Salient is an excellent design with a fresh approach for the ever-changing Web. Integrated with Gantry 5, it is infinitely customizable, incredibly powerful, and remarkably simple.
DownloadAs in take what the auction gives you and don’t “Hop off the bus Gus”. So many times, especially in keeper league auctions where inflation rears its ugly head to disrupt your projected values and subsequent auction prices, players pull back from buying someone they need because “well that is more than he is going to earn”.
Yes, you aren’t going to get a profit from many of the players you buy before the end game in those auctions. But there is an invisible line there my friend and you need to see it to successfully complete your roster.
The profit should come from your keepers (or most of them, you are keeping Miguel Cabrera because it doesn’t matter that you would like to buy him back for less if you threw him back – your league mates won’t let you). It can also come from nice players at several positions in the end game when nobody has any money left and you get Chris Parmalee as you CI for a buck. Or when you roster a decent starting pitcher like Philip Humber for a dollar.
But you can’t win with five or six of those players so you can’t save a lot of your money until the end game. And you can’t afford to get into a bidding war in the middle of the auction with the STUDS already rostered and have to go to $18 for an iffy Colby Rasmus.
No you NEED to buy some of the solid performers even at inflated prices – you need to buy their STATS.
In my twenty seven year old AL keeper league, I tried to buy Albert Pujols, but he went to a team with a wheelbarrow full of cash for $56. Prince Fielder also broke the fifty dollar barrier fetching $51 auction dollars from another team with a big wallet. Sure I could have tried to go an extra buck (trust me it wouldn’t have worked with either of those players) and stretch the rest of my ninety seven dollar budget but I would still need six more players and the critical positions, catcher and closer would be sadly lacking and I would be fighting for every player I needed until they were “nice” but wouldn’t help me win.
So I settled for the very hot Carlos Pena for $16. I rostered the best catcher available in the draft, getting Kurt Suzuki for $17. And then because I couldn’t pay forty plus dollars for Adrian Gonzalez or Josh Hamilton and because I didn’t like the mid-range outfielder/DH types Alexi Rios at $18+, Adam Dunn at $19+, Nelson Cruz, the huge playing time risk like Hamilton, at $36+, or even Raul Ibanez at $16+, I decided to shift that money to get the one STUD starting pitcher who went for less than the inflation priced C.C. Sabathia at $31 or Felix Hernandez at $34. That is how I got Dan Haren for $29 and thus spent more on pitching than I ever have in my fantasy career. That is how with Haren joining Jeremy Hellickson, Ricky Romero, Matt Harrison, Justin Masterson and three closers (I froze Valverde at $17 and bought Hector Santiago for $13 and Fernando Rodney for $9 – and I still don’t understand why the bidding stopped there) I have the best pitching staff in the league.
And I will need it because while the Haren buy kept me out of auction dogfights – some already mentioned and others we don’t have the space for here, it did prevent me from getting either Cody Ross or Andy Dirks who both went for a dollar more than I had just before the end game (especially with one owner who failed to buy a better player earlier and was awash in auction cash).
But I have a salvation trying to swim upstream and get to Anaheim. While my minor league Mike Trout would have been a nice luxury if/when the Angels finally bring him up this year, he is now a necessity for my team to three-peat .
I did have one auction regret but I am still not sure that I could have rostered Yoenis Cespedes for $30-32. Only a rebuilding team was in at $29 and who knows how high he would have gone. Hopefully Trout will erase that recurring question and sleepless nights.{jcomments on}
Shopping on Saves is generally the mode for many players who didn’t want to overpay for Saves at the draft. But if you go that route you must be very aggressive in your continuing pursuit of adding closers.
Whether they in fact can hold the job is the secondary consideration – adding some amount of immediate saves is often more important.
Let’s look at a few situations that have emerged. I suspect that many of you rostered Alfredo Aceves especially in early drafts where we hoped he might get a spot in the Red Sox rotation. (And PS Bobby V he should have – try making the decisions on who pitches better not who makes more money or has more seniority….you could easily DL the higher paid guy to try and get him right BEFORE you run him out there and not miss out on good pitching from the better skills NOW). However if you weren’t in a huff, your potential starter turned into some save opportunities.
I don’t think that is Aceves best usage – he should be in the rotation. How much better would things look if the Red Sox had started with Aceves in the rotation and moved Daniel Bard to closer when Bailey went down. (And PSS didn’t everyone think it was a question of when not if?)
Drew Storen landing on the DL wasn’t anywhere near as predictable. Who knew he had chips in his elbow? But an immediate add of Brad Lidge or Henry Rodriguez paid dividends. BTW there is a corollary to the strategy not to overpay for closers and that should give you SP with better ratios so that you can buffer Lidge’s efforts while you collect his saves.
And now we have another opportunity with the (again not so unexpected) news that Giant’s closer Brian Wilson will have to go under the knife. Fear the Beard no more. Instead RUN don’t walk to get a San Francisco reliever who will get some saves.
Personally I think Sergio Romo will get the first shot but even Giant’s manager Bruce Bochy has said he will use both Romo and Santiago Casilla (and PPS there may be situational opportunities for Javier Lopez or Jeremy Affeldt as the committee goes forward).
I think the “shark play” assuming you have the roster spots and necessary dollars is to get BOTH Romo and Casilla and if Romo does indeed get a couple of early saves this coming week, immediately deal him off to upgrade another position and keep Casilla who I think will have more saves over the rest of the season.{jcomments on}
Frankly I wish I didn’t have to ask that question...or for that matter write this piece of advice. But we are all human – thus sometimes weak, even insecure. The best fantasy baseball advice I could give you before the season started would have been to not even look at the standings for at least the first two weeks of the season.
But heck I can’t follow that advice so I can’t blame you if you look at each of your leagues every day. But exactly WHAT is it you expect to learn after Week One? And a short week at that – teams playing only three or four games in the last ten days. YOU aren’t going to base your whole season on that are you?
I mean we are not talking replacing a DL player in your lineup – you have already done that whether it was sometime last week or yesterday or today for this week.
And those of you who had your first waiver wire run or FAAB have tried to replace the Victor Martinez, Ryan Madson, and Andrew Baileys of your fantasy teams.
And yes you should read box scores and game recaps and other fantasy relevant columns every day (or as often as you can).
But you shouldn’t be throwing your team away....it’s less than one single week of approximately TWENTY SIX. The time for real decisions about trades is IMHO at least a month away (barring the completely obvious you drafted two closers, inherited two more and lost a catcher and some guy wants to give you Wilson Ramos for your worst new closer).
But as I have written every year for the last decade…PLEASE do us both a favor and take a chill pill.
How about after you read this you forget about your fantasy teams for the rest of the day (assuming you have already set your lineups) and take your wife or significant other or best non partner friend out for dinner…or dinner and a movie...or a movie and dessert.
Let’s talk next week...maybe later this week if you like...you know where to find me.{jcomments on}
I generally see a lot of mistakes made the week before the season starts and have already seen some questions or moves that mean there are still some people out there reading a note and making a roster decision without looking at the big picture.
Don’t be the guy who saw late yesterday that Drew Pomeranz was cut by the Rockies and immediately put in a waiver claim for a lesser pitcher, dropping Pomeranz. Pomeranz has locked up a spot in the Colorado rotation but they don’t need him to start until Sunday, April 15 in Arizona, so they sent him down to the minors so he can stay on schedule to start that day. That gives them an extra spot for the first two weeks for an extra bullpen pitcher or to make a final decision on their bench.
Perhaps the same with the LA Angels Garrett Richards who is competing with Jerome Williams for the fifth spot in the Halos rotation, but that spot does not come up until April 15 and a game against the Yankees. So both Richards and Williams will continue pitching to be available that day and hope they get picked. Williams was slow coming back from a hamstring problem with his right leg but did pitch four good innings in a minor league game on Saturday. Meanwhile Richards who has been pretty good this spring pitched a solid six innings against the Cubs. This one is too close to call so don’t drop either if you have them because the fifth starter for the Angels will be a valuable pitcher. If I had a free roster spot to pick one up and hope they got the call, I would choose Richards.
In some leagues these situations may present a different opportunity if you have a minor league draft after your auction/draft and the eligibility is based on opening day rosters. Grabbing a guy like Pomeranz in an NL only league or Richards in an AL only league as a minor leaguer might give you an extra pitcher just a few weeks into the season.{jcomments on}
While many of you detest drafting catchers, they are a fact of fantasy life and are not going away. So you should learn to like drafting catchers – they can give you a big advantage over your competitors in two catcher leagues.
That doesn’t necessarily mean drafting them early. Actually I am against that unless it is a hitter who will give you solid production at the position. Mike Napoli was a fine example of that last year – headed to Texas and a superb home park hitting atmosphere and lineup. This year Napoli is I fear being drafted a little too early if you factor in a likely regression in batting average and are even remotely concerned about his ankle problems not yet being resolved. Still the power will be there.
But if you do draft Napoli and want to totally blow off drafting another catcher for most of the draft at least get yourself Yorvit Torrealba late in the game.
I also think that while the Cleveland Indians say Carlos Santana will catch all the time that Lou Marson makes a great end game or even reserve pick whether you own Santana or not. Marson can hit a little himself and if Santana has to play first base or DH for either health or lineup reasons you have a nice option.
Sadly for those who rostered Salvador Perez in early drafts, after knee surgery Perez will be out a minimum of two months, more likely a full three months. Temporarily that makes Brayan Pena a starting catcher in AL only leagues and even (as I suggested before) makes Max Ramirez assuming he makes the Royals opening day roster at least a consideration in deep leagues – especially if you own Perez and will have him coming back.
In auction leagues this makes a nice draft day play – even more so in keeper leagues. Your opponents will not be thinking about Perez so you should be able to get him for a buck or two and then replace him with Pena if not drafted or Ramirez if there is not a better option.
Here is another play for you to catch in AL only leagues (or very deep mixed leagues). You should be able to get Jarrod Saltalamacchia for much less than his scrabble value. Salty has power and this should be the year he steps up his game to solidify his position with the Red Sox. If not Ryan Lavarnway will be just a short ride away at AAA Pawtucket. BUT don’t draft the slugging Lavarnway as Saltalamacchia’s backup. That catcher would be Kelly Shoppach who is a decent run producing catcher albeit one with a poor batting average. But you can get Shoppach for a buck and then get Lavarnway in the reserves or minor league portion of your draft and have the Fenway Park home runs by catchers sewn up for a very reasonable single digit price.{jcomments on}