12 team H-H $$ points league. Please rate.

[Bukoski77]

C - Michael Barrett
1B - Jay Gibbons
2B - Brett Boone
3B - Aramis Ramirez
SS - Miguel Tejada
OF - Juan Gonzalez
OF - Carlos Lee
OF - Scott Podsednik
DH - Austin Kearns
U - Josh Phelps
SP - Javier Vazquez
SP - Bartolo Colon
SP - Matt Clement
SP - Adam Eaton
SP - Eric Milton
RP - Matt Herges
RP - Troy Percival
RP - Jorge Julio

Reserves
SP - Kris Benson
SP - Jeff Weaver
SP - Ryan Franlkin
SP - John Patterson
SS/3B/2B - Alex Cintron
2B - Mark Loretta
OF - Randy Winn
DL - Robb Nen

So far no one has seperated from the rest of the league as one of the better teams and I'm right in the middle of the pack with everyone else.

I know I'm probably going to need out field help or a boost at first as I can put Gibbons back in the OF. Also under our keeper rules this is the last year I can keep Boone, all my other players I can retaine into next year. I'm considering tradeing Boone for a slugger and feel I should be able to get a younger player that matches his numbers at the least giving his position scarcity.

Any feedback and suggestions are appreciated.

[sowapowa]

who was your first overall pick? i dont see any first rounders on your roster.

The majority of your team seems like they are sleepers. Juan gone is a serious injury risk. the moment you see him gain value i'd trade him.

You might try to shop brett boone. He is getting up there in age and plays in a very bad home stadium. Loretta on the other hand should be injury free and looks awesome so far.

Basically i believe in getting injury free young players if you are going for sleepers cuz if your sleepers dont pay off and one of your main guys gets injuired then its over for you.

[Bukoski77]

who was your first overall pick? i dont see any first rounders on your roster.

The majority of your team seems like they are sleepers. Juan gone is a serious injury risk. the moment you see him gain value i'd trade him.

You might try to shop brett boone. He is getting up there in age and plays in a very bad home stadium. Loretta on the other hand should be injury free and looks awesome so far.

Basically i believe in getting injury free young players if you are going for sleepers cuz if your sleepers dont pay off and one of your main guys gets injuired then its over for you.

Seriously delayed response on this one as I waited about a month and 1/2 to see how things played out. I didnt have a 1st round draft pick as this is a keeper league. 12 teams, 8 keepers per team, with a max of 4 pitchers and as many hitters as you want if you dont keep 4 pitchers. 96 total players kept along with players we selected in our minor league draft. So my first round pick was essentially a 9th round pick of Carlos Lee, followed bye Matt Clement in the 10th and Aramis Ramirez in the 11th, with several more picks.............

Since this initail post I made, I have made a few trades and add drops off the FA pool and waiver wire.


Trades

#1 May 5th. I gave my Brett Boone for Bobby Abreu right before Abreu went on fire! Score one for me as I was aware of his career April stats being horrible and made that trade the first week of May . Loretta is now my starting 2B, whom I stole off waivers, and I have no regrets.

#2 May 24th. I gave my Carlos Lee for Joel Pineiro about 2 weeks ago. I might have made a bit of mistake here as Gibbons, Kearns (made a return to the state of gimpness)), and Juan Gone have all missed a good amount of games or have been placed on the DL since then. Add to the fact that Pineiro with his slow start, despite his recent run of Qualit Starts ( A quality start = at least 6INN 3ER or less ) isnt getting wins and is still just a matchup fill in for me.

Trade #1 was no questions asked a good move for me. Now trade #2, Its a H-H weekly points league, and Carlos Lee being a strong 2nd half player added with my already weak offense before then, might really come back to haunt me. My only saveing grace on trade #2 is that as advanced as our scoreing format is, our scoreing is essentially 5X5 roto player value. Last year there was less than 1% difference between the points hitters scored VS pitchers in our active lineups. If Pineiro rebounds to come close to his numbers from the past 2 years then it is slight damage control.

My waiver and free agent moves since then are.................

#1. April 28th. I added Steve Finley. I had #1 waiver priority at the time and even though I'm a fantasy vet that knew he would rebound to be worth haveing on any fantasy roster I waited for him to clear waivers. Another score for me !. My I'm glad he cleared waivers, and had I known what would come I definately would have used my waiver priority on him. For the record I called this one on the Fantasy Baseball Talk Forum, http://www.fantasybaseballcafe.com/foru ... ght=finley , Its not too often I can say this so "I was right" .

#2 April 30th. I added Terry Adams, RP for Toronto. Nothing special there as he was just the closer of the day for the BlueJays and I was looking for trade bait.

#3 May 4th. I dropped Terry Adams for Jason Frasor. Good move and I would give myself props, but my Frasor addition gets ugly the next move .

#4 May 14th. I used my #1 waiver priority to pick up Orlando Cabrera (with "I never miss a game" Tejada as my starter and B.J. Upton in the minors) and dropped Jason Frasor to make roster room for O.Cabrera. That hurts bad. I picked up each of them respectively as nothing more than trade bait. Frasor was quickly picked up and now a regular starter on a different owners team. I have gotten jack and sh!T for trade intrest with O.Cabrera . Hopefully with Nick Johnson finally returning O.Cabrera will get a little protection and RBI opportunities but I'm not holding my breath on that.

#5. May 20th. I dropped Randy Winn for Daryle Ward. That most definately is looking good for me. Even though Winn has shown a spark of life since then, Ward has hit for the Cycle with 3 or so HR's, several RBI's, and a +.300 AVE. I wasnt really still hopeing on much from Winn at this point, there just wasnt a player on waivers that caught my eye untill Daryle Ward hopped out of the woodwork.

#6. June 1st. I dropped Ryan Franklin for Jason L. Phillips. My pitching is deep enough that Franklin would only be used a couple more times this year against really favorable 2start week matchups and I could use 1B help and catcher insurance if Barrett dissapears after the all-star break like past years. Franklin got taken with a waiver bid, but thats ok, he was is worth a waiver bid for them possibly as nobody was going to trade anything of value to me for him.

So after all of that, if you have bothered to read through this boreing post, my roster is currently.....

STARTING LINEUP
C. Michael Barrett, Cubs
1B. Josh Phelps, BlueJays
2B. Mark Loretta, Padres
3B. Aramis Ramirez, Cubs
SS. Miguel Tejada, Orioles
OF. Scott Podsednik, Brewers
OF. Steve Finley, Diamndbacks
OF, Bobby Abreu, Phillies
DH. Austin Kearns, Reds ( I should know better bye now, just shoot me )
Utility. Daryle Ward
SP. Javier Vazquez, Yankees
SP. Matt Clement, Cubs
SP. Bartolo Colon, Angels
SP. Jeff Weaver, Dodgers
SP. Eric Milton, Phillies
RP. Matt Herges, Giants
RP. Troy Percival, Angels
RP. Jorge Julio, Orioles

We must start 3RP so Frasor believe it or not actually had a small bit of trade value.


RESERVES
SP. Kris Benson, Pirates
SP. Adam Eaton, Padres
SP. Joel Pineiro, Mariners
OF/1B. Jay Gibbons, Orioles
1B/C. Jason Phillips, Mets
SS. Orlando Cabrera, Expos
SS/2B/3B. Alex Cintron, DiamondBacks

INJURED
RP. Robb Nen, Giants
OF. Juane Gonzalez, Royals
SP, John Patterson, Expos

MinorLeaguers
B.J. Upton SS Devil Rays is my only one with a chance of makeing an impact this year.

That squad through savy roster management, smoke, mirrors, and a good bit of luck, has somehow managed to have the 5th best record and be 5th place overall on the powerpoll(sportsline league for those of you that know what the power poll is).

Unfortunately, 5th is one spot out of the money, exactly where I finished last year, 5th .

Every other owners roster in the league is filled to the maximum just like mine is. No other owner has open reserve spots (7 reserves Maximum) and only a few other owners have open DL spots ( 3 DL spots maximum ).

I've conceded that its time to give up on Kearns putting it together and putting together a great year. I need an above average bat in the OF or at 1B to have true chance at finishing in the top 4. Anyone think I'm too far off with that analysis?

Aside from my top 3 SP of Vazquez/Colon/Clement, I think it would be prudent to let any of my SP go for a slugger with decent upside should I get a trade offer. What do you guys think?

Finally another owner who is weak at pitching and heavy with his bats has Paul Konerko and Dontrelle Willis on his team. Does anyone think it would be too far off of me if I offered my M.Clement and Gibbons or Juan Gonzalez for his two guys in a 2-2 trade?

As always any and all help is appreciatted guy! Particularly if you bothered to read this entire post .
[/b]

[Madison]

That is some post.

Haha, I made it all the way through it though.

Looking at your team, my first thought is Phelps at 1B? 12 team league and he's really the best out there? I took Phelps as a flyer pick toward the end of one of my drafts, but he's busted pretty bad. I'd most likely be starting Gibbons over him, and pick up an OF if there really isn't a decent 1B out there.

I'm also not a believer in Finley. Just a gut feeling that Arizona's struggles will continue and Finley's numbers will most likely be affected. In other words, I'd sell high if you can find a taker with a good offer.

I drafted Juan Gone with expectations of a reasonable year, and a ton of upside. Needless to say that I'm not exactly happy about his year so far. I doubt that you can get solid return for him though. Probably best to hang on to him and hope his value goes back up, or that he comes off the DL and performs the way that he can.

You mentioned it's a keeper league, so I'd think it's still possible to get a little value out of Kearns. Any chance of moving him for somone reasonable?

Weaver scares me. I've never been very big on him and even with the move to LA, I still avoided him. It's just hard to have any idea as to what to expect from him.

You mentioned that hitters and pitchers were even in points scored under your scoring format. Any chance of landing an upper pitcher to help boost your points? If hitting is too costly, then investing in your staff might be the way to go. I'm really not sure, but just something to kick around.

With Willis pitching like he did today (perfect through 6 innings) it might be a little tough to get him right now. I don't know the other owner, but he might be more than happy to move him. Hard to say for sure and he's had an odd season anyway. Not really somone I'd target in a trade. I know Konerko is the main piece, but Willis would make or break the deal as to if you did well or not. Seems like a big risk to me.

Since this seems like a league with all owners paying quite a bit of attention to what's going on, someone I'd keep an eye on is Robbie Hammock. He really hasn't done much so far this year, but with Barrett and Phillips being your current catching options, another person to watch doesn't hurt anything. I still expect Phillips to get it together, but so far it's not happening.

I'm not sure if any of that actually helped or not, but feel free to let me know if there's anything I can help with.

[Bukoski77]

Well I am happy to report that this team is still alive and a strong contender. If the season ended today I would end up in 5th yet again............. , but I feel this team is strong enough to move up to 4th and take the wildcard spot, hence makeing the playoffs and finishing in the money .

As I never give up on any team being a $$ or just friendly league, I have of course made more trades and waiver moves since my last update.

Here goes.

June 7th, I dropped Jason Phillips for Eric Byrnes as Byrnes was starting to heat up. My Oakland fan bias aside I feel that paid off even though I later droppeded Byrnes. I got a 3 or 4HR week out of him and another fairly productive week if I remeber correctly. Take into acount that Phillips was just a sleeper backup for M.Barret at catcher incase Barrett cooled down and I am content.

June 7th, I dropped John Patterson, SP Expos for K.Gregg, RP Angels. I needed a RP fill in and Patterson was expendable being hurt on my bench with no return update available. K.Gregg screwed me with no holds and a horrible WHIP/ERA the times I used him but it was no big deal loseing Patterson.

June 10th, I dropped E.Byrnes for E.Durazo. Again I was just playing the hott hand and again it paid off as Durazo was more productive than Byrnes for the time frame I used him.

June 14th, I dropped Josh Phelps 1B/DH CLE and used a waiver claim to reaquire E. Byrnes. Phelps being the major bust that he is this year had just been traded to the Indians to assume a platoon role. Byrnes had put together another good week and only cost me my #10 waiver priority.

June 20th, I dropped K. Gregg for Kiko Calero, RP Cardinals. Kiko was eating up innings with a low WHIP/ERA and posting a great K/9INN rate. Gregg had hurt me bad and I was still stretching for RP help.

July 1st, I dropped Kiko Calero for Rick White. No major gripe against Calero just that White was mentioned in the Save mix and I could use more help there.

July 5th, I dropped Daryl Ward for Shea Hillenbrad. Ward was on the DL with no time table set for his return, my starter at 3B(Aramis Ramirez) was dinged up, and I needed a live bat. It was a decent move as Hillenbrad was semi-productive for me.

July 5th, I dropped Durazo for Scott Hatteberg. OK, maybe a little Oakland bias here , but again I was playing the hott hand.

July 5th, I dropped Alex Cintron for Rodrigo Lopez. I was way too late giving up on Cintron and Lopez was just a 2 start pitcher with halfway decent matchups for me that week.

July 6th, I dropped R.White for Steve Kline. White was out of the save mix and I figured Kline's holds and a few vulture saves might pay off.

July 8th, I traded Matt Clement for Jose Contreras and Mike Sweeney in a my 1 for 2 trade. Score big time!!!!! Contreras well not as good as Clement has improved alot since the time of the trade although still too inconsistent. Sweeney even though he just hit the DL today has given me much help at 1B. A classic Sell High and Buy Low in my favor deal. Clement has gone on to continue pitching well yet getting no run support as he makes his case for the hard luck pitcher of the year.

July 12, I dropped S.Kline to make roster room as I had just recieved a 2-1 trade.

July 16th, I dropped Rodrigo Lopez for Scott Eyre(RP SF). As Herges was fadeing hard and Lopez haveing been nothing except a 2 start matchup week pickup for me it was minimal risk. Eyre had recently recorded a vulture save and I wanted Herges insurance.

July 16th, I dropped Scott Hatteburg for Laynce Nix. With Sweeney on my team and healthy at the time I felt secure at 1B. Nix was comeing back from a lengthy DL stint so I just went with the player who I felt had more long term upside.

July 19th, I dropped Byrnes for Carl Everett. I believe that one has been slightly to my disadvantage so far. They are both just reserves so I went with Everett as he had just been traded to the White Sox and I remember his stats with them after being traded there last year.

July 21st, I dropped Scott Eyre for Jason Christiansen(both RP for SF). Eyre had faded from the closer mix and Christiansen had entered. I went with the most likely Herges replacement at the time.

July 25th, I traded my B.J. Upton and Matt Herges for Derrek Lee, Akinori Otsuka, Jose Cruz, Mike Wood, and J.J. Hardy. It should be noted the owner that offered that to me is in a different division and already locked up a playoff position at the time of the trade that amazeingly he offered to me. As well under our keeper parameters he can keep Upton into next year for free not counting against our keeper player limit as well as I could have had I not traded Upton. SCORE for me anyway!!!!!. I waited all of 2 minutes before accepting that trade after I saw it offered. I have ultre durable Tejada as a keeper so there is no need to break down how much that one helped me. J.J. Hardy has been shut down yet again though and his impact prospect drop is dropping with the severity of his injury.

July 25th, I dropped Jose Cruz(he would have dropped him if not useing him as a throw in to the trade) and Laynce Nix to make room for the new players I acquired.

July 26th, I dropped Robb Nen, LOL. Nen was announced as shut down for the year hence haveing no value.

July 29th, I dropped Juan Gonzalez and picked up Gregg Aquino (RP D-Backs). Otsuka is very solid and provides consisten holds but saves reward much more points and I had just traded Herges. Score!!! It looks like I got a small waiver coup there.

August 3rd, I dropped Shea Hillenbrad for Dustin Hermanson. Score again!!!!!! . Just staying on top of things daily and beat the reast of my league to Hermanson off waivers.

August 7th, I dropped Jason Chriastensen for Bronson Arroyo. Another good move as Hermanson had secured his role as the Closer as much as and Giant reliever can and Arroyo recorded 2 good starts for the Red Sox that week.

August 16th, I dropped Bronson Arroyo.Needed to get my roster legal and I am no believer in him. I just used him for the matchups the prior week.

I have with all of those trades and waiver moves made up LOTS of points and several games on the wild card leader. We match up against 4 teams per week H-H in this league, so at the time of this posting I am 2 games (1/2 a week's games as we play 4 a week) behind the wildcard leader and slightly ahead with points.

Still a little too early to tell but it seems as if I will at least tie the wild card team's record and be slightly ahead on points bye this weeks end. Meaning I would finish in the money and make the playoffs if our leagues regular season ended after this week .

Oue league doesnt end after this week and still has 3 weeks and 12 fantasy H-H matchups to be played. 4 H-H matchups per week X 3weeks left in our league's schedule before the playoffs = 12 fantasy games in the standings before the playoffs.

My roster which hopefully will at least tie the best record for the wildcard before the onset of next periods 3week 12game scoreing period currently looks like....................

C Michael Barrett
1B Derrek Lee
2B Mark Loretta
3B Aramis Ramirez
SS Miguel Tejada
OF Bobby Abreu
OF Steve Finley
OF Scott Podsednik
DH Orlando Cabrera
U Austin Kearns/Jay Gibbons/Carl Everret/ or waiver addition?

SP Javier Vazquez
SP Bartolo Colon
SP Eric Milton
SP Jeff Weaver
SP Jose Contreras
RP Troy Percival
RP Jorge Julio
RP Dustin Hermanson

Reserves (my pitching all year long has been matchup interchangeable so these gut could be considered starters on a given week).
SP Kris Benson
SP Mike Wood
SP Adam Eaton
RP Greg Aquino
RP Akinori Otsuka
OF Jay Gibbons/Carl Everett/Austin Kearns

DL
Mike Sweeney ( that one really hurt today)
Joel Pineiro

Minor Leaguers
J.J. Hardy SS Brewers
Ervin Santana SP Angels
Tony Gwynn JR. OF Padres
John Maine SP Orioles
Josh Karp SP Expos




Well............... There you guys have it all. Do you think this team is good enough to hang on and take that last playoff spot?

As always any and all help or feedback is appreciatted .

[The Thrill]

Any notables on the waiver wire?