Will Grandma's Triceps contend? Please rate my team WHIR

[Danks81]

Yahoo H2H 10 team league 5x5 scoring. Somewhat unusual that we’re starting two catchers and two utility spots. Please take the time to analyze my squad thus far. Thanks in advance!

C McCann
C Posada
1B Pujols
2B Barfield
3B BJ Upton
SS Felipe Lopez
OF Ichiro
OF Sizemore
OF Magglio Ordonez
U Frank Thomas
U Sexson
Bench Wigginton
Bench Zimmerman

SP Webb
SP Willis
RP Nathan
RP Dempster
P Weathers
P Zumaya
P Shields
B Zito
B Verlander
B Penny
B Wheeler
DL Wang
DL Rogers

[jhofingers]

pretty solid team all around. i would try and add another big bat at Utility, but i really like Zimmerman this year and he is on your bench. i know Webb won the Cy Young last year but i would try and trade him for someone like Peavy, who i think is gonna have a big year.

[lefty31mazur]

Upton is nice but he is batting ninth...RBIs will be very low
Zim is a better option. Maybe play Upton against batteries that can't control the running game. Once he gets 2b and OF eligibility he will have more value to you...and at that point Wiggy might have less value to you. You might prefer a solid 4th outfielder depending on how wiggington plays.

Wang's numbers did not impress me last year.

[Danks81]

Upton is nice but he is batting ninth...RBIs will be very low
Zim is a better option. Maybe play Upton against batteries that can't control the running game. Once he gets 2b and OF eligibility he will have more value to you...and at that point Wiggy might have less value to you. You might prefer a solid 4th outfielder depending on how wiggington plays.

Wang's numbers did not impress me last year.

Some great insight, never thought about digging as deep as studying what batteries are prone to stolen bases. I think I'll give that a try. What do you project this year from Zimmerman, would it be too much to hope for 30 homers?

I think OF power and SS are my biggest weaknesses, I’m hoping Upton gets SS eligibility and performs so that I don’t have to start Lopez. I’ll probably cut Wang once he comes off the deal if I can’t package him for an upgrade somewhere. As you might be able to tell I like to have a bench deep in pitchers. I think people in fantasy focus too much on saves for relievers and don’t grab topnotch setup men to bolster their ERA, WHIP, and K’s. So I’m hoping Shields and Zumaya can do what they did last year, perhaps grabbin’ a couple dozen saves or so from Zumaya. Besides Webb, how else do my starters stack up?

[fenwaypride1912]

you have willis, dumpster, and zito on the same team....ooo. IMO theyre all gonna do bad. i know willis is on top of everyones list for a bounceback but i dont see it. he has a funky mechanic so he mite get hurt. he also just isnt very good. very high WHIP and thats the stat that decides how successful you cna be cuz if you dont gve up hits and walks, how can you be that bad? zito is moving to the NL. so wut. doesnt stop him from sucking. I just hate him. yes hes never gonna get hurt but his WHIP was also high. and he plays on a bad team. and dumspter....well hes not gonna last.

[lefty31mazur]

"Some great insight, never thought about digging as deep as studying what batteries are prone to stolen bases."

here is a link to check on those catchers that people are running on.
it's early but if you click on 2006 you might have a good idea.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fie ... sesAllowed

[lefty31mazur]

espn projects zimmerman as
104 runs, 26 hr, 88 rbi, 10 sb, .284

[lefty31mazur]

"As you might be able to tell I like to have a bench deep in pitchers. I think people in fantasy focus too much on saves for relievers and don’t grab topnotch setup men to bolster their ERA, WHIP, and K’s. So I’m hoping Shields and Zumaya can do what they did last year, perhaps grabbin’ a couple dozen saves or so from Zumaya. Besides Webb, how else do my starters stack up?"

Shields and Zumaya 2006 combined stats =
181 k, 13 wins, 3 sv, 171 innings, 1.12 whip, 2.42 era

their combined stats compare to one ace SP. It is a very good strategy to carry 2 guys like that if you have room on your roster, especially in roto leagues because you have a limit of total innings pitched in roto.

Maybe if the rest of your league is carrying smaller pitching staffs that project to less innings and wins than yours you are ok but
if you can only play 5 RP it hurts your team to carry 6 RP unless you think that one of your setup men is only weeks away from winning a closer job. I'd think about dropping one setup guy for a SP especially if you are playing head to head. Or you could go with 6 Relief pitchers if you can find a RP that qualifies at SP. I don't know...is Wheeler close to taking Lidge's job? I have not payed any attention to that situation. I was pretty sure I did not want to draft Lidge this year. A long time ago it pained me to watch him throw so many sliders. I knew he was abusing that pitch and that it could affect his performance down the line. It has been a while since I have watched him.

[Kuji]

espn projects zimmerman as
104 runs, 26 hr, 88 rbi, 10 sb, .284

The same ESPN that had an analyst rate that would've picked Robinson Cano as a no.2 draft pick.

[lefty31mazur]

Maybe the #2 second baseman...not overall I hope....that would be BS.

It would be stupid for anybody to take Cano with the #2 pick overall even if you were crazy enough to think Cano was the best player in the league because you could still get Cano in the 4th round for sure.