Rebuilding A Franchise: From First to Worst and Back … Hopefully

It started with a poor season.

For better or worse, the 2008 baseball season was a disaster for my squad in the SLO League, causing me to seriously consider blowing up the team that had led me to two titles. I’d entered the 2008 draft with what at the time was considered OK keepers — Chase Utley, Victor Martinez, Justin Verlander, Carlos Lee and CC Sabathia. But then things quickly started to unravel.

Fantasy baseball draft myths & advice: Done or Dunn?

There might not be another player in fantasy baseball that has such wide-ranging opinions.There are those that believe that he is an absolute albatross.
That simply by drafting him, you damn your team to an eternal hell of enduring rather lengthy droughts in exchange for some homers.
You know I’m not one of those people. I won a title with Dunn last year and will happily draft him if I get the chance this year.
Convince me otherwise.

Convince you not to draft a guy you already said you would draft? Look, The Jon has respect for what Dunn does.
He just gets drafted to high in a spot that is usually reserved for secondary fantasy producers. Dunn is a third option at best because of his up and down weeks of consistency. The only consistency the guy has is unpredictability. If you are drafting a team from scratch, you really need to be committed to offense to get the guy and can count on a rag-tag bunch of pitchers to be your staff.

Here’s the deal:

Fantasy baseball draft myths and advice: The training bras come off

The Jon thought everything was cool between The Jon and FreeSanJose. There was some bondage between the two of us during the hallowed Edinson Volquez and Cliff Lee conversation. FreeSanJose even left with his handcuffs. It is our intention to try and help y’all prepare for a draft by highlighting players and strategies. The Jon thought FreeSanJose was on board with that and then we got into a big argument where insults and racial epithets were thrown.

FreeSanJose truly believes we agree on many of the same points in fantasy baseball.

The Jon is great.

FreeSanJose is not.

So to show FSJ the error of his ways, it is game time.

Five Guys I’ll Never Draft Again

What’s the saying? Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it? That right? Well, as a bottom-dweller in recent fantasy baseball leagues, I can’t tell you whom to pick to win. But I can tell you who I firmly believe helped me along the road to mediocrity and advise you not to call their name on your draft day.

Two Days, Two Drafts, Two Different Formats

As I sit here on a Wednesday, I am going out of my mind figuring out how to possibly prepare for two drafts in two days in two leagues with two different formats. Two. Did you get that?

Bonkers for Bonderman? Not I.

I just don’t get it. What’s the infatuation with Jeremy Bonderman?

Please spare me all of the nonsense talk about he has the ability but just needs to stay healthy. I just don’t care. Who cares about the ifs when there are so many other pitchers who already are solid fantasy players.

A few weeks back I was on a message boards evaluating different fantasy rosters, helping people select their keepers and the discussion led to Bonderman. It seemed like seven out of 10 people giving advice told the guy to keep Bonderman instead of James Shields. Why? Because he was prominently featured in “Money Ball?” Because he had 200 strikeouts one time in his career? Because he pitches for the almighty Detroit Tigers? Because he’s only 25?

Draft Advice: The top 5 value picks

Fantasy baseball drafts are all about hype. As fantasy baseballers we feed off of it. When Jose Reyes, David Wright, Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Braun all have big seasons forever changing the fantasy landscape, we want to be the ones that said we saw it coming and that we told you so. That’s why Parrish was at this top of this post before the video becam no longer available seeing how his solo career was so successful. We all remember when Parrish Smith broke off from EPMD and the Green-Eyed Bandit. Yeah, that was successful. But guess what sweethearts, like a lot of solo careers, you can’t win by the rule of “I saw it comin” without solid producers — the value guys that keep on churning 180-plus hits, 30 or more homers, 100 RBI or 100 runs season after season. Your own Green-Eyed Bandit so to speak. What a weak piece of writing that last paragraph was. Videos no longer available sucks.

But still, we have humps out there saying Wright will drop 40 bombs along with Ryan Braun because they are under 26. Screw that. Let the other guys grab the sexy picks of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Braun, while you grab the sure things that are four-to five category studs. Get results, not predictions. Get value not teenage fandom. Here are the top 5 value picks in the draft:

Purple Lips: Yeah, no brainer right? Well, you would be surprised how many people

Draft Advice: Top 10 Shortstops

Take a walk down the street and find three guys who play fantasy baseball. Now ask them who is the game’s top shortstop. Odds are you’ll get three different answers, one picking Jose Reyes, another Hanley Ramirez, and you may get one for Jimmy Rollins. (See how the ‘Stars chose their top three) Fact of the matter is fantasy players again find themselves in a position where they are debating who the best is. Five years ago we were analyzing three different guys (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra), but the game has changed since then. The position has become deep enough where you need not have a top-tier shortstop if your league is 10 or 12 leagues deep. But don’t fool yourselves. Only three off them are worthy of being picked in the first few rounds. Troika!

1. Jose Reyes (47)

2. Hanley Ramirez (45)

3. Jimmy Rollins (43)

E-mailer’s Delight: The Top 3 Shortstops

As TheBaseballStars submitted their votes for shortstop rankings, it became clear that there was some dissension among the ranks. Here is how some of the stars came to their conclusions.

Draft Advice: First Base

First base is no longer a deep well in which to find power hitters. Gone are the days of the ballooned headed, yoked up statues that used to man the position with mediocrity and bomb 40-50 homers with regularity. Five years ago, almost every fantasy team had one at first base and utility. Today, there are barely 10 guys that are guaranteed producers at the position. The top players at this position are still guys to build an offense around. This is where you get your power. Lose out here and try to get some sleeper, and you will be behind before the season has even started. The top three guys will be gone by the first round. Pick up any of the other 10 in the next two rounds. Just don’t be left out because the drop off from the top is abrupt and steep.

1. Albert Pujols (49)
   
2. Prince Fielder (44)
3. Ryan Howard (42)