Summary of Week's Moves

This past week I made two moves on my roster. The first move I made was to finally drop Jason Isringhausen (STL-RP) and I added Ryan Franklin (STL-RP). I thought that by adding St. Louis' closer I could capitalize on the saves that he would be getting from playing on a good team. But, the day after I added him, he blew a save against the Brewers and ultimately ended up getting the loss. I haven't had any luck this year with Cardinals' relief pitchers. Since St. Louis pitchers haven't been doing well for me, I put in a waiver request to get Jonathan Broxton (LAD-RP) and drop Ryan Franklin.

The second move I made was to add Shane Victorino (PHI-OF) and drop Jose Guillen (KC-OF). This acquistion started paying off for me right away. Through seven inning today he has gone 2-4 with 2 Runs, 4 RBI, 1 HR, and 1 SB. I have placed him in my lineup in place of Randy Winn (SF-OF). However, when one of my outfielders has the day off Randy Winn will be placed into my lineup.

A standings update: I am currently in 6th place with 90 points. The 5th place team has 93.5 points and the 7th place team has 82 points. I have reached that 90 point mark, and I hope to keep gaining points as I continue my ascent into the top five of the league.

More Moves

I made a couple of moves today. One was on the pitching front and the other was at catcher. First, I released Jesus Flores (WAS-C) and added Ivan Rodriguez (DET-C). Jesus Flores has seen his playing time diminish as the Washington Nationals have multiple catchers on their roster. It's basically a swap in stats, except Pudge steals a base every now and then. After having Matt Garza (TB-SP) on my team for only a few days I decided to drop him and add Francisco Liriano (MIN-SP). Liriano is in the minors right now and he has been dominating down there. It is only a matter of time before he gets the call up. I figured I could stash Liriano away on my bench, because I have plenty of starting pitchers on my roster as it is. As of today I have 88 points and I am in 6th place. The 5th place team has 97 points, and the 7th place team has 83.5 points.

Pitching Move

Right before the All-Star break I acquired Matt Garza (TB-SP) off of waivers and released Rafael Soriano (ATL-RP). Soriano was on the DL and was taking up a roster spot on my team. Therefore I thought it best to add another starter to my team so that I could take advantage of the longer innings. Garza pitches for a good Tampa Bay team. Even though Tapma Bay has lost seven or eight straigth heading into the break, I think they will continue to do well after they get rest during the break. Garza should add some value to my pitching staff. Taking a look at the standings at the All-Star break I am currently in 6th place with 87.5 points. The team in 5th place has 97.5 points and the 7th place team has 84 points.

Roster Move

The other day I made a roster move in claiming Jose Guillen (KC-OF) off of waivers and dropping Jay Bruce (CIN-OF). This rids me of Jay Bruce who I no longer played on my team, since he had been slumping from the highs he was posting during his debut. Jose Guillen gives me a solid source of RBI that I have been lacking on my team. The only things I don't particularly like about Guillen are his strikout numbers and his extremely low walk rates. Other than that, he should see ample time in my lineup. A standings update: I am in 7th place with 85 points. I am only 1.5 points behind the 6th place team. In the recent days I have flucuated between 6th and 7th place and I hope to get into the top half and hold my place there. Hopefully this move and future moves will prove beneficial as I try to accomplish this goal.

Pitching Move

I made a pitching move today. I dropped Aaron Laffey of Cleveland and added Jon Lester of Boston to my pitching staff. There are a couple of reasons behind this move. First of all, he doesn't lose nearly as much as Aaron Laffey. I would much rather have a #3-#5 starter on Boston than a #3-#5 starter on Cleveland, because the Red Sox are a much better team than the Indians. Another reason I made this move is because Lester has a lower ERA and he has a much higher strikeout rate than Laffey. Hopefully this move can aid me in some of those pitching stats. Right now I am in eighth place with 82.5 points.

A Look At My Team

Right now I am in ninth place in my family league and I am trying to crawl back up into the upper half of the league. I thought that I would put up my team and explain my league a little bit. First lets take a look at my team Fukudome Fever:

C Jesus Flores - WAS C
1B Prince Fielder - MIL 1B
2B Brandon Phillips - CIN 2B
3B Chipper Jones - ATL 3B
SS Jhonny Peralta - CLE SS
OF Alex Rios - TOR OF
OF Torii Hunter - LAA OF
OF Randy Winn - SF OF
UTIL Evan Longoria - TB 3B
BN Jay Bruce - CIN OF
BN Jorge Cantu - FLA 1B, 3B

SP John Lackey - LAA SP
SP Edinson Volquez - CIN SP
RP Kerry Wood - CHC RP
RP Huston Street - OAK RP
P Jason Isringhausen - STL RP
P Mike Mussina - NYY SP
P Erik Bedard - SEA SP
BN Jair Jurrjens - ATL SP
BN Aaron Laffey - CLE SP
BN Kyle Lohse - STL SP
DL Rafael Soriano - ATL RP

That's what my team looks like. I would like to improve myself at catcher, shortstop, and outfield if I could. I am willing to part ways with Chipper Jones and Edinson Volquez even though they are two of the top performers on my team. I believe that Evan Longoria is more than a capable subsitute at third base, especially the way he has been playing recently. And, considering the way Volquez has pitched recently it seems like he has swapped bodies with Johnny Cueto on his team. I have a trade proposed right now to one of my league mates that would greatly improve my outfield situation.

Anyways let me explain the set up of my league. It is a rotisserie league. Howevere, it is not the standard 5x5 roto league. Instead it is a 7x7 rotisserie league. This family league has been like this ever since I started playing fantasy sports. You still have the standard 5x5 categories with 2 more categories for the hitters and 2 more categories for the pitchers. The seven hitting categories are Run (R), Homeruns (HR), Run Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB), Walks (BB), Strikeouts (K), and Batting Average (AVG). The seven pitching categories are Wins (W), Losses (L), Saves (SV), Walks (BB), Strikeouts (K), Earned Run Average (ERA), Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched (WHIP). The two non-standard hitting categories are BB and K, and the two non-standard pitching categories are L and BB. I have a total of 82.5 points with my highest point total in W and K - pitchers (9 points) and my lowest point total in K - hitters (2 points). The person in first place has 136 points and the person in last has 49.5 points. As you can see I am a far way from the top, but I am also a far way from the bottom. My goal is to finish in the top 5 and I have a little less than half of the season left to accomplish that goal.

Hi, my name is Darin...

And I am addicted to fantasy sports. There is a not a time of the year at which I am not involved in some kind of fantasy game. Whether it is baseball, football, basketball, soccer, or golf, I have dabbled in many different fantasy games. One area I do not intend to venture into though is fantasy NASCAR. I just don't see the appeal in that one.

I may not be a complete addict like some people. I do not go out and buy fantasy magazines or fantasy books in order to give me an edge. Nor, do I subscribe to fantasy websites such as Baseball Prospectus or others. However I do read a lot of the free fantasy news stories and I am constantly monitoring my fantasy to try and help me win the leagues that I am involved in.

Right now I am only involved two fantasy baseball leagues, both of which I am the commissioner. For all three major sports (baseball, football, basketball) I create a league for myself and my brothers. We then get other random people to fill up the league. Usually it turns out to be a good mix of people and it is always a competitive league. Back to the baseball leagues I am in right now, in the league with my brothers I am currently in eighth place out of twelve and in my other league I am in third place out of twelve. Despite the effort I put into I am not doing so well this year in the league with my brothers. But, hopefully that will change in the second half of the season.

The purpose of this blog is to talk about my fantasy leagues and just other fantasy sports information in general. I will update this as regularly as possible as I try to provide and inside look as to what I am thinking and how I go about managing my teams. I will probably only talk about my family league in depth and mention the other one only in passing, as I care much more about the family league. Hopefully this blog will take off and readership grows as I continue my quest for fantasy glory.