Jeepers, Keepers: Time to Find Some Ottoneu Sleepers (pt 2)

Last week I took the brave first step of showing you, the readers, my staff league Ottoneu team. But today I have to be even more brave. As a foolish young 25-year-old, I decided I wanted to get into Ottoneu. But it wasn’t just into Ottoneu, but joining an already established league. Oh, did I mention I’d be taking over Chris Cwik’s team. Oh, and I’d be the freaking commissioner.

Writer’s Note: It’s extremely difficult taking over a team mid-stream, so my team will not reflect the quality you might expect from a fantasy ‘expert’. I willingly will take all barbs tossed at me, however.

I was over my head to be sure. But the owners were patient with me, and we had a good year as a league. Not me, so much. I finished ninth in a 12-team league.

Here’s the lowdown: 12-teamer, 5×5 scoring, and the winner last year was arguably the best 5×5 owner Ottoneu-wide last year. Draft tentatively scheduled for 3/16, and I have 35 roster spots taken and $58 to spend up to my ceiling. Here’s our league website.

I present the hitters:

C- Jesus Montero $13
C- Wilin Rosario $8
1B- Anthony Rizzo $6
2B- Robinson Cano $45
3B- Chase Headley $11
3B- Trevor Plouffe $6
SS- J.J. Hardy $11
SS- Jed Lowrie $6
OF- B.J. Upton $22
OF- Dexter Fowler $11
OF- Jason Kubel $10
OF- Denard Span $10
OF- Mike Morse $6
OF- Melky Cabrera $5
OF- Ben Revere $5
OF- Carlos Gomez $4
OF- Gerardo Parra $3
Minors- Miguel Sano $7
Minors- Anthony Rendon $5
Minors- Oswaldo Arcia $2
Minors- Gary Brown $4
Minors- Xander Bogaerts $4

So yeah, there are probably too many outfielders here. We have five starting OF spots and a UTIL spot to use among those guys, so while I’m not nuts about having that many outfielders, I can probably make it work. Ideally, I’d not have spent that much on Montero, but I want to give him one last chance (same goes for Brown). I’ll maybe make an addition or two — another second baseman, probably — to the offense, but I probably have to keep some room for help as we look at my pitching staff.

And the pitchers:
SP- Chris Sale $21
SP- Josh Johnson $18
SP- Jeremy Hellickson $18
SP- Mike Minor $14
SP- Derek Holland $12
SP- Edwin Jackson $7
SP- Homer Bailey $7
SP- Lance Lynn $5
SP- Shelby Miller $8
RP- Jim Johnson $17
RP- Glen Perkins $5
RP- Sean Burnett $3
Minors- Jake Odorizzi $3

My notions are that Johnson is a bit too high, and that I could still use some help in the closing department. Still, for a team I’ve had to completely remake, I think I could have done worse.

So going into the draft, I think I’ll try target another pair of ‘saves’ guys, and then see if I have much left over for any high-ceiling talent, either in the infield or starting rotation. Any thoughts on that direction?