The die has been cast.  The gauntlet has been thrown.

A month ago, Depressed Fan (aka Brian) asked me if I wished to match my fantasy baseball wits against a league of bloggers.  I accepted the challenge.  I was MIA on draft day and thought for sure I would suffer for it.  It also didn't help that I had the 15th pick in a league of 16 teams.  No matter.

At first, I hated my team for a few reasons.

1. I have no Yankees.  I like to have at least one Yank that I can root for.

2. I have Manny Ramirez.  Great player, yes, but a Red Sock and a clown. 

3. I have two wild-card guys on my team in Eric Gagne and Mark Prior.  I could get lucky and have both guys come back with monster years, but what are the odds?  

Anyway, here's my team for all to mock:

C: Bengie Molina

1B: Lance Berkman

2B: Brandon Phillips

3B: Larry (Chipper) Jones

SS: Bobby Crosby

OF: Manny Ramirez

OF: Torii Hunter

OF: Mike Cameron

UTIL: Brian Giles

BENCH: Juan Rivera, Pedro Feliz, Jose Vidro

SP: Brandon Webb

SP: Mark Prior

SP: Cliff Lee

SP: Claudio Vargas

SP: Miguel Batista

SP: Josh Johnson

RP: Trevor Hoffman

RP: Joe Nathan

RP: Eric Gagne 

Do I have enough to win the whole sha-bang?  I doubt it, but I'm going to try and be respectable.  I enjoy playing, but I don't pour over tons of stats or search the waiver wire for the pitcher with a quality WHIP who has fallen through the cracks.  I am going to try and beat out Brian over at depressedfan.com which should be a lot of fun.  Check back during the season to see how we are doing and if Brian and I have come to blows.