Keeper League Baseball

Well, as I was driving to start watching the ncaa tournament I thought about writing about the time that I picked up a hitch hiker on the way back from a wedding. But, I received an email for a request to judge my team versus the other teams in my keeper fantasy baseball league. So, while I watch my Gonzaga team try and hold on against Davidson and pray that Drake pulls it out against Western Kentucky, here are my thoughts about the league.

My Team:
Here is my current roster:
Catcher: Victor Martinez
1st Base: Albert Pujols
2nd Base: Jeff Kent
SS: Orlando Cabrera
3rd Base: David Wright
OF: Carlos Beltran
OF: Magglio Ordonez
OF: Vernon Wells
UTL: Jim Thome
UTL: Hideki Matsui
SP: John Maine
SP: Oliver Perez
SP: Kelvim Escobar
RP: Takashi Saito
RP: Huston Street
P: Brad Penny
P: Clay Buchholz
P: Jon Lester
P: Javier Vazquez
Here is the list of my Bench Players:
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury
OF: Kosuke Fukudome
SS: Khalil Greene
1B: Mike Jacobs
2B/SS/3B: Yunel Escobar

Okay, I did make a trade already. I traded Brian Roberts to Rob for Javier Vazquez because I forgot how many pitchers we needed, which sucked. I had put in a waiver claim to pick up Gil Meche and drop Mike Jacobs, but instead I was able to trade for Vazquez.

Offense: I LOVE my offense. I really do. If you look at what my team did last year, I have 6 guys who had at least 100 rbi's. I have 2 guys who had 90+ rbi's, and 2 more who had 80+ rbi's last year. I have 4 guys who last year scored 100+ runs last year and 4 guys who had 85+ runs last year. I also have 9 guys who hit 20+ home runs last year. I have 8 guys who hit .300 or better last year and 3 guys who hit .275 or better last year. My weak point on my offense is stolen bases. I traded my best SB guy from last year. Right now I only have 4 guys who were double digits in SB's from last year. We'll see how things go and maybe later in the year I'll trade for SB's. What I like about my team are the wild cards on it. I have Vernon Wells who had a HORRIBLE season last year. What I'm hoping is that last year was a fluke(he was battling some injuries and should be better this year) and he can return to the 100 runs, 30 hr's 100 rbi, .300 average he's capable of. I also have Kosuke Fukudome. Too be honest, I drafted him because of his name. But what I'm hoping is that he's like Matsui. Some guy who's going to bat 300, hit 20 hr's, get 100 rbi's. Wouldn't that be some type of trading chip later in the season? Then there's Mike Jacobs. I remember when he came up with the Mets and in his first at bat he drilled a HUGE hr. He was my second favorite young Met behind David Wright. Then we traded him in the offseason for Carlos Delgado. I like Delgado, don't get me wrong, but I'd rather have Jacobs now. I also have two young guys who I think will have similar seasons. They're Jacoby Ellsbury & Yunel Escobar. I don't think either will hit a ton of hr's, but they should score a lot, have a lot of rbi's, steal a decent about of bases, and hit .300. Not too shabby.

Pitching:
Yeah, every one is going to tell you that my pitching is my Achilles Heal right now. It's going to be hit or miss, and I'm thinking it's going to be hit. I really like Perez & Maine. That's why I kept them. There's just something about John Maine. I don't know what it is but it seems that every time he steps out there he could strike out at least 10. Last year he struggled in the second half. I think that's more to hte fact that he's not use to pitching a whole mlb season. And then there came his last start where he struck out 13 and didn't give up a hit until the 9th. I think he'll have a better season than he did last year. Then there's Oliver Perez. He really is the biggest wild card on my team. He has the potential to be better than Maine but he can also get distracted really easily and end up having a horrible game where he walks 6 or more guys in a game. So, I'm hoping Rick Peterson can help control him more this year. Escobar had a monster year last year. 18 wins, 160 k's, good era & whip. I'm hoping he can keep it up this season. Brad Penny had a nice season last year and he pitches in a pitcher friendly park. He should be able to keep that up. Vazquez was absolutely nasty last year. I just hope he can be close to what he did last year. My two big wild cards play on the same team. Buchholz was money last year when he pitched. Lester did okay but he was coming back from fighting off cancer. I think he'll be stronger this year and should do better as they anchor the red sox rotation. So, we'll see what happens with my pitching. I took a gamble this season so I might have to make a trade or two during the season to correct things.

As I look at the other teams it's really hard to find a clear favorite. Bagley has the exact opposite team as mine. And bagley picked just about the same type of team as he did last year. And last year he finished in last, ha ha. I really don't think there's a clear favorite. As much as it pains me to say it, I think maybe Perrotti could be a very slight favorite to repeat. It seems that he might have the most balanced team. Zak's team has a pretty good offense, but his pitching could actually be worse than mine. And that's saying something. I'm pissed that Malone stole Cory Hart from me. I swear, if Bagley had agreed to our original trade and understood that he had to keep Pujols, I would have kept Wright, Beltran & Hart. But, Malone, why do you have Chris Young? He batted .237 last year. You'd be better off with Jack Cust. At least he batted .265. So, there are my thoughts going into the start of the season. I'm hoping my gambles pay off and hopefully I can win it all this year. Or at least be in the top 3, he he.