Bernie's Bombers (H2H Points)
Standings: 1-0, T-1st in Cheese Division (The LM is from Milwaukee)
Last Matchup: W, 573-419
MVP of the Matchup: Three starts from Jered Weaver certainly doesn't hurt: 20.2 IP, 9H, 9BB, 27K, 2 ER, 3W, 0L, 85 Points. If we want to account for that, Billy Butler and Shane Victorino each netted 51 points apiece with a combined 28/69, 15 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 8 BB, 8 K, 2 SB.
Goat of the Matchup: Francisco Liriano. 9.1 IP, 8H, 8BB, 8ER, 8K, 0W, 2L, -2 points
The Skinny: The RP-eligible starter experiment didn't work as well as I'd thought it might, with Stauffer (0 pts) and Zambrano (19 pts) being outdone by Paplebon (16 pts) and Perez (34 pts). The better combo would hav been Zambrano and Perez, but I was scared off by the number of good starts my opponent was going to get. It didn't matter either way, but it's a good lesson to learn.
I made a few transactions for the next matchup. Since Bay is behind schedule in his rehab I dropped him for Russell Martin and his hot hand, since rostering two catchers worked OK for me last year. I ended up turning right around and dropping him for Kyle Drabek since I like his start this week vs. the Mariners. I also picked up Edwin Jackson, since it looks like he'll start twice against the Angels and A's. I'm concerned about his consistency, but he's been looking good so far and it's not like I'll end up regretting dropping Stauffer for anybody right now.
I've been offered a few trades, but nothing worth taking yet. I thought I'd try and pry loose an injured Longoria by offering up Beltre and Paplebon, but no dice. I've been going back and forth with the owner of Bernie Lomax on a few ideas. First, he wanted Cano for Weeks/Ike Davis/Volquez, but that doesn't interest me. I offered up Beltre, Daniel Hudson, and Paplebon for Adrian Gonzales and Joakim Soria, though I didn't really need Soria. I knew I was offering too little for too much, but I did it anyway. Sometimes these lowball offers work. He came back Mark Reynolds and Ike Davis in exchange for Zimmerman, but I abhor Mark Reynolds in all but 5x5 leagues, and even then I don't like him. I built my roster carefully, and with small active rosters and weekly lineups I don't need to do too much tweaking right now. The only players he has that I really want are A-Gon, Fielder, Gallardo, Soria, and Neftali Feliz- they are the only people who could regularly crack my active lineup.
Looking Ahead: My next matchup is at 103 Years Isn't That Long (a fellow Cubs Fan). He's going to get two good starts out of Marcum (@Pit, @Was) and perhaps two good ones from Brett Myers (CHC, SD). He's also got 7 games apiece from Miguel Cabrera and Matt Holliday, but Furcal might not play much. He only got 422 points last time, so I'm not too worried. I've only got 7 games from one player (V-Mart) and one 2-start pitcher (E-Jax), but overall my week looks good. I'm waiting to see if I have to bench Zimmerman, since he's day-to-day with an abdominal strain, the same injury that kept Stephen Drew out for a week. Otherwise, I'm going VMart/Butler/Cano/Beltre/Drew/McCutchen/Victorino/Markakis/Logan Morrison/Brian Roberts for hitters, benching Span since it looks like a bad week for him. For pitchers, I'm going Weaver (@CWS), Tim Hudson (FLA), E-Jax (OAK, LAA), Drabek (@SEA), Paplebon and Perez. The last spot comes down to Liriano (KC), Chacin (CHC), or Daniel Hudson (SF). The OPS numbers say Liriano, but Chacin has the better SWIP against his opponent.
Cubbie Blues (5x5 Roto)
Standings: 2nd place (65 points out of 100, 11.5 back)
Weekly Line: 87/311 (.280), 37 R, 10 HR, 40 RBI, 9 SB, 55.1 IP, 47 K, 3 W, 4 Sv, 2.77 ERA, 1.12 WHIP
MVP of the Week: Probably Ryan Braun (12/34, 10 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, .353 BA), though Tabata (13/38, 11 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 5 SB, .342 BA) has been justifying my preseason man-love.
Goat of the Week: A tossup between Coghlan (1/12, zeroes across the board), Brandon Lyon (2.1 IP, 1K, 1 Sv, 11.57 ERA, 3.43 WHIP).
The Skinny: Here's another league where I've been trying to pry loose Longoria, offering up Rollins/Jonathan Sanchez/Buchholz for Longoria/Huff/Grienke, since I have the room for injured players and the depth to make this work. I also tried to pry loose Kershaw for Scherzer and a closer, but that trade was pocket-vetoed. I dropped Coghlan for League in an effort to continue stocking up on closers, and swapped out Lyon for Walden. Lyon will likely be there anyway if I need him back, but if Walden's really closing he's the superior choice (especially since I bet Lyon has a short leash). Stephen Drew also hit the wire, so I picked him up and dropped Beckett. Last night's outing not withstanding (I wouldn't have run him out there anyway), I need to see more to keep him. There's plenty of pitching available in leagues like this.
Looking Ahead: My pitching is improved, though that first week put me in a pretty big WHIP/ERA hole. I only gained a point in each in spite of the 2.77/1.12 week. We'll see where I am with that after this week (Verlander TEX/@OAK, T Hudson FLA), though I'm losing faith in Dempster and may not start him @HOU. The lineup is weak, but he also has a .832 OPS against and is absolutely owned by everyone not named Bill Hall. I'm already on pace for 215 starts against a 200 start cap, so I can afford to be choosy for a bit. Meanwhile, I'm still looking to capitalize on my abundance of hitting if I can find a trade that I like. I know, I don't like to make April trades usually. But with Uggla/Prado/Drew/Rollins/Walker/Butler/A-Gon competing for six spots and a killer outfield set of Braun/McCutchen/Bruce/Gardner/Tabata/Morrison, I can trade for a second front-line starter without losing much production. Besides, right now my bench is almost all pitching with Verlander, Scherzer, T Hudson, D Hudson, Sanchez, Buchholz, Dempster starting and Cordero, Nunez, League and Walden closing. None of these are real drop candidates, but I'm not in love with the last three starters or any of my closers. I won't trade them just to be rid of them- it's a workable roster- but it leaves me in a good position to consolidate. There's enough pitching available on waivers (Jaime Garcia, the injured Cueto and Matusz, and plenty of young talent) that I can flip some pitcher/hitter combo for another top-flight bat or front line starter and have plenty I can replace the pitcher with.
Cubs Fans Fantasy Baseball (H2H category)
Standings: 10-0-0, 1st in West, 0 Games Back
Last Matchup: 10-0-0 (74 runs/16 HR/58 RBI/12 SB/.3144 BA vs. 49/8/46/10/.2733; 96 K/6 W/11 Sv/3.203 ERA/1.149 WHIP vs. 80/2/6/5.185/1.598).
MVP of the Matchup: Weaver again, though I also have Braun in this one too.
Goat of the Matchup: Probably Youkilis (4/27, 4R, 2 RBI, .148 BA) though Ryan Franklin has been underwhelming as expected (3.2 IP, 2K, 1 SV, 9.82 ERA, 2.18 WHIP).
The Skinny: I said 10-0-0 was never out of the question, and I was right. That was in part due to the matchup, though. I was only 4th overall in HR (5 back), 7th in RBI (11 back), 5th in Wins (2 back), 5th in ERA (.089 back), and only led runs, steals, and saves. But it's H2H and not Roto.
This is another league where I have an abundance of hitting and a ton of pitchers I like but don't love (save Weaver), so I've been trying to swing a trade. I actually have no bench hitters right now. I'm trying to upgrade my Furcal/Aybar tandem at SS, so I initally offered Furcal/Youkilis/Liriano for Tulo and Ellsbury- a pipe dream, but I thought it would start off negotiations. The owner doesn't want to part with Tulo, but countered with me giving him Chipper Jones and Tabata for Loney/Jennings/Beachy. It doesn't do what I want, but it's intriguing enough that I'm still pondering it. I like Tabata, but Jennings will be a prime replacement in June. I don't need Loney or Beachy, but they are intriguing enough as bench players. Meanwhile, I made a godfather offer of Furcal/Youkilis/Franklin/Jordan Zimmerman for Hanley Ramirez and Matt Cain. The guy has Reyes as well (whom I'd take for less value), but his 1B are LaRoche/Lee, he has Ubaldo and Grienke on the DL but no DL spot for them, and his only closer is Hanrahan. His needs and extras match up so well with mine that I should be able to swing something. But so far, no response.
I dropped Coghlan in this league to pick up Marcum and after Pineda's one start I dropped him to pick up Kuroda. I also added Chipper Jones after Aybar hit the DL; this is where Prado's flexibility comes in handy (I slid him from 3B to MI). How those two hit waivers, I don't know. But this gives me a staff of Weaver/Liriano/D Hudson/Kuroda/Marcum/Zimmerman (with Morrow on the DL) starting, and Paplebon/Putz/Street/Franklin/Contreras closing, so I certainly have room to make a move. I need to move some of these pitchers, but I won't trade for 75 cents on the dollar and I won't drop them. I just need to be patient; if I have five closers then the remaining 9 only have 25 among them (2.78 per team), so someone is going to realize they need one at some point.
Looking Ahead: Aside from trying to swing a trade that will get me another top-25 pitcher and hopefully a top-3 SS, I'm sitting pretty. My next matchup went 2-6-2 last week, and I should be able to take 8-10 categories again. His only closer is Brian Wilson, and while he has Lee/Sabathia/Oswalt/Price among his many other starters I feel confident that it won't be quite enough. Sabathia is only OK vs. TEX, Florida can hit Oswalt, and I'm guessing he runs out Shields/Baker/Blackburn more than he should. Moreover, his lineup is pretty bad. The only hitters he has that would absolutely start for my team are Cano, Stephen Drew, and Victorino. He has Rolen at 3B, Soto at C, Ike Davis/Ian Stewart at CI, and Theriot/Scutaro at MI. If I pummel him this week, I might be able to use that to pry loose one of his top four starters using Prado or Youkilis as bait. Something involving Youkilis and Franklin for Lee or Sabathia isn't out of the question.
Fantasy All Stars (7x7 roto)
Standings: 9th place (69.5 points out of 140, 17.5 points back)
Weekly Line: 90/299 (.301), 41 R, 18 2B, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 48 K, 13 SB, 49.0 IP, 2 HRA, 3 QS, 2 W, 4 Sv, 3.67 ERA, 1.27 WHIP.
MVP of the Week: Matt Kemp (14/32, 7 R, 1 HR, 4 2B, 4 RBI, 3K, 6 SB, .438 AVG) beats a stellar Billy Butler (13/33, 7 R, 2 HR, 3 2B, 5 RBI, 3K, 0SB, .394 Avg)
Goat of the Week: Can I interest you in a combined 0/15 from Scott and Cuddyer? Or a .172 average and 9K from Brett Gardner? How about ERAs above 6.50 and WHIPS above 1.50 from Way-Rod, Anibal Sanchez, and Liriano?
The Skinny: I knew I was going to have problems in this league, but the power outage is extreme. I'm in last with 8 HR while the rest of the league is averaging 15.66, and that includes one guy who has 9. Take him out, and the average jumps to 16.5. This also leaves me last in RBI by a lot. My pitching stats are abysmal except for HR allowed, but I also have fewer starts than average. The ratios are killing me- 4.500 ERA and 1.423 WHIP- and I'm not getting QS or W right now. Saves is better than expected thanks to Hanrahan.
I dropped Luke Scott for Alex Gonzalez and then Macier Izturis to deal with some time off for both Aaron Hill and Jose Bautista, neither of which helped. I droped Coghlan to pick up Rauch, hoping he holds on to the closer's job. Since I have a starts cap and an active pitching setup of 4SP/2RP/2 undifferentiated P, those last two spots are best held by relievers anyway. I also dropped Fuentes for Sean Burnett; both will share closing duties but Fuentes flat-out sucks and Burnett doesn't. I also gave up on Anibal Sanchez for the second straight April and picked up Matt Harrison, hoping he pans out. Young starters like Pineda/Britton get picked up in a matter of hours.
Looking Ahead: It's a competitive league, so the waiver wire gets picked clean pretty fast. I'm active, but I usually take a wait-and-see approach- I want to make sure that I'm making a good move and not dropping someone in a panic for a flash in the pan. This may have to change, and I may have to take cheap power where I can get it. In this league, that means Posada or Bill Hall. Jeez. Right now, the best hitters available are probably Stewart/Suzuki/Byrd and the best pitchers are Masterson/Harang/Guthrie/Matusz.
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