Assuming I end up losing the last week 13-2 to the Noobies and the Sextones don't go 15-0 against the Weasels (a safe assumption at this point), I'm assured of winning the regular season with a ~196-115 record. Too bad I couldn't pull out at least 6 categories the last week to break the 200 win mark, but here is my wrap up:
The key to my season was picking Todd Helton on the first round, still batting over .350 and over 1.000 OPS. Ironically, two outfielders I took rather late in the draft turned out be very big producers - Vernon Wells (Tor) and Preston Wilson (Col) - neither of whom I figured would be as important as they turned out to be. Sadly, I would have run away from the crowd with a much better record had I taken better pitchers or kept pitchers I gave up early to waivers. Wade Miller (ranked #11 by Yahoo) and Greg Maddux (#6) were a real drain on my season and hanging on to them as they continued pitching poorly didn't help.
I gave up on Jamie Moyer (Sea) and now he's 16-6 so the reason I had almost twice the number of transactions as other managers during the season was because I was in a constant search for a pitching staff. Hell, I don't think I have any of the starters I took at the beginning of the season and I've spent the last 5 months trying out different pitchers. Dontrelle Willis (Fla) was a really pleasant surprise as I was carefully eyeing a number of call ups from the minor leagues. I got him when he was 1-1 and he proceeded to go to 9-2, now ~11-5 as his magic has warn off a bit and the Marlins have ceased producing alot of runs when he pitches.
Gil Meche (Sea) was another nice pick I grabbed after seeing him pitch a game and he had impressive stuff, and fortunately I got him as he went on a streak and only dropped him recently as he too is getting hit. I, and I believe the manager of Seattle,
noticed he's effective up until opponents go around the order twice and then he gets hit around the 6th inning, I've seen him get pulled in the 6th and 7th innings while still cruising. I won't run down a list of all the pitchers I tried, but another very important pick was Greg Gagne, the closer for the Dodgers. Wow! He was definitely worth sacrificing a 2nd round pick... Not just 45 straight saves but K's galore... My second closer was Mike Williams of Pittsburg and while he sure piled up plenty of saves, he's so weak in other categories (ERA, K's, WHIP, and K/BB's) I dropped him when I saw Matt Mantei (Ariz) avaliable, and that turned out to be not only wise but timely, Williams was soon traded and is now a set-up man with Philadelphia where he can produce plenty of baserunners for the Phillies' opponents.
Troy Glaus (3rd-Ana) was a real dis-appointment, a ho-hum season ending with a torn rotator cuff and I took him early. I gave up on Jason Kendall (C-Pitt) when he was batting in the .270 range and now he's around .315 - figures. Not getting one of the top catchers early on, I shouldn't have wasted a middle pick on him, but his ability to steal bases was too irresistable. Instead, I should have left catcher open till the end and picked from those still available. Edgar Renteria (SS-StL) proved to be an excellent pick even though I took him pretty early - glad I did. Luis Gonzalez (OF-Ariz) was my first OF and worthwhile, but not quite as productive as Preston and Vernon.
2nd base was another position I've been trying to fill with a hodgepodge of players, just not many top notch players at that position so if you don't get one with an early pick you're stuck playing musical chairs with a bunch of people. Soriano sure would be nice there but you'd have to grab him early... The Noobies beat me to a very nice pick, I had been watching Esteban Loaiza (P-ChiWS) and had decided to get him as a free agent but was delayed for a couple hours and when I got back to grab him, the Noobies had already taken him.
So there you have it, now to me, the Apolyton Pennant Champion.
The key to my season was picking Todd Helton on the first round, still batting over .350 and over 1.000 OPS. Ironically, two outfielders I took rather late in the draft turned out be very big producers - Vernon Wells (Tor) and Preston Wilson (Col) - neither of whom I figured would be as important as they turned out to be. Sadly, I would have run away from the crowd with a much better record had I taken better pitchers or kept pitchers I gave up early to waivers. Wade Miller (ranked #11 by Yahoo) and Greg Maddux (#6) were a real drain on my season and hanging on to them as they continued pitching poorly didn't help.
I gave up on Jamie Moyer (Sea) and now he's 16-6 so the reason I had almost twice the number of transactions as other managers during the season was because I was in a constant search for a pitching staff. Hell, I don't think I have any of the starters I took at the beginning of the season and I've spent the last 5 months trying out different pitchers. Dontrelle Willis (Fla) was a really pleasant surprise as I was carefully eyeing a number of call ups from the minor leagues. I got him when he was 1-1 and he proceeded to go to 9-2, now ~11-5 as his magic has warn off a bit and the Marlins have ceased producing alot of runs when he pitches.
Gil Meche (Sea) was another nice pick I grabbed after seeing him pitch a game and he had impressive stuff, and fortunately I got him as he went on a streak and only dropped him recently as he too is getting hit. I, and I believe the manager of Seattle,
noticed he's effective up until opponents go around the order twice and then he gets hit around the 6th inning, I've seen him get pulled in the 6th and 7th innings while still cruising. I won't run down a list of all the pitchers I tried, but another very important pick was Greg Gagne, the closer for the Dodgers. Wow! He was definitely worth sacrificing a 2nd round pick... Not just 45 straight saves but K's galore... My second closer was Mike Williams of Pittsburg and while he sure piled up plenty of saves, he's so weak in other categories (ERA, K's, WHIP, and K/BB's) I dropped him when I saw Matt Mantei (Ariz) avaliable, and that turned out to be not only wise but timely, Williams was soon traded and is now a set-up man with Philadelphia where he can produce plenty of baserunners for the Phillies' opponents.
Troy Glaus (3rd-Ana) was a real dis-appointment, a ho-hum season ending with a torn rotator cuff and I took him early. I gave up on Jason Kendall (C-Pitt) when he was batting in the .270 range and now he's around .315 - figures. Not getting one of the top catchers early on, I shouldn't have wasted a middle pick on him, but his ability to steal bases was too irresistable. Instead, I should have left catcher open till the end and picked from those still available. Edgar Renteria (SS-StL) proved to be an excellent pick even though I took him pretty early - glad I did. Luis Gonzalez (OF-Ariz) was my first OF and worthwhile, but not quite as productive as Preston and Vernon.
2nd base was another position I've been trying to fill with a hodgepodge of players, just not many top notch players at that position so if you don't get one with an early pick you're stuck playing musical chairs with a bunch of people. Soriano sure would be nice there but you'd have to grab him early... The Noobies beat me to a very nice pick, I had been watching Esteban Loaiza (P-ChiWS) and had decided to get him as a free agent but was delayed for a couple hours and when I got back to grab him, the Noobies had already taken him.
So there you have it, now to me, the Apolyton Pennant Champion.
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