# Talkin' some Fantasy Baseball

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 4, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524 "2007-03-04T08:54:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/1 "2007-03-04T08:54:27Z")

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My favourite time of the year: spring training is under way, draft’s coming up, can’t wait for the beginning of the real thing. I can hear John Fogerty sing _Centerfield_. Chase Utley is pursuing me in my sleep: I like him so much I could draft him first overall.

So, how do you see the 2007 season from a fantasy standpoint? Who do you hope to have on your team? Who do you hope to pick as sleepers? Who do you foresee as disappointments? Any important news from your favourite/local team we might have missed but should know about?

Play Ball!

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### Author: ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/2 "2007-03-04T17:19:47Z")

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I did my brother’s fantasy league draft for him the other night… I’ll have to post it in for feedback.

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### Author: ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/3 "2007-03-04T18:19:52Z")

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If I don’t get the #1 pick (Pujols) I am taking Johan. There are tons of great hitters but damned he is far an away the best pitcher. The only one out there I can say is a lock for a \< 3 era, and his peripherals are ridiculous. It fills me with a little dread because I almost never take a pitcher in the first round, and the only time I ever did was when I spent the first overall pick on Randy Johnson in 2003. That, uh, didn’t work out so well.

A couple players that I think are going to wind up undervalued in their average draft rank, in no particular order: Ichiro, Dice-k, Sheffield, Delmon Young, Sabathia, Eric Chavez, Alex Rios, Piazza.

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### Author: ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/4 "2007-03-04T22:28:41Z")

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K, here’s my team:

C Jorge Posada  
1B Albert Pujols [#1 overall pick]  
2B Freddy Sánchez  
3B Hank Blalock  
SS Adam Everett  
OF Juan Pierre  
OF Jeff Francoeur  
OF Andre Ethier  
Util Derrek Lee  
BN Anderson Hernández  
BN Melky Cabrera  
BN Doug Mientkiewicz  
BN Maicer Izturis  
BN Jay Gibbons

Pitching  
SP Randy Johnson  
SP Rich Harden  
SP Pedro Martínez  
RP Joel Zumaya  
RP Akinori Otsuka  
P Boof Bonser  
P Braden Looper  
P Liván Hernández

I think I could use a little more pitching, and obviously it was a little bit of a gamble to pick up Johnson and Martinez - but I waited until the middle rounds and I think at least one of them could have a bounce-back year. I’m assuming my brother will take over his team eventually, but I’d like to leave him in good shape.

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### Author: ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/5 "2007-03-04T23:02:52Z")

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My quick thought before dinner:

How big is the league and what are the categories being used? I can see at least 6-7 guys(Hernandez (both of’em), Izturis, Mientkiewicz, Looper, Gibbons) who don’t belong on a roster in a standard 12 team league. I hope that it’s a 20-team league since Everett is your starting SS. Even then, I’m sure there’s a better option on FA.

And where are the saves going to come from? Zumaya will win the job eventually and Otsuka’s a nice backup assuming Gagne can’t stay healthy but that’s not enough.

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### Author: ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/6 "2007-03-04T23:25:48Z")

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There are 15 kids in the league, and I don’t know much about the categories. But I think they compete one-on-one in a few different categories, a week at a time.

The best shortshtop left, acording to Yahoo, is Nick Punto.

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### Author: ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [March 4, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/talkin-some-fantasy-baseball/394524/7 "2007-03-04T23:36:11Z")

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Yeah, you know what - this is what I get for not having enough time to read up on this league. I’ve replaced Everett with Punto. I had about two hours’ notice that I had to do the draft, which was barely enough time to buy Who’s Who in Baseball and thumb through it on the train ride home.
