Mid-Season Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Review, Part II

           We’re at the halfway point of the fantasy baseball season (that also means that we are at the halfway point of real baseball, but sadly for MLB, fantasy baseball is much more interesting to me). Now is a good time to call out some of the good predictions, as well as the crappy ones, made by No Credentials during the pre-season. I’ll find two players from each round of my 25-round mock draft to discuss. If you missed the review of the first 12 rounds, click here. Now on to rounds 13-25.

Round 13

GOOD CALL = Adam Lind, 1B-OF, Blue Jays – If it wasn’t for a short stint on the DL, Lind would be on a 40 homer pace right now.

BAD CALL = Gordon Beckham, 2B, White Sox – His first half this year wasn’t nearly as terrible as it was last year, but he’s still been a major disappointment for a second straight season.

 

Round 14

GOOD CALL = John Axford, RP, Brewers – It hasn’t always been pretty, but Axford has delivered 47 strikeouts in 36 innings to go along with 20 saves.

BAD CALL = Brian Matusz, SP, Orioles – Matusz was so bad after returning from the DL that he just got sent to the minors yesterday. Max Scherzer suffered a similar fate last season, but came back after two starts in the minors and dominated the rest of the season. Matusz doesn’t have the same strikeout potential, but could still be useful at some point.

 

Round 15

GOOD CALL = Jordan Zimmerman, SP, Nationals – The strikeouts haven’t been as plentiful as No Credentials predicted before the year, but if you own him on your team, you aren’t complaining about his 2.63 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

BAD CALL = Brett Myers, SP, Astros – A waiver wire gem in 2010, Myers has returned to the form he often displayed in Philadelphia, which could best be described as wildly inconsistent.

 

Round 16

GOOD CALL and a BAD CALL = Curtis Granderson, CF, Yankees – A good call in the sense that I at least called out the fact that he never should’ve gone so late in my mock, but at least I mentioned that he hit 18 homers in the second half of 2010.

 

Round 17

GOOD CALL = Nick Swisher, RF, Yankees – No Credentials successfully predicted a major dip in batting average for Swisher. He’s come to life in the past couple of weeks, so 25 home runs are still in play at season’s end.

BAD CALL = Andres Torres, OF, Giants – Another waiver wire stud in ’10, Torres has struggled mightily this season (.222 AVG, 3 HRs, 8 steals).

 

Round 18

GOOD CALL = Alfonso Soriano, OF, Cubs – Endorsed as a player worthy of a late round flyer, Soriano has hit 14 home runs in the first half of the season.

BAD CALL = Manny Ramirez, RF, Rays – The fact that he was even included in the mock makes Manny Ramirez an easy choice for the BAD CALL of round 18.

 

Round 19

GOOD CALL = James Shields, SP, Rays – It didn’t predict that Shields would be the AL version of Roy Halladay, but I did mention his very high BABIP in 2010 as a reason to believe he was poised for a solid bounce back season. Shields has been a rock for both of my fantasy teams this season.

BAD CALL = John Lackey, SP, Red Sox – In my preseason write-up on Lackey, I argued that Lackey had the talent to bounce back from a dismal first season in Boston. Writing that Lackey actually had talent was one of the dumbest things ever posted in No Credentials history.

 

Round 20

GOOD CALL = Ryan Theriot, SS, Cardinals – Theriot has delivered solid run production hitting at the top of the Cardinals line up.

BAD CALL = Marco Scutaro, SS, Red Sox – Predicted to be a source of 90 runs scored in 2011, Scutaro is currently on pace to finish the year with 32.

 

Round 21

GOOD CALL = Randy Wolf, SP, Brewers – Not having to be the workhorse for the Brewers has paid wonders in Wolf’s performance. He still gives up a lot of homers, but has been a solid innings eater who is usually good for a quality start.

BAD CALL = Travis Wood, SP, Reds – Tabbed as a guy who doesn’t walk people, Wood unfortunately had a hard time getting people out. He’s currently down in Triple-A.

 

Round 22

GOOD CALL = Ben Francisco, RF, Phillies – No Credentials predicted that if he didn’t start the year strong, his major league career would be over. He’s still on a MLB roster, but has been replaced in the Phillies regular line-up by Domonic Brown.

BAD BALL = Travis Snider, RF, Blue Jays – Called out as a potential random 30-homer guy, Snider has been plagued by injury and is currently in the minors trying to regain his mojo.

 

Round 23

GOOD CALL = Erik Bedard, SP, Mariners – This call would be considered a great one if Bedard didn’t just hit the DL three days ago.

BAD CALL = Fausto Carmona, SP, Indians – You could make a case that Carmona has been the worst pitcher in the AL who’s name doesn’t start with “L” and end with “ackey”.

 

Round 24

GOOD CALL = Jordan Walden, RP, Angels – No Credentials correctly predicted a Fernando Rodney implosion (which I’ll admit, wasn’t that hard to call out). Walden has stepped into the closer role and ran with it.

BAD CALL = Mike Moustakas, 3B, Royals – Moose isn’t a total bust by any stretch of the imagination, but I predicted that he could provide similar production to what Evan Longoria gave the Rays in 2008. Needless to say, my expectations were a little too high.

 

Round 25

GOOD CALL = Alex Gordon, 3B-LF, Royals – Gordon has finally shown that he belongs in the majors.

BAD CALL = J.D. Drew, RF, Red Sox – I liked the line I wrote about him in March so I’ll post it again.

 

Neither sexy nor likeable, Drew is a dependable source of 20 home runs.

 

Drew needs to hit 16 home runs the rest of the year to reach 20. If that happens, then the Rapture dude might’ve been on to something after all.

The First No Credentials Baseball Blockbuster

            We hadn’t seen much trading yet in the No Credentials Fantasy Baseball league (save for an exchange of Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero, which is fun in retrospect because both players have been cut from the teams that traded for them), but yours truly helped create the first blockbuster of the season. Here are the terms.

No Cred At All (managed by me) is trading Blue Jays 1B/OF Adam Lind, Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman, Yankees C Jesus Montero, and Nationals SP Jordan Zimmerman to Eastbound KP (managed by Mark the E-Bay Guy, the finest seller of Adidas Original’s footwear this side of the Tropic of Cancer) for Rays 3B Evan Longoria.

            Eastbound has done very well to currently sit 6^th in the season standings despite all of the terrible luck he’s had. Evan Longoria had a lengthy DL stint early in the season. Ubaldo Jimenez has mostly been a mess (with the exception of his past two starts). Justin Morneau still hasn’t found his groove since returning from a serious concussion. Phil Hughes suddenly lost the ability to throw a MLB quality fastball. To top it all off, Eastbound was the lucky owner in our league who had Buster Posey. Longoria was his first round pick, but with the boatload of players he’s getting back in return, the trade made sense for him. Ryan Zimmerman should be back within 10 days, and is capable of delivering top-30 value the rest of the season. Adam Lind can cover first base until Morneau gets straightened out, and then slide into the outfield if needed there. Jordan Zimmerman has delivered seven straight quality starts, and will be Eastbound’s fifth or sixth best pitcher.

            Of all these players, Montero may end up providing the production over the next four seasons. Montero is a major league ready hitter who is just waiting to be called up by the Yankees or traded to another team. I had Montero ranked as the 11^th most likely player to be kept for my 2012 team at the 1/4^th mark of the season. Even better for Eastbound is the price he would have to pay to keep him next season. I drafted Montero in the 30^th round, which means he can be kept for the price of a 30^th round pick for 2012. For me, Montero is the hardest player to part with.

            As for Longoria, I’m hopeful that he heats up as we get deeper into the summer months. Thanks to the quality of talent on my team, I’m unsure if he will be a one-year rental or a keeper candidate for 2012. In retrospect, I probably should’ve offered Desmond Jennings instead of Montero (as is the case with most fantasy teams, I have a ton of outfielders, but only Matt Wieters at catcher). That’s the only thing I would’ve changed with this offer. Lind and the two Zimmerman’s were ranked 20^th, 22^nd, and 24^th on my keeper ranks, so while all three are productive players, I should be fine without them going forward.

            All in all, this should be a great trade for both sides (provided Longoria gets his average up from the .240s). As soon as Montero is called up, Eastbound will have three hitters he should be able to start everyday and a solid new member of his starting rotation. We’ll look at this trade later in the season to see how it turned out for both sides.