ask me about fantasy baseball v.2007

[crockpot]

well, the nine hours in the airport turned into ten hours on a plane. fun times.

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I need all kinds of help.

never played FB before, am joining an existing league as the 15th team. 7x5, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, DH, U, SP and RP.

the league is transitioning from a snake draft league to an auction league this year. everyone keeps 3 guys, who basically will be given a value of $25 each. I get to choose 3 guys who will all be worth $25 from the list of guys not kept from anyone else.

the list is not final yet, but I think the best players are guys like

how should I choose my guys? best available? by position? some guys who will be available will be Halladay, Konerko, Lee, maybe Jeter, I dunno, I don't have a complete list.

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without investing a considerable amount of time, i'd say the best resource is the player forecast manager over at BP. it has the pecota projections built in, and they'll soon be adjusted for playing time, batting order, etc. i personally believe the ratings formula they use is sub-optimal, but it's a good general guideline for the outright rankings, and you can adjust on your own from there during the draft.

in a 7x5 league, hitters have a huge advantage over pitchers. even in a 5x5, maybe three of the top 20 picks should be pitchers this year; in a 7x5, perhaps only santana should be in the top 30.

an auction is considerably more challenging than a straight draft. it's nice to have access to every player, but you have to monitor the size of everyone's stack and their team needs in order to make the best decisions, pay attention to who's still available, and know how bids affect the market as a whole. it will probably take some practice. if this league is important to you, see if you can do another auction beforehand and learn from it.

konerko, lee, and jeter seem like reasonable choices. if you have a complete list, i can select exactly three names.

[crockpot]

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#x# usually is referring to the number of categories that counts towards scoring. The first number represent the number of hitting categories and second represent number of pitching categories. Standard is 5 hitting and 5 pitching.

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correct. specifically, a 5x5 refers to the following categories:

hitting: runs, ba, hr, rbi, sb
pitching: wins, k, saves, era, whip

the 5x5 system isn't perfect, but leagues that add more categories generally obliterate the value of pitchers, because there are so few positive "accumulation" stats for pitchers. things like hr, k/bb ratio, bb, k/9, etc. will only discourage you from racking up more innings.

[crockpot]

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I accepted the Isringhausen deal. I figure niether is likely to be kept by me, I marketed Sanchez furiously to no avail, and I don't have one possible pitching keeper on my roster.

Next deal. Cabrera at $40 for Bonderman at $13 and Peavey at $32?

I've got Glaus ($21) but I'll probably trade him, regardless of the Cabrerra deal. If I end up keeping both, I can start one or the other at U. I'm also keeping Gordon for $1. I'm loaded on offense, and my best possible pitching keeper is Izzy. I dealt Cain ($6) for Cabrera and a draft pick, which is an extra roster spot, two weeks ago.

Going strictly by PECOTA, Cabrera is worht $42, Bonderman $23, and Peavey $32. My league pays a big premium for big offensive boppers, so second and third tier pitching can be had very cheap. Cabrera would go for $50-$55 in the draft. I think PECOTA is a little optimistic on Bonderman, and I don't like to invest $32 in one pitcher. On the other hand, I will be able to spin Peavey for something else, even if it's only another draft pick.

I like Bonderman at $13 better than Cain at $6. Am I crazy for this? Do you do the deal?

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how does the keeper salary work? $5 increase per year?

this is a tough question to answer without actually being in the league. after all, a player's trade value can often be more important than what he brings on the field, and you implied cabrera is in high demand at $40. i'm not convinced peavy would even be bid up to $32 if he returned to the draft, and if you're spinning him for little in return, cabrera for bonderman + $27 is a close call in a league that emphasizes top offensive talent.

i will say that i'd rather have bonderman for $7 more than cain, but it's somewhat close.

[crockpot]

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Choose 8 keepers from the following:

Vladimar
Ichiro
A Ramirez
Lopez
CC Sabathia
Jason Schmidt
Trevor Hoffman
Chad Cordero

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i would trade ichiro asap, though. his market value far outstrips his projections.

[Jim Kuhn]

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Quote:
Choose 8 keepers from the following:

Vladimar
Ichiro
A Ramirez
Lopez
CC Sabathia
Jason Schmidt
Trevor Hoffman
Chad Cordero



i would trade ichiro asap, though. his market value far outstrips his projections.


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Thank you. I was thinking of this. I have been debating on dropping one out of Schmidt, Sexson or Lopez.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
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[Jim Kuhn]

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Vladimar
Ichiro
A Ramirez
Sexson
Lopez
Jason Schmidt
Chad Cordero
AJ Burnett

Thats what I would do.


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Thanks for the insight. I have been leaning toward keeping Sabathia and Hoffman but will do some more research. It is a keeper league and Hoffman is about forty years old.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
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[rwperu34]

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how does the keeper salary work? $5 increase per year?


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5/5/7/10/10/10/10. Cabrera will be $50 next year, Bonderman $20.

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i'm not convinced peavy would even be bid up to $32 if he returned to the draft

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The chances of Peavy going back into the draft are slim, although I agree he might go for less depending on when he gets called out.

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if you're spinning him for little in return

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Draft picks, ie. roster spots, are insanely valuble. I had an extra three going into the draft last season. My last pick was Chris Young the Outfielder.

Also, we have a redshirt system where if a player is on your roster all year (drafted) and you don't use him in your lineup, his salary doesn't go up and you don't add a year on to his contract. I am the only non rebuilding team that invests heavily in these types of players. For example, this year I've got McCann, Young, S.Drew, and Gordon all for $1 in the first year of their contract. We are alotted 13 reserves. I figure I can get by with eight, so that leaves me five spots for prospects. Each additional roster spot is another prospect. To me, that's extremely valuble. So even if I only get a 13th round pick for Peavey, that could end up being a Chris Young.

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cabrera for bonderman + $27 is a close call in a league that emphasizes top offensive talent.


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I'm wondering about balance. Normally I just go for value, and worry about positions and categories later. Right now I've got 10 batting keepers and zero pitching keepers. I'm also thinking that Bonderman is far more likely to be kept next season, so there's a little extra value there. A worst case scenario is I keep Peavy and have Peavey and Bonderman heading my rotation, with a slight overpay (risk) on Peavey. That's probably pretty close in value to Cabrera.

[crockpot]

okay, after reading all that i think this is an easy take. you're gaining value and balancing out the team a little, and probably gaining more future value as well, given that cabrera at $50 is unlikely to be a significant bargain.

[suppasonic]

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Vladimar
Ichiro
A Ramirez
Sexson
Lopez
Jason Schmidt
Chad Cordero
AJ Burnett

Thats what I would do.


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Thanks for the insight. I have been leaning toward keeping Sabathia and Hoffman but will do some more research. It is a keeper league and Hoffman is about forty years old.

Thank you,

Jim Kuhn
Catfish4u
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

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My Bad, I would Keep Sabathia over Schmidt. But I wouldnt do Hoffy. Cordero + a lower end closer or two should do the job.

[RcrdBoy]

Standard 5x5 roto league. 12 teams. 4 keepers.

Only positional issues are LF,CF, RF instead of OF.

Keeping:

Pujols
M. Cabrera
Jeter

Which guy to keep for my 4th? Damon, Baldelli, Figgins, and Furcal are the only guys worth considering.

All, but Furcal have CF with Figgins having 3B, but he's supposed to return to more of a utility role this year so maybe more positions later like 2B?

PECOTA likes Baldelli about as much as Damon and he's got more upside, but injuries are a major concern.

Furcal? Two SS just can't work, can it?

I'm trying to piece together a trade for Chris Carpenter for Furcal and Damon, but nobody else in my league needs any keepers and all my 4th guys are fringe anyway.