Dalton Says: The following draft took place earlier this week and is a league that’s existed for almost 10 years now. Both Robby and I are in it, and we’ll go over each round with our thoughts and observations. The starters are C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, OF, OF, OF, OF, OF, Util and an 1800 innings cap, making SPs slightly more valuable and creating the need to take them sooner.
Robby Says: The first five rounds were marked by a fairly predictable top two rounds, followed by a surprisingly high number of starting pitchers taken in the next three rounds. My strategy (which seems to change every season) was fairly simple. I wanted to get the best hitter available in each round, regardless of position, and then grab a solid starting pitcher a bit later to anchor my rotation.
ROUND ONE
1 – Johan Santana
2 – Albert Pujols
3 – Jose Reyes
4 – Alfonso Soriano
5 – Alex Rodriguez
6 – Chase Utley
7 – Ryan Howard
8 – Miguel Cabrera
9 – Big Papi
10 – Carl Crawford
11 – Carlos Beltran
12 – Vlad Guerrero
Dalton Says –
My Pick: I was originally slotted with the No. 7 pick but swapped rounds one and two to move up to the No. 2 slot. While I was very, very close to taking Reyes (and maybe I should have), I ended up going with Pujols.
Best Pick: Especially in this format, I have no problem with Santana going No. 1. I have Crawford ranked as a top-6 player, so he presented the best value in round 1.
Worst Pick: Hard to go wrong here, but third base is a pretty deep position to take this early. That said, I think Cabrera is going to have a huge season.
Robby Says-
My Pick: Alfonso Soriano’s steals made him the clear-cut number four guy for me, although this was akin to having the fourth pick in a fantasy football draft this year.
Best Pick: Pretty standard picks, I like Crawford and felt he slipped a bit.
Worst Pick: Nothing too bad; M-Cab may’ve been a slight reach, although he could easily become the best hitter in the game in a couple of years.
ROUND TWO
13 – David Wright
14 – Derek Jeter
15 – Chris Carpenter
16 – Travis Hafner
17 – Mark Teixeira
18 – Grady Sizemore
19 – Jimmy Rollins
20 – Lance Berkman
21 – Manny Ramirez
22 – Ichiro
23 – Hanley Ramirez
24 – Derek Lee
Dalton Says-
My Pick: After the All-Star break last year, here are Jose Reyes’ numbers: .300 -11 HRs -47 runs -25 SBs. Here are Ramirez’s: .319 -11 HRs -50 runs -25 SBs. They are both 23 years old. Still, in all honesty, this pick scares me more than any other I made. I even stated that Ramirez was someone I’d avoid in my write up of him. His minor league numbers entering last season didn’t suggest such a breakthrough was likely so soon, and a regression this year is almost certain. Ultimately, steals were too big of a premium for me to pass him up.
Best Pick: Rollins and Hafner were my favorite picks from this round.
Worst Pick: None are egregious, but I wouldn’t have picked Sizemore even if he fell to me.
Robby Says-
My Pick: Hoping to get Berkman, I settled for Manny whose erratic behavior overshadows his consistent production.
Best Pick: Hafner is an absolute beast and top ten guy in my book.
Worst Pick: Jeter and Hanley Ramirez both seemed to be a bit of a reach. It seems more likely that Ramirez will not match last year’s stats than surpass them.
ROUND THREE
25 – Michael Young
26 – Bobby Abreu
27 – Andruw Jones
28 – Matt Holliday
29 – Carlos Lee
30 – Jason Bay
31 – Jake Peavy
32 – Aramis Ramirez
33 – Roy Oswalt
34 – Justin Morneau
35 – Joe Mauer
36 – Roy Halladay
Dalton Says-
My Pick: I like attacking SPs early in an 1800-inning format, and Jake Peavy is my third ranked pitcher.
Best Pick: Even in a 1-C league, I like the Mauer pick here.
Worst Pick: On my draft board, I had eight outfielders ranked above Andruw Jones when he went. The owners argument = “contract year.”
Robby Says-
My Pick: I chose Matt Holliday over a couple of comparable selections. When in doubt, choose Coors.
Best Pick: Nothing stands out too much but Peavy and Oswalt were the last elite pitchers to go.
Worst Pick: Young and Mauer were “position scarcity” selections while Andruw Jones went ahead of a handful of better outfield bets.
ROUND FOUR
37 – Miguel Tejada
38 – Brandon Webb
39 – Carlos Zambrano
40 – Daisuke Matsuzaka
41 – Vernon Wells
42 – Ben Sheets
43 – Paul Konerko
44 – Garrett Atkins
45 – Rafael Furcal
46 – Johnny Damon
47 – Jermaine Dye
48 – Victor Martinez
Dalton Says-
My Pick: Gulp. Well, it’s safe to say Sheets will go later in most drafts. There’s significant risk taking him here, but if he somehow throws 220 innings, he’d be worthy of a top-10 pick.
Best Pick: I really wanted Zambrano to fall to me and almost took him over Peavy the previous round. Hands down the best pick during this round.
Worst Pick: Andrew Dice-K is a little too mysterious for a top-40 pick in my book, but he does have a VH1 reality show on his side.
Robby Says-
My Pick: I didn’t plan on taking a middle infielder, but Furcal slipped quite a bit, considering that comparable guys went 20 picks earlier.
Best Pick: Garrett Atkins was stolen out from under my nose.
Worst Pick: Matsuzaka may very well merit that high of a pick, but he’s still too great of an unknown.
ROUND FIVE
49 – Hideki Matsui
50 – Troy Glaus
51 – Jim Thome
52 – John Smoltz
53 – Scott Kazmir
54 – Carlos Delgado
55 – Felix Hernandez
56 – Barry Zito
57 – Jason Schmidt
58 – Cole Hamels
59 – Joe Nathan
60 – Juan Pierre
Dalton Says-
My Pick: It seems I’m going to draft King Felix in every league I’m in this year (3-for-3 so far), and all this “better shape” talk better be for real. He’s the best prospect of my lifetime, and the results will finally reveal that this season.
Best Pick: John Smoltz was fine value here, and I also like the Thome pick, as I suspect he’d go about 10-15 picks earlier if not for the DH designation. The guy clubbed 42 homers in 490 at-bats last year. While many will call the Hamels pick too early, if he throws 200 innings this year, he’ll be a top-30 pick next year.
Worst Pick: I think most of the other hurlers selected this round will outpitch Schmidt this season, and I think Glaus, although SS eligible, has too low of a batting average to be taken here.
Robby Says-
My Pick: After the starting pitching run, I waited on my ace and grabbed John Smoltz who has been impressive despite his age.
Best Pick: I liked the Juan Pierre selection a lot as he was the last elite source of steals.
Worst Pick: Troy Glaus probably should have slipped at least another round.
Rounds 6-10 will be posted later this week.
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