Roster Doctor – 5/1/09

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Player Pool: NL-only
No. of Teams: 8
Categories: 5×5, except on-base percentage replaces batting average and K/9 replaces just Ks.
Scoring Type: Head-to-Head
Other Notes: Keeper League
Roster:

C – Brian McCann
1B – James Loney
2B – Mike Fontenot
3B – Casey Blake
SS – Stephen Drew
CI – Pablo Sandoval
MI – Miguel Tejada
OF – Matt Kemp
OF – Alfonso Soriano
OF – Nate McLouth
OF – Willy Taveras
OF – Randy Winn
UT – Milton Bradley
BN – Cameron Maybin
BN – Yadier Molina
BN – Luis Castillo
BN – Troy Glaus

P – Dan Haren
P – Derek Lowe
P – Paul Maholm
P – Rich Harden
P – Jair Jurrjens
P – Kyle Lohse
P – Brian Wilson
P – Manny Corpas

Unfortunately this is not a standard league, so I cannot do the “Honest Evaluation” technique Marco and I like to do but no worries, I can still evaluate your team. Keep in mind that everything with this team depends on whether you should be leaning toward “going for it” this year or planning for the future.

Looking at your hitters, you seem to have a nice young core centered primarily around Kemp, McCann, McLouth, Loney and Maybin. But then you also have another group of hitters close to or already at their time of fading into fantasy irrelevance, namely Bradley, Winn, Blake, and Tejada. Seeing how those hitters are less of impact players than the younger ones are, I would say you should be playing for today and should be competitive in the hitting categories for the next couple of years.

Your team is pretty light on power but makes up for it in runs and steals. In the RBI and on-base categories it seems above-average at best so your hitting is not top-notch but also could compete with the best teams if your role players like Bradley and Winn stay productive.

Moving on to your pitching, in short, it appears dominant. I like the irony of having the former A’s one-two punch as your own, (I could not find an old A’s commercial featuring the two of them) and Haren and Harden are both extra valuable in a K/9 league. Lohse, Jurrjens, and Maholm, although not strikeout kings, are solid ratio pitchers and round out your rotation nicely.

Right now you only have about one and a half closers—Corpas is the half of a closer—but in an NL-only league there are only 16 closers to be had, so you are not doing too bad there.

I would not mess up this team to much; it appears to be well balanced and competitive now with young players to keep it competitive in the future. The one thing I would do is drop one of your bench hitters, maybe Yadier because you can always plug Sandoval in at catcher if necessary and add a young pitcher. I am not sure who is available but James McDonald is an example someone I would look for, a young pitcher near or in the major leagues. I do not suggest you start this player right away, but consider them an asset for the future.

If there are no young pitchers available you like, then pick up a relief pitcher to help your ratios. I would rather have a guy like Aaron Heilman helping my ratios and adding in a few extra wins and Ks every few nights than Yadier rotting on the bench.

Other than that, all I can say is go for it this year. Talk to teams you see might be “sellers” later in the year, and look to make a push to take down the title this year. It is a possibility.


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dylan
14 years ago

One thing is that you have 7 OF where you only start 5(not including the UTL spot), but only 3 CI where you start 3. That kinda limits your ability to use Sandoval at catcher. I would try and see if you can trade an OF for a 1b or 3b of equal value. If Glaus was coming back sooner, you wouldn’t have to worry.

Derek Carty
14 years ago

I might consider trading either Sandoval or McCann once he’s healthy.  Assuming Sandoval is C-eligible, it seems a waste to have him starting at a CI spot.  Sandoval’s value to you is at catcher, be it on your team or on someone else’s (bringing you appropriate value in a trade).