Nothing too major or interesting going on in the majors right now, as far as major stories. Sure, Clemens got his 300th win and 4000th strikeout, the Yankees and Red Sox are apparently fighting for Urbina, and of course Sosa's corked bat, but really, that stuff is best left to the professional writers.
Instead, I'll yak about my new fantasy team. I decided to pony up for a midseason team, because my current league is pretty boring. I really like my first team, it has some decent balance, good pitching, etc., but the other managers are pretty inactive and weak, with a few exceptions. Of course, there's no guarantee this league will be better, but so far it looks like at least a handful of the other managers in it are going to be active.
I went pretty heavy on infielders early in the draft. I grabbed Giambi in the first round, with Furcal and Kent pretty early, thinking that Giambi should have a monster second half with his eyes healthy again, and second base being a pretty shallow position. I was still able to grab Jose Vidro pretty late in the draft (108th pick), and Aramis Ramirez all the way at 153. Granted, Ramirez isn't exactly a premiere third baseman, but he does have a track record of power, and he's hitting the ball very well right now.
I ignored pitching and the outfield too long, probably. Aside from grabbing Schmidt in the third round, I didn't pick up another starter until the 13th round, with Joel Pineiro. Still, I don't think my SPs ended up too badly. When it was all said and done, I had Schmidt, Pineiro, Clement, Foppert, Webb, and took a gamble with Beckett in my DL spot.
Closers are always a tricky area in fantasy baseball, and I'd really like to try punting the category one time. Really, closers are one-category players. Not that they can't have nice ERAs, WHIPs, and Ks, but they usually don't pitch enough innings to help much, and a few bad outings can kill their stats. But, they aren't like other categories where the waiver wire can be used to help the category, since only a few people in baseball get saves, really.
I decided not to use any high picks on a Gagne, Smoltz, or Wagner-caliber closer. Instead, I waited until the sixth round to pick up Foulke–a good closer for a good team. After that, I went for some budget closers with Rocky Biddle, Julio, and Politte. Aside from Foulke, they're all the type of closers who could lose their jobs, but it's not that hard to keep on top of changes like that and with four budget closers, you don't have the huge risk of injury or one guy ruining the category for you. So, while they aren't the elite finishers, they're a diverse bunch who should get the job done.
I didn't take outfielders too early, but I think that my batch turned out alright in the end. The earliest I drafted an outfielder was the fifth round, with a gamble on Magglio Ordonez. He hasn't hit that well in the first half, but he has a track record that gives me some confidence. Like Giambi, I think he's too good not to turn it around. My other outfielders ended up as Luis Gonzalez, Juan Pierre, Mike Cameron, and Jacque Jones. Maggs is good for average, homers, RBIs, and runs, Juan Pierre is alright for average, good for runs, but mainly there for steals, Cameron is keeping his average up reasonably well and is competent in all the categories, Jones is good for average and runs. So, I have guys to contribute to all the categories, I think.
Miscellaneous picks, Rhodes as a filler pitcher. He's a great MR who can actually help a team, but that could be a rotating spot for flavor of the day types, both hitters and pitchers. I also picked up Hinske, Teixeira, and Varitek, who is having a very solid season behind the plate.
Teixeira could have a strong second half, so he might be worth something. Hinske should rebound nicely once he's healthy, and the stats for midseason don't count until after the break, when he and Beckett should be back.
So yeah, that's my team. At first, I was a little worried about the pitching staff, then tonight I saw Webb and Schmidt striking guys out and pitching shut outs. They ended up giving up three and four runs in their starts–with no wins. But what the hell, they struck out a bunch of guys. When your team hits two home runs, but only gets three RBIs, that's pretty rough, though.
Anyway, maybe I can actually have a legit theme next update.