fantasy baseball update
As the dog days of August wind down and the baseball season makes the final turn into the stretch run of September, it's a good time to take one last in-season look at my four fantasy baseball teams.
It's my best season ever.
preseason prognostication
midseason overview
The Dying Quails : auction league : 1st place!
I may go wire-to-wire here. Just a week ago my dominating DQs looked vulnerable. My lead had been cut to just 9 points. Today, it's back up to 15 even though my overall score is 8 points lower than at the Break.
A week after the Break, I solidified my pitching with a big trade: I traded away Delgado and Corey Patterson to get Oswalt and Chris Ray. The timing was perfect. Delgado was (and is) tanking while Oswalt caught his second wind; my second closer (Turnbow) was demoted that week so I plugged Ray right into his slot; and Patterson basically collapsed, not that I was using him anyway.
I've avoided the injury bug (except for Chipper), and only Magglio has been downright bad lately (as expected).
It's looking good for my first championship.
Jews for Jebus : ESPN keeper league : 5th place
Right where I was at the Break, with 64 points, 6 back of the leader, but with little hope of catching up with just four weeks to play. There's almost no chance of slipping further behind, as those teams are way back.
A couple of teams are on the verge of hitting their games started limit; I need to keep an eye on the waiver wire in case they drop their starters. Turns out I was wrong about Dye (he's been solid all year, so I'm glad I've held onto him) and horribly wrong about Gathright (cut his sorry ass weeks ago), but I've done pretty well otherwise.
Otherwise, I'm already thinking about next year. Today, I picked up Delmon Young to keep him for next year. He might help me pick up a couple of points this year, but I'm not sure I want to move up too much more in the standings. The higher the finish, the worse the waiver pick during the offseason and draft slot come draft day.
Gold Domers : Yahoo public (live draft) : 2nd place
Nothing's changed here. The first place team still cheated and is still in first place. At this point, I'm just holding off the third place team. Really disappointing.
Local Yokels : Yahoo public (auto draft) : 3rd place
Can't win here, either, but I'm very close to second (89.5 to my 84.5) and have been even closer a couple of times. There's room to improve, but no hope of winning.
***
All in all, a very strong season. The one league I can win is the one where I'll win money, so that's something. Just one month to hold on....
It's my best season ever.
preseason prognostication
midseason overview
The Dying Quails : auction league : 1st place!
I may go wire-to-wire here. Just a week ago my dominating DQs looked vulnerable. My lead had been cut to just 9 points. Today, it's back up to 15 even though my overall score is 8 points lower than at the Break.
A week after the Break, I solidified my pitching with a big trade: I traded away Delgado and Corey Patterson to get Oswalt and Chris Ray. The timing was perfect. Delgado was (and is) tanking while Oswalt caught his second wind; my second closer (Turnbow) was demoted that week so I plugged Ray right into his slot; and Patterson basically collapsed, not that I was using him anyway.
I've avoided the injury bug (except for Chipper), and only Magglio has been downright bad lately (as expected).
It's looking good for my first championship.
Jews for Jebus : ESPN keeper league : 5th place
Right where I was at the Break, with 64 points, 6 back of the leader, but with little hope of catching up with just four weeks to play. There's almost no chance of slipping further behind, as those teams are way back.
A couple of teams are on the verge of hitting their games started limit; I need to keep an eye on the waiver wire in case they drop their starters. Turns out I was wrong about Dye (he's been solid all year, so I'm glad I've held onto him) and horribly wrong about Gathright (cut his sorry ass weeks ago), but I've done pretty well otherwise.
Otherwise, I'm already thinking about next year. Today, I picked up Delmon Young to keep him for next year. He might help me pick up a couple of points this year, but I'm not sure I want to move up too much more in the standings. The higher the finish, the worse the waiver pick during the offseason and draft slot come draft day.
Gold Domers : Yahoo public (live draft) : 2nd place
Nothing's changed here. The first place team still cheated and is still in first place. At this point, I'm just holding off the third place team. Really disappointing.
Local Yokels : Yahoo public (auto draft) : 3rd place
Can't win here, either, but I'm very close to second (89.5 to my 84.5) and have been even closer a couple of times. There's room to improve, but no hope of winning.
***
All in all, a very strong season. The one league I can win is the one where I'll win money, so that's something. Just one month to hold on....