MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft

The Counselor is IN:

As The Fantasy Sports Counselor, I like to experience new and unique fantasy leagues. I am currently in the middle of a unique fantasy baseball draft. Most fantasy baseball leagues will not start drafting until very late January through early April but this one starts early. This will help me get prepared for the rest of the fantasy baseball drafts by forcing me to examine players now.

The league I am participating in is a a MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft over at Talk-Baseball.com, a fun baseball centric forum. The draft preparation started with each team selecting a roster of a current MLB team (set on Jan 1, 2010). Not only do you have that team's roster as a base but their salary total for last season as your salary cap. You use last season's salaries for players and have to stay under that cap. Here are their categories: OFFENSE: OBP, HR, R, RBI, SB and PITCHING: W, S+H (saves plus holds), SO, ERA, WHIP.

After selecting your team, you take the 40 man roster and cut it down to 10-25 players. You need to be conscience of last year's salaries and the fantasy value of these players. You could take the full expected 25 man roster for a team but it should depend on the team you select.

After submitting keep roster, they have a 15 round draft of available free agents but you take on their salaries from last season. There is a lot of strategy to this. You have to weigh the fantasy potential of the player against their salaries and your team needs. Since you are not going in empty handed, you may or may not have specific positions of need that may need to be filled first. A small market team will be looking for more value and potential of a player over a fantasy stud that has a huge salary.

After the draft, you can have a roster up to 40 players until late in March where you have to set your 25 man roster. You must have your team lineup meet (Active-C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, IF, LF, CF, RF, [yes you have to have 20 games at an outfield position to qualify] OF, U, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP- and 6 bench spots and one spot for a DL) and be under your salary cap. You also need to leave enough room to pick up other players for injuries and replacements.

I selected the Texas Rangers, since they are my favorite team and were still available. There are some benefits to picking the Rangers and some challenges. The big benefit is this team is loaded with young talent at the position players which have low salaries. They have a solid starter in Josh Feldman, who is young, talented, with #1 pitcher potential for #5 starter salary. They also have a solid closer and set up guy. The challenges I face in selecting the Rangers stem from their lack of quality starting pitching beyond Feldman and some of their young talent has not produced on the field yet such as Chris Davis at 1st base.

My first two picks were the high salaried stud pitcher - Roy Halladay and then the more moderate salaried Cy Young winner Zack Greinke to shore up my pitching staff. I then picked up 1B Kendry Morales, who has a fairly low salary, so I can let Chris Davis sit on the bench and develop as a prospect.

This is a fun experience and different than any other fantasy league I have been a part of. If you are looking for a new fantasy baseball challenge, let me encourage you to check out a MLB Fantasy Dynasty Draft. It will bring a lot of new wrinkles to your fantasy baseball season.

As the draft continues, I will try to update FSC on the status of my team and the challenges I face.

The Counselor is OUT:

Line 'em up/ Bench their butts

The Counselor is IN:

This column's intent is to give the readers an idea of few good players in favorable match ups and a few good players in bad match ups. If you have a great player, then it may not advisable to bench him for someone in the Line 'em Up section. If I suggest that you bench one of your studs, you can only do this if you have a good option behind him. If you don't have a good player behind him, don't bench 'em. Remember every league is different and I am advising from a standard league.

Happy Fantasy Championship weekend for most leagues!

Line ‘em Up

QB Aaron Rogers Green Bay. Rogers has been gold all season and is a fantasy must start. This week he has a great match up against the 29^th ranked pass defense of the Seahawks. Look for big numbers from Rogers this week.

QB Tom Brady of New England. This is another no brainer. Brady has a great match up against the Jags 27^th ranked pass defense.

RB Cedric Benson of Cincinnati. Benson has been a very solid #2 RB this season to the surprise of most fantasy experts. This week he faces a very week KC rush defense (31^st against the run). He is a great start this week.

RB Pierre Thomas of New Orleans. Everyone thinks of the high flying passing offense of the Saints but the Saints have the 5^th ranked rushing offense. Thomas is a good start most weeks but a great start this week against the Bucs 30^th ranked rushing defense.

WR Anquan Boldin of Arizona. Boldin has been sporadic all season. He is a good start this week against their old city’s 30^th ranked defense for scoring points. Look for the Cardinals to score and score often.

WR Greg Jennings of Green Bay. As mentioned in the Rogers section, Jennings has a great match up this weekend. He should perform at a top WR 2 at the minimum.

Bench their Butts

QB Donovan McNabb of Philadelphia. McNabb is facing the second ranked pass defense in the Boncos. McNabb will still be better to start than the average fantasy backup but if you have a good option, you might want to bench his butt this weekend.

QB Eli Manning of New York Giants. Eli has been up and down as a fantasy starter all year long. You never know if you will get 5 or 20 points from him. This week he faces the surprisingly good Carolina pass defense. If you have another good option, you might consider starting him.

RB Jamaal Charles of Kansas City. Charles has been a good fantasy player since taking over the starting job in KC. This week he faces a tough 3^rd ranked Cincy rush defense. He is not a good start during this fantasy championship weekend.

***RB Ray Rice of Baltimore. Rice is a fantasy must play most weeks. It would be hard to bench him this week with for the Championship game but if you have another good option, you probably want to examine it. Rice is facing the #1 run stopping defense of the Steelers. The Steelers are in must win games and look for the Rush Defense to step up.

WR Sidney Rice of the Minnesota. Rice has become a good fantasy player and one of Favre’s favorites. This week he is going against the 7^th ranked pass defense. As crazy as it sounds, I look for Chicago to try to force Peterson to beat them. It is a good possibility that you might have a good replacement on your bench.

WR Steve Smith of the New York Giants. The Giants face the 4^th ranked pass defense in the Panthers. I would look for the Giants to focus on the run and not so much with the pass. Smith should have a down game.

The Counselor is OUT:

Week 16 Fantasy Injury Report - Friday Edition

Here are the Thursday (Friday this week) edition of Week 16 fantasy injuries and my commentary. I am posting a Friday's edition along with the regular Weekend edition. The Friday Edition will list injuries for the Friday's game only.


Chargers:
No significant fantasy injuries.



Titans:
WR Nate Washington has an ankle injury and is probable for this Friday's game. He was limited in practice this week. He should play and not be a concern.

The Counselor is OUT:

The top 10 ways to spend your time if you did not make your Fantasy Football Playoffs

The Counselor is IN:

The top 10 ways to spend your time if you did not make your Fantasy Football Playoffs.

10) Spend time with family and friends. They have missed you during your fantasy football season.

9) Catch up on all the TV shows on you DVR

8) Finally take down your Halloween decorations

7) Clean your home

6) Decorate your Christmas tree

5) Make a count down calendar until next Fantasy Football Season

4) Do your Christmas shopping

3) Start watching football games for fun instead of cheering against players started against you

2) Spend more time on Sports Jabber hanging out with the guys

1) Start preparing for Fantasy Baseball Season

The Counselor is OUT:

Line 'em up/ Bench their butts

The Counselor is IN:

This column's intent is to give the readers an idea of few good players in favorable match ups and a few good players in bad match ups. If you have a great player, then it may not advisable to bench him for someone in the Line 'em Up section. If I suggest that you bench one of your studs, you can only do this if you have a good option behind him. If you don't have a good player behind him, don't bench 'em. Remember every league is different and I am advising from a standard league.

Line ‘em Up

QB Donovan McNabb of Philadelphia. McNabb faces the 27^th ranked pass defense of the 49ers. Look for a big game out of him.

QB Matt Cassel of Kansas City. Cassel has been terrible as a fantasy QB. This week he has a chance to have a good week against the 25^th ranked pass defense of Cleveland. Cassel should look a little bit like he did last year against the Browns.v

RB Jamaal Charles of Kansas City. Charles is the starting back for Chiefs since Johnson left town. He ran for 143 yards last week. He is a good start against the 28^th ranked defense of the Browns.

RB Knowshon Moreno of Denver. Moreno has been great his rookie year. He has a great match up against the 30^th ranked rush defense of the Raiders.

WR Anquan Boldin of Arizona. Boldin has been sporadic all season. He is a good start this week against Detroit’s 32^nd ranked pass defense.

WR Calvin Johnson of Detroit. Johnson is good start anyway but this week he faces a good match up against Arizona’s 28^th ranked pass defense.

Bench their Butts

QB Ben Roethilisberger of Pittsburgh. Big Ben is a good fantasy starter. This week he faces the 3^rd ranked pass defense of the Packers. If you have another good option, I would go with the other options.

QB Matt Hasselbeck of Seattle. Hasselbeck is a below average fantasy QB. This week will be rough on him against a surprisingly good pass defense of the Bucs (#7 ranked).

RB Ryan Grant of Green Bay. Grant is a decent fantasy backup or flex player. This week he faces the best rush defense in the league in the Steelers. Leave Grant on the bench this week.

RB LaDainian Tomlinson of San Diego. LT is not the stud he used to be but he is a decent start most weeks. This week, he is facing the 3^rd ranked rush defense of the Cincinnati.

WR Randy Moss of the New England. Moss has not been a strong fantasy starter this season. He is facing the 5^th ranked pass defense of the Bills. At the beginning of the season, who would have guessed that the advise would be to bench Moss against the Bills?

WR Steve Smith of the New York Giants. The Giants face the 4^th ranked pass defense in the Redskins. I would look for the Giants to focus on the run and not so much with the pass. Smith should have a down game.

The Counselor is OUT: