All season, I’ve been monitoring my team, the Gassner All Stars, as they wallowed in 13th place, week in and week out. I just wanted to get bumped up that last spot so I could have some post-season action. Finally, this last week, I skyrocketed to eleventh. But this was supposed to be my good team! I wasn’t supposed to be in fighting for a spot in the consolation playoffs! What happened?
Well, you only need to look at my catcher. Or first baseman. Or outfielders. Or pitchers. My two highest ranked players at (fantasy) seasons end were Miguel Cabrera and Roy Halladay at 23rd and 28th. That isn’t very good. And my catcher was the 600th ranked player, but I kept him in because he didn’t split time. And Phil Nevin, my first baseman is working on his third team of the season. The SEASON! Not cool. In fact, the only player on the All-Stars to exceed ecpectations by any sizeable amount was midseason addition Takashi Saito. But now, I think the GAS are catching their rhythm, and the league better watch out. Or, the consolation bracket better watch out. I have Scott Olson.
The team named after this very blog, on the other hand, has met with better fortune. I am 22.5 ahead of the second place team, and I didn’t even set my roster against the 2nd place team this week. The last place team is 30.5 games behind the second place team. So, it’s safe to say that I’ve got a deathgrip on the league.
I did a much better job in the draft than I thought, because I went after guys like Joe Mauer, who I figured would be much better than any other catcher (he was) while outfielders were a dime a dozen. I snatched up Mark Teixeira (a little better than Phil Nevin) and he has recently started playing like Mark Teixeira. I waited until the 5th and 6th rounds to get pitchers and still ended up with Dontrelle Willis and John Smoltz. My other pitchers were gambles. I grabbed Chien Ming Wang, figuring he was good for at least wins, and he has been. And in the last round, I picked little known Francisco Liriano. He’s worked out just fine.
That was the theme of my draft and my season with the Victoria Times. I found excellent sleepers like Prince Fielder and after seeing him once at the Dome, Nick Swisher. Before Swisher bottomed out, I dealt him for Francisco Rodriguez, patching my hole in the bullpen, when Joe Nathan was getting few saves. Last but not least, Chone Figgins is a fantasy godsend.
So that’s that. I predicted the season horribly, but I’m pretty happy I was so dominant in one league. Of course, you may not want to read any 9 part previews anymore. – Ryan
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