Final fantasy baseball draft report

Here is a summary of the fantasy baseball draft that Erik and I split this year. It is a $300 10-team league. Our draft plan was similar to the one I did in my auction league, where we would load up on SP who had RP eligibility.

As a whole, the league seemed to way overvalue pitching, which is why we went with hitting in most spots. We got to select our draft slot, and we drew the 6th selection of spots. We chose spot 6 when it came to us for 2 reasons, first to try to get Tulo or Kemp in the 1st round, and secondly, to be able to draft in the middle and control the draft better than you can on the bookends.

1st - Tulowitzki - Just as we had hoped. Halladay, Verlander and Kershaw all went top 5.

2nd - Kemp - Unreal that he made it to pick 15. Top 2 players overall on my draft board for this format.

3rd - Kinsler - We hoped to get him in the 2nd, and got him in the 3rd. Huge starting lineup so far.

4th - McCutchen - Wanted to get a pitcher here, but Hamels, Greinke, Price, Cain and Romero all went after we took Kinsler, so we figured to continue to take value and add to our hitting strength.

5th - CJ Wilson - Hate to have him as our staff anchor, but Gallardo, Shields, Lester and Kennedy just went off the board.

6th - Pence - We didn't like any pitchers on the board for this spot, so went with filling out a kickass OF.

7th - Hanson - Needed to shore up pitching, and Hanson has some big upside. We considered Matt Moore here as he has RP eligibility, but decided to wait until the 8th.

8th - Moore - The plan all along.

9th - A. Sanchez - More pitching. Have to get at least 5 solid starters.

10th - Scherzer - Wanted Beachy, but he went 2 picks before.

11th - Michael Young - We didn't have a 1B or 3B at this point, and Young being able to play both gives us some positional versatility. The plan is to try to get Dunn/Morales later on.

12th - Luebke - Another that has RP eligibility, which is huge. Targeted here the whole way. Feliz went a few picks before, and we had him targeted for the 14th round.

13th - Dunn - I wanted him pretty badly, and we needed a 1B.

14th - McCarthy - An underrated SP pitching in Oakland. Wins may be at a premium, but K's and QS's are abound.

15th - Morales - May have gone a bit earlier than we needed to, but we both wanted him.

16th - Gardner - A value pick. Didn't like the pitchers here, and he could fill in for injuries very well.

17th - Sale - RP eligibility again!!

18th - Marmol - We didn't want a closer, but we will need to start 1 in week 1 because our "RP's" aren't all getting week 1 starts. Hopefully he is lights out early and can be trade bait to one of the many who overvalue closers.

19th - A Chapman - If he wins a starter job, this is huge. He should be a starter in Cincy....otherwise he is waivers material.

20th - Volquez - A flier on a guy pitching in San Diego. 2 years removed from surgery, may be able to return to form.

21st - Ramos - Needed a C, as Wieters was our target but we missed. After the top few, we decided to gamble and be last one with a C.

22nd - Autodraft waste of a pick.

Overall lineup summary:

C - Ramos

1B - Dunn, Morales

2B - Kinsler

SS - Tulo

3B - Young

OF - Kemp, McCutchen, Pence, Gardner

SP - CJ Wilson, Hanson, A Sanchez, Scherzer, Mccarthy, Volquez

RP (who can double as SP's as well) - Moore, Luebke, Chapman, Sale

RP - Marmol

2012 Champions Club fantasy baseball draft

My draft plan going in was to wait at 1B, and take Dunn in the 11^th, and Morales in the 13^th, but those plans ended early when I went 1B. I still wanted one of them, but Dunn went in the 10^th, and Morales in 12^th surprisingly. I wanted 2 stud pitchers, and wanted to beat the runs (take OF when others were grabbing P’s, etc…)

1^st – Tulo – I had Kemp #1 on my board, but thought that was overpaying for last years production. Felt Tulo’s position was the key.

2^nd – Sabathia – A bit of a tilt pick, my wish list here was Kinsler then Granderson…..both were gone. Arc screwed me over a few times. Went with my top rated P. Guess he is a safe pick if nothing else.

3^rd - Teixiera – Original plan was P here, but after going P in the 2^nd, took best hitter available. Tex was that by a longshot, and there was a big dropoff after him at 1B on my board.

4^th – Shields – This one makes me a bit nauseous, was always high on him, but hate paying 4^th round for him. He was next on my board, so I stuck to my pre-season work.

5^th – Wright – I planned on waiting at 3B. But I didn’t like any OF’s or P’s for this spot. Was hoping for Uggla here…maybe I should have grabbed him in the 4^th.

6^th – Hudson – Was planning OF here, but didn’t really like anyone. Des Jennings was tops on my list, but thought he might last until the 8^th. I do potentially have 3 great P’s, but two of them are at risk of regression.

7^th – Bourne – I hated this spot. I had Werth queued up, but I just don’t like the guy. Almost went Mauer, but was targeting Wieters in the 8^th/9^th slot. At least SB’s don’t slump.

8^th – Mauer – Was very surprised he was still here. Like Wieters but had Mauer way above him. First pick since the 3^rd round that I actually felt good about.

9^th – Darvish – Have him very high on the board. He is a risk…the good news is that these guys tend to do very well early as hitters aren’t used to them. Hopefully the mystery lasts a whole season.

10^th – Gardner – Well, Dunn just went a few picks before. I need an OF, and Gardner is really underrated in this format. A ton of steals and 100 runs is likely. I had Upton highest, but with his injury I figure I’ll hope I can grab him later, but not really counting on it.

11^th – Walden – Not a fan of closers early, but this isn’t really early. I had him 5^th at RP, with the Angels winning a lot more games this year, more S opps are possible.

12^th – Morrison – An injury risk for the opening week. Think he’s in for a big jump in production this year with a season of experience, a new ballpark, and improved lineup.

13^th – Upton – Said it in the draft, he is a headache, and almost never performs to his expectations. But he is still only 27, and again SB’s don’t typically slump. Can have some explosive weeks as well. DL early again, so not counting on him first month.

14^th – McCarthy – Had him last year in other league. Maybe he is finally putting it together. Pitching in Oakland will help as well.

15^th – Espinosa – Might as well grab my 2B now. Decided to wait after Uggla went off the board. He almost went 20/20 last year, and his average should improve. Thinking he may be a steal.

16^th – Howard – As I said in the draft room….pure lottery ticket. If he hits like last year, he’s probably 4^th-5^th round material. They still claim early May target, though I think that’s optimistic. Either way could be a real sweet addition to my lineup when he gets healthy.

17^th – Lilly – Meh….At least he is in LA. Had a down year last year and still had an ERA of 3.98.

18^th – Bedard – When healthy he can still be really good. Hope I get 130 innings out of him. Probably a 2 start guy.

19^th – Johan Santana – Surprising that he could pitch opening day, and has looked decent early on. Probably only for 2 start weeks, unless he somehow is the Johan of old.

20^th – Stauffer – Strictly a 2 start guy, or pitching at home. Depth.

21^st – Sale – Getting a chance in the rotation, with great K numbers in the pen. Young and could be a HR pick….or waiver wire.

22^nd – Duffy – Another young HR type guy.

23^rd – Burnett – Hate the guy, but he somehow still K’s a ton of people. Think being out of NY will be good for him (except his win totals). Also is apparently way ahead in his rehab from the broken face.

24^th – Thornton – Seems a worthy risk for a potential closer.

25^th – Rasmus – Need another OF with upside. Also may need a week 1 starter with injury concerns.

26^th – Fowler – Had Quentin queued up, but Arc took him. Probably for the best since I have to use roster spots on Howard and Upton. Strictly OF depth.

2012 Fantasy Baseball - Auction draft report

Here is the report for my 2012 fantasy baseball $250 Auction league draft. I had the best record in the regular season along with the 2nd most points, but I fizzled out in the 3 week playoff points chase. The scoring is the same as Champions Club in terms of hitting, and has the modified pitching scoring that I proposed in Champions Club. As Erik pointed out, RP's are severely discounted. Also, the league requires a starting lineup of 5 SP's, and 2 RP's. This is important because at draft time it seems very few people realize (1) the devaluing of RP's and (2) That some SP's are listed with RP eligibility - generally if they are a rookie, or if they pitched a few games in relief the previous season. Last year I rolled with guys like Masterson, Stauffer. Duensing and Gorzellany at the RP spot all season long.

My plan for the draft was to focus primarily on hitting, try to get a kick-ass lineup, find an undervalued pitcher (last year I found Kennedy and D Hudson for cheap), attack the waiver wire for pitching (got Liriano last year after he was dropped), and play the SP at the RP position game. Total budget was $260....I planned on spending $100 on pitching, but circumstances had me go way below that, only spending $62....I'm confident this is the least anyone spent in the league on pitching. Therefore, my pitching should be the worst. If my theories are correct again, I will be able to maintain middle of the road pitching, along with the best hitting.

Of note here, I'm not afraid of giving up guys I picked here for the most part, because I just played the value game in a lot of spots. I wouldn't be surprised to see very few of these guys land on my Champions Club draft.

C: Mauer (17), Ramos (2)

I was planning on going with my sleeper here, but thought Mauer was underpriced. Surprisingly I got him. By contrast, Santana went for 29.

1B: Prince (34), Teixiera (27), sleeper 1B (3)

Usually I go cheap at this spot, but last year in this league I rolled with Howard and Tex and was very pleased with the value I got from them. Obviously one of them is a DH.

2B: Kinsler (27)

Just felt he was decent value, and since I was focusing on hitting, decided to grab one of the top rated guys. Cano went for 30.

SS: Reyes (26)

Wasn't planning on getting him, but thought he was cheap. Tulo went for 37.

3B: Wright (21)

Another I wasn't planning on, just kinda fell that way. Miggy went for 39.

OF: Cargo (29), T. Hunter (1), Duda (3), Boesch (1)

This is the first spot I had to sacrifice because of my high priced IF. Cargo was a luxury who I thought was value, but after that I had to spend the rest on pitching. If Torii plays like 2nd half 2011 Torii I may be ok, but a definite position of weakness.

SP: Lester (20), Danks (4), Chacin (3), Floyd (2), Sleeper SP (2), Leake (1)

Obviously a huge weakness, just hopefully one of the non-Lester guys steps up, and I can play the matchup/waiver game.

RP: Moore (17), Feliz (11), Hammel (1), Chapman (1)

I targeted Moore and Feliz before the draft. I would never spend that much on Moore as a SP....but with RP eligibility he is huge. Hammel is just a guy I use in favorable 2 start weeks....which will allow me to slot Moore or Feliz at SP that week, and Chapman is huge if he gets slotted in the rotation, otherwise he is waiver material.

Interestingly, my first 7-8 nominations were all closers, hoping to get people to fill out those roster spots and spend money doing so in what I thought was a hugely overvalued market.

What to do about the Tigers

This has been the most disappointing Tigers season in recent memory. It's been pretty much the antithesis of the magical 2006 "rise from the ashes" season that they put together. Pretty much everyone in the country figured they would have no trouble scoring runs, and the bullpen would be a problem. Well it turned out that at some point in the season every part of the team failed miserably, and wholesale changes are in order. But...if they make the right moves, inject youth into the right spots, 2009 could be a contending season.

My recommendations for the positions:

C: This position was in a ton of upheaval this year. Pudge started the year there, and late in pre-season Brandon Inge got moved to the backup spot. Once Pudge was traded, Inge took it over. I like Inge, but his hitting has been pretty dismal this year, and it was never very good to begin with. That being said, there isn't a lot on the market in the position, and I am willing to give Inge a partial pass due to the off-season upheaval he underwent, along with his rotating positions, so I say that he starts 2009 as the catcher. We really need to grab a suitable backup, because Dane Sardinha might be the worst hitter I have ever seen. Even a poor mans Brandon Inge at the plate would be better than what we are sending up there.

1B: Miguel Cabrera is a stud, no question, even in a down year (by the incredible standards he has created for himself). But the bottom line is that he is getting too fat, and at 25 if he keeps this up, he will look like Cecil Fielder. His 1B defense is a little rough/lazy, but this is his first year at the position and I expect him to improve.

2B: Most people love Placido Polanco, and point to his high average the last few years. He also is one of the few players who can hit to the opposite field with the intention of moving the runners. But because of the reasons listed above, he is one of the few marketable commodities we have left. His high average tends to be somewhat empty, and his range at 2B is incredibly lacking. Because of that, I wouldn't mind trading him if we can get some value for him, but I fully expect us to hang on to him.

3B: Carlos Guillen is another that played musical positions. Hmmm...no wonder the team had some struggles, 3/5 of the infield moved to new positions this year, and even those roles weren't well defined until several months into the season. I'm not sure what to do with him, he can still hit, but he has some significant injury issues, and his defense can go from good to piss-poor. I think we are stuck with him here. The main problem is that he probably needs to DH, but I don't believe he hits for enough power to DH, and we have so many other potential DH's on this roster.

SS: What to do with Edgar Renteria....he has pretty much looked indifferent to me the whole season, both at bat and in the field. I don't believe Ramon Santiago is more than a utility player. Renteria had a terrible season 2 years ago in Boston, only to follow it up with a career year in Atlanta. I'm willing to give Renteria one more year to figure things out.

LF: What a mess. My opinion is to trade Marcus Thames for anything we can get (I know, a lot of people love him). He hits 20+ HR's, but they are in spurts, and then he goes through a month without hitting a damn thing. Inject Matt Joyce or Clete Thomas into this position.

CF: Curtis Granderson....perhaps the only player on the team I struggle to say a bad thing about. Should be an OF fixture in Detroit for another 5-10 years...minimum.

RF: Magglio....a lot of articles that I have read have suggested trading him....but despite some comical defense, his production is phenomenal and consistent. He hit .365 in 2007, and in 2008 he has hovered in the .310-.320 range. I say hold onto him.

DH: Currently held by Gary Sheffield, he has been terrible most of his time here due to either injury or old age. I say dump him, eat his salary if we have to and get somebody else in there.

SP1: Justin Verlander. I have said time and time again that I don't believe he's an ace. This year has been further evidence of that. I believe he is a headcase. However, he is young, so he may develop the mentality needed to be an ace/stopper. At this point he is a cooler though. Obviously at this point though, he is our #1 next season.

SP2: Jeremy Bonderman....his season was cut short due to the blood clot and subsequent surgery. I don't believe he will ever develop into a #1 (headcase issues again), but he can be a #2, especially if he ever develops a third pitch of some type.

SP3: Kenny Rogers - he gone.

SP4: Dontrelle Willis - Control problems and injuries destroyed his season. I don't believe we can count on him at all for next season, despite the recently extended contract.

SP5: Nate Robertson - total trash this season. Another long term contract signed, this one with absolutely zero merit.

Other:
Armando Gallaraga - Came in in May and has been pretty much our ace. He's obviously one to count on for next season.
Zach Miner - I said that he had #5 pitcher written all over him, and to this point he has done excellent in that role.

Suddenly, a rotation that started the season with 2 RHP and 3 LHP has turned into a 2009 rotation of 4 RHP and 0 LHP with the 5th spot being uncertain. It's reasonably certain that the #5 spot will be manned by a lefty, but the question is, who? CC Sabathia would sure look good in the rotation, and though he would be a match made in eating heaven with Miggy, I don't expect it to happen. If that doesn't happen, perhaps Rick Porcello, one of the top prospects in baseball can enter the rotation out of spring training.

Bullpen: Pretty much the worst part of the team all year long, due to injuries and total ineffectiveness.

Todd Jones - He gone.
Fernando Rodney - The closer until we get better.
Joel Zumaya - I don't believe his future is in the rotation given the list above, so hopefully he gets healthy. If the 2006 Zumaya ever returns, we have a closer.
Kyle Farnsworth - He gone
Bobby Seay - Been very good at times, not so good at other times as the lefty specialist. Think he will still be here.
Freddy Dolsi - Showed flashes of ability, think he will get a shot in short relief next year as well.
Aqualino Lopez - Done a good job in mid-relief this season. Not sure his contract status but wouldn't mind if he was still here.

The rest of the pen is a mystery. Our first round pick (his name escapes me) was a relief pitcher in college, and almost MLB ready.

A lot of questions for the team this season.

Go get 'em Tigers

So the Tigers are off to an MLB leading 36-18 start. It is a long time coming for this once proud franchise. This is slightly tempered by the fact that Mike Maroth is out for 3 months (at least) after having surgery to have bone chips removed from his elbow. This has caused a lot of panic on the Sports radio waves here in Detroit, wondering how we are going to survive and suggesting swinging a big trade for a pitcher such as Florida's Dontrelle Willis.

First, let's be real, Maroth is really only our 3rd-5th best pitcher, depending on the day. Without him, we still have 2 lefties in our rotation, which is more than most teams aside from the dreadful Royals. We also have Wil Ledezma in AAA, who is a lefty who started in the rotation last year. So let's not make it out like we are losing the best pitcher in baseball.

Now to the second point, those same radio shows have said that to get Willis (or somebody similar) we would likely have to part with rookie phenom Joel Zumaya, who is blowing hitters away in a setup role right now. (Obviously Justin Verlander is untouchable at this point) I argue that Zumaya should be untouchable too...and not just because he is a big part of our future...he is a huge part of our PRESENT. I'm all for making a move to bolster an already solid pitching staff, but not when it comes at the expense of our tremendously solid bullpen.

The final point of this relates to the first point, in that our biggest problem is not the need to replace a starting pitcher, it's to add a better bat to the lineup. The spots of LF and 3B should be the primary targets. Somebody left handed would be great too, but not very likely in the 3B column...although DH is a possibility. Craig Monroe, the current LF is decent, but would be better as a platoon player, replacement. Brandon Inge, the 3B, would be awesome as a super utility man. He could likely play OF, 2B, 3B and C. SS in a pinch wouldn't be a big stretch either. 1B would also be a possiblity. Basically he can play anywhere if necessary. By adding a solid bat to the lineup, you would shore up the lack of depth on the bench by moving Inge/Monroe to the bench, and add some great versatility to your lineup.

So far Dombrowski has been making a lot of great moves (many of them questioned by me when the happened...namely the Weaver trade, signing Kenny Rogers...). Let's hope he doesn't make a knee-jerk reaction to the Maroth injury and trade Zumaya away.

Fantasy Baseball Draft #1

Last night I had my fantasy baseball draft. We use fantasy points scoring as opposed to roto, with 12 teams and weekly scoring. My plan was to avoid overpaying for closers, as that has happened in the past. I also intended to focus on hitters this season, as I thought the pitching crop was very deep and even. The only closer I was targeting was Chris Ray, as I think he is going to have a very nice season for a later pick. I had the 2nd overall pick in the draft.

Below are my picks, and my thought process:

1st: Albert Pujols – 1B: I actually had Texiera ranked slightly higher, but think Pujols is the far safer pick. His production has been unmatched since his rookie season. The key is to get somebody in this round to get guaranteed numbers.

2nd: Michael Young – SS: I like to have strength up the middle, and have Young as my top rated SS. I also have him 5th overall on my draft board.

3rd: Chone Figgins – 3B, 2B, OF: I wasn’t very big on him last year, but he was my highest rated 3B left, and his positional versatility is huge. Getting him gives me a lot of flexibility later on.

4th: Rich Harden – SP: He was the pitcher I was targeting all along. As long as he stays healthy, I have him pegged for a breakout season.

5th: Victor Martinez – C: Anyone who has played with me knows I love to have a great catcher, and I got the best by far here. This guy is only going to get better, is in a potent lineup in a great ballpark. I had him 8th overall on my draft board.

6th: Brad Wilkerson – OF: This was the first of my picks that I didn’t really feel great about. I needed to get some OF’s, and he was my top rated one left. He had a bad season last year, but was injured and playing in the cavernous ballpark in Washington. This season he moves to the bandbox in Arlington, and I think he returns to his 25+ HR numbers.

7th: Matt Holliday – OF: Might have been a reach here, but I liked him a lot. I think he has the potential to make a big jump from last years nice numbers, and like the Colorado ballpark factor. Since I don’t have any stud OF’s, I wanted to try to get some guys with upside to make up the gap.

8th: Noah Lowry – SP: This guy was lights out last season, and is very underrated. With Bonds back, his win numbers may make a big jump if he pitches like he did last season.

9th: Rickie Weeks – 2B: Another very young player with a very high ceiling. Played great in limited duty last season. 2nd base is a very thin position, and even with Figgins versatility, I thought it would be important to jump on him here. My alternatives were another pitcher or outfielder, but nobody was really jumping off the page.

10th: Jason Isringhausen – RP: So much for not grabbing any closers. His value here was great. This guy is the unquestioned guy in STL, and gets a lot of save opportunities. Generally only works 1 inning tops, so is not asked to do too much. I was actually surprised looking at his numbers at how consistently good he really is. I was targeting Coco Crisp with this pick, and he went 3 before me.

11th: Troy Glaus – 3B: I think he’s a season ending injury waiting to happen, but couldn’t believe he was still here, after guys like Rolen, Beltre, Ensberg and Blalock were taken (I had Glaus as my 5th 3B, ahead of all of the guys mentioned). Getting him allows me to DH him, or play him at 3B and let Figgins play OF or 2B.

12th: Doug Davis – SP: I needed to grab some more pitching, and he was my 15th rated SP. Gets a lot of K’s, and plays on a team that many feel are up and coming, which should help his win total.

13th: Chris Ray – RP: The closer I was targeting the whole time. I didn’t think I could afford to wait another 20+ picks. The guy has nasty stuff, and his progression looks very similar to BJ Ryan last year.

14th: Geoff Jenkins – OF: Needed another OF, and he was my highest rated. Won’t put up huge numbers, but is very consistent and you can likely pencil him in for 25HR and 85 RBI’s.

15th: Austin Kearns – OF: Here’s upside. The guy has had huge injury problems and could be a complete bust, but that’s what the 15th round is for. I’m basing a lot of this pick on Cincy trading Sean Casey and Wily Mo Pena in the offseason, meaning that they are clearing a spot for Kearns full time. Some could argue that trusting an organization as inept as Cincy is a recipe for disaster, and I can’t argue it.

16th: Jon Lieber – SP: Don’t particularly like him, and he plays in a bad ballpark for pitchers. But the guy is an innings eater, and will get some wins. He’ll give up a lot of hits too. He’s a guy that I am counting on for my 4th SP, basically a spot starter. I was thinking about taking Foulke but he went 1 pick before me.

17th: Jose Guillen – OF: This guy won’t be good for clubhouse morale, but when he is right, man can he hit. Plays in a bad ballpark, otherwise he might be picked 5 rounds earlier. He seems over his wrist injury, and I’m hoping he can be a starter in weeks where his team is on the road. There is also the potential of Washington trading him at the midseason point to a team in need of hitting.

18th: Brad Penny – SP: Panicked with this pick, as I wasn’t really prepared for it as the picks went really fast right before it. I decided my pitching was my weakest spot so I grabbed another starter in Penny. If he’s healthy, he is very solid. Plays in a pitcher friendly ballpark.

19th: Mike Gonzalez – RP: 19th round and still an unquestioned closer?? Pitt has gotten a lot save opportunities in the past few years (how else could Mesa put the save numbers up that he did??). Gonzalez did well in this capacity last year, and I think 30 saves is very possible here.

20th: Brad Radke – SP: Don’t really like it, as he is on the downside of his career. But again I thought SP needed some work, so I grabbed him. The nice part is that he is a #2 or 3 pitcher there, so he won’t be going up against aces all the time. A bounceback year makes this a great pick. Otherwise he’s a spot starter at best. Fortunately that’s all I need from him.

21st: Jeff Francis – SP: Yuck. Can’t believe I took a Colorado SP. He has been decent in Colorado as well as on the road. Merely a spot starter at this point.

22nd: Wily Mo Pena – OF: In a platoon situation still, but man can he hit HR. Should love the Monster in LF, and if he can beat Trot Nixon out, he is in a potent lineup. Strictly bench material at first.

23rd: Chad Orvella – RP: Another closer??? WTF??? At this point the pitchers are garbage, so I figured getting another potential closer was a coup here. If he does get the closer job, it’s a great pick, otherwise it’s waiver wire fodder.

24th: Paul Byrd – SP: Never liked him, but he’s the #3 starter on an improving team. Showed some life last season, so it seemed worth a shot. Don’t be surprised to see him on the waiver wire shortly.

25th: Jason Vargas – SP: Tough to find anything in the scrap heap of pitchers now. This guy does get some strikeouts and is pure upside. If the Marlins somehow surprise everyone, this guy could have a nice season.

26th: Craig Wilson – OF: 2nd to last pick of the draft, and a pretty nice one. Adds to the OF depth.

Overall very happy with the draft, stayed with my plan of focusing on hitting, and have some question marks at pitcher. But I have a nice mix of innings eaters and guys with upside for the back end of the pitching staff. I think this team will be top 3 in the regular season.