All-Purpose Fantasy Baseball 2018 thread

[Guy_Incognito]

Just swung a big trade for Harper (who's been terrible lately, but I'm hoping that turns around). Gave up Belt, Trea Turner and Daniel Murphy to get him.

Then I got offered Gerritt Cole and Bregman for Acuna, Soroka and Machado. It's tempting. Bregman and Machado are a wash in salary ($37) and close in points (I think Machado has scored about 20 points more than Bregman). Cole's salary is $23, so for the 2019 season he'll cost $35, which still puts him in keeper territory. Acuna's is $16, so he'll probably be a keeper for 2019 and 2020. Soroka costs a buck, so he'd be a keeper for years if he's as good as he has looked.

Essentially, it feels like Cole for Acuna and Soroka. (FWIW, my outfield would be Bellinger, Harper, Soto and Profar, and my pitching staff would include Verlander, deGrom, Cole, Newcomb and Berrios.) Thoughts?

I would not make that deal. I don't like buying high on Cole and giving up Acuna, but even worse I disagree that Bregman and Machado are a wash. I'll take Machado.

 

[bigpern23]

He floated the idea of Acuna/Soroka for Cole, leaving out Bregman and Machado. Hmmmm ....

 

[outofplace]

On the plus side, Acuna should be back soon and Soroka stunk it up last night. On the down side, Cole's ERA is above 4.00 over his last seven starts. I think he'll be fine, but he's looking more like a rock solid, ERA between 3.00 and 3.50 with a bunch of strikeouts guy than the Cy Young contender he resembled in his first eight starts.

 

[bigpern23]

On the plus side, Acuna should be back soon and Soroka stunk it up last night. On the down side, Cole's ERA is above 4.00 over his last seven starts. I think he'll be fine, but he's looking more like a rock solid, ERA between 3.00 and 3.50 with a bunch of strikeouts guy than the Cy Young contender he resembled in his first eight starts.

He chickened out on it. Never got him to make the offer.

BTW, you basically just described the pitcher I said Cole would be after he dominated Texas (twice) and San Diego in his first three starts of the season and you were going nuts about how good he is and the Pirates effed up by trading him. Just sayin'. ;)

Cole certainly has ace potential, but there's not much to suggest he's going to continue pitching at this level in that bandbox over 35 starts.

Cole had a 4.26 ERA last season and only one season under 3.65 while pitching in the NL Central. His FIP is a full run higher than his ERA, his BABIP is low at .219 and he's pitched twice against Texas and once against San Diego. Both are in the bottom third of MLB in runs scored. SD is second in MLB in strikeouts and TEX is fourth. Cole dominated a couple of **** offenses.

As **** correctly states, it’s too small a sample size to say “the verdict is in on trading Cole, and it’s not good.”

 

[outofplace]

He chickened out on it. Never got him to make the offer.

BTW, you basically just described the pitcher I said Cole would be after he dominated Texas (twice) and San Diego in his first three starts of the season and you were going nuts about how good he is and the Pirates effed up by trading him. Just sayin'. ;)

The pitcher I described IS very good and the Pirates did **** up by trading him. He's just not quite as good as he looked in April and early May.

Actually, I shouldn't say they ****ed up because I think they achieved their goal in that deal, which was to save money in the short and long term. Protecting the bottom line is always their primary goal, so from that standpoint, it's a bit unfair to the front office guys to say they ****ed up.

Also, look at where that "great offseason" some folks here were talking about has landed the Pirates. They are below .500 and fading.

Sorry for the tangent. Let's get this back to fake baseball where it belongs!

 

[JC]

R

The pitcher I described IS very good and the Pirates did **** up by trading him. He's just not quite as good as he looked in April and early May.

Actually, I shouldn't say they ****ed up because I think they achieved their goal in that deal, which was to save money in the short and long term. Protecting the bottom line is always their primary goal, so from that standpoint, it's a bit unfair to the front office guys to say they ****ed up.

Also, look at where that "great offseason" some folks here were talking about has landed the Pirates. They are below .500 and fading.

Sorry for the tangent. Let's get this back to fake baseball where it belongs!

I'm sure Mccutcheon would have them 10 games over.

 

[outofplace]

R

I'm sure Mccutcheon would have them 10 games over.

Seriously, take it to the baseball thread. I'll happily educate you there.

 

[JC]

Seriously, take it to the baseball thread. I'll happily educate you there.

You're a horses ass on any thread.

 

[bigpern23]

Come on, guys, I was having a little fun poking at OOP. Let's keep it light.

 

[JC]

Fair enough.

 

[Cosmo]

Welp, just in time for the playoffs in a couple of weeks, my closer situation has gone to complete and utter ****.

* Kenley Jansen, out a month with an irregular heartbeat
* Sean Doolittle, may be back next week, may not be
* Corey Knebel, can't find the plate, probably lost his job last night
* Arodys Vizcaino, out with a bum shoulder, even if he comes back, I doubt he gets the role back.

Ugh.

 

[outofplace]

Welp, just in time for the playoffs in a couple of weeks, my closer situation has gone to complete and utter ****.

* Kenley Jansen, out a month with an irregular heartbeat
* Sean Doolittle, may be back next week, may not be
* Corey Knebel, can't find the plate, probably lost his job last night
* Arodys Vizcaino, out with a bum shoulder, even if he comes back, I doubt he gets the role back.

Ugh.

I think Vizcaino will get the role back. It's not like he was faltering before he got hurt. He has been better than Minter all season. My concern at this point is how long he will be out. Based on the last thing I read, he is another week or two from even throwing at all.

That is an ugly situation. I had Knebel and Hand as my closers in one league. I've got Vizcaino in my other two leagues. It ain't fun when that stuff happens.

I am curious to see what the Brewers do. When Knebel was injured, they went with a committee. Hader is their best reliever, but they seem set on keeping him in his current role. (Which sucks because I have him on all of my teams.)

 

[bigpern23]

Trade deadline today, I was sitting in seventh place (top six make the playoffs) and on the fence of whether to try to make a title run or sell off for keepers. Wound up making three trades ...
1) Traded Justus Sheffield/Willie Calhoun (both 25th rounders next year) for Votto (can't keep)
2) Syndergaard (20)/Toussaint (25) for J.D. Martinez (NA)/Keuchel (8)/Greinke (NA)
3) Machado (NA) for Torres (23)

Feeling pretty good that I acquired Votto, JD, Torres, Keuchel and Greinke without having to give up Albies, Acuna, Severino, Newcomb or Buehler.

Machado could bite me, but Torres' keeper value is huge and I really think he's capable of playing just as well down the stretch as Machado.

Almost dumped Stanton/Sale/Chapman for Judge (23rd round next year), or that same trio for Hoskins (22), earlier in the week because I didn't think I had a chance to compete for a title, but that hopefully has changed. Now I'm mostly running out there:
C) Posey
1B) Votto
2B) Albies
3B) Moustakas
SS) Torres
OF) Acuna
OF) Martinez
OF) Stanton
DH) Profar/Murphy

SP) Severino
SP) Sale
SP) Newcomb
SP) Buehler
SP) Keuchel
SP) Greinke
RP) Hader
RP) Chapman
RP) LeClerc
RP) Jeffress

I also have Cano returning soon, Belt, Desmond and Franco who may all contribute.

 

[outofplace]

Overall, I think those moves work. I don't love Votto this year, but Calhoun also took a big step backward and Sheffield may not make his debut until 2019.

I've got a trade deadline Wednesday. I'm out of contention, so it's time to dump. My problem is finding somebody willing to trade keeper upgrades. We can protect up to eight veterans and five rookies. Veteran salaries go up $5. If they lost their rookie eligibility this season, they go up $3. Rookie keeper salaries stay the same.

I would keep eight of the following nine veterans (with their salaries for next year)
Austin Meadows $4
Scooter Gennett $16
Yoan Moncada $9
Jesse Winker $9
Nomar Mazara $16
Gerrit Cole $28
Sean Newcomb $6
Josh Hader $15
Mike Clevinger $15

My rookies are:
Luis Urias $1
Mike Soroka $1
Mitch Keller $1
Justus Sheffield $6
Yordan Alvarez $3

I have Ohtani, too, but I'm not sure I want to keep him for $26. He sits too often as a hitter and the elbow is a big concern.

I got an offer today of Gary Sanchez ($16), Mike Foltyniewicz ($11), prospect Carter Kieboom $1 and two space filling scrubs for Ohtani, Willson Contreras, Justin Smoak and Kevin Gausman. Kaboom is a decent prospect, but not better than the five I have in mind. Heck, I'm not sure he's better than Dylan Cease, who I'd be cutting.

I like Folty at that price, but I'm not sure what to make of Sanchez. I'm just not sure those guys are much of an upgrade for me. Any thoughts?

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Overall, I think those moves work. I don't love Votto this year, but Calhoun also took a big step backward and Sheffield may not make his debut until 2019.

I've got a trade deadline Wednesday. I'm out of contention, so it's time to dump. My problem is finding somebody willing to trade keeper upgrades. We can protect up to eight veterans and five rookies. Veteran salaries go up $5. If they lost their rookie eligibility this season, they go up $3. Rookie keeper salaries stay the same.

I would keep eight of the following nine veterans (with their salaries for next year)
Austin Meadows $4
Scooter Gennett $16
Yoan Moncada $9
Jesse Winker $9
Nomar Mazara $16
Gerrit Cole $28
Sean Newcomb $6
Josh Hader $15
Mike Clevinger $15

My rookies are:
Luis Urias $1
Mike Soroka $1
Mitch Keller $1
Justus Sheffield $6
Yordan Alvarez $3

I have Ohtani, too, but I'm not sure I want to keep him for $26. He sits too often as a hitter and the elbow is a big concern.

I got an offer today of Gary Sanchez ($16), Mike Foltyniewicz ($11), prospect Carter Kieboom $1 and two space filling scrubs for Ohtani, Willson Contreras, Justin Smoak and Kevin Gausman. Kaboom is a decent prospect, but not better than the five I have in mind. Heck, I'm not sure he's better than Dylan Cease, who I'd be cutting.

I like Folty at that price, but I'm not sure what to make of Sanchez. I'm just not sure those guys are much of an upgrade for me. Any thoughts?

I would do that.

 

[outofplace]

I would do that.

Why? I guess what I'm really looking for is more perspective on Sanchez. I didn't realize just how bad his numbers were even before the injury.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

Why? I guess what I'm really looking for is more perspective on Sanchez. I didn't realize just how bad his numbers were even before the injury.

As you can tell, he's been terrible. I'm generally conservative and slow to give up on talent. Going forward I think he'll be much better than COntreras.

 

[outofplace]

As you can tell, he's been terrible. I'm generally conservative and slow to give up on talent. Going forward I think he'll be much better than COntreras.

On that, we agree. Contreras didn't regress as much this year, but he did regress and Sanchez has a higher upside. I'm not keeping the other three guys, so getting Foltynewicz at a cheap price makes some sense. Maybe I can deal a prospect later.