12 team 5*5 roto keeper....WHIR

[decatur squares]

So, just drafted my team yesterday afternoon. Didnt come out exactly like I expected, but still think I have a shot this season. Let me know what you think?

12 Team 5*5 roto auction draft.
C:V-Mart
2B: Howie Kendrick
SS:Jimmy Rollins
3B: Ryan Zimmerman
IF:Pablo Sandoval
LF:Raul Ibanez
CF:Matt Kemp
RF:Jermaine Dye
OF:Justin Upton
Utl:Lastings Milledge
Bench: Ichiro Suzuki
Bench: Delmon Young
Bench: Travis Snider
Bench: Mark Teahan

SP: Chris Carpenter
SP: Matt Garza
SP: John Danks
RP: Matt Lindstrom
RP: Frank Fransisco
P: Johnny Cueto
P: Josh Johnson
P: Yovani Gallardo
Bench: Chris Ray
Bench: Ubalo Jimenez

So, what are your thoughts and if you have any ideas on what moves to make I would appreciate it. I know thats hard without seeing other line-ups, but any thoughts would be great.

Leave your link and I give it a look. Thanks.

[Swept Away]

Your team looks pretty solid to me. One thing I think you could use would be another power bat.

Also, you'll probably want to start Ichiro to get his steals and average. You could also use another closer. Granted, Chris Ray should be closing for Baltimore sometime soon, but Francisco may only be closing as long as CJ Wilson is hurt, and I've heard that Lindstrom may not have the job locked down either. I haven't researched those guys too much so if you have and you feel okay about them then disregard that.

For starters, you have a lot of flashy, high upside guys like Jiminez, Cueto, Garza, and Carpenter, who have either been disappointing or seriously injured. All good pickups individually, but that makes a pretty risky rotation if they're all together. So, maybe you could go after a workhorse type who has been solid and dependable.

Thanks for your help on mine.

[Citi Field of Dreams]

Thanks for your help on my team...

I hope I'm not disappointing you when I say I'm not in love with your team. From the way your team is structured, it looks like you took Rollins and Ichiro with some high picks, and I couldn't disagree with that more. Rollins, though he still has 20-25 homer potential, isn't good for the 130 runs he used to put up, or the same amount of steals for that matter. He really is a product of position scarcity, and is why many people spend their first round pick on him. Ichiro is the same way. I'm not crazy about a 35 year old outfielder who shed almost 50 points off his BA last year, who also seems to be discontent about the Mariners' future.

Your hitting is riddled with age. For all intents and purposes, I think V-Mart is all but done. His ABs are going to be diminished by the emergence of Kelly Shoppach behind the plate, and even though he is slated to play many games at first, the presence of Ryan Garko may stand in his way. Ibanez and Dye are still solid fantasy plays, but could go down at a moment's notice due to their age. I'm not saying that they will, merely that it is possible.

That being said, I do like Kemp, Upton, Snider and Teahen as a youthful nucleus. Teahen, after a monster spring, is slated for a resurgent season. Snider and Upton are players on the rise, and Kemp will undoubtedly reap the benefits of a full season with Manny, as well as a hopeful bounceback campaign from Rafael Furcal.

And my favorite of all of them is Pablo Sandoval. A word of advice: take advantage of Sandoval's last season with catcher eligibility, and trade V-Mart for either a power bat or a stable pitcher.

Your pitching is iffy. It is covered in question marks. Garza and Danks are pretty solid. But after that, Carpenter, Frank Francisco and Johnny Cueto are all shrouded in doubt. And, to a lesser entent, Gallardo is too, but I do think he will ultimately succeed this season. Lindstrom is a hard thrower, but he's also battling injury at the moment and most likely won't have a firm grasp on the closer's role for the majority of the year.

So, like I said, there are bright spots on this team, but there definitely is room for improvement. You can contend so long as you go about acquiring a power bat and a steady pitcher for your shaky rotation.