The Hardball Times Fantasy

Introducing The 2011 THT Fantasy League

by Jeffrey Gross
March 25, 2011

It took a flurry of emails, a slight change in participating personnel, and plenty of draft day rescheduling, but the inaugural THT Fantasy fantasy baseball league is drafted and ready for opening day!

The league is composed of 12 participants—11 THT writers (including Oliver's creator, Brian Cartwright) and Dave Chenok, the winner of the THT Fantasy "Compete Against The Experts" competition. We are playing in a 5x5 standard (HR, SB, R, RBI, AVG, K, ERA, WHIP, W, SV) rotisserie league. Each team has a 27-man roster composed of C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, CI, MI, 4 OF, 2 UTIL, 3 SP, 2 RP, 4 P, 5 BN (2 DL). There is a 165 games-played cap and a 1,550 innings pitched limit.

After the trade deadline (Aug. 14), a weekly transaction limit will be installed to deter streaming (I trust the integrity of all, but am a skeptic of systematic incentives inherent in Yahoo's soft innings pitched cap). The auction draft took place on the evening of March 14, each player with $260 to his name. It took a little over four hours, but what follows is the result of overspending by all. Seriously, look at some of the prices on the top talent!

But first, before we get into the murky roster details, let's present the current League Constitution. League constitutions are an important and overlooked contract among league members that can easily avert in-season disputes through a little preseason diligence. If you establish rules early, especially in controversial areas such as trading and trade vetoes, you can avoid the flame wars of May-September. My league constitution addresses only two key issues, but other issues such as collusion and its consequences should be addressed as well. Suggest additions (or changes, I suppose) in the comments below by writing your own rules for review.

TRADING RULE:

A trade in this league is a contract of exchange between two parties. A trade is a bargained for exchange between two consenting adults based on their expectations and valuations of each player. I will not disturb those expectations and valuations unless there is an absolute necessity to do so (i.e., obvious fire sale or collusion) to maintain the integrity and spirit of competition. The courts of the United States will generally not inquire into the adequacy of consideration and neither will I. This means is that there is no collective veto of trade power vested in this league. The power of termination regarding an exchange of players will lie within 1) the discretionary power of the commissioner (myself) who will not veto trades unless they are grossly and clearly unconscionable or the byproduct of collusion or anti-competitive practices, and 2) the power of either party to the trade, for a period of 24 hours after the trade is approved.

I will approve trades as soon as reasonably possible. The standard for "clearly unconscionable" in this league will be such that no reasonable person would ever have made this trade under the circumstances at the time of the trade. The standard is not "you could have gotten so much more for that player." Valuations and future risk association is a matter between parties. There are also no implied or express warranties regarding promises or allegations of player's value. Per the second restatement of contracts, a warranty cannot be created out of a statement of opinion or perceived valuation. If a party to the trade can prove fraud, however, I will recise the trade beyond the 24 hour revocability period and make all changes retroactive. The economy is based on the exchange of perceived values and the ability of people to do so; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That is the gamble one takes when they make an exchange and you, by competing in this league, agree to undertake these risks and consequences when you assent to a trade.

Put succinctly, the law allows parties to exploit the undervaluing of others and so will I (generally speaking).

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INJURY RULE:
If a player is traded and goes on the DL for an injury sustained BEFORE the trade was approved by the commissioner, then the trade will be retroactively invalidated. If the injury is sustained AFTER the trade was approved by the commissioner, then it is your loss.


As you can probably tell, we are a very pro-market, low-micromanagement league. On to the rosters:

Name: Jeffrey Gross (aka The King of Dollar Days)
Team Name: Jeters Never Prosper
Number of years playing fantasy: Five
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Six
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Either Michael Pineda or Edwin Encarnacion

Roster
C: Joe Mauer ($27)
1B: Adam Dunn ($21)
2B: Gordon Beckham ($10)
SS: Hanley Ramirez ($55)
3B: Aramis Ramirez ($10)
CI: Edwin Encarnacion ($1)
MI: Derek Jeter ($19)
OF: Alex Rios ($22)
OF: Hunter Pence ($17)
OF: Ben Zobrist ($11)
OF: Omar Infante ($1)
UTIL: Brian McCann ($17)
UTIL: Franklin Gutierrez ($1)
SP: Tommy Hanson ($16)
SP: Dan Haren ($13)
SP: Francisco Liriano ($11)
RP: Brandon League ($2)
RP: Alexei Ogando ($1)
P: Mike Adams ($2)
P: Michael Pineda ($1)
P: Scott Baker ($1)
P: Kyle Drabek ($1)
BN: Jesus Montero ($1)
BN: Grant Balfour ($1)
BN: Tim Stauffer ($1)
BN: Dallas Braden ($1)
BN: Domonic Brown ($1)

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Name: Paul Singman
Team Name: The Jalopys
Number of years playing fantasy: Five
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Six
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Ike Davis

Roster
C: Mike Napoli ($4)
1B: Miguel Cabrera ($45)
2B: Rickie Weeks ($20)
SS: Ian Desmond ($7)
3B: Casey McGehee ($8)
CI: Ike Davis ($1)
MI: Aaron Hill ($10)
OF: Matt Kemp ($30)
OF: Andrew McCutchen ($31)
OF: Mike Stanton ($21)
OF: Drew Stubbs ($15)
UTIL: Jose Tabata ($8)
UTIL: Travis Snider ($7)
SP: Shaun Marcum ($9)
SP: C.J. Wilson ($3)
SP: Ricky Nolasco ($4)
RP: Leo Nunez ($6)
RP: Ryan Franklin ($3)
P: James Shields ($3)
P: Trevor Cahill ($6)
P: Frank Francisco ($4)
P: Kyle Farnsworth ($2)
BN: Coco Crisp ($4)
BN: Jason Bay ($4)
BN: Andrew Torres ($2)
BN: Koji Uehara ($1)
BN: Ricky Romero ($2)
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Name: Dave Chenok
Team Name: Schilling and Pence
Number of years playing fantasy: Seven
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Five
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $12
Best $1 pick: I guess that would be Soriano handcuffing Mo. As Leona Helmsley famously said, $1 picks are for the Little People.

Roster
C: Carlos Ruiz ($1)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez ($48)
2B: Ian Kinsler ($28)
SS: Jose Reyes ($27)
3B: Ryan Zimmerman ($38)
CI: Adam Lind ($4)
MI: Yunel Escobar ($3)
OF: Shin Shoo Choo ($28)
OF: Nick Markakis ($6)
OF: Rajai Davis ($4)
OF: Vernon Wells ($4)
UTIL: David Ortiz ($5)
UTIL: Magglio Ordonez ($5)
SP: Chris Carpenter ($8)
SP: Tim Hudson ($3)
SP: Brett Myers ($2)
RP: Jonathan Papelbon ($4)
RP: Mariano Rivera ($12)
P: John Danks ($2)
P: Francisco Rodriguez ($5)
P: Chris Perez ($4)
P: Kevin Gregg ($2)
BN: Luke Scott ($2)
BN: Jason Bartlett ($1)
BN: A.J. Burnett ($2)
BN: Rafael Soriano ($1)
BN: Daniel Bard ($2)
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Name: Brad "I told everyone my strategy in advance" Johnson
Team Name: Tagg Bozied Spray
Number of years playing fantasy: Six
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Four
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Erik Bedard

Roster
C: Victor Martinez ($17)
1B: Billy Butler ($15)
2B: Kelly Johnson ($8)
SS: Alexei Ramirez ($21)
3B: Chipper Jones ($3)
CI: Kendrys Morales ($23)
MI: Howie Kendrick ($3)
OF: Torii Hunter ($4)
OF: Bobby Abreu ($4)
OF: Aubrey Huff ($5)
OF: Colby Rasmus ($11)
UTIL: Chris Coghlan ($4)
UTIL: Logan Morrison ($3)
SP: Felix Hernandez ($31)
SP: Jon Lester ($28)
SP: Zack Greinke ($17)
RP: Heath Bell ($17)
RP: Joakim Soria ($12)
P: Jhoulys Chacin ($7)
P: Erik Bedard ($1)
P: Huston Street ($4)
P: Jonathan Broxton ($6)
BN: Joel Hanrahan ($3)
BN: Chris Sale ($1)
BN: Andrew Bailey ($4)
BN: Geovany Soto ($5)
BN: Freddie Freeman ($2)
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Name: Kevin Cearnal
Team Name: hoagies-N-grinders
Number of years playing fantasy: Eight
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Five
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $1
Best $1 pick: Brian Matusz

Roster
C: Kurt Suzuki ($2)
1B: Ryan Howard ($40)
2B: Robinson Cano ($40)
SS: Jimmy Rollins ($24)
3B: Mary Reynolds ($13)
CI: Martin Prado ($8)
MI: Chone Figgins ($4)
OF: Justin Upton ($21)
OF: Michael Bourn ($4)
OF: Corey Hart ($8)
OF: Carlos Quentin ($2)
UTIL: Adam LaRoche ($2)
UTIL: Brian Roberts ($4)
SP: Ubaldo Jimenez ($18)
SP: David Price ($19)
SP: Matt Cain ($9)
RP: Carlos Marmol ($15)
RP: Evan Meek ($1)
P: Josh Beckett ($4)
P: Carlos Zambrano ($2)
P: Tyler Clippard ($1)
P: Jake Peavy ($5)
BN: Nate McLouth ($3)
BN: MIguel Tejada ($2)
BN: Peter Bourjos ($2)
BN: Manny Ramirez ($5)
BN: Brian Matusz ($1)
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Name: "Lord Voldemort" (aka someone from THT whose name we cannot legally reveal and henceforth shall be known as "he who shall not be named")
Team Name: Jimmy Kabimi (editors note: his team name should be "As Good As It Getz")
Number of years playing fantasy: Eight
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Two
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Well, I’ve only got five choices, which cuts the options down a little bit, but I loved getting Chris Getz for $1. I think he’s got a legitimate shot to become a league average second baseman who can provide lots of cheap steals. The RBI and homers won’t be there—and batting low in the lineup on the Royals won’t help that runs total—but he should have a playable batting average and a ton of speed. I’m targeting Getz as a high-priority backup option in all my leagues where I don’t get my top target at middle infielder.

Sure, getting him for $1 is to be expected, but I think he’s going to turn some heads this season. His double-play mate, Alcides Escobar, comes in a very close second. He’s another cheap backup that I’m keeping tucked under the rug in all my leagues. However, I do not plan to play either Getz or Polanco at UTIL once the season starts.

C: JP Arencibia $2
1B: Albert Pujols $65
2B: Chase Utley $17
3B: Michael Young $12
SS: Alcides Escobar $1
CI: Carlos Lee $8
MI: Sean Rodriguez $3
OF: Matt Holliday $32
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury $20
OF: Josh Willingham $2
OF: Garrett Jones $1
UTIL: Placido Polanco $1
UTIL: Chris Getz $1
SP: Josh Johnson $25
SP: Roy Oswalt $7
SP: Jered Weaver $15
RP: Joe Nathan $8
RP: Matt Thornton $6
P: Edinson Volquez $7
P: Jaime Garcia $2
P: Jeremy Hellickson $6
P: Craig Kimbrel $6
BN: Jose Valverde $4
BN: Jonny Venters $3
BN: David Aardsma $2
BN: Octavio Dotel $3
BN: (DL) Stephen Strasburg $1
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Name: David Wade (aka D-Wade)
Team Name: The Gashouse Goons
Number of years playing fantasy: Six
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Two
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Clayton Richard

Roster
C: Jorge Posada ($4)
1B: Joey Votto ($44)
2B: Dan Uggla ($21)
SS: Elvis Andrus ($17)
3B: Evan Longoria ($46)
CI: Mark Teixeira ($36)
MI: Brandon Phillips ($16)
OF: Jayson Werth ($26)
OF: Nick Swisher ($4)
OF: Curtis Granderson ($7)
OF: Alfonso Soriano ($2)
UTIL: Ian Stewart ($3)
UTIL: Michael Cuddyer ($2)
SP: Ryan Dempster ($5)
SP: Ted Lilly ($3)
SP: Jonathan Sanchez ($6)
RP: Francisco Cordero ($3)
RP: Brandon Lyon ($2)
P: Jorge De La Rosa (3)
P: Clayton Richard ($1)
P: Derek Lowe ($1)
P: Johnny Cueto ($2)
BN: Sean Marshall ($2)
BN: Brett Cecil ($1)
BN: Homer Bailey ($1)
BN: John Jaso ($1)
BN: Lance Berkman ($1)
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Name: Josh "Steal All Of Jeff's Players" Shepardson
Team Name: Josh Shepardson
Number of years playing fantasy: Eleven
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Eight
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Gavin Floyd

Roster
C: Carlos Santana ($23)
1B: Prince Fielder ($36)
2B: Ryan Raburn ($6)
SS: Stephen Drew ($17)
3B: Adrian Beltre ($27)
CI: Kevin Youkilis ($34)
MI: Asdrubal Cabrera ($1)
OF: Nelson Cruz ($29)

OF: B.J. Upton ($12)

OF: Chris Young ($10)

OF: Denard Span ($2)

UTIL: Pablo Sandoval ($15)
UTIL: Johnny Damon ($1)
SP: Cole Hamels ($18)

SP: Brandon Morrow ($7)
SP: Madison Bumgarner ($3)

RP: John Axford ($5)

RP: Aroldis Chapman ($3)

P: Gavin Floyd ($1)

P: Jake McGee ($1)

P: Ian Kennedy ($2)

P: Mike Minor ($1)

BN: Johan Santana ($1)

BN: Joel Peralta ($1)
BN: Mike Moustakas ($1)
BN: Desmond Jennings ($2)
BN: Dustin Ackley ($1)
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Name: Vince Caramela
Team Name: Free Eric Duncan
Number of years playing fantasy: Six
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Two
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: Justin Smoak (I hope)

Roster
C: Buster Posey ($25)
1B: Justin Smoak ($1)
2B: Juan Uribe ($2)
SS: Troy Tulowitzki ($52)
3B: Alex Rodriguez ($37)
CI: Pedro Alvarez ($8)
MI: Reid Brignac ($1)
OF: Carlos Gonzalez ($45)
OF: Jay Bruce ($26)
OF: Grady Sizemore ($6)
OF: Dexter Fowler ($1)
UTIL: Julio Borbon ($1)
UTIL: Matt Joyce ($1)
SP: Ervin Santana ($2)
SP: Wandy Rodriguez ($5)
RP: J.J. Putz ($4)
RP: Brian Fuentes ($1)
P: Yovani Gallardo ($16)
P: Phil Hughes ($7)
P: Brett Anderson ($6)
P: Clay Buchholz ($6)
BN: Russell Martin ($1)
BN: Eric Hosmer ($1)
BN: Russell Branyan ($1)
BN: Derek Holland ($1)
BN: Kevin Jepsen ($1)
BN: Hiroki Kuroda ($2)
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Name: Joe Dimino
Team Name: Vive Les Expos
Number of years playing fantasy: Seventeen
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Four
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: I had 13 of them, so a lot to choose from. Probably Raul Ibanez, Bronson Arroyo or Alexi Casilla.

Roster
C: John Buck ($1)
1B: Derrek Lee ($3)
2B: Tsuyoshi Nishioka ($7)
SS: Rafael Furcal ($7)
3B: Scott Rolen ($1)
CI: James Loney ($1)
MI: Alexi Casilla ($1)
OF: Carl Crawford ($47)
OF: Ryan Braun ($46)
OF: Ichiro Suzuki ($19)
OF: Shane Victorino ($13)
UTIL: Brett Gardner ($12)
UTIL: Juan Pierre ($7)
SP: Cliff Lee ($28)
SP: Tim Lincecum ($31)
SP: C.C. Sabathia ($22)
RP: Matt Capps ($1)
RP: Jason Motte ($1)
P: Travis Wood ($1)
P: Jeff Niemann ($1)
P: Jonathon Niese ($1)
P: Bronson Arroyo ($1)
BN: Carlos Beltran ($3)
BN: Austin Jackson ($2)
BN: Yadier Molina ($1)
BN: Kenley Jansen ($1)
BN: Raúl Ibañez ($1)
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Name: Brian Cartwright
Team Name: Ollie’s Northmen
Number of years playing fantasy: Zero (fantasy virgin)
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: One (this league)
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $0
Best $1 pick: David DeJesus

Roster
C: Matt Wieters ($10)
1B: Lyle Overbay ($1)
2B: Dustin Pedroia ($34)
SS: Alex Gonzalez ($1)
3B: David Wright ($43)
CI: Danny Valencia ($2)
MI: Mike Aviles ($1)
OF: Jason Heyward ($29)
OF: Delmon Young ($13)
OF: David DeJesus ($1)
OF: Nyjer Morgan ($1)
UTIL: Will Venable ($2)
UTIL: Tyler Colvin ($1)
SP: Mat Latos ($21)
SP: Clayton Kershaw ($26)
SP: Roy Halladay ($33)
RP: Brian Wilson ($13)
RP: Luke Gregerson ($3)
P: Matt Garza ($5)
P: Chad Billingsley ($8)
P: Hong-Chih Kuo ($2)
P: Edwin Jackson ($1)
BN: Kila Ka’aihue ($5)
BN: Cameron Maybin ($1)
BN: Wade Davis ($1)
BN: Jair Jurrjens ($1)
BN: Anibal Sanchez ($1)
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Name: Ben "Too Good To Fill Out His Own Survey" Pritchett
Team Name: Natural Born Slugger
Number of years playing fantasy: Twelve
Number of fantasy leagues for 2011: Five
Amount Of Cash Left On Table: $3
Best $1 pick: John Lackey (unless, of course, Alex Gordon quits Delwyn Younging it and starts Delmon Younging it)


Roster
C: Miguel Montero ($4)
1B: Justin Morneau ($26)
2B: Danny Espinosa ($10)
SS: Starlin Castro ($9)
3B: Jose Bautista ($30)
CI: Carlos Pena ($3)
MI: Neil Walker ($6)
OF: Josh Hamilton ($37)
OF: Andre Ethier ($21)
OF: Angel Pagan ($5)
OF: Adam Jones ($3)
UTIL: Paul Konerko ($13)
UTIL: Vladimir Guerrero ($3)
SP: Justin Verlander ($24)
SP: Max Scherzer ($12)
SP: Jordan Zimmerman ($5)
RP: Fernando Rodney ($3)
RP: Neftali Feliz ($12)
P: Brad Lidge ($4)
P: Daniel Hudson ($6)
P: Gio Gonzalez ($6)
P: Colby Lewis ($4)
BN: Marlon Byrd ($1)
BN: John Lackey ($1)
BN: Drew Storen ($6)
BN: Javier Vazquez ($1)
BN: Alex Gordon ($1)
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The rosters noted, here are a few of the more substantial moves made in the league thus far (trades and preseason free agency moves of consequence):


Now that you have the information, give us some feedback. Who drafted the best/worst teams? What were the best/worst picks in your opinion? What trades and free agency picks were the best for who and why? Shouldn't Josh Shepardson just finally trade me B.J. Upton already or whatever?

As always, sound off the love/hate in the comments below!

Jeffrey Gross is an attorney (and die-hard Cubs fan) who currently resides in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In addition to writing for The Hardball Times, he also reviews tasty adult beverages as part of a side project titled "saBEERmetrics." He previously worked for The Daily Illini and Northern Star newspapers as a film critic and sportswriter (respectively). You can reach him by email at saBEERmetrics AT gmail DOT com.

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