Preliminary thoughts

[notch4077]

My dynasty team is in sig. Wondering what your thoughts are. I have the first overall pick in the draft this year so looking at likely Strasburg, but need to drop some guys, at least 4 since 3 were on the DL at the end of the year last year and 1 to make room for Strasburg. Who should I drop? What do you think of my team?

[GoldenSeals]

How deep is your league? What plac did you come in last year? Assuming since you have 1st pick, you came in either last or first.

[notch4077]

Umm... I think there's 10 teams and I finished dead last.

[goldfish47]

Is this a soft keeper league? If so, I'd probably drop a couple guys more than the minimum to allow for some extra early picks. I'll hold off on that until I know the details.

As far as the pick goes, assuming all of the top prospects that were available last year are gone, Strasburg is very likely the way to go.

[GoldenSeals]

I'd be comforable dropping Carlson, Cahill & Lowe. In a league your size, these guys should be easily replaceable.

[notch4077]

But there's a bright future there, right? I mean, please tell me I've got some good prospects. (Maybin? Beckham? Wood? Bumgarner? Snider? Cahill? Porcello?) Also, is there something really wrong with Johan Santana? Someone dropped him late last season so I picked him up. Same with Alfonso Soriano... Were these good moves or is there something I don't know about.

Sorry about all the questions, I'm trying to become more rounded and know about something other than hockey.

[notch4077]

Is this a soft keeper league? If so, I'd probably drop a couple guys more than the minimum to allow for some extra early picks. I'll hold off on that until I know the details.

As far as the pick goes, assuming all of the top prospects that were available last year are gone, Strasburg is very likely the way to go.

Yes, we keep as many or as few as we want. Who would you NOT keep?

[GoldenSeals]

Nice moves grabbing both Soriano & Santana - they will both have trade value, so wise to hold onto them. You also have some nice pieces in terms of a rebuilding project, but in all honesty, if you're only in a 10 team league, you will still have a tough time competing over the next couple years. Does not mean you should give up, and perhaps should explore making some 2-1 trades, where you get that one stud back. Might be hard to do, but worth a try.

[notch4077]

Oh. Crap. Well I appreciate your honesty. I can't STAND A-Rod and will therefore be looking to deal him. Is he still a stud? Noone would accept my trades last year for him, but does he have more value now that he had a good playoffs? Or was I maybe overvaluing him?

[GoldenSeals]

A-Rod is still a stud, don't let anyone tell you differently, if anything, look to one of the top 3 teams last year, and see if there's a team in need of a 3B, where you get a stud in return. David Wright had what many people considered a down year last year, so maybe a swap of A-Rod for Wright might even work.

[bobjr488]

Oh. Crap. Well I appreciate your honesty. I can't STAND A-Rod and will therefore be looking to deal him. Is he still a stud? Noone would accept my trades last year for him, but does he have more value now that he had a good playoffs? Or was I maybe overvaluing him?

I also had a negative attitude toward A-rod but the fact of the matter is he is one of the biggest bats in fantasy baseball. The guy only played 124 games last year and still managed to hit 30HR and 100RBI. That's simply production that can't be replaced easily year in and year out. With a guy like that on your roster you never have to worry about filling that position; you're set for years. Yes he is getting up there in age but you still have lots of time to reap his benefits. Another good move for you would be to trade him to a contender during the season this year, next year , the year after, etc etc until you get a deal that can maybe get you your next A-rod or a nice blue chip prospect bat. I would be looking to trade him in the next few years but also looking to replace him with a nice young fantasy stud prospect (which is hard to do so buy the guide!).

Anyway, I digress........ my point is this: last year we had a team quit so we threw all his players into the draft. A-rod was one of them and I had first pick. I took Hamels because I didn't like A-rod. Not that Hamels is a bad pick but A-rod's bat is more reliable than a pitcher's arm (see Hamels, Santana, Verlander the year before, Nolasco, Harang, i could go on and on..). I'd take the bat any day (now).

If you have a chance to get big bats in your lineup take it and do not, i repeat, do not let personal feelings get in the way of your fantasy team player selection. That's why the guy who is a big Leaf fan (I'll use hockey as an example because it is classic and they are easy to pick on) in fantasy hockey who picks mostly leafs never wins his fantasy leagues. As long as they produce they are good in my books.

Cheers and good luck!!

[notch4077]

So the three worst on my team are Carlson, Cahill and Lowe? With the first overall pick do you choose Strasburg or Heyward?

P.S. It's a 12 team league, not 10... not sure if this makes a difference...

[bobjr488]

I usually choose the hitter over the pitcher. 97.567% of the time.

[GoldenSeals]

Pitching will be much easier to replace then the bat. Go with Heyward.