Manager Profile: Dagan

Biography

• First Name: Dagan

• Team: Ring of Fire

• Location: Chicago, IL but soon to be Burlington, VT

• Age: 35

• Years in High & Tight: all of them, was my first fantasy baseball experience

• Education: undergrad at Colby; grad at Duke

• Major(s)/Focus: Biology (Genetics)

• Occupation: Postdoctoral fellow but will be faculty at Saint Michael’s College in the fall

• Favorite MLB team: Red Sox

• Favorite MLB player currently: Pedroia

• Favorite MLB player as child: Wade Boggs/Roger Clemens

• Highest level of experience playing baseball: high school and some adult league fast pitch baseball last summer

• Why did you choose the team name you have? How many times has it changed? I’ve been Ring of Fire for a while because I had many drinks one night and heard a softball teammate sing some Johnny Cash at our sponsor bar and thought I like Johnny Cash, I should name my team after him. But I think I started as Kobra Kai.

Players

1. All-time, who were the top five players that were the most enjoyable to have on your team? Kemp and Votto. Home grown talent. Watched them become stars on my roster.

2. Have you grown a deep hatred for any player due to their past fantasy performance? I hate Mauer. Led me to the championship one year and then screwed me over for the next 2.

3. What one player do you wish you had on your roster right now? Tulo. Was so close to grabbing him off the wire. Been a revolving door at SS since then. Thank god for Boneface last year.

4. What player will never be on your roster (not due their status as a keeper for another team)? The core Yankees: Jeter, Tex, CC, Rivera. I just can’t root for them to do well because it would mean that the Yankees are winning. And real life baseball trumps fantasy for me.

5. Which player on your current roster are you least likely to trade? Matt Kemp. No one else has the speed/power combo like Kemp.

6. What is your all-time best transaction (draft pick/trade/free agent pick-up)? Trading Chase Utley to Jason for Manny Ramirez (while on roids and good), Joe Mauer (28 HR year), Brian Wilson, and Max Scherzer in 2009. Won the championship because of that trade. And Utley began his run of injuries soon after.

7. What is your all-time worst transaction (draft pick/ trade/free agent pick-up)? Drafting Abreu in the 8th round last year. He was totally cooked.

8. Any players you find yourself gravitating toward, despite their being largely unpopular? Old guys with high floors but low ceilings. I’m looking for value and that’s where it is most years.

9. Who is the worst keeper you’ve ever kept? Mauer. For 2010, I kept him over Carlos Gonzalez who I had a sleeper but then missed on in the draft.

10. Who is the best sleeper on your team currently? Brandon Belt was a nice post-hype sleeper but it looks like Bochy is going to screw him over again this year. Once he gets out of San Fran, he could be a star a la Alex Gordon or Matt Wieters.

League

11. How were you introduced to the league? How do you know Lars? I’m Lars’ older brother, in case people don’t know.

12. How many current owners did you know prior to joining the league? Which ones? Prior to joining, I knew Casten and Lars. It that it? Really?

13. Who would you say is your biggest rival in High & Tight? If none, who would you most enjoy pulverizing? Two teams. Adam because I respect this approach to the game, the fact that he never quits, and that he knows his stuff. I would like to see him won a title soon. Casten because he always talks shit, yet never seems to win in the playoffs. It’s fun to beat him and watch him make excuses, like the playoffs are too short.

14. Who is your favorite trade partner? Who is your least favorite? I admit it, I suck at trading. Most of the time I like my team so I don’t see the point of making a trade for the sake of it. The trade negotiation process can also be pretty annoying. That being said, I’m happy to trade value for value. Don’t have a favorite but I hate trying to trade with Lars, we never match up.

15. What is your initial reaction when you see you’ve received a trade offer from Jason? Instant reject. But will remember what he was after and then talk about it in trades later on.

16. Anything you’d like other owners to know about your interaction with the league? (examples: “I check my email/league site at lunch time,” “I often travel and don’t have access to the internet,” “Your odds of executing a trade with me go up considerably if you send me a picture of Scarlet Johansson posing provocatively,” etc.)? I check it often on my phone (when I’m in the elevator, a seminar, the bathroom) but often don’t have time to respond until later (often a day or 2…sorry).

17. How would you describe your pre-draft preparation? Looking at number, numbers, and more numbers. I used to read Gammons for tidbits but now I read Olney.

18. How often do you go on the H&T website/blog per day? Too many while the games are on.

19. What is the weirdest place/situation you’ve checked your lineup? From a sketchy internet café in a tiny farming town in China.

20. If you could make one change to the league, what would it be? Replace the Saves category with something that better reflects real life in that shut down setup men are often more valuable than closers. Some sort of hold/save hybrid category needs to be developed.