I got Mark Teixeira.
I'm sorry, but it's true.
I got Mark Teixeira!
My hysteria just grew.
OK, you get it. I got Mark Teixeira -- the decorated slugger with a bat so imposing he inspired two students from Auburn University to write a song about him back when the Braves acquired him last trade deadline. And I can relate. Now that my AL-only team has acquired him following his trade from the Braves to the Angels, I want to break out in song myself.
So yes, I need say it once, but I just can't help myself. It feels so right. It feels oh so right.
I got Mark Teixeira.
And yet it also feels so wrong. Yes, I got Mark Teixeira -- bringer of home runs, deliverer of RBI -- but why? Did I really do anything to deserve him? Sure, I saved my FAAB money all season, foregoing call-ups like Bryan LaHair and Brian Buscher just for the off chance of landing a legitimate superstar, but should anyone really get that much of an advantage with so much time remaining in the season? At least acquisitions like LaHair and Buscher required some amount of foresight. They only got on waivers because they had no established value. Teixeira certainly does.
That's the problem with these AL- and NL-only leagues. When an established superstar like Teixeira can enter or exit the player pool overnight, especially in a deeper league format like this one, he has the potential to turn the standings upside-down, undoing months of progress for teams that succeeded through more legitimate means. And because I benefited from this glitch, I feel almost guilty, like I somehow cheated the system.
I don't like it. I'll keep saving my FAAB for the July 31 trade deadline in AL- and NL-only leagues because I want to win, but I feel like there has to be a better way to handle league crossover in Fantasy.
I know the simplest solution. Just ignore it. Open the season with a set pool of players and then close it immediately, not allowing a single player to enter or leave. So what if the Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers? He began the Fantasy season in the AL-only player pool, and so in the AL-only player pool he shall remain. Teixeira, likewise, would remain out of the AL-only player pool. I wouldn't get the benefit of adding him midseason, but that benefit hardly seems fair.
I don't see why a player changing leagues in real life should matter in Fantasy. Why does an
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