The "Consistent" 2007 Fantasy Baseball Year in Review

As promised, this will mark year two of my new tradition involving the recap of Fantasy Baseball. As most of you who know me realize, fantasy baseball is my favorite fantasy sport. It really rewards the micromanaging owner and provides neat twists like keepers but retains the drama and competitiveness that make all fantasy sports great.

This year was no different than last. The playoff race for 2nd-5th place came down to the last day of the season. There were no fewer than a dozen flip-flops of these places over the final two weeks of the season, including a 5 point slide by the Red Devils on the final four days of the season. Here's how the year ended:

1. Roger's 401K (KT)
2. Bo Diaz TV Repair (SE)
3. Red Devils (GP)
4. HGH Hustlas (DF)
5. Joey Belle's GPS (JC)
6. Quinatana's Kids (JB)
7. Gimme Sideways (MW)
8. Cletus Van Damme (JW)
9. Dunder Mifflin (PW)
10. No Doubters (JE)
11. HookupwitPinski2Nite (AR)

Now it's time for the season's awards!!!

Best Draft: Quintana's Kids (JB)

Wow, how did this guy not finish higher? He had the best player in the game (ARod, taken 5th overall), both All Star SP's, Jake Peavy and Dan Haren (Rounds 3 and 9, respectively), and some good late round value (Patterson, Kinsler, Dumpster). If not for the collapse of the back end of his rotation (Dontrelle, James, Sowers), demotion of several of his closers, and glaring weakness at SS, The Jesus would've been a favorite to win the league. This just shows how a solid draft is only one piece of a complex puzzle.

Worst Draft: No Doubters (JE)

Given his post-draft moves, it seems some serious DOUBT crept into the mind of JE. 2B Chase Utley (1), SP Roy Halladay (3), 3B Garrett Atkins (4), 3B Chipper Jones (6), SP Roger Clemens (10), OF Brad Hawpe (15), RP David Weathers (18), and SP Philip Hughes (23) were all dealt during the season. Additionally, Util Frank Thomas (7), SP John Patterson (11), OF Dave Roberts (12), and SP Freddy Garcia (14) were all dropped. SP Francisco Liriano (16) didn't throw a pitch, and 1B Travis Hafner (2) greatly underachieved. Finally, most glaring of all, no eligible 1B was drafted! This created an ugly mix of Shawn Green, Rich Aurilia, and Darin Erstad at 1B for the first third of the season and precluded one of his highest drafted bats (Hafner, Atkins, Chipper, or Thomas) from playing every single day.

All of this said, JE should be a better team in 2008 than in 2007, as he did deal his remaining talent for 7-8 solid keeper options throughout the year.

Best Draft Pick: 2B BJ Upton (21-GP)

Upton ended up the 4th best 2B and a Top 50 player. He was solid across the board in every single category... He has finally lived up to his hype and should be a great player and keeper for years to come.

Honorable Mentions: 2B Brandon Phillips (12-KT), 3B Alex Rodriguez (1-JB), SP Josh Beckett (10-DF), C Jorge Posada (11-KT), SP Erik Bedard (7-AR), SP Dan Haren (9-JB)

Worst Draft Pick: SP Chris Carpenter (3-SE)

Wow, Carpy provided less value out of a 3rd Round pick than Josh Hancock. Last year's NL Cy Young winner pitched exactly 6 innings before his elbow cracked. For owners who spent the high price Carpy commanded, it was literally impossible to compete in SP categories.

Dishonorable Mentions: 3B Scott Rolen (5-PW), OF Jason Bay (2-GP), SS Rafael Furcal (4-JC), 1B Richie Sexson (6-AR), SP Rich Harden (6-SE), SS Julio Lugo (7-JB), 3B Chad Tracy (8-GP), RP Billy Sadler (I still don't know who this is?) (17-KT)

Best Keeper: SS Hanley Ramirez (WW-SE)

This one is a no brainer. Hanley was the #2 rated player on the year and cost Bo Diaz as little as possible for any keeper (WW pickup from 2006). Hanley added some legitimate power to his already well-rounded repertoire to become one of the best players in baseball (yes, I know he's a shitty defensive player; I don't care). Hanley finished the year at... and was the best player on the 2nd best team in the league.

Honorable Mentions: 1B Prince Fielder (12-JC), OF Magglio Ordonez (14-PW), RP JJ Putz (WW-GP), OF Alex Rios (WW-AR), SP Cole Hamels (WW-SE), OF Matt Holliday (10-JB), 1B Justin Morneau (15-DF)

Worst Keeper: SP Jason Schmidt (8-JE)

Jason Schmidt's arm fell off this year. With an ERA over 6, one win, and a 1.79 WHIP, not only did Schmidt provide no value for JE, he was a detriment. Coming into 2008 off of major shoulder surgery at age 35, this may be the end of the road for the former Pirates phenom.

Dishonorable Mentions: RP BJ Ryan (6-SE), OF Vernon Wells (7-JB), SP Scott Olsen (WW-JC), SP Dave Bush (20-JC), OF Rocco Baldelli (23-DF)

Best Waiver Claim: 3B Ryan Braun (SE)

This was the difference between 5th Place and 2nd for Bo Diaz. After struggling through Morgan Ensberg, Hank Blalock, and Chad Tracy at 3B, the hapless TV repairman decided to give the prospect a try. Braun responded by hitting...

Some of you may wonder why Carlos Pena did not win this award. Overall, he certainly had a superior season to Eva Braun. However, KT understandably did not start playing him until he was about 17 HR into his supernatural season. As such, Braun (playing from day 1) added more value to his squad.

Honorable Mentions: 3B Mike Lowell (KT), 1B Carlos Pena (KT), OF Eric Byrnes (JE), SP Jamies Shields (SP), OF Hunter Pence (GP), RP Jeremy Accardo (JW), SP Yovani Gallardo (JC)

Worst Waiver Move: Dropping of Curtis Granderson (SE)

Granderson finally exploded into a well-rounded player this season. Curty still literally can't even hit the ball when facing southpaws, but did turn some of his line drives into HR's and reduced his K numbers to more respectable levels. Unbelievably, Granderson exploded for 23 Triples and 25 SB's after 9 and 8 of each last year!

SE opted to keep rookies Chris B. Young and slumping veterans Jermaine Dye and Andruw Jones over Grandy, and paid the price in rate categories as a result. Granderson should also be a solid keeper option for next season.

Dishonorable Mentions: Dropping of Brett Myers (PW), Dropping of Frank Thomas (JE), Dropping of Troy Tulowitzki (GP), Dropping of Corey Hart (JC)

Best Trade: SP John Maine (GP) for 3B Garrett Atkins and SP Roger Clemens (JE)

Maine was at his absolute peak value at the time of this trade. The only place to go was south. GP also had a glaring hole at 3B, being forced to start BJ Upton there after the utter bombing of 8th Round pick Chad Tracy. Atkins hit ... and Maine was ... the rest of the way out. This deal elevated the Red Devils in the power offensive categories, cementing a 3rd Place finish.

Worst Trade: TIE: 7th Pick (Entire Draft) (MW) for 10th Pick (Entire Draft) and a 9th Round Pick (JE); SPJeremy Bonderman (JW) for OF Brad Hawpe and SP Philip Hughes (JE)

The first trade of the season turned out to be the worst. On draft day, MW clamored to drop down while JE looked to move up. This seemed like the perfect recipe for an even swap. Unfortunately, MW missed out on the 1(b) tier of players (Utley, Cabrera, Ortiz) who all performed well relative to where they were chosen. JE nabbed Utley after moving up, and MW selected speedy but relatively soft-hitting OF Carl Crawford. The 9th Round pick turned out to be the rotting corpse of SP Randy Johnson. This was a perfect example of not needing change for the sake of change, and the lack of a powerful 1st Round bat plagued Gimme Sideways all season long.

Inclusion of the second trade was a difficult decision. It really didn't hurt either team in the short term, as neither one moved up or down in the standings. And over the long term, JE gained several better SP keeper options. However, two solid first year keepers for a poor second year keeper who fielded a staggering 8.75 ERA and just 1 Win for the No Doubters was just too much to ignore.

Most "Consistent" Player: 3B Mike Lowell (KT)

This award goes to an average white guy who performs above and beyond his projected median stats for the season. These players are typically overhyped and overpaid and will likely regress to mediocre levels in the following three season despite constantly be praised as hustlers, team players, or guys with "intangibles."

Nobody better fits this bill than Mike Lowell. His healthy testicle, coupled with the Green Monster and absurd lineup protection somehow yielded a career year at age 33. He exceeded his career AVG by 44 points and somehow mustered 120 RBI's. Look for him to make about $8-12mil per year over 3-4 years and never be good again following this fluky season.

MVP: 3B Alex Rodriguez (JB)

I don't care what place his team finished in our league, ARod is the only person worthy of an MVP vote. ARod went ... for the season. He singlehandedly won RBI's and guaranteed a top 3 finish in HR for many owners and somehow was frequently drafted in the middle of the 1st round in most leagues. The NY hate is not deserved. ARod is the best player in the game right now and will end up one of the 5 greatest of all time.

Cy Young: SP Johan Santana (GP)

Although Jake Peavy slightly outperformed him, I'm giving the nod to Johan. He lead the Red Devils to a near sweep of all pitching categories (65 out of 66 possible points) and had an immortal 4.52 K/BB ratio. Although CC and Kazmir bested him in the K categories, his "consistency" and importance to the best rotation in the league justify his choice for this award.

Thanks again to all of the owners who have been diligent through and including the last day of the season. As always, I look forward to next season and naming my next team after a newly deceased veteran.