Draft Day Baby: Fantasy League draft discussions

Lots of fun. The div 1 draft was brisk — thanks to folks for that. Especially for the size league it is. The keeper draft was long. Very long. But that wasn’t anyone’s fault. That’s just the nature of the beast that is auction. Both were great.

Best of luck in the coming season!

I like my pitching staff:

Clayton Kershaw (LAD – SP)
Tommy Hanson (Atl – SP)
Max Scherzer (Det – SP)
Jonathan Sánchez (SF – SP)
Jaime García (StL – SP)
Trevor Cahill (Oak – SP)
Francisco Cordero (Cin – RP)
Hong-Chih Kuo (LAD – RP)

with a bench of
Jair Jurrjens (Atl – SP)
David Hernández (Ari – SP,RP)

I’d take that rotation, and if Broxton or Putz don’t cut it, I have the heir-apparents.

Starters
C – John Buck
1B – Victor Martinez
2B – Ben Zobrist
3B – Martin Prado
SS – Hanley Ramirez
OF – Matt Holliday
OF – Juan Pierre
OF – Corey Hart
UTL – Adam LaRoche
UTL – Chris Coghlan

Pitching
Matt Latos
David Price
Heath Bell
Matt Thornton
Tim Hudson
Chris Sale
Luke Gregerson
Ervin Santana
Bronson Arroyo

Bench
Mike Moustakas
Miguel Tejada
AJ Pierzynski
Ty Wigginton

and hey, so not fair calling us all losers, because I didn’t participate last year! Next year I’ll be Div-1 …. or not. Probably not.

Starters

C – Geovany Soto
1B – Luke Scott
2B – Dustin Pedroia
3B – Martin Prado
SS – Stephen Drew
OF – Jayson Werth
OF – Adam Jones
OF – Aubrey Huff
Util – Andres Torres
Util – Willie Bloomquist

Bench

Franklin Gutierrez
Ty Wiggington
Marlon Byrd
Jack Cust
Ryan Spilborghs

Pitching

Zack Greinke
Chris Carpenter
Jonathan Broxton
Jhoulys Chacin
Daniel Bard
Luke Gregerson
Tim Stauffer
Jon Garland

Yes, I drafted Willie Bloomquist. And as we had a trend of using our last round as a comedy pick, I grabbed number nineteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen.

I was 13th of 14 so I had 22 picks between my picks and then I essentially got 2 in a row. I’ve had that before…. I’m not sure what I think about the long wait.

Starters
C – B Posey (SF)
1B – B Butler (KC)
2B – G Beckham (CWS)
3B – M Young (TEX)
SS – R Furcal (LAD)
OF – A Jones (BAL)
OF – A Jackson (DET)
OF – D Murphy (TEX)
U – H Kendrick (ANA)
U – P Polanco (PHI)

I have a lot of ALers on my team, the NL guys I wanted kept getting picked. I don’t know that I have a lot of power, though. :/ I’ve got 35 steals and a .297 average in Podsednik if anyone wants!

My rotation is bolstered by Verlander and Hamels. Aardsma and Wilson are my closers. As I said, I’ve got Enright, at this point I think he’s a lock for a spot on the team. :) Peavy’s on my bench for when he gets healthy.

Not a fan of auto-drafts… my FA search will start early this season

I am definitely pleased with what I got. Especially with the late round bargains like Magglio, Brown, and Happ.

Starters
C – Geovany Soto
1B – Justin Morneau
2B – Kelly Johnson
3B – Ryan Zimmerman
SS – Elvis Andrus
OF – Carlos González
OF – Ángel Pagán
OF – Torii Hunter
UTL – Rajai Davis
UTL – Magglio Ordóñez

Bench
Asdrubal Cabrera
David Freese
Domonic Brown
Miguel Olivo
Brandon Webb

Pitching
Josh Johnson
Daniel Hudson
J.J. Putz
Leo Núñez
Aroldis Chapman
Anibal Sánchez
Sean Marshall
J.A. Happ

Can I just hold my hands up and say…

I didn’t know I was in Div1?!

I’m in Div1A and the keeper league…. nobody told me I’d been elected to the big boys league :|

Was just sick…. 3 long hours and a battle between the ‘bots’ and the over eager who’d spent all their cash early ensured that things were interesting right till the end….

Here’s my keeper staff and the value paid…. (16 team 5×5 league over on ESPN)

Team – UK Wimby

C Carlos Santana $20
1B Prince Fielder $47
2B Juan Uribe $2
3B Alex Rodriguez $34
SS Alexi Casilla $1
OF Carl Crawford $57
OF B.J. Upton $21
OF Logan Morrison $5
UTIL James Loney $4
UTIL Jim Thome $3

P Josh Beckett $4
P Anibal Sanchez $3
P Edinson Volquez $3
P Edwin Jackson $1
SP Ubaldo Jimenez $23
SP Brian Matusz $8
RP John Axford $11
RP Kevin Gregg $4

BE Dustin Ackley $3
BE Ryan Madson $2
BE Jose Tabata $1
BE John Lackey $2
BE Alfonso Soriano $1

Total: 260
Remaining: 0

Where the Barmy Army have their sights set on promotion back to the top division….

C – B Posey
1B – J Morneau
2B – D Uggla
3B – P Polanco
SS – M Aviles
OF – C Crawford
OF – J Bay
OF – N Swisher

BN – C Johnson
BN – W Venable
BN – M Trumbo

SP – M Scherzer
SP – C Bucholz
RP – M Rivera
RP – J Nathan
P – J Beckett
P – M Bumgarner
P – J Cueto
P – B Arroyo

BN – B Webb
BN – M Adams

Tucson Screw Balls
C Miguel Montero 16
1B Albert Pujols 57
2B Ian Kinsler 28
3B Pablo Sandoval 14
SS Yunel Escobar 3
OF Josh Hamilton 38
OF Jay Bruce 19
OF Carlos Beltran 6
UTIL Billy Butler 17
UTIL Chipper Jones 1
P A.J. Burnett 3
P Javier Vazquez 1
P Jorge De La Rosa 1
P Clayton Richard 1
SP CC Sabathia 38
SP Phil Hughes 7
RP Jake McGee 4
RP Aroldis Chapman 1
BE Barry Zito 1
BE R.A. Dickey 1
BE A.J. Pierzynski 1
BE Lyle Overbay 1
BE Michael Morse 1
Total: 260
Remaining: 0

Jim took JJ Putz

Lies!

C J.P. Arencibia, Tor C $2
1B Miguel Cabrera, Det 1B $51
2B Kelly Johnson, Ari 2B $16
SS Jed Lowrie, Bos SS $1
3B David Wright, NYM 3B $43
OF Matt Holliday, StL OF $38
OF Drew Stubbs, Cin OF $16
OF Jason Bay, NYM OF $6
UTIL Adam Lind, Tor DH $15
UTIL Coco Crisp, Oak OF $1
SP Josh Johnson, Fla SP $19
SP Shaun Marcum, Mil SP $16
RP Chris Perez, Cle RP $12
RP Joel Hanrahan, Pit RP $1
P Madison Bumgarner, SF SP $9
P Zach Britton, Bal SP $2
P Ryan Dempster, ChC SP $5
P Erik Bedard, Sea SP $1
BE BE David Aardsma, Sea RP $2
BE Kyle Farnsworth, TB RP $1
BE Russell Branyan, Ari 1B $1
BE Kila Ka’aihue, KC 1B $1
BE Franklin Gutierrez, Sea OF $1

nice pick-up.

Here’s my haul for Div 1

C Ryan Doumit
1B Miguel Cabrera
2B Dan Uggla
3B José Bautista
SS Alcides Escobar
OF Josh Hamilton
OF Álex Ríos
OF Aubrey Huff
Util Brian Roberts
Util Jason Bay
BN Chone Figgins
BN Coco Crisp
BN -empty-
SP Zack Greinke
SP Francisco Liriano
RP Joe Nathan
RP Brandon Lyon
P Roy Oswalt
P Shaun Marcum
P C.J. Wilson
P Matt Capps
BN Johan Santana
BN Kyle Farnsworth
BN Carl Pavano

and I autodrafted until the 23rd round. Here are the Lil Bitches, the round in which they were chosen, and their overall draft position:

Lineup
C – Carlos Ruiz (18, 245)
1B – Joey Votto (1, 8)
2B – Dustin Pedroia (3, 36)
3B – Adrian Beltre (5, 64)
SS – Ian Desmond (10, 133)
OF – Shane Victorino (7, 92)
OF – Delmon Young (8, 105)
OF – Curtis Granderson (9, 120)
UT – Prince Fielder (2, 21)
UT – Brandon Phillips (4, 49)

Pitching staff:
SP – Ricky Romero (11, 148)
SP – Hiroki Kuroda (13, 176)
RP – Carlos Marmol (6, 77)
RP – Brad Lidge (12, 161)
P – John Danks (14, 189)
P – Edinson Volquez (15, 204)
P – Jorge De La Rosa (16, 217)
P – Jonny Venters (17, 232)

Bench:
OF Carlos Beltran (19, 260)
1B Gaby Sanchez (20, 273)
RP Jason Motte (21, 288)
OF Marlon Byrd (22, 301)
1B Russell Branyan (23, 316)

I almost certainly overpaid for some of my players. It’s easy to do in that auction format. And the Vatican Assassins stole David Aardsma and Kila Ka’aihue from me- well, technically only Aardsma, but I wanted Ka’aihue, how could you not want a player with a name like that?

My pitching doesn’t look too bad, if very starter-heavy- Lee, Oswalt, Hanson, Arroyo, with Porcello and Leake picked with the hope that they’ll progress in the next couple seasons. Offense is likely to be a struggle, though.

My roster:

C Victor Martinez 26
1B Ryan Howard 35
2B Howard Kendrick 12
3B Adrian Beltre 27
SS Erick Aybar 6
OF Chris Young 24
OF Ryan Raburn 2
OF Seth Smith 1
UTIL Kendry Morales 20
UTIL Jason Kubel 1
P Tommy Hanson 27
P Roy Oswalt 17
P Bronson Arroyo 1
P Rick Porcello 1
SP Cliff Lee 38
SP Brandon Webb 4
RP Joe Nathan 12
RP Fernando Rodney 1
BE Miguel Tejada 1
BE Mike Leake 1
BE Danny Espinosa 1
BE Pat Burrell 1
BE Edward Mujica 1

Yes, I drafted Webb. Mostly on purpose.

As you can see (click to enlarge the screen shot), things pretty much went expected

::clicks on the screen shot::

::sees that the last line of the chat is Jenny saying “I still hate you all”::

Yep. As expected.

C Jorge Posada, NYY C, DH Draft
1B Joey Votto, Cin 1B Draft
2B Dustin Pedroia, Bos 2B Draft
3B Mark Reynolds, Bal 3B Draft
SS Stephen Drew, Ari SS Draft
OF Mike Stanton, Fla OF Draft
OF Adam Jones, Bal OF Draft
OF Dexter Fowler, Col OF Draft
UTIL
UTIL
P Stephen Strasburg, Was SP DTD Draft
P Ian Kennedy, Ari SP Draft
P Ervin Santana, LAA SP Draft
P Brandon McCarthy, Oak SP Draft
SP Tim Lincecum, SF SP PP Draft
SP Mat Latos, SD SP Draft
RP Rafael Soriano, NYY RP Draft
RP Zack Wheeler, SF RP Draft
Bench Domonic Brown, Phi OF DTD Draft
Bench Yadier Molina, StL C Draft
Bench Bryce Harper, Was OF DTD Draft
Bench Brandon Allen, Ari OF Draft
Bench

C- Matt Wieters 5
1B- Gaby Sanchez 10
2B- Robinson Cano 52
3B- Chase Headley
SS- Jose Reyes 29
OF- Jason Heyward 31
OF- Michael Cuddyer 5
OF- Raul Ibanez 1
UTIL- Mitch Moreland 6
UTIL- Alcides Escobar 7
SP- Roy Halladay 46
SP- Justin Verlander 17
RP- Andrew Bailey 10
RP- Daniel Bard 1
P- Jake Westbrook 1
P- Dallas Braden 1
P- Derek Lowe 1
P- Octavio Dotel 1
BN- Omar Infante 1
BN- Jon Rauch 1
BN- David Murphy 1
BN- Juan Miranda 1
BN-
DL- Zach Greinke 17 :(

Happy with my middle infield (Can and Reyes) as well as my overall youth and potential for keepers (Cano, Heyward, Sanchez, Wieters, Moreland)

Relief Pitching? Not so much. But there are always saves to be found on the waiver wire….

Thoughts?

It’s already dangerous to be on my team.