Fantasy Baseball 2013

The Game Room
21

My email is current, so I’ll be in contact with the potential auction drafter. I’ll begin preranking for the big league draft as well.

22

In theory, even in the worst case scenario, autodrafting an auction should be manageable. It’s just that the people who end up autodrafting in an auction tend to be the kind of fuckups who haven’t changed the default draft values at all, so the computer bids every player up to the default. Which is a problem because that’s supposed to be an average, not a floor. If you made sure to set lower values for all the guys you wouldn’t actually pay the default value for, I would think it would work out OK and you wouldn’t screw anyone else up. Of course, I’ve never seen anybody actually do that. God knows I don’t.

23

OK, I’ve given up on the idea that I will ever find time to start a separate thread on the SDMB Big League. As I said earlier, I did reactivate the league several weeks ago. My quick look indicates that pretty much all the regulars are back, with the exception of Omniscient, who’s probably too busy obsessing about the upcoming NFL draft to worry about fantasy baseball.

First off, props to hawkeyeop to winning the league last year. He’s a relative newbie, winning the league in just his fifth year! All other winners have been in the league since 2004.

We’re at 17 owners in that league, and we can go to twenty, so consider this a call for more owners. Here’s the league info, cut and past from last year’s thread:

For those new to this league - besides trying for a lot of depth, we use some non-standard settings.

The settings are:
Roster Positions: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, IF, LF, CF, RF, OF, Util, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL
Stat Categories: R, HR, RBI, SB, OBP, SLG, W, SV, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP

So a bit different from standard Yahoo - deeper rosters, with the IF and OF positions, plus the added twist of LF/CF/RF instead of generic outfield.
And then in stat categories we use OBP and SLG instead of average, and we add Holds to the standard five for pitchers.
Max Games Played 162, Max innings 1300.

No keepers.

Draft time is set for Wednesday, March 27th, 8:30 pm eastern. This is usually a LONG draft.

PM me if you want are interested in joining, I’ll send you the league info.

Also on a personal note, if anyone at all is interested in co-commissioning, please let me know. Life for me is crazy right now - my girlfriend is fighting cancer, my stepdad passed away two weeks ago, and at work we’re a month away from bringing our Canadian subsidiary live on our computer system. Because of this (mainly the first), it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that I’ll disappear for stretches. While being commish of this league doesn’t take much, I’d hate to cause a problem if I’m not around.

However, I vow that I will do no worse this year in the big league than I did last year. That’s not hard, since I finished last, which is quite embarrassing. To be honest, last year’s dismal performance on my part was more due to the fact that work blocked Yahoo Fantasy Sports, than anything else. At least this year, I’ve got my iPad and can be much more active.

24

How did you know?!?!
I’m signed up and ready to finish 8th, 9th or 10th once again.

25

Don’t sell yourself short, Omni - you finished fifth last year.

26

Hey, just saw this. First of all, my condolences, and best wishes that everything turns out as well as it can. Second, I’d be happy to help out.

27

Thanks - I’d like to take you up on that, but I can only set co-commissioner to owners who have their email visible, and I don’t believe you do.
This has become a little more important - there’s a chance I will be up to thirty minutes late to the draft tomorrow. I can certainly live with pre-rankings to get me through the first couple of rounds - but if there any issues that would require pausing the draft or undoing it, I can’t do it if I’m not there.

So if you’re willing to set your email to visible, I’ll set you up as co-commish (actually, from what I’ve read, I’d want to set you as commissioner, because a co-commissioner cannot pause a live draft or undo a pick. We could reverse that later).

28

Just a word for those drafting for others via Yahoo: only the primary owner can enter the draft and actually draft (co-managers can enter the draft, but can’t do anything). You’ll need to either exchange yahoo accounts, temporarily drop out as manager, or have the commish transfer ownership (they essentially send an invite to the drafter, which kicks the first manager out, but can then be restored).

29

I had the number 1 pick overall.

1. (1) Mike Trout LF,CF
During my prep for the draft I kept saying to myself that given the opportunity I’d pass on Trout and either go with Miggy or Cano because of positional supply. Of course when I actually got the #1 pick I didn’t pull the trigger and went with the overall consensus.

2. (36) Cole Hamels SP
Not exactly a top-tier #1 pitcher, but will have a good ERA and K numbers.

3. (37) Allen Craig 1B,LF,RF
If Craig can avoid the 2-3 week injuries he seemed to get last year and in the Minors could be a real plus slg., HR, and RBI guy.

4. (72) Elvis Andrus SS
SS I believe is a little thin this year so I was happy (not thrilled) to get him here. His numbers have improved a little each season (except last years SB), and hopefully that continues.

5. (73) Johnny Cueto SP
Can be unhittable at times. With him and Hamels I should have a good baseline for K’s.

6. (108) Rickie Weeks 2B
I really wanted Altuve here, but he didn’t fall quite that far. Good god I hope his Avg. rebounds, or he could be my teams anchor.

7. (109) Eric Hosmer 1B
Could have huge power numbers if he can make contact, and with a year under his belt I think he will improve.

8. (144) Mike Moustakas 3B
He has been absolutely crushing the ball all spring. He could be a steal here.

9. (145) Norichika Aoki LF,CF,RF
Has a ok OPS at .787 , nothing great, but the 30 SB last year could be a nice bonus.

10. (180) Jarrod Parker SP
Had a decent season last year, but a rough spring. I’m hoping he builds last year for 15 wins; 160 k; and 3.30 era. :slight_smile:

11. (181) Josh Rutledge 2B,SS

12. (216) Jason Kubel LF
Good value here with his power numbers, but needs to on base more often.

13. (217) Lance Lynn SP,RP
Had a good year last year, and then tapered off towards the end.

14. (252) Alex Avila C
Needed a starting catcher.

15. (253) Oscar Taveras RF
16. (288) Jedd Gyorko 3B
Two gems that might find significant playing time if their teams go through injuries.

17. (289) Tommy Milone SP

18. (324) Alfredo Aceves RP

19. (325) James McDonald SP

20. (360) José Valverde RP
Not on a roster yet, but since I basically punted Saves I needed to take a chance.

21. (361) Matt Adams 1B
Great power, probably not a lot of AB’s.

22. (396) Pedro Strop RP
23. (397) Aaron Crow RP
24. (432) Joe Kelly SP,RP

Since I punted on Saves I decided to grab a couple Holds guys.

30

Team Draft Recap and Other Sundry Comments

Last Place

  1. (2) Miguel Cabrera (Det - 3B) - I had pre-ranked because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make the draft, and as it turned out I was about ten minutes late, so this was an auto-pick. That said, I did rank them this way, and it’s not like the AI had to make a big decision given that it was only pick number two, so I guess I should take responsibility. I like Cabrera slightly more than Braun; the tradeoff is losing a bit of speed vs. a better position and some extra OPS upside. Also, this is the third time I’ve had him in this league, and he makes me happy.

  2. (35) Starlin Castro (ChC - SS) - I popped into the draft app about four picks before I was up, and for a double-pick at that (insert normal complaining about picking at the end/beginning of a round in this draft here). This is probably my least favorite pick in the early part of the draft: there is very little in Castro’s stat line from last year that makes him worth this sort of stature in our league. In a 5x5 league? Sure, he’s a SS with good BA and counting stat potential. In our league, he goes from an above-average BA guy to a guy that you’re hoping is average in OBP and SLG. Zobrist would have been a better pick here, I think, though at least Castro does have more potential to pleasantly surprise.

  3. (38) Jacoby Ellsbury (Bos - CF) - This is a bit of a homer pick, but given the other guys going in this range, I am completely fine with it. The other options were Cliff Lee or Yu Darvish, but as I will discuss (probably at length), I think starting pitching was massively overvalued in general in this particular draft. Given that, I’m completely fine with a huge risk/reward pick in this spot, one that will hopefully get me into the middle of the steals pack without compromising any other categories. I actually like Adrian Gonzalez quite a bit in this round as well; for that price, if you get a bounceback year, it’s the kind of thing that can form the core of a league-winning team, and it helps offset the risk that the illest took taking a SP in the first.

  4. (71) Kris Medlen (Atl - SP) - Okay, this might actually be my least favorite of my early picks, but this one was a little less my fault: three picks earlier, I had been quite happy with Phillips, Greinke, and Hill in my queue with only three picks before mine, and then all three of them went. That was really the only time all night that my queue got completely emptied before a choice, but it was still kind of annoying, and I really wanted Phillips. Medlen was on my team last year so I have a soft spot, I think he’s probably at least good enough to belong in this tier of starters (ringing endorsement, right?), and I do like to grab at least one elite SP early even if I’m paying too much. But I’d still have loved to have gotten Phillips here and Medlen or another starter with my next pick.

  5. (74) Martin Prado(Ari - 2B, 3B, SS, LF) - This was a bit of a reach, brought on by that empty queue thing, but I’m much more fine with this one. I like to have at least one super-flexible guy each year because of all of the positional slots we run with and the likelihood for at least one injury. There is a lot of downside here, though, if the steals disappear or if the bat regresses. That said, if he’s not terrible, I have all of the annoying-to-fill spots handled (2B, SS, 3B, CF) and it’s only the fifth round. After this I can just sit on value, which is my favorite part of the draft by far. Incidentally, I was tempted to go Wieters here for the fourth or so time, but C seems really deep this year.

  6. (107) Melky Cabrera (Tor - LF, RF) - I really like this as a risk/reward pick at this point in the draft. The only real downside is that if he was 100% a PED guy and he drops back to that one terrible ATL year. If he does what he did in his last year in NY, or the year in KC - 800ish OPS, mid teens in both HR and STL - he’s about the right value here and he helps me fill in a bunch of categories. If he gets some good, undetectable Canadian drugs and sits in the middle of that new-look lineup, the SF stats would be a huge bargain. I may have been better off taking Hosmer here and trying to get Cabrera on the way back; on the other hand, I guaranteed myself the two best M. Cabreras, and that gets me… something? Right?

  7. (110) Paul Konerko (CWS - 1B) - I had him and Hosmer as my last two palatable starting 1Bs on the board, and I wanted to get one of them. I got one of them, and the one with less of both downside and upside, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing given my team thus far. .850/25/90 would be fine with me, and a little more decline to .825/20/70 wouldn’t ruin me and would probably beat a lot of what was left. That said, if there were any certainty at all about his recovery time, I’d have loved to take Big Papi here. I really needed someone who was more of a consistent bet than risk/reward to balance out my roster a bit. Also, a guy I’ve had about five times in this league now, and he’s always been good to me.

  8. (143) Andre Ethier (LAD - RF)

  9. (146) Carl Crawford (LAD - LF) - Because I, uh, really love the Dodgers outfield all of a sudden? Not really, but these two picks were in the middle of a giant OF and pitching run, and I wanted no part of pitching. The value at this point was in IF, and I really like a few of the picks in these rounds in that vein (LaRoche, Moustakas), but I already had those. I do think that I got the guys I got at the right times, and that they compliment each other well. Ethier is boring, but it’s a 20 HR, slightly above average OPS, doesn’t kill you anywhere but steals kind of boring. Crawford is one of the highest variance guys left in the draft, and the only place he’s almost guaranteed to help me is in steals, where he’ll probably grab 20 or 30 even if he misses half the season and has a 700 OPS. If he can stay healthy, he’s a win even with the rate stats from the last month and change of last season, incidentally.

  10. (179) A.J. Pierzynski (Tex - C) - Catcher is deep, but I didn’t want to wait forever. I’m very happy with what I got here, as I think that some of the natural regression from his ridiculous year last year will be offset by going to Texas and hitting in that ballpark & lineup. After Perez and Montero went in the rounds immediately prior, I had AJ as the last palatable catching option on the board, and getting the last guy in a tier is usually a great way to get value (though I do actually really like both of those guys this year as well). Note that I’m still going for value, and I’m still not touching the pitching that’s available with a pole of any arbitrary length.

  11. (182) Lance Berkman (Tex - 1B) - Okay, so maybe I went a little bit overboard with the injury risk guys this year. He’s 37 and he has had a lot of issues playing a full season lately. On the other hand, Tex is going to be sticking him at DH, in the middle of that lineup, and he could very believably put up a OPS in the .900s, which no one else left on the board is going to come within 100 points of. Okay, some undrafted guy will probably have an awesome season, even with all the guys we drafted, but you know what I mean. I get my IF spot filled and I don’t have to play multiple OPS-killing middle infielders to do it.

  12. (215) Bobby Parnell (NYM - RP)

  13. (218) Steve Cishek (Mia - RP)

  14. (251) Bruce Rondon (Det - RP) - Cleaning the last remaining closers off the board. These picks were increasingly vomit-inducing, but I gotta get saves somewhere, and this is what happens when we wait. What also happens when we wait is that we pick someone with a high chance of being sent back to AAA and not even making the roster, never mind closing on Opening Day. The correct pick here would have been Mitchell Boggs, incidentally, which means that he was a really correct pick when the Ninety-Nine Balloons grabbed him a full round and a half later. Anyways, I normally shoot to get half my saves out of guys I draft and grab half off the waiver wire, and I think I have a shot at that.

  15. (254) Clay Buchholz (Bos - SP) - Finally, we have a starting pitcher, and it’s a homer pick at that. Okay, so this is how I feel about starters, drafting in this particular league, on this particular night (when starting pitching was going a round or two earlier than it was for comparable pitching in a draft last year that had two more teams). I was going to type up a multi paragraph screed on the issue, but this is long enough already, so I’ll summarize: because of how our league works, there are a dozen guys on the waiver wire who will be at or within 10% of our fantasy league’s average in ERA/WHIP, while there are a total of two batters on the wire who will be within 20% of our fantasy league’s average in OBP/SLG, and neither of those is projected for more than 30% playing time. There’s also a lot more matchup potential for pitching, especially once we get halfway through the season and we can be absolutely sure how some of the re-worked parks are playing, and which offenses are better or worse than we expected. So if I’m going to have to prowl the waiver wire and fake something - and you usually do, whether it’s for hitting, saves, holds, or pitching - I’m going to fake the thing that’s least scarce in our league, pitching. Anyways, Buchholz, big bounce back guy, great (meaningless) spring training stats, blah blah blah. He wears a big red “B” on his cap.

  16. (287) David Robertson (NYY - RP)

  17. (290) David Hernandez (Ari - RP) - So the holds run started early in round 16, and I was really worried for a while, but I got two of the four guys that I had targetted (these two, Pestano, and Peralta). The biggest weakness of faking your starting pitching is K/9, and these two guys fix that in spades. Incidentally, our holds run went in round 12 or 13 last year. Our regession in that particular area was a huge help to how I put my team together, and I’m willing to bet at least a couple of other owners feel the same. If anyone does a full league review I’m sure they’ll criticize my lack of SPs, but on the whole I feel like my team is more complete than it has been in many past years, if also much higher risk.

  18. (323) Andy Pettitte (NYY - SP)

  19. (326) Felix Doubront (Bos - SP)

  20. (362) Gavin Floyd (CWS - SP) - See, there’s just no way that you can convince me that these guys are a full 7-9 rounds worse than Mike Fiers, Josh Beckett, and Homer Bailey’s Unfortunate Home Ballpark (I love that guy, incidentally, but as an extreme flyball pitcher in that park he could be 20% better than league average in K/BB and still put up a 3.80 ERA), to pick a random few pitchers that went in rounds 11-12.

  21. (359) Travis Hafner (NYY - Util) - I admit that I took him at least partially to keep him off the Pronkees, but I also had an empty utility slot and after the two guys I was eyeing for it went immediately before this pick (Venable and JBJ), I had sufficient incentive to fill my DH spot for the first few weeks of the season. Until he gets hurt. Because all old Yankees get hurt, and Hafner always gets hurt, so the combo of those tidbits means he’ll definitely get hurt. (Reverse jinxed, yet?!)

  22. (395) Scott Hairston (ChC - LF, CF, RF) - Platoon guy, pounds lefties, 20 HR last year, eligible at all three OF spots. Some opportunity to grab value if I can start him only when he’s starting, won’t feel too bad to drop him if I need the roster spot.

  23. (398) Luke Scott (TB - 1B) - Injured currently, which means I can stash him in a DL spot and have a free roster spot right away, which I always like to do. Also will get significant playing time once he’s back unless about two other guys emerge. Will probably suck anyways, but we were about at the bottom of the barrel on hitters here.

  24. (431) Barry Zito (SF - SP) - I actually logged out after the preceding pick, given that it was going to be about 10-15 more minutes before my next pick and virtually anyone that I could take with that pick would subsequently be available on the waiver wire. I filled up my queue with a bunch of guys that I didn’t completely hate: Wells, DeJesus, Uehara, Colon, Norris, Skaggs, Roberts, Wallace. Then I stuck Zito at the end just in case. Somehow, every other guy got hit, and I got the Z man, which is a bit fitting since this is the third time I’ve taken him in the 24th round. He’s an object lesson in pitching not-scarcity, if nothing else: his stats from last year were perfectly playable in our league, and if the 1.39 WHIP was a little cringeworthy, 15 wins would have been a nice consolation prize. That said, I doubt I’ll start him even once, though you never know…

31

**99 Plouffe Balloons

  1. (17) Jose Bautista (Tor - RF)** First off, I need to complain once again about how much Yahoo hates me. In the 10 years I’ve been in this league, I’ve rarely (i.e. once) drafted in the top half of the order, and usually end up in the tail. It’s become a tradition at this point, and I actually enjoy the value that falls down. To that end, Jose Bautista shouldn’t last 17 picks in an OBP and SLG league. He’s a top 5 pick.

2. (20) Evan Longoria (TB - 3B) And Longoria is a top 10 pick.

3. (53) Craig Kimbrel (Atl - RP) Well, this is where things started coming off the rails. Never a good thing in the 3rd round (but to be fair, it’d be like the 18th round in a normal sized league…) At this point, all the elite SPs had been taken off the board (I don’t like CC this year in that range), and it was looking like Adrian Gonzalez was somehow going to survive, but was taken right before me. Kimbrel is an elite talent, and paired up correctly, contributes in 4 of 6 categories (his K-rates are tremendous). Unfortunately, I don’t think I paired him up correctly…

4. (56) Josh Willingham (Min - LF) Might be a reach, but he’s extremely undervalued in this OBP/SLG league. I likely should have gone with a middle infielder like Kipnis or an SP like Medlen, but I can’t completely regret taking Willingham here.

**5. (89) James Shields (KC - SP) **Shields is pretty good value here, but I was hoping for Cueto or Scherzer. Actually, I was hoping for 2 of those 3 to make it to me, but I guess I have to settle for just one of them.

6. (92) Carlos Beltran (StL - CF,RF) And not being willing to settle for Zimmermann or Gallardo here will likely hurt me. I love Beltran, and he’s served me really well in this league in the past - but you just have to wonder how much longer he’s going to be serviceable and not get hurt. Injuries are hard to overcome in this league, and I should have been a little more risk-adverse in that regard.

**7. (125) Nick Swisher (Cle - 1B,RF) **125th pick? Okay - I’ll take an OBP machine who’s been consisently hitting 20+ HRs for years. I absolutely love this pick. I wanted Uggla to fall, as he was the last of his tier at 2B, but I just kept waiting and waiting for my middle infield…

8. (128) Sergio Romo (SF - RP) I usually avoid closers in this league - saves are worth just as much as holds, and holds are easily acquired. However, since I missed out on the big K guys, I wanted to see if I could cobble together a backdoor way to score points in the category. Romo is a guy in the 'pen that can do that for me. Additionally, he’s going to really advance my ERA/WHIP numbers each time he takes the mound. Might have been a bit early, but he was the last elite closer who isn’t 50 years old (Rivera).

**9. (161) Pedro Alvarez (Pit - 3B) **Alavarez is going to hurt my OBP a bit, but he has the ability to lead the league in HR, and was a great player to slot into my IF spot. I’m clearly lacking in SB, but it’s not hard to find speed during the season, and HRs are at a premium these days. If anything, he’ll be great trade bait for someone needing a huge boost in power.

**10. (164) Torii Hunter (Det - RF) **I should have taken Marco Estrada here, I’m not sure what I was thinking. But Hunter is also someone who has disappeared on Yahoo’s draft list, and is a huge talent in OBP/SLG. He’s never going to steal bases again, but he does everything else.

11. (197) Everth Cabrera (SD - 2B,SS) Well, I guess I need both speed and middle infield help. I don’t like Everth for much else, but he can compete for the stolen base title (unless B. Hamilton gets called up earlier than the last week of the season). Wasn’t much left at 2B/SS, but Cabrera was the best of the bunch.

12. (200) Ernesto Frieri (LAA - RP) Three closers may be a bit much - but they’re always in demand, and should he lose his job to Downs, he’ll be one of the best Holds guys in the league. At #200, he’s the perfect pick.

13. (233) Edwin Jackson (ChC - SP) My 2nd SP, and I’m not really happy about it. I wanted Hellickson, who was taken right before, and I was scrambling. Jackson will be okay - he’ll get plenty of Ks. I’m just worried about that 2011 WHIP reemerging. If anyone wants to take the risk on him, I’d be happy to pair him up with a non-Kimbrel closer for an SP upgrade.

14. (236) Matt Harrison (Tex - SP) Didn’t look so good last night, but I like his potential. He’s the #2 pitcher on an offensively- and defensively-talented team, and will be quite serviceable as my #3.

15. (269) Jaime Garcia (StL - SP) I love this pick. Garcia isn’t as sexy as Shelby Miller or Tavares, but Garcia has already put together three quite successful seasons, and always gets overlooked. With my elite closers, I’m not having too hard of a time eating up innings without sabotaging my ratios.

16. (272) Mitchell Boggs (StL - RP) Nearly every closer was already off the board (including Motte), and Boggs got lost in the mix because Yahoo is terrible at updating their rankings. There is no need for me to have 4 closers, but I could not pass up on the value here.

17. (305) Jhonny Peralta (Det - SS) I can only dream he repeats his 2011 numbers (21 HR, .345/.478). And at #305, I can take that risk. (But as only my 2nd middle infielder, I guess I have to.) Here’s hoping. Everyone gets saddled with some starters that they have to gamble that they pan out in this league.

18. (308) Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD - SP) I’m eager to see what he can do in his first season in the US, and I’ve spent virtually nothing on the chance. He had a great spring - let’s see if he can maintain momentum.

**19. (341) Sean Marshall (Cin - RP) **He’s a top Holds candidate who helps in K (rate), WHIP and ERA. He also is decent at vulturing wins, but I’m not going to count on that.

20. (344) Logan Morrison (Mia - 1B,LF) Already on the 60 day DL, LoMo better get his act together. He’s an injury risk, and a performance risk as well - but he has a decent ceiling potential. Ugh. There was just a dearth of offensive options at this point, and it was clear I spent too much time taking relief pitchers off the board.

21. (377) Todd Helton (Col - 1B) Helton is going to play 80 games this year, but he’s going to have a .405 OBP in them. I just have to figure out which games those are…

**22. (380) Chris Iannetta (LAA - C) **My catcher strategy fell through the floor at some point, and I just gave up. I saw 5 guys left that were all about equal, so I knew I could just wait on them until the end. I got one - so that’s a thing I guess…

**23. (413) Eduardo Nunez (NYY - 3B,SS) **He’ll be starting somewhere on the left side of the infield, and has the potential to hit the ball (well, more than me, I guess).

24. (416) Bud Norris (Hou - SP) Was quite surprised to see him left on the board. I like this pick a lot.

32

OK, I don’t consider myself a fantasy expert at all, and tend to draft with my gut, so here’s what I ended up with.

  1. (5) Andrew McCutchen CF . 5th pick, could have taken Votto or Puljos, but thought steered away from the 1B. Figured that I could get a 1B later that would be perhaps a tier down.
    I have been shut out of McCutchen for the past few years, 20+ HR, SB…90 R and RBIs

  2. (32) Jered Weaver SP coming back up, wanted to get a good pitcher, so I could concentrate on batters. ( actually ended up with 4 pitchers who COULD win 17 ) Also, I need to start thinking about overall Ks….

  3. (41) Hanley Ramirez 3B,SS back down, wanted to secure a SS or 2B, since I figured that by the 100th pick, the pickings would be slim.

  4. (68) Brandon Phillips 2B little to good to be true that a 80R, 20HR, 80RBI second baseman for a contending team! With speed 15 SB…

  5. (77) Austin Jackson CF again, I think I lucked out with a good multidimensional outfielder

  6. (104) Doug Fister SP coming back up, another pitcher…didn’t want to go for RP. I like Fister 200 innings…would like a better IP/K ratio, however.

  7. (113) Mike Napoli C,1B catcher / 1B with HR potential. Nice SLG. Since he will split time, need to mix him up with another 1B and C.

  8. (140) Alejandro De Aza LF,CF Perhaps I put a little too much emphisis on speed, but I like to think that its nice to have some SB… Aza should produce some runs and has a decent OBP

  9. (149) Joel Hanrahan RP back down on the draft and I figured I would get a closer for no real reason other to have one. I liked the Hammer with the Pirates, but realize that all that is a crap shoot with a new team, new manager…etc…

  10. (176) Ryan Vogelsong SP back up…most position players taken care of…decent pitchers on the board.

  11. (185) Stephen Drew SS DL for now, like his potential for a good season…little risk with the 185th pick

  12. (212) Grant Balfour RP another case where there was a good player that could produce something left on the board.

  13. (221) Kevin Youkilis 1B,3B

  14. (248) Marco Scutaro 2B,3B,SS filling in with depth. These guys should start (most of the time) and MIGHT have decent seasons.

  15. (257) Brandon McCarthy SP 16 wins? Low IP/K ratio 250th pick?

  16. (284) Shaun Marcum SP DL for now

  17. (293) Adam Lind 1B 20HR?

  18. (320) Jeff Keppinger 1B,2B,3B How much will he play?

  19. (329) Luis Cruz 3B,SS Don’t know much about him or how much he would play, but seemed like a good move for depth.

  20. (356) Will Venable LF,CF,RF I realized that I really did not have a RF. How could I go 350 picks and not have a RF….should I even care?

  21. (365) Phil Coke RP

  22. (392) Raul Ibanez LF,RF If Venable doesn’t work out….

  23. (401) Kurt Suzuki C Filling spots…frees up Napoli to play 1B if need be

  24. (428) Jim Henderson RP

33

Yahoo hates me in this league every bit as much as it hates Munch. I am almost always in the last quarter of the draft, and this year was no different. (There was one notable year when I drafted second, but that was an outlier.)

I tried a new approach this year with my ranking formulas, and I really need to do some tweaking, but it’s a process, right? I know my pitching formula was WAY off, but I didn’t have time to fix it because the draft happened three hours before I had planned for it to, so I was lucky to have had anything prepared at all. The bad thing was that I hadn’t really re-familiarized myself with the players (and I have no idea who performed well in the spring), so I found myself desperately paging through the Shandler Forecaster to figure out who I wanted.

  1. (15) Jose Reyes (Tor - SS) – I wanted Cano desperately, but knew I’d have no chance at him. I love Reyes, though, and I really think that SS is thin this year. That said, I should have taken Beltre, instead.

  2. (22) Edwin Encarnacion (Tor - 1B) – The best 1B left on the board. I’ve been burned before not getting a 1B in the first two rounds. I think he’s going to have a big year.

  3. (51) Carlos Santana (Cle - C,1B) – Yeah, I know. But I love that Santana plays every day, and I really think he’s poised for a big breakthrough, health permitting.

  4. (58) Jason Kipnis (Cle - 2B) – Yeah, I know, redux. I was really hoping to get Kimbrel here, but, with him gone, I didn’t really want any lesser closer here, and 2B is another one of those scarce positions.

  5. (87) Joe Nathan (Tex - RP) – A whole boatload of guys I wanted went in the intervening 28 picks. The one I was really hoping for was Chapman. But, with him, Papelbon, and Rodney all going, I didn’t feel as though I could wait on grabbing a closer, and Nathan seemed to be the best remaining one.

  6. (94) Yovani Gallardo (Mil - SP) – Figured it was time to grab an SP, and Gallardo seemed the best one out there at the time.

  7. (123) Will Middlebrooks (Bos - 3B) – I really like this pick. I think there’s tremendous value here. But I had been targeting Victorino, who went three picks earlier.

  8. (130) Brett Gardner (NYY - LF) – I think some OBP regression is inevitable – last year was completely uncharacteristic, though if it could be repeated, I’d be ecstatic. But I really just got him for the wheels.

  9. (159) Michael Cuddyer (Col - 1B,RF) – I was really glad that Cuddyer fell to me. Coors has been good to him.

  10. (166) Rafael Betancourt (Col - RP) – I’ve always had a soft spot for Raffie. But he’s getting up there, and, if the rails fall off, at least he’ll still get holds. There was nobody else I wanted at this point.

  11. (195) Cameron Maybin (SD - CF) – I’m hoping the second half 2012 Maybin shows up, rather than the first.

  12. (202) Mike Fiers (Mil - SP) – I ALMOST dropped him when it started to be reported that he wasn’t going to get a spot in the rotation because the Brewers got Lohse. I’m glad I didn’t. I’m expecting an ERA in the sub-4.0 category and at least 150 Ks.

  13. (231) Shelby Miller (StL - RP) – Another 5th-starter flyer. He has real potential, and I was glad to get him here.

  14. (238) Ryan Ludwick (Cin - LF) – Ugh. I HATE Ludwick. AND he’s already injured himself. Just put him on the DL, already, Cincinnati.

  15. (267) John Jaso (Oak - C) – Round 15 is traditionally my backup Catcher round. I like Jaso, and I hope his breakout of last season was legit. He’s the right age for it.

  16. (274) Eric O’Flaherty (Atl - RP) – Holds guy. SHOULD have been Boggs, dammit. I should have grabbed Boggs with 267 – I’d be willing to bet that Jaso would still have been out there if I had. My biggest regret of the draft. That said, O’Flaherty’s pretty solid.

  17. (303) Edward Mujica (StL - RP) – Here I started over-compensative for missing out on Boggs. I wanted Milone – nope – and had JUST added Rajai Davis to my queue when he was picked, and I kind of panicked, here. In fact, from the 10th round on, I really felt as though I were flailing about. Of the eight picks, five were pitchers, and one was Ludwick. Ugh.

  18. (310) Mitch Moreland (Tex - 1B) – Filling in. I hope he stays healthy, and I hope he gets playing time. He’s got reasonable skills for the 310th pick.

  19. (339) Hiroyuki Nakajima (Oak - SS) – Another already injured. But, I’m only planning on using him as a backup, anyway. Hopefully, Reyes won’t need much backing up. He should have been Andy Dirks, though.

  20. (346) Michael Brantley (Cle - CF) – I really didn’t intend to get anyone else from Cleveland. Really. But Brantley seemed to be the best left. I AM concerned that he won’t be getting the green light to run anymore. Honestly, man. You’re speedy – why can’t you steal a damn base successfully?

  21. (375) Brett Myers (Cle - RP) – I know, I know. But he’ll be starting again, I expect a lot of Ks out of him, and an ERA that won’t hurt me. What do you expect with the 375th pick?

  22. (382) Mike Adams (Phi - RP) – Because I obviously have a shortage of relief pitchers. We’ll see.

  23. (411) Josh Donaldson (Oak - 3B) – I really like this pick. Some really good upside here.

  24. (418) Travis Snider (Pit - LF,RF) – I can’t believe Bud Norris didn’t go till the 24th round. And I don’t know why I didn’t grab him sometime during my wandering rounds. Instead, I wind up with…Snider. From whom I expect exactly nothing. I’ve already dropped him and replaced him with A.J. Pollock, who went 3-for-4 last night and who will probably also do exactly nothing for the rest of the time I have him.

I don’t know about this team. There’s no cohesion, and no strategy. I really need to go back to my old way of draft prep.