I'm new to fantasy baseball -- Would you mind helping me out?

Question

I'm in a league that's head-to-head. Even though I'm new at this, I REALLY want to win. Everyone in my league is male, and has been doing this for years, and I want to prove to them that I can do this. Here's my team:

C Brian McCann
1B Mark Teixiera
2B Jeff Kent
3B Bill Hall
SS Jose Reyes
OF Carlos Beltran
OF Andruw Jones
OF Jermaine Dye
Util Derek Jeter
Util Derrek Lee
Util Johnny Damon
BN Corey Patterson
BN Jason Giambi
BN Raul Ibanez
BN Joe Crede

SP Roy Halladay
SP Jeremy Bonderman
RP Huston Street
RP Chad Cordero
P Justin Verlander
P Francisco Cordero
P Matt Cain
BN Jason Schmidt

How does my team look? Is there anything I should do? What would you do? Thanks!

Sorry I left out the number of teams -- it's only six, so that's why my team looks so good. Everyone else has good teams, too -- that's why I'm worried.

To Michael Y, asking for help isn't wrong. It doesn't matter to them -- I know for a fact they all discuss this with their friends. Why shouldn't I take advantage of this? It's a learning experience, and I'm really grateful for everyone's help.

Answer 1

The team looks fine. Low on Avg on offense. The most important thing in H2H is that you don't need the best team in the league to win, just a better team than the guy you are playing this week.
You need to understand every players strength and weakness, what he brings to your team in regards to your stats. Start with Andruw Jones - he will get you HR's and RBI's but he will cost you in AVG and if your league counts K's against the hitter, he is a big liability. So when you play him you have to counter his weakness with high AVG guys. You also need to understand the same about the team you are playing against. It's just as important to know when not to play someone. If you have a large lead in a category there is no reason to play someone who would increase that lead while jeopardizing other categories. Example - you have a huge lead in HR's going into Sunday and the other team can't possibly catch you but you are only up by a little on batting Avg, it would be better to bench Jones and not play anyone in the postion than it would to jeopardize another category by playing him. You only have to win a category by one.
The trick to making the playoffs in H2H is to minimize loss, there will be weeks that you absolutely getted killed. But you have to look at each stat and say "which 1 stat can I take", at the end of the season those extra ties or wins add up. Losing 8-4-2 instead of 12-2 adds up at the end. At the same time, not getting gready when you are winning can add up. Like being ahead 12-2 and thinking you have nothing to lose and trying to win 14-0 but jeopardizing a few categories in the attempt could lead to a 9-5 win instead - while you still won, you actually lost 3 points in the attempt.
At the same time, you have to keep an eye on the other people in your league. If are winning 9 categories and someone else is winning 10, I look at it that I am getting beat by 1 so I am always watching how the other games are going. I also check both teams and on the side I look at how I would play if I had their players - it helps when I play them to know what they will do...

Play the stats, not the players!

Answer 2

You did very well drafting hitting. In a way you may have done too well. It's best to have more than five starting pitchers on a h2h team. You also don't really need four extra hitters. Your backup hitters are too good to drop, so you should attempt to trade for a pitcher or two. Dye might bring a lot, and I really don't expect him to equal last year' s numbers. So you might want to offer him for someone like Oswalt, or Carpenter. Pitchers to target for one of your bench hitters might include Lackey, Harang Kazmir or Hamels. I'd try to add a couple of starters and maybe try to deal another bench guy for an additional closer like Chris Ray of Baltimore. Those are players I think you can realistically get.

Answer 3

By asking for help, are you really proving that you can do this?

Anyway, you team is pretty stacked. Looks like the other guys aren't very good at this either if they let you draft a team like that. The most important thing is to stay updated, watch for guys on hit streaks, home run streaks, hot strikeout pitchers, etc.

I would trade for stronger RPs and test the trade waters for 2nd and 3rd base.

Answer 4

Trade Ibanez or Patterson for another starting pitcher. Giambi can DH or play first base if needed. I like the looks of your team. you are a little weak in the pitching Department. See if D. Lowe or Cole hamals are on the wavier wire or you can trade for them.

Answer 5

Thats a great team for being new to Fantasy Baseball. How many people are in the league?

Answer 6

We need to know how many teams and the scoring system. It looks pretty good to me-you might be a little lacking in batting average and you need a few things to go your way, but this is a good team.

Answer 7

Your team looks primed for a great season. The only thing that you might want to think about is maybe upgrade your 2nd baseman and/or add another starting pitcher.

Answer 8

It looks pretty balanced. I think you might have a good chance. The biggest thing to keep in mind that is that you want to take advantage of everybody so make sure you update your team daily with people who are playing/pitching that day.

Good Luck to you!!

Answer 9

You need more pitching. Try to deal Dye, Ibanez and Crede for pitching. Each of them had career years last years and can probably bring back more value now then they will in a month.

Are Jeter and D. Lee actually playing MI and CI?

Answer 10

Very nice team, you must not have a lot of people in your league to have that many good players. My suggestion is to START JASON SCHMIDT. He is a rediculously good pitcher, look at his career stats. This year he will also be pitching in a pitcher friendly ball park in dodger stadium, so you have to use him.