Wh, What's Your Fantasy

My fantasy baseball draft was a couple of weekends ago. Now, ordinarily I would never want to bore our readers with my tremendously insightful logic about who I picked in what round and why. However, since the fantasy draft took place during a Saturday night I was unable to attend my live draft. That makes it much more entertaining for me to completely fabricate all of the reasons for my draft. It is this type of insightful analysis that should carry you to your fantasy baseball season championship.

The ground rules for our league: 12 teams; serpentine draft; 6 x 6 rotisserie scoring (average, HRs, RBIs, SBs, OPS, W, K, S, Holds, ERA, WHIP); 24 rounds; Standard offensive starters with 9 pitchers (4 SP, 4RP, 1P). I received the 12th pick in the draft. Onward to my draft.

The obvious picks of ARod (1st), Pujols (6) and Johan Santana (10th) were already gone, as were David Wright (2nd), Hanley Ramirez (3rd), Ryan Braun (4th), Jose Reyes (5th), Alfonso Soriano (7th), Chase Utley (8th) and Matt Holliday (9th). Due to Braun, Soriano, Wright and Utley all being over selected, I was going to be left with 2 of my third, fifth and sixth ranked selections. When the pick in front of me selected Miguel Cabrera (my preseason number 3 ranked player ... and rising), I ended up with Ryan Howard in my lap. Since I also had the wrap-around pick to start he second round, I also selected Carl Crawford. So far so good in this draft.

A note on my rankings. I pre-selected my top 60 (5 rounds approximately), but I did so by legitimately placing the top 20, then overstuffing the next 10-15 picks with pitchers to make sure I received a ton of good pitchers, then rounding out the last set with players from various positions. This should enable me to receive more than 5 rounds worth of my selections before yahoo starts automatically dumping players onto my roster.

The second round sees a lot of familiar names, Ichiro, Fielder, Rollins and Peavy, and also Chris Young the outfielder, Carlos Beltran and Lance Berkman stretches. Some nice picks in the third round, Magglio Ordonez going 35 for example, but some more early stretches for position, Russell Martin, Mark Texeira and Chone Figgins. The draft allows Manny Ramirez (my 18th rated player) to fall to me at 36 [Ed. Note - Ramirez is on pace to score 162 and drive in 648 runs]. I also pick Brandon Webb (my 20th rated player) of Arizona with the 37th pick. So far I have average, power, speed with Crawford and the ability to score and drive in runs. Although only 1 pitcher, he is a perennial Cy Young candidate, and remember, I overstocked my rankings with pitchers.


Some nice players drafted in the 4th round, Sabathia, Alex Rios, Adam Dunn, Aramis Ramirez, and the first closer, Papelbon, but some real stretches also, like Troy Tulowizki and Brian Roberts, and some injury questions like Josh Beckett. The 5th round is more of the same, although I was a bit distraught to see Cole Hamels taken 3 spots in front of me, the only real pick that I was upset about in those two rounds. With the 60th and 61st picks, I get Carlos Zambrano and Roy Halladay. Can you believe it? Three pitchers, three Cy Young candidates.

A quarter of the way through my draft and my team looks like this (I am very pleased at this point, by the way):

C, 1B - Ryan Howard, 2B, 3B, SS, OF - Carl Crawford, OF, Manny Ramirez, OF, Util
SP - Brandon Webb, SP - Carlos Zambrano, SP - Roy Halladay, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP, P

The sixth and seventh round eliminate Justin Verlander, Carlos Pena, Roy Oswalt, Aaron Harang, Scott Kazmir, Joe Mauer and Gary Sheffield from the draft pool, but the likes of Adrian Gonzalez, Torii Hunter and Brian McCann are also taken. Once again, I am not displeased with the progression of these rounds. This leads to my selctions, in the seventh and eighth rounds respectively, of Felix Hernanzez and Ben Sheets. Hernandez has a ton of potential, and remember is still incredibly young, despite his experience. If Sheets can stay healthy, he is an absolute stud on the mound. More pitching for me.

Tim Lincecum, Ryan Zimmerman and Mariano Rivera are the most interesting names that are taken in the eighth and ninth rounds ahead of me, but Brett Myers and Chad Bilingsley are available when I pick. Brett Myers and Chad Billingsley are great because they count both as starters and relief pitchers in the yahoo leagues due to their appearances last year, although they will both be used as starters. Billingsley has had a very subpar spring training, but he has outstanding stuff. Looking forward to watching him pitch in the next few years. More importantly, I am through ten rounds without having yahoo assign me one single player.

Rounds 11 and 12 bring me Johnny Damon and Rickie Weeks. With Damon, he should score a ton of runs at the top of that lineup and have decent production [Ed. note - notice me talking myself into this pick]. Thank God defense isn't a criteria in fantasy sports. He might just have a weaker arm than Juan Pierre. Maybe. With Weeks, decent production from the 2B spot. I still hope that yahoo does me a bit better for this position. [Ed. Note - Foreshadowing].

Halfway through the draft my team looks like this (and I am still very much pleased):

C, 1B - Ryan Howard, 2B - Rcikie Weeks, 3B, SS, OF - Carl Crawford, OF, Manny Ramirez, OF - Johnny Damon, Util
SP - Brandon Webb, SP - Carlos Zambrano, SP - Roy Halladay, SP - Felix Hernandez, RP - Brett Myers, RP - Chad Billingsley, RP, RP, P - Ben Sheets

At this point I need a few position players (and yes, closers, I know this). Yahoo does not let me down with my next four picks being Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the Rangers, Josh Fields of the White Sox and Jhonny Peralta of the Indians. Kemp has the capability of being a really nice fantasy player, as do Saltalamacchia and Fields. Unfortunately for me, Saltalamacchia and Fields will both most likely start the season in the minors. Peralta is a great pick because (a) he is a great fantasy pick in the 16th round; and (b) every team needs at least one player that cannot spell his own name. The next round brings my relief pitching in the form of B.J. Ryan and Pat Neshak. Neshak is an absolute beast in a league where holds are a scoring category. Great WHIP, great ERA, a ton of holds. He helps everywhere. They only players I was upset at missing during this quarter of the draft were Kosuke Fukudome (round 14 - mostly because of his name), Kevin Youkilis (round 15) and Hideki Okajima (round 17). I had Okajima and Neshak in my bullpen last year and they were amazing.

My team to this point (still pleased, but cognizant of holes to be filled):

C - Jarrod Saltalamachia, 1B - Ryan Howard, 2B - Rickie Weeks, 3B - Josh Fields, SS - Jhonny Peralta, OF - Carl Crawford, OF, Manny Ramirez, OF - Johnny Damon, Util - Matt Kemp
SP - Brandon Webb, SP - Carlos Zambrano, SP - Roy Halladay, SP - Felix Hernandez, RP - Brett Myers, RP - Chad Billingsley, RP - B.J. Ryan, RP - Pat Neshek, P - Ben Sheets

At this point I am just drafting to fill holes, as I have at least one player at each of my starting positions. Time to bring in another catcher, another middle infielder, some more runs scored, and not hurt my batting average. On to the last six rounds.

The 19th round brings the absolute steal of the draft. Placido Polanco, second baseman of the Tigers. IN THE 19TH ROUND. He hit .341 and scored 105 runs last year. He is hitting second in a lineup behind Granderson (when he returns), and in front of Cabrera, Ordonez AND Sheffield. Are you serious? I'll take this pick anytime.

My next picks are all position players as well. Next is Edwin Encarnacion, who provides me with insurance in case Fields starts the season in the minors. He hit .289 last year with 16 homers, 76 RBIs, 66 runs scored and 8 stolen bases. He is followed by Colby Rasmus (who?), Julio Lugo, Casey Kotchman, and Paul LoDuca. LoDuca helps because he will actually play and Saltalamacchia might not. Lugo is a shortsop, and you always need shortstops. Kotchman and Rasmus have already been cut for more pitching, including Schilling, who I immediately placed on the DL just in case he does come back, David Weathers (for saves) and Matt Guerrier for bullpen help.

After the draft, my team looks like this:

C - Jarrod Saltalamachia, 1B - Ryan Howard, 2B - Placido Polanco, 3B - Edwin Encarnacion, SS - Jhonny Peralta, OF - Carl Crawford, OF, Manny Ramirez, OF - Johnny Damon, Util - Matt Kemp, B - Rickie Weeks, B - Josh Fields, B - Julio Lugo B - Paul LoDuca, B - Colby Rasmus (since waived) and B - Casey Kotchman (since waived).
SP - Brandon Webb, SP - Carlos Zambrano, SP - Roy Halladay, SP - Felix Hernandez, RP - Brett Myers, RP - Chad Billingsley, RP - B.J. Ryan, RP - Pat Neshek, P - Ben Sheets

Take a look at the team again, but think of it as an actual lineup.

OF - Carl Crawford
2B - Placido Polanco
1B - Ryan Howard
OF - Manny Ramirez
DH - Matt Kemp
3B - Edwin Encarnacion
C - Jarrod Saltalamacchia
SS - Jhonny Peralta
OF - Johnny Damon

More importantly, check out the pitching rotation: Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Ben Sheets, Brett Myers and Chad Billingsley with a bullpen consisting of B.J. Ryan, David Weathers, Pat Neshek and Matt Guerrier. A little short on saves, but other than that, completely solid. You couldn't find one team in the majors that would want to face this pitching staff.