[Fantasy Baseball] Need Advice.

endGame said:
So I've been doing more reading. Based on the fact that I have no decent RP, why not just give up on the SV category and be content with having a great shot at W and K? I should still have a decent shot at ERA and WHIP.
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In my opinion, you should never "punt" on a category before opening day. Saves are one of those categories you can pick up along the way. At least 1/3 of the opening day closers will either get hurt or lose their jobs. There is just no way to predict what will happen, even for the best analysts, writers, etc.

Now, you certainly won't win the saves category in your league, but you could still beat out some other teams. Getting a few points in a category is much better than going with only 1.

Now, come July if you have 10 saves and everyone else has 50, then it is time to kiss the category goodbye. However, if you get Torres and Dempster, you should be ok in saves.

In this scoring format, nobody will win every category. Everyone will have a weakness. The goal to winning is to at least get that weak category as high as possible.
 
i did that, "punted" [to use Kerosene31 phrasing ;)] in the exact category last year and was #2 for a while in the league, but towards the end of the season, when i needed those extra era/whip/save numbers, i didn't have them to fall upon (and occasionaly you'll get a win). This year i made damn sure to get 2 quality closers (imo) [wickman for the braves and street from oakland] and to also get relievers that would be in position to either a) take over if the closer gets hurt/starts blowing games or b) would be traded to a team that is hurting for a closer. The team that will win it would be one that has a lot of average people on it and 3-4 superstars rather them one with 6-7 superstars and a ton of bad people.

I also played the ww really well last year. if an average player goes cold for a couple weeks (or if they're an outfielder, give them a week), drop then for another avg player that's streaking. Always check the stats for the past week and month and see who's playing well, flag them and come back to them when you can.
 
Stinkfist said:
I also played the ww really well last year. if an average player goes cold for a couple weeks (or if they're an outfielder, give them a week), drop then for another avg player that's streaking. Always check the stats for the past week and month and see who's playing well, flag them and come back to them when you can.
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Thanks, I'll definitely follow that advice.
 
yeah, the first 4 weeks of a fantasy baseball season are of premium importance. Watch every box score you can and find the rookie/nobody that is on your waiver wire who jumps out to a hot start. Especially relievers who become closers, but random guys in the outfield and at second base, etc. They end up being hugely valuable if their production maintains over 162. Sometimes it doesn't pan out, but grabbing a few of these early projects can make your season. When they play well early, they tend to get a hell of a shot to prove it all year
 
I generally don't care about steals or saves. I always dominate every other offensive category and wins/strikeouts and usually am above average in whip and era, which means I am good for 6-7 categories each week which should put you in the top of your league.

It's risky to try and be too balanced in my opinion.
 
Jislan said:
I generally don't care about steals or saves. I always dominate every other offensive category and wins/strikeouts and usually am above average in whip and era, which means I am good for 6-7 categories each week which should put you in the top of your league.

It's risky to try and be too balanced in my opinion.
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I actually have switched and go the other way now. There's such high levels of competition in the HRs/AVG/Wins categories that I try to snag a couple of high steals and saves guys (much less volatitlity, excepting injury, these guys put up the same numbers year in and out) and guarantee myself a couple of spots rather than hope for 9s/10s (whatever) in the categories everyone else is competing so hard in
 
Yeah, giving up on a category will sometimes get you near the top of the league, but you probably can't win overall even if you lead every other category.

The thing about punting saves is that even if you load up with starters there is still no guarantee that you dominate in whip and era. You actually often end up getting better whip and era from relievers (closers and middle guys).

I drafted my pitching with a little different philosophy this year. Rather than looking at saves or wins, I went for guys with lots of strikeouts, and a low whip and era. The logic is guys who are good pitchers will rise to the top and wins or saves will follow eventually. We'll see how it works out this year. I've got a lot of starters on bad teams :)

Waiver wire work is so important. There are always so many hot players that come and go. You have to drop the dead weight in a big hurry and pick up who's going good. If you have a star player who is slumping, bench them. If you have an average player who is not doing well, drop them. Basically you need to watch the wire and look for any opportunity to improve your team.

I play with a group of guys who have been in a league for almost a decade now. Two years ago one of our guys barely drafted any starting pitching at all. He had like 2-3 starters and those guys were average at best (no aces). He did get a few stud closers though. Guess what happened? He won the league, and dominated in most pitching stats. All with starters grabbed off the wire.
 
I might as well give the saves category a shot at first. Interesting dialogue though.. I'm learning a lot from this.

Pending:
Conditionally drop Shane Victorino, Phi to Waivers
Conditionally add Andres Torres, FA from Waivers to Bench

Conditionally drop Raul Ibanez, Sea to Waivers
Conditionally add Joe Borowski, Cle from Waivers to Bench
 
ESPN said:
Ibanez goes into the final weekend of spring training with a .408 average and team-high five homers, six doubles and 14 RBI.
Spin: Ibanez is swinging the bat as good as ever. He'll bat fourth this season, though we'd prefer a better hitter than Jose Vidro batting one spot ahead of him. It's too much to expect Ibanez to match last season's career numbers, but he shouldn't be too far off the pace.
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Ibanez is having a pretty damn good spring training, incidentally. How well do spring performances usually translate to the regular season?
 
Yeah be careful in baseball with names. Seriously, it happens every year where someone drops the wrong Ortiz or something :)

Grab Dempster if the real Torres is already gone. The Cubs closer situation is up in the air, but he should be the guy to start.
 
endGame said:
Ibanez is having a pretty damn good spring training, incidentally. How well do spring performances usually translate to the regular season?
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Some guys swear by spring stats. Honestly I don't put too much stock in spring stats. It is nice if your guy is swinging the bat well. When it comes to pitchers, I pretty much ignore the spring numbers. Most guys who are established players are just there to get some practice.

A lot of hitters tend to be slow starters. Things can get ugly in April when 3/4 of your team isn't hitting, so it is nice to have a hot guy or two to carry you into May. A guy that is doing well in spring will hopefully get out of the gate hot, but once May rolls around, things will level out anyway.
 
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