Paying for studs has gotten me?????

[BuckyBuckner]

Dunn always said he didn't want to be a DH -- I guess now he's out to prove it now that he's raked in his cash.

He and Uggla are the biggest WTF?? guys of the season.

Care to add Hanley to that list? I'm so glad I out bid on him in my NL only league. Ended up with Tulo who's been so much better but a little disappointing. I know he's a streaky hitter so at the end of the year his numbers will look like they always do (I hope).

[The Dane]

To be honest, big name/big dollar players have always been my bugaboo. I usually grab better late-game picks and cheap FAABs than my competitors, but I always seem to get studs on the down years. The only year I ever owned Alfonso Soriano? 2009. I'm terrible with the studs. I make up for it by getting the Axfords and Salas' of the world pretty regular, but I am almost always disappointed with my big-name players.

[Teenwolf]

I've seen a lot of this happening this season. Does it lend credence to the "no player over $30 strategy?"

I'll add that my most expensive AL Only players are $31 Cano, $28 Valverde, and $24 Napoli, and I'm currently leading. No $40+ Dunn, Crawford, Ichiro, Morneau, Delmon, or Youk to drag me down.

Traded $37 Crawford for $3 Brantley in the offseason, and they've been worth about the same. Spread the risk.

[joncarlos]

Went a little cheaper and spent $29 on Rollins instead of $35ish on Reyes this year. That worked well.

[Teenwolf]

The big problem with going Stars-and-Scrubs, is that if everybody is doing it, the stars get inflated beyond their worth. Adrian Gonzalez has been great this year, but he cost $53, and his owner is sitting in last place. I just can't make that type of commitment.

[Hornsby]

I've seen a lot of this happening this season. Does it lend credence to the "no player over $30 strategy?"

I'll add that my most expensive AL Only players are $31 Cano, $28 Valverde, and $24 Napoli, and I'm currently leading. No $40+ Dunn, Crawford, Ichiro, Morneau, Delmon, or Youk to drag me down.

Traded $37 Crawford for $3 Brantley in the offseason, and they've been worth about the same. Spread the risk.

Also, let's not forget that you're lead is essentially due to Jose Bautista. Who you got cheap early on because he was a Jay...just sayin'.

[SeaDogStat]

Knock, knock, knockin on eleven's door

lol...awesome...I'm so stealin' that! Er, uh, I mean reposting elsewhere and attributing credit to you

[braveshots]

Some of the studs & scrubs discussion depends on the depth of the league IMO. I don't think it works for most mixed leagues unless you are 20 team league, otherwise there may be free agents that are relative equal value to guys deemed scrubs on draft day. Take guys like Brantley previously mentioned or Melky who were probably not drafted in 12-15 team leagues but have out performed any players who were considered scrubs. This is a strategy that can be implemented and be successful but also can be a failure which puts it equal to almost every other strategy anyone has promoted.

bottom line IMO is that you need a little luck in most cases and I mean luck in terms that you don't experience any (or many) injuries and that the top guys do produce to their levels and you hit on one or two end game picks. Granted, there are many fantasy owners that work hard to manage their team when they are a little unlucky by trading or grabbing that free agent or rookie, but it takes work. I think most people would agree that the draft/auction is the best part of the season, but the work is only just beginning if you plan to win your league

[Mithrandir]

I understand your frustration, but that's the nature of the game. We rarely remember what we spent on a given player if we win, but if things don't go well, we blame our higher-priced players. As someone who spent $41 on Adam Dunn in my AL-Only and who is sitting in 8th place, I'm re-learning this yet again.

This year was pretty much a disaster from the draft..I guess i have to just laugh at the crappy play of my team this year.

[Mithrandir]

Personally, I think spread-the-risk is a bad strategy in no small part because you end up with poor trading chips should your team not compete. Moreover, while we can spout off anecdotally about Player X not putting up expected numbers, the players that go for high $ generally do so because they not only offer extremely high upside but also consistency.

Teenwolf, sure your Crawford for Brantley deal seems fine now but you certainly couldn't say the same thing if you'd made the same trade with, say, Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez, or Jacoby Ellsbury. You got a little lucky so far and that's it.

You spend big money on young, consistent performers. I also look for a specific skill set that I'll spend big $ on as well. Usually I avoid speedsters (although I spent pretty big on Ellsbury this year in one league) and prefer high OBP, high power guys. I would have gotten burned had I landed Dunn, and he most certainly was a target of mine, but I've been reaping the rewards of Miguel Cabrera for quite some time now.

Let's also not lose sight of the fact that it's barely June. Plenty of time to turn a bad start around for some of these consistent performers.

that's true...but when you're 40 points out of the money, let alone first place can they turn it around enough to have some type of chance??

I haven't had to dump in quite a few years..guess this is the year that changes...

[Hornsby]

The big problem with going Stars-and-Scrubs, is that if everybody is doing it, the stars get inflated beyond their worth. Adrian Gonzalez has been great this year, but he cost $53, and his owner is sitting in last place. I just can't make that type of commitment.

As the owner of that 53 dollar Gonzalez, I'd do the same thing over again...his production has been nothing short of spectacular in an only league. It was injuries that did me in, not spending on one stud. At one point, I had 4 dead spots in my lineup due to injury, and half of my pitching staff on the DL. And in an only league, there are NO replacements to be had if such a catastrophe happens.

[Don Quixote]

The big problem with going Stars-and-Scrubs, is that if everybody is doing it, the stars get inflated beyond their worth.

You can say something similar for any strategy. If everyone is going Spread-The-Risk, the stars go cheaply and the good-not-great players go for too much. If everyone is going LIMA, the bigger-name pitchers go cheaply and the LIMA studs go for inflated prices.

As the lofty positions of my various teams shows, I have not yet figured out an answer to this problem.

[Hammer]

different strategies work under different conditions. Studs and duds work great if you have cheap keepers that arent very talented and you add a few starrs. If it doesnt work out, theyre the easiest commodities to deal off for next year.