardy (50/22/57/0/.256) and Dee Gordon (20/0/5/11/.311).

276 Sergio Romo, SF RP 3/0/0/0.00/0.50
277 Jon Rauch*, Tor RP 3K/2 S/4.15/1.38
300 Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Bos C 2/0/2/0/.088

Went through 14 catchers for 12 home runs and 53 RBI. Next year ‘Set It and Forget It’ (maybe).

Key Adds

Picked up Carlos Pena when he was hot (20/8/21/0/.287) and then tried to trade him for some pitching. All I could get was Liriano, which I was happy with as Pena was just sitting on my bench at the time. Liriano gave me 42 K,4 wins,and a 5.30 ERA and 1.69 WHIP. On this team, that wasn't even that bad.

Brennan Boesch: Had a good month for me (18/4/6/1/.375) before I dealt him for Madison Bumgarner. That trade worked out nicely, as Bumgarner gave me 96 K and 8 wins with a 3.00 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.

Desmond Jennings (40/9/23/18/.271), Rajai Davis (.265/15 SB), and Adam Lind (13 HR/41 RBI) also provided some help. Cards Salas and Motte added 28 saves. Matt Harrison, Jeff Niemann, Justin Masterson, Cory Luebke, Alexi Ogando, Mark Buehrle, Erik Bedard, and Randy Wolf provided decent pitching (348.1 IP/274 K/26 wins/3.10/1.12). Unfortunately, there were many more pitchers I picked up for a start or 2 who blew up my ratios.

At the all-star break I had 74 points and was 26 out of 1st. I added 13 points in the 2nd half, but Bad Juju climbed 9 points, so I still finished 22 behind. Happy with 2nd place though.


RCL 5



This was the toughest league I was in, featuring overall champions Random ItalicizedVoice.

The Draft

4 Evan Longoria, TB 3B 78/31/98/3/.243

Not 1st-round numbers, but not as bad as it looked like it might be.

21 Matt Holliday, StL OF 31/6/31/0/.347

A quarter way through the season I realized I was in trouble, so when I was offered Halladay for Holliday I accepted. ( I had passed on a chance to acquire Bautista earlier in the year for Holliday.) Halladay gave me 129 Ks and 12 wins with an ERA of 2.21 and a WHIP of 1.02.

28 Brandon Phillips, Cin 2B 93/18/81/14/.298

I was high on Phillips this season, and while he didn't disappoint, he wasn't necessarily the best pick at 28. In hindsight, I wish I had taken Votto at 4 and grabbed Bautista with the 28th pick.

45 Clayton Kershaw, LAD SP 248 K/21 W/2.28/0.98

I drafted a good pitcher!

52 Mark Reynolds, Bal 3B 67/28/66//4/.214
69 Casey McGehee, Mil 3B 17/5/24/0/.250

I already had Longoria; why did I think I should draft Reynolds and McGehee?

76 Carlos Marmol, ChC RP 97 K/2 W/34 S/4.07/1.37

Too early for a closer.

93 Carlos Pena, ChC 1B 62/25/68/1/.231

Didn't make sure I got I got a top 1B; Pena did not turn out to be a great alternative.

100 Jose Tabata, Pit OF 44/4/19/14/.270
117 Aubrey Huff, SF 1B 34 /8/45/3/.230
124 Manny Ramirez, TB OF 0/0/1/0/.059
141 Lance Berkman, StL 1B 38/16/48/0/.295

Berkman's surprisingly good season ended my streak of bad picks. Of course, near the end of June, I dealt Berkman and Cordero in an attempt to improve my pitching for Hellickson and Pineda. Didn't really like the deal, but my team was so bad I figured it was worth a try. Hellickson gave me 5 wins with a 2.51 ERA and 1.09 WHIP but Pineda added just 2 wins with a 6.35 ERA.

148 Neil Walker, Pit 2B 60/10/71/6/.259

Walker delivered pretty much what was expected.

165 Andres Torres, SF OF 3/0/0/1/.286
172 Edinson Volquez, Cin SP 41 K/3 W/5.74 /1.65
189 Ryan Dempster, ChC SP 29 K/1 W/9.58 /1.87

Gave up on Dempster early on this team.

196 Francisco Cordero, Cin RP 26 K/3 W/15 S/1.57/0.84

Cordero was excellent for me before I traded him. He and Berkman went on to help Raynor Shine add 22 points after the break to finish 2nd.

213 Aroldis Chapman, Cin RP 12 K/0 S/1.80/1.00
220 David Aardsma*, Sea RP -----------
237 Mike Minor, Atl SP 5 K/0 W/6.35/1.59
244 Alfonso Soriano, ChC OF 12/7/16/0/.235
261 Kyle Farnsworth, TB RP 2 K/1 S/2.70/0.90

Didn't get much from those 5 picks.

268 Jorge Posada, NYY C 6/5/9/0/.160

Dumped Posada early and ended up using 15 catchers that hit .199 with 55 runs, 22 home runs, 63 RBI, and 2 steals. OK, I'm almost convinced to ‘Set It and Forget It.’

285 Reid Brignac, TB SS 0 Hits/2 Abs
292 Brett Cecil, Tor SP 3 K/0 W/5.40/1.60

Key Adds:

Matt Joyce: 49/176 33/12/32/4/.278

Emilio Bonifacio: 54/185 31/1/8/19/.292

Lucas Duda: 54/174 25/8/35/0/.310

Erick Aybar: 54/184 23/3/22/13/.293

Alexi Ogando: 74 K/8 W/2.83/1.03

Matt Capps: 15 saves

At the all-star break I had 65.5 points and was in 7th, 39.5 out of 1st. I added 6.5 points in the 2nd half, but RIV gained 12 points, so I finished 45 behind, but moved up to 5th place!


RCL 33



The Draft:

6 Joey Votto, Cin 1B 101/29/103/8/.310
19 Matt Kemp, LAD OF 115/39/126/40/.324
30 Jose Bautista, Tor 3B 26/10/18/4/.352

Looks like a championship team so far! But, I traded Bautista on May 8 for Cano. Cano put up great numbers for me (86/20/94/6/.305), but I didn't have a decent replacement at 3B, so should not really have made this trade.

43 Jason Heyward, Atl OF 36/11/29/3/.217

Pretty bad for a 4th round pick. Especially when you consider Ellsbury and Granderson were still available.

54 Yovani Gallardo, Mil SP 183 K/16 W/3.61/1.21

Satisfied with Gallardo. Could have taken Weaver, but also could have chosen Liriano.

67 Elvis Andrus, Tex SS 91/5/59/34/.282

Good shortstop numbers.

78 Carlos Marmol, ChC RP 99 K/2 W/34 S/4.01/1.38

Once again, drafting a closer early.

91 Colby Rasmus, Tor OF 56/11/36/4/.250

Was expecting a big year from Colby. Oh, and, Granderson was still available.

102 Aaron Hill, Ari 2B 14/1/17/8/.233
115 Jose Tabata, Pit OF 33/3/14/14/.252
126 Carlos Pena, ChC 1B 42/18/49/0/.217

Was hoping for more steals and a higher average from this group.

139 Jose Valverde, Det RP 68 K/2 W/48 S/2.27/1.18

Led me to 12 points in saves.

150 Travis Snider, Tor OF 17/3/27/7/.219
163 Gio Gonzalez, Oak SP 138 K/9 W/3.10/1.36

2nd to Gallardo in wins and Ks for The Jets.

174 Edinson Volquez, Cin SP 41 K/3 W/5.74/1.65
187 Edwin Jackson, StL SP 38 K/4 W/4.78/1.50
198 Brandon Lyon*, Hou RP 1 K/20.25/4.50
211 Fernando Rodney, LAA RP 2 K/1 S/13.50/4.50
222 Danny Espinosa, Was 2B 7/1/5/3/.220

Gave up too early on Espinosa.

235 David Freese, StL 3B 7/0/6/0/.288
246 Aroldis Chapman, Cin RP 8 K/1 W/0.00/1.27
259 Jon Rauch*, Tor RP 3K/2 S/4.15/1.38
270 Brandon Beachy, Atl SP 9K/3.75/1.17
283 Johan Santana*, NYM SP ------
294 Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Bos C 1/0/0/0/.000

This was my best team for catching and the fewest catchers (13). They hit .231 with 60 runs, 20 home runs, 80 RBI, and 2 steals.

Key Adds:

Erick Aybar: 49/9/39/22/.265

Desmond Jennings: 41/10/25/19/.274

Jordan Walden: 31 saves

Fernando Salas: 10 saves before I traded him for Moustakas as I tried to replace Bautista.

Matt Harrison, Javier Vazquez, Justin Masterson, Vance Worley, and R.A. Dickey provided 22 wins and 215 Ks with a 2.80 ERA.

At the all-star break I was in 4th place with 75 points, 24 behind the leader. Once again I gained points and position in the standings during the 2nd half, but fell further out of first.

Nice breakdown... Shows you how many picks you can make that turn out to be bad and still remain in contention.

This cannot be understated. The more seasons I play, the more I realize that FBB success has less to do with drafting well and much more to deal with effectively working the waiver wire and being able to make savvy trades. You can have a relatively disastrous draft and still do very well. The first month or two of the season are crucial to add any players that start out hot in case they break out. There will also always be several players in a league that will get dropped because they get off to a slow a start that can also return a nice profit if you snag them (for me in RCL5 for example, that was James Shields). So for me, it's keeping a hawkeye on who is hot on the wire early in the season and adding them as soon as they string together a few nice games. Hitting on just a few of them can return enough dividends to pay for draft day mistakes.

The current saying is "You can't win your league on draft day, but you can lose it". I guess I disagree, to an extent. I don't mean to go into your draft unprepared, on the contrary, you do need to know what you are doing on draft day...a successful team needs a few players from the middle-late rounds to return nice profits...but my point is that, IMO, it is better to have flexibility with who you draft and be willing to drop just about any one of your picks from the last quarter (or so) of your draft in order to grab hot players from the wire. I think the downfall of many FBB managers these days is having too much faith in who they draft.

Somebody may point to Hanley and say "yes, you CAN lose your league on draft day". However, I bet every single team that drafted Hanley received multiple trade offers for him, throughout the season. While it is hard to recognize, and even harder to pull the trigger, sometimes it IS good to "sell low". (Apart from all of that....Hanley's steadily declining stats over the past several seasons along with his noted lackadaisical attitude should have been reason enough to pass him over in the first round...but that's an entirely different discussion).

100% agree... Might even quote that at some point in the preseason if I remember...

Also, on the Hanley note... When your first round pick does poorly, I think it makes it easier to quit your league so while it's not good that Hanley was hurt or sucked, there's a chance that a bunch of those Hanley teams stopped playing.