Savvy Vets

I had never played fantasy baseball until the 2008 season when a friend from work invited me to join his league. The league is Mixed, 10 teams, 5X5, H2H, 6 Keepers, 3 pitchers and 3 position players. I inherited a team that seemed to have been mismanaged and had weak keepers. I named my team the Savvy Vets because that is the type of player that Brian Sabean likes to acquire, and because I am one of the older managers in the league. I did not make the playoffs that first year, but accomplished my primary goal of upgrading my keepers. Then in 2009, I won the Championship after finishing the regular season in 3'rd place in terms of W-L record. I thought it might be fun to post my playoff roster and explain how I acquired the players:

C Brian McCann: Keeper. There are only 2 or 3 top tier catchers in baseball, and not 10 good hitting catchers overall. If you have one of the top tier guys, you better keep him! Despite some time off with eye problems early in the season, McCann more than made up for it with another stellar offensive season.

1B Prince Fielder: Keeper. #2 OPS in baseball in 2009.

2B Brandon Phillips: I started out with Kelly Johnson drafted late. Dumped him for Rickie Weeks early on and Weeks was tremendous before blowing out his wrist. Picked up Iwamura only to lose him to knee surgery within a couple of weeks. Tried Jose Lopez and finally settled on Martin Prado. Prado was great, but lost a few games to injury and I realized I needed his versatility in a utility spot. I picked Carlos Marmol off the FA list the night it was announced that he would be the Cubs closer. I then flipped Marmol for Brandon Phillips who was sitting on another managers bench. Phillips was a great help in the playoffs.

3B Chipper Jones: Keeper. Chipper had a down year. He was still worth hanging onto even as a 5 game a week player. He's not one of my keepers for next year though.

SS Gordon Beckham: Started out with JJ Hardy, who had a disastrous season plagued by injury. Shortstop is a difficult position to fill on the run, so when Beckham came available, I decided I didn't have anything to lose. Beckham was a rookie listed as a shortstop who never played the position in the majors. He would have been a downgrade as a 3B, but as a shortstop, he was great, giving me significant power and run production from a position where those attributes are scarce.

IF Kevin Youkilis: Drafted first round. Youk had a typically solid year. Started out red hot but faded some down the stretch. Still was a marginal positive for the playoffs. Will be looking for him early in next year's draft too.

OF Jermaine Dye: Drafted middle rounds. Overall, Dye was a positive. He faded badly in the second half, but had one 2 homer game during the playoffs that helped a lot. That second half is very worrisome going forward. Will probably be looking elsewhere for OF's next draft.

OF Rajai Davis: FA add. I traded Nick Markakis and Roy Oswalt for Tommy Hanson with about 6 weeks to go. That left an open OF slot. I picked up Davis because he was hitting for a good average and I wanted to upgrade my SB's. Davis got red hot and singlehandedly won several SB categories for me. He helped raise my team BA and didn't hurt me in Runs or RBI's. Will probably regress some in 2010, but should still be a solid SB guy who may help balance a team.

OF Justin Upton: FA add. Upton got off to a slow start and got dumped by another manager who got frustrated. I saw Upton on TV playing against the Giants and looked good at the plate. I thought he was going to heat up so picked him off the FA market. Boy, was I ever right on that one! Upton replaces Chipper Jones as my 3'rd positional keeper for next year. I expect a huge breakout!

UT Martin Prado: FA add. Plays several positions for Atlanta, mostly 2B. Hit well over .300 most of the season and held his own in other categories. Will be looking for him in the middle to late rounds next draft too.

UT Joey Votto: Drafted. I had Votto on my team in 2008 and really liked his solid production. Improved in 2009 despite missing some time with depression and an anxiety disorder. I expect even better things in 2010 and will look for him in the draft. Very close call on whether to keep him or Justin Upton.

SP CC Sabathia: Keeper. No comment necessary. Keeper for next year too!

SP Matt Cain: Drafted. Cain continued to post great K and ERA numbers while getting a bit more run support for a few more W's to boot. Keeper for 2010.

SP Tommy Hanson: Acquired in a midseason trade for Nick Markakis and Roy Oswalt. Hanson remained solid down the stretch while Markakis slumped badly and Oswalt ended up on the DL. I see Hanson, a graduate of Redlands East Valley HS in my hometown, as an ace in the making. Keeper pitcher #3 for 2010.

SP Brett Anderson: FA add. Another rookie who shined in 2009. Very tough to not make him a keeper, but we could only keep 3! Will look for him in the next draft.

SP Kevin Correia: FA Add. Picked him up fairly early when he won a starting job with San Diego. I had followed him closely when he was with the Giants and felt the Giants made a mistake in letting him go. I figured if he was healthy, he was capable of turning in a bunch of quality starts with solid K rates. He just kept getting stronger and stronger as the season went on. By the playoffs, he was one of my most reliable pitchers. Another guy to look for in the next draft.

RP Brad Lidge: Drafted. Had a terrible season. I almost dumped him several times, but despite the terrible ERA and all the blown saves, Charlie Manuel stuck with him, and he kept getting Saves throughout the season.

RP Joakim Soria: Drafted. I purposely drafted closers early, and despite down seasons from Lidge and Soria, it paid off. I won the Saves category in all but 3 or 4 weeks.

RP Brian Wilson: Drafted. My best closer all season. Racked up those Saves!

P Leo Nunez: FA add. Picked Nunez up after seeing him pitch against the Giants just blowing them away. I could see that Lindstrom was hanging by a thread and figured Nunez was the guy to take his place. Good guess! I had 4 active closers at the end of the season which enabled me to flip Marmol for Brandon Philips without risking my Saves categories.

P Mike Gonzalez: Drafted. I drafted Gonzalez as a closer, but he got replaced mid-season by Rafael Soriano. As a setup man, Gonzalez was lights out, so I kept him on to help my ERA/WHIP. He still got an occasional Save too!

BN Scott Baker: Drafted. Solid starter all season. Nothing spectacular but gets those quality starts and builds up K's and W's in the process.

BN Ricky Nolasco: FA add. Got off to a terrible start and even got sent down to the minors. Got dumped by another manager. I tracked his progress in the minors, and when I saw his numbers improve, picked him off the FA list and waited for him to get recalled. He was solid the rest of the season.

BN Johnny Cueto: Drafted. Started off red hot, then had a terrible stretch in July and August. Stabilized for the September fantasy playoff. Good source of K's and didn't harm the ERA down the stretch.

BN Rich Harden: Drafted. Solid contributor through August, but got shut down for the playoffs. By that time, I had used all my moves, so I just parked him on the bench. Great pitcher when healthy, but has yet to pitch a complete season.

BN Aaron Harang: Drafted. Unspectacular, but a Quality Start machine. Had an appendectomy which forced him out of the playoffs. Again, I was out of moves so parked him on the bench.

So,that's the story of my successful fantasy baseball season. I will post some thoughts on Fantasy Baseball strategy as well as thoughts on individual players from time to time.