Finders Keepers Keeper League

[kimkrichbaum2]

Enough of decisions, let's talk about your drafts, how do you feel about yours?
I feel good about my draft,much better than the other keeper league. I joined earlier in the year. this time I started with a clear focus. I decided to totally throw 2008 under the bus, and focus on a mix of 2009 and the future. This allowed to me make choices like Upton in the 2nd and Jones in the 4th, that I feel really good about. My biggest risk was Zobrist in the 5th. If he is for real, I just got a switch-hitting Chase Utley in the 5th round. If he regresses, that was a pretty weak long-term pick.
In the middle of the draft, I think I got a little too focused on 2009 to the exclusion of the future. A lot of players like Piniiero and Dunne having career years. (although as long as he has Duncan as his pitching coach, Piniero has a chance of of doing it again) At times, I tried to sneak a guy a little later than I should have, figuring no one else will notice and lost him (Hughes). Or had a hard time pulling the trigger, noticing a guy I wasn't originally looking at, who should not have been still available, and stuck him 3rd in my proxy queue (rather than 1st) , and have him be gone by the time we got to my 3rd choice.
At the end of my draft, I decided to focus on guys who had a smaller number of at bats, but were hitting way over their heads, either both ways or on one side of a platoon (Castro, Vizquel, Ausmus, Gross, Hinske). Some of these guys may regress to the mean, but after round 30, what else was available?
Since I am ignoring 2008, I'll evaluate my team for 2009:
STRENGTHS
This team will absolutely Rake! I have an offensive stud at almost every position, and platoons to cover any holes.
My bullpen is at least very good, and if Adams and Fogg keep it up and get enough innings to have cards, It will be the best in the league.
WEAKNESSES
Defense. I think both Zobrist and HanRam both have outside chances of being 2's this year, if they are, my fielding is passable. If not, I'm going to need that deep bullpen!
My starting pitching is only fair, and not deep. This is a dangerous combo with my defense. I could lead the league in runs scored, but be close to leading it in runs given up also.
FUTURE (2010 on)
Barring unforseen regression or injury, I should be in great shape at 1b, ss, 3b, rf, and cf. If Zobrist is really this good, you can add lf or 2b to that list. I have high hopes for Flores at c if he's healthy. And Kubel may be turning into a stud at DH. So only a few holes to fill for position players, although as the Mets have proved, You never know about injuries.
Starting pitching is so unpredictable, but I only see myself as having two pitchers with a good chance at being future studs, Jackson and Jiminez, and no close to sure things, like Halladay or Linnecum. I would count this as a weakness. Broxton is my first choice for a long term closer, but I feel lucky to have him.
I'd love to hear your reflections on the draft and on your team.

[tcochran]

Surprising FAs include:
Pat Burrell
Sean Casey
Hideki Matsui
Jamie Moyer
B.J. Ryan

[Roscodog]

With my team I tried to pick a strong core that would make me successful in 08, 09 and beyond.
My team will have to rely mostly on pitching and defence to be succesful with very little in the way of power, in Kauffman this strategy will hopefully pay off.

Morneau, Escobar, Victorino, Span, Bay, and Soto I see being with my organization for a while. Rolen will provide solid D in '08 when not injured and in '09. Johnson and Alou should be a deadly DH combo, again when not injured in '08. Johnson will be around in '09 and looks to be a solid DH. My lower picks were made just for '08 with the idea that they could be called up when some of my fragile starters go down. Safe to say Sexson, Alou, and Giambi won't be part of my '09 lineup. Guerrero will serve as a nice insurance policy in '08 aswell and will hopefully rebound. Rolen looks to be great in '09 as does Scutaro which wll create a nice problem at SS with Escobar. Navarro will serve as the left handed part of my catching platoon in '08 and will see what happens when '09 comes around as I only have two catchers on my roster. Castillo will more than likely take over for Polanco at 2nd in '09. I don't see any huge weakness in my starting 9 other than a lack of power and some injury problems. I think my '08 depth should make up for any injury concerns this year. If/when Johnson, Alou and Rolen go down they can be replaced with Giambi, Sexson, and Scutaro/Punto, with Guerrero also seeing time at DH.

When it comes to pitching the top '08 starters (Halladay, Lincecum, Lee, ect.) were all gone so I focused on a solid group for '08 who could be solid in the future. Santana will give me a #1 this year and in '09 will be replaced in the rotation by Marquis. Cain should prove to be a solid #1 next year, with Lester and Floyd being solid. Randy Johnson and Olsen will provide a nice alternative to a right handed starter in '08 aswell. Saito, Sheets, Thornton, Rhodes, Marmol, Delcarmen, League, Troncoso, and Hampson although not spectacular are a very solid bullpen for the next couple of years. Bradford may come in handy as a righty specialist in '08. The rest of the bunch were drafted with specific roles in mind, Garnder a pinch runner in '08 maybe something more in '09, Punto sub in the infield, Sweeney OF backup with some upside, Anderson def OF, Izturis INF backup, Bloomquist pr/ph, and Amezaga inf/of backup PR.

Some of my picks are obviously for '08 only but I figured as I have to dump 10 guys anyways it seemed like a solid strategy.

[kaviksdad]

I went with the best young talent available, and getting Greinke, Felix, Ethier, Snider and Hawpe were great picks, even though a couple might have gone a round earlier than I had hoped. Pitching and defense is my priority, with a strong defense up the middle in Reyes, Utley, Martin and Hunter. Starting pitching is passable this year, but should be better next season. Went for some young pitching in Cueto, Harrison and Morton based on potential, but don't look for them to hit the rotation for at least 2 years. Was surprised that some guys I stole in rounds later than I had projected - like Hawpe, Howard and Quentin. Alot of my guys are having injury problems this season, so I tried to get the best backups I could.

That being said, the trade door is always open and no one (with the exception of Utley) is untouchable in the right deal.

[tcochran]

I'll write about my team tomorrow, but I have a stadium question first:

litangel wrote earlier today that "We will save Riojadave's spot in the stadium draft til 10am Monday, New York time. At that point folks can just go ahead and draft. Also if Terry has not drafted at that time, we can skip him also (my hope is that these folks all come in time for their picks..."

Riojadave and Terry101 showed up OK, but Rant seems to have gone missing. I follow Rant, so does this mean I need to select a stadium at (or before) 10 AM EDT Monday morning?

[kimkrichbaum2]

I t seem we were pretty lenient timewise with Dave, and Terry, and so it seems equitable to be so with Rant. I hope he chooses soon, and I pm'ed to let him know he was up. But I think we should give him at least til the end of the day on Monday, just in case. If you want to make sure your choice is ready and you won't be around, You could pm your choice to me, or even just list it on this thread. I don't think we are that competitive over ballparks, we want what we want, and I can't see someone choosing a different stadium just to mess with another manager. That would be counter productive.

[Pirhala]

I think i might have a decent team in 08, but I may be mostly crap in 09 and beyond. This is my first time playing with any cards other than the all time greats, and my first time in a keeper league obvoiusly. It does not help that I live in England and have not really been able to follow baseball for the past 3 years (been too busy with new babys and all, and the coverage here is less than acceptable)they have however just introduced ESPN America, which shows several games a day and also has great shows like Baseball Tonight, This Week in Baseball, PTI, and Around The Horn. With this new resource hopefully I can make better decisions in the drafts in the future. I am hoping for a good prospect draft which may save me. Anyways I am not going anywhere, I am here to stay and hopefully my team will not fall off as much as I expect to.

[RiojaDave]

Hi Pirhala,

I know that it can be hard following MLB over here. You are lucky to be getting the ESPN channel. I live in the old part of the city here, and we have finally been cabled. We are debating if we should or shouldn't sign up. Spanish TV is crap, but with all the channels, the best I can do is ESPN Classic.

Back to BT, TWIB, etc, you can download most of those programs at ESPN Radio. I travel about 40 mins each way to work, so I download Baseball Today and Fantasy Focus. It helps a lot to keep up to date.


Dave

[tcochran]

Rant's up next in the stadium draft. After that, my proxies are:
1. AT&T Park
2. Angel Stadium

I'm a rookie in SOM -- I've only completed 3 seasons so far -- but one of my teams won 96 games with a philosophy similar to my team in this league: Low WHIP - high OBP - platooning in a home ballpark that discourages homeruns. That original team probably could have won 100 or more, except that I had ignored fielding (all except C at 3's and 4's). I hope I've improved on that for this next time around:

Pitching: With a starting rotation of Johan Santana, Sabathia, Dempster, and Oswalt, I have 4 of the highest salary 16 starters in the league. Not only is that good for my team, but it also means the other teams average just over one each of the other top starters. For '09, as Dempster's results slide, I'll replace him with Vazquez, who's doing well. Nathan continues to be one of the top closers, and relievers Downs, Oliver, Shell, and Nelson should do okay, too, in '08. The jury is still out on my relievers for '09, but I'm carrying 9 guys who currently have WHIP at 1.25 or less, so I'm guessing at least 4 of them will finish the season in good shape, too.

Hitting: In order to draft all of those top pitchers in the early rounds, I had to pass up the chance to get many stud batters, although I did take the amazing Joe Mauer in the first round. I only took one other batter before round 9, but that was Jason Bartlett, who is also having a fine '09. After that I was happily surprised to still be able to get Fontenot, Upton and Lee -- all high OBP (for '08) with good fielding. Guys like Melky Cabrera and Counsell/Gonzalez are on board to replace those first 2 in '09. The other 5 slots will all be filled by platooning, but since most other managers look like they are avoiding that option, that left a lot of one-sided batters available. Batting against LHP I'll have 8 guys at OBP of .399 or better (and the other one at .379). And then against RHP, 7 guys will be at OBP of .369 or better.

Slugging: Not a real option in '08, but I may have to change stadiums in '09, since Mauer, Lee, Branyan, and Aramis Ramirez are hitting the long balls much better now.

Fielding: This proved to be the toughest area for me, since I really like hitters like Abreu and Ibanez, who were still available when I started looking at batters again. I forced myself to remain focused, though, and ended up with all starters at 1's and 2's, except for my RF vs. RHP (who's a 3).

Finally, as mentioned before, it looks to me like all 3 of my opponents in the East are more focused on '09 than '08. I'm happy to play against them this year and then all change divisions for the next one!

[Rant]

Our next draft is the stadium draft, the order (reverse of the original draft) is below. We can begin whenever we wish. There is no clock for this draft, so no skipping.

ROSCODOG - Kauffman
NYTHAWK-Progressive
PIRHALA-Fenway
TERRY101-Rogers
KAVIKSDAD - Busch Stadium
RIOJADAVE- dodger stadium
ZIM13-Petco
RANT - AT&T Park
TCOCHRAN
THISISRAY
LITANGEL
IRONWILL1