Friday, March 14, 2008

Fantasy Draft Hangover

So we had our fantasy draft last night, and while I won't go into strategy too much (30 Helens Agree creator Mitch Kayak is another member of said league), I have to say that my draft was ok, but not as good as I would have hoped. This was the first year where I've had the #1 pick in any draft, which was a nice surprise. However, this is also the first year where I don't have a premium shortstop, which makes me a bit nervous. I reached quite a bit on Upton, which I realized almost immediately, but his eligibility at both second and in center will be helpful, and I was nervous as to the quality drop-off in second basemen after him. Gallardo is hurt, but I thought his potential value could outweigh any issues at the beginning of the season.

Overall, I should be good for stolen bases, home runs and RBI, while batting average could be an issue. Not my best draft, but hopefully good enough to win the league.

(1) Álex Rodríguez
(20) B.J. Upton
(21) Carlos Beltrán
(40) Erik Bedard
(41) Travis Hafner
(60) Chris Young
(61) John Lackey
(80) Matt Kemp
(81) Takashi Saito
(100) Rafael Furcal
(101) Geovany Soto
(120) Nick Swisher
(121) Yovani Gallardo
(140) Chad Cordero
(141) Jeff Francoeur
(160) Joba Chamberlain
(161) Edwin Encarnación
(180) Orlando Cabrera
(181) Adam Wainwright
(200) Orlando Hudson
(201) Billy Butler

2 comments:

RC said...

A couple comments:

-I love the Kemp/Swisher picks - an OF of Beltran/Young/(either Kemp or Swisher) is very nice, although I'm not 100% sure about using Swisher as a 1B, and it looks like that's the case here. If the Chris Young pick is the pitcher, I'm not so much on board with Francouer in this slot, but I don't hate it.

-Along the same lines, I don't understand the Encarnacion or Hudson picks - I'd rather carry someone like Loney or Votto, to help protect against potential playing time issues for Kemp or if Young's BA kills you (if it's a 5x5 league), even with Hafner locking up your UT slot. Butler is a good shot in the dark in the last round, but will be hurt by terrible OBP in front of him.

-I think Upton is fine there - he's an early 3rd-round guy for me, and that's approximately where you got him.

-The Joba pick is inspired - seriously, great selection, perfectly located.

-How many pitchers do you run? Because you seem VERY shallow in SP - even if the Young was the pitcher. Especially if it's a daily head-to-head league. However, the pitchers you do have are pretty sick - you're really well positioned. Gallardo will be fine.

-Congrats on drafting Soto - welcome to Brian McCann-ville, as Soto might even be better (and 4 rounds later). LOVE IT.

-Between Cabrera and Furcal, you might be able to cobble together one good shortstop - PFM has Furcal in the 60s-70s in all of my various leagues. Someone like Khalil Greene or Felipe Lopez could have a career year, too, so I'd work the waiver wire hard there.

Looks like a good draft, though, dude - especially for a 12-team league. Nicely done. We can't all draft with functional retards, you know?

Mitch Kayak said...

Seeing as my first pick was fucking awful, I will not be posting the rest of my draft.