SB Nation - Albert Pujols

Fantasy Baseball: UBA Keeper League Trades

raygu — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:00:22 -0000

by David Zalubowski - AP

3 months ago: Cincinnati Reds shortstop Paul Janish, front, fields the throw as Colorado Rockies' Eric Young, Jr., steals second base in the third inning of the Rockies' 5-1 victory in a baseball game in Denver on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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I have mentioned in several of my posts recently that I have traded for some minor league prospects in my "Big" NL-only keeper league called the UBA league. I joined this league 3 years ago taking over a team that had finished in 11th place the previous year. I immediately started trading my best keepers in several 2-1 deals to improve my roster.

My first year in the UBA league was strange because, I decided in mid-late May to bail on the season and started trading my most productive players for cheap keepers and minor league prospects. But, as the season went along, I slowly crept up in the league standings to the point that I decided to change course and go for it. As it turned out, I finished 3rd that year and in the money.

In fact, I have finished in 3rd place in each of my 3 years in the UBA league, but last year's finish hurt the most. I traded some of my better minor league prospects (Andrew McCutchen and Jason Heyward to name a few) and Matt Kemp during the season to only finish in 3rd. Not what I expected when I made the deals obviously.

So this offseason, I have again decided to gut my team of my best keepers to rebuild, as I did in my first year in the league. Here is a summary of the deals I have made this offseason:

more after the jump:

Traded $10 S1 Casey McGehee for $5 S2 Yonder Alonso

Traded $1 S1 Wandy Rodriguez for $10 S1 Brandon Allen, $5 S2 Domonic Brown and the #7 pick in the minor league draft

Traded $23 S1 Andre Ethier for $5 S2 Michael Stanton, $5 S2 Jose Tabata and $5 S2 Andrew Lambo

Traded $22 S1 Huston Street for $10 S1 Eric Young and the #13 pick in the minor league draft

Brandon Allen and Young have a shot at making a fantasy impact in 2010. Allen, as it stands right now, should be the starting first baseman for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010, but he didn't help himself in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .177 and struck out 33 times. He also struck out alot in his cup of coffee with the DBacks in August and September. Young, on the other hand, could end up in AAA to start the 2010 season as Rockies manager Jim Tracey loves him some Clint Barmes. Not sure why. Maybe it's the .220 batting average, but he is a good fielding second baseman. I think Young could play enough in 2010 to steal 20+ bases. Hopefully they aren't in AAA. Should he land a starting job out of spring training, he could steal 35+ bases.

I also targeted prospects who I think should make a fantasy impact in 2011, with a couple who could make their big-league debut in 2010. There is a good possibility that Jose Tabata will be given a chance to play everyday come June 2010. The Marlins Michael Stanton could also see some time in Florida this season, especially if he can improve upon his AA performance in 2009. In 299 ABs at AA Jacksonville, Stanton went 16-53-.231-.311-.455-.766.

In Domonic Brown and Andrew Lambo, I received two outfielders who could be starting in 2011. Brown could be ready to take over for free agent outfielder Jayson Werth, should the Phillies let Werth leave via free agency. Lambo had a disappointing season in AA Chattanooga as his power numbers dropped. But Dodgers director of scouting Logan White and director of player development DeJon Watson both feel Lambo can ave a break out power season in 2010. Time will tell.

As a result of these moves, I am left with alot of question marks in my keeper list, but I will have about $185 to spend at the draft, so the draft will be real interesting since it is full of power hitters like Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, and Mark Reynolds (my worst non-raise decision ever) among others.

Poll

How did I do in my offseason deals?

Friday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:03:38 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

It appears Claudio Vargas was never photographed as a Brewer. He'll get another chance to show up in an AP photo in 2010.

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Some things to read while simulating a sunrise.

Claudio Vargas is expected in Milwaukee for his physical late in the day today, so we can expect an official announcement on his contract sometime late this afternoon. Vargas had to return from the Dominican Republic, where he just reported to winter ball a few weeks ago and has yet to allow an earned run in four relief appearances, including two saves. Since he's only logged 6.1 innings of work, he might head back down there after the physical.

Until last season, Vargas had thought of himself as a starter temporarily pitching out of the bullpen, but Adam McCalvy has the story of how a late-season matchup against Albert Pujols changed his mind and caused him to embrace his new role.

Once the Vargas signing is official, the Brewer 40 man roster will be full. Tom H. engaged in a little rosterbation and notes the team is pretty much set going into spring training, barring an injury or trade.

With a tight roster, apparently there's no room for Seth McClung. McClung tweeted that the Brewers sent an email to his agent letting him know they're not interested in pursuing a deal to bring him back as a free agent. He's also looking to sell his house in Florida, if you're in the market.

Meanwhile, Adam McCalvy posted a correction to an earlier report on the incentives in LaTroy Hawkins' contract: they're actually tied to appearances and games finished, not saves. As TheJay noted, the collective bargaining agreement prohibits teams from tying incentives to "skill" stats, but allows them for playing time.

Elsewhere in the bullpen, Chuck Lofgren's hometown paper has a story about his opportunity to pitch for the Brewers this spring. They also have this quote, which might remind you of another former Brewer reliever/pinch hitter:

"I don't prepare for spring training like a hitter would, but I do still get in the cage,'' Lofgren said. "I can still hit. I never really lost it.''

Months into the offseason, the market hasn't heated up quite as much as one might have expected for second basemen. FanGraphs has a look at the guys that still remain on the market, including Felipe Lopez, and the possibility that they'll have to change positions to find work this offseason. I still think Lopez would have turned down arbitration in search of full-time work, but perhaps the Brewers knew something we didn't in terms of the market for his services.

Adam McCalvy also picked up on that note, and his ensuing post on Lopez included this note regarding the Brewer payroll for 2010:

Melvin says he still has some flexibility left over to troll the market in January and February for bargains. If he doesn't find any deals to his liking, Melvin could retain that flexibility into June and July to make a pre-trade deadline deal.

I guess the possibility of another signing shouldn't be ruled out.

Have the Brewers done enough to improve themselves this offseason? Reds Blog handicapped the 2010 NL Central, and said the Brewers "may be slightly better than the Reds, but not much."

John Steinmiller and Caitlin Moyer continue to give us looks into the offseason jobs of the Brewer front office staff: Today they have a look at the work being done by Aleta Mercer, Brewers Senior Director of Entertainment and Broadcasting.

Meanwhile, the Timber Rattlers' front office staff still has some time on their hands, as demonstrated by the five minute battle for superiority between ketchup and mustard in this week's episode of The Offseason.

The Timber Rattlers are also looking for your help to select a shortstop for their 15th anniversary team. Follow this link to read about the candidates, then click over to the front page to vote.

Speaking of voting, we have two of the closest races to date for our BCB All Decade Team. You have until 4 pm today to cast a vote for a backup catcher, where Mike Rivera leads Jason Kendall by 13 votes. You also have until 4 pm tomorrow to cast a vote for our fourth outfielder, where Carlos Lee leads Scott Podsednik by 28 votes, with Jeromy Burnitz lurking over his shoulder.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Signed infielders Doug Mientkiewicz and Angel Berroa to minor league deals.
Marlins: Signed Ricky Nolasco to a $3.8 million, one year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Mets: Signed Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi to a two year deal worth $3 million.
Padres: Signed outfielder Chris Denorfia to a minor league deal.

Here's another research project for a reader looking for something to do: Max Marchi of The Hardball Times looks at the difference in pitches CC Sabathia threw to three Yankee catchers in 2009, showing he appeared to prefer to throw sinkers to Jose Molina. I'd be curious to see if there are any disparities in pitches thrown to Mike Rivera and Jason Kendall last season.

There seem to be enough sites discussing it so I'm not going to turn the Mug into a daily receptacle for notes on Hall of Fame voting, but I did find these notes interesting:

Tom H. submitted his ballot yesterday, and had nine players on it. He didn't name them but based on this argument for Bert Blyleven, it's safe to assume he's one of them.
Followers on Twitter convinced Jeff Fletcher of AOL to change his mind and vote yes for Tim Raines.
Rob Neyer reminded us that some Hall of Fame voters still don't get it.

Speaking of Neyer, earlier this week I mentioned his post on the top 100 players of the decade, which included Corey Koskie (among others), but not Prince Fielder. Tangotiger has a look at Koskie's career, and his somewhat surprising route to 22 WAR in slightly more than five full seasons.

If that's not enough stat content for you today, Big League Stew has everything you always wanted to know about WPA.

There may be snow on the field on or near Opening Day, but at least Target Field will have functional bathrooms. Hall of Famer and Twins exec Tony Oliva was recently trapped in a Metrodome bathroom when the handle fell off the door.

I've heard of players doing all kinds of things to break slumps, but Hee Seop Choi might have topped them all by climbing Mount Seorak.

On this day in 1985, the Brewers traded two minor leaguers to the Giants for Rob Deer. Long before Russell Branyan was king of the Three True Outcomes, Deer was a 3TO Pioneer, hitting .229/.329/.450 with 333 walks, 137 home runs and 823 strikeouts in five seasons as a Brewer. Those 137 home runs were the tenth most in baseball during that stretch.

Happy birthday today to 2009 Nashville Sound Patrick Arlis, who turns 29.

Oh, and I'm hoping Garrett Broshuis will eventually share the plans for his Radioactive Cardboard Catcher.

Drink up.

New York Yankees notes: All things Johnson

Ed Valentine — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:44:53 -0000

More photos » by Henny Ray Abrams - AP

Nick Johnson

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What does the Nick Johnson signing mean for the New York Yankees? Perhaps the best assessment comes from Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.

Losing [Johnny] Damon will hurt. Even General Manager Brian Cashman acknowledged on Thursday that Damon is "the perfect two-hole hitter for this place." The Yankees will miss Damon’s speed, his quality at-bats and his ability to put the bat on the ball. And they will miss his personality, of course. But the Yankees priced Damon at about $9-10 million per year, for two years at the most, and they believe they can live with Johnson.

Johnson’s assets and drawbacks are obvious. The good: he’s a left-handed hitter, he knows the Yankees and he got on base at a better rate last year (.426) than everybody except Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols. The bad: he’s slow, he’s prone to injury, and he plays a position already occupied by Mark Teixeira.

Then again, by keeping Johnson off the field, the Yankees can limit his risk of injury, and there is no rule that says Johnson would have to be the starting D.H. every day. The Yankees could use Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Teixeira there as often as they like. Johnson, a happy-go-lucky guy, has been itching to play for a winner since the Yankees traded him to the Montreal Expos (remember them?) after the 2003 World Series. Also, there is this: next year’s free-agent class could be the best ever, with Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Cliff Lee, Joe Mauer, Brandon Webb and Jayson Werth -– not to mention Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. The Yankees figure to spend an awful lot of money in that market, and they want to save payroll and keep commitments short wherever they can.

In the big picture, the Yankees are replacing Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui with Curtis Granderson and Johnson. So they swap two older left-handed hitters who made $26 million in 2009 for two younger left-handed hitters who will make about $14 million in 2010. They replace a speed guy and a slow guy with another speed guy and slow guy.

My take: I will miss Matsui and Damon, but I like the reasoning behind this. To me, that money is key. Both in terms of being able to bring in another starting pitcher this off-season and -- perhaps more importantly -- setting themselves up for a big splurge next winter.

About Damon

The apparently now former Yankee outfielder has no idea what will happen next for him. But, he is not bitter.

"I have nothing but great things to say about the Yankees. If the Nick Johnson thing works out, it will be good for them," Damon told the Daily News last night. "It's part of baseball.

"I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do. I know there are some teams interested, but the Yankees are the best organization I've been a part of so far in my career. I wish them all the best."

With the Yankees out of the picture, it will be interesting to see what kind of deal the 36-year-old Damon can get.

"I guess we'll have to see now if (agent Scott) Boras gets Damon a three-year contract," said a baseball official, who suggested the most likely landing spot for Damon will be San Francisco, although the Giants are unlikely to give him three years.

Granderson's day

The Yankees formally welcomed Granderson, in a news conference Thursday at Yankee Stadium. One of last season's big off-season prizes, CC Sabathia, was in attendance and his comments might have been the most intriguing of the day.

"I think earlier in his career, when he first came up, he was driving balls to left field, and I think he was tougher on lefties then," Sabathia said. "He was hitting the ball in the gap in left-center.

"Then he started hitting a few home runs and got a little pull-happy. I think that's why lefties were able to stay away from him and throw slower stuff and have success against him."

To help fix the situation, Granderson said that he'd like to talk to Sabathia about the way he was pitched -- two-seamers in and plenty of outs away, Sabathia said -- and also check with Robinson Cano, who has hit lefties well in his career.

But the most important advice will come from hitting coach Kevin Long, with whom Granderson spoke on Monday and is planning to see after he completes working out with outfielder Nick Swisher.

Fantasy Baseball: Raygu's MDC Mock Draft Results

raygu — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:00:28 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

27 days ago: FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2009, file photo, St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols hits a single during the sixth inning of Game 2 of the National League division baseball series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in Los Angeles. Pujols was unanimously voted National League MVP on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, becoming the baseball first player to repeat since Barry Bonds won four in a row from 2001-04. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

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I participated, I use that term loosely, in a 12 Team Mixed League mock draft over at Mock Draft Central on Monday night. I missed alot of my picks because I was busy following the Roy Halladay trade rumors. But I made sure I made my fist three picks, as I was picking from the first position.

Here is how the first two rounds went:

R1 P1 Albert Pujols

R1 P2 Hanley Ramirez

R1 P3 Chase Utley

R1 P4 Alex Rodriguez

R1 P5 Ryan Braun

R1 P6 Mark Teixeira

R1 P7 Tim Lincecum

R1 P8 Matt Kemp

R1 P9 Prince Fielder

R1 P10 Miguel Cabrera

R1 P11 Evan Longoria

R1 P12 David Wright

The second round is after the jump:

R2 P1 Ian Kinsler

R2 P2 Justin Morneau

R2 P3 Ryan Howard

R2 P4 Joe Mauer

R2 P5 Carl Crawford

R2 P6 Grady Sizemore

R2 P7 Jacoby Ellsbury

R2 P8 Mark Reynolds

R2 P9 Jason Bay

R2 P10 Troy Tulowitzki

R2 P11 Zack Greinke

R2 P12 Justin Upton

With the first pick in round 3 I selected Matt Holliday.

I was surprised Upton and Holliday were still available that late in round 2.

Poll

What is more shcoking about Raygu's mock draft?

Fantasy Baseball: Early Mock Draft-Round 2, Pick 10

raygu — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:00:25 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

4 months ago: St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Holliday, left, celebrates with teammate Albert Pujols after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning against the San Diego Padres in a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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My next pick in the early mock draft has yet to sign with anyone this offseason, but Matt Holliday is worthy of a second round pick. I think his agent is smart enough to sign him with a National League team or with the Yankees or Red Sox.

Holliday had a horrendous start to the 2009 season after being traded to the A's. He got hot in June and then was traded to the Cardinals at the trade deadline. All he did after the trade to STL was go 13-55-2-.353-.419-,604-1.023. Hitting behind Albert Pujols has its advantages for sure. Holliday ended the 2009 season with a very respectable 24-109-94-14-.313-.394-.515-.909 slash line.

Should Holliday sign with the Cardinals, he will have plenty of RBI opportunities hitting behind Pujols. Should he sign with the Yankees or Red Sox, which is probably more likely, he could approach his 2007 season performance where he went 36-137-120-11-.340-.405-..607-1.012.

Bill James predicts Holliday to go 27-109-105-14-.316-.391-.531-.922 in 2010.

MLB Trade Rumors: Brad Penny Signs with the Cardinals

raygu — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:00:16 -0000

by Eric Risberg - AP

2 months ago: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Brad Penny throws against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning of their baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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Yesterday the Cardinals announced they had signed starting pitcher Brad Penny to a one year contract that could be worth up to $9 million with incentives. Penny has to be quite happy with his agents after getting that much money from a Cardinal team that is looking for a big bat to complement Albert Pujols in their lineup.

Penny went 11-9 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP pitching in Boston and San Francisco. In Boston, Penny made 24 starts going 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.534 WHIP. In his 6 starts in SF, Penny went 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP.

I expect a 2010 Brad Penny to be somewhere in between his Boston and SF stats in 2009, maybe a low 4 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP.

Poll

Will Brad Penny pitch well enough to replace Joel Pineiro in 2010?

Manny Pacquiao nominated for USSA Athlete of the Year

SC — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:30:57 -0000

Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao has been nominated for Male Athlete of the Year by the United States Sports Academy.

You can click here to make your picks. After what I've seen happen with Pacquiao and online polls in the past, they might as well just go ahead and call it a day.

The nominees for Male Athlete of the Year are:

Craig Alexander, triathlete
Usain Bolt, track and field
Drew Brees, American football
Kobe Bryant, basketball
Angel Cabrera, golf
Roger Federer, tennis
Santonio Holmes, American football
LeBron James, basketball
Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR
Manny Pacquiao, boxing
Albert Pujols, baseball
Tiger Woods, golf

Frankly, being totally honest, I think Pacquiao deserves to win. There's nobody there I think has any better a case. All great athletes and Jimmie Johnson, but Pacquiao's case is hard to beat.

Blogger Hints 101 - "Headlines to Get Your Baseball Blog Noticed and Increase Traffic"

Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Are you sure this is 101 level material?

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The following is a list of topics that get people's attention and blood boiling like Jerod Morris did with his piece on steroid speculation and Raul Ibanez. Nothing will bring recognition to your blog than a story that captures people's interest. No need to worry about the validity of it. By the time someone finds out, your monthly traffic will have doubled to 20 people.

These topics are not in any way set in stone. Feel free to change names and teams to go after the headliners of the day. Remember everyone can write about the greatness Albert Pujols or Joe Mauer, it takes a real blogger to prove that Jeremy Affeldt was robbed of the MVP this last year.

Attention Making Headlines

Three Red Sox Players in Love Triangle: Look at Next Trade for the Odd Man Out
Damon goes from 12 to 17 to 24 HRs: Gotta be Steroids
Steven Stratsburg: Put Him in the HOF Right Now

Odds are only 20 to 1 that Griffey will not be injured this Year

Half of Royals Team Fight Over Who is the Worst Baseball Player

Yankees Sold to Bill Bidwell

Vivid looking to Sponsor 2011 All Star Game

Red Sox Contemplating move to Paris

Dayton Moore makes 3 Logical Moves in a Row

Nolan Ryan to Un-retire to Help Texas with Playoff Push

20 Smelliest Players in the League

Puhlos to be traded for Fuckudome and Zambrano

Linecum Steroid User Since Age 12

Randy Johnson Porn Tape Revealed

Bloomquist or Ekstein: Who Should be Greatest Player of the Decade

Milton Bradley Robbed of Roberto Clemente Award

Roy Halladay Traded

Mike Jacobs Contemplating Move to Short Stop

Wins and RBI's: The Corner Stone of any Real Statistical Analysis

Red Sox Looking to Sign Major League Shortstop

Arod Claims to Have No Centaur Painting - "They are Satyrs Stupid"

I hope you enjoyed this edition and our next installment will be on dating.

Previous Installments:

"Ways to Improve Your Mom's Basement"

MLB Trade Rumors: Will the Cardinals Deal Albert Pujols??

raygu — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:00:17 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

27 days ago: FILE - In this Sept. 9, 2009, file photo, St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols smiling as he looks back at the Cardinals' dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee. Pujols was unanimously voted National League MVP on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, becoming the baseball first player to repeat since Barry Bonds won four in a row from 2001-04. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

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Cardinal fans can't even fathom such a thought, but if you read between the lines of some of recent comments made by Cardinals President Bill DeWitt, there is a chance.

Here are a few of DeWitt's comments made to some folks at Webster University yesterday:

DeWitt allowed that "there’s a question about what percentage of your payroll you can give one guy. That’s the fundamental question with (Pujols)."
"We’ll definitely push, scratch and probably get beyond our comfort level and try to make something work with him," DeWitt said. "I’m hoping that’s good enough. He knows the iconic players of any generation typically stay with one team if you look at the history of baseball."

The wrench in this situation between the Cardinals and Pujols is the following:

The club believes the window before next season the optimum time to negotiate an extension. Pujols, who currently enjoys a partial no-trade provision in his contract, achieves full no-trade protection when he reaches 10 years’ major-league service time after the 2010 season.

So Pujols is standing his ground, as it appears the Cardinals want to negotiate the extension this offseason, with the chance that they decide they can't sign him long-term, they have the power to deal him anywhere. But once the 2010 season is over, Pujols has the no-trade protection, so he has put the Cardinals in a position to put up or shut up this offseason. Pujols holds all the "Cards" and they know it.

This could be a very interesting offseason should the Cardinals do something crazy and make Pujols available.

These final comments make me think the Cardinals may have made their decision already:

"We can pay Albert $95 million per year and give $5 million to the rest of the guys, but how good would we be? We’d have minor leaguers out there and Albert," DeWitt said. "We can make it work. It’s just at what point does it become counterproductive at a competitive standpoint in terms of one player. That’s the balancing act. That’s not a set number.

"But we do know at a certain kind of range on an annual basis it gets beyond a rational decision. I’m hopeful. I think he understands."

Poll

What are the chances the Cardinals deal Albert Pujols this offseason?

None

736 votes

0-25%

201 votes

25-50%

98 votes

> 50%

84 votes

1119 votes | Poll has closed

Interview with Derek Carty from The Hardball Times-Part 4

raygu — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:00:19 -0000

Here is the last part of the 4 part interview with Derek Carty from The Hardball Times. Derek provides some insight into his top 5 rankings and some early sleepers for 2010:

Fake Teams: Are there any statistics that you use to evaluate hitters or pitchers that aren't mainstream yet?

Derek Carty: Absolutely. As I've talked about a little bit already, there are some that aren't even super well-known in the sabermetric community because, well, I invented them myself and they aren't really readily available yet. I absolutely love CAPS, David Gassko's LIPS ERA is great, and True Home Runs for hitters is a favorite of mine as well. Chris Dutton and Peter Bendix's xBABIP is great too. And of course, things like BABIP and HR/FB and LOB% aren't really mainstream, but they are pretty well-known in the sabermetric community and are certainly important to look at.

More after the jump:

Fake Teams: Do you prefer auction leagues or straight draft leagues? Mixed or NL/AL-only leagues?

Derek Carty: Auction, without a doubt. It gives everyone a chance at every player and, I feel, allows you to be more creative with how you construct your team and with how you plan your strategy. I used to be a 100% in favor of mixed leagues over AL/NL-only (in theory), although LABR has swayed my opinion a bit (it was the first AL/NL-only league I ever played in). Still, I would have to lean towards something like a 14 or 15-team mixed league, given my druthers. I just feel that one or two big injuries to an AL or NL-only team can derail any hope of a championship, in some instances, and we really are in the infantile stages of trying to predict injuries, so it's not as if some of us can even gain much of a competitive advantage in the area. I was actually quite lucky in LABR this year when it came to the health of my players, which has surely colored my opinion of this league setup a bit. Aside from losing Ramon Hernandez for most of the year and Raul Ibanez, Rich Harden, and Carlos Ruiz for a few weeks, my team stayed pretty healthy. In other leagues, I wasn't as lucky. In the FSIC, for instance, Jose Reyes killed us (although we did manage to finish in second despite a Reyes/Garrett Atkins combo for our first two picks). I think a 15-team mixed league is a pretty good depth and minimizes the amount of luck involved.

Fake Teams: An early look at 2010-who is your top 5 players in NL-only leagues? AL-only leagues? Mixed?

Derek Carty: This'll have to be very early since I haven't completed my projections yet or really tried to make any 2010 predictions, but here's how I'm currently feeling (completely subjectively and without seeing some of the more in-depth numbers I like to look at).
NL: 1) Albert Pujols, 2) Hanley Ramirez, 3) Chase Utley, 4) Ryan Braun, 5) Matt Kemp
AL: 1) A-Rod, 2) Mark Teixeira, 3) Miguel Cabrera, 4)Evan Longoria, 5) Joe Mauer
Mixed: 1) Albert Pujols, 2) Hanley Ramirez, 3) Chase Utley, 4) A-Rod, 5) Ryan Braun

Fake Teams: If you have done this analysis, who are a few sleepers for 2010?

Derek Carty: I haven't really done this analysis yet, so I'll probably have some very different names when asked in a month or two. For now, let's go with Ian Stewart, Julio Borbon, Eric Young Jr., Dallas McPherson (consider him the next Russell Branyan if he finds playing time), Koji Uehara (potential Baltimore closer, though he could succeed as a SP as well), Brett Andersen, and Jorge de la Rosa. And, of course, whether someone is truly a sleeper or a value pick is entirely dependent on context. He'll only derive value if you take him in a round later than where you believe he truly belongs.

Fake Teams thanks Derek for taking the time to answer these questions for our readers.