The guys over at Sons of Roto have been hosting Blog Wars for a handful of years now, and this is my second year involved. I ended up in fourth place last year — not too bad, I know. But considering I held first place by a sizable margin from April through August, the fourth place finish takes on a truly bitter taste. My pitching collapsed down the stretch, and I watched helplessly has my ratios ballooned. Alas, I flew too close to the sun on the wings of Lance Lynn. Should’ve seen it coming…
Anyway, the settings: 15 team mixed 5×5, $260 auction budget, $100 FAAB. This year’s auction was held on March 20th. I should note that Grey is co-managing with me — Yahoo!’s platform rendered him powerless in terms of bidding, but he was able to observe and offer support via IM in order to make sure I didn’t do something stupid… like buy Roy Halladay for $18 or something. My team is listed below, but for a look at the league-wide auction results, click here.
| Player | Position | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Victor Martinez | C | 15 |
| Ryan Hanigan | C | 1 |
| Albert Pujols | 1B | 41 |
| Aaron Hill | 2B | 17 |
| Todd Frazier | 3B | 9 |
| Jimmy Rollins | SS | 20 |
| Gordon Beckham | MI | 1 |
| Brett Wallace | CI | 1 |
| Jacoby Ellsbury | OF | 22 |
| Shin-Soo Choo | OF | 16 |
| Norichika Aoki | OF | 14 |
| Alejandro De Aza | OF | 12 |
| Coco Crisp | OF | 5 |
| Seth Smith | UT | 1 |
| Matt Cain | SP | 25 |
| Jonathan Papelbon | RP | 14 |
| Roy Halladay | P | 18 |
| Dan Haren | P | 10 |
| Brett Anderson | P | 7 |
| Mike Fiers | P | 5 |
| Trevor Rosenthal | P | 1 |
| Dan Straily | P | 1 |
| Erasmo Ramirez | P | 1 |
| Clayton Richard | Bench | 1 |
| Phil Coke | Bench | 1 |
| Wade LeBlanc | Bench | 1 |
THE GOOD
I’m rarely one to swoon over freshly drafted teams, and that holds true with this squad. If there’s an area I’m especially pleased with, though, that’d be the outfield. Shin-Soo Choo at $16 was my favorite buy, and if healthy, Ellsbury could return value significantly better than $22. Aoki and De Aza offer that 10-and-30 power/speed balance that I so desperately crave in roto. I probably would’ve gotten them a bit cheaper in a home league or a public league, but I’m fine with the cost and I’m excited they’re on my roster. There’s really not much else that I’m happy with, so onto the next section…
THE BAD
F*ck, this team is old. Pujols, Rollins, V-Mart, Halladay… sounds like an outstanding core for 2005. This is the Casino Bus in its purest form. But beyond the general elderly nature of the group, there’s plenty more I don’t like. It was an auction filled with dark moments. Like when Grey asked me to bid on Rizzo, who sold for $15, but I opted instead to help my girlfriend with her NCAA bracket (she picked Gonzaga all the way). Or when I tried to bid-up Haren and got stuck with him at $10. Or when I spent my max-bid on Todd Frazier when I still had ten spots to fill. The list goes on.
THE OBVIOUS PARTING THOUGHT
All of this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. This is just the beginning. Drafting is certainly the most exciting component of the fantasy baseball season, but it’s not the most important. Any winning team I’ve had in the past has been based on in-season management. I enjoy the grind of the baseball season and I’m sure that by mid-season my team will look quite different from how it appears at this moment. Now excuse me as I crank some tunes, press the pedal to the floor, and drive this Casino Bus into the sunset.
