Pipeline Fantasy Football 2009

I set up a 12-team ESPN Fantasy Football league, if anyone is interested. I set the draft up for 1 p.m. CT on Aug. 29, it's a live online draft. Pretty deep rosters, including defensive players. Either comment with your e-mail address or e-mail me at kennethlassiter@yahoo.com with your e-mail and I'll send you an invite. It's free by the way.

Call #2 for PFB

Hey, still 8 spots to fill in the fantasy baseball league, I'd like to fill it with Pipeline readers, or at least Royals fans, this year....here's the info:

league ID: 177777
password: amosotis
roster -- c, 1b, 2 b, 3b, ss, lf, cf, rf, util, util, sp, sp, sp, sp, rp, rp, rp, rp, p, p, 7 bench spots, 3 DLs
stats -- runs, hits, HR, RBI, SB, K, TB, Fielding%, BA, OPS, W, SV, TBF, K, holds, ERA, WHIP, K/BB, OBPA, QS

You'll need the ID # and password above to join. Draft is at 6:30 p.m. March 27, a week from tonight. I'll put off opening it to the general public until next week.



What a week in Royals camp, huh? Jimmy Gobble gets the ax, they bring in fat Sidney Ponson, who I hope they call up and put as Jose Guillen's roommate. We might have a chance at our first MLB homicide in a long time. Mac Suzuki wants to wear the powder blue after a couple decent years in the Mexican league. Everybody should be back soon from the WBC, where the US is gonna get beat by Japan probably in the semis. Dayton Moore adds pitcher Anthony Lerew to his ever-increasing collection of Braves castoffs who are now Royals. And to top it off we get word that Brayan Pena is becoming a US citizen. Let's reward him by giving him John Buck's job. I don't care if Buck is hitting well this spring. I've seen enough. Looks like the only ball I'm gonna see the Royals play this season is gonna be on the tube. I was hoping to take my 3 daughters to a game for a third straight year but, alas, I couldn't find a date I wanted to commit my cash to. Plus I had my heart set on the new fountain seats and they're $25 a pop! The old outfield plaza seats were only $14, and you'd be farther away from the action in the new seats. I didn't want to subject them to another night in the nosebleeds, where we got besieged by flying things of all sizes the one time we sat there. Tough call, but I've got other things I can spend my money on. Not necessarily better things, mind you, but other things. Anyway, join the fantasy league...

Pipeline Fantasy Baseball is live

OK, the 2009 Pipeline fantasy league is ready to take teams at Yahoo.....I know it's not necessarily the best fantasy system out there, but I like it. Here's the info:

league ID: 177777
password: amosotis
roster -- c, 1b, 2 b, 3b, ss, lf, cf, rf, util, util, sp, sp, sp, sp, rp, rp, rp, rp, p, p, 7 bench spots, 3 DLs
stats -- runs, hits, HR, RBI, SB, K, TB, Fielding%, BA, OPS, W, SV, TBF, K, holds, ERA, WHIP, K/BB, OBPA, QS


I changed up some of the settings from last season, stat categories are a little different, switched up the roster a little bit. Come one, come all. You'll need the ID # and password above to join. Draft is at 6:30 p.m. March 27, which is open for negotiation once we get it filled.

Spring Training '09

I'm coming out of semi-hibernation to once again announce my participation in the Blogs by Fans' Spring Training website, Spring Training '09....writing about whatever Royals stuff I can scrape up. I took part in last year's site and thought everything went pretty well. I've only got a post or two up so far, may post some things both places. Just sent one in today as the Royals get into game action in Surprise, so that should be up soon.

I am planning to rev up the Pipeline Fantasy Baseball League again on Yahoo here in a couple weeks, so be prepared for that. I'll probably change up the lineups and some of the stats we use for this season. Last season's set up worked OK but could have been better.

Other than that, it's been a quiet couple of months. I may do a review of the Royals' PECOTA projections here as February thaws into March, and of course the RotF reports kick back into action in April. I can say I'm pulling for Brayan Pena and Alberto Callaspo to earn roster spots this spring. I'd like to see Dayton Moore get rid of some of the replacement-level players on the squad. Although after seeing this offseason's moves I don't have high hopes of him doing that.

Yes, I live....

Just dropping a note to wish all Pipeline readers a Merry Christmas.....Happy Holidays....and all that. Haven't posted in a while, been fighting through a mild cold, plus been busy with work and family stuff.

* Wasn't a big fan of the Mike Jacobs trade, like the Coco Crisp trade better from the Royals standpoint. Jacobs doesn't get on base, and Kauffman eats most mediocre power hitters for lunch. We'll see how that pans out. Crisp is a good CF and I've been a proponent of moving DeJesus or Teahen for whatever the Royals can get anyway. We'll see if that happens.

* I've also been mourning the demise of one of my two money league fantasy teams in round 1 of the playoffs. Wouldn't you know the first time I can actually get Peyton Hillis in my lineup he has a decent first quarter/first half and then goes down for the season.....plus TO and Eddie Royal did me few favors either. Oh well....I've gotta hope my other money team can get me some cash, as Kurt Warner, Chris Johnson, and Anquan Boldin have helped me reach the final four there. My fingers are crossed and prayers are being said, not that it's a major world crisis.

* Other than that, it's a matter of getting ready for Christmas here in a couple weeks. With three kids it's sometimes fun, sometimes stressful. Thanks for reading, and, like I said, have a good holiday season....

Fantasy baseball draft #3 -- the RoyalBoard league

A scant hour after my Boston Red Sox listserv league drafted, I reentered a Yahoo fantasy draft room for the RoyalBoard league draft. RoyalBoard is a pretty good and well-used message board and poster MTRoyals put the "Reversible Nines" league together. Like the BoSox league, it's a 20-teamer, with two more roster spots. The draft didn't run as fast as the Red Sox league did, and again the last few picks were kinda dicey, but here is my haul:

Pipeline Power

Round	Pick	Player	Position
1.	(16)	Vladimir Guerrero	OF
2.	(25)	Brandon Webb	SP
3.	(56)	Joe Mauer	C
4.	(65)	Scott Kazmir	SP
5.	(96)	Kosuke Fukudome	OF
6.	(105)	Trevor Hoffman	RP
7.	(136)	Josh Hamilton	CF
8.	(145)	Joakim Soria	RP
9.	(176)	Kevin Youkilis	1B,3B
10.	(185)	Ryan Theriot	2B,SS
11.	(216)	Matt Garza	SP
12.	(225)	Jon Lester	SP
13.	(256)	George Sherrill	RP
14.	(265)	Pedro Feliz	3B
15.	(296)	Alberto Callaspo	2B,3B,SS,OF
16.	(305)	Dmitri Young	1B
17.	(336)	Kurt Suzuki	C
18.	(345)	Andy Sonnanstine	SP
19.	(376)	Aubrey Huff	1B,3B
20.	(385)	Kevin Slowey	SP
21.	(416)	Ervin Santana	SP
22.	(425)	Félix Pié	CF
23.	(456)	Daniel Cabrera	SP
24.	(465)	Jonny Gomes	OF
25.	(496)	Brad Wilkerson	1B,OF

Once again I endured the fun of a late-order draft pick after picking 15th in the Sox league. This time I was 16th and, with pitching studs Johan Santana and Jake Peavy already off the board, I took Vlad Guerrero with my first pick because I like Vlad and he always seems to get the job done. If the Angels can get good pitching they oughta be solid again, too, so he'll have his chances to produce, hopefully. On the bounceback in round 2 I took Brandon Webb over Sabathia and Beckett to fill my first pitcher slot. He's been consistently good the last three seasons plus has been durable, which gave him the edge over C.C. and Beckett. After my long wait to the round 3 pick, I stuck by my guns to take a catcher early and grabbed Joe Mauer with the hopes his knees hold up. With that out of the way, I took a less-durable but potentially high reward pitcher in Scott Kazmir in round 4. The way I've drafted I'm banking on a good year from the Rays, which is dangerous and probably ill-conceived. I had hopes Ryan Zimmerman or Alex Gordon would fall to me in round 5 but, with no such luck (Gordon went a pick ahead of mine), I gambled once more on Cubs OF Kosuke Fukudome (making it 2 out of 3 leagues I've got him in). A couple small runs on closers had started but fizzled out, so I was happy to take Pads' closer Trevor Hoffman in rd 6. Unfortunately the pick cost me a shot at Jacoby Ellsbury or Evan Longoria but I filled my CF slot with Josh Hamilton of the Rangers. I grabbed my first Royal -- closer Joakim Soria -- ahead of the competition in round 8 then picked up the OBP-fueled goodness of Red Sox 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis in round 9 rather than new Cards' 3B Troy Glaus. I felt Youk was a safer bet, playing on a better team as well. By this point I had once again waited too long on infield picks so ended up with Cubs 2B/SS Ryan Theriot in round 10. At least he'll play.

I took my second Rays starter (gulp) in the next round as I felt Matt Garza was a steal at this point. Then I probably should have taken Brian Bannister in the next round but went with Sox starter Jon Lester instead. His rough start today versus the A's wasn't too confidence-building but we'll see how he pans out. With more closers being pared away I grabbed O's closer George Sherrill in round 13 despite the fact he probably won't see a lot of save chances on that team. Feliz and Callaspo filled out my infield although I'm not so confident in Feliz's ability to get on base or Callaspo's ability to get playing time. I need Alberto to prove his worth to KC every time he gets a chance. Gotta love "Da Meathook" in round 16, that is as long as he stays healthy, and I grabbed Suzuki as my sleeper backup catcher guy (hey, 2 doubles this morning!) once more. By round 18, everybody was getting draft punch-drunk, so I for some reason grabbed a third Rays' starter in Andy Sonnanstine, which I wouldn't feel so bad about if it wasn't my THIRD RAYS' STARTING PITCHER. There's too much potential in Garza and Sonnanstine, tho, to drop them yet. I've gotta hope the Rays do what some are predicting they might -- win more games. I took Huff for some pop as a backup 1B/3B, then took Slowey as a sleeper pitcher for the Twins.

Round 21 is when I really started rolling some dice with Angels' first overrated, now hardly rated at all SP Ervin Santana followed by what could be a late steal in Cubs CF Felix Pie (he of the testicular torsion injury, yeesh) in round 22, the O's Ervin Santana aka Daniel Cabrera in round 23 and another Ray in OF Jonny Gomes, who I appreciate for rightfully going after Yankees punkass Shelley Duncan during the fight recently between the two teams. (Side note: Don't go in with the spikes high like that, Shelley, then say after the game you had no idea why anyone went after you. That's bullshit. If you're gonna retaliate, at least stand up and admit it. Don't hide behind some lame excuse.) Anyway, I went with Mariners 1B/OF Brad Wilkerson to round out the team, knowing he or Gomes will probably be the first ones to go if I find someone better. I already had a shot at Longoria on the waiver wire with third highest waiver priority but the #1 guy took him so I missed out. Damn. The only move I've made so far is DL'ing Kazmir for the start of the season and picking up Reds (and former Royals) IF Jeff Keppinger to shore up the infield a little bit. He oughta help with the OBP and double plays turned categories as well.

Fantasy baseball draft #2 -- BoSox list league

I think I've noted this before, but I've been a Red Sox fan since the mid-1980s. This, of course, is now sacrilege to many Royals fans who lump in the Red Sox with the real "Evil Empire" -- the Yankees. Are the Royals my number 1 team? Yes, obviously. But I'm also not the type of person to think you only root for one team and everybody else is the devil, either. Anyway, in the late 1990s I joined a Boston Red Sox listserv that I remain on to this day. Every year that list puts together a fantasy league or two and this year was no different, so I joined for the third or fourth straight year. Unlike my 12-team league, which I think is a good number because you still have a decent pool of free agents, this league is a 20-teamer and the draft is a siege. Some Royals fans like to comfort themselves by thinking Red Sox fans are all spoiled and don't really know what they're doing (I know, I heard a couple shots in last night's RoyalBoard league draft -- that's part of the inferiority complex some KC fans have) but that's not really true, especially in regards to the listserv. I agree that many, many Red Sox fans have become Yankee-fan like in the four years since the Sox won the World Series in 2004, and that the bandwagon has been overloaded since then. Unfortunately, it's not getting any better after they won it again in 2007. I'm not proud of the way some Sox fans act, but not everyone can handle success. I showed up to last night's 5 p.m. CT draft and found myself with the 15th pick. Luckily, the draft went quick and was over in 2 hours. Here's my haul:

Hit Dogs

Round	Pick	Player	Position
1.	(15)	Carl Crawford	LF
2.	(26)	B.J. Upton	2B,CF
3.	(55)	Dan Haren	SP
4.	(66)	Ryan Zimmerman	3B
5.	(95)	Trevor Hoffman	RP
6.	(106)	Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C,1B
7.	(135)	Yovani Gallardo	SP
8.	(146)	James Loney	1B
9.	(175)	B.J. Ryan	RP
10.	(186)	Justin Upton	RF
11.	(215)	Yunel Escobar	2B,3B,SS
12.	(226)	Gil Meche	SP
13.	(255)	C.J. Wilson	RP
14.	(266)	Wily Mo Peña	LF,CF,RF
15.	(295)	Ian Stewart	3B
16.	(306)	Jair Jurrjens	SP
17.	(335)	Brandon Lyon	RP
18.	(346)	Randy Winn	LF,CF,RF
19.	(375)	Alberto Callaspo	2B,3B,SS,RF
20.	(386)	Wandy Rodríguez	SP
21.	(415)	Mark Loretta	1B,2B,3B,SS
22.	(426)	John Bale	RP
23.	(455)	Félix Pié	CF
24.	(466)	Geoff Jenkins	LF

"Hit Dogs" came from my favorite Sox player of the past, Mo Vaughn, incase you don't remember the reference. Mo had what Chris Farley woulda called "a little bit of a weight problem" but the man could hit. The first round went as expected, although Ryan Brewers Braun jumped up to #14, as we for some reason don't take defense into effect in this league. I went for speed plus power with Carl Crawford then picked up Upton on the way back to the front for the same reasons plus positional flexibility and despite the fact that gave me two Rays in two picks. After the long wait (pick-wise) for my third pick, I picked Haren, who I think is gonna be a stud in Arizona this season. Zimmerman will hopefully return to numbers closer to his 2006 marks (.280s BA, .820s OPS, close to 50 doubles, 20-some HRs and 100-plus RBIs with double-digit steals), which would make that a great pick in the fourth round. I was a little more strategic in regards to closers in this draft as opposed to my first draft, so grabbed Trevor Hoffman in the hopes he hears AC/DC's "Hells Bells" a lot in 2008. I probably passed up surer bets in round 6 when I grabbed Texas C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but all the sure-thing catchers were taken, and Salty is one of the second-tier guys I'm betting to step it up.

My first misstep is likely 7th rounder SP Yovani Gallardo, who I didn't know was coming back from knee surgery and would miss the first couple weeks. I probably should have taken Chien-Ming Wang (despite my desire each year to stay away from the Yankees), or even Ben Sheets, a better pitcher for the Brewers, but he has injury problems it seems like all the time. Loney was a kinda sleeper pick, as I also took him in my first draft and expect good things from as long as Torre allows him to play. Rolled the dice on B.J. Ryan returning to form as closer in Toronto then picked up B.J.'s brother Justin Upton for an outfield spot with hope he can build on his 2007 MLB debut. If you're wondering, yes I did see the ESPN the Magazine fantasy preview with B.J. and Justin on the cover, but it only minutely influenced my decision to get them both. They've both got multiple-tool talent. I also had a good feeling about Escobar, plus he can play multiple positions, so I snatched him up in round 11. Grabbed my first Royal in round 12 as Gil Meche was the fourth or fifth one taken -- I think Soria went first in round 8 with AG a couple picks after. I can't believe Meche lasted that long after last season, plus I think he may strike out more guys this year. Picked up my third closer in the next round in C.J. Wilson -- now I just have to hope he can hold on to the position with the Rangers. This was about the time I wasn't the only one taking some chances. I shoulda researched more to find out Wily Mo Pena has an oblique injury because I took him in round 14 when Casey Blake and Bill Hall were still on the board. I just figured I'd make up for it later somehow. I probably coulda done better than 3B Ian Stewart in the next round but that's one that may pay off by June or July if Stewart gets a break for the Rockies. Jurrjens was a sleeper pick at SP as he could provide good things for the Braves this season -- I woulda grabbed Brian Bannister here but I don't like to put a ton of trust in the Royals' rotation. Of course I contradicted this later with another team's rotation in my RoyalBoard draft but we'll get to that later. The dice kept rolling with Brandon Lyon, who is slated to be the Diamondbacks' closer to start the season and, with an eye on speed and some OBP, Randy Winn was my pick in round 18. Can you tell the pickings were getting slim? Invested in another Royal in Alberto Callaspo and now have to hope Trey Hillman gives him regular PT, then got what I feel is a nice late pick in Stros SP Wandy Rodriguez, who isn't really great in any any one category but still seems to pitch well all-around. Went for some more position flexibility with Mark Loretta in round 21 then picked up another Royal in round 22 in John Bale. I might as well see what he's got -- it's worth a shot. My steal of the draft was probably grabbing Cubs CF Felix Pie in round 23. In the last round I settled on Phillies OF Geoff Jenkins, who has had two straight mediocre seasons. but with the 466th pick of the draft what can you expect?

Pipeline Fantasy League is locked in

Thanks to a couple late additions and the benefits of advertising the league on Yahoo's custom leagues list, the Pipeline fantasy draft went ahead as scheduled Wednesday night. I'm pretty pleased with my haul -- not completely, but mostly. I probably should have prepared more, even tho there's no money riding on it. I ended up with the 10th pick of 12 in the random order. Here's my drafted team....

KCL Pipeline

Round	Pick	Player	Position
1.	(10)	Jimmy Rollins	SS
2.	(15)	Jake Peavy	SP
3.	(34)	Russell Martin	C
4.	(39)	Brandon Webb	SP
5.	(58)	Nick Markakis	RF
6.	(63)	Chris Young	CF
7.	(82)	Felix Hernandez	SP
8.	(87)	Billy Wagner	RP
9.	(106)	Daisuke Matsuzaka	SP
10.	(111)	James Loney	1B
11.	(130)	Kosuke Fukudome	RF
12.	(135)	Kevin Youkilis	1B,3B
13.	(154)	Dustin Pedroia	2B
14.	(159)	Evan Longoria	3B
15.	(178)	Justin Upton	RF
16.	(183)	Matt Garza	SP
17.	(202)	Heath Bell	RP
18.	(207)	Cameron Maybin	LF
19.	(226)	Chad Qualls	RP
20.	(231)	Jay Bruce	CF
21.	(250)	Mike Gonzalez	RP
22.	(255)	Bill Hall	CF
23.	(274)	John Bale	RP
24.	(279)	Adam Jones	LF
25.	(298)	Milton Bradley	LF,CF
26.	(303)	Homer Bailey	SP

For one thing, I waited too long to grab a closer, plus kept wanting to fill other positions, so only got 1. Hope Billy Wagner can stand the pressure and rack up some saves for the Mets. Only two of us were there for the majority of the draft, as either people forgot, preranked their guys or just didn't show up. That was disappointing, but I was glad a couple of the guys that didn't show had preranked. If you'll notice, there's only 1 Royal on my list -- John Bale -- and that's because the owner of the Fantasy Geeks team pre-ranked for Royals and got Greinke, Meche, Bannister, Gordon, Butler and Soria before I was ready to pick 'em. I figured I had to have a Royal, tho, so grabbed Bale. Believe it or not, Jose Guillen was still on the board at that point so I probably should have gone with him. I probably could have used the power hopefully Jose will provide KC this season. (Fingers crossed).

Went for speed and defense with most of my picks, including taking Rollins over Miggy Cabrera and Ryan Howard in round 1. I was hoping to maybe get Soriano on the way back for round 2, but he went one pick ahead of me. Ryan Braun (Milwaukee version, of course) went with the first pick of round 2, but I'm not sure I would have taken him anyway because of his paltry D. I like to fill my starter slots early to get some good guys so I grabbed Peavy, who was awesome for me last season in a couple leagues. Plus you've gotta love Petco Park for pitchers. I took Martin in round 3 because I hate having a catcher that can't hit, which if you wait too long you end up with. I didn't want John Buck, I should say. Kept my starter filling going with Webb in round 4, one pick ahead of C.C. Sabathia. I just wonder about his durability with his build. I'll probably also wish I'd taken Josh Beckett there, altho his durability is just as much a concern. Round 5 is probably when I shoulda grabbed my closer, but Markakis was hard to pass up. He's a solid all-around player -- hit .300 with more than 40 doubles and 18 SBs while driving in 100 last season. I hope he keeps that up. Carlos Pena was on the board but I hoped he'd fall to me in round 6. But no, he went the pick ahead of me and I again passed up a closer like KRod or Takashi Saito to take Chris Young from the D-Backs. That may be my first mis-step of the draft, but hopefully Young has another good season. I took King Felix in round 7 just because he's one of those guys I wanted the last 2 seasons, but didn't get. Plus he's a good power pitcher. On the way back I filled one RP spot with Wagner, thinking for sure I'd grab another closer in the next couple rounds.

By the time the draft came back to me, I had realized Dice-K was still out there (preranked low on Yahoo's list) and decided to grab him instead for my fourth starter spot. Picking Loney in round 10 over Trevor Hoffman or Huston Street, or Joakim Soria thanks to Fantasy Geeks, may be another misstep, altho Loney did pretty much rake when the Dodgers let him play last season. Now I have to hope Joe Torre doesn't screw around with him. LET HIM PLAY. When the picks rolled back around, Chad Cordero was still on the board but I had to pick Kosuke Fukudome, as I'm hoping he plays well for the Cubs. I'm a sucker for the Japanese imports from year to year. Last year I had Johjima on a couple teams. This year, Fukudome's the guy, plus I like his last name -- it's fun to say. And he can hit, at least in Japan. I took Youkilis with the hopes Jacoby Ellsbury would make it back down the row but, of course, he didn't. I couldn't pass up Youk, who has some pop plus knows how to get on base. He also plays solid D at first. Picked up Pedroia to try and fill out my IF and then I began to take a few chances. I was happy to get both Longoria and Bruce, plus Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin. If it ends up being a keeper league, I'll be overjoyed. Of course, in the midst of all this, whatever other closers were still available went by the wayside, so I decided to shoot for holds with Bell and Qualls. I thought Garza was a steal for my fifth SP, as the Rays should have a decent young rotation this season. Bill Hall was a late pick for his flexible position play. Grabbed Bale in hopes he pitches solidly for the Royals either in the rotation or as a set-up type. I also figured this might be the year Adam Jones breaks out after getting traded from Seattle to Baltimore. With the dust settled, I've already made three moves to drop Bradley, Bailey and Gonzalez and add Dan Wheeler of TB (more holds, maybe saves if Percival flames out and Reyes does the same), A's C Kurt Suzuki (another young guy that could stand out this season) and SP Scott Baker of the Twins (good performance last year, more reliable than Bailey, I thought). All in all it was a decent first draft of the fantasy season for me. I have two more tomorrow night, so hopefully I can do better on rounding out the pen in those.

Tick....tick......tick......PFB draft slated for 7 p.m. CT

Figured I'd make one more plea for the last six spots in the Pipeline Yahoo fantasy league.

All I ask is that you stay active and come have some fun. Here's another rehash of the rundown.

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/kclpipeline

It's a whopper 11 x 11 stat league (in other words, 11 stats tracked for pitchers, 11 for hitters....didn't want to do the same old 5 x 5 formula). Tried to keep rosters realistic, around 25-26 per team. 5 starters, 5 relievers, 9 position players including 1 utility guy, plus 6 or 7 bench spots....note the live draft time:

League ID#:	205833
League Name:	Major League Pipeline
Password:	obpwhip
Custom League URL:	http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/kclpipeline
Season Type:	Full
Draft Type:	Live Draft
Draft Time:	Wed Mar 19 7:00pm CDT [ Add to My Calendar ]
Max Teams:	12
Scoring Type:	Head-to-Head
Player Universe:	All baseball
Max Moves:	100
Max Trades:	No maximum
Trade Reject Time:	2
Trade End Date:	August 24, 2008
Waiver Time:	No waivers
Can't Cut List Provider:	None
Trade Review:	League Votes
Post Draft Players:	Free Agents
Max Acquisitions per Week:	10
Min Innings Pitched:	12
Weekly Deadline:	Daily - Tomorrow
Start Scoring on:	Week 1
Roster Positions:	C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, Util, SP, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP, RP, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL, DL
Stat Categories:	R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, K, FPCT, OPS, OFA, W, CG, SV, TBF, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB, OBPA, QS

Again, I'd ask that we be able to fill these spots and have the draft tonight as scheduled. Otherwise, it'll have to move to Monday....

Still need 6 for Pipeline fantasy baseball

We were halfway there pretty quick for the Yahoo fantasy baseball league I started, but still need 6 more players. Again, all I ask is that you stay active and come have some fun. Here's a rehash of the rundown. One note, however, is that I have taken out the Total Bases component and added strikeouts. Figured with doubles, triples and homers included, total bases was kinda overkill.

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/kclpipeline

It's a whopper 11 x 11 stat league (in other words, 11 stats tracked for pitchers, 11 for hitters....didn't want to do the same old 5 x 5 formula). Tried to keep rosters realistic, around 25-26 per team. 5 starters, 5 relievers, 9 position players including 1 utility guy, plus 6 or 7 bench spots.... here's the rundown, note the live draft time next Wednesday:

League ID#:	205833
League Name:	Major League Pipeline
Password:	obpwhip
Custom League URL:	http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/kclpipeline
Season Type:	Full
Draft Type:	Live Draft
Draft Time:	Wed Mar 19 7:00pm CDT [ Add to My Calendar ]
Max Teams:	12
Scoring Type:	Head-to-Head
Player Universe:	All baseball
Max Moves:	100
Max Trades:	No maximum
Trade Reject Time:	2
Trade End Date:	August 24, 2008
Waiver Time:	No waivers
Can't Cut List Provider:	None
Trade Review:	League Votes
Post Draft Players:	Free Agents
Max Acquisitions per Week:	10
Min Innings Pitched:	12
Weekly Deadline:	Daily - Tomorrow
Start Scoring on:	Week 1
Roster Positions:	C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, Util, SP, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP, RP, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL, DL
Stat Categories:	R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, TB, FPCT, OPS, OFA, W, CG, SV, TBF, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB, OBPA, QS

Again, I'd invite the Pipeline readers to get their spots and come play ball this year.

Pipeline Fantasy Baseball

I was scouting around for a custom league to join on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball today and couldn't find one to fit, so I decided to make my own:

http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/kclpipeline

It's a whopper 11 x 11 stat league (in other words, 11 stats tracked for pitchers, 11 for hitters....didn't want to do the same old 5 x 5 formula). Tried to keep rosters realistic, around 25-26 per team. 5 starters, 5 relievers, 9 position players including 1 utility guy, plus 6 or 7 bench spots.... here's the rundown, note the live draft time next Wednesday:

League ID#:	205833
League Name:	Major League Pipeline
Password:	obpwhip
Custom League URL:	http://baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/league/kclpipeline
Season Type:	Full
Draft Type:	Live Draft
Draft Time:	Wed Mar 19 7:00pm CDT [ Add to My Calendar ]
Max Teams:	12
Scoring Type:	Head-to-Head
Player Universe:	All baseball
Max Moves:	100
Max Trades:	No maximum
Trade Reject Time:	2
Trade End Date:	August 24, 2008
Waiver Time:	No waivers
Can't Cut List Provider:	None
Trade Review:	League Votes
Post Draft Players:	Free Agents
Max Acquisitions per Week:	10
Min Innings Pitched:	12
Weekly Deadline:	Daily - Tomorrow
Start Scoring on:	Week 1
Roster Positions:	C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, Util, SP, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP, RP, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL, DL
Stat Categories:	R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, SB, TB, FPCT, OPS, OFA, W, CG, SV, TBF, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB, OBPA, QS

I wanted to put a premium on speed and defense, somewhat, position-wise, so I included the fielding % and outfield assists category. Total bases might be switched out for another category. Rather than going by the old standby of batting average I also decided to go by OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). Pitching-wise I included holds but also included 5 reliever spots so you can draft some guys to rack up some stats. I love it when a league includes holds then offers 3 starter spots, 2 relievers and one flex pitcher spot. Also I included K/BB ratio, OBP against and quality starts as not-your-usual fantasy league stats. So I'd invite the Pipeline readers to get their spots and come play ball this year. If things go well we could always make it a keeper league, perhaps.