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Great Debate Standings
| Writers Name | Win | Lose | GB |
| Anthony Catanzaro | 9 | 3 | |
| Boris From DownUnder | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Greg Marta | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Eric Gehman | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Richard Carter | 2 | 10 | 7 |
Joey has dropped out of the competition. We'd like to wish him nothing but the best of luck.
27 May 2009 |
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| Joey stays new school and explains how he's won his championships. This is my seventh season playing fantasy baseball. I'm relatively new to the game. I thought that it would be too easy to pick a bunch of players that mashed during the steroid era and pick Mike Piazza or Frank Thomas during their best season. On my all-time squad, I've selected players that have helped me to championships--I feel a connection with all of these guys. With fantasy, it is all about value so i've included the draft spot for each. All of the following players are listed with the year of ownage, statistics and draft slot. These are from my 12 team mixed league, which is a three year keeper league. CATCHER- Russell Martin, LAD, 2007 .293-87R-19HR-87RBI-21SB drafted round 16 Martin provided me excellent value in which I was able to hang onto him through this season. I expected 12-15 homers and 10 steals and what I received was one homer away from a 20-20 campaign. He rarely sat, had a catbird's seat in the lineup, and was a rock of consistency. The counting stats exceeded everyone's expectations and I believe this to be his career year. 1st BASE- Derrek Lee, CHC, 2005 .335-120-46-107-15 drafted round 7 Being a diehard Cardinals fan, I found it very difficult to root for a Cub for an entire season. But with fantasy, you must put your biases aside. One of the reasons I selected him is because of the fear he put in my soul when facing St. Louis pitching. He raked from day one, won a batting title, and was parlayed to a Cub fan during the off-season. You know what happened to his 2006. I love fantasy baseball. 2nd BASE- Chase Utley, PHI, 2005 .291-93-28-105-16 drafted round 15 While 2005 was not Utley's career year, it was his coming out party and his first season on my team. I was able to own Chase through 2007, when he made his climb to the best second baseman in the game. I love when you draft players late and watch them ascend into first round picks, especially when you can keep them in round 15. 3rd BASE- Ryan Braun, MIL, 2007 .324-91-34-97-15 drafted on 2006 farm team In our fantasy league, we can draft four farm team players and retain any or all of them from season to season until they get the call. I drafted Braun after seeing him rip at the U. and couldn't wait for him to get on Milwaukee's parent club. Braun put up video game numbers in 2/3 of a season and still finds himself as a centerpiece of my team, although its at a different position. I believe the best is yet to come for the Hebrew Hammer. Shortstop- Derek Jeter, NYY, 2006 .343-118-14-97-34 drafted 4th round Sometimes its nice when you draft a player high and he lives up to expectations. Jeter may very well be overrated in fantasy, but I will never forget his 2006 season and therefore will always have a soft spot for him. The batting average (.343) and bags (34) were just silly. The other numbers were just awesome. Outfield- Matt Holliday, COL, 2007 .340-120-36-137-11 picked up as a free agent in 2005 I picked up Holliday as a free agent in 2005 and league rules allowed me to keep him in the last round of both 2006 and 2007. I picked his 2007 season as my all-time favorite for obvious reasons. Holliday was not only carrying the Rox to the NL pennant those last two months of 2007, he was also carrying me to a championship. His OPS was over 1.000 and I believe it was a travesty he was not named the National League's Most Valuable Player. Outfield- Vernon Wells, TOR, 2003 .317-118-33-117-4 drafted round 13 Vernon Wells? On all-time fantasy team? You bet. Vernon was on my first ever squad and didn't disappoint. Alls he did was square balls up for six solid months and lead the AL in hits. Wells may be more of an afterthought in fantasy these days, but I will never forget him or his 2003 season. Outfield- Carlos Lee, MIL/TEX, 2006 .300-102-37-116-19 drafted round 5 Carlos Lee isn't the most coveted player or sexiest name. Perhaps that is why he made the team. Fantasy baseball is about pure numbers and Lee delivered big time in 2006. His 19 thefts were a career high and he mashed his way to a huge contract in Houston. El Caballo is perenially underrated. Utility- Justin Morneau, MIN, 2006 .321-97-34-130-3 drafted round 12 I pegged Morneau as a great post-hype sleeper in 2006 and I'm sure glad I did. The scary thing is I almost traded him after his dreadful April. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make. Morneau was the best hitter in baseball for the next five months and won the Most Valuable Player award for the American League. He was also the MVP of my own team and was a cornerstone for me over the next two seasons. Starting Pitcher- Chris Carpenter, StL, 2005 241.2 IP, 21 wins, 213 K, 2.83 ERA, 1.06 WHIP drafted round 10 This was the easiest selection I had on the entire team and a great reason why you do not draft a starting pitcher early. Carp hit blackjack with his 21 victories and gave up 3 runs or less in what seemed to be 25 starts in a row. The Cardinals won 17 straight games in which he started. He was the best pitcher in the game and brought home the NL Cy. I was so giddy to turn on Fox Sports Midwest on his turn during the 2005 season. I even had an extra bounce to my step on those days. I could go on forever. Starting Pitcher- Roy Halladay, TOR, 2003 266 IP, 22 wins, 204 K, 3.25 ERA, 1.07 WHIP drafted round 9 Could you imagine Doc and Carp still pitching together in Toronto? Perhaps that is what it would take for Toronto to slay the giants in the AL East. Halladay was a little luck from throwing 9 innings every fifth day and dominated his way to the AL Cy Young. He has had some years where his K rate wasn't great and although it wasn't superb here, it still looks great because he eats up so many innings. Halladay is the definition of a staff horse. Starting Picher- Aaron Harang, CIN, 2006 234.1 IP, 16 wins, 216 K, 3.76 ERA, 1.27 WHIP drafted round 19 I slipped Harangman in the back of my rotation and watched him become one of the NL's best pitchers. He lead the National League in both wins and strikeouts, yet did not get a single vote for the Cy Young Award. Talk about under the radar. Harang's heat is sneaky fast and is right on top of you with that 6'9" frame of his. He conquered Great American Small Park and appears to be on track this season after a rocky 2008. Relief Pitcher- Joe Nathan, MIN, 2004 72.1 IP, 1 win, 89 K, 1.62 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 44 saves drafted round 18 Do me a favor and go check out Nathan's numbers starting in this season. I know baseball historians hate closers, but Nathan is about 3 more Joe Nathan years from having some Hall of Fame Talk stir. He has the filthiest stuff among all stoppers and goes by Joe or Nathan. I can't imagine a scenario where Nathan becomes flustered on the hill. He looks the same each time out, no matter the situation or result. And according to razzball.com's Grey Albright, he needs a nickname. He went with Taipei Slinklo because "when you are as vanilla as Joe Nathan, you need some random ethnicity." I couldn't agree more. Relief Pitcher- Jon Papelbon, BOS, 2006 68.1 IP, 4 wins, 75 K, 0.92 ERA, 0.78 WHIP, 35 saves picked up as a free agent After Papelbon got the save at Arlington in Boston's 2006 opener I did not hesitate to pick him up. He has become an elite closer and is just one of a thousand reasons why you do not pay for saves on draft day. Paps has been a mainstay in my bullpen ever since. Joey takes you on a journey to see how he's built his team. Is it enough though? You decide. Currently no polls available to vote Trackback(0)
Comments (2)
  written by Richard Carter, May 28, 2009
Joey, you've assembled a good bunch of "new" guys, but not very competitive statistically when you compare them to some of the greatest of all times. It sounds like you wanted to avoid the "steroid era", but from a fantasy point of view, you gotta love these guys. It's all about the numbers, baby!
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Tags: Russell Martin Derrek Lee Chase Utley Ryan Braun Derek Jeter Matt Holliday Vernon Wells Carlos Lee Justin Morneau Chris Carpenter Roy Halladay Aaron Harang Joe Nathan Jon Papelbon
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What gives? You and me floundering in the vote. We'll need some advice on how to exploit today's networking capabilities.
Good job on your article. Unlike me, you can at least be proud of your success in your fantasy baseball pursuits.