Welcome to the first installment of The WHIP-ping Boy’s fantasy baseball blog!

Eh, it really isn’t exciting enough to warrant an exclamation point, to be frank. I had a couple people ask me, with all the work I put into fantasy baseball each season, if I’d ever start a blog, so here it is. Like the text at the top says, this is where I’ll chronicle my fantasy baseball league as I begin my quest to win a third consecutive title, along with news and tips for each part of the season. I’m beginning my draft preparations now (a little earlier than usual, but I may not have the time as it gets closer to the draft, so it‘s probably best to get it taken care of now), along with a couple of articles which I’ll post when they’re done. Obviously, I don’t want to give too much away, so a lot of the real in-depth analysis might have to wait until after my draft, which will be held on March 6.

Just to give a little background on myself and what I‘m getting ready for, I’m a fantasy baseball geek who started playing somewhere around 1999, which would make this my 12th year playing this game. I started out way back when on Sandbox, where in 2000 Cristian Guzman carried my team to my first ever league win with his 20 triples, something that counted for a lot of points, for some reason. I’ve since moved away from points leagues, and usually stick with H2H or Roto, both of which have their pros and cons. I left Sandbox after that season (and I don’t even know if they still have fantasy games there anymore) and started playing on Yahoo, where I stayed for a few years until I gave ESPN a try. It’s really just a personal preference; I like the layout on ESPN better than Yahoo, so that’s where I spend my time these days.

A few years ago, I started up a keeper league with some friends of mine, and after a few changes, it seems like we’ve finally found settings that work out the best for us. It’s a standard 5x5 H2H league, 23 roster spots, and 5 keepers per team. Since none of us really have any money, it’s only $50 to play, with 50% going to the winner, 25, 15 and 10% to 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers. Keepers are based on what round they were drafted in; if they were kept the previous year, they’ll cost a 1st (then 2nd, then 3rd, and so on) round pick. Everyone else can be kept in the round they were drafted in, and any free agent or waiver wire pick ups will cost a 23rd (then 22nd, etc) round pick. With about 4 weeks to go until the draft, I’m looking at the following possibilities:

1st Round
Mark Teixeira (1B, NYY)
Chase Utley (2B, Phi)
Grady Sizemore (OF, Cle)
Roy Halladay (SP, Phi)

8th Round
Felix Hernandez (SP, Sea)

23rd Round
Curtis Grander son (OF, NYY)
BJ Upton (OF, TB)
Pablo Sandoval (1B/3B, SF)
Ryan Zimmerman (3B, Was)
Troy Tulowitzki (SS, Col)
Justin Upton (OF, Ari)

I have narrowed to two possibilities, but with other players in the league still waiting to make their keeper selections, I don’t want to give too much information away, so you’ll have to guess as to who my selections are going to be until closer to the draft.

Not really too much else to say. Like I said earlier, I’ve begun my preparations and will be posting a few strategy articles here and there until the draft. Once the draft takes place, I’ll post a rundown of my picks, along with my thinking behind each one and my overall strategy.