Doug Dennis – Baseball HQ
Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton – Rotoworld.com
NFBC - Greg Ambrosius/Shawn Childs
Steve Gardner – USA TODAY
Derek Carty – Baseball Prospectus
Roto Synthesis - Dalton Del Don
Eric Karabell – ESPN
Brandon Funston – Yahoo! Sports
Steve Moyer – Baseball Info Solutions
Bob Radomski – Sandlot Shrink
ESPN - Tristan Cockcroft
Mastersball.com - Lawr Michaels
Ray Flowers BaseballGuys

Standings Based on Stats Thru Tuesday March 27 Rank Team and Owner Total  Avg  HR  RBI  R  SB  W  S  ERA  Rtio  K 1 Full Moon Sports Wolf/ Colton 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 2 Baseball HQ Doug Dennis 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 3 RotoWire Dalton Del Don 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 4 ESPN – Cockcroft Tristan H. Cockcroft 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 5 USA TODAY Steve Gardner 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 6 Yahoo – Brandon Brandon Funston 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 7 Mastersball Lawr Michaels 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 8 Baseball Info Solutions Steve Moyer 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 9 Sandlot Shrink Bob Radomski 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 10 Ray Flowers Ray Flowers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 11 Greg Ambrosius Greg Ambrosius 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 12 Baseball Prospectus Derek Carty 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 13 ESPN – Karabell Eric Karabell 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .00 0 .000 0 0 TM 1: Full Moon Wolf/ Colton Player TM Pos Brian McCann ATL C George Kottaras MLW C Gaby Sanchez FLA 1B Aaron Hill ARZ 2B Ian Desmond WAS SS Chris Johnson HOU 3B Juan Rivera LA 1B/3B Adam Kennedy LA 2B/SS Justin Upton ARZ OF Matt Kemp LA OF J.B. Shuck HOU OF Eric Young Jr. COL OF Carlos Gonzalez COL OF Johnny Damon TB UTIL Heath Bell FLA RP Edward Mujica FLA RP Steve Cishek FLA RP Yovani Gallardo MLW SP Chris Volstad CHC SP Aaron Harang LA SP James McDonald PIT SP Travis Wood CHC SP Drew Pomeranz COL SP Chris Narveson MLW SP Chris Marrero WAS RESER (1B) Esmil Rogers COL RESER (SP) Kevin Correia PIT RESER (SP) Charlie Morton PIT RESER (SP) Barry Zito SF RESER (RP) Jeremy Affeldt SF RESER (RP) TM 2: BHQ Doug Dennis Player TM Pos Josh Thole NYM C John Buck FLA C Ryan Howard PHI 1B Darwin Barney CHC 2B Jason Bartlett SD SS Chase Headley SD 3B Carlos Lee HOU 1B/3B Dan Uggla ATL 2B/SS Michael Bourn ATL OF Jason Bourgeois HOU OF Corey Hart MLW OF Matt Holliday STL OF Michael Cuddyer COL OF Daniel Descalso STL UTIL Brad Brach SD RP Marc Rzepczynski STL RP Homer Bailey CIN SP Marco Estrada MLW SP Jon Niese NYM SP Joe Blanton PHI SP Tyler Skaggs ARZ SP Jordan Lyles HOU SP Joe Wieland SD SP Brett Myers HOU RP Logan Schafer MLW RESER (OF) Tony Campana CHC RESER (OF) Eduardo Sanchez STL RESER (RP) Phillippe Aumont PHI RESER (RP) Alex White COL RESER (SP) Matt Belisle COL RESER (RP) TM 3: RotoWire Dalton Del Don Player TM Pos Jason Castro HOU C Ryan Hanigan CIN C Freddie Freeman ATL 1B Freddy Sanchez SF 2B Zack Cozart CIN SS Juan Francisco CIN 3B David Freese STL 1B/3B Chase Utley PHI 2B/SS Jordan Schafer HOU OF Jason Kubel ARZ OF Cameron Maybin SD OF David DeJesus CHC OF Jayson Werth WAS OF Chipper Jones ATL UTIL Chad Billingsley LA SP Matt Garza CHC SP Jaime Garcia STL SP Randy Wells CHC SP Stephen Strasburg WAS SP Aroldis Chapman CIN SP Trevor Bauer ARZ SP Kerry Wood CHC RP Johan Santana NYM SP Chien-Ming Wang WAS SP Billy Hamilton CIN RESER (SS) Brad Hand FLA RESER (RP) Santiago Casilla SF RESER (RP) Matt Harvey NYM RESER (SP) Chris Young NYM RESER (SP) Dustin Moseley SD RESER (SP) TM 4: Tristan Tristan H. Cockcroft Player TM Pos Jesus Flores WAS C Devin Mesoraco CIN C Brett Wallace HOU 1B Neil Walker PIT 2B Hanley Ramirez FLA SS Jimmy Paredes HOU 3B Pedro Alvarez PIT 1B/3B Stephen Drew ARZ 2B/SS John Mayberry PHI OF Jay Bruce CIN OF Jason Bay NYM OF Giancarlo Stanton FLA OF Juan Pierre PHI OF Casey McGehee PIT UTIL Jason Motte STL RP David Hernandez ARZ RP Kris Medlen ATL RP Arodys Vizcaino ATL RP Wily Peralta MLW SP Mat Latos CIN SP Jhoulys Chacin COL SP Jordan Zimmermann WAS SP Clayton Richard SD SP Anibal Sanchez FLA SP Ramon Ramirez NYM RESER (RP) Brad Boxberger SD RESER (RP) Mike Pelfrey NYM RESER (SP) Guillermo Moscoso COL RESER (SP) Casey Kelly SD RESER (SP) Livan Hernandez HOU RESER (SP) TM 5: USA TODAY Steve Gardner Player TM Pos A.J. Ellis LA C Rod Barajas PIT C Anthony Rizzo CHC 1B Rickie Weeks MLW 2B Jose Reyes FLA SS Casey Blake COL 3B Adam LaRoche WAS 1B/3B Tyler Pastornicky ATL 2B/SS Brian Bogusevic HOU OF J.D. Martinez HOU OF Bryan LaHair CHC OF Allen Craig STL OF Gerardo Parra ARZ OF Shane Victorino PHI UTIL Craig Kimbrel ATL RP Joel Hanrahan PIT RP Eric O’Flaherty ATL RP Sean Marshall CIN RP Ricky Nolasco FLA SP Trevor Cahill ARZ SP Juan Nicasio COL SP Chris Capuano LA SP Roy Halladay PHI SP Carlos Zambrano FLA SP Jeff Baker CHC RESER (1B) Matt Adams STL RESER (1B) Jedd Gyorko SD RESER (3B) Jonel Pacheco PIT RESER (OF) Bryan Petersen FLA RESER (OF) Evan Meek PIT RESER (RP) TM 6: Yahoo Brandon Funston Player TM Pos Wilson Ramos WAS C Welington Castillo CHC C Paul Goldschmidt ARZ 1B Orlando Hudson SD 2B Dee Gordon LA SS Aramis Ramirez MLW 3B Nolan Arenado COL 1B/3B Jose Altuve HOU 2B/SS Brett Jackson CHC OF Logan Morrison FLA OF Chris Coghlan FLA OF Carlos Beltran STL OF Marlon Byrd CHC OF Ty Wigginton PHI UTIL Frank Francisco NYM RP Tyler Clippard WAS RP Jonny Venters ATL RP Mike Minor ATL SP Bud Norris HOU SP Tim Lincecum SF SP Ian Kennedy ARZ SP Jon Rauch NYM RP Jorge De La Rosa COL SP Bronson Arroyo CIN SP Steve Lombardozzi WAS RESER (2B) Todd Frazier CIN RESER (3B) Zach Lutz NYM RESER (3B) Scott Cousins FLA RESER (OF) Juan Carlos Oviedo FLA RESER (RP) Gerrit Cole PIT RESER (SP) TM 7: Lawr Lawr Michaels Player TM Pos Carlos Ruiz PHI C Nick Hundley SD C Aubrey Huff SF 1B Taylor Green MLW 2B Brandon Crawford SF SS Martin Prado ATL 3B Mark DeRosa WAS 1B/3B Brandon Phillips CIN 2B/SS Skip Schumaker STL OF Nate Schierholtz SF OF Kyle Blanks SD OF Chris Heisey CIN OF Emilio Bonifacio FLA OF Jose Tabata PIT UTIL Wilton Lopez HOU RP John Axford MLW RP Brian Wilson SF RP Shaun Marcum MLW SP Matt Cain SF SP Tim Stauffer SD SP Cory Luebke SD SP Josh Collmenter ARZ SP Jake Westbrook STL SP Ryan Vogelsong SF SP Erik Komatsu STL RESER (OF) Dave Sappelt CHC RESER (OF) Gary Brown SF RESER (OF) Chase d’Arnaud PIT RESER (SS) Ernesto Frieri SD RESER (RP) Nathan Eovaldi LA RESER (SP) TM 8: BIS Steve Moyer Player TM Pos Yadier Molina STL C Buster Posey SF C Ike Davis NYM 1B Omar Infante FLA 2B Starlin Castro CHC SS Pablo Sandoval SF 3B Jed Lowrie HOU 1B/3B Justin Turner NYM 2B/SS Tyler Colvin COL OF Charlie Blackmon COL OF Laynce Nix PHI OF Melky Cabrera SF OF Angel Pagan SF OF Jim Thome PHI UTIL Jonathan Papelbon PHI RP Drew Storen WAS RP Bobby Parnell NYM RP Brandon Beachy ATL SP Wade Miley ARZ SP Lance Lynn STL SP Johnny Cueto CIN SP Robbie Erlin SD SP Mark Buehrle FLA SP Adam Wainwright STL SP Adrian Cardenas CHC RESER (2B) Jose Ceda FLA RESER (RP) Josh Lindblom LA RESER (RP) Michael Dunn FLA RESER (RP) Randall Delgado ATL RESER (SP) Anthony Bass SD RESER (SP) TM 9: Shrink Bob Radomski Player TM Pos Miguel Montero ARZ C John Baker SD C Michael Morse WAS 1B Danny Espinosa WAS 2B Marco Scutaro COL SS Ryan Zimmerman WAS 3B Jerry Hairston Jr. LA 1B/3B Ryan Theriot SF 2B/SS Andre Ethier LA OF Tony Gwynn Jr. LA OF Carlos Gomez MLW OF Alex Presley PIT OF Drew Stubbs CIN OF Willie Bloomquist ARZ UTIL Antonio Bastardo PHI RP Fernando Salas STL RP Javy Guerra LA RP Rex Brothers COL RP Mike Leake CIN SP Edwin Jackson WAS SP Jeff Karstens PIT SP Edinson Volquez SD SP J.J. Putz ARZ RP Cliff Lee PHI SP Greg Dobbs FLA RESER (3B) Anthony Rendon WAS RESER (3B) Chris Denorfia SD RESER (OF) Eric Hinske ATL RESER (OF) Reed Johnson CHC RESER (OF) Brandon Lyon HOU RESER (RP) TM 10: Ray Flowe Ray Flowers Player TM Pos David Ross ATL C Wilin Rosario COL C Derrek Lee PIT 1B Chris Nelson COL 2B Rafael Furcal STL SS Placido Polanco PHI 3B Garrett Jones PIT 1B/3B Daniel Murphy NYM 2B/SS Dexter Fowler COL OF Andrew McCutchen PIT OF Carlos Quentin SD OF Alfonso Soriano CHC OF Nate McLouth PIT OF Chris Young ARZ UTIL Takashi Saito ARZ RP Jeff Samardzija CHC RP Sergio Romo SF RP Luke Gregerson SD RP Madison Bumgarner SF SP Eric Surkamp SF SP Tommy Hanson ATL SP Gio Gonzalez WAS SP Wandy Rodriguez HOU SP Rafael Betancourt COL RP Logan Forsythe SD RESER (3B) Blake DeWitt CHC RESER (OF) Rick Ankiel WAS RESER (OF) J.D. Drew BOS RESER (OF) Tom Gorzelanny WAS RESER (RP) Ross Detwiler WAS RESER (SP) TM 11: Greg Ambr Greg Ambrosius Player TM Pos Chris Snyder HOU C Tim Federowicz LA C Joey Votto CIN 1B Ruben Tejada NYM 2B Troy Tulowitzki COL SS Juan Uribe LA 3B Brandon Belt SF 1B/3B Clint Barmes PIT 2B/SS Ryan Braun MLW OF Bryce Harper WAS OF Jerry Sands LA OF Roger Bernadina WAS OF Domonic Brown PHI OF Lyle Overbay ARZ UTIL Henry Rodriguez WAS RP Kenley Jansen LA RP David Carpenter HOU RP Julio Teheran ATL SP Clayton Kershaw LA SP Zack Greinke MLW SP Joe Saunders ARZ SP Paul Maholm CHC SP Josh Johnson FLA SP Shelby Miller STL SP Mark Hamilton STL RESER (1B) Jose Constanza ATL RESER (OF) Everth Cabrera SD RESER (SS) Jason Giambi COL RESER (1B) Tyler Chatwood COL RESER (RP) Josh Outman COL RESER (SP) TM 12: BP Carty Derek Carty Player TM Pos Geovany Soto CHC C Ramon Hernandez COL C James Loney LA 1B Mark Ellis LA 2B Alex Gonzalez MLW SS Ian Stewart CHC 3B Todd Helton COL 1B/3B Tyler Greene STL 2B/SS Jason Heyward ATL OF Jon Jay STL OF Nyjer Morgan MLW OF Ryan Ludwick CIN OF Andres Torres NYM OF David Wright NYM UTIL Huston Street SD RP Carlos Marmol CHC RP Francisco Rodriguez MLW RP Erik Bedard PIT SP Cole Hamels PHI SP A.J. Burnett PIT SP Ryan Dempster CHC SP Ted Lilly LA SP Tim Hudson ATL SP R.A. Dickey NYM SP Scott Hairston NYM RESER (OF) Josh Spence SD RESER (RP) Michael Fiers MLW RESER (RP) Wade LeBlanc FLA RESER (SP) J.A. Happ HOU RESER (SP) Jeremy Guthrie COL RESER (SP) TM 13: ESPN – EK Eric Karabell Player TM Pos Jonathan Lucroy MLW C Yasmani Grandal SD C Jesus Guzman SD 1B Matt Downs HOU 2B Jimmy Rollins PHI SS Scott Rolen CIN 3B Mat Gamel MLW 1B/3B Ryan Roberts ARZ 2B/SS Hunter Pence PHI OF Yonder Alonso SD OF Norichika Aoki MLW OF Lucas Duda NYM OF Lance Berkman STL OF Will Venable SD UTIL Andrew Cashner SD RP Vance Worley PHI SP Daniel Hudson ARZ SP Jair Jurrjens ATL SP Dillon Gee NYM SP Ryan Madson CIN RP Roy Oswalt PHI SP Kyle Lohse STL SP Chris Carpenter STL SP Randy Wolf MLW SP D.J. LeMahieu COL RESER (2B) Jack Cust HOU RESER (OF) Kyle Weiland HOU RESER (SP) John Lannan WAS RESER (SP) Matt Guerrier LA RESER (RP) Javier Vazquez FLA RESER (SP)

The Wolf/Cotton team spent $148 on five high end bats that included:

1. $39 Joey Votto
2. $32 Andrew McCutchen
3. $30 Matt Holliday
4. $29 Hunter Pence
5. $18 Aramis Ramirez

For our draft, Hunter Pence and Andrew McCutchen were not available. I spent $145 for six primary bats:

1. $39 Joey Votto
2. $37 Justin Upton
3. $39 Matt Holliday
4. $10 Pedro Alvarez
5. $10 Cody Ross
6. $10 Logan Morrison

Like Wolf/Colton, I have both Votto and Holliday. For their Aramis Ramirez selection, I already had Pedro Alvarez for that slot. I considered Cory Hart for the Hunter Pence slot, but decided with his injury to move the money else where. Instead, I combined Cody Ross and Logan Morrison for $20.

On pitching, Wolf/Colton  went with three good starters who were nicely priced, and a high end closer:

1. $20 Brian Wilson
2. $16 Jonathan Sanchez
3. $13 Matt Garza
4. $13 Ricky Nolasco

For my pitching, I had a similar makeup but I went with two closers:

1. $20 J.J. Putz
2. $11 Matt Latos
3. $13 Tommy Hanson
4. $10 Kyle McClellan
5. $10 Travis Wood
6. $6 Craig Kimbrel

Here is my roster for opening day:

Pos Edit Active Batters Salary

C Hernandez, Ramon(C) CIN

4 C Thole, Josh(C) NYM 6

1B Votto, Joey(1B) CIN 39

2B Young, Eric(2B) COL  10

3B Alvarez, Pedro(3B) PIT 10

SS Renteria, Edgar(SS) CIN 2

MI DeWitt, Blake(2B) CHC 2

CI Overbay, Lyle(1B) PIT 9

OF Holliday, Matt(OF) STL 39

OF Morrison, Logan(OF) FLA

10 OF Ross, Cody(OF) SF

10 OF Upton, Justin(OF) ARI 37

OF Venable, Will(OF) SD  4

U Hairston, Scott(OF) NYM 5

Bench

Bench (3B) Baker, Jeff(2B,3B) CHC  3

Bench (SS) Emaus, Brad(SS) NYM 10

Bench (OF) Jackson, Brett(OF) CHC  10

Bench (U) Gibbons, Jay(OF) LA  2

Pos Edit Active Pitchers Salary

P Hammel, Jason(P) COL 7

P Hanson, Tommy(P) ATL 11

P Kimbrel, Craig(P) ATL  6

P Latos, Mat(P) SD 11

P Marquis, Jason(P) WAS  1

P McClellan, Kyle(P) STL  10

P Putz, J.J.(P) ARI 20

P Wood, Travis(P) CIN  10

P Young, Chris(P) NYM  1

Bench (P) Luebke, Cory(P) SD  6

Bench (P) Mejia, Jenrry(P) NYM  7

Bench (P) Rodriguez, Henry(P) WAS 5

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1. PREAMBLE

We the people of the League of Alternate Baseball Reality (LABR), in order to promote the great game of fantasy baseball, prove all GMs idiots and obtain the biggest bragging rights in the nation do ordain and establish this constitution of the League of Alternate Baseball Reality.

2. OBJECT

To assemble a lineup of 24 National League or 23 American League baseball players whose cumulative statistics, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the League.

3. SCORING

LABR uses a Ranked, Rotisserie Based Scoring System

The National League finished its auction draft (http://tinyurl.com/45ndqgt) which took place on Sunday March 6th. The American League draft finished up on Saturday.

The LABR is made up of professionals/ writers from the baseball publications industry. The LABR draft, when it takes place, is not open to the public. In years past they used web site  all-star stats to run the LABR leagues. Here is this years NL ownership:

Clay Davenport, Baseball Prospectus (6th year, 2 titles)
Greg Ambrosius/Shawn Childs, NFBC (18th year, @VuFantasyBBcom)
Steve Moyer, Baseball Info Solutions (12th year, 1 title)
Steve Gardner, USA TODAY (7th year, 1 title, @sgardnerUSAT)
Eric Karabell, ESPN (7th year, @karabellespn)
Dalton Del Don, Rotowire (4th year, @daltondeldon)
Brandon Funston, Yahoo (4th year @1befun)
Doug Dennis, Baseball HQ (10th year)
Bob Radomski, Sandlot Shrink (9th year, 1 title)
Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton, Rotoworld (10th year, 3 titles)
Tristan Cockcroft, ESPN (8th year, 2 titles, @SultanofStat)
Derek Carty, The Hardball Times (3rd year, 1 title, @THTFantasy)

The need for speed stole only 17 bags in 2010 but has stolen between 46 and 87 bags in each of his last four minor league seasons.  Ey Jr received a lot of playing time in the second half and stole 11 bases in only 140 AB.  If given a chance, he should steal 40.

Negative HR Splits Let’s take a look at which batters have been experiencing positive and negative trends since the break in the homerun department. Jose Lopez 107 – He’s usually a big second half guy.  Be patient.

1. PREAMBLE

We the people of the League of Alternate Baseball Reality (LABR), in order to promote the great game of fantasy baseball, prove all GMs idiots and obtain the biggest bragging rights in the nation do ordain and establish this constitution of the League of Alternate Baseball Reality.

2. OBJECT

To assemble a lineup of 24 National League or 23 American League baseball players whose cumulative statistics, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the League.

3. SCORING

LABR uses a Ranked, Rotisserie Based Scoring System.

.

Yesterday, the American League branch of the LABR took place. Today, the National League does its auction draft.

The LABR is made up of professionals/ writers from the baseball publications industry. The LABR draft, when it takes place, is not open to the public. In years past they used web site  all-star stats to run the LABR leagues. Here is this years AL ownership:

Steve Gardner, USA TODAY (7th year, 1 title, @sgardnerUSAT)
Chris Liss, Rotowire (6th year, @Chris_Liss)
Brad Evans, Yahoo (3rd year @YahooNoise)
Dave Adler, Baseball HQ (5th year)
Larry Schechter, Sandlot Shrink (7th year)
Rick Wolf/Glenn Colton, Rotoworld (10th year, 3 titles)
Lawr Michaels, Mastersball (3rd year, @Masters_Ball)
Jason Grey, ESPN (8th year, 2 titles, @Jason_Grey)
Greg Ambrosius/Shawn Childs, NFBC (18th year, @VuFantasyBBcom)
Nick Minnix, KFFL (2nd year, @NicholasMinnix)
Perry Van Hook, Fantasybaseball.com (3rd year)
Tom Trudeau, Bloomberg Sports (1st year, @Tom_Trudeau)

Fantasy baseball’s field of dreams: 2011 #LABR draft weekend in Phoenix. Live coverage Sat/Sun on @SiriusXMFantasy

We have covered this event in the past:

LABR 2010 USA Today Sports Weekly Is Out

LABR 2009 USA Today Sports Weekly Is Out

Here are a few of the players making the 2011 top ten of the “100 Names You Need to Know:

#1 Aroldis Chapman

Bullpen is the answer to the first big question about the Cuban flamethrower for this season. That’s where he’ll pitch, though the Reds aren’t ruling out a future role in their rotation. The next question revolves around when and if he could take over for closer Francisco Cordero, who is entering the final guaranteed year of his contract ($12 million option for 2012) and allowed baserunners last season at the highest rate of his career.

#2 Craig Kimbrel

Kimbrel, 22, got a taste of key late-inning situations late last season and in the playoffs. His 14.4 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate through three minor league seasons was impressive enough, but he boosted that to 16.9 in his 25 combined regular season and playoff innings in the majors last year.

#3 Freddy Freeman

Freeman will show up this spring with the first base job and expectations he can be as impactful as Heyward. A lefty like his close friend Heyward, Freeman’s best attribute might be his defense, though he finished in the Class AAA International League’s top 10 in batting before turning 21 in September. His 18 homers last year dispelled concerns the 6-5, 225-pounder might not develop big-time power.

#6 Logan Morrison

Florida has plenty to chirp about with its trio of young studs on offense. Twitter-happy Morrison – and not Mike Stanton or Gaby Sanchez – remains eligible for our list thanks to his late-July 2010 call-up. Morrison moved to the outfield last year after older Sanchez beat him out for the Marlins’ first base job.

With the NFL labor battle taking shape, the talk of any football is clearly on mute until that matter reaches a resolution. But, this just in: It’s baseball time again! As we speak, the Boys of Summer are on their way to spring training camps across Florida and Arizona. The pitchers and catchers arrive early, in order to get their arms warmed for the first game which starts on February 26th.

Over the next few weeks, the focus here at Baseball Happenings will be getting you thinking baseball again. Just like the players, managers, and the general managers, you have to prepare for the upcoming season. Fantasy baseball or Roto for that matter is all about making good business decisions.

There are certain strategies for the typical rotation drafts, and other ways for participating in a full blown auction draft.

I dabble in fantasy play. Or, you could say I live and breathe fantasy baseball. Each year I play in two NL only auction leagues. In addition, I am a commissioner for one mixed league rotation draft, and have a few other pending leagues that are getting started up.

Here we use both the traditional statistics such that are used in typical 5×5 leagues. As well, we make use of sabermetrics to help with some of the decision making.

Moreover, this year I plan on discussing some of the new strategies I have learned over this off season. These are ideas I have never used before, but have become educated on the new ideas.

Its the middle of May, and my team has not performed all that well.  I have started preparing for the future.

Lets talk about bargain players that are definitely back for next year.

Tim Hudson at $8, Mike Pelphrey $6

Nate Schierholtz $4, Josh Willingham $9, Carlos Gonzalez $15

These are players I like, but have a value on the market place:

Brian McCann $25, Adam LaRoche $32, Dan Uggla $26, Matt Capps $16, Ryan Dempster$26 , Everth Cabrera $12, Dave Bush $7, Todd Wellemeyer $6

These are players for the building blocks:

C Josh Thole 1B Logan Morrison 3B Matt Dominguez OF Yonder Alonso OF/1B Chris Marrero

IF Chris Dominguez SS Ruben Tejada OF Evan Frey IF Matt Downs OF John Jay

SP Jay Jackson SP Josh Lindblom RP Craig Kimbrel RP Blake Hawkesworth