Fantasy Baseball Draft Recap- Rickie Weeks All-Stars No Longer!

In the second year of a “serious” fantasy baseball keeper league, the “Trash Talkers Unanimous” Fantasy Baseball League held its draft last night.

The Rickie Weeks All Stars (my team) had a weird season last year. They led the league in many categories, but finished toward the bottom in the standings. The RWAS’s had the most average points per week, but also had the highest negative point differential. In other words- a statistical anomaly. Last year the RWAS’s were dangerous.

But a fantasy baseball draft isn’t a perfect process and unfortunately, I didn’t keep Rickie Weeks. In an article posted on the front page of Trash Talkers Unanimous, the following was written –

In a surprise move, the Rickie Weeks All-Stars declined to keep star second baseman Rickie Weeks, cutting ties to the only player the team has ever been named after.

Many owners in the league questioned the high draft pick maverick owner Owen Main used on Weeks last spring, but that didn’t impact the decision.

“It was a really tough decision,” said Main. “I mean, now I’m going to be forced to rename the team.”

The __________ All-Stars will now build their 2011 fantasy season around first baseman Mark Teixeira and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. Solid players in their own right, but by no means are either players Rickie Weeks. Both players admitted as much when asked.

“No, my name is not Rickie Weeks. Its Mark Teixeira. How have you not heard of me? I play for the Yankees. And how did you get in here anyway?” said Teixeira.

Cargo, the popular Rockies player who broke out with MVP type numbers last year, had this to say: “Mi llamo Carlos Gonzalez.”

Weeks broke out last year when he hit 29 home runs, with 83 rbi and a .268 batting average. Despite the numbers, Weeks continues to face the doubters.

Tonys_Tiger_13 wonders when “Will the real Rickie Weeks please stand up? This guy has a lightning quick bat, but he hadn’t been able to stay on the field. 20 to 25 HR’s and a .260 average might be realistic. The speed is gone after a couple years of lingering hamstring injuries.”

Weeks will likely be selected among the elite second baseman still out there. But hes looking forward to being just one of the guys.

“It was tough having the team named after me. That’s a lot of pressure for one person. But I guess its time to move on and see what the draft will bring.”

Hes not the only one looking towards the future. “I thought the draft was Sunday and not Saturday for a second,” said Main. “That scared me because I’m going out of town. But Saturday should work good.”

One thing is certain: Weeks will work good for some team in 2011. Probably.

So, after being the heart and soul of my team all of last year and surprising all the people who scoffed at me when I drafted him in the 5th round last year, Weeks was drafted before I could draft him. After having a team named after him and performing well, it was unavoidable, but it was still sad.

Fantasy Draft. Gotta stay Focused!

I was able to draft my National League MVP pick for this year- Matt Kemp – and keep a pretty solid roster of starters who strike out a lot of batters, which is important I think.

The draft itself was pretty stereotypical. There were ribs, chicken wings, bottles of beer, and good times. My wireless Internet held-up to the most computers that had ever been on it at one time.

The big question for my team is what it will be called this year.

Evan was too busy with wings and ribs to help me with my new team name.

After not very much thinking, I believe it will be called the “Jhoulys Chacin All-Stars” or “Orange Jhoulys.” Gordon Beckham came in a close second for being the namesake and, depending on how well he does throughout the year, could vault ahead of Chacin.

Since fantasy baseball is a part of my personal fansmanship, I’ll be updating periodically throughout the season. My team includes –

C- Brian McCann

1B- Mark Teixeira

2B- Gordon Beckham

3B- Alex Rodriguez

SS- Elvis Andrus

OF- Carlos Gonzalez

OF- Matt Kemp

OF-Torii Hunter

CI- Michael Cuddyer

U- Bobby Abreu

Pitchers include Felix Hernandez, Tommy Hanson, Heath Bell, Tim Hudson, Edwin Jackson, Ian Kennedy, and John Lester. Jhoulys Chacin and Hiroki Kuroda round out my staff.

Fantasy sports can be good times. It certainly was last night.