FBB year end review

[Bremen]

Well I did FBB for the first time this year. This is the second league I joined; my strategy was to draft the highest VORP (this was before I found BP so I didn't actually know about it yet) I figured the best MI/C were worth more since talent dropped off quicker at these positions..


3. Chase Utley - god I love him
22. Russell Martin - I took alot of heat in chat for this pick, I probably overthought my strategy a little :0)
27. Ichiro - value city
46. Renteria
51. Ryan Zimmerman - eeewwww
70. Jeff Kent - saved my butt when Utley went down
75. Billy Wagner
94. Akinori Otsuka
99. Brett Myers
118. Chris Capuano - I stink at picking pitchers
123. Eric Byrnes - valuecity baby!
142. Bob Wickman - really stink with pitchers
147. Tim Lincecum
166. Aaron Rowand
171. Tim Wakefield
190. Jim Thome
195. Jeff Supan
214. Mark Buehrle
219. Jamie Moyer
238. Dave Bush
243. Jon Lieber

I got Ryan Braun in FA. As well as turning over most of my pitching staff (lord they sucked), I picked up Escobar, Marcum, Kendrick, and Chad Billingsley.

Next year I really need to improve my pitching selections. Hopefully my reading BP will lead to that. Although offense I am killing in as I'm no worse than 3rd in any category.

[Vilica]

11p standard 5x5 roto.

1. (4) Chase Utley
2. (19) Travis Hafner
3. (26) Matt Holliday
4. (41) Carlos Zambrano
5. (48) Carlos Delgado
6. (63) Troy Glaus
7. (70) Scott Rolen
8. (85) Trevor Hoffman
9. (92) Bill Hall
10. (107) Dan Haren
11. (114) Nick Markakis
12. (129) Brian Fuentes
13. (136) Torii Hunter
14. (151) Jim Thome
15. (158) Barry Bonds
16. (173) Russell Martin
17. (180) Salomón Torres
18. (195) Noah Lowry
19. (202) John Patterson

Important preseason trade: Hunter and Thome for Vlad.

Important in-season trade: Haren Weathers and Glaus for Webb and Jose Reyes just as Webb went for 42 straight.

Important in-season pickups: Atkins at the end of May, Oswalt right after the allstar break when his owner got frustrated, dropped him and was like "I DONT WANT HIM BACK" when league protested. Also got Capps, Weathers, Gregg, and Myers off the wire. I suppose all that is worth passing A-Rod at 4 because I wanted Johan and he went 3rd. Winning my league by 20 btw.

[rwperu34]

6x6 Roto, $260 cap; We keep 12 so there's not much left to do on draft day.

My eight auction draft picks;
Vlad, $49-win
Sheets, $29-wash
A.Sanchez, $3-Loss
Lincecum, $1-Win
Billingsly, $1-Win
B.J. Upton, $7-Win
Bailey, $1-wash (explain later)
Pedro Martinez, $6-wash

Then we have a snake draft with all players $1. Here are my key selections there;
Justin Upton
Lastings Milledge
Matt Kemp
Jay Bruce
James Loney-Traded
Carlos Gonzalez-Traded
Alexi Casilla-Traded
Rafael Soriano
A bunch of other pitchers that have since been waived

My key FA aquisition was James Shields after week 1 when I put Pedro on the DL.

Key Trades-

Preseason-
I give Travis Hafner ($26) and Ocatavio Dotel ($1) for Jason Bay ($16)

I give Jason Bay ($16) and Troy Glaus ($21) for Hanley Ramirez ($11) and Kelvim Escobar ($7)-I was laughed at for both of those deals.

I give Jim Thome ($26) for Adam Dunn ($30)

I give Matt Cain ($6) for Miguel Cabrera ($40) and a draft pick

I give a draft pick for Trevor Hoffman ($16) and Billy Wagner ($21)-I had two open keeper spots and a few extra draft picks at this point, so I decided to just lock up two closers at market value.

I didn't do as well in season, potential keepers with next years salary;

I give Alexi Casilla ($1) for Brad Lidge and a roster spot-this was from a team that was punting

I give B.J. Upton ($7), James Loney ($1), Carlos Gonzalez ($1), and Chris Iannetta ($1) for Jake Peavy, J.J. Putz ($14), Jeremy Bonderman, and Paul Konerko-It looks like this deal should have cinched the league for me with all the talent I already had, but the league was completely polarized by this point in mid May, with basically three teams in contention and nine trying to rebuild for next season. My competitors were getting just as much value for their prospects, and Bonderman fell way short of expectation since hitting my roster. I would probably be in better shape if I just held on to Upton and didn't pick up (eventually) Sabathia and Bonderman. Getting Putz is what makes this a slight win for me this year, but at a very expensive price in 2008-2010.

I give Alex Gordon ($1) and some filler for Lance Berkman and a couple of upside pitchers (Carpenter, C.Ray) that failed-This was a clear win for me this season, and despite the future value lost, probably my best in season move.

I give Jake Peavy for C.C. Sabathia ($18) and two roster spots-They still give me crap for this one, but I'm losing in spite of the efforts of C.C., not because of them-Check that, this was by far my best in season move. The little production I lost going from Peavy to Sabathia was easily gained back by having the extra roster space for guys like Scott Baker and Dustin McGowan.

This is where it really falls apart;

I give Adam Dunn for Vernon Wells-I was looking at K% and FB% and Wells was playing exactly as he had the year before while Dunn was looking at a line of .200/.290/.420. Since then, Dunn has played much better, with peripherals suporting his output since the deal and we found out Wells has been playing injured all year. This was a questionable move at the time and ended up a clear loss.

Homer Bailey ($1) for Dice-K-This is one that really stings. Bonderman's ERA is about 7.50 in my lineup since the break and Dice-K's is around 6.00 since I picked him up. Even though I view Bailey as worthless at this point, I'd be much better off by still having him to not start instead of running Dice-K out there every game. This deal was a clear win at the time, but ends up being a big part of my undoing.

I give Trevor Hoffman, Billy Wagner, and Pedro Martinez ($6) for Carlos Zambrano and John Smoltz. I then deal Smoltz straight across for Vazquez ($11). This series of deals really did me in. Smoltz projected to one of about five guys I could use to back Dice-K and Sabathia, so I didn't fell that downgrading to Vazquez was going to hurt at all. I pick up a little keeper value and get rid of the injury risk of Smoltz. I could have just as easily given Big-Z instead, and if I did, that would be about an eight point swing in the standings. Zambrano's ERA is north of 8.00 in 35 IP in my lineup. Zambrano, Bonderman, and Dice-K have combined for a 6.99 ERA and 1.667 WHIP in their last 148 IP. Those three missing their projections that badly are directly worth 12 points, and possibly another 4-5 points in the standings. I was 12 points down coming into today.

One last deal, another punt; I give Granderson ($11), Billingsly ($6), Putz ($14), and Drew ($6) for Crawford, Beltran, Jeter, F.Cordero ($17), and the Big Unit-This was a crucial deal for me, but I would have much rather picked up the deal my opponent, the guy who's going to win the league, picked up a week later. He got just as good players for this year and one of the top keepers for next year in Jose Reyes ($36) while actually giving back LESS keeper value.

Overall, I'm happy with my teams performance, although it's been a miserable last two months. We changed our keeper rules going into 2006, so I went with a three year plan for 2006-2008. I was expecting to be middle of the pack this year and a top dog next year, so finishing in the top 3 this year is somewhat of a bonus. Still, at the trade deadline, I had about 70% equity, so it's been a miserable fall. My team has faltered so bad, I might even finish in 3rd behind a team that tried to punt as we got near the trade deadline. Oh well, I'm in great shape for next year. Check out these keepers;

C-McCann ($6)
2B-K.Johnson ($6)
SS-Ramierz ($16)
MI-Weeks ($11?)
OF-C.Young ($6)
OF-J.Upton ($1)
OF-M.Kemp ($1)
OF-Milledge ($1)
Prospect-Bruce ($1)

SP-Sabathia ($18)
SP-Lincecum ($6)
SP-Shields ($8)
CL-F.Cordero ($17)
CL-R.Soriano ($6)-if he's the closer

Then I've got these guys to try and deal for draft picks;
Escobar ($12)
Vazquez ($11)
Lidge ($19)

Plus I've got several other guys at $6-$10 that could become closers.

Pujols, Berkman, Teixeira, and Ortiz are all going back into the pool and I need a 1b and a U. I could concievable keep Miguel Cabrera at $50 just to lock him up or throw him back and try and get him cheaper. That might be a risk because all the other top 3B will be kept. Then I just need to fill out my pitching rotation.