Fantasy Life: ‘Tis The Season … For Winter Meetings

Written by: Jay Ferraro on 25th November 2009

Fantasy Life: ‘Tis The Season … For Winter Meetings | read this item

(Editor’s Note) BaseballDigest.com is privileged to welcome our new Fantasy Writer, Jay Ferraro to the Baseball Digest family. His new column “Fantasy Life” will be appearing regularly – MH

The 2009 Baseball season ended with the New York Yankees being crowned World Champions for the twenty seventh time. As a life-long Yankees fan, nothing put a bigger smile on my face than watching the “Core Four” holding up that trophy on a brisk November night in the Bronx.

It certainly lifted my spirits after a disappointing first round exit this Fantasy Baseball season. My alter-ego, Die Hard Fan 46, is a two time defending champion in my league, winning the crown in 2007 and 2008.

I’d like to take this opportunity to say hello to all of you Fantasy Baseball aficionados out there. My name is Jay Ferraro and I am the newest member of the Baseballdigest.com team. I will be covering the ins and outs of Fantasy Baseball throughout this offseason and 2010 regular season.

I want to first and foremost thank Mark Healey for giving me the opportunity to write about two things I love: Baseball and Fantasy Baseball. I would also like to thank my wife Lisa for putting up with my obsession as well.

I have been involved with Fantasy Baseball for around a decade, and as mentioned before, my two most recent championships coming in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The three-peat, however, fell through my grasp this season because of injuries to Justin Morneau and Michael Young late in the season. I will also have to admit some poor managerial decisions on my part down the stretch and in my short playoff stint. No excuses, but I was helping my wife plan our wedding at the time, and of course, that was more important. (cough-cough-wink-wink).

Opening Day is about 130 days away. Each of those days is vitally important for the upcoming Fantasy Baseball season. No matter how last season finished for you, wipe the slate clean because it’s a whole new ball game. At MLB’s annual Winter Meetings this year in Indianapolis, December 7-10, player agents and GMs will be hard at work, as all player movement affects Fantasy Baseball draft positioning and transactions throughout the year.

The first move of this off season has been the Cubs signing relief pitcher John Grabow to a two year deal worth 7.5MM. This deal flies under the radar for most Baseball fans, but not us Fantasy managers; all I can see are a ton of holds and save opportunities.
With Kevin Gregg and his 4.72 ERA no longer getting under Lou Piniella’s skin on the south side, it leaves the door wide open for Grabow to grab more than a few saves this season. Carlos Marmol took over the closer job from Greg last season saving 15 games, his ERA jumping from 2.68 in 2008 to 3.41 in 2009 and his WHIP going from 0.93 to 1.46. “Sweet” Lou has always had a quick trigger on his relief pitchers and Grabow saved four games for the Pirates in 2008.

I am not in love with Grabow’s 3.36 ERA or his 1.41 WHIP, and I also know I am not talking about a Mariano Rivera or a Joe Nathan. Instead, my eye is on cheap saves throughout the season. Many Fantasy managers feel the need to have elite closers filling their roster relief spots to make them feel safe, but give me the San Francisco Giants’ Brian Wilson (2.74 ERA and 38 saves in 2009) or the Seattle Mariners closer David Aardsma (2.52 ERA and 38 saves in 2009) any day of the week.

On draft day, getting caught up in drafting an elite closer can leave you missing out on players that can provide more than just one stat.
This past season Jonathan Papelbon and Joe Nathan were taken in the third round in my league, leaving names like Dan Haren, Adrian Gonzalez, Joe Mauer and a long list of players that I am drooling over for my team this year.

In short, fight the urge and wait around for the second and third-tier guys and who knows, you might land a Cy Young award winner or an American League MVP.

As the signings and trades happen, I will break them down on their Fantasy impact. I am looking forward to helping every single one of you compete for your respective league championships. This offseason is going to be full of excitement with Adrian Gonzalez and Roy “Doc” Halladay possibly landing new teams to call home, newcomer Aroldis Chapman starting his Major League career, and Jason Bay/Matt Holiday cashing in. Let the Fantasy games begin!

If you have any questions or comments on your upcoming Fantasy Baseball season, contact Jay here.

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Topics: Baseball Digest, Cough Cough, Fantasy Baseball Season, Fantasy Life, Fantasy Writer, Ferraro, Justin Morneau, Managerial Decisions, Mark Healey, New Fantasy, New York Yankees, Seventh Time, Smile On My Face, Three Peat, Time Defending Champion, Wife Lisa, Wink Wink, Winning The Crown, Winter Meetings, Yankees Fan