you dropped your 1st round pick?

Below you'll find posted my final edition of An Expert's Audit - Baseball edition for this season. It is all fantasy baseball related so if you're not interested in that topic then maybe you're done reading for this post. If that's the case then thanks for dropping by anyway. This article is also posted at www.dobberbaseball.com

Welcome once again to An Expert’s Audit – baseball edition. In this article we take a look at the fantasy team of a reader to see if there are areas we can improve so that we’re moving down a winning road. This will be the final offer of EAB for this season but I’m still more than willing to have email discussions on a baseball matter, so if you have questions you can reach me at ian@dobberbaseball.com

I was too late for Frank Hung. It’s really too bad, best I can tell he’s a decent guy but when I came on the scene he had just finished dropping his 1st round pick after having turfed his 3rd and 6th rounders earlier in the season. Seriously. He was solidly entrenched in 11th place in a 12 team league and his hopes for upward mobility were … well, they were fleeting.

Let’s take a look at Phail. Before we do that though, I just don’t get how a team name like that exactly brings much confidence to the table there Frank.

C Chris Iannetta COL – decent option for some power out of your catcher, that avg is fairly abysmal though and you get better stats out of someone like Bengie Molina a lot later in drafts.
1b Jose Lopez SEA – he has 19 dingers, which is surprising actually, if you roster him at 2b then that’s great but if you have him at 1b then you can do better. He’s among your best power options though and that’s a good reason for why you’re lagging in this league.
2b Brian Roberts BAL – traditional solid speed, not great speed but solid speed. It’s pretty standard to roster a SB guy at 2b if you can.
3b Gordan Beckham CWS – if this were a keeper league I’d be a lot higher on this guy but you’d be lucky to get HR in the teens this season since he wasn’t in the bigs prior to June. He’s got upside for 20 HR stats next year but that doesn’t help you much with only a month to go this year.
SS Asdrubal Cabrera CLE – another MI with some speed but you really needed Alexei Ramirez to solidify this slot this season.
OF Andrew McCutcheon PIT – again, in a keeper I’d be a lot more excited for your team. He’s going to be a solid 20/20 threat next year and a 30/30 threat beyond next year.
OF Alfonso Soriano CHC – your best stick left on your team. He’s been injured for most of the year and that has really hurt your chances at competing. You have to play him though, he’s your best stick left, play him full time and pray a lot.
OF Shin-Soo Choo CLE – I remember that he came up pretty monstrously big during the World Baseball Classic but did I draft him? Nope, neither did you. He’s definitely made himself worthy for an OF3 slot this season and the ceiling’s getting higher for him.
Util Juan Rivera LAA – I thought that having Abreu, and Matthews Jr. around was going to really hurt his value but Sarge Jr. has disappeared and Rivera has shone while stealing those AB’s.
BN Alexei Ramirez CWS – like Soriano, your team needs him to produce like he is capable of doing. I’m advising that you take him off the bench and run him out there every day (and back to the praying thing too).
BN Aubrey Huff DET – his move to Detroit has buried him on their depth chart. He’s a run of the mill option at best anyway.

SP Chris Carpenter STL – he’s back. I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t have the jam to take the chance on him this year. He’s been great for you though.
SP Justin Verlander DET – fighting for the K’s lead in all of baseball, getting W’s and keeping the ratios nice. He should get some Cy buzz this season.
RP Francisco Cordero CIN – solid closer option. It’s too bad that the GAB is such a homer haven though.
RP Leo Nunez FLA – he’s been a nice add for a few saves but I’m amazed that you lasted the first couple months of the season without an RP2 to speak of whatsoever.
P J.A. Happ PHI –“This is Col. Lelie "Hap" Hapablap. If you don't open that door, I'll tear you up like a Kleenex at a snot party”. Yeah I know it’s childish but it makes me smile. Happ has been ripping guys up all season and is on the threshold of something great.
P Gavin “Count” Floyd CWS – pitching for a team in the hunt I’d expect more wins and QS out of guys like Floyd. He’s serviceable and worth keeping around.
P Ricky Nolasco FLA – pitching for a team in the hunt I’d expect a LOT better stats than what he’s provided. His K’s totals are his best asset for your team.
BN John Danks CWS – pitching for a team in the hunt … wait a second, I just go this weird déjà vu feeling, you guys feel that? Actually he’s got the best numbers out of any of the 3 I’ve overused this bit for.
BN Kevin Millwood TEX – I just don’t trust him, haven’t for several years. He’s gotten so many wins this season because he’s playing opposite a phenomenal offense. How do the Rangers not take a SERIOUS run at Doc Halladay before the deadline? I mean really.
BN Randy Wells CHC – there hasn’t been nearly enough buzz about this guy this season. He’s had a more than solid season as the Cubbies 5th. He sat on too many waiver wires for too long and it’s now too late for guys to make a move for him.

Well ok, your sticks need some help and you have some depth in your SP’s that maybe can help you get where you need to go. You’re woefully short in power on the corners and you barely have enough speed so you can’t afford to move any wheels. Much of my issue here stems from the fact that you actually drafted Josh Hamilton, Manny Ramirez, and Troy Tulowitzki and you got nothing more than a waiver pickup for them. That’s one deep hole you climbed into. For the record, if you selected a guy in the first 10 rounds of your draft the only reasons to part with him is to trade him or if he’s done for the year (in a one year league). NEVER drop a guy you drafted early just because he’s slumping. Bench him but NEVER drop him.
It should also be noted that the trade deadline fell a little more than a week away from when I came on the scene, so there wasn’t much time.

Waiver Wire Options

Geovany Soto CHC – he took July off due to injury after apparently most of the season off due to apathy before that. He’s still got upside though and you need a couple miracles in order to climb the ladder.
Juan Rivera LAA – he’d be a huge bonus for some extra power for your team.
Mike MacDougal WAS – I’ve seen this guy on waiver wires and he doesn’t belong there. He’s only had 1 BS this season to go against his 13 saves. He’s had 28 appearances since mid June and only had 4 instances where he’s given up ER. He’s had a solid season and fantasy guys can’t afford to ignore saves that are available.
Paul Konerko CWS – he’s perennially a 30 dinger guy, and you don’t have that now. Add him.
Magglio Ordonez CWS – 7 HR this season? He used to be a monster and he’s completely fallen off the table. The only reason to add him would be to try and catch lightning in a bottle over the last month.
Dan Uggla FLA – power at 2b, that’s rare. It’s just too bad his avg has stunk it up this season.
Ervin Santana LAA – I tried to make a move for him in the Expert’s League myself and got rebuffed (rightly so). I think he’s turned a corner since the break and has shown some of the same stuff he showed last year.

Trading Options

Vetoed - Brian Roberts and John Danks for J.P. Howell – this was a bad deal for you anyway and you had just done it when I arrived. I’m anti veto but I told you the deal was bad for you anyway. We didn’t ask for the veto but apparently your league acted on your behalf. You couldn’t afford to lose Roberts anyway, he’s really the only speed that makes it into your lineup.

You needed power at 1b and you had pitching you could move. We set out to try and land the best 1b option we could get by offering Justin Verlander around your league. For the record please note that Verlander has been battling Tim Lincecum for the K’s lead in all of baseball this season. He gets W’s, he’s a horse and he keeps the ratios more than respectable. We were thinking big and we asked for some big names in return.

Offered Justin Verlander to Big O’s Bomb Squad for Mark Reynolds – declined. Reynolds has had a phenomenal year but this deal would’ve helped Bomb Squad to take a step up, nevertheless he passed on this.

Offered Justin Verlander to Fei for Adam Dunn – declined. Dunn’s avg has traditionally been a millstone for any fantasy team but this year it has definitely increased over the mean this season. If it plummets again then Fei would’ve gotten all the gravy out of him the year. This should’ve worked.

Offered Justin Verlander to Tallywaggers for Justin Morneau – No response.
Offered Justin Verlander to Tallywaggers for Carlos Pena – c’mon Pena’s hitting close to .230 all season, I’ve GOT to think this would’ve worked. No response again.

Offered Justin Verlander to Above 500 for Miguel Cabrera – this went nowhere because there was no response. I was expecting this offer to be declined but it was only step 1 to begin with, I was actually targeting Lance Berkman and that would’ve been the 2nd offer. I hate it when guys ignore their team after the break and that’s exactly what happened here.

Conclusions

Well, the only changes we were able to make were off the FA list. Eventually we found a little power at 1b in Paul Konerko and we didn’t have to give up Verlander to add him (not that we would). Roberts stayed on your team due to a veto that you needed but didn’t ask for (again, I don’t ask for vetoes in general anyway) so at least you still have some speed in the lineup still. You now have to rely on sticks that you drafted early to bust out of their slump and play like the stars they should be, yes I’m looking at you Alfonso Soriano.

It’s especially tough to make moves in a league that has slowed down in terms of involvement by the participants and then it’s only made worse when your guys are hurt or swinging like they’re in Little League. I just hope that this baseball season hasn’t caused you to swear off fantasy baseball for the rest of your life, it’s frustrating when your best picks are injured or asleep.

And with that boys, I’m out. All the best to you all during what should be an interesting offseason, generally referred to as hockey season in our household.