NorthOf49

Someone said a couple months ago that they do hedge against the dollar. Not sure if that's true though.

I've been quieter in the past couple months for a few reasons. I didn't use my wheel-and-deal approach much because there just aren't many places to improve my team. I tried hard in October and November to add a top shortstop but the prices were prohibitive and no amount of complexity would do the job. So my offseason consisted of two-team swaps based on need and philosophy. Also, some of my top players are hard to move because of the value I place on them. I threw Beltre and Fielder into a couple offers early in the offseason and didn't get a great response.

Matt Albers is decent too and with his injury they may be able to sign him to a minor league deal. Waiting out the market is probably the right decision since there's not much that separates these relievers.

Congrats on calling Janssen-Nationals in the FAP Contest!

The Blue Jays also DFA'd Luis Valbuena in April 2012, right after trading for Ryota Igarashi. Nobody thought anything of Valbuena back then though. The Cubs were able to push him through waivers themselves.

You could spunk it up by removing categories... 5x5 is always fun.

Are we doing RAWRR again? That league had a lot going for it: original, strategic and low-maintenance.

Not yet, he didn't tell us the categories.

Roto is the best... H2H is for people who started their fantasy careers with football.

It's very early in the fantasy cycle and I don't want to enter more leagues than I can handle. I'm keeping my options open.

Yeah, I like it when someone has an idea for a league, institutes it, then tries to fill the league. That's how RAWRR and DDML happened last year and they were lots of fun, my two favourite redrafts from last year. A drawn-out voting process will result in 7x7, H2H, snake draft, and 8 teams make the playoffs, since original set-ups proposed won't gain critical traction and what people are comfortable with will prevail.

It isn't about not being flexible and quitting, it's that people can only dedicate their time to so many leagues and so must be selective. With LOD starting up, I'm in three serious leagues already (it, DDL and a home league) and probably only want to join one more.

I'm not in for sure, but am probably interested. What would the $$ distribution be? If it's H2H it should include divisional winners since the playoffs are so random.

Yep. An auction roto format best rewards skill. I would be interested if the other redraft leagues don't happen.

Rotiserrie makes sense in money leagues.

Because he's young, cheap and was good in 2014! Struck out nearly a batter per inning with above-average swinging strike and chase rates, kept the ball around the plate and made every start without slowing down. Also, on that last note, his second-half PD stats were elite and the velocity held steady.

Daniel Norris is just the best. What a guy.

You're a prodigy, man!

The cream always rises to the top...... Free agents yet to sign: James Shields, Ryan Vogelsong (likely Astros, who Abom and closetjaysfan picked), Casey Janssen, Rickie Weeks, Rafael Soriano, Dustin McGowan. AAVs are total guaranteed commitment / guaranteed years. Also, the contest will end on Major League Opening Day (there will be no Stephen Drew or Kendrys Morales situations). [table] [tr][td]Rank[/td][td]Poster[/td][td]Total[/td][td]Contracts[/td][td]Destinations[/td][/tr] [tr][td]1[/td][td]The Champ (Jays4life19)[/td][td]117[/td][td]72[/td][td]25[/td][/tr] [tr][td]2[/td][td]sAAviour[/td][td]112[/td][td]69[/td][td]27[/td][/tr] [tr][td]3[/td][td]Lawrie22[/td][td]111[/td][td]69[/td][td]33[/td][/tr] [tr][td]4[/td][td]Barryssyringe[/td][td]110[/td][td]69[/td][td]30[/td][/tr] [tr][td]5[/td][td]frenchsoup[/td][td]109[/td][td]60[/td][td]40[/td][/tr] [tr][td]6[/td][td]TBJ12[/td][td]108[/td][td]81[/td][td]16[/td][/tr] [tr][td]7[/td][td]MLBTR[/td][td]107[/td][td]72[/td][td]15[/td][/tr] [tr][td]8[/td][td]Mikeleelop[/td][td]105[/td][td]63[/td][td]29[/td][/tr] [tr][td]8[/td][td]rabbit[/td][td]105[/td][td]69[/td][td]27[/td][/tr] [tr][td]10[/td][td](The Crowd)[/td][td]103[/td][td]57[/td][td]37[/td][/tr] [tr][td]11[/td][td]Angrioter[/td][td]100[/td][td]60[/td][td]31[/td][/tr] [tr][td]12[/td][td]Hawkins[/td][td]98[/td][td]66[/td][td]29[/td][/tr] [tr][td]13[/td][td]Governator[/td][td]93[/td][td]57[/td][td]27[/td][/tr] [tr][td]14[/td][td]Abomination[/td][td]91[/td][td]48[/td][td]23[/td][/tr] [tr][td]14[/td][td]baseballsss[/td][td]91[/td][td]66[/td][td]16[/td][/tr] [tr][td]16[/td][td]NorthOf49[/td][td]89[/td][td]57[/td][td]19[/td][/tr] [tr][td]17[/td][td]reedjohnsonfan[/td][td]88[/td][td]66[/td][td]15[/td][/tr] [tr][td]18[/td][td]CBS/BP Experts[/td][td]86[/td][td]66[/td][td]11[/td][/tr] [tr][td]19[/td][td]GD[/td][td]83[/td][td]45[/td][td]25[/td][/tr] [tr][td]20[/td][td]guylaroche5[/td][td]80[/td][td]63[/td][td]12[/td][/tr] [tr][td]21[/td][td]TheHurl[/td][td]79[/td][td]69[/td][td]10[/td][/tr] [tr][td]22[/td][td]Maahfaace[/td][td]78[/td][td]57[/td][td]14[/td][/tr] [tr][td]23[/td][td]JFaS[/td][td]76[/td][td]51[/td][td]14[/td][/tr] [tr][td]23[/td][td]King[/td][td]76[/td][td]48[/td][td]24[/td][/tr] [tr][td]23[/td][td]Orgfiller[/td][td]76[/td][td]69[/td][td]6[/td][/tr] [tr][td]26[/td][td]Deadpool[/td][td]74[/td][td]42[/td][td]31[/td][/tr] [tr][td]26[/td][td]Jays_fever[/td][td]74[/td][td]63[/td][td]11[/td][/tr] [tr][td]28[/td][td]jb22[/td][td]73[/td][td]54[/td][td]10[/td][/tr] [tr][td]28[/td][td]Spanky99[/td][td]73[/td][td]45[/td][td]19[/td][/tr] [tr][td]30[/td][td]P2F[/td][td]70[/td][td]57[/td][td]4[/td][/tr] [tr][td]30[/td][td]vdubfan[/td][td]70[/td][td]51[/td][td]14[/td][/tr] [tr][td]32[/td][td]closetjaysfan[/td][td]66[/td][td]42[/td][td]19[/td][/tr] [tr][td]33[/td][td]Sammy225[/td][td]62[/td][td]30[/td][td]19[/td][/tr] [tr][td]34[/td][td]JaysRap[/td][td]59[/td][td]39[/td][td]15[/td][/tr] [tr][td]35[/td][td]Boxcar[/td][td]58[/td][td]42[/td][td]11[/td][/tr] [tr][td]36[/td][td]SantosLHalper21[/td][td]53[/td][td]33[/td][td]11[/td][/tr] [/table]

So how should Scherzer's AAV be expressed? 30?

It's interesting to see how quickly Alcantara and Soler deviated in terms of career outlook this past season. At midseason, both were ripping through the minors as top ~30 prospects with relatively similar amounts of risk. Then, Alcantara was called up and got completely exposed, both by peripheral and performance stats. Soler was called up and crushed it while alleviating the approach concerns that surrounded him. They turned into totally different assets over the course of a few months.

I'd spent the whole offseason trying to get a top shortstop to no success, so I figured taking a chance on an unestablished guy with a firm job made sense. I don't love Owings' core skills but his profile is reasonably built for fantasy. Losing House makes me sad but pitching depth isn't a concern for me at this point.

I'm not sure why you think he's in such decline. Shields' fastball velocity has been increasing throughout his career and he was worth 8.2 fWAR in his two seasons with Kansas City. He'd provide a huge boost to the Blue Jays pitching staff.

You're probably right. Maybe it'll have to be a four-year deal then.

MLBTR projected $4.5M for Donaldson, which is very close to the Jays $4.3M. The arbitrator will look at past comparables and not necessarily put much weight in inflation or advanced value calculations. I'm assuming they'll agree to a two- or three-year deal ahead of time though.