Rip it to Shreds...Hornsby's RJEL Team

[bryanbutler]

And why wouldn't Jones have his career year at age 26? Is there some chronological ladder that I'm not aware of that says that statistics MUST progress every year?

he may have had his career year at age 26, but if he's like other good players, he'll have many more good years. see for instance the analysis at: http://www.tangotiger.net/aging.html. again, this is not to say he hasn't just had his best year, just that there is a broad peak of performance that extends from roughly 23 to roughly 32 and peaks around 27 or 28. so, while it's not true that his statistics MUST progress every year, they will probably be roughly similar to last year. and the year before (which were a bit worse, but not substantially so).

now, i think $40 is too much for him, but i also think $25 is too much for granderson.

[Hornsby]

LOL. You specifically asked "what OBP issues does Granderson have?" Did you mean for that to be a private message to someone?

Frankly, I don't see your point...he's a career .341 guy who had a .319 OBP last year...but you neglect to point out that he had a .364 OBP the prior year. So yeah, I don't see major OBP issues at all. His eye hasn't gone anywhere, his singles have. I'm not particularly worried about it.

[Hornsby]

Rip it to shreds!


...differing opinions not welcome...

Oh No, all opinions are welcome, even yours. It allows me to take a closer look at my weakness, and the few strengths I may have, and make for a better ballclub. Doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to defend my picks, is it? And argue the point if I believe that the poster is off base? That would hardly be constructive, to either bask in the glow of the praise (not much of that, LOL), or sit quietly and not try to explain my reasoning?

Frankly, I'm surprise that a 40/100/100/10 guy isn't worth 25 bucks in most people's opinions, even if you take a quarter of that off, hell, even a third of that would be worth 25 bucks in a keeper league. But again, it's just my opinion...

[The Dane]

My take:

Your strengths:
• Bastard. I wanted Miggy so bad, but I capped myself at $60 and almost went to $61. Would you have gone to $62? I settled for Votto at $60, which surely isn't a bad pick, but I'd rather have Miggy for that 6-spot.
• I like a lot of your hitters. First glance, reads that you'll be fine in HR and SB, but with injuries, playtime issues, you may be sore in the other counters.
• Unlike, some of the others, I like Morrison for $9. I did not have go that high because of what my team was shaping up to be when he came up, but I would have probably gone to $13 if the time was right for it.
• You also have some favorites in your rotation in Lester and Vogelstrong. I like Johnson, but I think you overpaid for him. Feels like he's getting brittle to me.
• I love your relievers. You should be in the hunt for saves.

Your weaknesses:
• Your rotation has three starters I was avoiding like the plague: Rodriguez, Buchholtz, Billingsley. They scare me and I think they'll sink strong efforts by Vogelstrong, Lester and a hopefully-healthy Johnson.
• I think ARod is a waste of $4, luckily it wasn't $14 or $24.
• Like most of us, you have some holes to fill, but I think Granderson and Morrison will go a long way toward taking care of that.

I think you have some work to do to contend, but you have some good pieces from which to build.

[Hornsby]

My take:

Your strengths:
• Bastard. I wanted Miggy so bad, but I capped myself at $60 and almost went to $61. Would you have gone to $62? I settled for Votto at $60, which surely isn't a bad pick, but I'd rather have Miggy for that 6-spot.
• I like a lot of your hitters. First glance, reads that you'll be fine in HR and SB, but with injuries, playtime issues, you may be sore in the other counters.
• Unlike, some of the others, I like Morrison for $9. I did not have go that high because of what my team was shaping up to be when he came up, but I would have probably gone to $13 if the time was right for it.
• You also have some favorites in your rotation in Lester and Vogelstrong. I like Johnson, but I think you overpaid for him. Feels like he's getting brittle to me.
• I love your relievers. You should be in the hunt for saves.

Your weaknesses:
• Your rotation has three starters I was avoiding like the plague: Rodriguez, Buchholtz, Billingsley. They scare me and I think they'll sink strong efforts by Vogelstrong, Lester and a hopefully-healthy Johnson.
• I think ARod is a waste of $4, luckily it wasn't $14 or $24.
• Like most of us, you have some holes to fill, but I think Granderson and Morrison will go a long way toward taking care of that.

I think you have some work to do to contend, but you have some good pieces from which to build.

Thanks...to answer your question, yes, I would have bid Miggy up a little higher, I believe that in this league you need a cornerstone to build around, and he was it. I tried to get Braun in the off-season, but Jude went in another direction, so I went for Miggy. BTW, Votto is the only other guy I would have gone 60 for...gold in an OBP league.

Agree about 2 or the 3 starters, I HATE the Buchholtz buy, don't know what I was thinking. But Bills and Wandy I think can still bring value, although I think that Bills will probably go under the knife sooner rather than later, but I guess we'll see.

And I'm always confused by people predicting that a 4 buck A-Rod is a total waste...unless you're convinced that he'll never play again, which i'm not, he'll earn that 4 bucks time and time again, IMO.

[ThatRogue]

Some people do think that A-Rod's career is over, but, if you think he will be able to return and contribute at a reasonable level, $4 as a lottery ticket is not a bad buy. Considering what Maxwell and Snider went for in a mixed league auction, the A-Rod price makes perfect sense...and I like the Granderson/LoMo buys too.

With that said, your roster is one of those tough one's to feel good about. On the hitting side, I feel fairly comfortable with what you will get from Cabrera, Dunn & Hill plus Bonifacio and Aybar should help with SB. Viciedo and Seager have tremendous power upside, and I love them at those prices...but they will harm your OBP. Everyone else appears to be a question mark w/r/t how much they'll truly help your team, though you have reinforcements coming in late-May/early June.

The pitching is also a bit of a toss up, with a number of guys that could be good, but that don't inspire confidence. This is one of those teams that could put up surprisingly good counting stats on offense and pitching, with some mediocre ratios. Or it could have upside that vault it into overall contention. My lack of AL familiarity is probably working against me here...but it's one of those teams that is not bad...but that doesn't make me comfortable, either.