And Now Back To Fantasy Baseball

Okay, a lot has happened in the fantasy baseball season since I last wrote. The Cobble Hill Gang of my Yahoo! league is once again near the top of the standings. I've been in first place for most the season, and am momentarily in second place. This won't last long.

The league of Lumbergh and Tweedledee, however, is another matter altogether. It became clear in the first month that my strategy was doomed to fail. Most of the other teams in the league have essentially punted the saves category that I coveted so dearly during the draft and are instead racking up wins and strikeouts at an alarming rate. To compensate, I ended up trading Matt Lindstrom for Barry Zito and the injured Franklin Morales, who should come off the DL shortly and force me to make a difficult roster move. At the same time (about a month ago), I also traded for Dontrelle Willis, who might become a roster casualty when Morales comes off the DL. I need strikeouts badly, and Willis has been very inconsistent. I may have to trade him or possibly drop him soon.

I have also been burned by season-long disappearance of Big Papi. Certainly, I was not expecting a mere 3 home runs through the first two months of the season. I am hurting in virtually every category, except for Saves, ERA and RBI. No one is stealing bases for me, either. When Nate McLouth became eligible for the league by being traded the Braves, he was picked up off waivers for 93 units! We only have 100 to use for the whole year, give or take, since units can be traded. David Price went for 92 units. Comparatively, I bid 9 units. So, there is very little hope of me making a big move to rise in the rankings, where I currently sit 14th out of 17. Soon, I will have to trade Brad Ziegler, who has very little value anyway since he's on a team with few wins to save. I need starting pitching, but there aren't very good options out there. Hopefully, my hitting will turn around and I will have a chance.