Having worked in a school for 25 years or more (hard to count) or as I usually say since the 90s, it’s safe to say that every person, every human being has a quirk or 7. My personal quirk is that if I step on a crack like in a sidewalk, or like on a tree root or something, I have to do the same thing with the other foot. Evening it out, if you will. Another one is that when I sneeze I only do it one time, but boy howdy is it an epic loud sneeze. So loud that I don’t ever get a bless you, more like a shocked reaction.
Each dynasty league is different and has their own quirks that make them unique. The one I’m in has a few that I’m still figuring out. No, I don’t know how long that will take to do, you meanies.
The biggest one is that player values aren’t tied completely to their statistics. There is some sort of contract vs. production matrix that I have yet to master and seems to be the biggest learning curve in the league. Marcell Ozuna is a great example. I could make a case that at only 5 million salary he may have been among the most valuable players in the league. I also inherited Luis Robert at 8 million. These guys carried the Yankees to the playoffs. Aaron Nola at 27 though, with a re-sign coming soon, he was going to cost more than he would return. Even elite players have their cost at which they no longer make sense to be rostered.
Another issue I’m workshopping in my head is the whole “How much should Kelder tear this down thing?” A teardown would be very fun and give me more of a feel like it’s my team. I’m also losing Nate Eovaldi and Garrett Cooper in free agency because they would both put me over the cap by retaining them. Looks like I need to cut some more high salary guys out and just get younger. I know it’s not going to result in wins but my roster is like the 2019 Cubs. Just not enough depth.
It really does seem like I cannot compete with my current roster. This sucks. I like to compete! I guess, however, the build is going to have to be satisfactory enough for me.
My previous experience with a 30 team was a little bit different. That team I drafted from scratch. The first season I got 108 wins in a 162 game schedule! This tells me that I’m pretty good at picking players for a season. Reckon that’s good for a guy who writes for a fantasy blog! Where I was not smart was with trading future assets such as prospects and draft picks. This time around, I’m going to hold my stuff until I figure out values much better than I did in the past.
The goal is to build a foundation first, then build the house on top. I just hope it’s not a house of cards or sticks where the Big Bad Wolf can come and sing like the classic Green Jelly Song.
Quite possibly the best and worst song of all time simultaneously.
Questions for the Champion
The Marlins owner, a nice online guy named Bill, was nice enough to answer some questions. Bill led the mighty Fighting Fish to the championship just last season.
Big Bopping Bill (not his real name I made this up), or Bill for short, joined during the COVID times of 2020. He like a lot of us had extra time on his hands so he decided that this would be a fun challenge. Bill proceeded to decide that he hated his team and tore the whole thing down. In just three months, he had completely stripped down his team. Mike Trout, Alex Bregman, Luis Robert were all on the roster. Bregs and Robert are now on my Yankees team, actually. After tearing it down, which was probably super fun actually, the real work was building it back.
He did this really quickly.
Bill had some strategies that I will try to emulate going forward. The first is to not be scared to add good players even while rebuilding. Um, duh? I think though that it’s easy to get too into the prospect weeds and not add actual MLB talent. Here’s his lineup:
| Mitch Garver | $1,495,480 |
| Matt Olson | $28,650,000 |
| Marcus Semien | $24,910,000 |
| CJ Abrams | $1,129,590 |
| Manny Machado | $30,181,000 |
| Jonathan India | $2,812,992 |
| Triston Casas | $826,000 |
| Adolis Garcia | $11,600,000 |
| Julio Rodriguez | $2,282,000 |
| Corbin Carroll | $1,180,000 |
| MJ Melendez | $1,118,180 |
| Jordan Lawlar | $590,000 |
Wow. Just wow. How does this guy have the top two OF in the league, a top first baseman going forward, and a crazy good infield? Bill is a shark, y’all. Having two guys like Julio Rodriguez and Corbin Carroll at these prices is like thinking you’re in the Dollar Tree and instead you get your electronics at Best Buy, but all for under five dollars. It’s a five-dollar Apple Watch or something (I just bought one, so on my mind. Don’t judge me). This is all inspiring though. He built this team in less than 3 years. Color me impressed.
Here’s the rotation. Some misses here, but clearly was enough to win. And look at those power arms in the bullpen!
| George Kirby | $1,597,598 |
| Kevin Gausman | $18,433,000 |
| Framber Valdez | $18,886,000 |
| Robbie Ray | $7,000,000 |
| Carlos Rodon | $11,958,710 |
| Tyler Holton | $1,288,000 |
| Jhoan Duran | $1,118,180 |
| Steven Okert | $966,840 |
| Kyle Nelson | $649,000 |
| Alex Lange | $821,520 |
| David Bednar | $590,000 |
| Bryan Abreu | $1,232,280 |
| Andrew Nardi | $708,000 |
Sir William, or Big Bopping Bill, or just Bill for short, loves this league and says it’s “the perfect league to get his fantasy fix in. There are so many different ways to win and points to consider vs. the standard draft league.” Kinda neat, his uncle got him into fantasy sports and they’re sharing this league experience. No word on if the uncle is really mad at Bill for winning.
Lessons in Bullet Form From Bill
- Be aggressive and constantly look to improve
- It’s not bad to help clean up a cap, especially if you’re adding a valuable piece
- Make the big moves. If I like a guy, trust my work and get the guy.
- Contracts are key. Bill had Carlos Rodon and Robbie Ray either be hurt or actively terrible and he still won.
Kelder Made More Trades
Made a minor trade for Jo Adell. Let me clarify: I traded away Jo Adell. I got a couple of picks for him in the amateur draft and the Rule 5 draft. Basically, I wanted two cracks at a good player instead of blindly hoping Adell would turn it around.
I made a more major trade for Brooks Lee, the Twins prospect. It did cost me Alec Thomas as an OF, but I really like Lee’s potential as a SS, or at least I like his bat. He instantly becomes my top prospect in my system and might be a starter for me as soon as this year.
Here’s the entire trade if you’re still reading/interested/about to troll me on how bad I am at trades down below:
SS, Brooks Lee, MIN, 2022, 2/14/2001 22y 9m AAA — 2024 2022 AMAT 1.06
2B, Reivaj Garcia, CHC, 2017, 8/12/2001 22y 3m A — 2025 2019 MiLB 2.22
2024 AMAT 5.03 (STL)
Yanks trade:
OF, Alek Thomas, ARI, 2018,4/28/2000 $690,305 2027 2 40-Man Yes 2022 Trade (NYY)
1B, Wes Clarke, MIL, 2021, 10/13/1999 AMAT Draft 5th
2024 MiLB 2.20 (NYY)
I have a ton of action on Brett Baty. He’s always been a good prospect; do you guys believe in him? Help me out, yo! Comment on all this!
Here’s my current roster. This is why I traded for Brooks Lee; I don’t have a SS. Also not a first baseman either. I do have 33 in cap space to play with, so there’s that now.
| C | Tyler Soderstrom | $590,000 |
| C | Nick Fortes | $690,305 |
| 1B | Darick Hall | $590,000 |
| 2B | Edouard Julien | $708,000 |
| 3B | Max Muncy | $16,514,060 |
| 3B | Alex Bregman | $24,050,000 |
| 3B | Brett Baty | $649,000 |
| MI | Zach McKinstry | $1,350,000 |
| UT | Marcell Ozuna | $6,150,000 |
| OF | Jurickson Profar | $12,200,000 |
| OF | Luis Robert Jr. | $10,156,400 |
| OF | Alek Thomas | $690,305 |
| OF | Yonathan Daza | $681,835 |
| OF | Mitch Haniger | 11,000,000 |
| SP | Kenta Maeda | $5,000,000 |
| SP | MacKenzie Gore | $826,000 |
| SP | Alex Wood | $5,500,000 |
| RP | Ian Gibaut | $826,000 |
| RP | Ryan Pressly | $9,000,000 |
| RP | Jose Leclerc | 3,774,400 |
| RP | Elvis Peguero | $828,000 |
| RP | Daniel Palencia | $590,000 |
| SP | Marcus Stroman | $18,500,000 |
| SP | Ryan Rolison | $100,000 |
| SP | Jose Suarez | $1,420,020 |
| P | Juan Then | $100,000 |
| RP | Ron Marinaccio | $590,000 |
| SP | Shane McClanahan | $2,966,600 |
| BN | Jean Segura | $11,700,000 |
| RP | Rafael Montero | $1,483,300 |
| RP | Michel Baez | $590,000 |
| P | Nick Nelson | $590,000 |
| RP | Tyler Kinley | $575,500 |
Key prospect bench: Alexander Canario, Kevin Alcantara, Ty Madden, Brooks Lee
