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Steve_424

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Who are yours?

A few I'm keeping my eye on:

Dexter Fowler - Had a nice 2nd half, gets on base, and he added 13 pounds of muscle this offseason.

John Mayberry - Finished strong last season for the Phillies and enters as the favorite to start in LF. He's also scheduled to play some 1B until Howard is back, which will

Marco Scutaro - He's not going to be a top five shortstop, but you could do a lot worse at shortstop. He's always been pretty solid with regular playing time, which he'll finally have with the Rockies.

Ryan Doumit - He's always been a good hitter. Now that he'll be DHing for the Twins, his fielding concerns won't keep him off of the field and should help him to avoid injuries.

Vinnie Pestano - Between Chris Perez's question marks and his injury, our future closer might take on the role much sooner than expected.
 
Here is my list of players I always thrown in my queue for the later rounds (They often go a bit higher then I hope though)
I am a keeper league guy so age/potential plays a big role for me & my leagues usually have around 8 bench spots so plenty of room to stash.


-Bryce Harper - He just got optioned to AAA. They will call him up in the summer for good to save a year on his arbitration clock. the AAA thing might make him go later then he should though.

-Emilio Bonifacio - In Yahoo leagues he provides eligibility for SS, 3B, LF, CF & RF which is great. He also knows how to steal bases & will hit over .285. Great guy to have as a rotational body. doesn't hurt that 3B & SS are kind of weak Either.

-Jason Kipnis - I am a homer with this kid. I try getting him in every league becuase I am a home who thinks he will be a stud starting this year

-Tyler Clippard - will get you 5ish wins, chance for a couple saves, 100+ Ks sub 2 ERA & sub 1 whip. all while logging 80+ innings as a RP or P. (place him in one of those positions daily & leave him there all season)

-Brett Gardner - his avg sucks but he will get you SBs & Runs at a very good clip. great 4th or 5th OF. Don't overpay for him though. after 150 he would be good value most likely

-Austin Jackson - Had a crap season last year and will probably be an afterthought for most. Supposedly his swing has condensed & he is being given the green light to steal bags. (I nabbed him in round 22 of a 12 team league a couple days ago)

-Erick Aybar - by most metrics he was around the 10th best SS last year & he should be available still in the12th round. (I would also rather have him then Rollins Hardy & Peralta who ranked ahead of him last year)

-Billy Butler - Will hit around .290 have around 30 HR & 95 RBI but will see about 15 1B elig guys go ahead of him. He is great value where he is picked around pick 70

-Ben Revere - late round flyer for the SBs. he doesn't provide pop & his team kind of sucks around him. But he is quick. Nice 5th/6th OF though (Alejandro De Aza also fits this category)

- 3rd tier closers. I always make it a goal of of targeting Storen & Axford & the tier1 guys & they always go way before I am willing to pick them.
So I always end up with a 3 closer staff made up of any of Chris Perez, Sergio Santos, JJ Putz and the like. I much rather do it this way then over pay. I would even recommend all but punting the saves category & going with 3 or 4 of Tyler Clippard, Vinny Pestano, Jonny Venters, Mike Adams mold. The pitch more often. usually have higher K's Lower WHIP & lower ERA while occasionally getting saves by strictly being the guy next in line for the job.
you can pick these guys up in the last 5 rounds of the draft to boot.

- Don't overpay for pitching. If the league allows it STREAM your heart out. allows you to have a more potent offense by picking bats while everyone else is picking there number 1 & number 2 starters. Instead of targeting a top 3 rotation of Cliff Lee, Dan Haren & Yovani Gallardo (2nd, 3rd & 4th round) go for Carlos Gonzalez, Starlin Castro & Michael Young. or something similar Then later on target a group of these guys to make up your top 3 in you rotation of Madison Bumgarner, Daniel Hudson, Stephen Strasburg, Chris Carpenter, Josh Beckett, Gio Gonzalez, Tommy Hanson, Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Moore, Justin Masterson or Jordan Zimmermann.
All should be available right around the 7th round unless somebody goes outside of the box.
That means you could have 6-7 stud bats & still end up with a possible 3 man rotation of Bumgarner, Gonzalez & Matt Moore. Which in a keeper league is PHENOMINAL. this is my strategy usually but it depends on the pitchers available.
If it is round 4 & a top 5 pitcher is on the board I will pull the trigger.
this would be a fantastic first 10 rounds based on a CBS mock draft i am looking at (will use pick 6 in a snake draft but I will do a 10 team league instead of 12).
1.Matt Kemp - OF
2.Carlos Gonzalez - OF
3.Jose Reyes - SS
4.Mike Stanton - OF (will most likely not be here BUT ON THIS MOCK HE IS)
5.Brett Lawrie - 3B
6.Michael Young - 1B / 2B / 3B
7.Michael Morse - 1B/OF
8.Madison Bumgarner - SP
9.Stephen Strasburg - SP
10.Gio Gonzalez - SP

All those players would be available based on that big board going in order.
Cargo & Kemp are both top 5 in the OF.
Reyes is a top 5 SS, Lawrie is young as crap (22) and had a very good rookie season & his potential is through the roof. Young is old as crap but still produces & gives you 3 possitions of ELIG. Morse I am a fan of so I am probably too high on him but he is decent value in the 7th round.
The 3 pitchers are all very good as well with age well on their sides.

I think I went way off the deep end with this post, But my mind was going all over the place.
More to come later possibly
 
This is the strategy I used last year and will continue using in the future because of my dominance in a 10 H2H friendly league.

Now, what I aim for is 1 complete stud OF'er, 2 stud starting pitchers to carry that whip and era on most weeks, fill your IF with good quality players, get speedy OF'ers late. (Crisp, Jennings, Emilo, Gardner, Pagan, just a few names.)

Also note, drafts aren't won in the first 5-6 rounds, they're won in like rounds 13-14 to end of the draft. Make smart decisions, don't overdraft a position just because you can't pass him up. DO NOT reach for closers. It'll cost you in the long run, trust me. Closers will be available throughout the year.

Sleepers:

C: Posey, I know he got a serious injury but he was better than Santana at one point and now he's going in the late rounds. Expect him to be the same Posey before injury.

Jesus Montero, he'll get catcher availability this year no doubt. But when a catcher is capable of 20+ HR's and 80+ RBI's then we have a stud at that position. Look for him to be reached upon by somebody in your league if it isn't you.

1B: Freddie Freeman is guy that comes to mind, if you believe in not taking the Votto's, A-Gon's, Fielder's and etc, Freeman will be guy that supplies you with pop and will produce. I like him more than most of the backend 1B's out there.

Billy Butler, Kendry Morales, and take flyers on Belt and Yonder.

2B: Take Kipnis a round early. KIPNIS, KIPNIS, KIPNIS.

3B: Household name but another guy being taken late, Youk. When healthy, this guy is a tear in the middle of the Sox offfense.

Brent Morel, he hit 8 of his 10 HRs in the last month of the season for the White Sox. He's only 24 so the power should still be developing.

SS: Emilo and Gordon provide speed. Aviles is another guy whom may explode at that position.

OF: Markakis, His xBA was a very impressive .312 in 2012. Markakis could bust the top 50 this year and that means huge value if you can get him anywhere beyond the 100th pick..

Logan Morrison, couple of my fellow leaguemates are letting it known and will fight to draft this guy. He has 25+ HR type of power. He's being hugely undervalued in mock drafts (150+), I'd say take a flyer and bank on him being your 4th or 5th OF. Or even that bench guy.

Michael Morse had an incredible year so people wont be sleeping on him, but he's still going relatively late. I f you snatch him up, you wont be disappointed. He's projected to have top 55 value. 30+ HR's is impressive.

Desmond Jennings, pure speedster. Another late round pick who should raise eyebrows. I like him.
I'll post some Pitchers later.
 
jenings is going high.

5th or 6th round high in keeper leagues.

other then the differences in pitching philosophies we seem similar (Stud OF early, Kipnis, Speed late, & closer opinions)

i would like to add
-DO NOT DRAFT JETER. NO MATTER WHAT

-Ryan Howard is getting looked over due to injury. he would look nice in the DL role until healthy. good pick after 150 if he is there and you only have 1 1B guy.

-don't go high for a catcher....But don't miss out on a catcher. Don't pick up Santana in the second. but don't miss out on one of Posey, Montero, McCann, Weiters, Mauer, Avila. once one gets picked they will shortly follow. Napoli is probably my favorite C but he always goes before I decide he is worth it.

-Michael Cuddyer is a good pick. He was a solid pic karound 70 last year. now he is playing at Coors & hitting behind Cargo & Tulo. 1b/2b/of elig is nice too.

-Know the positional shakeups.
Miggy Cabrerra will have 1b & 3b elig after like 10 games. this makes him probably the number 1 pick
Neftali Feliz & daniel Bard are getting a shot at starting. Brett Myers is looking like the Closer for the Astros.

- Know who the next in line is at closer
Joakim Soria had a bad looking X-Ray. Jonathan Broxton & Greg Holland just became relavant.
Chris Perez may or may not be healthy on opening Day...Enter Vinnie Pestano
Boston is trying Andrew Baily & Mark Melancon would be next in line.
with the Dodgers it could be any of Javy Guerra, Matt Guerrier or Kenley Jansen


more may come later.

-
 
Damn I did over 25 mocks and 5 live drafts on ESPN and didn't see Jeennings took that early, never done a keeper one and that's why I suppose.

I love the 9-11 rule, we fantasy nerds call it. Basically 9 hitters, and 2 SP in your first 11 picks. That's why I go by getting my 2 studs out of the way, preferably 2nd round, and 7th or 8th round. That can get you Verlander, Kershaw, or King Fellix in the 2nd and the 7th/8th rounds you can possibly get either Cain, Shields, and Gallardo.

So having 9 Hitters and Kershaw paired with Shields is awesome to start the first half of the draft.
 
i am a bit of a snob now.
I only do Keeper or dynasty leagues with baseball anymore.
so some of my ideas may be inappropriate.

Jennings is going way early in those leagues. I drafted Rendon & Profar in a league a couple days ago :king: they will be lucky to see playing time with the big leagues next year...
 
Colby Rasmus I also feel is a sleeper...
 
I need some opinions. My league is set order wise, I got #4 out of 10. Should I go Tulo? Assuming Kemp is gone. It's a keeper league.
 
Tulo is a very good keeper selection.
for a first rounder in Keeper any of these are a great start.
Miggy, Kemp, Braun, Tulo, Cano, Ellsburry, Kershaw
 
no clue where else to put this...
just completed my 4th trade in this league (only 4 total trades have been done in this league..)
on draft night the team was set up as
C - Carlos Santana - 1B - Eric Hosmer - 2B - Ben Zobrist - 3B - Brett Lawrie - SS - Troy Tulowitzki - OF - Jacoby Ellsbury - OF - Andrew McCutchen - OF - Desmond Jennings - Util - Michael Bourn
BN - Emilio Bonifacio - Michael Cuddyer - Alex Avila

SP - Jered Weaver - James Shields - Madison Bumgarner - Yovani Gallardo
RP - John Axford - Jonathan Papelbon - Chris Perez - Huston Street - Tyler Clippard


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My team as it set tomorrow after the last trade gets passed through
C - Mike Napoli - 1B - Prince Fielder - 2B - Jose Altuve - 3B - Brett Lawrie - SS - Troy Tulowitzki - OF - Desmond Jennings - OF - Justin Upton - OF - Adam Jones - Util - Eric Hosmer
BN - Billy Butler - Emilio Bonifacio
DL - Jacoby Ellsbury

SP - Clayton Kershaw - Jered Weaver - Lance Lynn
RP - John Axford - Jonathan Papelbon - Chris Perez - Javy Guerra - Santiago Casilla

I have 2 open spots
planning on picking up
Drew Stubbs for an OF spot (Kipnis might get picked up since I only have Altuva as 2B elig...may pick up both briefly)
& havent decided on the pitcher...may play a bit of streaming to determine this (There are multiple options here like Wandy & Kyle Lohse)

the thing that sucks about this league is that it is only 4 Keepers.
Kershaw was aqcuired to be a keeper
Tulo is a lock for one of the keeper slots
then there is Napoli who is a top 3 C, Weaver who is top 10 SP, Prince who is top 5ish 1B, Upton & Ellsbury are both top 10 OF
Lawrie & Hosmer have all the makeup you would want in fantasy
& Adam Jones is playing like a keeper currently


I tried trading Weaver, Ellsbury & Carlos Santana for Matt Kemp alone and I was rejected due to the other owner having no interest in trading.

the crazy thing is that I am currently in 4th place in ROTO right now. Hopefully Prince & Upton can change my HR/RBI/Runs upon arrival.
 
no clue where else to put this...
just completed my 4th trade in this league (only 4 total trades have been done in this league..)
on draft night the team was set up as
C - Carlos Santana - 1B - Eric Hosmer - 2B - Ben Zobrist - 3B - Brett Lawrie - SS - Troy Tulowitzki - OF - Jacoby Ellsbury - OF - Andrew McCutchen - OF - Desmond Jennings - Util - Michael Bourn
BN - Emilio Bonifacio - Michael Cuddyer - Alex Avila

SP - Jered Weaver - James Shields - Madison Bumgarner - Yovani Gallardo
RP - John Axford - Jonathan Papelbon - Chris Perez - Huston Street - Tyler Clippard


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My team as it set tomorrow after the last trade gets passed through
C - Mike Napoli - 1B - Prince Fielder - 2B - Jose Altuve - 3B - Brett Lawrie - SS - Troy Tulowitzki - OF - Desmond Jennings - OF - Justin Upton - OF - Adam Jones - Util - Eric Hosmer
BN - Billy Butler - Emilio Bonifacio
DL - Jacoby Ellsbury

SP - Clayton Kershaw - Jered Weaver - Lance Lynn
RP - John Axford - Jonathan Papelbon - Chris Perez - Javy Guerra - Santiago Casilla

I have 2 open spots
planning on picking up
Drew Stubbs for an OF spot (Kipnis might get picked up since I only have Altuva as 2B elig...may pick up both briefly)
& havent decided on the pitcher...may play a bit of streaming to determine this (There are multiple options here like Wandy & Kyle Lohse)

the thing that sucks about this league is that it is only 4 Keepers.
Kershaw was aqcuired to be a keeper
Tulo is a lock for one of the keeper slots
then there is Napoli who is a top 3 C, Weaver who is top 10 SP, Prince who is top 5ish 1B, Upton & Ellsbury are both top 10 OF
Lawrie & Hosmer have all the makeup you would want in fantasy
& Adam Jones is playing like a keeper currently


I tried trading Weaver, Ellsbury & Carlos Santana for Matt Kemp alone and I was rejected due to the other owner having no interest in trading.

the crazy thing is that I am currently in 4th place in ROTO right now. Hopefully Prince & Upton can change my HR/RBI/Runs upon arrival.

Kipnis was on waivers??? How many teams are in your league?
 
I'm 30-6 in my league thus far, H2H, 5x5 CAT, 5 keeper League. It's competitive for the most part, people make daily pick-ups and stream starters like it's crack.

http://games.espn.go.com/flb/clubhouse?leagueId=1695&teamId=1&seasonId=2012

I was so wrong on Markakis. I thought the guy would come back to his level of a few years ago when he broke out. He sucks, as does Rickie Weeks. Such bad picks for me.
 
I've had 4 guys hit the DL, Sandoval, Daniel Hudson, Sergio Santos and now Werth. It's becoming a joke.
 
Kipnis was on waivers??? How many teams are in your league?

9 Team Roto. Small bench sizes are the only reason.
He had been on multiple teams then dropped.

He was actually dropped by the other team in my 2 Closer for 1 closer trade.

Funny thing is...My team is different again....May remain this way for a while other then my streamer spot.
C - Mike Napoli - 1B - Prince Fielder - 2B - Jason Kipnis - 3B - Brett Lawrie - SS - Troy Tulowitzki - OF - Desmond Jennings - OF - Justin Upton - OF - Adam Jones - Util - Carlos Gonzalez
BN - Billy Butler - Emilio Bonifacio - Jed Lowrie - Eric Hosmer
DL - Jacoby Ellsbury

SP - Clayton Kershaw - Jered Weaver - Colby Lewis
RP - John Axford - Jonathan Papelbon - Chris Perez - Javy Guerra - Santiago Casilla


The Colby Lewis spot is going to be my goto stream spot since I am going to be way under then inning cap, and there are many quality SP options available...I assume I will do at least 4 different SPs each week out of this spot.


Gotta love a Carlos Gonzalez for Jose Altuve, Lance Lynn & Kyle Lohse trade....Emilio, JLowrie & Colby may be able to be turned into something quality at this rate.
 
My Dad took Pujols and Ellsbury with top picks.

He's still fighting for 1st place in a 12 team league somehow. :chuckles:
 

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