Hey UPL...winter meetings anyone?

Wow it got dusty in here! Work & Life, you know how it goes.

Anyway, it has been twin heartbreak UPL seasons (second place both times by a whisker and losing the lead on the last day)...and I know that hoops are on the front burner now, but spring training is coming around the bend. Plus, Im bored, so I looked up my final UPL roster and projected my keepers for a little UPL hot stove action!!!

Turns out, it wasnt really that difficult. Of course, this is all subject to change, and more to the point, I am open to wheeling and dealing to the few of you who will actually read this note.

Here goes:

1B Gaby Sanchez -- should benefit from Marlins' spending spree. Lots of men on base we hope.

2B Brandon Phillips

3B Alex Rodriguez

SS Jose Reyes -- who knew I'd have the best SS in Miami??

OF Jose Bautista

OF Jason Heyward -- I'll be sticking with him to the bitter end after what I gave up to get him

OF Emilio Bonifacio -- yeah, those 40 SB and the boppers behind him look pretty enticing

U Ben Zobrist

U Chris Young

B Lance Berkman -- subject of a much ballyhooed deadline deal...I think it would almost be justice to send him back to the draft, because he pretty much shit the bed for me after I got him anyway.

Missed the cut (for now)

* Delmon Young -- his late-season heroics have me seriously doubting this decision. I think in the end I will try to find a way to get him into my required 18.

* JP Arencibia

*Vernon Wells -- his OBP really sagged last year.

On to my soon-to-be dominant pitching staff

P Heath Bell

P Craig Kimbrel

P Carlos Marmol -- can you say 120 saves from 3 guys? Yeah, I think you can.

P Roy Halladay

P Jered Weaver

P Jhoulys Chacin -- my #1 draft pick from last year showed some flashes. Not ready to give up.

P Jaime Garcia -- been very good to me since I picked him off waivers 2 years ago.

P Kenley Jansen -- LAD closer situation is muddled, but he has the stuff.

Missed the cut

So far none of my legit pitchers missed the cut.

****

My thoughts are that I need to make a move for some younger power hitters, which of course is the hardest type of player to get. My team is fast. Really fast. Lots of steals and runs (and hopefully AVG), which has always been my main 5x5 roto philosophy anyway. I would say a package involving some saves and maybe a Berkman can probably net me the type of player I'm looking for.

My team is all growing old together after a few years now, so maybe it's time to shake some things up.

Looking forward to comments and/or trade offers. Everyone's got a price. Happy New Year.

The results are in...

Yes sports fans, two drafts have now been completed by yours truly...including my first NL Only live auction.

Here are the results of the NL auction (keepers are bold with a *). It was a 10-team with $250 budgets:

C- Nick Hundley $1
1B- Ryan Howard $39
2B- Omar Infante $10*
3B- Ian Stewart $10*
SS- Hanley Ramirez $53
CI- Chris Johnson $1*
MI- Bill Hall $7
OF- Mike Stanton $5*
OF- Cody Ross $6*
OF- Cameron Maybin $5*
OF- Alfonso Soriano $19
OF- Chris Coghlan $10
U- Jose Lopez $9
P- Ryan Dempster $6*
P- Johnny Cueto $13*
P- Hiroki Kuroda $19
P- Matt Garza $12
P- Jonanthan Broxton $18
P- Evan Meek $2*
P- Hong-Chih Kuo $2
P- Jason Motte $2
P- Luke Gregerson $1*
B- Homer Bailey $1
B- Rafael Betancourt $1
Minors - Brandon Belt
Minors - Kenley Jansen
Minors - Billy Hamilton
Minors - Chris Marrero
Minors - Zack Wheeler*

Obviously, I favored the top 4 hitters of the Marlins (HOMER!)...but I also have a lot invested in the Cubs and Dodgers. I am using the middle reliever theory, meaning I am likely punting wins for a big increase in WHIP, ERA and saves (I think at least 2 of the MR I have will be closers by the end of the season). 50 saves was enough for fifth place in saves last year in this league, and I have basically locked up every LA Dodger save with this team, which should be in the 45-50 range by itself. Once Heath Bell is traded(?) or Joel Hanrahan is traded or stinks, and Ryan Franklin finally starts to decline, Gregerson, Meek and Motte will be collecting saves as well.

I project to be the No. 1 team in HR (an escape for me), middle of the pack in steals and runs; and near the bottom in average. My goal will obviously be to try and trade for a high-average stolen base guy using my excess power numbers.

I would also love to trade one of my minor league prospects for a better SP. My biggest hope is that Belt opens the season in the minors, and is called up mid-season with a splash, at which point I will probably try to trade him.

I may have been overprepared for this auction. How'd I do? I'll post my mixed league team later.

Looking like a good year in the UPL

As an effort to spur offseason activity in the UPL baseball league, I am posting my roster of potential keepers just to make you guys jealous.

Of course I would love to make a deal or two...

OFFENSE

C - EMPTY

1B Kendry Morales 56/193 29 11 39 0 .346 .487

2B Brandon Phillips 172/626 100 18 59 16 .332 .430

3B Álex Rodríguez 141/522 74 30 125 4 .341 .506

SS José Reyes 159/563 83 11 54 30 .321 .428

OF Jason Heyward 144/520 83 18 72 11 .393 .456

OF José Bautista 148/569 109 54 124 9 .378 .617

OF Denard Span 166/629 85 3 58 26 .331 .348

Util Aubrey Huff 165/569 100 26 86 7 .385 .506

Util Ben Zobrist 129/541 77 10 75 24 .346 .353

BN Chris Young 150/584 94 27 91 28 .341 .452

BN Desmond Jennings 4/21 5 0 2 2 .292 .333

BN Gaby Sánchez 156/572 72 19 85 5 .341 .448

BN Ryan Doumit 102/406 42 13 45 1 .331 .406

BN

PITCHING

SP Roy Halladay 250.2 21 10 0 219 2.44 1.04

RP Carlos Mármol 77.2 2 3 38 138 2.55 1.18

P Jered Weaver 224.1 13 12 0 233 3.01 1.07

P Heath Bell 70.0 6 1 47 86 1.93 1.20

P Jaime García 163.1 13 8 0 132 2.70 1.32

P Wade Davis 168.0 12 10 0 113 4.07 1.35

P Evan Meek 80.0 5 4 4 70 2.14 1.05

P Jeff Niemann 174.1 12 8 0 131 4.39 1.26

BN Tommy Hunter 128.0 13 4 0 68 3.73 1.24

BN

BN

BN

If you want to pull up your own UPL roster, just go to your yahoo fantasy profile and pull up last year's team. If you need to plug a hole at first base, I might be able to help you out!