Just a tad harsh for no reason, I think, Omni. I grabbed Suppan because he was the best option I saw late. I’m gonna move a couple of people eventually, if for no other reason than I think there’s upgrades out there I didn’t see last night.
Marquis and Carpenter are better than you think, and Tavarez is a solid pick because he’s gonna give me some decent holds. Suppan probably gets passed on either as a free agent or a trade piece, and Arroyo either has a great season or gets dumped.
Grudzielanek and Mabry? Just insurance bench guys, really, because I know both of them will be getting ABs if I need to replace someone.
As for my Sox picks, Damon is underrated, Bellhorn was the best guy on the board at the time, IMO, and that first-round run on catchers left me with few options not named Jason Varitek. Timlin is a solid bullpen piece who gives me some holds.
I think D+ is unnecessarily low. I’m a solid C, maybe a B- right now, and the season hasn’t started yet.
Trot’s batting second, as of right now… I dunno, I think the fact that he’s platooning might be a good thing for his fantasy value, considering how horrid he’s been against LHP.
I’ll look at this another way, analyzing my picks round by round and my thinking:
My goal in this draft was to get 4 SPs in the first half of the draft, fill in some of the harder to fill spots early (2B, C, 3B to some extent), and to wait on OF and RPs.
Rd 1: Johan Santana. Had an OK year last year. Was debating taking Helton here (no Ks) and trying to get Sheets or Schmidt on the way back - glad I didn’t try that.
Rd 2: Carlos Delgado. If I get the 2004 Delgado, this was a reach. If I get the 2003 Delgado, this was a steal… Had to get a bat here, possibly should have gone for Edmonds.
Rd 3: Marcus Giles. Gotham took Blalock out from under me… thought about a SS here, but I felt SS was deep enough that I should grab Marcus. A full season would be nice from him.
Rd 4: Jake Peavy. Thought about KRod briefly, but decided to stay with the plan and get a second solid SP here. Peavy was a stud when he pitched last year, here’s hoping he stays healthy the whole year.
Rd 5: Vernon Wells. Another bounceback candidate here. I tend to wind up with a lot of hitters who had great years two years ago. Supposedly he is going to run more this year. Had a horrible spring. Wow, reading other’s reviews of my draft, everyone either loves this pick or hates it. DIdn’t know Vernon elicited such passioin. Probably should have taken a catcher here.
Rd 6: David Wright. Over Mauer and Morneau. I felt 3B was beginning to dry up by this point, didn’t know if Wright would get back to me. Probably could have waited, but I’m not unhappy with Wright.
Rd 7: Matt Clement. My queue got decimated just before this - Derrek Lee, Green, Wilkerson and Sexson were all up there. Decided to switch gears and go after a pitcher. Clement is one of my favorites - one of these years he’s gonna have to get some run support. Almost took Mussina here though.
Rd 8: Mike Piazza. In every draft I’ve been in this year, I’ve almost taken him. Decided it was time to pull the trigger… At this point I’m starting to panic about not having a closer, and looked long and hard at Takatsu, who went shortly thereafter, leading me to…
Rd 9: Miguel Batista. Reach. Closer Panic.
Rd 10: Milton Bradley: If he can get halfway back to what he was in 2003, this will be a fine pick. Probably would have been better off taking Larry Walker here.
Rd 11: Zack Greinke. What was he still doing available here? Yeah, he won’t get wins, but he has a chance to be Bret Saberhagen, if he can keep a few home runs in the park. Frankly, I’m surprised Munch didn’t take him…
Rd 12: Mike Sweeney. Oh great, another guy I’m hoping will bounce back from injuries or an off year… a good gamble in round 12. Here’s hoping he remembers how to take a walk.
Rd 13: Mike Adams. One of the last closers out there. Although his job is far from secure… probably still good for holds if he loses the closer job. Could be a great pick, could be a bust.
Rd 14: Pedro Feliz. Got flustered when Frank Thomas disappeared. Feliz has some nice positional flexibility, but he doesn’t walk and not having Barry will hurt. Was the best of the SS left, but I should have waited and just gone with my sleeper. Not bad value in this round, I guess, considering the other person I was considering was Cliff Floyd, who was still available next round.
Rd 15: Cliff Floyd and Rd 16: Trot Nixon. Stints on the DL is a category, right? Heck, it’s round 15 and 16, it’s not like there are any sure things at this point. If these two are healthy, that’s two above average outfielders. Hopefully they won’t both be hurt at the same time, and I’ll piece together one good OF…
Rd 17: Alexis Rios (or is he now known as Alex?). Having missed out on Jeremy Reed earlier, I took another possible SB breakout candidate. Not much power here, though.
Rd 18: Willy Mo Pena: Well, if he plays, he’ll be great. 66 RBIs and 26 HRs in just 336 ABs last year. Unfortunately for me, Dunn, Griffey and Kearns all look healthy right now. Maybe I should have taken Jose Cruz here - forgot about him.
Rd 19: Yhency Brazoban. Was between him and Brendan Donnelly in my mind. I hope he’s Gagne’s primary setup man… boy, I don’t have a good feel for holds.
Rd 20: Clint Barmes: My SS sleeper, also qualifies at 2B. Hoping for the Coors effect here. Garret Atkins and Aaron Miles also were thoughts here, but I wanted the SS.
Rd 21: Bobby Madritsch: I admit to knowing next to nothing about him (is he they guy with all the tattoos? pause for googling… nope, that’s Justin Miller), but his numbers seen decent. Pitching in Safeco can’t hurt.
Rd 22: Calvin Pickering: I needed an offensive lineman. Is a much better pick in leagues that don’t have Ks as a stat. If he plays in 140 games, could easily hit 25 HRs, drive in 90, and strike out 170 times.
Rd 23: Jerome Williams: Serviceable SP. Doesn’t strike a lot of guys out, but his other stats should be decent, especially helped by pitching in SF.
Rd 24: Jesus “One From” Colome: Had a great half year last year, should be a good source of Ks. No idea if he’ll be the setup guy in Tampa Bay, though.
Recap: Like Munch said, a great IF, and a solid top 4 starters. A lot of question marks in the OF. No sure thing for SBs, Saves and Holds. Not one of my strongest drafts, but pretty standard makeup for me - strong SP, and a lot of players hoping for bounce back years. Did better than usual in getting young breakout candidates (Rios, Barmes, Williams, Grienke, Wright to some extent).
Should be more than solid in pitchers Ks, WHIP and ERA. OBP worries me a little. I’d give myself a B, I guess.
R. Johnson - I really, really, really wanted Santana. I had my heart set on grabbing solid pitching early, as I had a few (many) late round sleepers targeted.
A. Béltre - Since Mully decimated the SPs, I went with value. I’d have taken Beltre late 1st round, and since he came back to me in the 2nd, I couldn’t pass him up. There’s a lot of 3B value out there, but it drops off at about the 11th guy. I didn’t want that to happen.
R. Oswalt - With all the SPs taken off the board, Oswalt is a great pick in my mind. Not only does it give me a solid 1-2 punch, it takes Oswalt out of the hands of someone else.
C. Guillén - He better perform like last year, or I’m screwed.
F. Cordero - There were a lot of closers being taken in previous rounds, and I really like this kid. I had him above a few other closers who were taken, so I couldn’t pass him up.
A. Rowand - My rule for drafting this year has been - if Patterson is off the board and Carlos Lee or Rowand are available, it’s time to grab them. Lee went first, so Rowand it was. In this league, I think he’ll have better numbers.
S. Casey - Steal of the top 10 rounds.
L. Ford - This guy’s numbers impress. He always bats .300, always puts up both power and speed numbers, and doesn’t strike out.
J. Bonderman - With the improvement to the Tigers, he could very well put up better numbers than Oswalt. I doubt it, but the kid’s talented.
B. Roberts - I grab this guy whenever I can. He stole 29 last year, and will take 35+ this year. His strikeouts are a tad high, but I think they’ll drop. He’s going to score so many runs…
J. Mesa - Hey, he saves 40+ nearly every year! I cannot argue with that in the 11th round.
M. Lawton - Another underrated guy. Just another 7 tool player sitting there in Round 12.
M. González - Both backup to Mesa as well as a top reliever in his own right. Fantastic ERA, WHIP and K rates. His holds were low last year, though.
M. Cuddyer - There are better players at the IF spot in this league. But no one with the flexibility. Everything I’ve read about him this preseason has been positive, and give him pretty high expectations. If he pans out, could be a fantastic contributor.
B. Inge - I hear this guy qualifies for C, but is going to be batting 2nd in that Tigers lineup and playing every single day at 3rd. How about that?
J. Reed - This kid is going to be spectacular. Or not. But if he gets on base, he’ll score 120 runs.
D. Young - Wow. Check out his 2003 numbers, and drool.
S. Linebrink - Another guy with almost a K/IP. And a ton of holds. And a 2.14 ERA. And a WHIP barely above 1.00.
R. Wolf - So maybe he sucks. He was an All Star in 2003, but was injured last year. I have a short rope on him.
B. Clark - Another steals guy - I needed an OF with power at this spot, but Clark is who I picked. Oh well. Decent value.
O. Infante - More flexibility, and this guy can fill in at SS. Too many Ks, but I like his power and speed. Lowest OBP on my team.
G. Atkins - I hear really good things, and he plays in Coors. I remain doubtful, but needed some risk/reward.
J. Washburn - I don’t know why he was on the board. Colon had a 5+ ERA last year and won 18 games. I think Wash gets some of those wins this year.
C. Everett - Another guy with a fantastic 2003, but was injured (and went crazy). If he keeps his head in the game, could be a huge steal. As it stands he’s just a huge risk for me (not that there were many other options).
I do feel like the Freel pick is getting bashed a little overmuch. I’ll take 37 steals and five positions at that point in the draft, whether he “starts” or not. I also think Smoltz is going to be one of the three best starters in the NL April-July, so the fact that he’s almost certainly going to lose his arm by then isn’t that much of a concern.
Brazoban was a good pick in 19… he should probably be the setup man there. Also, he’ll probably close for the first two weeks, since Gagne just got put on the DL :smack:
If you had passed on Wright, I’d probably have taken him in Derrek Lee’s spot if he was still there. Potential for similar stats, way less Ks, and I still needed a 3B.
In retrospect, I think missing Walker in the 8-10th rounds was probably my biggest mistake. He would have helped out my OF a TON and solidified things across the board. Right now I’m pretty dependant on DaVanon keeping the DH job he supposedly currently has long enough for some other OF to emerge that I can pick up.
Here goes…
Vladimir Guerrero - Pujols was the clear number one for this league, in my mind. After that, it was between Vlad and A-Rod. Aside from the fact that A-Rod is the root of all evil, I really like Vlad in that lineup, and he puts up a similar or better set of offensive stats with 60 less Ks at the cost of ~15 SBs.
Eric Gagne - I don’t like Gagne as a first or second round pick. At this point though, we’re basically in the third round of a ‘normal’ draft, and I can’t let him by. Would have rather had Sheff but he got taken immediately before. Might bite me in the ass if he’s injured more than the first two weeks or so of the season.
Nomar Garciaparra - After Tejada, I think he puts up the best year of any fantasy SS this year - and as a bonus, he never stays at the plate long enough to strike out. About where I had him going value-wise, and if you saw me draft last year, you know I like to fill the ‘up the middle’ positions early.
Oliver Perez - At this point, the best starter left on the board by a pretty good margin, there had just been a round-long run on the top SPs, and I didn’t want to get stuck without a top of the rotation guy. Pretty easy pick with what was on the board at the time.
Corey Patterson - I needed a hitter at this point, and most of the guys I had wanted here had gone within the last round. I already had Gagne, so I didn’t want to participate in the closer run that was in the midst of going off. Most of the ‘draft cheat sheets’ out there have Patterson going a good bit before this due to his power/speed combo - they also don’t have to put up with the 168 Ks he had last year. I needed the power and speed badly enough that I took the hit. Incidentally, this is the only player on both this and my other SDMB league team, so he better have a damn good year!
Justin Morneau - A little against what I like to do, picking a 1B this early. I like his six-category potential a lot, though, and I thought the timing was about right.
Derrek Lee - I tend to think he dropped because of his 130 Ks. It has to be that, because he’s going to be hitting cleanup in a Cubs lineup that can score, and he’s going to put up a solid OPS with 100/30/100/15 in the seventh round. Really drafting for value at this point, since the last thing I want to do is be filling utility type slots, but I can’t pass him up.
Shingo Takatsu - The last of the so-called “second group” of closers on the board. Since I needed a second closer, and the top guy in my queue was taken the pick before (Anderson), pretty easy pick.
Tom Gordon - This was probably my biggest reach. Like I said earlier in this thread, though, there was no one on the board who I thought was an especially good value at this point. As it turns out, I was wrong - I would have loved to have taken Larry Walker here. It didn’t happen, though, and I’m still pretty happy with Gordon - he’s going to lead the league in holds, unless Mariano gets injured, in which case he may lead the league in saves. And with great other stats and some needed Ks to boot.
C.C. Sabathia - I needed more starters at this point. Possibly a little bit of a reach, but he was on my team last year and was good to me - the type of sentimental thoughts you should never let into a draft.
Bartolo Colon - Probably a better pick than Sabathia. With that offense, almost a shoe-in for 15-18 wins, and his ERA/WHIP almost HAS to get better than last year, given his prior career. Also, with the starters and relievers I’ve got at this point, I’m competing in the Ks category. Unfortunately, 6 of my 11 picks at this point are pitchers, which is like my anti-strategy.
Mike Lieberthal - The best catcher left on the board at this point, with better stats than some of the ones taken before him, in the middle of a good lineup and with low K stats. With Lo Duca and Pierzynski going shortly before, this was a pretty easy pick for me.
Akinori Otsuka - I thought he was good value at this point. Great rate stats, more Ks, and if Gordon leads the league in holds, Otsuka might well be second. The only hitter I really wanted here was Millar, and I already had two 1Bs.
David Wells - Again, I really like this pick at this point. If he doesn’t get into a bar fight, he should win 15 pretty easily with the Sox, and he always has a good ERA and great WHIP because he never walks anyone. No way I’m starting him against Randy on Opening Night, though. Eight of 14 picks now are pitchers, ouch.
Ray Durham - I still needed a 2B, and he was the best on the board by far. Should do just as well as some of the guys picked before - the only thing that scares me is the loss of Bonds in that lineup. Still, the pick I needed here.
Morgan Ensberg - I had already missed out on, like, the top 16 or so 3B. This pick was between Ensberg and Hillenbrand, for me. I just like Ensberg’s upside a little more, especially after he appeared to sort of get it again in the second half last year. Not my best pick, but one I was sort of stuck with at this point.
Brad Penny - I was sort of surprised he was still there. Another value pick, and a guy that could give me a lot of quality if he can actually pitch. Bonus points for pitching his home games in Dodger Stadium, of course.
Jeff DaVanon - I needed outfielders. Badly. DaVanon has more upside than anyone who was left at that point, and he’s shown that he’ll put up stats in all five counting categories to go with an .800 or so OPS if he actually plays. Therein lies the problem. He has the DH job at this point, but no one’s really sure how long that’s going to last. He helped me out a LOT through the middle of last year just by filling in wherever they needed him. Here’s to some Angels getting injured (but not too many and certainly not Vlad!).
Raul Mondesi - Pure risk-reward pick. If Bobby can get him together, he could give me great value at this point in the draft, and I need OF badly. On the other hand, he could just as easily play 10 games before getting injured or taking a vacation. He’s got talent, at least.
Orlando Hernandez - I like this pick here. He pitched pretty well last year down the stretch for NY, he’ll have a decent offense behind him, and the potential is there. Not someone to rely on, but who is at this point?
David Newhan - Again, potential. He doesn’t have a starting job right now, but if basically anyone on the O’s gets injured, he will step right in to that great lineup. Tons of positions, tons of offensive potential, just a matter of getting him 400+ ABs.
Chris Reitsma - Sort of surprised he was still here. Top 5 holds guy last year, closer-in-waiting if Kolb fails (assuming they don’t move Smoltz back), pretty self-explanatory.
Orlando Hudson - .800 OPS second baseman who can fill in if Durham’s groin ends up becoming more of a problem than anticipated. Also, a third returnee from last year’s squad.
Tike Redman - I actually like this pick a lot for the last round. He won the starting CF job in Pitt, and it looks like he’ll be batting near the top of the order. A lot of runs and SB potential for the 24th round. Munch made it easy for my by taking Everett, the other guy on my queue. Hopefully he is my Carlos Guillen of this year.
Overall, I’d probably give myself a B+, considering how well everyone else in the room drafted. Opening night, come on down!
While y’all are in the analysing mood, have a look at my team? I’m playing in a different league, non-rotisserie, and the stats used are:
R HR RBI SB CS K FPCT AVG OBP SLG
M. Piazza (NYM - C,1B)
S. Casey (Cin - 1B)
M. Giles (Atl - 2B)
B. Mueller (Bos - 2B,3B)
D. Eckstein (StL - SS)
P. Lo Duca (Fla - C,LF)
J. Edmonds (StL - CF)
L. Walker (StL - RF)
Util J. Bagwell
Bench: K. Millar (Bos - 1B,LF,RF)
Bench: B. Williams (NYY - CF)
IP W L CG SV HR HLD ERA WHIP K/BB K/9
T. Hudson (Atl - SP)
M. Mulder (StL - SP)
Ja. Wright (NYY - SP)
K. Foulke (Bos - RP)
D. Kolb (Atl - RP)
T. Gordon (NYY - RP)
J. Tavárez (StL - RP)
Bench: A. Pettitte (Hou - SP)
Bench: J. Suppan (StL - SP)
It’s hard to say, punha. How deep is the league? If it’s 10 teams or under, you should have done much better hitting-wise at the top of your draft. If it’s 12, you’ve got a good pitching staff and a mediocre offense.
How does that scoring system work out with all those rate stats in a FP setting? Theoretically, if a guy pinch hits a homer, then stays in and makes one putout, does he get like 15 points?
Does that mean it’s a points league, or a H2H league?
If it’s H2H, you need to trade all of your starters for closers/setup guys. You’ll clean up in L, SV, HLD, ERA, WHIP and (if you get the K-Rods and Lidges of the world) K:BB and K/9.
With Mueller at 3B and Eckstein at SS, I’d say it’s about a 14 team league. Add in LoDuca in the OF, and it could creep into the 16-20 team range. If it’s a 12 team league, you’re in trouble. Are any of the following available? Dye, Mench, Burrell, Biggio? If it’s a really deep league, how about Atkins for 3B?
Regardless, I think it’s actually decent. Those stats don’t conjure up any great need for power - just guys who get on base reliably. With many of those guys, that’s really all they do. I’ll reserve more advice until we see a bit more info.
It’s a 13-team league, and what I can find suggests that it’s a points league. What I can find also suggests that my intent to draft for pitching and some of the power positions, then fill in the gaps in other positions with players who don’t hit the ball hard but do other things well, will work fairly decently. I only have one 100+ RBI man, but I also only have two 100K+ men.
Dye and Burrell are both available, but my feeling is that Larry Walker, playing at least 120 games with StL, will do more than Jermaine Dye. I also have Millar to plug in at LF if LoDuca doesn’t do well. Should Bernie Williams’s health turn out to be a non-factor, I’m expecting a few people - particularly the manager of the team with nobody at CF - to come knocking. Considering Williams was something like a 17th-round pick, I don’t think that’s a bad decision.