Fantasy Baseball 2015

Definitely insist that he be the one to make the first offer and make him overpay.

You never know. In my keeper league this offseason, one of the other owners put Starling Marte on the block. I asked him in January what he wanted and did not like the offer, so I passed. Asked again right before we had to make our cuts in February and he asked for Hisashi Iwakuma. That deal could not have been a more perfect fit for my team, which was extremely deep in starting pitching, but needed a youth and outfield help. Every other owner in the league insists that I ripped him off, but I wasn't even the one who made the offer. So when in doubt, give the other guy every opportunity to rip himself off.

 

Ugh. Nothing I hate more than fluky injuries to star players. I've got a two-time defending championship team in a keeper league and I built it primarily on starting pitching. Looks like number three ain't gonna happen with Adam Wainwright likely done for 2015.

Somehow, I don't think Wei-Yin Chen or Ubaldo Jimenez are going to make up for losing one of the top 10 pitchers in the game.

 

Wainwright hurts here too.

On a separate note, Having a hard time deciding who to choose at C until Gomes returns: Caleb Joseph or Nick Hundley. Already went from Hundley to Joseph, tempted to go back.

 

Wainwright is good, but top 10 is a gigantic stretch in fantasy terms. He barely cracked the top 75 in K rate last year.

 

Depends on your format, but I think he was still there.

I may be biased by the format of my league, which includes innings pitched and batting average against along with the more basic ones, both of which raise his value considerably. In 2014, he was Fifth in innings pitched, tied for second in victories, fifth in ERA and fifth in WHIP. Throw in the consistency since his return from TJ surgery and I'd put him there. The K-rate (He was 27th in the majors in strikeouts last season) was one reason people downgraded him this year, but the main one was the sore elbow at the end of last season. He sure looked healthy and dominant before that awkward step last night.

 

I have to say, the game stories "written" by CBSSports.com's automated "Fantasy Journalist" are better than some game stories I've seen written by live humans. Not sure if that's sad or scary or both.

 

Santiago, Chavez or Hahn?

Bailey or peavy?

 

I now have Wainwright, d'Arnaud and Kenley Jansen on the DL, will replace Wainwright with somebody tomorrow and had already lost Joe Nathan. Oh yeah, and I picked up Joel Peralta to grab some saves while Jansen was out, and HE went DL.

The gods of fantasy are frowning down on me.

 

Bailey's problem is in his elbow, so I'd stay far away. Not that I have much faith in Peavy at this point, but he seems like the lesser of the two injuries.

Chavez might be the best of those pitchers, but if everybody gets healthy,he's back in the bullpen. Pick him up, but be ready to dump him in a month.

 

Wainwright is a killer. Funny part is I had two guys get lit up last night, but my replacement for Wainwright, Hammell, threw a gem.

Just gotta adjust and move on. Same thing I'm doing with Wainwright, Carlos Gomez and Yan Gomes out of the lineup. At least Gomez seems like he might be back relatively soon.

 

So I've got Todd Frazier, A-Rod and Evan Longoria as my third basemen (Frazier spends most of his time at 1B, but I can use him at 3B when the other guys are off), making it a position of strength. I'm weak at SS and starting pitcher, so I'm thinking of trying to swing a trade using either A-Rod or Longoria.

Thoughts on who I should try to move? A-Rod is outperforming Longoria, but he's much older and could see a second-half swoon (or he might be fine after "resting" last season). Longoria has more value as a long-term option at 3B. Tough call.

One potential trade partner starts Freese at 3B, so he's weak there, and he has Brandon Crawford and Zack Cozart at SS, who are the best and sixth-best SS to date. I don't know anything about the two. Can Crawford keep this up all year?

EDIT: Also, I'm starting Alexei Ramirez at SS right now (ugh) since Jed Lowrie and Ben Zobrist are on the DL. I could drop Ramirez and pick up Yunel Escobar and vastly improve my production at SS as well.

 

Crawford and Cozart both have talent. They both have shown flashes before, only to struggle with extended playing time. Crawford seems to have improved his plate discipline. It is mostly a gut reaction, but if I had to take a shot on one, he's the one I'd try.

I don't trust Rodriguez at all. He's just too much of a risk to break down. He's the one I'd trade.