My 2009 Fantasy Baseball Team: The Westport Stingers

2009 marks Year III of the Royals Nation Fantasy Baseball Keeper League over at ESPN.com. Keep in mind that the league recently expanded by 4 teams. It is a head-to-head league that now contains 4 divisions - each named after Royals Hall of Fame members - and 20 teams, overall. Therefore, it is a rather deep league, leaving much less room for error. Not to brag, since I created it, but I think it is the quintessential ultra-competitive baseball league. Being a devoted Royals (and baseball) fan, I like it that way, of course.

We operate using 17 categories, or statistics. We use an odd number of categories to prevent ties in weekly matchups.

9 hitting categories: H, R, HR, TB, RBI, BB, SB, AVG, OPS

8 pitching categories: BB, K, W, L, SV, HD, ERA, WHIP

Below is my team, as well as CHONE projections for the 2009 season, using my categories. I realize CHONE is only one projection systems, but I'm not going to devote the time to average the four (or five, or six, or more) systems together.

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Starting Lineup:

POS PLAYER H/AB R HR RBI TB BB SB AVG OPS
C - Jorge Posada 115/433 67 16 67 188 62 1 .266 .797
1B - Mike Jacobs 124/479 60 23 60 227 36 2 .259 .787
2B - Kelly Johnson 477/134 80 14 62 215 65 9 .281 .822
SS - Troy Tulowitzki 491/140 80 15 69 221 52 7 .285 .808
3B - Ryan Zimmerman 514/152 78 19 78 251 53 6 .296 .852
OF - Matt Kemp 498/149 84 16 84 237 39 26 .299 .829
OF - Justin Upton 435/112 69 16 69 193 57 8 .257 .793
OF - Carlos Beltran 545/148 101 27 101 265 79 17 .272 .852
UT - Milton Bradley 392/117 71 21 66 204 67 7 .298 .927

Bench:

POS PLAYER H/AB R HR RBI TB BB SB AVG OPS
OF - Jay Bruce 493/136 78 27 77 251 40 10 .276 .843
OF/DH - Luke Scott 455/116 63 21 69 210 57 3 .255 .805
3B - Eric Chavez 473/117 67 19 67 204 58 3 .247 .758
1B - Gaby Sanchez 449/120 67 12 68 190 52 10 .267 .770
OF - Ryan Church 395/102 54 14 54 169 46 4 .258 .770

Starting Rotation:


POS PITCHER IP H ER BB K W L SV HD ERA WHIP
SP - Tim Lincecum 154.0 130 60 175 10 7 0 0 3.21 1.23
SP - Adam Wainwright 124.0 123 52 36 85 8 6 0 0 3.77 1.28
SP - Edinson Volquez 166.0 138 78 170 11 8 0 0 3.58 1.30
SP - Erik Bedard 126.0 108 48 128 8 6 0 0 3.36 1.24
SP - Manny Parra 124.0 125 58 53 105 7 7 0 0 4.21 1.44

Bullpen:

POS PITCHER IP H ER BB K W L SV HD ERA WHIP
RP - Mariano Rivera 63.0 56 20 11 60 - - 2.86 1.06
RP - Rafael Perez 79.0 70 28 24 80 - - 3.19 1.19
RP - Manny Delcarmen 75.0 67 28 28 70 - - 3.36 1.27

Bench:

POS PITCHER IP H ER BB K W L SV HD ERA WHIP
SP - Scott Olsen 176.0 197 97 65 116 0 0 4.96 1.49
SP/RP - Robinson Tejeda 57.0 53 25 29 56 - - 3.95 1.44
RP - Ramon Ramirez 64.0 58 25 27 61 5 3 - - 3.52 1.33

Keep in mind that neither saves nor holds are included in the CHONE projections. I assume that each of the starters won't accumulate either, since they're all pegged at starting almost every single game they play.

Any thoughts? I think I have a nice combination of power and speed in my starting lineup, with Jacobs carrying the former, Kemp providing the latter, and Beltran providing both. I have batting average (Youkilis), OPS (Bradley), walks (both), and good production up the middle, as I hope Tulo can rebound from an injury-plagued '08 and Johnson can continue to provide a little bit of every category.

As for my pitching, I traded both Scott Baker and Chris Carpenter away. Baker was one of my 9 keepers, and I selected Carpenter in the first few rounds of the draft. I traded with Gordon Will Rule The A.L., a divisional rival whom I feel will contend again in '08. Here were the trades.

Scott Baker and Ronnie Belliard to Gordon Will Rule The A.L.
Kevin Youkilis and Rafael Perez to Westport Stingers (me)

Chris Carpenter to Gordon Will Rule The A.L.
Mariano Rivera to Westport Stingers (me)

I'm sure several TRT readers (and several RN members, as well) are reading this post, as I speak. I'm always seeking an upgrade, gentlemen (and lady). So, shoot me an offer if you so choose.

Pitching-wise, I have K/9 (Lincecum and Volquez) and a strong bullpen, with one closer and several competent to very good setup men. Tejeda gives me added emergency value on both sides, but even I'll admit he's a gut-based selection. Scouts rave about his potential, so I took the necessary advantage. The ERA for 4 of my 5 starters projects well into the 3's, and the WHIP could use a bit of improvement. I'm banking on Parra to really step through for Milwaukee and their somewhat depleted rotation this year. We'll see.

Any thoughts?