So I bet you’re wondering what sort of an audit can Ian do for a site that’s just been loaded up?  I was wondering that myself.  I finally decided that I’d audit one of my own baseball teams so that I can hopefully shed some light on how you can also turn around and make your own squad better.  And so …  

Ian Fergusson is a social worker in Winnipeg Canada who’s been a baseball fan for as long as he can remember.  In fact he says he doesn’t know anybody who’s a bigger baseball geek than he is, although he has met some fairly geeky baseball geeks.  He umpires amateur baseball in Manitoba and finds nothing more annoying than bad pitching, particularly when he’s already made the strike zone as big as a house so that he doesn’t have to stand there for 3 freaking hours waiting for a strike call. 

Ok, this third person crap is getting on Ian’s nerves … my nerves … my last nerve.  I’ve actually been playing fantasy baseball as long as I’ve been playing fantasy hockey although it’s probably fair that I got all stat geek about hockey churning my own stats out before I got all baseball stat geekish (that is too a word). 

I commish my work fantasy baseball league for the 2^nd year in a row and I’m the reigning champ.  We usually keep the entry fees low so that we can still afford to pay our mortgage without much of an incident with our better halves.  Anyway, I won last year and this year I plan on repeating.  Presently we’re at the All Star break and I sit in 2^nd in our 12 team roto 5x5.  For the uninitiated a 5x5 is the standard roto settings and include the categories of R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, SV, K, ERA, and WHIP. 

Jacques Strap (as drafted) 

C  Bengie Molina  SF – I had opportunities to try and get other catchers but I knew Bengie’d be hitting cleanup for an offense that otherwise needed some serious help, if I stuck with him at least he’d have opportunity.  Rumour is that the Marlins want to deal for him.

1B Ryan Garko CLE – this is where I had the biggest need for an upgrade.  There’s little of anything special in Gecko, er I mean Garko.

2B Chase Utley PHI – the best 2b in baseball.  MVP candidate.

3B Ryan Zimmerman WAS – his injury this season has meant that Adrian Beltre has been my 3b which isn’t horrible I suppose.  Zimm is a franchise player and he’ll show it once he’s healthy again.

SS Khalil Green SD – he hit 27 HR’s last year … he also hit .254.  It’s too expensive a price to pay for a few extra HR.  He’s hitting .216 this season, move on.

LF Carl Crawford TB – many argue that you shouldn’t draft speed too early but it is so incredibly rare to find a 50 SB guy who also has the potential for 20 dingers.  Craw is an all-around talent that is a sure fire 1^st rounder in fantasy leagues in my books.

CF Matt Kemp LA – his K rate is too high but he’s stealing bags, getting RBI and keeping the AVG respectable.

RF Nick Markakis BAL – I was expecting the sorts of stats that he’s putting up and I think that too many fantasy folk missed the boat on this kid.

UT Carlos Lee HOU – one of the best pure RBI options around over the last 5 years or so.

UT Adrian Beltre SEA – I still wish he’d hit more HR but he’s a decent option in a 12 team league.

UT Josh Hamilton TEX – first half AL MVP in my opinion.  Dude’s got his head on straight and he’s locked in.

BN Aaron Hill TOR – I was able to turn him into a bench option I could use, until I couldn’t afford to do that anymore.

BN Jose Guillen KC – for most of June he had one of the hottest bats in all of baseball.

BN Mark Ellis OAK – no thanks. 

SP Erik Bedard SEA – he was such a monster last year and this year … not so much.  The M’s are trying to showcase him for a trade, so am I.

SP C.C. Sabathia MIL – CC is going to be the best pitcher in baseball in the 2^nd half.  You heard me, write it down.

SP Justin Verlander DET – he’s bouncing back and should give stats worth having on your team in the 2^nd half.

SP Aaron Harang CIN – I actually kept him on my squad for way too long and his recent DL stint confirms that he hasn’t been “right” all season.  I was expecting 15 wins and 200 K’s.  Oh well, move on.

SP Fausto Carmona CLE – if healthy he contributes across the board.  Unfortunately, he hasn’t been healthy.

RP Bob Howry CWS – before the season there was some talk that he’d be the closer for the Cubs.  He didn’t and unless your league counts holds then Howry has little value, even with Kerry Wood on the shelf.

RP B.J. Ryan TOR – as a Blue Jay fan I still get nervous with him in the game because he isn’t his dominant self after surgery last year.

P Tim Hudson ATL – the Braves always seem to get their hands on SP’s who can battle all season long.  Hudson doesn’t get enough press for just how good he really is.  Unfortunately for my team he was put on the DL just days before this was posted.  ESPNews is reporting he’s done for the year.

P Brandon Lyon ARI – there was all sorts of talk about how he’ll lose the job in Arizona eventually but he’s been more than solid and worth keeping around.  He isn’t losing the job. 

This was an autodraft.  I hate autodrafts.  I wasn’t pleased with it but realized there were some things I could do to try and help myself.  I was obviously weak at 1b and SS, I had too many bench sticks and I needed more saves.  I was pleased with my starting pitching although by half way through the season it has turned into my team weakness.  To solve what I could I immediately added Eric Gagne, Troy Percival and George Sherrill while dropping Ellis, Guillen and Howry.  Eventually Gagne was swapped out for Ryan Franklin.  That strategy has had mixed results since Gagne, Franklin and Sherrill haven’t exactly torn the world apart for ratios.  These moves were only necessary to balance out my team after an autodraft I didn’t like. 

How’d we get here? 

Baseball season is a marathon season.  One day does not a season make and guys who have produced in the past are more likely to produce again.  I don’t advise you to be dropping players off your squad for the first month, that’s right I said month.  Now of course you can and should drop players in an attempt to pick up players that your fellow poolies have foolishly dropped, particularly if they’re of the elite option and don’t belong on a waiver wire.   

My first stroke of luck happened because I play with some impatient people.  Michael Young was batting .196 on Apr 14/08 when his owner dropped him and I couldn’t go quicker to my Add Player button.  I knew Young to be a .300 hitter who’ll lock down 200 hits this season despite his putrid start.  My next fortunate event came because Dan Uggla hit .179 through Apr 16/08 and his owner turfed him, again I immediately added.  Finally Shane Victorino was injured on Apr 25/08 when I picked him anticipating the SB’s I knew he’d give.  These are 3 examples of guys who’ve contributed to my team on the season after their previous owner gave up on them due to a slow start or injury.  What I’m trying to tell you is … patience young grasshopper.  Guys who have produced in the past are very likely to do it again.  Don’t waive a guy who’s produced before just because he’s hit a slump or goes on the DL, he’ll break out and he’ll need to be on your bench or on your DL when he does. 

Next I had to address the fact that I lacked some power in my OF and I was thoroughly not impressed with rostering Ryan Garko at 1b.  Playing in a league with buddies you get to understand what sort of “strategy” each person wants to go with.  One guy in my league is of Japanese heritage so he wanted to see if he could get an entire fantasy team of Japanese players; one of the girls wanted only Yankees, another guy wanted only Latino players and someone else wanted to load up on Blue Jays.  Who am I to refuse these folks’ money if they want to hand it over like that eh?  Anyway, I offered Aaron Hill to the Blue Jay fan and all I wanted was a little bit of OF power for my bench in Brad Hawpe, so I got it.  Now Hawpe slumped pretty hard and he was on the DL in late May so eventually I had to send him to the waiver wire where I’ve still kept my eye on him.  If his average were better he’d still be a decent add.   

That trade didn’t do much for me but my next one sure did.  I traded Matt Kemp to get Justin Morneau.  In so doing I solved my problem at 1b, got me an All Star MVP type and increased my power options significantly.  The other team was overloaded at 1b and needed avg and some speed.  The trade was good for him but it was great for me. 

So …now what? 

I presently sit in 2^nd place, trailing last year’s 2^nd place finisher by 7 roto points.  I have the best offense in the league, and my RP’s put me in a tie for most saves.  My Achilles heel this season has been my WHIP.  I have 3 pts in WHIP thanks to the implosions of Erik Bedard, Aaron Harang (who I hung on to way too long and dropped outright in June), Justin Verlander  (who only just lately has started to pitch like he can), John Garland (waiver add to keep my IP close to the pace), and Gil Meche (ditto John Garland).  It also hasn’t helped that I’ve lost Fausto Carmona for virtually the entire first half and CC Sabathia stunk his way to a 1-5 record to start the year.  To add to my troubles both George Sherrill and Ryan Franklin’s WHIP have been a bit of a millstone to carry while trying to garner saves.   

So how do I improve WHIP over the 2^nd half?  If I don’t then I won’t win this league.  First of all, George Sherrill shouldn’t continue with his poor WHIP, not if you consider past performance (plus he’s a former Winnipeg Goldeye, our local Northern League team) so he stays.  I dumped Ryan Franklin because of his WHIP and his roster spot is presently held by Jonathan Broxton who should provide more saves and better WHIP anyway, at least while Saito is on DL.  Trying to fix WHIP with RP is NOT going to work though, it has to be done with SP and the gambles have to pay off.  It’s probably going to mean overpaying in an attempt to land some traditional help in WHIP.  I do have some offense I could move, particularly someone like Dan Uggla who is a formidable power option out of 2b and sits in one of my UT slots anyway since I have Chase Utley at 2b. 

Offers made –  

Erik Bedard and Dan Uggla to Port Lincoln Parrots for Cole Hamels and Ben Sheets – I didn’t expect that the offer would be accepted, I just wanted to open negotiations.  Sheets has a very lengthy injury history but has been playing phenomenally well while Bedard also has an injury history and hasn’t been playing phenomenally at all this season.  PLP (my buddy Vince) already had Ian Kinsler at 2b and thought it was a step down to put Uggla there instead.  I didn’t agree with his assessment and was only after SP’s with WHIP I could take a chance on. Vince wasn’t buying and the discussions stalled right off the top. 

Dan Uggla to no homers for Scott Kazmir – I actually think I’m overpaying if I do this deal but I HAVE to make a dent on WHIP.  Kazmir is traditionally solid for WHIP and he’s the Rays ace.  He’d help with Wins and the ratios are going to be good.  I’d have to go find a hitting option off the waiver wire since I don’t have a bench hitter to plug in if I make this move. 

Dan Uggla and Gil Meche to Cyclones for James Shields and Chone Figgins – I’ve been inquiring with Cyclones (Ed) about Figgins for a couple of months now.  My weakest offensive category is SB’s where I have 8 pts (I have 12 pts in the other four categories) and I prefer rostering speed guys like Figgins since they don’t hurt your squad elsewhere, except in power stats.  My lead in HR stats is significant enough that losing Uggla won’t hurt and I’ll be better off if Figgins helps me get 4 more pts in SB’s.  I’m after Shields because of WHIP where he’s held guys reasonably off base for the past season and a half.  At the end of negotiations I eventually moved Dan Uggla and Mark Buehrle for James Shields and Chone Figgins.  I was pleased by this development. 

Conclusions 

Let history dictate how you affect change on your WHIP, and hope that you get a bit lucky.  The only way to improve WHIP significantly is with SP’s since RP’s affect your IP so little over the course of a couple months.  In most cases it’s going to mean that your pitching has to bounce back and new blood has to do what it’s supposed to do, otherwise you’re probably not going to get this done. James Shields should help to lower my WHIP and he’ll continue to give K’s and W’s to help there too.  I’m going to need the rest of my pitching staff to man up too though.  Fausto Carmona will take the slot held by one of my high WHIP guys when he’s available and Troy Percival should provide more saves when he comes off the DL. For me to win this season it’ll mean that I have to take some chances.  I have to move up 7 roto points in pitching stats in 2 ½ months, that’ll mean that I need more wins while ratios have to lower.  I know for a fact that if I pull this off I’ll tell you folks all about it but that’s because I’m basically a proud and small man.  It should be a fun second half for me. 

I’ll be in the market for a team to audit for next month, so if you’re reading this then consider submitting your team at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for some number crunching.