Fantasy Baseball Draft Results

We had our fantasy draft on Friday night.  I was pretty happy with my draft.  I am going to show the rounds and mention some of my strategy and whatnot.  This week I will also be posting about how each team in the league projects.  As usual, the draft was fun and I think we probably had the most people actually attend the draft, which made it go faster and provide some more interesting picks.

Ryan had the first pick and before he logged in, Offord and I joked about trying to change the draft order.  He won this league two years in a row, he should not have the first pick.  Anyways, he took Pujols first (I actually thought he might take Carlos Gonzalez--he has been going first in a lot of drafts).  I took Troy Tulowitzki with the third pick.  This was a tough decision for me.  I was going to take a first basemen (Votto or Cabrera), but I figured I might as well take one of the extremely rare elite shortstops.

  This was also my thinking in the second round.  Third base is a pretty shallow pool, so Zimmerman was someone I did not want to pass up and end up with someone in that third tier.  I believe that my strategy paid off because I was able to get Adam Dunn in the third round.

Offord took Buster Posey with the final pick of the third round.  I mentioned before that catchers are pretty much all the same.  It is always weird when people way overdraft for one.  I have seen Posey taken in the early second round in some drafts, so Offord getting him in that spot was pretty good.  He and Mauer are the elite catchers, so I can understand why you might want to reach for them.  After that though, wait until a later round.

I decided to take Lester and Sabathia with my next two picks.  I figured I would get two of the better starters.  My next pick was a little out there.  Drew Stubbs could be a solid 25 HR/30 SB guy, hopefully his average goes up. 

I think Kendrys Morales is a pretty good pick from Dave in this round.  If he stays healthy and hits 35 HRs/100 RBIs with a .300 AVE, that would be a fantastic round five pick.  I think some people are shocked that Jose Bautista is going this high in so many drafts (or low, depending on how you look at it).  I do not see him hitting 50 HRs, but I do think he will hit over 30.

This is also the round where closers start going.  In every draft, as soon as one closer goes, people panic and it just goes crazy after that.  Best way to screw up everyone's draft strategy:  draft a closer in the third round.  Carlos Marmol and Rivera in the sixth round? 

And do not fear, I am not immune to the panic.  I immediately spent the seventh round pick on Brian Wilson.  Bell and Soria also go in that round.  I really liked Ryan's pick of Pedro Alvarez.  If I did not get one of the top tier guys, I was going for Pedro in round six.  I decided to take Mike Stanton with my next pick.  Every projection I have seen has him hitting over 30 HRs.

I thought Offord had a great pick of Chris Carpenter.  I like Nick Markakis, but I was very unsure about whether I should take him here or not.  I think I could have waited and got him later.  Honestly, Matt Wieters this early?  Also, Neftali Feliz was a very good pick.  I thought about taking him, but I was not sure since he might be starting.  I think I might end up regretting that one.

I decided to take a risk on Aaron Hill, can he really hit around .205 again this year?  I am hoping to see him bounce back up to .250 or so.  Trevor Cahill is another risky pick in my opinion.  He is not the best fantasy option, but he seems to win games.  Remember when David Ortiz used to be a guy you took in the first few rounds?  Not anymore, but hey, he can still hit some HRs, right?  

I liked Imler's pick of Starlin Castro.  He could very well become one of best shortstops out there.  I also liked the Pablo Sandoval pick.  He apparently slimmed down this off-season and could regain some of that 2009 form.

Mike Aviles?  I am sorry Shelly, but you could have skipped him and probably pulled him from the waiver wire.  I grabbed him from the scrap heap last year while Troy was injured.  He sucked for the few weeks I had him.  Also, is he even going to be a full-time player this season?  

I realize we use holds in this league, but is Rafael Soriano really worth an 11th round pick?  Or was Dave not present and on auto-draft?  I believe that Pat was absent as well, but it seemed that he pre-ranked his players.  Maybe I am wrong.

I picked up two more closers here.  Round 14 was where I picked up Jose Tabata, who I think will have a pretty good year.  He apparently bulked up and could hit a lot more doubles (or maybe he will start crushing HRs and live up to the idea that he could be the next Manny).

I like how Round 15 was almost all closers and honestly, that is where you should be looking for them.  Axford might be a guy who gets 45 saves this season and Brian Wilson could get hurt and save none.  This happens all the time.

My favorite pick in this grouping was from Offord:  Madison Bumgarner.  I really think he could end up being a huge surprise.  And by that I mean, he could probably win 15 or more games.

I debated between Daniel Hudson and Colby Lewis.  I took Hudson and thought I might get lucky and be able to take Lewis in the next round.  I was wrong.  I finally decided to take a catcher in round 17:  Carlos Ruiz from the Phillies.  At least I did not take Matt Wieters back in round nine...

I also decided to take Domonic Brown.  Actually my last few picks were rookies.  I like taking rookies.  Always nice when one of them ends up becoming a superstar.  I like Ryan's pick of Peavy, especially since Gavin Floyd went before him.  Floyd is always available at some point on the waiver wire.  Use the last few rounds to take a chance.  Great job Ryan.

I also loved Imler's pick of Chapman.  He is such a wildcard.  He could end up being an ace (20-1 record), a closer (50 saves), a set-up guy (40 holds), or he could get hurt like any other guy who throws over 100 mph.  I say he is worth the risk.  Speaking of good picks by Imler, he also took Hellickson, who I really wanted in that round, but instead was left with Hudson.

Another rookie I took was Freddie Freeman.  Probably a stupid pick, but whatever.  Mike Adams is a set-up guy and will help me with holds (or saves if Heath Bell gets traded).  Brandon Webb was a nice risk versus reward pick-up.  

I liked Offord's pick of Manny and Ryan's pick of Zambrano.  Same as Brandon Webb.  Gideon, I would recommend not starting Adam LaRoche until about the end of May.  Just saying...

Last two rounds...I screwed up here.  I took Ackley and Jesus Montero.  I could have just put them on my watch list and picked them up later.

Offord took Johan Santana (remember when he was the second pick overall at one point?) and I think that was a pretty smart pick.  If he starts the season on the DL, fine, Offord gets to pick up someone else.  I also like Ryan's pick of Lackey.

Anyways, that was our draft.  I should have saved some of the comments made during the draft.  Plenty of Ryan being a homosexual jokes.  A good amount of baseball discussion.  Dan mentioned that the Orioles were his sleeper pick (yet he still believes they will finish last in their division...)  Also, Ryan and I defended our none hatred of Lyle Overbay.  Apparently Dan is even more adamant about that signing than Offord. 

If you have stuck around this long, I commend you.