Rob

Dude don't you know anything about baseball. CFs hit leadoff unless there is a skinny, fast, black dude at another position (very rare). Gotta have a guy that can handle the bat (i.e. sac bunt, hit and run, makes productive outs) batting 2nd. Gotta give that fast dude a chance to run. Corner OF and IF are the 3-6 spots, and mostly interchangeable. C is 7th. SS is 8th. These are both defense-first positions, so the offense you get from them is a bonus. Defense wins championships and you gotta be strong up the middle. Second baseman bats second, dude. Nah. Not necessarily. Shortstops are also allowed to bat 2nd. CF 2B/SS (whomever "handles the bat" better... probably the worse hitter of the two) 1B/3B/LF/RF 1B/3B/LF/RF 1B/3B/LF/RF 1B/3B/LF/RF C 2B/SS P Brandon Phillips and the fact that three of that 1B/3B/LF/RF mix are lefties is really gonna throw him off though.

1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Albert Pujols 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Jose Reyes 5. Ryan Braun 6. David Wright 7. Chase Utley 8. Jimmy Rollins 9. Miguel Cabrera 10. Johan Santana 11. Matt Holliday 12. Ryan Howard 13. Grady Sizemore 14. Prince Fielder 15. Jake Peavy 16. Troy Tulowitzki 17. Victor Martinez 18. Carl Crawford 19. Alfonso Soriano 20. David Ortiz 21. Carlos Beltran 22. Brandon Webb 23. Vlad Guerrero 24. Ichiro 25. Derrek Lee 26. Russell Martin 27. Joe Mauer 28. Brandon Phillips 29. Brian Roberts 30. BJ Upton 31. Derek Jeter 32. Corey Hart 33. Josh Beckett 34. Manny Ramirez 35. Dan Haren 36. Robinson Cano 37. Justin Verlander 38. Erik Bedard 39. Aramis Ramirez 40. Cole Hamels 41. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones 42. Adam Dunn 43. Mark Teixeira 44. CC Sabathia 45. Carlos Lee 46. Lance Berkman 47. Roy Halladay 48. Carlos Zambrano 49. Scott Kazmir 50. Francisco Liriano 51. John Smoltz 52. John Lackey 53. Chris Young (the outfielder) 54. Curtis Granderson 55. Brian McCann 56. Ian Kinsler 57. Magglio Ordonez 58. Jorge Posada 59. Khalil Greene 60. Carlos Guillen 61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla 74. Gary Sheffield 75. Jonathan Paplebon 76. Daisuke Matsuzaka 77. Hunter Pence 78. Tim Lincecum 79. Rich Hill 80. Nick Markakis 81. Rickie Weeks 82. Kosuke Fukudome 83. Kenji Johjima 84.Fausto Carmona 85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Travis Hafner 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios 98. JJ Hardy 99. Chone Figgins 100. Billy Wagner 101. Joba Chamberlain 102. A.J. Burnett- picking for IMB 103. Bobby Abreu 104. Shane Victorino 105. Mariano Rivera 106. Placido Polanco 107. Kevin Kouzmanoff 108. Jason Bay 109. Josh Hamilton 110. Brad Penny 111. Michael Young 112. Torii Hunter 113. Adrian Gonzalez 114. Matt Cain Whoever is keeping tabs on IMBs picks should probably let him know he's up.

Twelve. Standard 5x5 league, H2H. Four keepers though. I had kept Braun, Santana, Peavy, and Papelbon. But still...

C - Victor Martinez 1B - Todd Helton 2B - BJ Upton 3B - Evan Longoria SS - Stephen Drew LF - Jason Bay CF - Chris Young RF - Corey Hart UTIL - Ryan Braun SP - Johan Santana SP - Jake Peavy SP - John Smoltz SP - Cole Hamels P - Billy Wagner RP - Jonathan Papelbon Bench - Jay Bruce Bench - Matt Cain Bench - Pedro Martinez Bench - Rich Harden We have a seven start a week limit on our pitching staffs, so my staff isn't as overpowering as it could be. Still, I wont have to worry about spot-starting crappy pitchers this season. And if Bay sucks to start off the season, I package him with Drew for a SS upgrade, move Braun to LF after he gets 10 games there (and gains eligibility), and pick up somebody off the waiver wire.

Hey, it turns out I'm not gonna be able to do this, on account of the fact that I've joined a few other leagues in the 3+ weeks between when I offered to join, and when I was told there was an opening. So there should be another spot open.

1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Albert Pujols 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Jose Reyes 5. Ryan Braun 6. David Wright 7. Chase Utley 8. Jimmy Rollins 9. Miguel Cabrera 10. Johan Santana 11. Matt Holliday 12. Ryan Howard 13. Grady Sizemore 14. Prince Fielder 15. Jake Peavy 16. Troy Tulowitzki 17. Victor Martinez 18. Carl Crawford 19. Alfonso Soriano 20. David Ortiz 21. Carlos Beltran 22. Brandon Webb 23. Vlad Guerrero 24. Ichiro 25. Derrek Lee 26. Russell Martin 27. Joe Mauer 28. Brandon Phillips 29. Brian Roberts 30. BJ Upton 31. Derek Jeter 32. Corey Hart 33. Josh Beckett 34. Manny Ramirez 35. Dan Haren 36. Robinson Cano 37. Justin Verlander 38. Erik Bedard 39. Aramis Ramirez 40. Cole Hamels 41. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones 42. Adam Dunn 43. Mark Teixeira 44. CC Sabathia 45. Carlos Lee 46. Lance Berkman 47. Roy Halladay 48. Carlos Zambrano 49. Scott Kazmir 50. Francisco Liriano 51. John Smoltz 52. John Lackey 53. Chris Young (the outfielder) 54. Curtis Granderson 55. Brian McCann 56. Ian Kinsler 57. Magglio Ordonez 58. Jorge Posada 59. Khalil Greene 60. Carlos Guillen 61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla 74. Gary Sheffield 75. Jonathan Paplebon 76. Daisuke Matsuzaka 77. Hunter Pence 78. Tim Lincecum 79. Rich Hill 80. Nick Markakis 81. Rickie Weeks 82. Kosuke Fukudome 83. Kenji Johjima 84.Fausto Carmona 85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Travis Hafner 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios 98. JJ Hardy 99. Chone Figgins 100. Billy Wagner 101. Joba Chamberlain 102. A.J. Burnett- picking for IMB 103. Bobby Abreu

How many teams are in this league? If it's a 12 team league, I'm not a fan at all.

And so now his value plummets. Whereas before we might've eaten a little salary and gotten a pretty nice prospect for our 190 inning guy, now we eat a bunch of salary and hope another team will pick up half his contract, no matter what they're willing to give up in prospects.

Most OH posters aren't that bad. Us looking at those posts is like them looking the crap DeuceBaseman or wrigley23 would say. Each community is entitled to its share of junk.

Did Pleasac just imply that Theriot finished last season strong? The man had a .520 OPS in Sept.

My condolences, Bruce. I hadn't heard about your father.

Quick recap of what Lou said. Likes Fukudome's patience, should help him adjust. Year 2 is easier, as they have a better handle on who they have. Has a pretty good idea who's getting cut down in a week or so. Looking to determine CFer "mid-March" Mentioned Wood, Marmol, and Howry as closer candidates. Probably determine that by the 3rd week of this month. Thinks Eyre looks better this season than he did at this point last season. Really likes the ballclub, but doesn't think we are very deep. Ward's hip is injured. DeRosa should be playing by next weekend. Thinks Dempster is throwing the ball "very very well". Would like to get another lefty for the bullpen, preferably from the guys in camp. Really likes the way Hart throws.

And then of course, Murton comes through with a really fantastic, 10 pitch AB.

What if it was in relief? :D Touche, salesman. I too have an uncle.

I wouldn't worry about it until opening day. Few guys are going to be putting 100% effort into these games. I'd be very worried if Marquis was on the mound opening day, period.

Ha... they only had Vlad half in the frame. It's spring training for the camera crews too, apparently.

Soto with a perfect throw... Figgins out at 2b.

Am i out of my mind, or has Marquis had his velocity drop a couple ticks?

I hate my league and love yours. No one trades. There hasn't been one offseason trade yet. The whole santana for phillips and bedard fiasco (other guy offered the trade, I accepted and then he took it back) prompted most of the league to respond that we should just stop offseason trading. Its pathetic. In the first year of the league there were like 2 trades the entire season. Last year there were probably 15 or so. If I proposed a trade of draft picks I'm afraid a petition might start to have me thrown out of the league. Well enough of that rant...that should make for a really fun draft day for you!!! But at the same time be mindful of the affect on your strategy at the end of the draft. You aren't going be able to partake in the last 3 rounds so take your big upside guys a bit earlier. Actually, i'm working on trading some excess draft picks to grab some mid-rounders. I've got it timed out so that I should be the one starting the run on pitching, and I should be able to grab King Felix, Lincecum, and Hill in the span of a few picks... Santana, Peavy, Smoltz, Hamels, Hill, Linceum, Felix... then maybe grab Pedro and Liriano the next round. When it's all said and done, I intend to have a pitching monopoly which I'll use to lord over everybody. And before the next season, new rules will pop up preventing offseason trading and especially the trading of draft picks.

I imagine we'll be seeing a lot of lineups with Fontenot, Cedeno, and Cintron in here... if for no other reason than Lou wanting to take a long look at all of those guys.

I have officially traded away all of my previous keepers for new keepers and draft picks. What was ARod, Pujols, Rollins, Vlad, and the 12th and 13th picks is now going to be... Braun, Santana, Peavy, Papelbon, and the 3rd, 4th, 7th, 12th, and 13th picks. With those 5 picks, I should be able to get BJ Upton, Cole Hamels, Victor Martinez, John Smoltz, and Corey Hart. That's a pretty good start.

This is meph's wet dream.

Yeti should be appointed a mod, so that there's somebody here to cover the night-shifts.

Seriously, please do. If we all just ignore him, we wont be subjected to this nonsense anymore. But it has gotten to the point that I'm a handful of posts away from putting you on ignore, simply because all your posts are quoting his asinine posts. He's willfully ignorant of how statistical analysis has framed all of these issues, and that's his choice. No amount of screaming at him for it is going to change his opinion, even if you are attempting to argue it with fact. Just drop it, and with a little bit of luck, the issue will resolve itself in short order.

85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher