Fantasy Update

The Official SEMS Fantasy Team is off to a great start. If the numbers aren't clear, I have 94 points. Second place is at 78.5. I know it's early, but I am still stoked.

Some moves that have been made include dropping Jesus Montero for Carlos Beltran. Dropping Beltran for Willie Bloomquist. Dropping Tsuyosi Nishioka and his broken leg for Brennan Boesch. And switching Anaheim closers, dropping Fernando Rodney for Jordan Walden. I figure with Heyward, Stubbs, Quentin, and Pence I can take fliers on Bloomquist (who is ranked number 1 by yahoo right now) and hope Boesch has a first half like last year and I can sell him high.

Areas for improvement include steals (I am ranked second to last, 5 behind the leader) and WHIP (ranked 6th). Everything else is at 8.5 or higher. Maybe I can swing a trade for someone to help in steals, or maybe Bloomquist has proven he needs to be in the lineup while filling in for Stephen Drew. He currently leads the majors with 5 steals.

All in all, I am obviously happy. I lead the league in 7 of 11 categories (5 outright and 2 ties) so I don't want to make any drastic moves. I also have several underachieving players like Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Brandon Lyon. I can't fault Lyon. It's hard to get saves when your team is 1-6.

More updates to come. I think I may try to make a trade just for the hell of it. Call me Brian Cashman.

The "Official" SEMS Fantasy Baseball Team

Since it's a scientific fact that everyone cares about my fantasy team, I have decided to regularly update a team for the website. I just concluded the draft, and am fairly happy. The league is a mixed league, 10 team, 6x5 (add OBP). We start C,1B,2B,3B,SS,IF,OF,OF,OF,UT,UT for offense. SP,SP,SP,RP,RP,P,P,P,P for pitching and we have 6 bench spots and 2 DL slots. I drew the #1 overall pick, and got called a homer when I passed on Pujols in favor of Cabrera. I really think Martinez will be the difference maker, along with Pujols' contract concerns. Here are my draft results...

SEMS
1.	(1)	Miguel Cabrera (Det - 1B)
2.	(20)	Ryan Zimmerman (Was - 3B)
3.	(21)	Félix Hernández (Sea - SP)
4.	(40)	Buster Posey (SF - C,1B)
5.	(41)	Jason Heyward (Atl - OF)
6.	(60)	Hunter Pence (Hou - OF)
7.	(61)	Alexei Ramírez (CWS - SS)
8.	(80)	Drew Stubbs (Cin - OF)
9.	(81)	Yovani Gallardo (Mil - SP)
10.	(100)	Dan Haren (LAA - SP)
11.	(101)	Max Scherzer (Det - SP)
12.	(120)	Howie Kendrick (LAA - 1B,2B)
13.	(121)	Aubrey Huff (SF - 1B,OF)
14.	(140)	Carlos Quentin (CWS - OF)
15.	(141)	Jonathan Sánchez (SF - SP)
16.	(160)	José Valverde (Det - RP)
17.	(161)	Miguel Montero (Ari - C)
18.	(180)	Leo Núñez (Fla - RP)
19.	(181)	Brandon Lyon (Hou - RP)
20.	(200)	Fernando Rodney (LAA - RP)
21.	(201)	Kevin Gregg (Bal - RP)
22.	(220)	Michael Cuddyer (Min - 1B,3B,OF)
23.	(221)	Jhoulys Chacin (Col - SP,RP)
24.	(240)	Tsuyoshi Nishioka (Min - 2B,SS)
25.	(241)	Wade Davis (TB - SP)
26.	(260)	Edwin Jackson (CWS - SP)

Overall, I'm fairly happy. I stuck to my fantasy baseball drafting rules, which are:

1. Don't pay for saves. I rarely draft a guy like Papelbon,Rivera,Bell, etc.. since saves are so easy to come by at the end of drafts, and closers tend to ebb and flow. 2 years ago, no one had heard of Marmol,Brian Wilson, or Heath Bell.
2. That said, stock up on as many late closers as possible. Saves are the one category that are only earned by 30ish players. I know there are a few "vulture saves" by a middle reliever here and there, but closers get 98% of saves, and each team only has one. This makes even lower level closers valuable, and trade bait for later on.
3. Backup as many positions as you can in the draft. With 2 Utility spots, an IF spot and 6 bench spots, I like to leave the draft with at least 2 players per position. That's why I draft guys like Nishioka and Cuddyer. Multiple position eligibility. There is nothing worse than having to drop that young starter you feel might break out soon, or the minor-leaguer who is murdering AAA and should be called up any day, just because your 2B will miss 3-4 weeks with a tweaked groin, and you have no backup.

Don't draft speed only guys early, if at all. Guys like Juan Pierre, Brett Gardner, Michael Bourn all contribute tons of steals. They also were available on the free agent wire last year. As the guys at Razzball say, SAGNOF. Steals/Saves Ain't Got No Face. It doesn't matter where they come from.

With all that said, a few areas concern me. I have some young guys that may regress a little from last year. Posey,Heyward, Chacin, and Scherzer could be great or horrible. I need to be able to flip a few of these closers into something. I don't want to end up wining the saves category by double digits, and fall short in other areas by a  small margin. I also worry about the innings max, which is 1900. I have already put in a waiver wire request for Jesus Montero, dropping Wade Davis. I thought he had been drafted already. If he's up by May, he could win AL ROY by a wide margin.

I will do at least monthly updates on waiver moves, and standings updates. I will probably make a separate post if/when I pull off any trades.