A new league with new settings....

[Beeblebrox]

Well, they aren't new to the fantasy baseball or anything.....just new to me.

- It's a 10-team league. I haven't played in a league this small in over a decade.
- It's a brand new league, and I've been playing exclusively in keeper leagues for the last 6 years.
- We are using MI and CI spots, which is something I've never done before.

All of that means I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not my team is any good.

Here's the roster, with where I drafted them in parenthesis. I had the 10th overall pick, so I was stuck on the turn.
5x5 roto, 1400 IP limit


C - R. Doumit (23.10)
1B - M. Morse 1B/OF (7.10)
2B - M. Cuddyer 1B/2B/OF (8.1)
SS - A. Ramirez (18.1)
3B - R. Zimmerman (4.1)
MI - R. Weeks (9.10)
CI - B. Lawrie (5.10)
OF - J. Upton (1.10)
OF - J. Ellsbury (2.1)
OF - A. McCutchen (3.10)
OF - J. Bruce (6.1)
UTIL - B. Butler (13.10)
Bench - K. Morales (19.10)

SP -
A. Wainwright (10.1)
D. Hudson (11.10)
B. Beachy (12.1)
B. Morrow (14.1)
D. Bard (21.10)
M. Minor (22.1)

RP -
H. Street (15.10)
R. Betancourt (16.1)
B. League (17.10)
F. Francisco (20.1)


I didn't mean to end up with 4 closers, but maybe I can rack up a nice chunk of saves and then deal one or two of them in a few months and get another SP....

[reiser]

I love your offense. Ellsbury was fantasy gold for me last year, I'm super high on Cuddyer even in leagues where he doesn't have 2B eligibility, I don't think Butler has reached his potential, and if Morales bounces back...all that, and Lawrie! The only real concern is Weeks, and you know the drill there. Doumit could be a black hole, and Ramirez is a notorious slow starter. The stat-heads say that's meaningless, which it is until you are eating a Mendoza line month on your team.

of course, all that is at the expense of pitching. Your staff is based around a guy coming off TJ, and as much as I love Wainwright, there's a lot that can go wrong there. Morrow is an enigma, there's a lot to like with Beachy but he's never thrown more than 150 IP, and then there's the Bard experiment.
there's 2 AL East pitchers there, so you should definitely play matchups as well.

2 thoughts on improving. Is it 5x5? You mentioned trading for SP, but actually you might check the WW for some questionable closer (Pestano) and just try and dominate WHIP, ERA and Saves, while staying middle of the pack in Wins. A Clippard or a Venters is going to get near a 100K, and can really help out the rate stats too.

In terms of trading, obviously if Morales looks healthy and back in 2009 form, I would think he would command a premium over Morse or Butler. Trade the name.