League Fleecing

[Mephistopheles]

One of my teams is absolutely loaded. It's a public Yahoo league. Right now I'm sitting at 32-7-1 and my overall stats are comparable to most of the top 50 leader board. Overall my team is ranked 728, and should move up as the team I am playing is the fantasy equivalent of Indiana football.

 

Anyways as of right now by standard roster is:

 

C. Russell Martin

1B. Derrek Lee

2B. Ian Kinsler

3B. Miguel Cabrera

SS. Hanley Ramirez

OF. Manny Ramirez

OF. Grady Sizemore

OF. Mark Teahen

UT. Aramis Ramirez

BN. BJ Upton

BN. Howie Kendrick (DL)

 

SP. Cole Hamels

SP. Ben Sheets

SP. Rich Hill

SP. Felix Hernandez (DL)

 

RP. Salomon Torres

RP. Ryan Dempster

RP. Bobby Jenks

RP. Jason Frasor

RP. Mike Gonzalez

 

and 2 swing spots that I use to pick up starters on good matchups, ie Marquis vs Pittsburgh and Oliver Perez overall tomorrow.

 

Anyways, as you can see I have a logjam at 2B and 3B. I have three guys when Kendrick gets back who can play 2B and four guys who can play 3B right now. Obviously the weakest link on my team is my third outfielder, Mark Teahen who has been great the last two weeks.

 

Right now Im trying to deal BJ Upton or Ian Kinsler for an outfielder. Most of the team is dumb, so even though the two are being awesome, I may not get good value. So, I looked at who had holes at 2B and 3B, and I found one team who has been active and who has holes there. Now there's the issue. It's the second place team in the league.

 

Do I want to help him? His only 3B on the roster is, hold your breath, Mark DeRosa. I kid you not. His starting 2B is Kelly Johnson. It's a match made in heaven.

 

Obviously Kinsler or Upton would be a huge upgrade at both though Kelly Johnson is hot. Upton would be a great move for his team.

 

I have offered him two trades

 

Upton and Teahen for Jason Bay

Kinsler and Teahen for Jason Bay

 

If the trades don't go through I might have to dangle Aramis Ramirez for an OF straight up and stick Upton in UTIL, though Id rather keep Rammy.

[nilodnayr]

I'd look to upgrade at RP moreso than at 3rd OF. I'd also sell high more on Upton than Kinsler. They are both playing over their head, but Upton will drop 100 points of average and ain't gonna stay at #6 in Yahoo!. Kinsler will regress too, and may end up having less value than Upton, but right now I think hes playing slightly closer to his potential. Obviously, it depends on how they are valued in the marketplace, but with Hanley, Martin, Sizemore, and a healthy Kendrick you shouldn't have a problem in steals. I very much take into consideration the possibility that the team I am trading with could leapfrog me with the improvement and therefore only trade with them if absoutely necessary.

[Mephistopheles]

As trashy as my closers look I'm third in the league in saves, one save behind the leaders. The two leaders are currently 11th and 12th in the league.

[ChiCubsFan]

I'd maybe look at getting a SP more so than OF. Teahen is fine there. He'll hit good enough to be a 3rd outfielder. Anyways, you more than make up for it with Ram at Util, and studs at SS and 2B (and C to some extent). Your SP, however, could use some help. You only have 3 starters right now and Sheets isn't too dependable at staying healthy. Maybe you could get away with spot starting Marquis and Oliver Perez now, but it'll come back to bite you at times. I'd also look to see if Lincecum is available in your league. If he is, I'd pick him up immediately. He'll be up soon and have a dominating rookie year. I'd guess his rookie year will be somewhere between Justin Verlander and Francisco Liriano (pre-injury). Good luck.

[rawaction]

One of my teams is absolutely loaded. It's a public Yahoo league. Right now I'm sitting at 32-7-1 and my overall stats are comparable to most of the top 50 leader board. Overall my team is ranked 728, and should move up as the team I am playing is the fantasy equivalent of Indiana football.

 

Anyways as of right now by standard roster is:

 

C. Russell Martin

1B. Derrek Lee

2B. Ian Kinsler

3B. Miguel Cabrera

SS. Hanley Ramirez

OF. Manny Ramirez

OF. Grady Sizemore

OF. Mark Teahen

UT. Aramis Ramirez

BN. BJ Upton

BN. Howie Kendrick (DL)

 

SP. Cole Hamels

SP. Ben Sheets

SP. Rich Hill

SP. Felix Hernandez (DL)

 

RP. Salomon Torres

RP. Ryan Dempster

RP. Bobby Jenks

RP. Jason Frasor

RP. Mike Gonzalez

 

and 2 swing spots that I use to pick up starters on good matchups, ie Marquis vs Pittsburgh and Oliver Perez overall tomorrow.

 

Anyways, as you can see I have a logjam at 2B and 3B. I have three guys when Kendrick gets back who can play 2B and four guys who can play 3B right now. Obviously the weakest link on my team is my third outfielder, Mark Teahen who has been great the last two weeks.

 

Right now Im trying to deal BJ Upton or Ian Kinsler for an outfielder. Most of the team is dumb, so even though the two are being awesome, I may not get good value. So, I looked at who had holes at 2B and 3B, and I found one team who has been active and who has holes there. Now there's the issue. It's the second place team in the league.

 

Do I want to help him? His only 3B on the roster is, hold your breath, Mark DeRosa. I kid you not. His starting 2B is Kelly Johnson. It's a match made in heaven.

 

Obviously Kinsler or Upton would be a huge upgrade at both though Kelly Johnson is hot. Upton would be a great move for his team.

 

I have offered him two trades

 

Upton and Teahen for Jason Bay

Kinsler and Teahen for Jason Bay

 

If the trades don't go through I might have to dangle Aramis Ramirez for an OF straight up and stick Upton in UTIL, though Id rather keep Rammy.

 

How many picks did you have in the first 2 rounds? Good Lord! Cabrera, all 3 Ramirez's, Lee, and Sizemore are all players you could argue to be picked in the first 2 rounds.

 

Oh yeah, and don't trade for an OF, unless you can get one of the trades with Teahen to go, and I would lean toward trading Upton. Look for pitching first. SP preferably. Don't ever trade Aramis unless you are getting a great player in return, which likely won't happen because they are all on your team.

[Mephistopheles]

It was an autodraft on Yahoo in the middle of February.

 

1. (9) Miguel Cabrera 3B

2. (16) Manny Ramírez OF

3. (33) Aramis Ramírez 3B

4. (40) Michael Young SS

5. (57) Félix Hernández SP

6. (64) Ben Sheets SP

7. (81) Rocco Baldelli OF

8. (88) Cole Hamels SP

9. (105) Rich Hill SP

10. (112) Jason Giambi 1B

11. (129) Jonathan Papelbon RP

12. (136) Tadahito Iguchi 2B

13. (153) Mark Prior SP

14. (160) Coco Crisp OF

15. (177) Mike González RP

16. (184) Bengie Molina C

17. (201) Marcus Giles 2B

18. (208) Curtis Granderson OF

19. (225) John Patterson SP

20. (232) Brandon Inge 3B

21. (249) Craig Monroe OF

 

I redid the rankings to get guys I wanted late. After Coco my rankings were gone.

 

I traded

 

Jason Giambi (NYY - 1B)

Michael Young (Tex - SS)

Jonathan Papelbon (Bos - RP)

 

for

 

Hanley Ramírez (Fla - SS)

Derrek Lee (ChC - 1B)

Bobby Jenks (CWS - RP)

 

This was right after Papelbon was announced to be back in the closer's role. I thought it was a fair deal, though Young's bottomed out since.

 

A team had no 2B but like Craig Biggio. He agreed to this in the first week of the season:

 

Rocco Baldelli (TB - OF)

Marcus Giles (SD - 2B)

 

for

 

Grady Sizemore (Cle - OF)

 

I added Upton, Kinsler and Kendrick off waivers for Monroe, Inge and Granderson. I tried to dump Iguchi to someone, but could find no takers. I ended up dropping him while assembling my relievers. I thought one of Upton, Kinsler and Kendrick would develop into a great fantasy 2B, at the worst. All three of them have, though Kendrick got hurt. I dropped Molina for Russ Martin. The first few weeks of the season my last OF spot was Coco Crisp. I got tired of him, so picked up Teahen, who was dropped when he was hitting around 200.

[rawaction]

A team had no 2B but like Craig Biggio. He agreed to this in the first week of the season:

 

Rocco Baldelli (TB - OF)

Marcus Giles (SD - 2B)

 

for

 

Grady Sizemore (Cle - OF)

 

Ah, there's where the league stupidity comes in.

[Mephistopheles]

Not really. Marcus Giles is hitting the cover off the ball. Rocco's a good OF too. It's not a terrible trade from his standpoint.

[nilodnayr]

Not really. Marcus Giles is hitting the cover off the ball. Rocco's a good OF too. It's not a terrible trade from his standpoint.

 

 

Well you consolidated power. I love turning two pretty good players into one really good player. Sizemore is a big upgrade over Rocco and you could pick up someone of the ilk of Iguchi probably off the wire who isn't a big downgrade (if any) from Giles.

[Rob]

Not really. Marcus Giles is hitting the cover off the ball. Rocco's a good OF too. It's not a terrible trade from his standpoint.

 

When you mention that Upton, Kinsler, and Kendrick were on the waiver wire, it becomes one.

[Mephistopheles]

They weren't at the time. I nabbed them up right after the draft (february). I didn't make that trade until April

[Rob]

This seems to be fairly on topic...

 

I already had Pujols and Hafner on my team. A week or so ago I fleeced a guy in my league... I got Uggla and Berkman for Kelly Johnson and Gary Sheffield... and Bill Hall for Carlos Guillen and Jered Weaver (I needed to clear a roster spot at the time)

 

Now I've got a more fair trade up that's damn close to being accepted... I'd get Arod and Scott Kazmir for Jake Peavy and Ben Sheets (this guy's pitching is horrible and he has Zimmerman on the bench to cover for Arod in his already ridiculously strong offense).

 

And I just found out my waiver claim on BJ Upton is likely to go through.

 

This would be my team: (standard h2h, but with IP and OBP added)

 

C - Ramon Hernandez

1B - Pujols

2B - Upton

SS - Bill Hall

3B - ARod

LF - Dunn

CF - Chris B. Young

RF - Berkman

UTIL - Hafner

 

SP - King Felix

SP - Rich Hill

SP - Scott Kazmir

RP - Trevor Hoffman

P - J.J. Putz

P - Chien-Ming Wang

 

Bench - Alex Gordon

Bench - Roger Clemens

DL - Phil Hughes

 

I'd need to drop Gordon for another P, obviously... and that pitching staff in general is looking kinda weak. But that offense should win every single week by a good margin.

 

4 man keeper league too... I'll have to trade Berkman since he wont be RF eligible next year... but that would leave me with Pujols, ARod, Hafner, and King Felix as keepers.

 

Nice, eh?

[cheapseats]

This seems to be fairly on topic...

 

I already had Pujols and Hafner on my team. A week or so ago I fleeced a guy in my league... I got Uggla and Berkman for Kelly Johnson and Gary Sheffield... and Bill Hall for Carlos Guillen and Jered Weaver (I needed to clear a roster spot at the time)

 

 

I'd argue that there was no fleecing involved in the first trade, and I don't like the second trade for you at all.

 

But your team is still awesome.

[nilodnayr]

This seems to be fairly on topic...

 

I already had Pujols and Hafner on my team. A week or so ago I fleeced a guy in my league... I got Uggla and Berkman for Kelly Johnson and Gary Sheffield... and Bill Hall for Carlos Guillen and Jered Weaver (I needed to clear a roster spot at the time)

 

 

I'd argue that there was no fleecing involved in the first trade, and I don't like the second trade for you at all.

 

But your team is still awesome.

 

I am not an Uggla fan at all, but I still think you did quite well in the first trade. Berkman is a big upgrade over Sheff. I also don't like the second trade at all for you.

[cheapseats]

This seems to be fairly on topic...

 

I already had Pujols and Hafner on my team. A week or so ago I fleeced a guy in my league... I got Uggla and Berkman for Kelly Johnson and Gary Sheffield... and Bill Hall for Carlos Guillen and Jered Weaver (I needed to clear a roster spot at the time)

 

 

I'd argue that there was no fleecing involved in the first trade, and I don't like the second trade for you at all.

 

But your team is still awesome.

 

I am not an Uggla fan at all, but I still think you did quite well in the first trade. Berkman is a big upgrade over Sheff. I also don't like the second trade at all for you.

 

For clarification's sake, I agree that Berkman is a big upgrade over Sheffield, but I don't think he'll be much of an upgrade over Kelly Johnson.

 

In real life, I'd take Berkman, of course, but in fantasy baseball, Johnson might be just as valuable, depending on the makeup of the rest of the team.

[Rob]

This seems to be fairly on topic...

 

I already had Pujols and Hafner on my team. A week or so ago I fleeced a guy in my league... I got Uggla and Berkman for Kelly Johnson and Gary Sheffield... and Bill Hall for Carlos Guillen and Jered Weaver (I needed to clear a roster spot at the time)

 

 

I'd argue that there was no fleecing involved in the first trade, and I don't like the second trade for you at all.

 

But your team is still awesome.

 

I didn't mean to imply I fleeced a guy on the second trade. I see Hall as a minor upgrade over Guillen... and at the time I had to free up a roster spot when I thought King Felix was coming off the DL in a couple days. I realized I was overpaying, but I didn't care much.

 

The Berkman trade is certainly a fleecing though. Berkman is a first/second round talent. I got him for my 8th round pick (Sheff) and a guy I picked up off the waiver wire during a hot streak.

[Rob]

Ok... there has been a real flurry of movement across the league the last few days... and I was right in the thick of it. This is my team as it stands now.

 

C - Ramon Hernandez

1B - Albert Pujols

2B - BJ Upton

3B - Alex Rodriguez

SS - Jhonny Peralta

LF - Adam Dunn

CF - Carlos Beltran

RF - Billy Butler

UTIL - Travis Hafner

 

SP - Rich Hill

SP - Matt Cain

SP - Cole Hamels

P - Chien-Ming Wang

P - Tim Lincecum

RP - J.J. Putz

 

Bench - Felix Hernandez

Bench - Roger Clemens

DL - Phil Hughes

 

I'm really not sure if my team is better or not, but I do know that my prospects for next year are fantastic. Everybody gets four keepers, and I sincerely doubt anybody tops Pujols, ARod, Beltran, and Hafner.

[Mephistopheles]

None of the trades got down, but this team is now number 191 overall on Yahoo.