Disclaimer: It’s time for my wife’s least favorite thing in the whole entire world. She might actually hate fantasy baseball more than she hates spiders. I agree with Jon-Erik, who posted yesterday about how fantasy sports ruins fandom, but I’m going to go a step further and say that fantasy sports can also ruin your life, if not handled properly. And quite honestly, fantasy baseball is the worst of them all. A ridiculous amount of players, positions, statistical categories, and not to mention, 162 regular season games, means that fantasy baseball is not for the faint of heart and only for those who are truly committed to neglecting everything else in their lives for five months out of the year. Proceed with caution.
I haven’t done much homework yet, but last night, I did peruse the current mock draft results on Yahoo! Fantasy Sports to see where players are going this year. Here are 10 guys currently being drafted at a discount and 10 players moving at a premium:
Discount Double Checks:
- Hanley Ramirez – He will play with a chip on his shoulder (I hope I’m not jinxing him -- that’s the last thing he needs) after being asked to move to 3B. He should have position eligibility at 3B and SS and is primed for a comeback. Currently going middle/late 2nd round, which is tardy for a guy with his ability.
- Ryan Howard – 8th Round? He might be hurt, but I think he can still mash.
- Ryan Braun – 3rd – 4th round? Really? Steroids or not, he’s the Hebrew Hammer!
- Carl Crawford – It’s true he was dog-poop-awful last year, but 8th-9th round? A risk I’m willing to take.
- Adam Wainwright – Tommy John Surgery makes you strong like bull. 10th round? Sign me up.
- Kendrys Morales – You've got to be kidding me. 18th round? I really like him with“La Mujer” in the lineup.
- Brandon Beachy – This kid can flat out pitch. Nice value in the 11th.
- Alex Avila – I think he has potential to be the best catcher this season, and he's batting in a lineup with Prince and Miggy. <Swoon>
- Danny Espinosa – 'Nosa in the 17th round is a cheap source of homers and steals, if you can deal with the bad average. A poor man’s Uggla with a 12 round discount.
- Shin-Soo Choo – Wow, what a dropoff last year, but I really like him in the 7th round. He’s due for a much-improved season, so 20/20 with a near .300 batting average is not out of the question.
Premium Malt Beverages:
- David Wright – Gonna be honest, even though I’m a Mets fan. I really don’t like any Mets players this year -- I just have a bad feeling.
- Ben Zobrist – Not sure if he’s worth a 5thround pick since he’s so streaky.
- Desmond Jennings – Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Desmond Jennings -- just not in the 4thround.
- Mike Morse – Don’t pay for last year’s stats. 6-7th round is paying for last year’s stats.
- Yu Darvish – I’m as intrigued as everyone else, but I like some other pitching commodities in the 7th round.
- Jacoby Ellsbury – 1st rounder? You have to wonder if the power numbers are legit. And the Sox -- I don't know how they will respond this year.
- Dan Uggla – 5th round? Way too streaky for H2H.
- Buster Posey – 6-7th round for a catcher coming back from injury? No thanks.
- Carlos Santana – Power was there last year, but the .240 batting average in the 4th round? I guess he’s batting cleanup, but does he have 30-home-run potential?
- CJ Wilson – Not liking the 8th round asking price, as I prefer Moore, JJ, Hanson, and Pineda over him.
Tune in next week for more Fantasy Fantasies, where I’ll take a look at some super deep sleepers!
Photos courtesy of drewlitton.com, seattlepi.com, and Getty images.
13 comments:
Agreed. No way Braun drops to the 3rd or 4th round and that is unbelievable value for Crawford. Excited to follow Fantasy Fantasies this season!
Phil, I hope no one from our ESPN league is reading this, we can't be giving away our secrets before the draft! =)
Fantasy Fantasies will be my go to place for season long Fantasy Baseball advise. Excited about my first season in FBaseball.
Hope it ends better than your first season in FFootball. Come retrieve your Turd trophy before #ROFLleague adds to your punishment.
Haha, I'm definitely afraid of giving away my secrets. Oh well, not like I'm any good at Fantasy Baseball. Haven't won a league in years!! Hao, biggest key to fantasy baseball is working the wire!
I think Phil and I have opposite views - I think the biggest key to fantasy baseball is sticking with your guys! It's a long season and if someone is slumping there's still a lot of time for them to revert back to the mean.
Also, not sure how I feel about Kendrys Morales...basically missed two whole seasons, so I think he's still an injury risk. Plus, Angels have too many 1B/DH types now with Pujols, Trumbo, Abreu, and Morales, so I think they'll be very cautious with Morales.
Mok, is Hao going to make playoffs in Peter's fantasy basketball league? Where would you set the odds at?
I dunno Jlau, I think you worked the wire quite extensively last season and I would say the first 3 or 4 weeks is definitely important in terms of picking up changes in closers, guys who win positional battles, and random players no one picked in the draft. And it's not like you don't make moves. I'm just saying you have to make moves in fantasy baseball and you can make up for a bad draft.
Then again, JLau always does better than me and is a certified actuary, so he's kind of a big deal. He's definitely a better drafter than I am. I tend to take a lot of risks and flyers towards the end of drafts, not sure how that's working out for me lately.
Jlau, on the Angels projected depth chart, Trumbo is officially playing 3B this year, a mix of Wells, Hunter, Trout, Abreu, Bourjos in the OF, Pujols at 1st (better defensively than Trumbo and Morales), and Morales as the DH. Just saying that in the late rounds, Morales could give you a decent stat line if he stays healthy since he can hit for both power and average. And remember, his injury was so lame! Celebrating a walk off grand slam!?
Yeah, I agree that you still have to make moves when injuries and other circumstances come up, but I feel like many people play fantasy baseball too impatiently and forget that the season is much longer than the other fantasy sports.
The long season reminds me of another big key too - keep up with managing your team and don't give up! Most people in your league will probably get bored after a couple of months and stop checking, so that's how you can take advantage and build up a lead to coast to the end of the season.
That's a fair point and I agree with that. Not saying you should drop your stars, but be prepared to make moves because there is decent turnover in closers and injuries.
JLau, I think you should write a draft primer!
Currently in 10th place, my odds of making playoffs is 100% I said it here...on Gym Class All Stars and I will cheer heavily for my players the remainder of the season even when they play the Mavs.
Why Fantasy is Ruining Fandom.
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