Some of the staff here at Football Fanatics are playing in a fantasy baseball league. It’s a 10-team head-to-head league with standard scoring. I’m taking this time to vent about my team and their pathetic performance through the first two months of the season. Currently I’m sitting in dead last with a 35-39-6 record… Zeke, from “Stump Zeke” is in first place with a 59-31-10 record. It’s a long season, so I’m not paniced yet, plus there are 6 teams under .500.

My excuse for being so bad right now is injuries. I swear half my roster has been on the DL at some point in the season. Kevin Youkilis, Jose Reyes, Jose Valverde, Brad Lidge, Edinson Volquez and now Roy Halladay have all missed time… and with the way Alfonso Soriano is playing he may as well be on the DL. Jose Reyes was my first pick in the draft and I’ve gotten about 3 weeks out of him. There is no time table on his return (I’m guessing late August).

If I can manage to pull it close to .500 by the MLB All-Star Game, I think I’ll have a good shot at making the playoffs. I just need my players to start playing like they should (Soriano, Oswalt …). Check out my roster, it’s not that bad is it?

Click to zoom in

The Football Fanatics staff held their 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft today. It’s a 10-team head-to-head league. Basic lineups and standard scoring… we start all fielders + a utility man + 3 SP + 2 RP + 3 P with a 5 man bench. There’s nothing but pride on the line with this league, but that’s enough to make it ultra-competitive. With fantasy baseball you need to make roster changes on a daily basis.

Team 1 kicked things off by making Hanley Ramirez the first pick in the draft. Not surprising though, as he’s consistently ranked as the top player in all the fantasy baseball rankings. Having a 30-30 shortstop is extremely valuable, much like A-Rod was on the Mariners. The only thing hurting Team 1 is he didn’t draft a starting pitcher until the 11th round! Team 1 isn’t the only team that waiting for pitching… Teams 8 and 10 didn’t draft starting pitchers until the 10th round.

Check out the complete draft results below.

Team 1
1. (1) Hanley Ramirez
2. (20) Jimmy Rollins
3. (21) B.J. Upton
4. (40) Carl Crawford
5. (41) Justin Morneau
6. (60) Jacoby Ellsbury
7. (61) Geovany Soto
8. (80) Chris Davis
9. (81) Francisco Rodriguez
10. (100) Chone Figgins
11. (101) Rich Harden
12. (120) Jonathan Broxton
13. (121) Yovani Gallardo
14. (140) Chris Young
15. (141) Brett Myers
16. (160) Huston Street
17. (161) Robinson Cano
18. (180) Carlos Guillen
19. (181) Mike Napoli
20. (200) Jim Thome
21. (201) Adam Jones

Team 2
1. (2) Albert Pujols
2. (19) Chase Utley
3. (22) Vladimir Guerrero
4. (39) Jake Peavy
5. (42) Mariano Rivera
6. (59) Derek Jeter
7. (62) Derek Lowe
8. (79) Kerry Wood
9. (82) Javier Vazquez
10. (99) Carlos Delgado
11. (102) Mike Gonzalez
12. (119) Vernon Wells
13. (122) Jayson Werth
14. (139) Edwin Encarnacion
15. (142) Chris Iannetta
16. (159) Randy Johnson
17. (162) Nelson Cruz
18. (179) Alex Gordon
19. (182) Xavier Nady
20. (199) Khalil Greene
21. (202) Nick Swisher

Team 3
1. (3) Brian McCann
2. (18) Chipper Jones
3. (23) Josh Beckett
4. (38) David Ortiz
5. (43) Brandon Webb
6. (58) Adrian Gonzalez
7. (63) Chad Billingsley
8. (78) Adam Dunn
9. (83) Mark DeRosa
10. (98) Jermaine Dye
11. (103) Jhonny Peralta
12. (118) Brian Fuentes
13. (123) Justin Verlander
14. (138) Rick Ankiel
15. (143) Brian Wilson
16. (158) Ted Lilly
17. (163) Adam LaRoche
18. (178) Milton Bradley
19. (183) Pat Burrell
20. (198) J.D. Drew
21. (203) Troy Glaus

Team 4
1. (4) Johan Santana
2. (17) Lance Berkman
3. (24) Alexei Ramirez
4. (37) Russell Martin
5. (44) Matt Holliday
6. (57) Shane Victorino
7. (64) Nate McLouth
8. (77) Garrett Atkins
9. (84) Cliff Lee
10. (97) Joakim Soria
11. (104) Joba Chamberlain
12. (117) Mike Aviles
13. (124) J.J. Hardy
14. (137) Matt Garza
15. (144) Joey Votto
16. (157) Kevin Slowey
17. (164) Chris Young
18. (177) Ty Wigginton
19. (184) Pablo Sandoval
20. (197) Jerry Hairston Jr.
21. (204) George Sherrill

Team 5
1. (5) David Wright
2. (16) Mark Teixeira
3. (25) Carlos Beltran
4. (36) Matt Kemp
5. (45) Brian Roberts
6. (56) Francisco Liriano
7. (65) Michael Young
8. (76) James Shields
9. (85) Jon Lester
10. (96) Jay Bruce
11. (105) Raul Ibanez
12. (116) B.J. Ryan
13. (125) Ricky Nolasco
14. (136) Zack Greinke
15. (145) Clayton Kershaw
16. (156) Erik Bedard
17. (165) Trevor Hoffman
18. (176) Joel Hanrahan
19. (185) Frank Francisco
20. (196) Willy Taveras
21. (205) Ramon Hernandez

Team 6
1. (6) Jose Reyes
2. (15) Tim Lincecum
3. (26) Alfonso Soriano
4. (35) Roy Halladay
5. (46) Kevin Youkilis
6. (55) Roy Oswalt
7. (66) Bobby Abreu
8. (75) Magglio Ordonez
9. (86) Brad Lidge
10. (95) Ryan Doumit
11. (106) Jose Valverde
12. (115) Howie Kendrick
13. (126) Edinson Volquez
14. (135) Carlos Pena
15. (146) Conor Jackson
16. (155) Scott Baker
17. (166) Adrian Beltre
18. (175) Kelly Johnson
19. (186) Ryan Theriot
20. (195) Gavin Floyd
21. (206) Chad Qualls

Team 7
1. (7) Miguel Cabrera
2. (14) Ian Kinsler
3. (27) Manny Ramirez
4. (34) Ichiro Suzuki
5. (47) Cole Hamels
6. (54) Aramis Ramirez
7. (67) Dan Haren
8. (74) Felix Hernandez
9. (87) Troy Tulowitzki
10. (94) Daisuke Matsuzaka
11. (107) Corey Hart
12. (114) David Price
13. (127) Matt Wieters
14. (134) Ryan Dempster
15. (147) Johnny Damon
16. (154) Brandon Morrow
17. (167) Torii Hunter
18. (174) Bengie Molina
19. (187) Heath Bell
20. (194) Matt Lindstrom
21. (207) Dioner Navarro

Team 8
1. (8) Grady Sizemore
2. (13) Josh Hamilton
3. (28) Evan Longoria
4. (33) Brandon Phillips
5. (48) Jason Bay
6. (53) Alex Rios
7. (68) Rafael Furcal
8. (73) Victor Martinez
9. (88) Aubrey Huff
10. (93) Ervin Santana
11. (108) Scott Kazmir
12. (113) Bobby Jenks
13. (128) Carlos Marmol
14. (133) Francisco Cordero
15. (148) Aaron Harang
16. (153) John Danks
17. (168) Justin Upton
18. (173) James Loney
19. (188) Denard Span
20. (193) Kazuo Matsui
21. (208) Jered Weaver

Team 9
1. (9) Ryan Howard
2. (12) CC Sabathia
3. (29) Dustin Pedroia
4. (32) Carlos Lee
5. (49) Curtis Granderson
6. (52) Jonathan Papelbon
7. (69) Hunter Pence
8. (72) Miguel Tejada
9. (89) Jorge Posada
10. (92) Ryan Zimmerman
11. (109) Carlos Zambrano
12. (112) Derrek Lee
13. (129) Lastings Milledge
14. (132) Matt Cain
15. (149) Ben Sheets
16. (152) Matt Capps
17. (169) Johnny Cueto
18. (172) Brad Hawpe
19. (189) Jose Lopez
20. (192) Hideki Matsui
21. (209) Mark Reynolds

Team 10
1. (10) Ryan Braun
2. (11) Alex Rodriguez
3. (30) Carlos Quentin
4. (31) Prince Fielder
5. (50) Nick Markakis
6. (51) Joe Mauer
7. (70) Dan Uggla
8. (71) Joe Nathan
9. (90) Stephen Drew
10. (91) John Lackey
11. (110) A.J. Burnett
12. (111) Ryan Ludwick
13. (130) Adam Wainwright
14. (131) Jorge Cantu
15. (150) Josh Johnson
16. (151) Max Scherzer
17. (170) John Maine
18. (171) Andre Ethier
19. (190) Justin Duchscherer
20. (191) Jair Jurrjens
21. (210) Joe Saunders

The following top 40 players are ranked on how I would believe they would perform in 2009 in a Head to Head format (taking into consideration positional scarcity). I assume a standard 5X5 H2H format (runs, rbi, hrs, steals, BA, wins, saves, k’s, ERA, WHIP). These ranks may change and I will adjust them based on FA signings, drafts, trades, and injuries. I will try to update these rankings once a month during the fantasy baseball off-season and once every 2 weeks during spring training and baseball season.

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees – Managed 35 Hrs last year in somewhat of an off-year and having missed 24 games due to injury. Expect 45-120 numbers again this season.
3. Albert Pujols
4. David Wright
5. Grady Sizemore
6. Ryan Howard, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies – Lead MLB in both Hrs (48) and RBI (146) last season. .251 BA hurts less in H2H play.
7. Miguel Cabrera
8. Ryan Braun
9. Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers – a bit of a power outage in the second half of last season but still cranked out the RBI in one of the best hitting lineups in baseball.
10. Jose Reyes
11. Mark Teixeira
12. Lance Berkman
13. BJ Upton
14. Ian Kinsler
15. Prince Fielder,1B, Milwaukee Brewers – If rumors are true that prince is eating meat again, the 50 Hrs he hit his second season could become a reality again.
16. Tim Lincecum, SP, San Francisco Giants – The key to H2H pitching is high K pitchers with low WHIP’s; especially in the playoffs.
17. Evan Longoria
18. Carlos Beltran
19. Carlos Lee
20. Alfonso Soriano, OF, Chicago Cubs – Would be ranked higher if not for the 3 DL trips in the past 2 seasons.
21. Johan Santana
22. Chase Utley
23. Manny Ramirez
24. Nick Markakis
25. Jason Bay, OF, Boston Red Sox – If you extrapolate his Red Sox numbers last season you have 120 Runs, 30 Hrs, and 120 RBI. Plus Bay is likely to move from the 6th spot to batting in one of the cleanup spots in 2009.
26. Kevin Youkilis, 1B/3B, Boston Red Sox – Should be guaranteed to be protected in the lineup by either Jason Bay or David Ortiz next season.
27. Justin Morneau
28. Cole Hamels
29. Matt Kemp
30. Matt Holiday
31. Jake Peavy, SP, San Diego Padres – 80% chance he’s dealt at least by the trade deadline, but still a 9K/9 Inning SP with good splits as a Padre.
32. Dustin Pedroia
33. Aramis Ramirez
34. Curtis Granderson
35. Shane Victorino
36. CC Sabathia
37. Geovany Soto, C, Chicago Cubs – Only Matt Wieters if he gets called up by the Orioles in time could match Soto’s power at the catcher position. 30 Hrs and 100 RBI are not out of the question for Soto.
38. Adrian Gonzalez
39. Brandon Webb
40. Jimmy Rollins, SS, Philadelphia Phillies – Aside for an increase in SB’s, Rollins was of very little help to H2H owners last season and he was wildly inconsistent; even taking into consideration his DL stint.

Players on tap: Alex Rios, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jonathan Papelbon, Carlos Quentin, Dan Haren, Russell Martin, Alexei Ramirez, Joe Mauer, Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki, David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, Chris B Young, Brandon Phillips, Vladimir Guerrero, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Rafael Furcal, Yovani Gallardo, Magglio Ordonez, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, James Shields, Nate McLouth, Joe Nathan, Garrett Atkins, Adam Dunn, Dan Uggla, Francisco Liriano, John Lackey, Scott Kazmir, Ryan Theriot, Aubrey Huff, Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, Xavier Nady, Chris Dickerson.

The following top 40 players are ranked on how I would believe they would perform in 2009 in a Rotisserie format (taking into consideration positional scarcity). I assume a standard 5X5 Roto format (runs, rbi, hrs, steals, BA, wins, saves, k’s, ERA, WHIP). If you’re in a H2H (Head to Head) format that has weekly roster deadlines or that have a low maximum transaction limit I would use both Roto and H2H rankings and take the pitching rankings with more weight from the roto side. However some players such as base stealing specialists and hitters with lower averages are weighted differently in roto and H2H. I would not use these rankings if you are in a H2H format, with daily roster changes. These ranks may change and I will adjust them based on FA signings, drafts, trades, and injuries. I will try to update these rankings once a month during the fantasy baseball off-season and once every 2 weeks during spring training and baseball season.

1. Hanley Ramirez
2. Grady Sizemore, OF, Cleveland Indians – I understand that he’s an OF, but if he can lift back up that .268 BA, then he could be the #1 player in fantasy baseball by the numbers.
3. Alex Rodriguez
4. Albert Pujols
5. David Wright
6. Ryan Braun
7. Miguel Cabrera
8. Jose Reyes, SS, New York Mets – Could be higher but coming off an off-season which saw a sharp decrease in SB’s of 22 and a drop in runs scored. If he can swipe 70 bases this year then he will advance to the top 3.
9. Ian Kinsler
10. BJ Upton
11. Johan Santana
12. Tim Lincecum, SP, San Francisco Giants – Would be the #1 SP if he had an offense behind him that could provide some run support. 18 wins again is no guarantee.
13. Josh Hamilton
14. Ryan Howard
15. Prince Fielder
16. Mark Teixiera
17. CC Sabathia, SP, New York Yankees – More run support in New York than Milwaukee but expect a bit lower splits in Yankee stadium and against AL hitting. The Yankees also had one of the worst infields defensively last season.
18. Lance Berkman
19. Evan Longoria
20. Alfonso Soriano
21. Brandon Webb, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks – Tough to rank a SP any lower that just came off a 22 win season with nice splits and 183 K’s.
22. Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies – May not be fully recovered from off-season hip surgery by the start of the season.
23. Carlos Beltran
24. Carlos Lee
25. Manny Ramirez
26. Cole Hamels
27. Jimmy Rollins, SS, Philadelphia Phillies – Tough to ignore how bad Jimmy Rollins was last regular season.
28. Nick Markakis
29. Jason Bay
30. Jake Peavy, SP, San Diego Padres – Will be ranked much higher if he somehow still ends up with the Cubs or another contender.
31. Dustin Pedroia
32. Kevin Youkilis
33. Justin Morneau
34. Matt Kemp, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers – One year away from putting up Grady Sizemore like numbers. 18 Hrs and 35 SB’s of last year ’should’ both see an increase with a locked in starting spot in right field.
35. Dan Haren
36. Curtis Granderson, OF, Detroit Tigers – 112 runs last year despite missing the first month of the season.
37. Shane Victorino
38. Matt Holiday
39. Alexei Ramirez
40. Carl Crawford, OF, Tampa Bay Rays – If you drafted Crawford in previous seasons, then you’ve probably been horribly disappointed. This is the last year I even sort of buy into his upside.

Players on tap: Alex Rios, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jonathan Papelbon, Adrian Gonzalez, Aramis Ramirez, Russell Martin, Geovany Soto, Joe Mauer, Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki, David Ortiz, Carlos Quentin, Chris B Young, Brandon Phillips, Vladimir Guerrero, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Rafael Furcal, Yovani Gallardo, Magglio Ordonez, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, James Shields, Nate McLouth, Joe Nathan, Garrett Atkins, Adam Dunn, Dan Uggla, Francisco Liriano, John Lackey, Scott Kazmir, Ryan Theriot, Aubrey Huff, Chris Davis.