Fantasy Baseball 2009 Running Advice Thread.

Sorry. I misread your post then. Nothing wrong with staying away from the elite catchers. They all take a beating, so there is always a chance of wearing down, getting hurt, or both.

 

It's such a thin position, I'm just curious who I'd end up going with this year. I usually end up drafting one catcher and the picking one up off the free agent market. I'm just worried with McCann because I'm not sure if that concussion last year is going to bite him in the ass this year. I was pretty sold on Napoli last year, but ended up trading him to some guy who then dropped him a week or two later.

 

If you take Napoli, you have to be patient enough to ride out the cold streaks. He is not going to be consistent, but over the course of the season he is productive.

 

Ramirez is also more valuable because of position scarcity, which is something else you must have a huge grasp of coming into your draft/auction.

 

Ryan Doumit was a nice option last year and should produce if healthy, always a big if.

 

My strategy with catchers is to just make sure to have someone in there as much as I can. That means carrying a backup catcher, where someone like Napoli fits very well. You slot him in on days off for your starter, figuring that they won't play every day anyway. Napoli is great there because he won't torpedo your batting average in that amount of run, but he can still help you a little bit in the counting stats.

 

Exactly what I did. I always kept McCann in the lineup and had Napoli on the backburner when/if McCann went down or just hit a cold streak.

 

How about sleeper/breakout/value picks?

Here's a few:

OF: Justin Upton, Felix Pie and Brandon Moss.

INF: Pablo Sandoval, Ian Stewart and Dallas McPherson.

SP: Chris Volstad, Colin Balester and David Purcey. (Also, the fanboi in me thinks one of Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny will have a bounce-back season)

 

Yikes. Dallas McPherson? Wasn't he supposed to be the next big thing like four years ago? Is he finally on the verge of something? I like Upton, too, and I love the way Stephen Drew is coming around.
As for the guy who said he's not taking a closer early, the guy who won our league last season picked two closers in the first five rounds. And I laughed. Of course, it helped that those closers were K-Rod and Papelbon. And it also helped that he got huge years from Harden, Bay and Manny and he took Pujols later in the first round than he should have gone when others were a little shy because of his elbow injury. But I still agree with your philiosophy on closers. I think he just got really lucky.

 

Yeah. He pretty much fell off the map before hitting 42 homers for Florida's Class AAA team last year.

McPherson is a Three Outcomes (HR, K, BB) type of hitter, but he's a decent gamble in the (really) late rounds if you need some pop.

 

Volstad showed some real promise last year, but he could definitely slide in some leagues.

I really like Sandoval, who is eligible at catcher, first base and third base in some formats (he played 10 games at all three spots, but did not have 20 at any of them).

I'm not sure what to think of Upton. I have him on one keeper team and I'm going to be debating right to the cut deadline about letting him go. He's going to be great, but that could still be a couple of years away.

 

Consensus No. 1 pitcher? In years past, I'd say it's been Johan, who I got late first round last year. I'd say this year it's between him and Lincecum. I'd go real high on either one.

Sabathia scares me, for some reason.