Last night, I drafted the first of my two fantasy baseball teams I will run this season. This will be my fifth year in this league. It’s a good group of guys that for the most part, keep up with their squad throughout the season. This is a bit of a wacky head-to-head league, with 9 stat categories each for pitching and hitting. Over a year ago, the commissioner of the league and I came up with a radical new roster format (more than likely a bi-product of too much free time at work). This league has no bench spots (meaning all players are active everyday). Here are the positions that needed to be filled.
C
1B
2B
3B
SS
2 CIF
MIF
LF
CF
RF
3 OF
UT
8 SP
2 RP
After the league’s draft lottery (that’s right, I’m friends with more huge nerds such as myself), I was slotted to have the 11th pick in the draft. My game plan was to somehow fill all of my infield spots by the end of the 8th round, and find starting pitchers with RP eligibility (closers have very little value in a league with nine pitching categories. It’s beneficial to accumulate as many innings as possible to rack up odd stats like quality starts, grounded into double plays, ect.). Without further ado, here’s my analysis of the team I put together.
1. Roy Halladay, SP, Phillies – I wasn’t crazy about this pick, but a whole slew of guys I expected to fall to me (Adrian Gonzalez, Robinson Cano, Carl Crawford, Joey Votto, Troy Tulowitzki) didn’t. I was happy with A-Rod, David Wright, or Ryan Braun as my top offensive player, so grabbing the best pitcher made sense at this point knowing I would be able to get one of those three hitters with my next pick.
2. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees – 90 billion people watched him get fed popcorn by Cameron Diaz. That must count for something. I considered David Wright at this spot, but I’m concerned about the stability of the Mets this season having a negative impact on him. Prince Fielder was also an option, but first base is much deeper than third.
3. Jose Reyes, SS, Mets – Reyes is a guy I had ranked within the first three picks of the third. I was happy to fill a weak fantasy position with a top-flight talent (albeit with injury concerns, but good luck finding a middle-infielder with no injury risk).
4. Jason Heyward, RF, Braves – I have a massive man-crush on Heyward. I probably scooped him up about 10 picks to early, but I preferred him as opposed to Shin Soo-Choo. Ubaldo Jimenez was also a consideration in an effort to load up on pitching.
5. Brandon Phillips, 2B, Reds – I’ll never understand how Phillips slipped to the end of the 5th.
6. Carlos Santana, C, Indians – I was planning on grabbing Santana in the 5th, but Phillips offered too much value at another weak position. Against all odds, with the 11th pick in the draft, I was able to fill the four weakest fantasy positions with four guys that have the potential to end up ranked in the top-3 at their positions.
7. Mat Latos, SP, Padres – Pitching was going faster than flat-screens on Black Friday in this draft, but I was happy that Latos flew under the radar. He will have a hard time winning more than 16 games, but he’ll around 200 strikeouts with great ratios.
8. Pablo Sandoval, 1B-3B, Giants – This pick was a round or two early, but I didn’t think Sandoval would make it back to me in the 9th. Sandoval has been cranking the ball in spring training. Plus, combined with A-Rod, my team so far has lost approximately 140 pounds during this past off-season.
9. Brett Gardner, LF-CF, Yankees – I had no idea what to do with this pick. Kendry Morales was still sitting out there, and could’ve occupied a DL spot until he returns to the field in May. Mike Stanton and Colby Rasmus were also on the board. I settled on Gardner, who is a solid bet to nab 45 bases. If Gardner ends up hitting leadoff at some point during the season, he’ll present even more value in the runs scored department.
10. Chone Figgins, 2B, Mariners – Oddly enough, I wasn’t even considering Figgins for my selection that was just three picks earlier. Morales, Stanton, and Rasmus were still sitting there. After much debate, I tabbed Figgins to fill my MI spot. Paired with Gardner, my 9th and 10th round picks have shored up my stolen base output considerably.
11. Colby Rasmus, CF, Cardinals – Both Rasmus and Stanton were available with my 11th round pick (see, sometimes patience pays off). I went with Rasmus over Stanton only because he should steal somewhere around 15 bases. He also shouldn’t drag down my batting average as much as Stanton could.
12. Michael Bourn, CF, Astros – Between Reyes, Gardner, Figgins, and Bourn, I now have four guys who should steal a minimum of 160 bases combined.
13. Wandy Rodriguez, SP, Astros – After the rest of the league went bonkers drafting pitchers, I decided to wait out the rush and see what was left. Rodriguez was one of the best starters in the league in the 2nd half of 2010.
14. Shaun Marcum, SP, Brewers – As written about when he was chosen in my mock draft, Marcum was my favorite preseason sleeper starter coming into 2011. My excitement was tempered by reports of elbow soreness, but the Brewers and Marcum are confident that the ailment is not a big deal. In this case, the injury scare may have given me a five round discount.
15. Ike Davis, 1B, Mets – He hit 19 homers playing roughly 75% of the games last season. With another year under his belt, he could jump up to the 25-30 range.
16. Carlos Zambrano, SP-RP, Cubs – Zambrano is insane (mentally insane that is), but so far this spring, he’s stayed on track to be the Cubs #2 starter. He still has an arm that can deliver top-30 stats. Zambrano will fill my relief pitcher spot, which is clutch for a team that is punting saves.
17. Grady Sizemore, CF, Indians – Holy crap, I hate this pick. Logically, this is the time to take a chance on a player who once was a top-10 talent. I’ll make sure to get an extra outfielder to fill in while Sizemore is on the DL to start the year.
18. Brian Matusz, SP, Orioles – It’s a little scary drafting a young pitcher in the AL East, but his performance in the second half of last year gives me hope that he can finish the year with an ERA under 4.
19. James Shields, SP, Rays – As written about here, if Shields has a little better luck, he can deliver top-25 value.
20. Coco Crisp, CF, Athletics – It’s a good thing this league has five DL spots, because between Sizemore and Crisp, I expect two of them to be occupied frequently. When Crisp is healthy, he runs like a banshee.
21. Michael Pineda, SP, Mariners – Last year in this league, I grabbed Jason Heyward in the 19th round. I’ll boldly predict that Pineda is my 2011 version of Heyward.
22. Ty Wigginton, 1B-2B-3B, Rockies – I’m not sure why Wigginton slipped so far. He’ll get tons of at-bats playing third base to start the year, and if he produces early, could end up with 25 homers and 100 RBIs hitting at Coors Field.
23. Justin Masterson, SP-RP, Indians – I didn’t want to make this pick, but I needed a second starter with relief eligibility, and Brian Duensing was taken right before me at this spot. I don’t expect Masterson to stick on my team past May 1st.
24. Ben Francisco, LF-RF, Phillies – One NL scout told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Francisco will either finish the year with 120 RBIs or end up out of baseball pumping gas. Round 24 is a great spot see how Francisco turns out.
25. Justin Duchscherer, SP, Orioles – Here’s another guy who will spend a bunch of time on the DL. He was the last pick in my mock draft, so it’s fitting he was the last pick for this club.
I’m very happy with the offense I was able to throw together. Even though I took a pitcher in the first round, I was able to load up on offense while the rest of the league was grabbing pitching. Having Brandon Phillips fall into my lap at the end of the 5th round was huge. I should be able to move one of my base stealers for a pitcher or power hitter during the season. If things go well, I should make the playoffs.
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