Open Thread: RAB Fantasy Baseball League Final Update

Well, technically it’s the first update, but that’s neither here nor there.

For the third straight year, I won my league’s regular season title, but fell short in the playoffs. This time it was out of sheer stupidity though, not because I had an inferior team. I forgot to set my lineup one day during my matchup in Round One of the playoffs, and missed out on this Zach Greinke start. The ERA and WHIP wouldn’t have mattered, but the five extra strikeouts would have tied me in that category, and given me the win that week. It’s not as bad as the Rafael Furcal Stolen Base Incident of 2007, but it sucks none the less.

Anyway, RAB regular A.D. won the league, beating Jamal G., another regular. So congrats to him. Here’s the team I drafted, and here’s the team I finished the year with:

C: Russ Martin
1B: Derek Lee
2B: Brian Roberts
3B: A-Rod
SS: Gordon Beckham
OF: Jason Kubel
OF: Andrew McCutchen
OF: Julio Borbon
UTIL: Carlos Gonzalez
BN: JD Drew
BN: Rafael Furcal
BN: Brad Hawpe
BN: Casey McGehee
BN: Conor Jackson (DL)

SP: Felix Hernandez
SP: Zach Greinke
SP: Josh Johnson
SP: Freddy Garcia
SP: Sean West
SP: Jered Weaver
SP: Gil Meche (DL)
RP: Ryan Madson
RP: Matt Thornton
RP: Kiko Calero

Power pitching wins, folks. I struck gold with Felix (5th round), Greinke (7th), and Johnson (11th), and Weaver was decent for a 16th rounder. I picked up Garcia and West late in the season when I needed strikeouts and they were starting on a Sunday. Madson and Thornton racked up the holds (the league used Saves+Holds, not just Saves). Assuming Greinke wins the Cy Young, I will have had three of the last four Cy winners on my fantasy team (I traded for Tim Lincecum early last year, and grabbed Cliff Lee off waivers in April).

Don’t read too much into the outfield alignment, I played the matchups pretty much every day and could have had Drew or Hawpe starting. That’s just how I had my roster set yesterday. My first rounder – the uberslumping Jimmy Rollins – was jettisoned along with Aubrey Huff in a trade for McCutchen and Furcal. I had a mid-season outfield crisis and needed the help, plus I had Beckham starting at short. I shuffled in guys like Jack Cust, Kosuke Fukudome, Matt LaPorta, Scott Hairston, and David Murphy all summer until Borbon and Gonzalez stabilized things.

Did you know Derrek Lee finished the year with a .972 OPS, 35 homers, and 111 RBI? I almost traded him for Edwin Jackson in early August. A-Rod was the man, as usual, but Martin hit for zero power all season. Regardless, it was a good team and I won my final six regular season matchups.

Final standings for the league are after the jump, but feel free to use this as your open thread for the night. Brett Favre takes on the Packers in Minnesota on Monday Night Football, and you’ve also got the Rangers and Devils facing off in New Jersey. There’s also a new House on, which is where I’ll be. Talk about whatever you want, just follow the guidelines and be nice.

1. RAB Mike A. (159-97-20)
2. Team A.D. (159-103-14) – League Champ
3. New York Highlanders (149-109-18)
4. Bulletproof Tiger (145-121-10)
5. Team Jamal G. (138-118-20) – Runner Up
6. Team Thomas (127-127-22)
7. Rafi Silverman (126-128-22)
8. Team McCarty (130-132-14)
9. Team CalvinBall (121-137-18)
10. Forging Genius (120-138-18)
11. Team Ney (118-141-17)
12. Dirty Mark Sanchez (117-142-17)
13. Congressman Mondesi (105-155-16)
14. Team Manimal (95-161-20)