FBCJ Fantasy League after 10 Weeks

May 31, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman

(28) celebrate with teammates in the dugout after hitting a two run home run during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Several Fantasy Baseball Crackerjacks writers created a fantasy  league filled with half writers and half readers.  After ten weeks, I am quite happy with how the league is shaking out thus far because I finally took over first place in the standings.  Following baseball throughout the off-season and studying teams and players on a daily basis has certainly paid off.  In fact, writing about baseball and communicating ideas I believe in has made all of the difference.

This league is a 12-team non-keeper on ESPN with 27 man rosters and scored head to head on a weekly basis.  The categories are R, HR, RBI, SB, OPS and QS, SV, ERA, WHIP, K/9.

Prior to the season, I loved the top four hitters (like everyone else), but I had the fifth draft pick.  I was just hoping that Clayton Kershaw would go in the top four, and I was thrilled when Paul Goldschmidt fell into my lap at fifth overall.  The round two selection of Adrian Beltre has obviously not panned out too well, but you do not need to hit on every high pick.

Rounds 3-6 could not have gone better because I landed Bryce Harper, Nolan Arenado, Cole Hamels, and Nelson Cruz.  Obviously, my team has crushed in the power categories.  Even with the ridiculous trio of Goldy, Harper, and Cruz, my favorite pick is still Arenado because of how much I began to believe in him during draft season.  I went from bullish on Arenado to ranking him 29^th in my pre-draft rankings.

Obviously, not every single pick panned out, but I drafted quite a few guys that I believed in and wrote about this off-season.  I grabbed Cody Allen, Brandon Moss, Neil Walker, Travis d’Arnaud, Rajai Davis, Derek Norris, and Michael Saunders among others I felt were primed for good years.  Did all of these picks work out?  Absolutely not, but you do not need to hit on your picks to have a successful team.

As a result, I feel like I may have built my best team ever, but I am going up against the team I finally took over for first place.  My 66-30-4 squad is going against a loaded South Park Cows team that is 63-32-5 in what could be a potential playoff preview.  The South Park Cows had a very unorthodox draft strategy, but the owner crushed the draft selecting Max Scherzer, Josh Donaldson, Jason Kipnis, Matt Harvey, Kris Bryant, A.J. Pollock, and more.

My band of sluggers ranks first in HR, RBI, and OPS; second in SV and WHIP; and third in R.  The South Park Cows are first in R and K/9; second in HR, OPS, and QS; and third in SB and WHIP.  While both teams are successful, the varying draft strategies show that you can win whether you focus heavily on power, elite starting pitcher, etc.  Just build a team with realistic goals and balance, and sometimes you can get lucky.

As for the rest of the Fantasy Crackerjacks staff, Bill Pivetz is sitting nicely in fourth place with a 51-40-9 record with a team led by Anthony Rizzo, Jose Bautista, and Prince Fielder.  Madison Bumgarner has been excellent as usual, but Cy Young contender Chris Archer is really making the difference for Bill’s team.  Archer has an incredibly strong case as the early season 2015 fantasy MVP.

Brad Kelly is in fifth and only two games behind Bill at 50-43-7.  His bats are pretty stacked with the pop coming from Jose Abreu, Todd Frazier, Adam Jones, Justin Upton, and sometimes Chris Carter.  Brad’s team also has unbeatable speed in Billy Hamilton and Dee Gordon.  Jhonny Peralta has done a great job at SS, but the pitching is bare outside of Jacob deGrom.  The lack of balance is keeping this team from the top tier.

Billy Moy ended up with a mostly auto drafted team, but it seems like ESPN did a decent job with Ryan Braun and Johnny Cueto, but Carlos Gomez and Yasiel Puig have failed to stay healthy.  Brett Gardner is routinely undervalued and has played a critical role on a 49-48-3 that is two games out of sixth.  Sonny Gray has been Billy’s x-factor.  Gray has been phenomenal with a filthy 1.60 ERA to date.

Ian Parker and Elie Waitzer are lagging a little behind in eighth and ninth, but the season is still fairly young.  The playoff race could easily be shaken up with a big week or two from a team.

As for me, I am thoroughly glad that I took the time to write and research about fantasy baseball so much this off-season because it led me to believe in Nolan Arenado becoming a fantasy superstar and many other convictions that have helped me in my best fantasy season yet.