{"id":15712,"date":"2019-03-19T15:56:26","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T19:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=15712"},"modified":"2019-03-19T15:56:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T19:56:26","slug":"fantasy-baseball-2019-my-drafted-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=15712","title":{"rendered":"Fantasy Baseball 2019 – My drafted Team"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"My<\/a>

My #1 draft pick: JD Martinez. Photo via wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n

An annual post.\u00a0 Navel gazing at my fake baseball team.\u00a0 Feel free to skip if you’re not into this.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Welcome to Fantasy Baseball 2019.\u00a0 We have again cobbled together 10 baseball fans to keep our fantasy league running.\u00a0 We’ve been going since 2006.\u00a0 I’ve never quite managed to win this league; a couple of 2nd places, a couple of regular season championships and upset playoff losses.<\/p>\n

I’ll bury the lede here; i’m not sure my 2019 team is very good.\u00a0 Well, maybe its ok.<\/p>\n

I got the 7th pick (I have NEVER gotten the #1 pick, not once in the 14 years we’ve been doing this; I’ve never had Trout or Pujols or whoever was the consensus #1 player.\u00a0 \u00a0Never).\u00a0 \u00a0Grrr.\u00a0 This year, no autodrafts, and we used Yahoo online drafting which only gave 2 minutes per pick, so we cruised through.\u00a0 Which is nice.<\/p>\n

Here’s my general Fantasy strategy: focus on hitters before pitchers, try to get key positions of scarcity in the infield first (2nd, SS, 3B).\u00a0 Do not spend a high pick on a 1B.\u00a0 If you don’t get one of top 3-4 catchers, don’t bother until round 21 (or at all).\u00a0 Get a slew of top closers, target getting 5 in all.\u00a0 Don’t burn early round on SPs unless forced to by situation.<\/p>\n

——————–<\/p>\n

Here’s how the draft first 6 picks before me went.<\/p>\n

Picks 1-6: Trout, Betts, Ramirez, Scherzer, Acuna, Arenado<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So, heading in I wanted Jose Ramirez; he was ranked Yahoo #8, but is ADP #3 and was much higher on other rankings … so I guess it isn’t a surprise he went so high.\u00a0 \u00a0Acuna was a slight reach but was drafted by our Atlanta-fan boy member.<\/p>\n

Round 1:\/#7 overall:\u00a0J.D. Martinez<\/strong> (#4 Yahoo, #4 2018 stats, #5 ADP): I was considering Trea Turner here, since he was also projected around this area … but something made me pause on Turner.\u00a0 \u00a0Could have also gotten Yelich, or Chris Sale, but in the end I like the power Martinez had, and the fact that I was getting slight value in terms of Yahoo rank and ADP already in round 1.<\/p>\n

Round 2:\/#14 overall:\u00a0Alex Bregman<\/strong> (14\/8\/13):\u00a0 So, I really wanted one of two players to slip to me here: Soto or Harper.\u00a0 Missed on both; they went bang bang right in front of me (this became a theme on the night; losing players I was targeting just before they got to me).\u00a0 So i was choosing between Bregman, Story and Altuve.\u00a0 I chose Bregman basically for positional flexibility; he can do SS or 3B, which is huge.\u00a0 And, Bregman is a beast.\u00a0 30 homers and 100 RBIs from the SS position??\u00a0 Its one of the best kept secrets in the game… and I’m not quite sure why he’s projecting as a 2nd rounder given he was top 10 in production last year.\u00a0 I think this is a steal here and I love the pick.<\/p>\n

Round 3\/#27 overall:\u00a0Francisco Lindor<\/strong> (20\/10\/12): At this point in the draft\u00a0 I wasn’t looking for anyone in particular, but Lindor was sitting there as a huge outlier.\u00a0 #12 ADP, meaning an early 2nd rounder, and a top 10 fantasy producer last year … still sitting there?\u00a0 SS eligible too?\u00a0 \u00a038 homers, 25 steals last year.\u00a0 Why was he still here?\u00a0 Grabbed him; now I have two SSs, a 3B and an OF.\u00a0 And they’re all massive producers offensively.<\/p>\n

Round 4\/#34 overall:\u00a0Vladimir Guerrero Jr<\/strong> (41\/na\/50: ok so one of my goals was to get this guy.\u00a0 I’m banking on him being a monster.\u00a0 Yes he’ll miss some time, and yes maybe he’s “injured” right now, and yes this was a reach (i could have had Benintendi or Whit Merrifield instead).\u00a0 But its been a while since I had the super stud rookie to root for, and I’m banking on him crushing.\u00a0 So I got #50 ADP at #34 … but also played the room and since my next pick wouldn’t be until deep into the 5th round he wouldn’t have lasted.<\/p>\n

Round 5\/#47 overall:\u00a0Lorenzo Cain<\/strong> (46\/89\/63): I wasn’t really enamored of this pick; was trying to decide between him and first SP in Carrasco.\u00a0 I dunno; maybe this was a mistake.\u00a0 Lots of steals, big time OBP.<\/p>\n

Round 6\/#54 overall:\u00a0Blake Treinen<\/strong> (73\/15\/66): So, there was a slight run on closers here so I grabbed one.\u00a0 Treinen was #15 fantasy player last year.\u00a0 He was frigging amazing.\u00a0 Can he repeat it?\u00a0 Hopefully; blowing a 6th rounder on a closer isn’t out of the norm, but I like my chances here.<\/p>\n

Round 7\/#67 overall:\u00a0Zack Greinke<\/strong> (53\/121\/58): Round 7 and I still didn’t have a starter … needed to start getting some pitching.\u00a0 Got what I think is good value on Greinke after getting Corbin snaked right before my pick.\u00a0 Corbin was a steal in round 7 … so hopefully Greinke rebounds a little bit.\u00a0 I’ll take ADP of 58 at 67 though.<\/p>\n

Round 8\/#74 overall:\u00a0Daniel Murphy<\/strong> (50\/873\/71): So, Murphy was sitting there, clearly the BPA and highest ranked player still available on Yahoo (projecting as end of 5th round), so what the heck.\u00a0 He’s in Colorado, we know he can hit, he fits 1B or 2B … so i’ll take Murphy as my 2B.<\/p>\n

Round 9\/#87 overall:\u00a0Felipe Vazquez<\/strong> (90\/59\/98): Another mini-run on closers led me to grab VAzquez here.\u00a0 I wanted Puig here and just missed (a common theme on the night).\u00a0 Ironically i now have two closers and both are ex-Nats.\u00a0 Vazquez’s production last year was 2-3 rounds better than his draft position, so I’m hoping for him to repeat his 2018 performance.<\/p>\n

Round 10\/#94 overall:\u00a0Mitch Haniger<\/strong> (77\/37\/83):\u00a0 So, how is a guy who was 37th ranked producer still sitting around in the 10th round?\u00a0 \u00a0I don’t know, but he was sitting there as a massive outlier, easily BPA by like two full rounds of players, so I grabbed him.\u00a0 ESPN calls him a huge sleeper; we’ll see.<\/p>\n

Round 11\/#107 overall:\u00a0Robbie Ray<\/strong> (113\/407\/120): I have just one SP at this point; time to get some pitching.\u00a0 I like Ray’s K rate; if he’s healthy he can improve.\u00a0 We’ll see how it goes<\/p>\n

Round 12\/#114 overall:\u00a0Charlie Morton<\/strong> (111\/57\/117): Same as round 11.\u00a0 wanted the BPA SP available.\u00a0 Morton was pretty darn good last year; this could be a steal by 5 rounds if he repeats.<\/p>\n

Round 13\/#127 overall:\u00a0Aaron Hicks<\/strong> (110\/39\/115): Another guy who was great last year; why is he still sitting around in the 13th?\u00a0 He’s hurt sure, and i just missed out on Edwin Encarnacion here, but I like the Hicks gamble.<\/p>\n

Round 14\/#134 overall:\u00a0Jose LeClerc<\/strong> (138\/51\/121): Grabbed my 3rd solid closer; #51 producer last year.\u00a0 My team is starting to look like the all-2018 team; i’m hoping for a lot of reproduction of results.<\/p>\n

Round 15\/#147 overall:\u00a0Eloy Jiminez<\/strong> (121\/na\/118): So, while a lot of the rookie news is on Guerrero and Robles … Jiminez is going to be a monster.\u00a0 \u00a0He had nearly a 1.000 OPS in half a season at AAA last year, with a ton of power.\u00a0 He’s going to sit a few weeks in AAA before coming up but should be a middle-of-the-order beast for a long time.\u00a0 I got good value both in Yahoo and ADP here too.\u00a0 Only thing is … now i’ve got TWO rookies who will be unavailable for a few weeks.\u00a0 My season is going to open rough.<\/p>\n

Round 16\/#154 overall:\u00a0Arodys Vizcaino<\/strong> (213\/103\/184): Braves closer, who was #103 producer last year for a 90+ win projected team; why is he still out there?\u00a0 It was an odd draft for closers; at the end of the night there were at least 6-7 closers available, and I got 5 of them.\u00a0 I may have been over thinking things and over valuing closers.<\/p>\n

Round 17\/#167 overall:\u00a0Yusei Kikuchi\u00a0<\/strong>(172\/na\/167): Another unknown, another gamble.\u00a0 I like the scouting report.\u00a0 Going for BPA SP right now.\u00a0 Porcello and Eovaldi went bang bang ahead of me, tow guys I would have taken.<\/p>\n

Round 18\/#174 overall:\u00a0Alex Colome<\/strong>\u00a0(214\/278\/212): My 5th closer; none of the SPs sitting out there looked useful.\u00a0 Best closer available; might be first player dropped.<\/p>\n

Round 19\/#187 overall:\u00a0Kevin Gausman<\/strong> (195\/802\/195): Just missed on Smoak and Ryu here; I like Gausman as a sleeper big time; when he escaped Baltimore his numbers were excellent: 142 ERA+ in 10 games.\u00a0 I’ll take that.\u00a0 Ignore his 2018 totals; his performance in the NL was great.\u00a0 To me this is a steal in round 19.<\/p>\n

Round 20\/#194 overall:\u00a0Forest Whitley<\/strong> (773\/na\/290): Ok, so this was a mistake.\u00a0 It was late, we had been drinking.\u00a0 I am well aware of Whitley’s capabilities, but its clear now that he’s not coming up for a while.\u00a0 I should have grabbed a different young Houston starter, and in fact will drop Whitley as my first waiver wire.\u00a0 But I’ll try to grab him when he comes back.<\/p>\n

Round 21\/#207 overall:\u00a0Luke Voit<\/strong> (199\/784\/177); So, amazingly, at round 21 I still didnt’ have a Catcher (which i’ve long since decided to do the waiver wire game on) or a 1B (or a 2B, depending on where I play Murphy).\u00a0 I probably waited too long, and had a couple of just misses on better 1B candidates.\u00a0 So I grabbed Voit here; he should be the Yankees 1B, and if not we’ll dump him for another guy.<\/p>\n

——————————–<\/p>\n

So, looking back:<\/p>\n