by Richard A. Rowell, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff
This is it. 2018 is the year I make my triumphant return to fantasy baseball! Not that it's really that triumphant. I've never won a Fantasy Baseball league, not even my own. I tend to forget about it halfway through the season, honestly, but tend to finish in the top half of the standings pretty often. So, I'm going to try and actually check it at least weekly this time...
I chose a free league – not because I'm poor, though; I don't do paid leagues because I don't want money involved. So on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball, I joined a public 12-team rotisserie league with autopick draft. Choosing Autopick Draft has nothing to do with being lazy. Yes, I have a very busy family life. But the primary reason I made this choice is that I prefer the randomness of autopicks. Yahoo's rankings are usually fine with minor tweaking. I actually am very good at drafting sleepers and have built extremely strong teams before. But I like starting with a random team that I just sort of walk in on.
And this year looks to be a good one!
Yahoo automatically named my team "Rich's Wondrous Team," which is so awesome that I just kept it. The auto-draft actually went well for me, with only a couple of question marks. After swapping some guys around, here's what I had.
C Wellington Castillo
1B Matt Carpenter
2B Robinson Cano
3B Kris Bryant
SS Trevor Story
OF Yasiel Puig
OF Tommy Pham
OF Jason Kipnis
Util Xander Bogaerts (SS)
Util Wil Myers (1B)
BN Jonathan Villar (2B, OF)
BN Mike Moustakas (3B)
BN Chris Davis (1B)
BN Ozzie Albies (2B)
BN Addison Russell (SS)
SP Chris Archer (SP)
SP Jacob deGrom (SP)
RP Edwin Diaz (RP)
RP Brad Peacock (RP)
P Justin Verlander (SP)
P Carlos Martinez (SP)
P Luke Weaver (SP)
P Blake Snell (SP)
This is a really solid start. Kris Bryant is really awesome, so I don't have to say anything about him. Wellington Castillo is a guy I like a lot, but I may want a second catcher on my roster. I like Matt Carpenter more than most people and being eligible at 1B, 2B, AND 3B is awesome. Robinson Cano is still one of the best 2B in the game. Trevor Story is very good, and I also have Xander, so Addison Russell is probably one of the first from this roster to go. I'm not a huge fan of Puig, although he can be solid in Fantasy. I'm a big Tommy Pham fan, so he's good. I think Jason Kipnis can rebound, and he's eligible in the OF.
My only other "outfielder" is Jonathan Villar. While he can be good in streaks, he's probably another one to go. Wil Myers is nice, and he's ranked very highly, but I also have Chris Davis. Also, Eric Hosmer is taking over 1B in San Diego. That may mean Myers picks up OF eligibilty again if he shifts back there; that's bad defensively in "real" baseball, but fine in Fantasy.
Mike Moustakas is awkward because he's still without a team and I have 3B covered with Bryant and Carpenter. I'm torn on him. Ozzie Albies is a cool young second baseman with the Braves. I may keep him as a sleeper. Again, I'm probably dumping Russell but he has upside.
The only thing I don't like about my pitching staff is having two StL pitchers and a swingman as one of my two relievers. I like Luke Weaver, but I really don't want two pitchers from the same team because I'll lose value from one of those spots. I need saves, too, to complement the very good Edwin Diaz. I actually like Blake Snell a lot, so he can stay.
So my wants right now are a backup catcher, two outfielders, a true closer and another starter. Not bad for an autopick draft.
So let's visit the waiver wire first. Starting on February 24 gives me a huge head start on moves.
And look who's there! Corey Dickerson! I dropped Jonathan Villar in a heartbeat for him! The Pirates picked him up from the Rays and they needed him in the outfield. Amazing pickup that hopefully no one beats me to.
The two best relievers on the wire are the Nationals' Brandon Kintzler and the Mets' A.J. Ramos. Kintzler is a set-up man and doesn't strike out as many guys as I'd like from a reliever. Ramos may beat Jeurys Familia in that role, though. I'm not willing to risk Brad Peacock on him, though. It is a weird strategy, but Peacock was so amazing in 2017 for the World Champion Astros that I may benefit from having an extra starter, essentially.
As far as catchers, Yasmani Grandal was sitting there and he's going to get the lion's share of time behind the plate for the Dodgers. I love Yasmani, so I'll dump Russell for him. He may end up taking Castillo's spot, but we'll see.
I also decided it was worth dumping Chris Davis for the Milwaukee Brewers' Zach Davies. I've always been a huge fan of Davies, and apparently so are many Yahoo Fantasy Baseball players. Davis is on the decline and I have a bunch of 1B options already. I can risk him. But Moose, he'll find a team, and if he doesn't, I have time.
So I plucked the best three guys from the waiver wire. We'll let the dust settle on these guys and see what else develops. I may trade Carlos Martinez or Luke Weaver (more likely Weaver) because I like carrying an extra pitcher (because who doesn't like pitching?)
What do you think I should do going forward as far as moves before the season starts? Do you agree with the moves I made so far?
Are you playing fantasy baseball this year? If so, how are your team's prospects looking?
I chose a free league – not because I'm poor, though; I don't do paid leagues because I don't want money involved. So on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball, I joined a public 12-team rotisserie league with autopick draft. Choosing Autopick Draft has nothing to do with being lazy. Yes, I have a very busy family life. But the primary reason I made this choice is that I prefer the randomness of autopicks. Yahoo's rankings are usually fine with minor tweaking. I actually am very good at drafting sleepers and have built extremely strong teams before. But I like starting with a random team that I just sort of walk in on.
And this year looks to be a good one!
Yahoo automatically named my team "Rich's Wondrous Team," which is so awesome that I just kept it. The auto-draft actually went well for me, with only a couple of question marks. After swapping some guys around, here's what I had.
C Wellington Castillo
1B Matt Carpenter
2B Robinson Cano
3B Kris Bryant
SS Trevor Story
OF Yasiel Puig
OF Tommy Pham
OF Jason Kipnis
Util Xander Bogaerts (SS)
Util Wil Myers (1B)
BN Jonathan Villar (2B, OF)
BN Mike Moustakas (3B)
BN Chris Davis (1B)
BN Ozzie Albies (2B)
BN Addison Russell (SS)
SP Chris Archer (SP)
SP Jacob deGrom (SP)
RP Edwin Diaz (RP)
RP Brad Peacock (RP)
P Justin Verlander (SP)
P Carlos Martinez (SP)
P Luke Weaver (SP)
P Blake Snell (SP)
This is a really solid start. Kris Bryant is really awesome, so I don't have to say anything about him. Wellington Castillo is a guy I like a lot, but I may want a second catcher on my roster. I like Matt Carpenter more than most people and being eligible at 1B, 2B, AND 3B is awesome. Robinson Cano is still one of the best 2B in the game. Trevor Story is very good, and I also have Xander, so Addison Russell is probably one of the first from this roster to go. I'm not a huge fan of Puig, although he can be solid in Fantasy. I'm a big Tommy Pham fan, so he's good. I think Jason Kipnis can rebound, and he's eligible in the OF.
My only other "outfielder" is Jonathan Villar. While he can be good in streaks, he's probably another one to go. Wil Myers is nice, and he's ranked very highly, but I also have Chris Davis. Also, Eric Hosmer is taking over 1B in San Diego. That may mean Myers picks up OF eligibilty again if he shifts back there; that's bad defensively in "real" baseball, but fine in Fantasy.
Mike Moustakas is awkward because he's still without a team and I have 3B covered with Bryant and Carpenter. I'm torn on him. Ozzie Albies is a cool young second baseman with the Braves. I may keep him as a sleeper. Again, I'm probably dumping Russell but he has upside.
The only thing I don't like about my pitching staff is having two StL pitchers and a swingman as one of my two relievers. I like Luke Weaver, but I really don't want two pitchers from the same team because I'll lose value from one of those spots. I need saves, too, to complement the very good Edwin Diaz. I actually like Blake Snell a lot, so he can stay.
So my wants right now are a backup catcher, two outfielders, a true closer and another starter. Not bad for an autopick draft.
So let's visit the waiver wire first. Starting on February 24 gives me a huge head start on moves.
And look who's there! Corey Dickerson! I dropped Jonathan Villar in a heartbeat for him! The Pirates picked him up from the Rays and they needed him in the outfield. Amazing pickup that hopefully no one beats me to.
The two best relievers on the wire are the Nationals' Brandon Kintzler and the Mets' A.J. Ramos. Kintzler is a set-up man and doesn't strike out as many guys as I'd like from a reliever. Ramos may beat Jeurys Familia in that role, though. I'm not willing to risk Brad Peacock on him, though. It is a weird strategy, but Peacock was so amazing in 2017 for the World Champion Astros that I may benefit from having an extra starter, essentially.
As far as catchers, Yasmani Grandal was sitting there and he's going to get the lion's share of time behind the plate for the Dodgers. I love Yasmani, so I'll dump Russell for him. He may end up taking Castillo's spot, but we'll see.
I also decided it was worth dumping Chris Davis for the Milwaukee Brewers' Zach Davies. I've always been a huge fan of Davies, and apparently so are many Yahoo Fantasy Baseball players. Davis is on the decline and I have a bunch of 1B options already. I can risk him. But Moose, he'll find a team, and if he doesn't, I have time.
So I plucked the best three guys from the waiver wire. We'll let the dust settle on these guys and see what else develops. I may trade Carlos Martinez or Luke Weaver (more likely Weaver) because I like carrying an extra pitcher (because who doesn't like pitching?)
What do you think I should do going forward as far as moves before the season starts? Do you agree with the moves I made so far?
Are you playing fantasy baseball this year? If so, how are your team's prospects looking?
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