There are only two days until games that matter so join the greatest group in ESPN Fantasy MLS (you should also be able to find that by searching for Sounder at Heart Readers) land and compete against the readers of this very community. Jeremiah is a seasoned fantasy vet, while I've given up on the past-time for nearly a decade so we both had different tactics in assembling our salary cap rosters for this game.
Both of us are right up against the cap, but we got there in different ways. I spent a ton on veteran midfielders (4 MVP candidates) while Jeremiah at the time of our chat has his money in forwards. Both of us have selected a 3-4-3 for week one.
Dave: What Sounders do you have? I have Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and Fredy Montero. For Hurtado I think he's undervalued by the game due to last year's injury, where with Fredy I think he can be even better than last season.
Jeremiah: I have Montero and Flaco. I really like Montero's chances for a real breakout and thought Alvaro Fernandez was a good value at 6.5. The team who's most represented is Real Salt Lake. I have Javier Morales, Alvaro Saborio and Will Johnson. Johnson is another player who I found to be a great value at 5.6.
Dave: Did you try and game week one and pick up players with two games that aren't Sounders?
Jeremiah: Oh ... hadn't even considered that. no, I didn't you'd think as a seasoned fantasy player, I'd think of things like that.
Dave: I was thinking about that today and shifted who my Captain is. Captains get double points and so I wanted one with multiple games. Landon Donovan faces New England and Seattle tends to struggle to control him, so the points should be good.
Did you take any players just because you like the player? I have a bad habit of that in fantasy. Back in my baseball days I always had Ichiro. For MLS I went even further off the board - Mike Fucito.
Jeremiah: That's one area where my other fantasy experience really came through ... I broke myself of that habit long ago. Although, I guess you could say Flaco fits that mold, but I really thought he was a solid value.
Speaking of which, any players on your team you think will greatly outperform their price?
Dave: All 3 defenders that I have as starters - Hurtado and Ike Opara because of their injuries last season. Jay DeMerit because he's a blank slate. I also have two rookies - Kofie Sarkodie and Jalil Anibaba.
Jeremiah: Yeah, I think transfers and rookies are generaly going to be great values. I too have Opara, on my bench even. Alan Rochat could outperform his 6 price-tag significantly. Hunter Freeman is 5.5. The steal of the pool, though, is Darlington Nagbe at 5.1. Sure, he might be out a week or two, but that's too good not to stash on your bench.
This is Jeremiah's first time with MLS fantasy, and my first time in several years as I have never played when the Sounders are a team. It will be interesting to see which Sounders are used most in the site's fantasy group (seriously, you should join. The password is in somniis ).