Extensions

I was able to make 3 extensions as a result of my six contracts from the start of the season.
* Rich Harden - stayed healthy pretty much all year and was a stud for the Cubs. He didn't lose after July 1 (but didn't get alot of wins due to crappy run support). Finished with a 2.07 ERA and 181 K's. Will be my number 1 SP going into next year.
* Adam Jones - Hurt for most of August, he was pretty steady all year. This extension is a bit of flyer and is based on Jones improving pretty dramatically. Average is fine, but I want to see more HR's and SB's. He is currently my 5th outfielder.
* Ryan Ludwick - Came out of nowhere to post .299/37/113/104. He seemed to get a fair amount of days off as well. The Cardinal outfield is crowded but they can't afford to sit this guy too much. I look for a better average but less dingers and RBI's.

Deadline deals

As I was too depressed at the time, I was unable to comment on some trades I made during the season.
On June 12, I trade Derek Lowe for Lasting Milledge. Lowe was having a decent year, but he wasn't helping me much and I could use a good young outfielder. Milledge was good down the stretch and hopefully carries that through to next year as he has a 2 year deal.
Earlier, I trade Tony Pena and Matt Stairs for Melvin Mora, Franklin Gutierrez, Phil Dumatrait, and Braden Looper. More was great and provided a big offensive lift. Dumatrait only pitched a couple times before getting hurt while Looper was decent. Not a blockbuster by any stretch but I unloaded two stiffs for some help.

End of Season Review

My long, sad 2008 season has mercifully come to a close. I somehow managed to climb out of the cellar and finish 7th in the Western Division ahead of the Redbirds. League-wide, I finished 13th but that didn't qualify me for the consolation bracket.
There is some hope for next year. I finished up 3-0-3 and if I didn't start the season with 6 straight losses, I would have been in the hunt for the postseason.
What went wrong? Almost everything.
First off, my draft stunk. My first 2 picks, Ordonez and Carmona had decent years when they weren't on the DL; you need more from those very important picks. Brett Myers was the epitome of awful until he was finally demoted to the minors; he did come back very strong after his recall so hopefully he won't be dead weight heading into next year. As bad as Myers was, he was an All-Star compared to my next couple picks: Khalil Greene and Manny Corpas; enough said, its too painful. Garko and Lowe were decent, not great, but decent. Out of my remaining picks, only Randy Johnson and Adam Jones got meaningful playing time. The rest stunk. My strategy of getting all the Rockies second baseman backfired as they all stunk; although Clint Barmes came around late in the year but wasn't starting full time. My other strategy of getting young speedsters also backfired as all those guys stunk even worse.
Injuries also killed me. Almost every started I had spent some time on the DL. Only late in the season was my team healthy and playing well.
All this adds up to a dismal 111-134-19 record. There is always next year.

DL is full

Milledge, Ordonez, Cuddyer, Dumatrait all go on the DL in the last week. The roster is getting mighty thin.

First Win

After six weeks of ugly losses, I finally got my first win. Can only go up from here.

Update

* Randy Johnson looked pretty good in his first start back: 5IP, 3H, 0ER, 4BB, 7K. Didn't get the win due to bad defense.
* With the Unit back, my top 4 starters look great. My 5th looks terrible; Jerrod Washburn is auditioning for the spot now.
* Offense is awful but Cuddyer comes back next week and Ordonez looks be coming alive.

Week 1

Five guys on DL, others hardly playing, crappy pitching...lucky to get 4 wins.

AZ Closer Role

Lyon blew a save tonight. Is it too early to start calling for Pena?

Adam Jones photo

Is he so busy he can't do a reshoot?

2008 Draft Picks 8+

The rest of the draft was spent rounding out the roster, hoping to find that diamond in the rough.
Round 8 started out bad when I took Tony Pena. He was the favorite to be the Diamondback's closer but seemingly the next day, Brandon Lyon was named the closer going into training camp. Hopefully Pena will setup and get a bunch of holds.
I had two sub-strategies for the later rounds. The first was to get all the young speedsters I could. I was able to pick up Reggie Willits, Jerry Owens and Rajai Davis. None of the three are starters but all have the ability to steal tons of bases. Willits will get his chances on the Angles offense most likely filling in for injured players. Owens will probably platoon and pinch hit. Davis has the best chance to get at-bats as he is behind the fragile and old Dave Roberts and the Giants are going with youth. I figure at least one or two of these guys will pan out and I will get steals and possibly trade one to fill a hole.
The second strategy revolved around the second base position. Robinson Cano was the only tier one 2B available and he went 8th overall. The rest of the guys were bunched up. Since I was filling other positions I never picked a second baseman. I had Clint Barmes on the roster (please don't snicker) and he is a candidate for the Rockies 2B job. So I decided to pick up the other likely candidates in Jayson Nix and Ian Stewart. Both of whom are highly touted. I figure one will get the starting gig and I drop the others (except for Barmes).
Overall I like my draft. I picked solid guys for the most part. My biggest deficiency is lack of infield depth. Only at catcher do I have a backup. I will certainly remedy that before the season by dropping some duds and hitting the waiver wire.
A couple of late round gems (IMHO):
Randy Johnson - injured last year, put up decent numbers in 07 and was great in 06. I think he still has something left in the tank and he's playing for a contender.
Rajai Davis - a mentioned his speed, but he plays for a terrible team. I think he starts most of the season and gets 50+ steals.

2008 Draft Picks 1 - 7

The eMLB draft has begun and things are humming the Beach Bums war room. Our priorities shifted slightly away from SP due to the winter meeting trades. But we still needed talent at every position except for 3B. I was in the position of taking the best available player almost every round.

Round 1 - Magglio Ordonez - Although I had two OF's, Ordonez was too good to pass up. He is a lock for .310/25/110/100. I know have plenty of run production in the outfield with Ordonez, Beltran and Cuddyer.

Round 2 - Fausto Carmona - I had to get a top SP here. I was leaning towards Smoltz or Holliday, but some Indian fan swayed me on the younger Carmona. A repeat of last year's 19/3.08/137/1.21 looks to be in order.

Round 3 - Brett Myers - I was planning on going infield here but I had a feeling about Myers. He was wasted in the bullpen last year but put up great numbers in 05 and 06. I am looking for 15/3.90/200/1.27.

Round 4 - Khalil Greene - With the infielders going fast, I had to jump on the last decent SS left. Greene puts up good numbers (except for average). I predict .260/25/95/90/4.

Round 5 - Manny Corpas - My second year with the Rockies' closer. Corpas was great last year replacing Brien Fuentes and I expect at least 35 saves on a good Rockies team.

Round 6 - Ryan Garko - An up and coming talent. Hit 21 dingers last year and I expect more of the same.

Round 7 - Derek Lowe - A solid but unspectacular starter.

Winter Meetings

I made two smallish moves during the Winter Meetings.
I got Rich Harden for a 9th round pick and Chris Capuano for a 10th rounder. Harden has a 3 year contract expiring this season while Capuano has a 2 year also expiring this year. This are two low-risk high reward moves. Capuano had a bad year last in 2007 but was very solid in the prior two years. Harden's coming off two injury-plagued seasons but if he gets to his from from 2004/2005, this would be a steal.
Since I had plenty of contract space available, even if these guys turn out to be duds, it shouldn't be too catastrophic for me.