Team: Rotowire.com (Derek Van Riper)
Year in League - 1st
Projected 2010 Finish (Sportsline Projections): 9th
The Roster
Catchers: Yadier Molina $10, Nick Hundley $4.
Corner Infield: Daniel Murphy $8, Carlos Delgado $3, Mat Gamel $2.
Middle Infield: Richie Weeks $18, Stephen Drew $19, Luis Castillo $2.
Outfield: Matt Holliday $35, Justin Upton $35, Jayson Werth $29, Chase Headley $9, Aaron Cunningham $1, Chris Heisey $2.
Pitchers: Jason Johnson $27, Francisco Cordero $18, Hideki Kuroda $10, Johnny Cueto $6, Chris Volstad $6, Aaron Harang $9, Kenshin Kawakami $5, Kris Medlen $1, Drew Storen $1.
Reserves: Manny Parra, Hong-Chih Kuo, Ike Davis, Joel Hanrahan, Brandon Allen, Jose Tabata, Starlin Castro.
Hitting/Pitching Split: $177/$83
Categorical Strengths: None.
Categorical Weaknesses: None.
The rosters in the projected bottom 4th of the league are what I'd call the league's "problem children." It's hard to see any of these teams winning based on how they're currently comprised, and given the lack of trading historically in the CBS leagues, even the most aggressive owner with a weak auction would have a hard time moving up. So far, I've had minor quibbles with team composition but have still believed that every team I've written about could theoretically contend, but as I reach this cluster of teams I can't say the same thing about any of them.
Derek Van Riper's Rotowire entry projects out as a middle-of-the-road team across the board, with no obvious categorical strengths or weaknesses. However, he's already had some bad luck as the Mets signed Mike Jacobs and it was recently announced that Delgado will be out until July with a hip injury. If Gamel winds up in the minors/on the bench, that could leave Van Riper with no starting corner infielders. Add that to Hundley's probable job split with Yorvit Torrealba, Cunningham, and Heisey, and Van Riper's got a lot of holes...and more than the CBS projections likely anticipated. The three big bats in the outfield certainly will put up a lot of stats, but not enough to carry the entire offense.
Price wise, most of the rotation seems like a stretch as well. Johnson was solid last year, but I hate paying this kind of salary for a guy whose has only done it for one year (and, yes, I know his peripherals all scream he's for real and that he technically "did it" back in 2006). With the exception of Kuroda, most of the staff behind Johnson has the same risky feel. Harang, Cueto and Volstad are all OK in 5x5, but all three come with a good deal of risk. Obviously, there's risk in almost every starting pitcher, but given that Van Riper went with Johnson as a big-ticket ace and no certain #2, this seems like too much risk at the bottom of the staff.
This team needs a lot of breaks, particularly on offense. Maybe everyone's right about Storen and he'll be closing by June 1, but this team will need much, much more than that, and frankly it's hard to see the upside at the moment.
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