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 Fantasy Insider Playing for keepers
Posted: Thursday April 08, 1999 11:29 PM
By Dan George, CNN/SI Does your league retain players from year to year, or do you draft completely new teams every season? For many, it's the difference between real fantasy -- hey, an oxymoron! -- and mere dabbling. I've never met a serious fantasy enthusiast who didn't wholeheartedly endorse keeper leagues. I mean wholeheartedly. Suggest an alternative, and you get a look normally reserved for unpleasant odors of undetermined origin. But let's be fair. Both systems have their good points. Let's take a look at them. First, non-keeper leagues:
And, uh ... that's about it. Now, keeper leagues:
Bottom line: There's just much more strategy in a keeper league. And that makes for a lot more fun.
Around the basesCan anything else go wrong for the Angels? Jim Edmonds and Gary DiSarcina are already on the disabled list, and now Mo Vaughn has torn ligaments in his ankle. No word on when the $80 million man will return, but he says he won't wait till he's 100 percent. How come Tim Salmon's season-long hobbling act of '98 suddenly comes to mind? Tim Unroe is the short-term solution, but if Mo is still out when Edmonds returns, expect Darin Erstad to move back to first ... Vaughn is far from the only injured notable. Nomar Garciaparra, David Justice and Cal Ripken are each banged up. Bill Mueller has a broken toe, Larry Walker is on the DL with a strained rib cage and Cliff Floyd could miss a month after undergoing knee surgery. Worst of all, though, is A-Rod, out for up to six weeks with torn knee cartilage. Of course, it doesn't hurt quite as much if you've got him for $20 instead of $40 ... Look for bigger things from Dave Hollins, now that he's back under Jim Fregosi's wing in Toronto. Hollins, whom you can bet the Angels are suddenly missing, will get plenty of RBI chances hitting in front of Carlos Delgado. The latter reportedly isn't happy about moving to the fifth spot in the lineup, but it hasn't hurt his performance: Two homers in seven at-bats so far this season ... What do Mark Langston, Chris Haney and Bobby Witt have in common? Just when they were about to become candidates for "Whatever Happened to ..." columns, all suddenly are employed again. Langston and Haney have minor league contracts with the Indians, who've gone through so many retreads (Doc Gooden, Dennis Martinez, Orel Hershiser, etc.), their first uniform ad deal will no doubt be with Goodyear. The Devil Rays, meanwhile, are looking for the wild, wild Witt to be their fourth starter. Nice to see them working again, but add them to your roster at your own peril. The Braves say they won't give up on Mark Wohlers, who walked four and allowed two runs in Atlanta's Opening Day loss to Philadelphia. But it might not be a bad idea to pick up John Rocker or Rudy Seanez if you can. Both throw as hard as Wohlers, and with a lot more accuracy ... Are Shane Andrews' days in Montreal numbered? He asked to be traded after rookie Michael Barrett started in his place at third on Opening Day, and if anybody goes it'll be Andrews. Despite his career-high 25 homers last season, Andrews is a free swinger whose power is accompanied by a low average and lots of strikeouts. Barrett, on the other hand, could give J.D. a run for the NL Rookie of the Year Award and has superstar potential. Dan George is a senior producer at CNNSI.com who has played fantasy baseball since 1985 and is still married.
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