My Team

[Benihana]

Originally Posted by camisadelgolf

C Victor Martinez
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Chase Utley
3B Bill Hall
SS Jimmy Rollins
OF Matt Holliday
OF Ichiro Suzuki
OF Jason Bay
UT Jim Thome (starting Monday--he's on my bench until then)
BN Paul Lo Duca
BN Chone Figgins
SP Cole Hamels
SP Carlos Zambrano
RP J.J. Putz
RP Chris Ray
P Jose Valverde
P Joe Borowski
P Brandon Webb
BN Tim Lincecum
BN Scott Kazmir
BN Rich Harden (on the DL)
DL Huston Street

I'm 23 games out of first place. Does anyone see any weaknesses or have any advice on how to improve my team? Was I an idiot for trading Chipper Jones?

That team is pretty damn strong. My guess is you'll be near the top of the standings by the AS break. I think your team compares favorably to mine (and I'm in 1st place in a 12 team league by 11 points):

C McCann v. Martinez (Edge: EVEN)
1B Teixeira v. Delgado (Me)
2B Figgins v. Utley (You)
SS Furcal v. Rollins (You)
3B Wright v. Hall (Me)
OF Vlad v. Bay (Me)
OF Duncan v. Holliday (You)
OF Teahen v. Ichiro (You)
DH Ad.Gonz v. Thome (EVEN)

BN Hamilton and Kendrick v. LoDuca and Figgins (Even)

SP Hill v. Hamels (Even)
SP Peavy v. Zambrano (Me)
SP Hernandez v. Webb (Even)
SP Lincecum v. Lincecum (Even)
SP Hughes v. Kazmir (You)
SP Harden v. Harden (Even)
RP Hoffman v. Putz (Me)
RP Jenks v. Ray (Me)
RP Wheeler v. Valverde (Me)
RP Calero v. Ray (You)
RP Guardado v. Street (You)

Our teams are almost identical (it was a 6-6-6 tie!), and like I said, I'm in 1st by a comfortable margin. Stick to your guns I think you'll like the end result.

[Dom Heffner]

Was I an idiot for trading Chipper Jones?

Well, yeah. Sort of.

But if Hall warms up and Chipper gets hurt, you're a genius.

The thing I like about about fantasy baseball over football is there is a lot more room for error. There are 20 plus weeks versus 14-17. 162 games versus 14-17. It's incredibly forgiving. Who's hot now isn't who's necessarily hot a month from now.

[camisadelgolf]

I hope you're all right. I tried desperately to trade for David Wright and Garrett Atkins, but no one was willing. I was in a hurry to sell high on Chipper Jones, and I figured people would be much quicker to trade for pitching (which is what I traded for) than a third baseman.

I wasn't around for my draft, and I have only two players left over from it (Delgado and Utley). Still, my players have not been taking walks at all, and my team batting average is near the bottom. However, I've been getting doubles like crazy all year. I think I'll just chalk up my shortcomings to a tough schedule and bad luck.

Thank you for the points of view. When I work out a deal for an elite third baseman (and I'm trying to work out a Bill-Hall-and-Scott-Kazmir-for-_______ deal), I'll be feeling very good.

[camisadelgolf]

My team has been shooting up the standings and is now in second place. I figure that within a week or two, I'll be in first, since I'll be facing the two weakest teams in the league. Anyway, thank you to everyone for your help. I think I should dump some relief pitching for an upgrade to my rotation, but if I don't, here's how my team looks:

C Victor Martinez
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Chase Utley
3B Troy Glaus
SS Jimmy Rollins
OF Jason Bay
OF Ichiro Suzuki
OF Adam Dunn
UT Andruw Jones
BN Julio Lugo
SP Cole Hamels
SP Rich Hill
RP J.J. Putz
RP Francisco Rodriguez
P Chris Ray
P Jose Valverde
P Mariano Rivera
BN Al Reyes
BN Tim Lincecum
BN Carlos Zambrano
BN Chris Capuano
DL Rich Harden

[RedEye]

Man, your roster has had a SERIOUS overhaul this year. Nice job!

[camisadelgolf]

The overhaul continues. I'd feel more comfortable if I had a backup at 2B and 3B. Does anyone know of someone worthy of the roster spot? Julio Lugo is available, and I'm seriously considering him (he can only go up from here, right?). Anyway, here's my roster now:

C Victor Martinez
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Chase Utley
3B Troy Glaus
SS Jimmy Rollins
OF Jason Bay
OF Ichiro Suzuki
OF Adam Dunn
UT Andruw Jones
BN Jarrod Saltalamacchia
DL Miguel Tejada
SP Cole Hamels
SP Rich Hill
RP J.J. Putz
RP Francisco Rodriguez
P Chris Ray
P Chad Cordero
P Mariano Rivera
BN John Maine
BN Tim Lincecum
BN Carlos Zambrano
BN Scott Kazmir

5 closers!?! 2 of which are pretty much lights out in Putz and K-Rod. If you ever have a hole to fill on your team, I think you'll know where to deal from. You also love those young guns, and with good reason.

[camisadelgolf]

At most, I've had three of those starting pitchers play on the same day, so why use the 'P' position as just a bench spot, y'know? I mean, the position's there, so I might as well use it. If I could package Chris Ray and Chad Cordero with John Maine to get Jake Peavy, I'd do it, but at this point, I've fleeced so many people that no one's willing to do trades with me anymore. I think starting the year in a big slump actually helped me because it made people think I had no idea what I was doing and therefore, they felt more comfortable trading with me.