Crooked Pitch

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I’ve participated in like a kajillion mock drafts in the past month or so, but last night was a real draft. This one is for bragging rights. This league is made up of twelve fantasy baseball writers. Let me give you the scoop on who’s involved (this was the draft order as well).

1. Eric Hinz, FakeTeams
2. Zach Piso, Rotonomics
3. Knox Bardeen, Crooked Pitch
4. David Chase, Brock For Broglio
5. Rudy Gamble, Razzball
6. Tim Dierkes, Roto Authority
7. Kelly Pfleiger, Fantasy Gameday
8. Bob Taylor, Fantasy Hurler
9. Tim McLeod, RotoRob
10. Tony Bartlett, Fantasy Baseball Mafia
11. Derek Nelson, Seamless Baseball
12. Edwin Van Bibber-Orr, Seamless Baseball

The league is set up as a standard 5X5 with 2 catchers, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, 1 corner infielder, 1 middle infielder, 5 outfielders, 1 utility spot, 9 pitchers and 3 bench spots. Here’s my team:

1. (3) David Wright
2. (22) Ichiro Suzuki
3. (27) Álex Ríos
4. (46) Derek Jeter
5. (51) John Lackey
6. (70) Aaron Harang
7. (75) Félix Hernández
8. (94) Paul Konerko
9. (99) Vernon Wells
10. (118) Jermaine Dye
11. (123) Jeremy Hermida
12. (142) Kenji Johjima
13. (147) Manny Corpas
14. (166) Plácido Polanco
15. (171) Ian Snell
16. (190) Iván Rodríguez
17. (195) Ryan Theriot
18. (214) Joe Borowski
19. (219) Casey Kotchman
20. (238) Jason Kubel
21. (243) Zack Greinke
22. (262) Jon Lester
23. (267) Barry Zito
24. (286) Manny Parra
25. (291) Asdrubal Cabrera
26. (310) Pedro Feliz

• With the third pick I had to decide between Wright and Hanley Ramirez. I decided to go with the safer pick as I am unsure if Hanley can repeat last season’s numbers with his lingering shoulder problem and the absence of Miguel Cabrera.
• I’m happy with the first few outfielder picks I made. Ichiro and Alex Rios are studs, and Rios is primed for a huge breakout in 2008.
• I’m also happy with my first three starting pitchers, although I never expected to take three guys in a row at this point in the draft. Taking Lackey, Harang and King Felix in the 5th, 6th & 7th rounds could help to shore up K’s, ERA and Wins, but did I grab them too early?
• I’m not terribly happy with my bullpen. I only have Corpas and Borowski. Let’s hope I can using the free agent pool to add valuable save during the season.
• I reached with a few picks. Hermida, Kubel and Parra have some big upside potential. If these picks pan out, I’ll look like somewhat of a genius.
• How can I not take Pedro Feliz with the 26th round pick when Mike Schmidt says he could hit 30 home runs and drive in 100?

Questions and comments about my draft are welcomed. I plan on keeping everyone informed on how this league is progressing. It should be a lot of fun.

Mike Kuchera a.k.a. The Fantasy Man puts together an expert fantasy league each year. The Fantasy Baseball Express mock draft that I participated in on Sunday turned into the actual draft for the 2008 Battle of the Fantasy Gods Expert League. Let’s talk about the results.

We drafted over at Mock Draft Central, which uses a fantastic piece of draft software. The draft ran very smooth and quick and I truly enjoyed the feel of the software. You can see our main draft page or you can look at the completed draft grid. And if you want to see how long each pick took, you can view those draft results here.

Now, lets get on to discussing my team. I selected in the 7th position.

• 1st Round (7) - Matt Holliday | Colorado Rockies | OF - Holliday was the highest rated player on the board and I was excited to get him. His power numbers are great, he hits for average and scores 100+ runs a season. Plus he’s only 28 and well within his peak performing years.
• 2nd Round (18) - Ryan Braun | Milwaukee Brewers | 3B - There is and will be much debate on whether or not Braun can repeat or even build on his ‘07 numbers. By picking him here, you can see which side of the fence I am on. Pitchers never really figured out what the holes were (or if there were any) in his swing and they had 451 at bats to figure it out. As he approaches 600 AB’s in ‘08 imagine what his numbers will look like. And to be honest, I’d be happy with just a repeat of 2007.
• 3rd Round (31) - Alex Rios | Toronto Blue Jays | OF - Rios will contribute to my team in all 5 categories. And when I say contribute, I really mean he’s going to build on 2007 and break out even more in 2008. He’s 27 (perfect breakout age) and his contact rate and walk rate are getting better.
• 4th Round (42) - Derrek Lee | Chicago Cubs | 1B -With this pick I struggled between Lee and Carlos Pena. I chose Lee because I see his power numbers getting back to 2005 form and when that happens, his higher batting average will fit better for me.
• 5th Round (55) - Carlos Guillen | Detroit Tigers | SS - The elite shortstop run of the first round happened without me (big three were taken before my first pick) and with Guillen moving to 1B for the Tigers in 2008, I wanted to take advantage of his last year of eligibility at SS.
• 6th Round (66) - Garrett Atkins | Colorado Rockies | 3B - I shored up my CI (corner infield) position here with another Coors Field basher. Atkins will hit above .300 with 20+ home runs, 100+ RBI’s and will approach 100 runs. I’m extremely happy with this pick.
• 7th Round (79) - Takashi Saito | Los Angeles Dodgers | P - This is the first pick I am not completely happy with. The last three rounds had seen a big run of relievers and I caved to peer pressure here. I’m a bit worried about regression with Saito’s numbers due to age. However, in the first 6 weeks of play, 25% of the closers will have lost their jobs and I’ll be able to use free agency to bolster my bullpen.
• 8th Round (90) - Jason Bay | Pittsburgh Pirates | OF - Do you remember Jason Bay from 2005 & 2006? So do I. Last season’s hitting woes were a fluke and watch Bay revert to his old self in 2008.
• 9th Round (103) - Juan Pierre | Los Angeles Dodgers | OF - I selected Juan Pierre here to help in the stolen base category. And what a big help he’ll be. I’m not going to complain as he approaches 100 runs and a .300 batting average either.
• 10th Round (114) - Kenji Johjima | Seattle Mariners | C - I didn’t want to get too far down my draft list in the catcher position. Johjima is a safe pick here to provide something near .285, 16 homers and 70 RBI’s.
• 11th Round (127) - Matt Cain | San Francisco Giants | P - It was time to start addressing the pitching staff with my 11th round pick and Cain, while playing for a poor team, will get his fair share of strikeouts for me while maintaining a sub 4.00 ERA.
• 12th Round (138) - Aaron Rowand | San Francisco Giants | OF - Rowand fills my last OF slot and should do it nicely as he won’t hurt me in any category. We could see a batting average of .280+, 20+ home runs, 80+ runs and 10 SB from Rowand in 2008, which would make me giddy.
• 13th Round (151) - Jeff Francis | Colorado Rockies | P - He might not have been my first SP selection, but Jeff Francis will be my ace. Big win totals, above average strikeouts and a sub 4.00 ERA are expected in ‘08.
• 14th Round (162) - Kelly Johnson | Atlanta Braves | 2B - A five tool player in the 14th round? It’s true. Johnson will contribute in all 5 categories and could improve his power and speed numbers in 2008.
• 15th Round (179) - Dustin Pedroia | Boston Red Sox | MI - Pedroia was still around here and I wanted to fill my MI spot with a .300+ hitter that will score 100+ runs. Mission accomplished!
• 16th Round (188) - Derek Lowe | Los Angeles Dodgers | P - I continued my run of low round starting pitching that will provide sub 4.00 ERA and above average strikeouts with Lowe here.
• 17th Round (201) - Willy Taveras | Colorado Rockies | OF - I needed to fill my UTIL spot with this pick and decided to add some speed to the mix. Taveras won’t hit .320 again in 2008 but he will approach .300 and steal 40+ bases for me.
• 18th Round (212) - Clay Buchholz | Boston Red Sox | P - I might not get another no-hitter from Buchholz in ‘08, but I should get a sub 4.00 ERA and 11-14 wins.
• 19th Round (225) - Matt Garza | Tampa Bay Rays | P - What am I thinking taking a Rays pitcher not named Kazmir? There is some upside with Garza, although I may be a year or two early here. The Rays will be better this season so Garza should see more wins than he did in Minnesota in 2007. However, they still have to play the Yankees and the Sox 19 times each, so I will need to keep an eye on his ERA and WHIP.
• 20th Round (236) - Tom Glavine | Atlanta Braves | P - Glavine returns home to Atlanta but will need to keep his ERA closer to his 2006 3.82 total rather than his 2007 4.45 to remain on this fantasy team, even with 10-13 wins.
• 21st Round (249) - J.R. Towles | Houston Astros | C - My final hitting spot and second catcher position was filled by J.R. Towles, and I am happy about that. I was targeting Towles as a late round pick with upside. And a 24 year old catcher with double digit projections in home runs and stolen bases while hitting .280+ is a fantastic fit for me here at pick #249.
• 22nd Round (260) - Homer Bailey | Cincinnati Reds | P - Homer is finally going to get his full season in Cincinnati and this 22 year old hurler should have a good run at it. As per most of my SP selections so far, I am thinking a sub 4.00 ERA, double digit wins and 135+ strikeouts.
• 23rd Round (273) - Greg Maddux | San Diego Padres | P - I went safe with my final pick here and Maddux is surely safe. He benefits from pitching in Petco and while his strikeout total will keep dropping, his ERA should stay right around 4.00 and I expect double digit wins again.

So, that’s the Crooked Pitch team that I will be starting the 2008 season with in the Battlle of the Fantasy Gods Expert League. I’m expecting 1250+ runs from this squad, 280+ home runs, 1100+ RBI’s, 200+ stolen bases and a .290+ batting average.

We finished our [tag]Battle of the Fantasy Gods[/tag] expert draft last night. It ended so late, I haven’t had the time to evaluate everyone’s team. But I thought I would post my team here for everyone to see. Remember this is a mixed format 5X5 roto league with a $260 auction salary cap. We auctioned off 23 players (14 hitters and 9 pitchers) and then filled out 5 reserve spots through a snake draft at the end.

C - A.J. Pierzynski $2
C - Jorge Posada $6
1B - Justin Morneau $33
2B - Dan Uggla $8
3B - Scott Rolen $14
SS - Hanley Ramirez $32
CI - Paul Konerko $21
MI - Josh Barfield $11
OF - Raul Ibanez $8
OF - Milton Bradley $3
OF - Carlos Lee #31
OF - J.D. Drew $16
OF - Tori Hunter $17
U - Adam LaRoche $8
P - Anibal Sanchez $1
P - Chuck James $3
P - Clay Hensley $3
P - Jeremy Sowers $1
P - John Maine $1
P - Kenny Rogers $1
P - John Lackey $8
P - Billy Wagner $21
P - Akinori Otsuka $1
R - Scott Podsednik $0
R - Jay Payton $0
R - Mike Lowell $0
R - B.J. Upton $0
R - Pedro Feliz $0

I’ve been invited to participate in the expert auction league over at Fantasy Baseball Express called Battle of the Fantasy Gods. It’s a 12 team mixed league using 5X5 roto rules with a $260 auction budget. The draft is set for March 8th, and I’m excited to compete against these super smart experts from around the internet.