Pinch Hitters - A Fantasy Baseball Diary

[Qwikshot]

One of my coworkers knowing my interest in fantasy leagues offered me an oppurtunity to join him in a keeper league that has been involved for about 14 years....naturally I took him up on the offer.

It was a bidding league, something I was a rookie at. It was all NL only players. There were 3 expansion league teams, of which, we had our initial non bid dispersal draft.

You have a player for 3 years. The first year they are considered an A class player. 2nd year are B class. 3rd year they are considered toppers, which means you can retain the rights for 1 dollar more than what they are bidded on. You cannot bid on the player if you have their topper rights, if you feel they are out of your budget, you can release at the highest bidders price.

I named my team the Pinch Hitters, not original, but I felt like a pinch hitter. After the dispersal draft, this is what my team looked like.

Richie Sexson 1b (topper)
Jeff Kent 2b (B) salary 26
Dave Bell 3b (B) salary 6
Rafael Furcal (B) salary 21
Adam Dunn (topper)
Ken Griffey Jr (topper)

Randy Wolf (B) salary 4 (nice)
Javier Vazquez (topper)
Mike Williams (topper)
Byung Kim (topper)
Elmer Dessens (B) salary 5
Russ Ortiz (B) salary 18
Woody Williams (topper)
Mike Remlinger (B) salary 5

Salary cap is 260, the remainder of my budget for bidding then is 175. Not bad, I have the 3rd or 4th highest cache of money for bidding.

It's a 4x4 league. Batting Avg, Homers, RBIs, Steals along with Wins, ERA, WHIP and Saves.

I'm strong at midfield with Kent, Bell and Furcal, all mine for the year. My staff is nice too, if I can retain some of them. Randy Wolf for 4 bucks is amazing.
Next post the draft...

[Qwikshot]

Draft day is at a building in Reading. Its the first time I meet any of the other guys including the commish. Nice group they are older than me by like 10 to 15 years. They have printouts, spreadsheets, cheatsheets, magazines galore...some nice grub...my friend is a year older than me, we strategize a little but in the end, I know I'm on my own.

I know I'm weak at catcher, some decent players out there, some decent toppers too.

We spend about 7 hours drafting. You draft a 1b, 2nd, 3rd, SS, 1b-3b, 2b-SS, OF, OF, OF, OF, OF, C, C, and 1 util. You draft 9 pitchers...THEN you draft 10 supplemental roster players (I already have Andy Fox SS on my supplemental, whom I can bring up to replace another player).

My final roster:

1b Lyle Overbay (A) 11

[Had to give up Sexson, Overbay has a chance, he hit a game winner yesterday as a pinch hitter, hopefully he'll usurp more of Grace's starts)

2b Jeff Kent (B) 26
3B Dave Bell (B) 6
SS R. Furcal (B) 21

[Happy to get these three, Kent should be good for everything, Bell was cheap and consistent, and Furcal should stay healthy enough for average and steals]

1B-3B A. Boone (A) 20

[I didn't want him, I was trying to get the guy with the highest payroll to spend, but he stopped at 19, and no one else bid...I can say I'm strong at infield now, it'll come back to haunt me]

2b-SS J. Viscanio (A) 2

[Late pick who can play every infield position, not much else out there when I grabbed him, I had 3 dollars left]

OF Adam Dunn (A) 20
OF Endy Chavez (A) 10
OF Marquis Grissom (A) 5
OF Rob Mackowiak (A) 3
OF Reggie Taylor (A) 1

[This is my weakest area...Dunn should be fine, Chavez from Montreal could be a sleeper hit, Grissom is old but starting. Mackowiak is part of a clogged Pirate outfield (Plus he plays 3rd). Taylor is taking over for Griffey (he went for 12 bucks!!!), and maybe he'll stay there a while and outshow Grif.

C Mike Barrett (A) 6
C Paul LoDuca (A) 16

[Again, I was surprised, Barrett was one of the first bid on, and I wanted him. LoDuca was a shock, but again I felt I overbid]

Util Greg Zaun (A) 2

[I had 2 bucks left for Zaun, I didn't want him, but I turn a positive into a negative and have a glut of catchers, plus I can drop him down and move up Andy Fox]


Pitching Staff

Randy Wolf (B) 4
Javier Vazquez (A) 19
Byung Kim (A) 16
Elmer Dessens (B) 5
Russ Ortiz (B) 18
Mike Remlinger (B) 5
Jake Peavy (A) 4
Wade Miller (A) 29
Octavio Dotel (A) 11

Pitching is my strongest suit as long as they generate wins, decent ERA, and a good WHIP. I gave up on the saves area, Kim and Dotel and Remlinger should help though. Wade Miller was my highest bid player, again, the frenzy of bidding with the highest bidder, but Miller isn't a bad prize.

Players missed out on...

Marcus Giles
Brandon Larson
Mark Bellhorn
[My coworker pissed me off, 2nd to last round he notices Bellhorn is still out there, Bellhorn had been on the one guy who didn't come to the auction roster, and most must've forgotten about him...my coworker goes "hey is Mark Bellhorn still out there?" and then bids 5 on him...what ticked me off is that he was keeping track of the other teams and the guy behind us needed an infielder and had like 30 bucks left...result, Bellhorn goes to that team for 11 bucks...if he had slipped to the supplemental roster I had first pick overall and could have gotten him for free!!!]

Supplemental Roster-draft whoever in a serpentine draft, if you want them to play on the active roster, they are considered 10 bucks salary and they cost like 2 bucks to move.

My supplemental roster:

1. Jose Reyes SS Mets
2. Carlos Beltran OF KC
3. Chad Tracy 3b Ariz
4. Kurt Saarloos P Hous
5. Gookie Dawkin SS Cin
6. Mike Sweeney 1b KC
7 Scott Hairston 2b Ariz
8 Jason Michaels OF Phi
9 Dave Krynzel OF Mil
10 Andy Fox SS Fla

I cannot bring up Beltran or Sweeney unless they are traded to the NL (which may or may not happen, still it is good to have them, plus if they move in the offseason to the NL I own their rights).

The other guys are crapshoots, Reyes may best Zaun off the utility spot, or Viscanio (sp?). Saarloos could help in a jiffey. Tacy may get some playing time if Williams goes down?!? Basically we'll find out during the season.

I'll keep everyone posted...it will keep me interested in the baseball season at least.