It’s halfway through the season so it’s time to share how well (or poorly) we’re doing in our various fantasy baseball expert leagues. Rather than rehash good/bad draft picks (you can see that in our last update), I’ve just noted what place we’re in, who’s in 1st/last, a twittersque summary of how each team is doing, and then, to show we’re good sports, some praise (and unintentional jinxing) to the current 1st place teams.
The only team of ours that’s had any significant change is our Yahoo! Friends & Family league where we went from 10th to 8th but gained 11.5 points. There are 8 teams between 87.5 and 70.5 points with the other 4 between 46.5 and 53.5 points. So we’re 17 points from 1st and 17 points better than the 9th place team. While our team would still be a longshot to win, it at least has a chance should our big hitters stay productive (McCutchen, Votto, Adam Jones) and our SPs have strong 2nd halves.
Our performance to date makes us look like a bunch of Rizzutos (i.e., know nothing about the National League). Not sure why our success has been limited to AL-Only other than the fact that we struck gold with a few of the same players across the teams (Peavy, Sale, Adam Jones, Tom Milone, Casey Janssen are all on 2 of the three teams….imagine Longoria – who’s on two of teams – stayed healthy). Fingers crossed that Longoria gets healthy and one of the minor league prospects we’ve stashed (Mike Olt, Danny Hultzen, Russ Canzler) pans out.
| Our Place | 11th (64.5 pts) |
| 1st place | Steve Gardner of USATODAY (113.5 pts) |
| Last place | James Quintong of ESPN (44.5 pts) |
| Previous 140 character max summary | Why Lincecum over Greinke and Weaver? Where are A-Gonz and Nellie’s HRs? Nice comeback, Rios. Wish we picked Beltran. Feb drafts suck. |
| Updated 140 character max summary | FU Lincecum. U2 Ichiro. Play a full week Yoenis. Play at all Longoria. That early July surge to 80 pts sure was nice. Here’s hoping for 8th. |
| Attempted praise | Great job Steve. Looks like we’ll now be 0-2 against you in expert leagues. Didn’t like your team coming out of the draft (had you 2nd to last in projected standings) but sure looks like you knew something I didn’t. Capuano and McDonald turned out pretty well for Reserve picks. Your 17th round pick of Carlos Ruiz sure looks a smidge better than our 9th round Jesus Montero pick. Can’t believe you’re in first in a 15 team league yet last in Saves – that’s a hard one to pull off. |
Y! Friends & Family – 13 team Mixed (Snake)
| Our Place | 8th (70.5 pts) |
| 1st place | Dalton Del Don – Rotowire (87.5 pts) |
| Last place | Scott Pianowski – Yahoo! (46.5 pts) |
| Previous 140 character max summary | Lee has 0 wins?! Middle rounds killed us-Votto/McCutch/C. Lee/CC/A. Jones solid top 5. Shitty closer luck (1 pt in SV), Walker over Altuve?! |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Gained 11.5 pts in 2nd quarter. Still in striking distance. Love Dread Pirate. Welcome back Marmol. Need big 2Hs from Lee, CC, and Berkman |
| Attempted Praise | Dalton – 1st place with A-Gonz, Jennings, and Lester in your top 6 picks. Impressive. Encarnacion in pick #191 and Casilla in the reserve round certainly helped. 7 teams within 17 points of first place – should make for an exciting 2nd half! |
DraftDay – 10 team AL (Auction)
| Our Place | 3rd (67 pts) |
| 1st place | Eric Kesselman – stock broker/high stakes poker player (82 pts) |
| Last place | 2 Non-bloggers/poker playing tandems including someone who won a WSOP bracelet this year (tied at 36 pts) |
| Previous 140 character max summary | A-Gonz/Longo – ugh. Fickin’ Lester. Brutal closer luck (Only 3 SVs! Walden quick axe, F-Cord, Janssen on bench for 4 SVs, K-Rob hurt). |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Crazy good/lucky with SPs so far. Peavy/Sale/Colby as a 1-2-3 with Quintana/McAllister also helping mask Lester. Trout amazing. Need Longo. |
| Attempted Praise | Awesome job, Eric. Great job selling high on Hamilton (130 AB/.400/30/18/44). You really stepped in it with Plouffe (thought we were lucky with Brandon Moss) – hurts even more since our team needs power and we had Valencia at the time of the pickup. When’s the bottom going to fall out of Trumbo already? Hope we can give you a run for the pennant. |
FantasyPros911 12-team AL (no public link)
| Our Place | 2nd (86 pts) |
| 1st place | Nick Minnix – KFFL (89 pts) |
| Last place | Patrick DiCaprio – FantasyPros911 (36.5 pts) |
| Previous summary | Tied for 2nd place (2.5 pts off lead). Great offense so far led by overperformance by Adam Jones, Josh Reddick, and Kyle Seager. Pitching has been a disappointment so far aside from Milone and Capps. Need Lester and Scherzer to pitch well and hopefully have surplus Saves to trade at some point between Capps, Bailey, and Janssen. |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Offense fading a bit but a healthy Markakis should help. Pitching staff ended 1st half on roll. Can win if my pitching stays hot. |
| Attempted Praise | Nick – you’re on a roll. You bested me last year (89 to 80 pts) in this league and have been leading this league practically all year. I gotta say that my roster’s looking stronger going into the 2nd half so better get ready to start spending some FAAB. |
CBSSports 12 team AL (no public link)
| Our Place | 1st (83.5 pts) – 3.5 pts lead |
| 1st place | Razzball |
| Last place | Jeff Boggis – Fantasy Sports Empires (43 pts) |
| Previous summary | Miracle pitching led by Peavy, Sale, and Jim Johnson. Lineup stitched together after string of injuries (Longoria, Morneau, Reynolds, Cespedes, Iannetta). |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Miracle pitching continues – only 4.5 points from a perfect 60. Can only go down. Hopefully offense makes up pts. Healthy Longo would help. |
| Attempted Praise | Um, great job us! |
CBSSports 12 team NL (no public link)
| Our Place | 7th (58.5 pts) |
| 1st place | Bernie Pleskoff – Rotowire (97.5 pts) |
| Last place | Patrick Davitt – Baseball HQ (32 pts) |
| Previous summary | Brutal CI luck (Gaby, Zimmerman, Sandoval), SP has disappointed (Anibal, Nolasco solid…D. Hudson + Cahill blech). Casilla saved our ‘pen after Guerra got replaced. |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Offense is ok, should be better. C’mon J-Up & Zimm. Quantity over quality SP strategy backfired. Dickey, Capuano, or Miley would’ve helped. |
| Attempted Praise | Good job Bernie. Hard to see how 97.5 pts came out of your roster – which sounds like a criticism but really is meant as a compliment (it’s a lot easier to win if you hit the lottery w/ a couple of fluke players like Ruiz & Dickey). Tough break with Beachy out for year. Nice job with $2 Lohse and $3 Ellis. Good luck in the 2nd half. |
Yahoo! Hero Sandwich – 14 team mixed (no public link)
| Our Place | 11th (62.5 pts) |
| 1st place | Rstein – not sure if blogger or Y! commenter (105.5 pts) |
| Last place | Pete – not sure if blogger or Y! commenter (54 pts) |
| Previous summary | Solid offense led by Josh Hamilton, Bruce, Moose, and Moobs overcoming Goldschmidt/Alexei/Choo disappointments. Pitching has potential but disappointed so far – CC, Romero, Latos, Anibal, Colby, Masterson. |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Team sunk 5 spots since quarter-mark. Awful SP luck cont’d – 3 pts total in ERA/WHIP. Thx Romero and Latos! This team should’ve contended. |
| Attempted Praise | Rstein – didn’t you also win last year? Insane pitching with Zimmermann, Gio, Sale, and Capuano. Nice job overcoming disappointments and injuries like A-Gonz, Pedroia, Markakis, and Ethier. |
Battle of the Fantasy Gods – 14 team mixed (no public link) League run by Sky of our Fantasy Football Blog
| Our Place | 3rd (90 pts) |
| 1st place | Rich of FantasyPros911(96 its) |
| Last place | Scott White of CBS (55 pts) |
| Previous summary | We were in first place up until about a week ago. |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Injuries to Longoria and Beachy have hurt us, but not much since the league is shallow. Poor streaming (there’s no benches in this league) have not helped. Though we’re still right in thick of it. |
| Attempted Praise | There’s no FAAB and a few teams have just checked out, and, as previously mentioned, no benches, so waivers are filled to the brims with players. It feels kinda like a ten team league. So Rich has stayed slightly above us on grabbing hot bats and streaming. It’s going to be a battle to the end. |
Blog Wars – 14 team League run by Scott, Minor League Prospect writer
| Our Place | 1st (111 pts) |
| 1st place | Razzball (111 pts) |
| Last place | Fake Teams (40 pts) |
| Previous summary | We’ve led the whole year. |
| Updated 140 character max summary | Hasn’t been close, and that’s with having Ike Davis as our first baseman, and having to sit Mark Reynolds for despicable play. This is Blog Wars, but feels more like we’re the Brits and this is the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896. |
| Attempted Praise | Zanzibar was able to bounce back and produce some the world’s finest canoes. |
nice job
@AL KOHOLIC, thanks!
Good work…man you must be getting screwed by Zimmerman and Lester! Have them in like every league it seems.
Trusting the adverb today in Coors?
@TheNewGuy, And what about Kuroda against Trout and the Halos.
@TheNewGuy, More Longoria than Zimmerman but yeah – him and Lester…hindsight says I should’ve diversified with Bautista and Price but peavy, sale, and colby lewis on multiple teams worked out pretty pretty well
@TheNewGuy, Lee in Coors is a bit scary. In H2H or a league with minor IP caps, sure. In leagues with strict IP caps or GS, I’d sit him. I like Kuroda at home vs. Angels a bit more. Just hope he doesn’t throw any meatballs to Trumbo.
@Rudy Gamble, Just noticed it’s his first time pitching in Coors too suprisingly…better play it safe.
Trying to make a run (10pts back). 15 teams/keep 7
Been offered Dickey & 10th pick for Latos & 3rd pick or Rizzo & 2nd pick.
Rizzo playing util for me, AJax would take his spot. Rizzo and Latos are borderline keepers for me. Pretty solid offence, pitching cats weak to date but are slowly improving. Staff is: Lester/Latos/Anibal/Niese/Oswalt/Cahill/Fiers/Morrow(DL)
@nightpandas, 3rd option is Dickey & 12th for Bonifacio and 2nd
@nightpandas, Are those picks for next year? If so, I don’t make any of these deals. I think that’s about $10 in draft pick value you’d be giving up – http://razzball.com/estimated-dollar-value-for-draft-picksrounds/.
I just don’t trust Dickey enough to give up $10 in next year’s draft. Thought I read that knuckleballers have issues in Sept/Oct b/c of the cold…That staff should be enough to compete in 15 team – just gotta hope Lester and latos turn it around
Top LF ROS (I own the first 3):
Bonifacio
JD Mart
Belt
Crisp
Viciedo
Boesch
Ruggiano
Scott
Wiggington
@nightpandas, this is a motley bunch. boneface is the only must own i see for 12-team leagues. i’d go with Viciedo or Scott if you need HR/RBI, Crisp if you need speed. Belt if you need AVG/OBP.
Feeling that Longo pain right along with you guys. The league I have him, I took Hanley in the first round last year. Might just auto draft the first round next year…
Couple of questions, currently rocking Hill at 2B in my 12 team H2H (count OBP as well as AVG), but Michael Young is available – make the switch?
Also – Who so you like better for Holds – Boggs, Dunn, Balfour, Frasor or Belisario?
@Steve, While it’s likely Hill will regress and Young will rebound in 2nd half, I’d stick w/ Hill for the time being. I don’t play in any holds leagues so don’t really have a educated opinion on those guys.
Out of it in a keeper league. I know we are supposed to hate catchers but I’m thinking of dealing Lester for c Santana. Thoughts?
@ozzie, unless he’s stupid cheap or you have a crazy amount of keepers, i’d have no interest in keeping santana.
Please rank ROS, thanks: Adam Jones, Billy Butler, Nelson Cruz, Brandon Phillips
@Deadwoods, Cruz, Phillips, Jones, Butler. They’re all pretty similar in value so far this year except for Jones. Cruz is due to break out at some point and not convinced that Jones and Butler can maintain their 1st half power gains.
any thoughts on this trade offer? I’m in a 10 team keeper league. This manager has given up for this year and is just focused on next season. Here is my current team
Posey, Votto, Neil Walker, Uggla, Alexei Ramirez, Boneface, Lawrie, CarGo, Bruce, Heyward, Jennings, Bautista, Rios
Hanson, McDonald, Marcum, Morrow, Moore, Friers, Broxton, Reed, Marmol, Brad Lincoln, Clippard and Casilla
We have a 150 starts limit. So I would like to improve my SP options. If I get this trade done, I would try to trade one of my current closers.
Trade offer:
CarGo and Bautista
for
Braun, Gio, Kimbrel, and Rizzo
I am thinking about seeing if I can replace Rizzo with Pedroia or Tulo
Any thoughts?
@harkrider, Hmm, I don’t see much value in Rizzo for 10 team. Braun and CarGo are similar value so that’s a wash. So is Bautista worth Gio and Kimbrel? In first half, Gio was more valuable by himself. I’d assume $18 value for Gio + $16 for Kimbrel. I probably put Bautista around $25 (his 2nd half swoon last year worries me ). So yeah, I can see making that trade. Rizzo or whomever else you get is just sweetener.
@Rudy Gamble, would I hurt my 5 keepers for next season too much with this trade? Who would you potentially keep?
Votto, Braun (Lawrie, Bruce, Heyward, Jennings, Rios, Gio)???
Should I start Cliff Lee at Coors today?
@Shin Soo Been Gone, See advice in comment #2.
Trade Lester for Morse?
by rasto21585 » Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:35 pm
I am in a 20 team h2h dynasty league. I just deal goldschmidt for profar and zack wheeler. I was thinking longterm and this maybe the only time i get profar at a cheap price. Anyway even though i dealt goldschmidt, i still believe i may have a chance to compete this year. I am in 8th right now. I am thinking of maybe dealing one of my arms for a realiable bat. Anyway i was thinking of dealing sano wheeler and lester for morse scherzer and crisp. Should i consider this trade.
c jp arencibia
1b prince fielder
2b neil walker
ss yunel escobar
3b miguel cabrera
inf chris johnson
lf peter bourjos
cf tony campana
rf justin upton
of carlos lee
util casey kotchman
bn andrelton simmons
bn travis snider
bn ryan lavernway
Bn miguel Sano
dl carl crawford
dl evan longoria
sp clayton kershaw
sp yu darvish
sp cliff lee
sp jon lester
rp sean doolittle
rp matt thorton
rp matt belisle
p joe kelly
p aaron harang
bn zack mccalister
bn barry zito
bn zack wheeler
dl anthony bass
@Ryan, Well, you really need upgrades at OF for any chance to compete. I suppose Crawford will replace campana or bourjos but that’s still one deadspot. Lester and Scherzer probably aren’t too far in value so the question is trading Sano + Wheeler worth Morse and Crisp. Crisp is an upgrade over Campana/Bourjos/Kotchman. Morse is a definite upgrade. I think it’s going to be a while before Sano or Wheeler contributes so I’m fine w/ the trade if you could live with the chance that one of those two prospects bites you in 2014.
Zimmermann (@ MIA) and/or Latos (vs. STL)?
Do you guys (or anyone else here) play any of the NFBC leagues? Thinking about getting into one next year – how do they work?
@Adam, Zimmermann. No on NFBC – considered it this year and calculated that they take 30% of the pot which seemed usurious. They have a few different formats but the main parts are: deep bench and no trades or free agent pickups
Thanks for the Blog Wars love on this update. Never thought dominating an expert league would be so easy… You sure you didn’t sign me up for one of those leagues for the learning disabled? I swear this Pianowski guy is missing a few screws…
Also, does Sky = Oregon Nut Cups? I was wondering what happened to that dude.
@Scott Evans, Don’t get too cocky – sometimes things just break right in a given team/league/year. Pianowski has an awesome track record but this doesn’t seem to be his year. He’s the ultimate ‘quick trigger finger’ guy which makes him look like a mad genius when things go right and just mad when they don’t. And, yup, Sky = Oregon Nut Cups.
@Rudy Gamble, Just having a little fun, man. Not trying to outgrow my britches, here. Very little trash being spewed on the league page, so I gotta let it out somewhere. And for the record, I’m a huge fan of Pianowski — been reading him for years. Utmost respect for his writing & his clear, firm advice.
@Scott Evans, Nice job. Carlos Beltran ($7) and Colby Rasmus ($3) have turned out to be great bargains.
@VinWins, Yes, the auction was good to me. Scooping Lynn & Seager also turned out well. Still, long way to go… Thanks, Vin!
Thanks for the update, fellas.
12 team 5×5 roto….some help needed in AVG, but overall just need the best OF possible for the ROS….who ya got, Jennings or Choo?
@Adam, Most prefer Jennings. I like Choo. Consistency over upside.
I’m dying here, Rudy. who am i gonna start between these two unreliables?
Anibal Sanchez (MIA) — 7/17-@CHC (Wood), 7/22-@PIT (Karstens)
Lance Lynn (STL) — 7/16-@MIL (Wolf), 7/22-CHC (Wood)
@Crumpy, Anibal has been very good away from Miami for whatever reason. Plus, Lynn had three crappy starts to end the 1st half. I vote Anibal.
Hey Rudy, would you rank these guys for a DH spot ROS?
Espinosa, Kendrick, Chris Davis, Belt, LoMo
Also, which one do you like least in a keeper league?
Thanks!
@Jon, Kendrick Espinosa, Morrison, Belt, Davis. Davis.
Who do you like most for this extended week:
@ LF: Aoki/Kendrick/Bonifacio
@ C: Pierzinsky/Rosario
Thanks Rudy. Here’s to a strong (and lucky) 2nd half!
@Jenkees, Boneface and Rosario (6 straight home games).
Thanks!
Stream for tomorrow: Milone @ MIN or Volquez @ LAD?
@Steve Stevenson, I don’t like either. Not a fan of Volquez and Milone is a homeschooler. If forced to choose, Milone.
First off, my friends recently adopted a boy named Grey. Is this by any chance actually Grey, Jr? If so, I feel as though it is my responsibility to inform the parents that his future moustache will be majestic.
Secondly, I am in a 14 team mixed H2H 5×5 category league. My hitting is great, but my pitching is my weakness. Here it is:
Greinke
Darvish
C. Lewis
Roy Oswalt (just a couple of TX pitchers short of the complete box set)
Dempster
Hanson
Glen Perkins
Brett Myers
McAllister (bench)
Villenuava (bench)
Cashner (broken)
My basic idea of the season was to hit well, then get high K pitchers and hope to luck into ERA and WHIP once in awhile. It has worked so far.
I’ve been offered Ryan Cook for Oswalt. Given my lack of saves, should I go for it, or should I just punt saves and try to out-K/Out-W everyone else?
Thanks in advance.
@Prettay, Prettay, Prettay Good, i’d make that trade. i de-emphasize saves in H2H but seems like a 2nd closer could help lead you to a few extra points. Not high on Oswalt either.
h2h league: Harrison or Scherzer ROS?
@K!cks, scherzer
Grey, Here is my “Top 10″ list of why I am in last place in our CBS Sports AL Only expert’s league:
1. Spent way too much auction $$$ on Brett Lawrie and Eric Hosmer.
2. Jered “Subway” Weaver on the DL.
3. Alex Avila on the DL.
4. Brett Gardner on the DL.
5. Dice K on the DL.
6. Victor Martinez on the DL.
7. Sergio Santos on the DL.
8. Brett Anderson on the DL.
9. Mitch Maier on the DL.
10. Roberto Hernandez, formerly Fausto Carmona, had an identity change.
Other than this, I have a great team! At least I am in the top 6 in our other league (CBS Sports Battle of the Fantasy Gods Expert’s League). Good luck the rest of the season!
Jeff Boggis
“The Sultan of Stats”
Fantasy Sports Empires
Yeah, Mitch Maier is a killer. Brett Anderson DL stint was surprising too.
@Grey,
I almost peed.
@Adam, I had a whole draft plan laid out in my head in March. I said, “The one thing I don’t want to do is draft Dice-K.” Luckily, I stuck to it.
@Grey & Rudy: 12 team mixed dynasty league – trade my McCutchen & Nova for his Hamilton & Gallardo? We keep 7 hitters & 7 batters each season & I’ve also got Miggy, Votto, CarGo…, so this is more about the pitching half of the trade. Thanks!
Sounds solid…
what’s the deal fellas? I was able to pull off two mediocre trades and land myself to shittastic closers (Aceves and Capps). Short term options i know, but i need saves and didn’t have to give up much.
Know i have to get a player off of my roster. I was thinking about offering pedro strop and zach mcallister for phil hughes. Hughes is in the last year of his contract and Mcallister and strop can be kept for 6 years at $2 a piece.
the guy also has jim johnson. Do you do this deal?
Do the deal…
@Grey, thanks man, would you rather give up mcallister or smyly?
Smyly
Just noticed we have a 3 start pitcher this ‘week’ for ESPN leagues!….Christian Friedrich….ah.
That said could he be worth it in a 16 team H2H league? Would be dropping Morales…or would 3 starts from him this week be fantasy suicide.
I wouldn’t pick him up…
@grey and @rudy
Weeks or Utley?
Rickie? Him…
darvish@sea or dickey@atl today?
“these pitchers are making me k-thirsty”
Both? Dickey…
@Grey,
Well dempster@ari, darvish@sea, price@bos or dickey@atl
Choose 3 pretty please
Last three…
STREAMER ALERT!
http://razzball.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=28427
*****THERE’S A NEW POST FOR FOLLOWUPS FOR ME****
A Rudy response earlier mentioned, not much value in Rizzo in a 10 Teamer. I own him in one (it is a Keeper, but ignore that; still playing to win this season) and was optimistic in regards to the second half. Should I consider adjusting this attitude? Currently playing him at UTIL with three very able 1B/3B occupiers. Better served in the second half with any of the 10 Team standard dropped underachievers like Krispie, D. Young, Maybin, LaHair, or even C. Santana? Thanks & happy weekend!