OK. If you're not a baseball fan, this post just won't be very interesting to you. I posted something possibly-amusing about law school a few hours ago, so you can just scroll on down to that (or click here to let your browser do the work for you.
I just finished my 5th of 5 fantasy baseball drafts. Although no one cares but me, I figured I'd write something up in summary. Reds OF Austin Kearns has the distinction of being the only player on all 5 of my teams. Probably means I'm overvaluing him, but that's OK. Royals SP Jeremy Affeldt, Angels RP Francisco Rodriguez, Blue Jays RP Aquilino Lopez, and Indians RP David Riske are each on 4 of my teams. With Riske and Lopez, it illustrates my usual strategy of going with risky young closers after the Gagnes and Smoltzes of the world have been taken, instead of using a high-round pick on one, or grabbing mid-tier closers like Benitez or Hoffman. Although, I did end up with Mariano Rivera on 2 teams, and Arthur Rhodes, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Borowski, and Troy Percival on one team each. Also Ryan Wagner on two teams, and Damaso Marte, Jose Valverde and Rafael Soriano on one team each, in leagues that count holds. My final round pick in another hold league was David Weathers; I also have Mike Timlin in that league. And I think that rounds out my entire bullpen.
I have a handful of players each on three teams -- Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, and Javy Lopez. With the exception of Lopez, who in each case I grabbed because if I didn't take him I'd end up without a top tier catcher -- I have Varitek and Kendall on the other two teams; I probably spend too many picks considering position scarcity too heavily... unless there are some real deals available, I tend to try and fill my infield before my outfield. Affeldt, Santana, Peavy, and Webb show my bias toward young starting pitchers. Young players in general I guess -- the relievers I took were mostly young too. I like when there's upside. I don't even rank players like Jamie Moyer, Garret Anderson, Kevin Millwood -- too predictable; low risk but low reward. Roy Oswalt, who's one of my favorite players, largely because I drafted him on a bunch of teams the last few years and he did well, only fell to me once -- he kept being "next on my list" and someone else would grab him. I've got Rich Harden on two teams, Tim Redding on two teams, and Kerry Wood on one. Missed out on Prior. Last year I had Zito on a bunch of my teams; this year I have Tim Hudson on two. Didn't plan on it, but ended up grabbing Kevin Brown on two teams, when he fell unjustifiably low. I have Randy Wolf and Matt Morris on one team each, and, with early-round picks, grabbed Pedro Martinez in one league, and Javier Vazquez and Randy Johnson in rounds two and three of the sixteen-team draft I just finished... the league counts strikeouts, and I felt they were both the best available players at that point, even though I had no plans to grab either one. I thought I'd end up with Miguel Batista on more than one team, but I kept waiting too long, so only grabbed him once. And I've got Ted Lilly on one team. I had him on a lot more than that last year, and he was okay... but I thought he'd be better.
Carlos Beltran is one of my favorite players, because of the power-speed combo. But he went in the first round in 4 of my 5 drafts -- I took him in the second round in the 5th league. Bobby Abreu is also one of my favorites, and also just ended up with him in one league. Besides Kearns, who's on all 5 teams, the only outfielders I have in more than one league are Geoff Jenkins (2), Magglio Ordonez (2), and Adam Dunn (2). Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez fell to me the second round of one league each; I grabbed Griffey late in one league, Jim Edmonds in another, and grabbed Suzuki in the 8th round on one team. I have Larry Walker on two teams, Carl Crawford on one team, and, in one deep league, Jason Bay, Jay Gibbons, and Bobby Kielty as outfielders 4-6.
In the infield, second base seemed especially shallow this year. I ended up with Alfonso Soriano as my first round pick in two leagues, and grabbed Marcus Giles in two others. In the fifth, and as a backup in another, I have Ray Durham, who's at least steady if not spectacular. And I have Vidro and Brian Roberts each in one league. At shortstop I took A-Rod as my first round pick in two leagues (one where I was seeded first; the other third, but Bonds and Pujols were the first two to go), and have Furcal in two and Reyes in one league. At third base I wanted Chavez, but ended up with Rolen in two leagues, Blalock in two, and Dmitri Young in one league, out of desperation (and Morgan Ensberg snatched up by the guy who picked prior to me). At first base, I got Helton with pick 5 in one league -- hadn't planned on that, since there are so many solid first basemen, but OBP and SLG are two of the stats, and Helton's numbers are so huge. I have Mike Sweeney (so many Royals... him, Beltran, Affeldt...) in two leagues, and I have Huff, Millar, and Fullmer in one league. Josh Phelps as a utility guy in two leagues, and Edgar Martinez in one.
5 teams, 72 total players to root for. Fun!
I just finished my 5th of 5 fantasy baseball drafts. Although no one cares but me, I figured I'd write something up in summary. Reds OF Austin Kearns has the distinction of being the only player on all 5 of my teams. Probably means I'm overvaluing him, but that's OK. Royals SP Jeremy Affeldt, Angels RP Francisco Rodriguez, Blue Jays RP Aquilino Lopez, and Indians RP David Riske are each on 4 of my teams. With Riske and Lopez, it illustrates my usual strategy of going with risky young closers after the Gagnes and Smoltzes of the world have been taken, instead of using a high-round pick on one, or grabbing mid-tier closers like Benitez or Hoffman. Although, I did end up with Mariano Rivera on 2 teams, and Arthur Rhodes, Jason Isringhausen, Joe Borowski, and Troy Percival on one team each. Also Ryan Wagner on two teams, and Damaso Marte, Jose Valverde and Rafael Soriano on one team each, in leagues that count holds. My final round pick in another hold league was David Weathers; I also have Mike Timlin in that league. And I think that rounds out my entire bullpen.
I have a handful of players each on three teams -- Johan Santana, Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb, and Javy Lopez. With the exception of Lopez, who in each case I grabbed because if I didn't take him I'd end up without a top tier catcher -- I have Varitek and Kendall on the other two teams; I probably spend too many picks considering position scarcity too heavily... unless there are some real deals available, I tend to try and fill my infield before my outfield. Affeldt, Santana, Peavy, and Webb show my bias toward young starting pitchers. Young players in general I guess -- the relievers I took were mostly young too. I like when there's upside. I don't even rank players like Jamie Moyer, Garret Anderson, Kevin Millwood -- too predictable; low risk but low reward. Roy Oswalt, who's one of my favorite players, largely because I drafted him on a bunch of teams the last few years and he did well, only fell to me once -- he kept being "next on my list" and someone else would grab him. I've got Rich Harden on two teams, Tim Redding on two teams, and Kerry Wood on one. Missed out on Prior. Last year I had Zito on a bunch of my teams; this year I have Tim Hudson on two. Didn't plan on it, but ended up grabbing Kevin Brown on two teams, when he fell unjustifiably low. I have Randy Wolf and Matt Morris on one team each, and, with early-round picks, grabbed Pedro Martinez in one league, and Javier Vazquez and Randy Johnson in rounds two and three of the sixteen-team draft I just finished... the league counts strikeouts, and I felt they were both the best available players at that point, even though I had no plans to grab either one. I thought I'd end up with Miguel Batista on more than one team, but I kept waiting too long, so only grabbed him once. And I've got Ted Lilly on one team. I had him on a lot more than that last year, and he was okay... but I thought he'd be better.
Carlos Beltran is one of my favorite players, because of the power-speed combo. But he went in the first round in 4 of my 5 drafts -- I took him in the second round in the 5th league. Bobby Abreu is also one of my favorites, and also just ended up with him in one league. Besides Kearns, who's on all 5 teams, the only outfielders I have in more than one league are Geoff Jenkins (2), Magglio Ordonez (2), and Adam Dunn (2). Vladimir Guerrero and Manny Ramirez fell to me the second round of one league each; I grabbed Griffey late in one league, Jim Edmonds in another, and grabbed Suzuki in the 8th round on one team. I have Larry Walker on two teams, Carl Crawford on one team, and, in one deep league, Jason Bay, Jay Gibbons, and Bobby Kielty as outfielders 4-6.
In the infield, second base seemed especially shallow this year. I ended up with Alfonso Soriano as my first round pick in two leagues, and grabbed Marcus Giles in two others. In the fifth, and as a backup in another, I have Ray Durham, who's at least steady if not spectacular. And I have Vidro and Brian Roberts each in one league. At shortstop I took A-Rod as my first round pick in two leagues (one where I was seeded first; the other third, but Bonds and Pujols were the first two to go), and have Furcal in two and Reyes in one league. At third base I wanted Chavez, but ended up with Rolen in two leagues, Blalock in two, and Dmitri Young in one league, out of desperation (and Morgan Ensberg snatched up by the guy who picked prior to me). At first base, I got Helton with pick 5 in one league -- hadn't planned on that, since there are so many solid first basemen, but OBP and SLG are two of the stats, and Helton's numbers are so huge. I have Mike Sweeney (so many Royals... him, Beltran, Affeldt...) in two leagues, and I have Huff, Millar, and Fullmer in one league. Josh Phelps as a utility guy in two leagues, and Edgar Martinez in one.
5 teams, 72 total players to root for. Fun!
posted by Anonymous @ 5:30 PM
<< Home