By Jeremy Tiermini
In an earlier article I discussed a post-season fantasy baseball league that I am participating in at www.fantasypostseason.com. After the first round of the MLB playoffs my team, Hip Hip Jorge, is sitting in third place, 2.6 points out of second place and 15.4 points out of first. While I am in third I have a big advantage over the top two teams; I have 15 players remaining on my roster, while the first place team has 11 and the second place team only has 9. Each team is allowed to make 10 free agent moves throughout the playoffs but, with 20-man rosters for the fantasy teams, the free agent wire is void of players that are still on active playoff rosters.
I made a quartet of free agent moves. The first one was admittedly not my best, since it was premature. I dropped Jason Giambi of the Rockies and added Phil Coke of the Yankees. Even though the Rockies were eliminated, Giambi had a single, an RBI, and a run scored as pinch hitter. I could have made this move a day later by dropping one of my Boston or St. Louis players and would have had an extra 3 points, moving me into second place.
I like my next three moves. First, I dropped Boston’s Daniel Bard for Chad Gaudin of the Yankees. Gaudin could pitch in Game 4 of the ALCS, depending on both the weather and whether manager Joe Girardi wants to pitch CC Sabathia in Games 1, 4 and 7 of the ALCS. If he does not start a game, he can be a useful asset in the bullpen and could score a few points for my team.
Next, I dropped Jon Lester and added Chan Ho Park. I am not a fan of Park in any format, but he is active. In addition, the Philadelphia Phillies’ bullpen is nothing short of an adventure, so Park could play a bigger role than people think.
I completed my moves, which were aimed to improve my depth in the bullpen, I dropped Ryan Franklin and added Damaso Marte. If these three pitchers can pick up a few K’s and vulture a win or two I will be very happy. Of course, these pitchers could also stink up the joint and take points away from me. Just like in real baseball, good pitching leads to success.
There were 5 big performers for me in the first round: my first 5 picks. Jayson Werth (3rd pick) led my team with 34 points, with Cliff Lee (5th pick) scoring the second-most with 24.55 points. Derek Jeter (2nd pick) scored 24, Shane Victorino (4th pick) added 19, and Jorge Posada contributed 15 points.
There were three big busts for my team. I counted on these players to go at least 2 rounds and I counted on them actually performing at their normal levels. Jon Lester, Ryan Franklin, and Joel Pineiro were all out after one round and the trio all scored negative points for my team, combining for -28 points. I also felt that the duo of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain would contribute some points; the two combined for a grand total of 1 point. Here are five pitchers, all with decent success this season…and they contributed -27 points. This is a prime example of the fickle nature of pitching in fantasy baseball, especially in shorter scoring periods. With shorter scoring periods it is much more difficult to overcome these poor performances. It seems funny to say, but if these pitchers scored ZERO points I would be in first place.
Here are the players I have left on my roster; the round I drafted them in is listed beside them.
Jorge Posada (1), Derek Jeter (2), Jayson Werth (3), Shane Victorino (4), Cliff Lee (5), Joba Chamberlain (9), Phil Hughes (10), Chad Billingsley (11), Brett Gardner (13), Jim Thome (17), Jose Molina (18), Phil Coke (FA), Chad Gaudin (FA), Chan Ho Park (FA), Damaso Marte (FA)
