VR Drops Ka'aihua, Adds Granderson

First time looking at my team this season, and oddly the only ballgame I watched all year should have tipped me that one of my players got demoted to AAA

I watched the Yankees-Royals while in NY at a conference and was impressed by the youngster Brad Hosmer at first base. Never occurred to me that my last round pick Kila Ka'aihue had to get bags packed for Omaha for that to happen...

So, I drop the Hawaiian and his two dongs, add Yankee star Curtis Granderson who has taken the slow trot 23 times this season.

I chose CG over Berkman, Kemp and Jay Bruce based on superior SLG and park effects. GT dropped Josh Hamilton earlier this season, but I will pass as my squad looks pretty strong despite the lag.

GT, your move.

July 4 Standings - GT up 168-147

It is fair to say neither combatant remains engaged in the 2011 Home Run Contest, but our pretty good drafting allows our laissez-faire management to get by for at least half the season.

GT lead VR 168-147, and almost all of that difference can be attributed to the first round selections of Greg's Jose Bautista (27 dingers to lead MLB), versus Vince's horrendous Adam Dunn (pictured, practice) with only 8. The rosters:

GT 168

Bautista 27

Pujols 17

Konerko 21

Heyward 8-3=5

Teixeira 25

Votto 12

Nelson Cruz 20

Adrian Gonzalez 16

Carlos Gonzalez 13

Dan Uggla 12

VR 147

Adam Dunn 8

Ryan Howard 17

Fielder 21

Stanton 16

ARod 13

Braun 16

Carlos Pena 17

Miguel Cabrera 17

Mark Reynolds 20

Ki'aihua 2

Greg cuts Hamilton, adds

Dropping Josh Hamilton and his broken finger and 0 homers for Jason Heyward minus his 3.

At least I saw Hamiltons injury on Sportscenter, or i'd probably never know.

Vince Note - I saw he called his third base coach "stupid", Stay classy Josh

2011 Home Run Contest Draft

HR Contest Year #5 - fantasy baseball at its most elemental.

Home runs only. Minimal free agent moves allowed.

Plenty of time to enjoy the finer things in life.

Greg, as two-time returning champion, elected to take picks two and three overall in our two-person snake draft, leaving Vince to select first.

Vince admits to following the quantitative methods of Baseball Prospectus to arrive at his draft list. Greg admits to looking at last season's leaders. Which one works?

Vince's roster, aka The Big Uglies

Adam Dunn

Ryan Howard

Prince Fielder

Mike Stanton (rookie)

Alex Rodriguez

Ryan Braun

Carlos Pena

Miguel Cabrera

Mark Reynolds

Kila Ka'aihua

Greg's roster, aka Tour de Longball

Jose Bautista

Albert Pujols

Paul Konerko

Josh Hamilton

Mark Teixera

Joey Votto

Nelson Cruz

Adrian Gonzalez

Carlos Gonzalez

Dan Uggla

Vince making moves - what trade deadline?

Cut Jay Bruce (should have picked Votto!) with his 10 HR.
Add Jose Bautista (MLB leader, going with momentum) and his 33 dongs.

and now for the crazy move...

Fantasy College Blitz CFO (Chief Fantasy Officer) Drew Smith suggested Baltimore Luke Scott for this HR Contest exercise, I declined. The former Oklahoma State Cowboy has 19 dingers in just 81 games, so projecting that out to the current games played makes him look like 25.

So..

Cut Ryan Braun (+16)
Add Luke Scott (-19)

At The Break

Figured we needed a midyear break update. Clearly neither one of us is following much baseball this year as the 1st and 3rd placed HR hitters YTD are not on our rosters. Despite this my team has a solid 156 to 131 lead. Hopefully no one gets hurt because I probably would never know it.

In other news.........while I grew up a Knicks fan my connections to Cleveland through being a lifetime Browns fan and going to college near there secretly had me hoping LeBron would stay in Cleveland over NY. Instead he is "taking his talents to south beach," as announced on the The Decision. Well, my decision is to cheer for anyone including Kobe to beat Miami now. It's like his ego grew 10 fold over a 2-3 week time period. His first time back to Cleveland to play could be like nothing we have witnessed in U.S. pro sports.

Standings May 23

Greg possess a killer bottom of his lineup - his last three picks, have 31 HR already, half of Vince's tally!

Greg 72, Vince 60

MLB Top HR

Greg has two of the Top 5 in Justin Morneau (right) and Mark Reynolds, both art of the back of his lineup. His top pick Prince Fielder managed only 6 skyshots, failing to reach the Top 50. It was reported on the Onion that he gave in to curiosity and ate a handful of dirt last week.

Vince's lineup looks consistent (seven in Top 50) but Chris Davis and Jay Bruce seem to be anchors to the windward.

GREG

Fielder 6
Howard 8
Carlos Pena 7
Teixera 7
Adrian Gonzalez 9
Carlos Quentin 4
Mark Reynolds 11
Justin Morneau 11
Jason Heyward 9

VINCE

Pujols 8
ARod 6
Dunn 9
Braun 7
Longoria 9
Josh Hamilton 8
Chris Davis 0 (CUT 5/23) ADD Konerko -14
Jay Bruce 4
Nelson Cruz 9

Chris Davis (TEX) optioned to minors

so I will use one of my transactions to replace my 7th round pick. I think the obvious move is to grab MLB leader Paul Konerko (14), so I will do that despite the nagging suspicion that Joey Votto (10) might be stronger from here on out.

2010 Rosters

The Draft was held today, and as defending Champ Greg chose to let Vince go first, then Greg and Vince alternated picking two players at a time.

2008-9 Champ Greg

Prince Fielder
Ryan Howard
Carlos Pena
Mark Teixera
Adrian Gonzalez
Mark Reynolds
Justin Morneau
Aaron Heyward

2007 Champ Vince

Albert Pujols
Alex Rodriguez
Adam Dunn
Ryan Braun
Evan Longoria
Josh Hamilton
Chris Davis
Jay Bruce
Nelson Cruz

2009 HR Contest Champion is..........

After a slow start Team GT used an active trader mentality to get back in the race and eventually run away with the title by a score of 298 to 262.

The GT franchise is having a solid fantasy sports year. In addition to this championship they had a strong showing in fantasy Tour de France against tens of thousands of participants and have started the NFL fantasy season 4-1.

Looking forward to scouting out the next big HR hitters during next years spring training. Until then take care and good luck!

Market On Close Trade

With the season coming to an end I will use my last allowed trade. Dropping Justin Morneau who's season is over. He is at 30 HR's now and I picked him up when he had 12. Adding Jason Bay minus his 32.

Didn't take the time to add it all up, but it looks like a close one this year.

M-E-T-S, Mess mess mess! Wright cut, in come Teixiera

I am in a New York state of mind...Seems the cavern of Citi Field has sucked up all the home run production - the Mets need a stimulus plan (is Morgana the Kissing Bandit still around?) David "Mister" Wright not only is last on my squad with just 5 HR, his slugging percentage is awful. CUT.

Conversely, the new Yankee Stadium is giving up home runs faster than Goldman Sachs can make money appear from nowhere - I will pick up Mark "Que sera" Teixera (think of the Lisa Lisa with Full Force featuring Cult Jam pronunciation) and his 22 HR.

I will admit to being a "buy-and-forget" investor this season, and it kills me to cut a Met, but this isn't about fandom - it is about winning the HOME RUN CONTEST.

Active Vs. Passive Management - All-Star Break Standings

In our day jobs we constantly face the battle of active vs. passive management. Who would have guessed it would become the critical factor in this years HR Contest?

Well as of May 7 GT trailed 60-47. However, after using all but one of his allowed moves in the first two months of the year GT has moved ahead 166-156. VR seems to be asleep at the trading desk. Meanwhile GT is enjoying one of his favorite times of year........Tour de France. He is currently focused on winning his fantasy league for that. HR Contest will be as close over the dog days of summer as the Tour.

UPDATE: Here is the player-by-player standings a/o July 18. (Hat tip to GT for some prescient clutch free agent moves, esp. A-Roid)

GREG = 167 1. Greg - Ryan Howard, PHI - 23 4. Greg - Miguel Cabrera, DET - 18 5. Greg - Manny Ramirez, LAD 6 (CUT 5/7) 8. Greg - Prince Fielder, MIL - 23 9. Greg - Jim Thome, CLE - 16 12. Greg - Carlos Delgado, NYM - 4 (CUT 5/18 IR) 13. Greg - Josh Hamilton, TEX - 2 (CUT 5/7) 16. Greg - Ryan Ludwick, STL - 15 17. Greg - Evan Longoria, TB - 18 FA1. Greg - Alex Rodriguez, NYY 18 (0) (ADD 5/7) IR1. Greg - Adrian Gonzalez - 24 (-9) (ADD 5/7) FA2. Greg - Justin Morneau, MIN 21 (-12)(ADD 5/18) FA3. OPEN

VINCE = 157 2. Vince - Albert Pujols, STL - 34 3. Vince - Ryan Braun, MIL - 16 6. Vince - David Wright, NYM - 5 (CUT 7/18/09) 7. Vince - Adam Dunn, WAS - 23 10. Vince - Alfonso Soriano, CHC - 15 11. Vince - Grady Sizemore, CLE - 13 14. Vince - Carlos Pena, TB - 24 15. Vince - Chris Davis, TEX - 15 18. Vince - Joey Votto, CIN - 12 FA1. Vince - Mark Teixeira 22 (-22) (ADD 7/18/09) FA2. OPEN FA3. OPEN IR1. OPEN