To Drop or Not to Drop
Today I am going to steal a column idea and talk about everyone’s least favorite subject, my fantasy team. I am going to look at the options I have in the playoffs for a team decimated by injuries. For the two people still reading, hang in for a ride of self pity.
Background
Old keeper, unique rules, it is what it is and I like it.
20 teams
Categories – 9×8. Several overlapping categories (OBP, W, TB, AVG). The only categories that don’t overlap are Holds and Losses for pitchers.
8 positions plus Util
5 SP, 2 RP, 1 P
9 keepers – forever
8 teams in playoffs, I ended up 4th in regular season.
Currently, my team has been just decimated by injuries at the worst time. I was fairly healthy through the rest of the season. Recently I have lost Zack Cozart, Nick Markakis and Kenley Jansen for the season. Also Anthony Rizzo is hurt for a few games and Josh Hamilton always seems to be hurt.
I have four spots on my bench taken up by players that won’t play. Right now, I have no offensive subs. I can’t mess too much with my pitching staff because I go with just five starters that I cycle in and out to go with four SP/RP guys to help with rate stats and Holds.
I am trying to figure out if I should go all in for a title (about had it last year, but my hitters went 6 for 65 over the final weekend) with a team band-aided together. Or should I just accept my fate and be happy to make the playoffs.The band-aided team would need to drop three potential keepers in Cozart, Markakis and Jansen (I just let go of Jeff Samardzija after he reached his innings limit).
It is tough to give up when I am so close, but reality is setting in. I can’t mortgage the future in a league with 180 keepers (20 teams * 9 keepers per team). It is tough to get any good hitters in this league.
Sadly, I think I am going to skirt the edge by dropping Cozart and Jansen and pick up DeWayne Wise and Logan Forsythe for some hitting depth.
I feel I will be mad if I didn’t give it my best over the off season, but I can’t give up the future also. This balancing act, a chance of pennants now vs. chance of pennants in the future, is one of the toughest decisions to make in fantasy sports.
Jeff, one of the authors of the fantasy baseball guide,The Process, writes for RotoGraphs, The Hardball Times, Rotowire, Baseball America, and BaseballHQ. He has been nominated for two SABR Analytics Research Award for Contemporary Analysis and won it in 2013 in tandem with Bill Petti. He has won four FSWA Awards including on for his Mining the News series. He's won Tout Wars three times, LABR twice, and got his first NFBC Main Event win in 2021. Follow him on Twitter @jeffwzimmerman.
I wouldn’t drop Jansen. Unless your keeper is dramatically different than my 20-teamer, closers are rather hard to come by. I’m not as enamored with Cozart, and think you’re probably right that dropping him might be the way to go.
how are closers hard to come by? i dont get people’s infatuation with them. they contribute in 1 category, and very minimally to the rest…but they can also kill your ERA when they give up 4 ER in 1/3 of IP….besides, other than Papelbon, Kimbrel, Betancourt, Putz, Jim Johnson, Perez, Valverde, Hanrahan, Motte, and Nathan, every other team has either A.) had multiple closers amass considerable numbers of saves, B.) changed their closer at some point in the season, or C.) become the Astros who dont win any games, therfore, making their closer useless.
“how are closers hard to come by?”
Apparently you’ve never played in a deep league Cliff.