[b]Elite South Atlantic 'A' League[/b]

I guess I'm the first from my League to come here. I'm a Rookie to this site, but I've been playing FBB for 6-7 yrs. @ ESPN and Yahoo!..Won a few...lost more!

The name of my team is the "Mudchickens" and we just had our draft last night, I did allright, but I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

Well, looking forward to a great season with great competition......till then

Hi! I'm the owner of Mansfield Ballpark... and let's just say I'm not getting TOO optimistic about my situation. I made a couple picks I like, a few I probably reached for a bit, and one or two I didn't even mean to make. My pitching staff is a little unremarkable. But I feel my starters are all playable, which is all you can ask for. And I got a home run and a win on Opening Day from my 20th and 25th round picks -- so hey, that's cool.

Might be willing to trade Jose Reyes for a top guy at another position. I feel optimistic about my middle infield -- I currently have BJ Upton starting at OF, which is a bit of a waste. Actually, I might also trade Upton, if you'd rather make a deal for him... let me know. Got to shake things up a bit, right?

anyone want to volunteer to post the draft results for the south atlantic league? If so, please post sorted by team, not by round. I can do the draft rankings for your league once I have the results. Thanks!

Sure -- I'll get that!

Hey guys...E'town Assassins here...just wanted to to make my presence known.

So, what's the word so far? I'm pretty happy with my team... looks like the strategy of drafting three low-level closers relatively late instead of two earlier has paid off, as I'm currently leading in saves. Actually, my pitching staff is going awesome. Good work, pitching staff!

As for my hitting... eh. Actually, it's not going that bad, but it seemed like all three of my top three picks decided to start the season slow. Magglio Ordonez... well, Magglio Ordonez plays for the Tigers. Reyes is hitting .231 and hasn't stolen a single base. When BJ Upton (.250, no HR) is the bright spot in the group so far, you know something is up. Still, some of my other guys are doing okay. Not sure the second-place spot will last... it will last if my pitchers maintain a 2.52 ERA, let's put it that way.

Anyone check this thing? I'm looking to make some deals.

What I'd mostly like to trade is one or two second basemen... I've just got too many of the guys. I've got BJ Upton -- and he's been a utility man or an OF for most of the season! This is a guy I drafted largely because I could plug him in at 2B, and not once has it worked out that way so far. Upton's probably not for trade, but Placido Polanco and Mark Ellis are, and Yunel Escobar might well be. (Though Escobar's position versatility makes him a bit tougher for me to part with... then again, I'm not so short on shortstops or 3Bs. So maybe he's just harder to part with because he's better.)

Also might be willing to part with a starting pitcher -- I've got a lot of 'em, they've just about all been good, and I can't start this many all year. Or, of course, other things in the right trade. (I've got more than my share of 1Bs too...)

As for what I want? Well, what don't I have?

SET-UP MEN/HOLDS. Made a mistake taking only one of these guys -- Okajima's great, but I need more. Not going to overpay for a mediocre guy here, but I'll give fair value for a legit one. This is probably my most pressing need -- the other two might fix themselves, but I know I need to trade to get set-up guys.

HOME RUNS. Now, part of this is that some of my better HR producers have been a bit disappointing so far -- it might bounce back on its own. But I wouldn't mind shoring this up with a couple power guys.

STEALS. Reyes hasn't stolen a single base yet. That has to change, right? Still, I'm playing catchup on this one too.

Mansfield --

E'town Assassins here.

I think we could help each other, since I have the holds you're looking for, and you've got the MI I need. As I said in the offer, Escobar would be the guy I'm most interested in largely for the same reason you said you view him in higher regard.

I'm not opposed to trading guys like Soriano and Holliday, but would have to replace their power capabilities in the deal.

All right -- reconsidered this. What I really want is to trade a guy like Polanco or Ellis -- a decent 2B kind of guy, who I'm probably not going to play because I have other options at the position -- for a solid middle reliever who will get me holds. Gil Meche could also go -- I'm sure he's just had a bad couple of starts, but I'm a bit trade-happy at the moment, and I've got a couple too many starters. I'm not looking to throw around other guys, and I'm not looking for a 4-for-4 trade or any such thing -- this is a 20th-pick-for-20th-pick kind of deal.

First trade! Mansfield Ballpark deals Placido Polanco to Wakefield Special for Keith Foulke. Polanco has been slumping of late, but will probably recover. We decided, though, that we didn't have a lot of time to wait around for that -- we have too many second basemen, including Upton and Escobar -- plus Reyes at short, Atkins at third, and Keppinger at both. Our middle infield is covered. Anyway, even a full-strength Polanco is pretty limited. He doesn't hit for power, he doesn't steal bases, and his walk rate is dismal. (In his last two seasons, he had 1048 at-bats and walked 54 times.) So he's pretty much only good for average and maybe runs. We could use the runs, but we're batting .294. I don't expect to sustain that, but I still think we're safe. (Even with the addition of Jack Cust off the waiver wire -- he's kind of the anti-Polanco.)

Foulke, meanwhile, is risky. I'll acknowledge that. But he's looked pretty good so far -- more in line with 2004 than his last couple seasons. And we need a reliever who gets holds, and Foulke gets those. And given that I was probably going to drop Polanco shortly, might as well get SOMETHING for him.

At this moment in time, live scoring shows a 12.5 difference between first place and sixth place, a 12-point difference between seventh place and twelfth place... and a 32.5-point difference between sixth and seventh. Insane.

weird....so how is the league going Clyde?.....good guys?

Pretty good guys, yeah. I think most of them are there, though there are a couple pretty egregious absences. (One guy has four DL players in his active lineup; another is still playing Posada,) Still kind of an extreme gap between 6th and 7th; live scoring has OBX No Sox with 91.5 and B-Ville Mutts at 68.5.

For my part, I'm okay. Still probably have one starter too many -- Haren, Lincecum, Shields, Greinke, Wang, Penny. Probably wouldn't have spent that 9th-round pick on Penny this time around, but it does seem to be in line with his average draft position. You know what the rest are doing. On the other hand, probably do want 5, and a sixth for insurance is cool, so no big deal. Have loaded up on middle relievers, and am gradually accumulating holds. (Now tied for 6th with 13. I didn't realize, nor (I think) did a lot of people, how valuable the top middle relievers would be in this scoring system.) Leading in wins (29), ERA (3.24) and WHIP (1.20); second in saves (32, one behind the leader and 5 ahead of third place.) But Isringhausen's recent struggles/demotion have done their share of damage; I need to figure out what to do with him. (Definitely taking him out of the lineup; haven't decided whether I think his chances of returning justify the roster spot.) Third in strikeouts.

Meanwhile at the plate, I'm a bit more hit-or-miss. Leading in BA (.295), eleventh in steals (21), and everything else's between. If only I hadn't reached on Jose Reyes with the 5th overall pick... I was THIS CLOSE to landing Hanley Ramirez, but a guy took him 4th. (I almost took Utley, but didn't because, well, there are a lot of pretty good second basemen in the league right now. But I should have realized there's only one GREAT second baseman in the league right now... but hindsight is 20/20. Oh, well... ended up with BJ Upton and Yunel Escobar at second, so that's settled pretty well.) Trying to parlay my BA advantage to generate more power; have picked up Jack Cust and Nick Johnson on the realization that these kinds of guys do more than some think to offset their low averages in this league. Yes, they get HRs and RBIs, but also pile up walks by the truckload. (And technically, Johnson's been a better contact hitter than this in the past.)

Overall, I've built up a modest lead -- 108 total points (LB Dirtbags are in 2nd with 102). Still need to at least be competitive in steals, and pick up some on the home run pace; I can't expect to hold 2nd in saves without Isringhausen closing, and the disastrous events of May 7 (my team ERA ballooned from 2.95 to 3.3 in a single day!) remind me that pitching in particular is never stable. Still, I'm pretty happy with things so far... not doing a bad job for my first season, I think.

Thanks for the update Clyde. Glad the league is going well...it seems like youre experiencing the same thing as a lot of leagues, there are 5 or 6 really competitive guys and the rest are tagging along mostly inactive. This was to be expected in our inaugural year...although we did our very best to weed out the weak ones and create the stiffest competition possible, there are still some pretenders that slip through the cracks. The beauty is they wont last beyond this year, so dominate while you can!

Word...yeah the system will take care of these ragamuffins.....so Clyde you interested in a writing gig? Its thankless and you dont make a dime, but its fun sometimes...

Well... maybe in the future. At the moment, I'm kind of in my first season as a manager, so I don't really feel qualified to give advice or anything... thanks, though!

you seem to write pretty well so it would be a natural fit..I had no idea this was your first season...well maybe next year....good luck!!

It would be nice if people were more active traders (or active period). My trade offers seem to go unread or unanswered for extended periods of time,some are not even being read at all.
It would also be helpful if people could possibly trouble themselves to explain why a trade is rejected. Every owner values players differently, and without feedback your left guessing the reasons. If you wish to actually improve on your offer it can be difficult to gauge what the other owner wants otherwise.

I like to look at the needs of both teams and trade based on need stats. If the long-term value (the expected return for the entire remaining season) of the traded players is somewhat equal (obviously my perception of equal, unless challenged) based on need then I feel it is a good trade.

I know that some people don't have loads of free time but if your in an "Elite" league you would expect people to check their teams more than once a week. Writing a two sentence response to a trade or just speaking up occasionally isn't gonna suck away all of your quality time either.

Rant Done
Tim

I definintely agree with you Tim. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I don't expect the issues you mentioned to last beyond this year (our first). The are many other managers in the Elite system already that have your same mentality and commitment to the game...and you'll be competeing against them soon.

Next year (assuming youre top 3 in your league) you'll be playing against the best from this years Single-A as well as the 4th, 5th and 6th place finishers from Double-A. This should make for a much more active and competitive league and it will only get tougher year to year as the weak are weeded out and the best rise up.

For this first season we had to take people on their word regarding accomplishments and commitment level. Fortunately, those managers that we're bluffing about their abilities will be eliminated shortly. I hope you stick with it and stick to your game. We created this site for managers of your mentality.

John

Hi, Tim! Glad to see you on the board -- not so happy to see you challenging my ERA lead. Stop that. (If you promise not to overtake me in ERA, I promise not to overtake you in steals. Or... holds, probably.)

Argh -- another closer down?

Hey Clyde, Back and Forth we go.
Seems like less Holds are to be had all around, too many blowouts, last minute lead changes and 9th inning (or later) walk-offs.

Just got sick of some under performers. No more Swisher for me.
Now lets see if V-mart can hit a freakin' Home Run.

Tim

Why not -- if Mauer can do it, anything's possible.

Boooo catchers and closers both....

Hey guys...

I'm working my way into your company. I've gotta be able to do something with all these outfielders.