4.27.2005
All-Important Fantasy Update
The Mission Magicians, the flawlessly commanded fantasy team you see linked at the right of the page - and also the barometer of the Editor's daily mood swings - have opened their first season with a surge to the top of the standings. For anyone else it would be a cause for celebration, but I instead view it as cause for undue fretting.
The decision to be made at this juncture is simple: whose hot start is a fluke, and whose is real? Our candidates are Pat Burrell (.304, 5 HR), Brad Wilkerson (.360, 3 HR, 2 SB), Jason Lane (.320, 4 HR, 5 SB), and Brady Clark (.321, 3 HR, 3 SB). If I sit on all of them all summer long, there's no way I finish up at the top of the standings; my margin of error is pretty tight as things are, and that's with Lane and Clark each on pace for at least 30-30 seasons.
The flip question, of course: whom to trade for? Andruw Jones (currently batting .197) is a prime target, but his owner has already fallen asleep and we haven't even reached May. A major obstacle to everyone's fantasy season, the dead owner is dreaded but unavoidable, even in the strongest of leagues. In six seasons of fantasy baseball I have encountered no known cure.
On the pitching side, there are no surprises. Tim Hudson has been an ace, Curt Schilling has been an ace trying to get healthy, and the Haren/Weaver/Eaton three-headed monster has been acceptable. Joe Nathan and Octavio Dotel have been solid as closers, but Dan Kolb has hiccupped one too many times for the Braves, to the point that Cox and Mazzone have sent clubhouse boys scurrying to the nearest Walgreens for a glass of water and a jar of peanut butter. The result was my first major Snag of the year, picking up Matt Herges off waivers less than an hour after Armando Benitez limped off the field with a pulled hammy. Departing the roster in disgrace was Kevin Brown, who hasn't had a solid eight-inning start in what feels like years.
The pitching will come together eventually, moving me up in wins and strikeouts. The trick is to move the smoke and mirrors fast enough to keep me afloat on offense. It's a deep league, but not deep enough for me to be relying on Brady Clark. The easy thing to do would be to coast on the April success, but roto leagues aren't won that way. They are won with relentless pressure administered to specific "vulnerable" areas of the body, usually polished off with a corkscrew-style pile driver that leaves foes gently twitching on the ground.
The decision to be made at this juncture is simple: whose hot start is a fluke, and whose is real? Our candidates are Pat Burrell (.304, 5 HR), Brad Wilkerson (.360, 3 HR, 2 SB), Jason Lane (.320, 4 HR, 5 SB), and Brady Clark (.321, 3 HR, 3 SB). If I sit on all of them all summer long, there's no way I finish up at the top of the standings; my margin of error is pretty tight as things are, and that's with Lane and Clark each on pace for at least 30-30 seasons.
The flip question, of course: whom to trade for? Andruw Jones (currently batting .197) is a prime target, but his owner has already fallen asleep and we haven't even reached May. A major obstacle to everyone's fantasy season, the dead owner is dreaded but unavoidable, even in the strongest of leagues. In six seasons of fantasy baseball I have encountered no known cure.
On the pitching side, there are no surprises. Tim Hudson has been an ace, Curt Schilling has been an ace trying to get healthy, and the Haren/Weaver/Eaton three-headed monster has been acceptable. Joe Nathan and Octavio Dotel have been solid as closers, but Dan Kolb has hiccupped one too many times for the Braves, to the point that Cox and Mazzone have sent clubhouse boys scurrying to the nearest Walgreens for a glass of water and a jar of peanut butter. The result was my first major Snag of the year, picking up Matt Herges off waivers less than an hour after Armando Benitez limped off the field with a pulled hammy. Departing the roster in disgrace was Kevin Brown, who hasn't had a solid eight-inning start in what feels like years.
The pitching will come together eventually, moving me up in wins and strikeouts. The trick is to move the smoke and mirrors fast enough to keep me afloat on offense. It's a deep league, but not deep enough for me to be relying on Brady Clark. The easy thing to do would be to coast on the April success, but roto leagues aren't won that way. They are won with relentless pressure administered to specific "vulnerable" areas of the body, usually polished off with a corkscrew-style pile driver that leaves foes gently twitching on the ground.
