Note; stop reading now if you’re one of those people who hate to hear about fantasy teams or analysis of leagues.\u00a0 I understand your point; its kinda like hearing someone go on and on about how their ugly baby just did the cutest thing last week.<\/p>\n
I’m in a modified 5×5 yahoo league with 9 other fantasy baseball nuts (of all the fantasy sports, baseball tends to have the biggest nerds I think.\u00a0 Well, perhaps fantasy golf or fantasy nascar).\u00a0 We’ve modified the typical 5×5 categories to add in a 6th category on both sides.\u00a0 We put in OPS on the hitter side and Losses on the pitcher side.\u00a0 We made this change a few years back when one of the players won by churning and burning starting pitchers over and over to stock-pile wins and Ks.<\/p>\n
Before going into my draft results and analysis, a few notes on my strategy for picking baseball teams:<\/p>\n
Here’s my team’s draft results.\u00a0 I was picking 2nd in a 10-man league with a typical snake-style draft order.<\/p>\n
1. Hanley Ramirez<\/strong>.\u00a0 Pujols <\/strong>goes first; I could have gone with Tulowitzki <\/strong>here but I opted to go with a guy who has been a bit more consistent (and less injury prone) at the #2 spot. Here’s the team by position:<\/p>\n Based on last year’s averages\/week, my hitters are probably going to be<\/p>\n Based on last year’s averages\/week, my pitchers are probably going to be<\/p>\n I see 6 categories where i’m above average, 3 where i’m about average, two a bit below average and one where i’m well below average.\u00a0 That could average out to a lot of 7-5 or 8-4 weeks.\u00a0 Far enough.<\/p>\n Draft Analysis Conclusions<\/strong>: it is fair to say i’m weaker on the hitting side.\u00a0 That tends to happen when drafting very early and missing out on the 1B and 3B rush.\u00a0 I much more like drafting 4-5-6th spots so you can get top-tier guys in both positions.\u00a0 I will have to be diligent on the waiver wire looking for hitters.\u00a0 There are a couple of non-drafted guys that I like who may fit in at 1B if Konerko falters badly.<\/p>\n I’m also depending a lot on 2-3 non-sexy names (Weeks, Rios, Konerko) and several high profile rookies (Weiters, Heyward, Alvarez, Bumgarner).\u00a0 This could really backfire if these guys don’t produce.\u00a0 I’m most worried about Alvarez, who put up decent numbers in half a season last year but it may be a stretch to assume he’s already a 30-homer guy. I’m also worried about Weeks’ health and ability to stay on the field.\u00a0 He may end up sitting in my DL spot for a while. I may focus on finding a speedster\/leadoff\/high SB\/high Runs guy for my utility player.<\/p>\n I really like my slew of starters.\u00a0 All of them have good K\/9, era and whip values.\u00a0 Lots of losses though; i’m hoping for a bounceback season for Lincecum and better w\/l records from the likes of Hamels and Sanchez.<\/p>\n I’ve got a lot of closer depth, including the Aardsma pickup.\u00a0 There’s a few other possible closers to be had as well; Lidge is down with an injury, Washington’s situation is certainly fluid, Tampa’s closer really hasn’t been identified, Atlanta may flip flop Venters and Kimbrell, and nobody at all knows who is going to close in Toronto.\u00a0 So there’s more waiver wire work to be done.<\/p>\n Note; stop reading now if you’re one of those people who hate to hear about fantasy teams or analysis of leagues.\u00a0 I understand your point; its kinda like hearing someone go on and on about how their ugly baby just did the cutest thing last week. I’m in a modified 5×5 yahoo league with 9 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2592],"tags":[403,123,492,777,1231,1648,1046,1642,1644,132,1645,399,246,247,1005,1650,407,1646,1643,455,528,1578,803,997,239,1492,865,320,404,238,1647,1649,799,586,434,710,1208,287,288,676,802,988,316,1016,458,1658],"class_list":["post-890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","tag-adrian-gonzalez","tag-albert-pujols","tag-alex-rios","tag-anibal-sanchez","tag-aramis-ramirez","tag-brandon-lyon","tag-buster-posey","tag-carlos-marmol","tag-carlos-santana","tag-carlos-zambrano","tag-chad-qualls","tag-chase-utley","tag-cliff-lee","tag-cole-hamels","tag-dan-uggla","tag-david-aardsma","tag-felix-hernandez","tag-francisco-cordero","tag-geovany-soto","tag-hanley-ramirez","tag-heath-bell","tag-jason-amos","tag-jason-heyward","tag-jason-kellenbenz","tag-jeremy-hellickson","tag-jj-putz","tag-jon-rauch","tag-jonathan-sanchez","tag-jose-bautista","tag-josh-hamilton","tag-leo-nunez","tag-madison-bungarner","tag-mark-reynolds","tag-mat-latos","tag-matt-capps","tag-matt-holliday","tag-matt-weiters","tag-michael-young","tag-neftali-feliz","tag-paul-konerko","tag-pedro-alvarez","tag-richie-weeks","tag-tim-lincecum","tag-todd-boss","tag-troy-tulowitzki","tag-vito-dragone"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=890"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7934,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890\/revisions\/7934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2. Matt Holliday<\/strong>.\u00a0 By the time I pick again, all the top tier 1B and 3B were gone.\u00a0 I figured this would happen and had targeted a couple of lower-end 1B and 3B players that I figured I could get later on (see rounds 10 and 14). \u00a0 I wanted Hamilton<\/strong> here but he went earlier than I thought he would.\u00a0 I would have loved for Adrian Gonzalez <\/strong>to slip but he did not.
\n3. Tim Lincecum<\/strong>.\u00a0 I was either-or for Felix Hernandez<\/strong> or Lincecum here.\u00a0 In the end I went for Lincecum because of the NL angle and because of how bad Seattle is.\u00a0 Hernandez went immediately after Lincecum.
\n4. Richie Weeks<\/strong>.\u00a0 Coming back at the end of the 4th, I needed to focus one at least one of the “skill” positions that can be tough to fill.\u00a0 I wanted Uggla<\/strong> but missed him by a few picks.\u00a0 Weeks is a good all around player; 29 homers with 11 SBs in 2010.\u00a0 I’ll take that out of the 2nd base position.\u00a0 Someone took a flier on Chase Utley<\/strong> not knowing just how bad his injury is … it pays to be prepared and up-to-date on injury news.\u00a0 Weeks himself is an injury risk and was listed as a possible fantasy bust for 2011.\u00a0 We’ll keep our fingers crossed.
\n5. Jason Heyward<\/strong>: I can’t remember if Posey<\/strong> was sitting there available at this point or not, but I like having an up-and-coming power hitter here.
\n6. Alex Rios<\/strong>: I filled my 3rd OF position with a bit of a sleeper in Rios.\u00a0 He was #27 fantasy producer in 2010, hitting 21 homers and getting 34 sbs.\u00a0 My first 5 out-field players all can be described as guys who can hit for power and get SBs.
\n7. Cole Hamels<\/strong>: I missed out on Cliff Lee<\/strong> but am a bit wary of him this year anyway.\u00a0 He wasn’t THAT great in the regular season last year.\u00a0 Meanwhile Hamels had a sneaky solid season with 211 ks in 208 innings.\u00a0 He took a lot of losses though; lets hope that his move to the #4 starter puts him in line to get many more wins.
\n8. Mat Latos<\/strong>.\u00a0 #32 ranked 2010 fantasy performer in the end of the 8th round.\u00a0 I’ll take that.\u00a0 Lots of Ks, great ERA and whip and pitching in the massive Petco.\u00a0 Love this pick.
\n9. Neftali Feliz<\/strong>: I announced prior to this pick that I didn’t care if he was starting or closing, that I wanted him.\u00a0 He apparently will be the closer, which i’m kinda bummed about since I think he’d be a great starter … but at the same time he’s probably the 3rd or 4th best closer out there.\u00a0 I wanted Marmol<\/strong> and his ridiculous K rates but he went very early.\u00a0 I also wanted Heath Bell<\/strong> right around here but missed him by one pick, with Acheson getting him just before I was to pick him.
\n10. Paul Konerko<\/strong>.\u00a0 In the 10th round I sitll didn’t have a first baseman or a third baseman, two positions that are very power-hitter friendly.\u00a0 As mentioned above, once I missed out on the top guys in the 1st-2nd rounds, I made a calculated gamble targeting two guys I figured would be either overlooked or be later round guys.\u00a0 Konerko was the first: he was the #12 fantasy hitter last year, blasting 39 homers with 111 rbis.\u00a0 It was a contract year, which is a bit scary, but he also inherits Adam Dunn<\/strong> as protection for 2011.\u00a0 I’m hoping he continues to hit at this level despite him being 35 this year.\u00a0 With him and Dunn switching off between 1B and DH perhaps the rest will do him good.
\n11. Jonathan Sanchez<\/strong>.\u00a0 Oddly Yahoo has him ranked 173rd, despite being the 70th best producer last year.\u00a0 I don’t get it; 13-9, 205 ks in 193 innings, good era and whip.\u00a0 This may have been a reach by ranking points but I like him.
\n12. Matt Weiters.<\/strong> At this point there was a slight run on Catchers and I felt I needed to make a move.\u00a0 I was looking at either Weiters or Geovany Soto<\/strong>.\u00a0 Honestly before the draft I would have loved to have taken a shot at Carlos Santana<\/strong> but he went very early.\u00a0 I debated between Soto and Weiters and went with the promising rookie.\u00a0 Vito, drafting right behond me, was thinking the same thing and immediately snapped up Soto.
\n13. JJ Putz<\/strong>.\u00a0 At this point in the draft, I nearly had all my positional players and generally go SP-RP all the way out.\u00a0 I wanted to get my hands on at least one of the upper-end closers available and went with Putz.\u00a0 Putz took a setup job in Chicago last year and pitched well enough to earn another closer job.\u00a0 Arizona isn’t going to get him a ton of closer opportunities but after their debacle last year trying Qualls<\/strong>, Rauch <\/strong>and the kitchen sink in the role, Putz may do well.\u00a0 Remember, Matt Capps <\/strong>got a ton of saves for a last place team last year too.
\n14. Pedro Alvarez<\/strong>.\u00a0 My last positional player.\u00a0 Most of the good 3rd basement went in the first two rounds.\u00a0 I didn’t want to mess with guys like Bautista <\/strong>(flash in the pan?), Michael Young <\/strong>(he’s a utility player in a bad professional situation) or Aramis Ramirez <\/strong>(two bad years in a row).\u00a0 I was targeting Alvarez or Mark Reynolds<\/strong>.\u00a0 Reynolds hit less than .200 last year after a monster 2009 and is moving to a fantastic hitters park for him, so that was tempting.\u00a0 But he’s also moving to the toughest division with a lot of upper-end pitching and he may push 250 Ks this year.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Alvarez is a cool rookie with a lot of upside and he could be fun to follow.
\n15. Francisco Cordero<\/strong>: my 3rd closer; from here out my goal is to get the best closers available til I get to 5, then get whatever starting pitchers look enticing.\u00a0 Cordero got 40 saves last year; works for me.
\n16. Leo Nunez<\/strong>; 20 picks later I get Nunez, who I have ranked right next to Cordero.\u00a0 More Ks, better whip but fewer saves for Florida.
\n17. Brandon Lyon<\/strong>: Not a ton of saves last year but he wasn’t the closer til August.\u00a0 then in 6 weeks he got 15 saves.\u00a0 I’m hoping this is a steal of a pick and he racks up 35-40 saves this year.
\n18. Madison Bumgarner<\/strong>; Amazing, i’ve got Bumgarner ranked the exact same as Sanchez, who I got 7 rounds earlier.\u00a0 I like Bumgarner and think he can be as effective as he was in the playoffs.\u00a0 Honestly I wanted Hellickson<\/strong> around here but Droopy got him.\u00a0 Bumgarner fits my profile better; NL starter with good numbers.\u00a0 Not the best K\/9 guy but he’s also a youngster and can get better.
\n19. Carlos Zambrano<\/strong>; This pick was partly a joke; there is a massive Cubs fan in our league (Erwin) who absolutely would have picked this guy.\u00a0 But this was also strategic; Zambrano got an incredibly quick hook out of the rotation last year, missed a month but still finished the season 11-6 with 8.1K\/9.\u00a0 He was very effective down the stretch.\u00a0 I’m hoping he picks right back up where he was before.
\n20. David Aardsma<\/strong>: Strategy pick; I know he’s going to start the season on the DL, so I will move him to my DL slot and pick up another guy.\u00a0 As it turned out I did not pick up a utility player, so I’ll get the best hitter available before the season starts.
\n21. Anibel Sanchez<\/strong>: in the last round, i looked at my starting pitcher depth charts for the NL and selected what I thought was the best targeted starter available.\u00a0 I was considering the likes of Fausto Carmona, Travis Wood, Dallas Braden or Jorge De La Rosa.\u00a0 In the end Sanchez had a solid season last year for Florida and could do well.<\/p>\n\n
\n
\n
\n2. Matt Holliday
\n3. Tim Lincecum
\n4. Richie Weeks
\n5. Jason Heyward
\n6. Alex Rios
\n7. Cole Hamels
\n8. Matt Latos
\n9. Neftali Feliz
\n10. Paul Konerko
\n11. Jonathan Sanchez
\n12. Matt Weiters
\n13. JJ Putz
\n14. Pedro Alvarez
\n15. Francisco Cordero
\n16. Leo Nunez
\n17. Brandon Lyon
\n18. Madison Bumgarner
\n19. Carlos Zambrano
\n20. David Aardsma
\n21. Anibal Sanchez<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"