As we head into the back half of 2010 Baseball, there are some surprises at the top of the UPL, but the team currently sitting on top of the UPL is a very familiar one:
O.N. Thugs - 1st Place
Strong Moves: Drafting enough potential power so that 2 guys worked out (Glaus and Willingham). Working the waiver wire to improve squad ( lucking into Buster Posey; getting power out of Andruw Jones and Corey Hart; finding some arms like Brett Cecil, Jonathon Niese, Tommy Hunter, Johnny Cueto, Trevor Cahill, Dallas Braden). Getting a Volquez lottery ticket for Jonathon Niese (though in 3 starts w/ Benver, Niese is 2-1, 3.55/1.18, with 25K in 25.1 IP). No panic trades after slow offensive start.
Boner Moves: Dropping Braden right before perfect game, and not afterwards. Hanging on to losing players too long, and as a result, cycling through high ceiling pitchers a little too quickly (Cueto, Cahill, Hunter), and not being patient enough w/ Thome.
Future Outlook: Still the team to beat, in 2010 and beyond. Still a number of fantasy points that the O.N. Thugs are legitimately chasing. There's enough roster flexibility left to take a couple shots at some talent, and to position team for future.
Mid-term Grade: A-. Still some work to be done. Position on top of the UPL looks somewhat tenuous in comparisons to some prior O.N. Thugs seasons. But you can't argue with the results to this point.
Hats for Bats - 2nd Place
Strong Moves: Drafted young talent, which proved to be useful in new UPL trade environment, which led to... Stealing Jered Weaver away from JimmyDix for Justin Smoak, at least for 2010 (jury will be out on this one until 2014 or so). Finding all sorts of young talent in free agency (Jamie Garcia, Brennan Boesch), as well as 2010 production (Jose Bautista, Chris Young, Aubrey Huff).
Boner Moves: Very unlucky, but the Heyward/Kendry Morales for Marlon Byrd/Jose Valverde/Adrian Gonzalez trade looks really lopsided for 2010 (though will probably look much better in 2011 and beyond). Aside from this, it's been a relatively boner-free 1st half. Dropped Hong-Chih Kuo, who has proven to be a plus-fantasy player, and real-life all-star.
Future Outlook: This is the team that Greg was hyping last year (saying that anything less than a podium-type performance would be disappointing), which never materialized until this year. Will be hard pressed to make up for the production lost w/ Morales, without hurting other stats
Mid-term Grade: A. Will have to balance future position w/ the chance to win in 2010. But a bunch of solid moves, with virtually no boner moves, have taken Hats for Bats up the standings, and shows that a rise from the bottom to the top is definitely possible.
Phatsnapper - 3rd Place
Strong Moves: Martin Prado in the 1st round of the draft worked out well. Absolute swindle of Robinson Cano (for Matt Weiters) before opening day. Shifted quality for quality, and picked up some speed with Brett Gardner (for Martin Prado). Picking up young talent in free agency (Delmon Young, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez).
Boner Moves: Not making a play for SV, which would make team legit championship contender. Rest of draft, aside from Prado was not very helpful. Probably sitting on a little too much potential on the bench.
Future Outlook: Quality young SP, and some top-end offensive talent makes this team a contender for the long-haul. This year, we're looking at somewhere in the top 4. But a little more management would go a long way.
Mid-term Grade: B. This team has largely managed itself since the start of the season, so the design of the team has been pretty good to be in podium position. But this team could easily be sitting on top of the UPL, so it's hard to give a higher grade.
JimmyDix - 4th Place
Strong Moves: Despite taking grief, Marlon Byrd in the 1st round has been a solid pickup. Getting Jon Lester for Ian Kinsler. Filling a hole at 2B by getting Martin Prado for Brett Gardner. Finding some quality in free agency (Gardner, Mike Stanton, Jim Thome, Tyler Colvin, Mike Leake)
Boner Moves: Giving away Jered Weaver, which has stymied some potential trade opportunities. Overpaying for B.J. Upton (Rasmus and Volquez). Dropping Mike Leake twice. Giving up a little too early on Andruw Jones. Giving up way too early on Corey Hart, Clayton Richard. Seems that day-to-day lineups are a bit sub-optimal, given how the overall offensive stats look.
Future Outlook: Pieces are on the roster for a top-4 finish in 2010, but may not have quite enough to make a run for the title. Positioned reasonably well moving forward. Probably not done making moves (and seems to make a lot of moves - some of which are brilliant, while others are awful...). But if you told me that this team would be a podium in 2011, I'd believe you, and if you told me that this team would be a bottom-4 team in 2011, I'd believe you, too.
Mid-term Grade: B. How do you average out a couple A-moves with a couple D-moves? I think that this grade is a reasonable one, given the rise in the standings from last year.
Next time, we'll move from the Head of the Class to the Rest of the Pack. And after that, we'll look at the Kids on the Short Bus.
-Chairman (O.N. Thugs)
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7 comments:
For the record, I dropped Kuo for Evan Meek, another real-life all-star :)
Pauly - I'm just picking nits, really. In the long run, adding/dropping a set-up guy isn't really huge issue. Unless that guy's a future closer.
Imagine dropping Mo Rivera in 1996 in a keeper league, because Wetteland was the closer, and you needed SV.
Of course, isn't Broxton due for some Tommy John sort of injury?
I'm kicking myself abt the Weaver trade. Still ok with upton trade.
Well, one start down for Volquez (6IP, 9K, 1.50/0.83, in position for a W), and it's looking like it's a win-win trade so far (Niese = 32.1 IP, 2-2, 29K, 3.06/1.21).
funny how you have to keep posting what Niese is doing because we all think that he is a piece of sheeeet next to Volquez.
We're just reporting the facts. We report, you decide :-)
In all seriousness, part of it was a little regret watching Niese roll off a few good starts, while Peavy went down. This left me scrambling to get a 5th starter (I mean, I'm rolling with Padilla now). Plus, part of it was me wondering if I was being too stubborn w/ Chapman (and being a bad sort of homer).
The good Volquez outing makes me breathe easier, both as a fantasy owner and a Reds fan.
Pauly - I dont necessarily look at Niese as a bad player, its just that his expected ceiling is what he's doing now and struggles are inevitable. Volquez has ace potential once he's fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery.
Volquez pitched well so far in his return, its just that even when he struggles his potential is much higher than Niese's. The timing of the trade was odd too, because it happened just prior to Volquez's return from the DL. In other news, Smoak continues to be a feast or famine producer. He's still got a long ways to go before he gets as annoying to me as Nick Swisher, who has taken over the Carlos Beltran / Bobby Abreau "I drafted him but I hate him" position on my team.
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