JustSayin.net

It's working!!!

It's really working.

So as is customary for this blog, I'm doing well in DCRoto and thus, I'm writing about it.  Here are the standings.

Rank	Team	Batting	Pitching	Total	Dif	Behind
1	The Derek Corbett Experience	67.0	60.5	127.5	24.0	0.0
2	Donnie Baseballers	64.5	55.5	120.0	-11.0	7.5
3	DejaBrew All Over Again	70.5	26.5	97.0	25.0	30.5
3	Berkshire Lumber Company	64.0	33.0	97.0	9.0	30.5
5	Rebuilding Cleveland	47.0	49.5	96.5	2.5	31.0
6	Raleigh Rednecks Redux	37.0	55.0	92.0	-6.0	35.5
7	Lesbian Spank Inferno	36.0	55.5	91.5	-4.5	36.0
8	Lite Brigade	33.0	49.5	82.5	-3.5	45.0
8	Boats N Hoes	33.5	49.0	82.5	5.5	45.0
10	Purple Submarine	55.5	23.5	79.0	6.0	48.5
11	Scrubbies	25.0	53.0	78.0	-3.0	49.5
12	BigPoppaLip	39.0	38.0	77.0	5.0	50.5
13	Logan's Monsters	32.5	39.0	71.5	-4.5	56.0
14	Tools of Ignorance	23.5	37.0	60.5	-13.0	67.0
15	Naked Britney Statue Giving Birth on Bear Skin Rug	14.5	40.5	55.0	-3.5	72.5
16	Closer by Committee	37.5	15.0	52.5	-28.0	75.0
Standings Updated as of: 5/12/10 4:47 AM EST

My pitching still stinks on ice, but my batting average is coming around.  Not only that, but Kerry Wood and Huston Street are throwing again and should be accumulating saves very soon.  I'll be last in wins and K's for the year, but could be top 5 in every other category.

As far as the other teams go, "The Derek Corbett Experience" is crushing right now, mainly anchored by a ridiculous pitching staff.  Jered Weaver, Justin Verlander, James Shields, David Price, and A.J. Burnett.  Not bad.  The offense is anchored by a strong outfield.  Jason Bay, Garrett Jones, Angel Pagan, Scott Podsednik.  

Evidence points to the contrary, but I don't see this offense holding up.  Hence the trading block update recently where DC offers pitching for offense.  He's putting up a good fight in his first year, but watch out for the late season trades Mr. Corbett, especially ones involving Edwin Jackson.  My prediction is top 5 for Mr. Corbett, but I would be surprised if he finished in the money.

In a word.  Not good.

Craptastic.

Epic fail.

Yeah, it's a lot of words, but I need to get the point across.  America, if you see Billy Wagner, please politely tell him to get some friggin' saves.  Here are the standings as of right now.

Rank	Team	Batting	Pitching	Total	Dif	Behind
1	Donnie Baseballers	69.5	61.5	131.0	131.0	0.0
2	The Derek Corbett Experience	53.0	50.5	103.5	103.5	27.5
3	Raleigh Rednecks Redux	44.5	53.5	98.0	98.0	33.0
4	Lesbian Spank Inferno	45.0	51.0	96.0	96.0	35.0
5	Rebuilding Cleveland	43.5	50.5	94.0	94.0	37.0
6	Berkshire Lumber Company	59.0	29.0	88.0	88.0	43.0
7	Lite Brigade	33.0	53.0	86.0	86.0	45.0
8	Scrubbies	33.5	47.5	81.0	81.0	50.0
9	Closer by Committee	57.0	23.5	80.5	80.5	50.5
10	Boats N Hoes	22.0	55.0	77.0	77.0	54.0
11	Logan's Monsters	36.5	39.5	76.0	76.0	55.0
12	Tools of Ignorance	34.0	39.5	73.5	73.5	57.5
13	Purple Submarine	44.0	29.0	73.0	73.0	58.0
14	DejaBrew All Over Again	50.0	22.0	72.0	72.0	59.0
14	BigPoppaLip	38.5	33.5	72.0	72.0	59.0
16	Naked Britney Statue Giving Birth on Bear Skin Rug	17.0	41.5	58.5	58.5	72.5
Standings Updated as of: 5/1/10 4:38 AM EST

I'm DejaBrew.  Good hitting horrible pitching.  Another word I would use to describe our league is lumpy.  We have the bottom lump, Naked Brittany Long Named Team, acting very lonely down there.  I'm still interested in Nyjer Morgan if you're still offering :).

Then there's the 70's lump.  No it's not that thing old people get at the top of their back from too much time in a Denny's booth.  It's a volatile lump.  Today I moved to the top of it, but tomorrow I'll probably fall back down.

Then we have the 80's and the 90's.  Seems like each decade is separated by a few points.  Until you get to Donnie Baseballers, who are up 30 points on everyone.  It's an ugly race for 2nd place right now.  Could the Ballers set a record for DCRoto scoring?  We'll have to wait and see.  

In the meantime, stay on the lookout for Wagner.

One of the beauties of DCRoto is the League Trading Block.  If you post something up there, you can bet you'll be contacted within 24 hours by another owner with an offer.  It's clockwork, like a Philly fan doing something subhuman at a sporting event.

I was last in the league in stolen bases.  I was first in the league in home runs.  So as I tend to do, I started panicking because Pedroia, Andrus, Cruz, Choo, and Milledge weren't running.  I posted a "power for speed" message on the block.

"Naked Brittany Statue Giving Birth on a Bearskin Rug" contacted me shortly thereafter.  They were offering Nyjer Morgan for someone like Adam Dunn, Nelson Cruz, Andre Ethier, or Josh Willingham.  I initially offered Willingham because, well you have to try right?  Plus I've always been a Willingham guy.  He's the hammer to my nail (gross).  I kind of always see him as a .280, 25 HR, 85 RBI's, 5 SB guy.  But apparently no one else does.

So he countered with Adam Dunn.  That would be a classic power for speed trade.  Morgan gets average and steals.  Dun gets HR's and RBI's.  They are about even on runs usually.  

The next night, the Texas Rangers stole 9 bases on Tim Wakefield and Victor Martinez.  Andrus had 3 and Cruz had 3.  Not that I'm in 1st place or anything now, but that just kind of reminded me that it's still early.  I drafted this team for a reason.  I didn't draft them for the first 3 weeks of the year.  There are going to be stretches where my guys don't steal, hit HR's, or just plain hit.  Why should the first 3 weeks be more valuable than any other three?

Andrus has stolen bases in the majority of games since then and Cruz has too.  I'm hoping this was the kick start they needed.  

Let's hope so.

In an effort to expand on the blog a little bit (and because I'm realizing more and more of my fellow DCRoto owners are reading this thing), I'm going to do something a little different this year.  

Most guys commented on how I wrote a lot while I was winning, and not so much when losing.  Well my team currently stinks like cheese, and here I am.  And I'm not even going to write about my team.  I'm going to write about the current leader.  A.K.A., guys who don't have 11 points in all pitching categories combined.  Gross.

First Place - Donnie Baseballers

Last year "the Ballers" went with the "I don't want to have to watch west coast games" strategy and drafted all east-coasters.  It got him an 8th place finish, 30 points out of first.  He changed it up this year and went with a variation on "stars and scrubs, with a pitching twist" it seems.  He took Hanley, Santana, Hamels, K-Rod, Papelbon.

He's pretty closer heavy, which is a strategy I like, not that that means anything.  However, in a league this deep, saves are hard to come by, and if you can get 2-3 reliable guys, that's one less category to worry about.  That said, his offense needs help.  It's not going to hold up.  I love Rod Barajas as much as the next guy (unless the next guy is Stacie Barajas, his wife, who couldn't be the next guy because she's a woman, so I guess I do like him as much as the next guy, anyways...), but he can't help Han-Ram elevate this offense.  

The infield of Hanley, Chone, A. Gonzalez, Weeks, and Cantu is serviceable, but the OF is cheaper than potted meat at your local IGA.  Cuddyer, B. Gardner, Rasmus, L. Scott, and J. Guillen.  Ick.  I suppose OF is easier to find than IF, but there's some work to be done here.  If anyone needs pitching and has outfield to spare, talk to the Ballers.

Come to think of it, I need to go make a trade offer.

In closing, this is a team that can compete all year if their offense holds up and Hanley stays healthy.

The 4th annual and my 2nd DCRoto draft took place this past Sunday (here's the website).  That day is quickly becoming one of my favorite days of the year.  To be around a group of guys so passionate and knowledgeable about Major League Baseball is truly amazing.

I was much more prepared this year than last year for the speed and depth.  I was not as prepared when it came to my player research and it shows.  My strategy was pretty much the same.  We had 16 teams this year as oppose to 14 last year, so the player pool was a little less shallow.  Also, rosters only had 1 starting catcher instead of two.  

When a league is very deep, the free agent pool is very thin.  Therefore, I decided a stars and scrubs strategy wouldn't work.  Pujols, HanRam, and A-Rod would not be on my team.  I was spending no more than $30 on one player.  because if you invest too much in one asset and it tanks, there's NO ONE left on the waivers.  I still went offense heavy and was glad I did.  I feel like I definitely have a team that can compete.

Here's what I have to work with:

• C - Yadier Molina, $3
• 1B - Adam Dunn, $19
• 3B - Aramis Ramirez, $24
• CI - Troy Glaus, $1
• 2B - Dustin Pedroia, $24
• SS - Elvis Andrus, $17
• MI - Kelly Johnson, $11
• OF - Nelson Cruz, $27
• OF - Josh Willingham, $6
• OF - Shin-Soo Choo, $20
• OF - Andre Ethier, $25
• OF - Seth Smith, $2
• UT - Lastings Milledge
• SP - Erik Bedard, $7
• SP - J.A. Happ, $5
• SP - Jonathan Sanchez, $7
• SP - Brett Myers, $5
• RP - Andrew Bailey, $14
• SP - Tim Hudson, $5
• RP - Kerry Wood, $3
• RP - Billy Wagner, $14
• RP - Huston Street, $11
• Reserves - Joel Hanrahan, J.P. Howell, Jess Todd, Jose Bautista, Daniel Murphy

See where I messed up?  As I was bidding on my closers, I was wondering why they were so cheap.  Turns out they are all hurt (Bailey, Wood, Street, Hanrahan, Howell).  Ick.  Ick.  Ick.  Also, Erik Bedard will be out about half the year.

The Good:

There were some good buys.  Tim Hudson for $5 could be the steal of the draft in my mind.  He's just 2 years removed from being one of the top 10 pitchers in the league.  If he can get back to his sub-3.50, 150 K's, 15 wins, and 1.25 WHIP, that's amazing value.  I feel like Nelson Cruz at $27 could be great.  He's got power, speed, RBI's, and Runs.  If he can get is average up near .300, he's a top 10 overall player.  Pedroia at $24 could be great, but is probably about right.

The Bad:

It started to get ridiculous later in the draft.  Every pitcher I picked, Brent Bickley of "Closer by Committee", would make some comment about that player and their particular injury.  

 

 

"You get him and his upcoming visit to Dr. James Andrews" (Andrew Bailey)

"Oh!  My Back!" (Kerry Wood).

"Yes, J.P. Howell is hurt too."  (J.P. Howell)

It was actually pretty funny, and soul-crushing.

Clearly my pitching needs work.  I knew that would be the case.  But I also figured it wouldn't be a walking trauma ward.  Hopefully Billy Wagner is healthy again.  I believe he has top 5 closer potential.  Also, if Bailey's MRI came back negative so he should be able to start the season.  Huston Street might not be out too long.  And Kerry Wood thinks he'll be back faster than 6-8 weeks, but will his job be waiting for him.  There's 3 closers that could work out.  Could.  

I have work to do.

Conclusion:

Another great draft for all of DCRoto.  I feel like we don't hang out as a group enough.  We need some happy hours for Wednesday night baseball or something.  Does our league have a social chair?