First off, be sure to check out Jack Steal's and my podcast from last night, we were joined by none other than Seth Stohs and John Bonnes and had a great discussion!
Round 1, Pick 6: Chase Utley, 2B PHI -- I'm shocked Utley fell to me, but I was hoping I could grab a premium position player deserving of a first round pick. After watching Joe Mauer go 1st overall (duh) ---
Round 2, Pick 19: Mark Texeira, 1B NYY -- Again, very happy. But I think pitching is going to be at a premium here and I've got two strong bats with my first two picks. Thrylos grabbed SLOWEY 7th overall and just followed it up with Liriano. I sense a trend there. Halladay and Lincecum are also gone but I wasn't ready to take Felix Hernandez yet... I might kick myself for that later...
Round 3, Pick 30: Kevin Youkilis, 3B BOS -- I had Youk (and Tex) last year and they were great for me. But I feel a little weird cornering the market on first basemen right now. At least Youk has the position flexibility to play 3rd which I intend to utilize. But now I've seen Greinke and CC and Felix Hernandez go, ugh.
Round 4, Pick 43: Victor Martinez, C BOS -- I admit, I wasn't thinking that I already had a Boston player. I could've taken Santana here and gone pitching, but Emily Jipp just screwed me by taking Brian McCann who I really wanted and I think I caved and grabbed a catcher. He can also double as 1B. That's three 1B...
Round 5, Pick 54: Adam Lind, LF TOR -- I love Adam Lind so this was too hardto pass up. And Josh Johnson and Louie each just took the two pitchers I was looking at (Johnson and Gallardo). If I wait, a decent pitcher will fall to me at the right time.
Round 6, Pick 67: Mariano Rivera, RP NYY -- Emily saved me by taking Zobrist before I could. It forced me to grab pitching and I'm the first to take a closer. A rock of a closer. This is a good step.
Round 7, Pick 78: Ricky Nolasco, SP FLA -- Another pitcher, and one with lots of upside. We're doing a keeper league so I think that's a huge plus if he has a great year. Cole Hamels is still far enough down on the list and I've got my eye on him for my next grab.
Round 8, Pick 91: Wandy Rodriguez, SP HOU -- So Hamels is gone, thanks Emily. Eric grabs Kershaw and Eric Olson grabs Baker. I'm worried Emily is going to grab Wandy before I can but she takes Ubaldo Jimenez and I manage to steal Wandy and I'm happy as a clam. I also find out after this pick that this is not a keeper league.
Round 9, Pick 102: Hunter Pence, RF HOU -- I love Hunter Pence, don't care if it's not a keeper league. I'm also pretty thin on the outfield right now but my infield is almost built. I want to be well-rounded and Pence is the best available in my mind. Best available will be my motto from here on out, no worries about position I've got a solid core.
Round 10, Pick 115: Francisco Cordero, RP CIN -- I now have two dominant closers and I think I'll lead the Saves category pretty nicely. Wondering how I'm going to fill out my SS conundrum...
Round 11, Pick 126: Matt Garza, SP TB -- I had Garza last year and he was solid. I figure he can only get better, I'm surprised he's still around this far down.
Round 12, Pick 139: Julio Borbon, LF TEX -- Eric Johnson just grabbed Manny Ramirez and then Rich Harden, two pretty good picks this far along in the draft, great value. I love Borbon's speed and I think the Rangers will be great this year and he'll got on base plenty. Rolling the dice a little.
Round 13, Pick 150: Jered Weaver, SP LAA -- Another holdover from last year. This draft is surprisingly deep in upside pitching. I don't mind so much that I waited so long to grab pitchers.
Round 14, Pick 163: J.A. Happ, SP PHI -- I'm looking for Jason Heyward and realize Josh Johnson already stole him. Dang. I still manage to steal Happ who I love. All my pitchers are young (except Rivera) but that's fine by me!
Round 15, Pick 174: James Loney, 1B LAD -- Haha, I have so many people who can play 1B. But at least I have something to deal from if I ever need.
Round 16, Pick 187: Maicer Izturis, 2B/SS LAA -- I really needed to do something about SS dilemma, and Izturis isn't bad at this point. I might have waited too long but I wouldn't have sacrificed any of my other picks. I was hoping for JJ Hardy so I could have a Twin but Eric Olson just took him. Argh.
Round 17, Pick 198: Ryan Ludwick, RF STL -- Wow, my outfield's a little thin so I had to take an OF. Ludwick is pretty good for a 4th OF and he's on a great team so that's a plus. Of course Louie just took Martin Prado right before me and that's who I really wanted. Ugh.
Round 18: Pick 211: Mike Napoli, C LAA -- I need a backup catcher and Napoli isn't bad for that role. Hopefully he doesn't have to see much playing time on my roster. Andrew Kneeland took Frank Francisco before I could get to him because what I really wanted was another reliever. I'll fight another day though...
Round 19: Pick 222: Scott Feldman, SP TEX -- Feldman looked great last year and at this point I'm just hoping to catch some lightning in a bottle in the low rounds. If nothing else I think he can be league average and he's got a very solid team around him. Everyone's darlings seem to be Seattle but I think Texas has the make-up to take the West finally. I kind of had my eye on Orlando Hudson and Brandon Lyon but they were both just taken off the board consecutively by K-Bro and Brian Pietrzak.
Round 20: Pick 235: Colby Rasmus, CF STL -- Man, I just took another St. Louis outfielder without thinking. I might need to rethink that pick. I was a little shaken when Emily AGAIN my pick (Corey Hart), and then Thrylos followed that up right away by taking my backup (Joba Chamberlain). Really I was just grasping at straws here.
Round 21: Pick 246: Scott Downs, RP TOR -- So I really want another reliever and Toronto's guys always seem solid. Not much else in my mind on this pick.
Round 22: Pick 259: Marlon Byrd, CF CHI -- This is mainly about rectifying my Rasmus pick. Byrd isn't bad. There really weren't many pitching options out there -- Shawn Berg just took Brad Lidge and Erik Bedard and Eric Olson followed that up right away with Carlos Zambrano, so I'm looking away from pitching at the moment.
Round 23: Pick 270: Jhonny Peralta, SS CLE -- I feel kind of dirty taking him but there really aren't many good backup infielders left out there and K-Bro took Brett Gardner who I was kind of hoping would last until this pick.
Round 24: Pick 283: Alberto Callaspo, 2B KC -- Not on a great team and they have a glut at middle infield right now but I picked him up last year when Aviles went down for me and I didn't regret it one bit.
Round 25: Pick 294: Pat Neshek, RP MIN -- I kept getting all my favorite Twins players stolen from me and I NEEDED someone from my favorite team on my roster. So, it ended up being Pat! I'm hoping he grabs the closer role at some point and I have a steal. It was either Neshek or Slama with this pick and I just think Neshek had a better chance at making the team and getting an opportunity as closer more quickly. Hoping his arm holds up!
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Be sure to check out the blogs from the people in my league, great reads and they're going to be sure to provide stiff competition as they've all got some nicely built rosters!
Andrew Kneeland: Twins Target
Brian Pietrzak: BP's Baseball Blog
Emily Jipp: Chatter From the Cheap Seats
Eric Johnson: Undomed
Eric Olson: Call to the 'Pen
Erin M: Picked Off At First
Josh Johnson: Josh's Thoughts
Kirsten Brown: K-Bro's Baseball Blog
Louie Schuth: Hitting the Eephus
Shawn Berg: On the Road With...
Thrylos98: The Tenth Inning Stretch
I almost had a heart attack worrying that I was in this league and I forgot when the draft was :-P However, I think my fantasy league draft isn't until Sunday...
ReplyDeleteI swear I invited you when we were first talking about forming this! You wouldn't want to be in this league though because I'm going to win.
ReplyDeleteI hope there's nothing at stake because I love the Twins, but Slowey and Liriano in rounds 1 and 2 is outrageously stupid...
ReplyDeleteYour draft didn't turn out too bad, considering how badly you were screwed originally by Emily Jipp and myself. So good work! But you stole my Neshek. Irritating.
ReplyDelete