My worst season yet at fantasy baseball

I was hoping this would be the year I could finally bring the league championship trophy home to the NaturalBlog household, hoist it high above my head, and shout "I am the best fake baseball general manager among my friends!" But alas, with each passing day the chances of that happening seems to grow even less likely .

In addition to my usual August ennui (which came in July this year), there were two key moves that doomed me, one in each league.

And what if I told you that trading for Barry Bonds wasn't my biggest mistake of the year? Unbelievable, you say? Read on.

In East Coast Bias (a non-traditional 4x4 league with only players from the NL and AL easts), my crucial mistake came early -- in our January draft. For some reason (temporary insanity, foolish resolve, both?) I drafted Shea Hillenbrand in the 8th round -- ahead of such fantasy stalwarts as Manny Ramirez and Miguel Tejada.

I'll let that sink in for a second.


Let's take a look at their seasons (through yesterday, with the stats that count in our league) to help drive home the point:

Player Avg RBI SB Ks
Shea .301 39 1 40
Manny .306 68 0 76
Tejada .310 67 4 41

And now, I learn that Hillenbrand became such a distraction in Tornoto that he was cut. That just doesn't happen in baseball -- because the Blue Jays will still owe him the balance of his contract. He must have just been a cancer. Maybe I can rally out of fourth place (out of four, natch), now that he's gone.