Dibs Not Drive: Fantasy Baseball... American League Central Style

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Fantasy Baseball... American League Central Style

T: Saturday, April 2nd, marked the second annual American League Central Fantasy Baseball League, or ALCFBL for short, draft. For those of you unfamiliar with fantasy baseball, essentially players are drafted by each person and the statistics are compared at the end of the year. Last year, JT was the inaugural winner of the ALCFBL, despite concerns of cheating regarding what is now referred to as the infamous “Rick Helling Debacle.” We completed this year’s draft after five long hours of listening to JT repeating “I’ll take… uhhhh, I’ll take…” to stall for time, but we all walked away feeling happy with the players we selected. Of course, that feeling will be gone in a few weeks when we change our minds and suddenly hate our pathetic players. Below is a small video of the accusations that flew following the end of the draft.

What follows is an unbiased (sort of) synopsis of each team.

Bruno’s Fighting Sardines – Possessing a strong lineup with a solid rotation, the Sardines are a championship contender. With Jeremy Affeldt and Shingo Takatsu, saves should come often. However, there is concern over the health of Magglio Ordonez and Shannon Stewart, the ability for Carlos Guillen to repeat his only good season in the major leagues, and the steroid allegations surrounding Pudge Rodriguez.

JT’s Bloody Stool Boys – Potent offense and relievers, with some questions in the starting rotation. Can Kevin Millwood shift to the American League and still put up good numbers? Will Kyle Lohse rebound from a horrible 2004 season? JT obviously shows a lack of faith in his hometown Kansas City Royals, as Jose Lima is his lone Royal representative.

Troy’s PEN15 Squad – Should have the strongest rotation all year with Johan Santana, Mark Buehrle, Zach Greinke, and C.C. Sabathia as the anchors. The closer situation is a little more shaky with Bob Wickman and his penchant for blowing saves. The lineup is solid, but guys like Mike Sweeney and Joe Mauer will need to stay healthy in order to compete with the Sardines and Bloody Stool Boys.