Every year I tell my wife that I am retiring from Fantasy Baseball because I just do not have enough time to manage a team. Yet, every spring I say “one more year.” I guess it’s a mini-addiction for me.

My squad (Phytons) finished the regular season in second place and received a first round playoff bye which allowed me the luxury of taking the week off. But, I did pick up Joe Saunders (Angels) who was released recently and did not get much interest from other league owners. Unfortunately, to make room for another starting pitcher – I had to waive infielder Placido Polanco (Tigers) which I really did not want to do.

The injury-bug, especially for pitchers, is reflected by my philosophy of trading off my marketable arms for bats and rebuilding my pitching staff via free agents. Some of the pitchers I have traded this season includes Joe Saunders (Angels), Francisco Rodriguez (Angels) and Billy Wagner (Mets).

Unfortunately, since I probably devote 1-2 hours a week on managing my team, I have not captured a YAHOO League Title since 2006, my rookie year.

Last year, I coached three teams and bagged a second-place and a pair of third-place trophies. But with a ton of writing each day, two pre-teen kids, and a small ranch – poring over stats, box scores and team websites is not even an option.

Below is my roster and how each player was acquired:

C – Dioner Navarro (Free Agent), 1B – Adrian Gonzalez (Trade), 2B – B.J. Upton (Drafted), SS – Jose Reyes (Trade), 3B – Ryan Braun (Trade), OF – Corey Hart (Drafted), OF – Alexei Ramirez (Free Agent), OF – Matt Holiday (Drafted) and UT – Melvin Mora (Free Agent).

Felix Hernandez (Free Agent), Josh Johnson (Free Agent), Francisco Liriano (Free Agent), Chad Billingsley (Free Agent), Jered Weaver (Drafted), Ricky Nolasco (Free Agent), Joe Saunders (Free Agent), Joel Hanrahan (Free Agent), Dan Wheeler (Free Agent), Jensen Lee (Free Agent), Brad Ziegler (Free Agent) and Chris Perez (Free Agent).

It’s a good bet that depending on my opponent in the playoffs this week – I will have to release a pitcher or two if any of my position players get hurt or their team has a day off. I doubt my pitching staff is good enough to get my squad into the finals – but who knows?

Marvin’s Fantasy Profile

Marvin Moore writes about Fantasy Baseball. Email him at mjmoore@baseballdeworld for your comments and suggestions.

Tags: USA