2009 Dying Quails
I know you've been dying to know the roster for my auction fantasy baseball league. The Dying Quails are celebrating their 11th season, but only have one pennant to show for it (plus a third-place finish). Will this be the year?
We had to do the auction online again this year, but it went much more smoothly than last year. We also added three teams for a total of 14, our largest group ever. That really didn't seem to change things much in the middle, but the highest salaries were insanely high and the endgame picks were really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Your 2009 Dying Quails:
14-team, 5x5 mixed league. $260 to fill 23 spots, 7-round snake draft to fill the final spots.
must have two true CF, four each SP and RP
C Molina, Bengie - SF - ($6)
C Hernandez, Ramon - CIN - ($1)
1B Teixeira, Mark - NYY - ($35)
1B Betemit, Wilson - CWS - (D)
2B Hudson, Orlando - LA - ($6)
2B Lopez, Jose - SEA - ($6)
3B Beltre, Adrian - SEA - ($11)
3B LaRoche, Andy - PIT - (D)
SS Peralta, Jhonny - CLE - ($25)
SS Cabrera, Orlando - OAK - ($2)
CF Rios, Alex - TOR - ($28)
CF Bourn, Michael - HOU - ($1)
OF Ramirez, Manny - LA - ($34)
OF Abreu, Bobby - ANA - ($21)
OF Ibanez, Raul - PHI - ($15)
OF Schafer, Jordan - ATL - ($1)
DH Rivera, Juan - ANA - (D)
DH Cuddyer, Michael - MIN - (D)
SP Johnson, Josh - FLA - ($13)
SP Lilly, Ted - CHC - ($8)
SP Gallardo, Yovani - MIL - ($9)
SP Cain, Matt - SF - ($9)
P Wang, Chien-Ming - NYY - ($6)
P Guthrie, Jeremy - BAL - ($2)
P Kuroda, Hiroki - LA - ($3)
P McDonald, James - LA - (D)
RP Jenks, Bobby - CHW - ($10)
RP Cordero, Francisco - CIN - ($8)
RP Villanueva, Carlos - MIL - (D)
RP Madson, Ryan - PHI - (D)
The verdict: a mixed bag. As usual. I did a better job of pacing the cash than last year, when I was stuck with $17 left over. I spent way too much for Jhonny ("That's Not a Typo") Peralta at SS, but he was the last good one available, and I had the most money on hand, so the other guys bid me up. Bastards. I got caught price enforcing on Wang, Hudson, and Jenks, but only Hudson really bothers me. I'm hoping my strategy of going after mid-tier pitchers for less than $15 each and spending more on offense works out. I could have used the Hudson, Jenks, and some Peralta money on better pitching, but oh well.
I got the big bopper I wanted (Teixeira) and a big OF (Manny). I can only hope Manny doesn't have a year like he did the last time I owned him. I got lucky with Cain - I had exactly $9 left in my pitching budget when I got him. Getting Hernandez for $1 was a surprise (he led the league in RBI for C last year), but could come in handy when someone needs a C later in the season.
Bargains: Molina, Hernandez, Cain, Schafer. Overpaid: Peralta, Johnson, Cordero
Other players of note: Jose Reyes $65, Hanley Ramirez $60, A-Rod $28, Brian McCann $38, Derek Jeter $23 (makes me feel better about Peralta), Nate McClouth $27, Corey Hart $20, David Wright $52, Matt Wieters $11, Randy Johnson $3
Best bargains: Ramon Hernandez $1, Manny Parra $1, Clayton Kershaw $4, Jeff Francoeur $2, Willy Taveras $5, Derek Lowe $9, Andre Ethier $12, Chris Young (P) $5, Kenshin Kawakami $1, John Smoltz $1, Lastings Milledge $6, Magglio Ordonez $22
Overpaid: anybody over $50, Peralta, Jeter, McClouth, Hart, Dustin Pedroia $32, Kevin Youkilis $26, Cole Hamels $32, Shane Victorino $30, Francisco Rodriguez $20, Grady Sizemore $46, Joey Devine $4, and just to be an asshole … Barry Zito $1
We had to do the auction online again this year, but it went much more smoothly than last year. We also added three teams for a total of 14, our largest group ever. That really didn't seem to change things much in the middle, but the highest salaries were insanely high and the endgame picks were really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Your 2009 Dying Quails:
14-team, 5x5 mixed league. $260 to fill 23 spots, 7-round snake draft to fill the final spots.
must have two true CF, four each SP and RP
C Molina, Bengie - SF - ($6)
C Hernandez, Ramon - CIN - ($1)
1B Teixeira, Mark - NYY - ($35)
1B Betemit, Wilson - CWS - (D)
2B Hudson, Orlando - LA - ($6)
2B Lopez, Jose - SEA - ($6)
3B Beltre, Adrian - SEA - ($11)
3B LaRoche, Andy - PIT - (D)
SS Peralta, Jhonny - CLE - ($25)
SS Cabrera, Orlando - OAK - ($2)
CF Rios, Alex - TOR - ($28)
CF Bourn, Michael - HOU - ($1)
OF Ramirez, Manny - LA - ($34)
OF Abreu, Bobby - ANA - ($21)
OF Ibanez, Raul - PHI - ($15)
OF Schafer, Jordan - ATL - ($1)
DH Rivera, Juan - ANA - (D)
DH Cuddyer, Michael - MIN - (D)
SP Johnson, Josh - FLA - ($13)
SP Lilly, Ted - CHC - ($8)
SP Gallardo, Yovani - MIL - ($9)
SP Cain, Matt - SF - ($9)
P Wang, Chien-Ming - NYY - ($6)
P Guthrie, Jeremy - BAL - ($2)
P Kuroda, Hiroki - LA - ($3)
P McDonald, James - LA - (D)
RP Jenks, Bobby - CHW - ($10)
RP Cordero, Francisco - CIN - ($8)
RP Villanueva, Carlos - MIL - (D)
RP Madson, Ryan - PHI - (D)
The verdict: a mixed bag. As usual. I did a better job of pacing the cash than last year, when I was stuck with $17 left over. I spent way too much for Jhonny ("That's Not a Typo") Peralta at SS, but he was the last good one available, and I had the most money on hand, so the other guys bid me up. Bastards. I got caught price enforcing on Wang, Hudson, and Jenks, but only Hudson really bothers me. I'm hoping my strategy of going after mid-tier pitchers for less than $15 each and spending more on offense works out. I could have used the Hudson, Jenks, and some Peralta money on better pitching, but oh well.
I got the big bopper I wanted (Teixeira) and a big OF (Manny). I can only hope Manny doesn't have a year like he did the last time I owned him. I got lucky with Cain - I had exactly $9 left in my pitching budget when I got him. Getting Hernandez for $1 was a surprise (he led the league in RBI for C last year), but could come in handy when someone needs a C later in the season.
Bargains: Molina, Hernandez, Cain, Schafer. Overpaid: Peralta, Johnson, Cordero
Other players of note: Jose Reyes $65, Hanley Ramirez $60, A-Rod $28, Brian McCann $38, Derek Jeter $23 (makes me feel better about Peralta), Nate McClouth $27, Corey Hart $20, David Wright $52, Matt Wieters $11, Randy Johnson $3
Best bargains: Ramon Hernandez $1, Manny Parra $1, Clayton Kershaw $4, Jeff Francoeur $2, Willy Taveras $5, Derek Lowe $9, Andre Ethier $12, Chris Young (P) $5, Kenshin Kawakami $1, John Smoltz $1, Lastings Milledge $6, Magglio Ordonez $22
Overpaid: anybody over $50, Peralta, Jeter, McClouth, Hart, Dustin Pedroia $32, Kevin Youkilis $26, Cole Hamels $32, Shane Victorino $30, Francisco Rodriguez $20, Grady Sizemore $46, Joey Devine $4, and just to be an asshole … Barry Zito $1