Comments on: Top 20 Middle Relievers for 2009 Fantasy Baseball

By: dude

dude — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 20:22:40 +0000

SAITO

By: papasmurf

papasmurf — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:47:39 +0000

Haha, I am playing the part of the dense American. Didn’t get it. My bad.

By: Grey

Grey — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:06:32 +0000

@papasmurf: See, I am ignorant! Cust kiddin'. I knew the above, I was just playing the stupid American.

By: papasmurf

papasmurf — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:59:32 +0000

Grey, this has nothing to do with baseball, just a little correction about the Japanese. Even though they do have their last names listed first in Japan, when they come over to the States, they list their first names first. So the Hidekis actually share a first name. The Matsui boyz share a family name. Their ancestors could have been cutting up bellies on the same clan back in the day.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:49:30 +0000

@sean: Nah, handcuffing's a waste of time. Just stay near Razzball and I'll tell you when you need to vulture.

By: sean

sean — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:12:46 +0000

@Steve: Masterston strikes me as the typical 6th starter who gets chucked into the pen. Is there any indication that he is going to inherit the 8th inning from Okajima or the save ops when Papelnuts is taking a day off? If not, then I don’t think he has much value save for a spot start if a starter gets injured. Also, he’s probably got extra value for you personally with dual eligibility for your RP-only squad.

@grey: do you suggest focusing specifically on MRs that handcuff my own shaky closers? Or should I just vulture away?

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:47:33 +0000

@Grey: Yeah – and the way Villanueva was used last year was not always ideal for the MR. B. He seemed to come in a bit when a starter got shelled early and go 2-3 innings before handing over to the real setup guys – inasmuch as the Brewers had any.

That said, he was a pretty good bet for a couple of scoreless innings even if he came in too early to ‘earn’ a Hold.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:32:58 +0000

@Carl: Let's hope you get the Santana then. Sorta joking. I would grab Billingsley then if I was super worried about starters not coming back to me. I just figured since Fielder would be there there would be other worthwhile hitters. @Steve: Good points. I almost had Villanueva in there but he seems barely draftable outside of Holds leagues. Then he's just outside the 20.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:15:04 +0000

@Grey: Small point, but could be useful for someone - Buchholz has lost his SP eligibility (in Yahoo anyway) for this year. As you know, I was relievers-only last year and being able to plug him in at SP was very handy. Kuo (who was also good to me) still has his SP eligibility, though. Villanueva and Masterson (assuming he stays in the pen) are a couple of other interesting dual-eligibility options.

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:59:53 +0000

But remember we have 8 keepers each, so 56 players are already gone, maybe drafting strong pitchers is not such a bad idea? Technically our first round is *kinda* the 9th round, if you know what I mean.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:57:27 +0000

@Carl: I wouldn't take a pitcher in the first round if those were my choices. re: Billingsley -- Word is he'll be fine.

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:44:26 +0000

If the guy before me takes Santana…whom would you go for next? Off the top of my head there will be:

Gallardo
Harang
Billingsley (how’s his broken leg mending?)
Lidge
K-Rod
Broxton
Zambrano (eegads)

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:35:03 +0000

@Carl: Gotcha... Okay, I could see dropping Victorino for Manny then just redrafting him. And redrafting Santana. I like the top list much better.

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:19:14 +0000

Grey it’s Yadier. He’s only $4 and he hits around .300 on a good team. I’ll have 2 solid catchers that won’t hurt me along with Doumit so I figure I’d keep him.

With Yadier I am at $131, Manny is $26, remember our cap is $140, I wouldn’t have room for Manny. I might drop Shane Victorino for Manny if he signs and then just redraft Shane and Santana, that would make more sense. I just hope Manny doesn’t tank it after getting a big contract. I hope it’s a 1 year so he’s forced to play hard.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:12:46 +0000

@sean: All closers must start unless they are in an extreme funk then all starters who you want starting are in there as well. So that usually leaves one to two spots that are open for MRs. I try to start at least one, sometimes two, at all times depending on if I have room on my staff. I don't sit them usually, cause if you're sitting them you may as well drop them for a different MR that's going well. I usually churn through MRs at a rate of one every two weeks. As mentioned above, they're the first guy to get the axe if you need room or if they have a few hiccups. Besides the top five guys on this list, they're all releasable at any time. @Carl: Molina who? Bengie? Why can't you drop him and keep Manny? Other than those questions, I like the first one better. Just grab Santana and Fielder with your first two picks.

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:01:10 +0000

I called you Great…(freudian slip?) I mean Grey! DOH.

By: Carl

Carl — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:00:36 +0000

Great you’re my goto guy when I’m on the fence. I have to keep 8 guys in our NL only league and I need your opinion of these scenerios. We have a cap of $140 according to the NL only salaries from MLB.com. (This is if Manny signs in the NL)

Braun 38
Kemp 20
Upton 16
Victorino 22
Doumit 4
Webb 29
Molina 4
Scherzer 1

Or (replace Upton or Victorino with Manny)

Manny 26
Santana 41
Webb 29
Braun 38
Scherzer 1
Motte 1
Perez 1
Hanrahan 1

I know the first one is more balanced, but with Webb and Santana I dont see anyone competing with me in the pitching (especially when I grab Harang or Gallardo), plus we are only 7 guys and I have the 7th and 8th picks overall, meaning I can grab probably grab Fielder and another power guy. Santana may also get to me if I don’t keep him, but that’s a bit iffy. We contracted 2 teams (losers) and because of that the top 5 to go will be Hanley, Pujols, Wright, Reyes and Howard. After that the top guys will be Santana (if I drop him) and Fielder most likely. Your thoughts are much appreciated. Thanks.

By: sean

sean — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:57:37 +0000

@grey: any advice for how to deal with Mr. Bs once they are on my roster. I’ve had a tough time in the past of sitting them when they produce and starting them when they sit because their production is so erratic. In holds leagues, it was easy to plug Flash or Oki into a slot and ride them, but in a league without holds what are some guidelines for starting and sitting?

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:24:36 +0000

@Baron Von Vulturewins: Yeah, that's a good point. I love MRs, but they're also the first ones to go if I need room for a hot pickup or a pickup to fill-in for an injured player.

By: Baron Von Vulturewins

Baron Von Vulturewins — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:22:26 +0000

@Baron Von Vulturewins: Somewhere in that weird throat-clearing aside, there should have appeared the name "Jay Bruce." Or maybe not, given how well that worked out last year.

By: Baron Von Vulturewins

Baron Von Vulturewins — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:21:50 +0000

@Fman99: I agree with this strategy, and try to carry one or two high-K, great-ratio middle relievers through the season. HOWEVER, I always find when I'm scrambling to grab the latest nookie-quality rookie (>aheahem<) the first guy to get jettisoned from the SS Baron is the middle reliever. So I can never keep them around, despite all my good intentions. My league doesn't count holds, and is shallow enough that, beyond the four or five top MRs, there are plenty to fill in later.

By: Fman99

Fman99 — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:48:19 +0000

I am a hardcore Mr. B. In addition to vulture wins and ratio help, 40% of these guys will end up closing games for their team due to injuries and/or ineffectiveness of the guys currently in that 9th inning role.

I drafted both Broxton and Jon Rauch last year in one league as solid mid-to-late picks and ended up running away in the saves category.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:58:56 +0000

@Tony: Okay, but the leagues have been filling up fast (I sound like a used car salesman.)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_start)

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:56:58 +0000

@Grey: Cool, I'll have to get in tonight. And what is the "definition" of a quality start? I'd almost like to swap that with the CG SHO stat we use. Its a neat stat, but it pretty much makes 10 hitting categories and 9 pitching since its so rare.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:32:20 +0000

@Wombaty: I don't think you necessarily have to draft off the radar MRs unless you are in an extremely deep league. I think he looks like he could be a great MR though, just a little wild.

By: Grey

Grey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:30:15 +0000

@Freak: I don't like Holds as a category but its one saving grace is at least you can readily find the stat in newspapers and online. Some other options are K/9 or Walks minus Ks, but those usually steps on Ks' toes. Or Quality Starts, but that's another starter category, I'm assuming you want a reliever category. Could try appearances. Honestly, I wouldn't do anything other then Holds if you want another reliever category. But I wouldn't do Holds either. Just do 5 x 5. @Moonlight’s Grahams: Saito was almost in there but he nearly retired last year so I wouldn't want to draft him in the top 20 MRs. On the Red Sox though, he could stack up some Holds. @101 M.P.H.: He's Chad Bradford. He wasn't as good as he looked last year when he went scoreless for however many innings. He's okay, just not that great. His actual ERA last year was over 3.70. @Tony: I member you asking about the Razzball leagues, signups are now taking place.

By: Wombaty

Wombaty — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:28:54 +0000

@Grey: Great Post. What do you think of Twins youngster Jose Mijares as an off-the-radar MR pick with upside?

By: AZ Bobblehead

AZ Bobblehead — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:23:59 +0000

@AZ Bobblehead: I should mention that my leauge is a 12 team, 6x6 with Quality Starts and OPS as the 6th categories. We've been doing that set up for years and works great.

By: AZ Bobblehead

AZ Bobblehead — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:22:14 +0000

@Freak: We use Quality Starts as our 6th pitching category in my main league. That way you don't get completely hosed if your pitcher has a great outing but craptastic run support cost him the W.

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:52:20 +0000

@Freak: Freak I play in a H2H league 10 pitching stats, 10 hitting stats.... A little unorthodox but fun. One of our pitching stats is CG SHO's, which yeah it rarely happens, but when your guy throws a Complete Game SHO, you pretty much win an extra point that week, which is BONUS LAND. Now what sucks is when the fantasy gods hate you and you throw a CH SHO and then the guy you're facing throws a CG SHO in the same week!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS! It happens.... In your league i dont know if that cat would fly tho. Let me know what you think?