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My NFBC draft season has now officially wrapped so I thought I'd get on the bandwagon by posting my Main Event team from this past Saturday (Online draft) with some commentary on how it went. Was drafting from the #6 spot:

1. Ryan Braun (OF) – Was worried about 1B depth and considering Votto to start but couldn’t pass up Braun when he fell to 6 (much to my surprise)

2. Andrew McCutchen (OF) – Wanted Teixeira here but he went the pick before. Instead grabbed another balanced (HR/SB) outfielder

3. David Wright (3B) – Wanted a 3B here. Chose Wright over Zimmerman and Sandoval…think he will outperform them *IF* he’s healthy.

4. Hunter Pence (OF) – My third outfielder, not really by design but he was top of my rankings at this point and figured I would be OK holding off on another OF for 8-9 rounds.

5. Jimmy Rollins (SS) – Was thinking about McCann, Lester or Rollins here. I don’t love this pick given Alexei Ramirez went in Round 10, but I’m not sure Ramirez/Lester (the alternative) would have been much better than Rollins/Beckett. The SPs I really wanted here (Haren, Gallardo, Price, Greinke, Hamels) were all gone.

6. Matt Wieters (C) – Chose Wieters over Montero here (Montero went 3 picks later). Made me feel fine about passing on McCann in Round 5

7. Rickie Weeks (2B) – With B Phillips (early Round 3) and Howie Kendrick (early Round 5) going earlier than I would have expected, felt like there was a large drop-off at 2B after Weeks if I didn’t pull trigger here so I kept building my offense.

8. Mariano Rivera (RP) – Closer run started in Round 7 with Papelbon, Axford, and Santos going between my 7th and 8th round picks. Figured I would jump in and get a top-flight guy here. Heath Bell, Storen, Andrew Bailey and Hanrahan went in the 10 picks between my 8th and 9th rounders.

9. Ike Davis (1B) – Another “last guy in the tier” pick. Freeman, Goldschmidt, Morse, M Reynolds, Berkman, Lind were all gone and I was starting to worry about my 1B slot (despite still not having a SP yet). Davis can hopefully take advantage of new Citi Field fences.

10. Josh Beckett (SP) – At this point, I know I need to reel off a bunch of SP picks. Was happy to get Beckett in Round 10 to kick things off.

11. Michael Pineda (SP) – Don’t love the move to Yankee Stadium for him, but thought he was too good to pass up here. Was debating taking him or Scherzer (who went the pick after this).

12. Ubaldo Jimenez (SP) – Moving to AL is bad, moving out of Coors is good. Hope net-net it’s a return to form.

13. Dexter Fowler (OF) – My main concern about taking 3 outfielders early was that I’d miss out on Fowler by having to compensate at other positions in Rounds 10-12. Very happy he was still on the board for Round 13

14. Ted Lilly (SP) – Wanted to continue building starting pitching depth, but in retrospect, there were enough SP values in later rounds I could’ve taken another offensive player here (e.g. Alex Rios or Justin Morneau, who went a few picks later)

15. Frank Francisco (RP) – Was in midst of a second-tier closer run. Felt like Francisco was one of few with very good skills (and don’t think he really has that much legit competition in NY)

16. Ryan Doumit (C) – Hoping that being able to play every day will pump up the counting stats

17. Wandy Rodriguez (SP) – Lots of quality SPs still on the board at this stage, started picking some off

18. James Loney (1B) – Knew that I might need to take some BA risks in later picks so I grabbed Loney for CI. Maybe his 2H 2011 was real?

19. Gavin Floyd (SP) – Catch a falling SP, part 1. Actually had very good peripherals last year, which hopefully will translate to good actual stats.

20. Chad Billingsley (SP) – Catch a falling SP, part 2. Still young and pitching development curve can be non-linear. Getting him and Floyd in Rounds 19-20 makes me regret the Lilly pick in Round 14 a bit.

21. Mike Aviles (2B) – Hoping that playing every day in BOS will pump up stats across the board. With longer-term eligibility at 2B/SS/3B, figured I could benefit from versatility as well.

22. Will Venable (OF) – The offense I had built up to this point looked to have a fairly strong BA, allowing me to grab Venable’s power/speed combo for my fifth OF slot and not have it tank my BA.

23. Dayan Viciedo (OF) – Should play every day at Cell and hit HR. Bit of a gamble, but it’s my Utility slot and can shift gears if needed.

24. Anthony Rizzo (1B) – Know he probably won’t be up for a month at minimum, but smoked ball everywhere except Petco Park over last 18 months. Bryan LaHair is not Albert Pujols.

25. Jonny Giavotella (2B) – I have Weeks and Wright, so I wanted a capable MI to have on reserve. He just got demoted to AAA but seems like that will be temporary.

26. Sergio Romo (RP) – Brian Wilson is hurting again and Romo has absolutely filthy numbers. Was last stud set-up guy left and I only have two “official” closers at this point.

27. James McDonald (SP) – Upside SP…will let him “prove” himself before I take him off bench spot and into lineup.

28. Marlon Byrd (OF) – Acknowledging Venable and Viciedo may have PT risk, Byrd gives me an everyday player and counting stat accumulator to plug in for either if they are not panning out.

29. Felipe Paulino (SP) – Debating between a bunch of SP flyers here, went with Paulino with hope that strong peripherals will translate into a good fantasy-stat season. Like McDonald, stays on bench until he starts showing something.

30. Glen Perkins (RP) – A bet against Matt Capps and another candidate to become potential third closer.

Or, in lineup form:

C. Matt Wieters (6)
C. Ryan Doumit (16)
1B. Ike Davis (9)
2B. Rickie Weeks (7)
SS. Jimmy Rollins (5)
3B. David Wright (3)
MI. Mike Aviles (21)
CI. James Loney (18)
OF. Ryan Braun (1)
OF. Andrew McCutchen (2)
OF. Hunter Pence (4)
OF. Dexter Fowler (13)
OF. Will Venable (22)
U. Dayan Viciedo (23)

SP1. Josh Beckett (10)
SP2. Michael Pineda (11)
SP3. Ubaldo Jimenez (12)
SP4. Ted Lilly (14)
SP5. Wandy Rodriguez (17)
SP6. Gavin Floyd (19)
SP7. Chad Billingsley (20)
RP1. Mariano Rivera (8)
RP2. Frank Francisco (15)

B1. Anthony Rizzo (24)
B2. Johnny Giavotella (25)
B3. Sergio Romo (26)
B4. James McDonald (27)
B5. Marlon Byrd (28)
B6. Felipe Paulino (29)
B7. Glen Perkins (30)

With likely need infielders to stay healthy and some bouncebacks from the SP staff to be competitive. Offense will hopefully be solid.

I REALLY like this team.. good job, considering you waited on SP, you will likely struggle in pitching ratios, but all in all, I like it !

You are right that you need that infield to stay healthy, Also I am not a big fan of Venable but think he can hold down the spot until Rizzo get call back up(If you can keep him on the bench that long?)I think Rizzo is going to be good once he get a chance in Wrigley and be out of Petco.

I am not that high on your pitching,you are going to need a few guys to pitch at the top of their game and nobody have a bad season. Rivera is as good as it get, but Francisco worries me alot that he can't keep the job all season. Perkins could be a nice find if he gets the opportunity.

Like all main event team you are going to have some hold to pacth during the season, that will tell the story of how successful this team will be.

I really like this team too. This is one of the very best pitching rotations I have seen from guys who wait that late to start grabbing their pitchers. It seems guys are really waiting longer on pitching as the off season goes on to fill the offensive side of their stats. Good job and good luck with it!

Roy's Outlaws wrote:You are right that you need that infield to stay healthy, Also I am not a big fan of Venable but think he can hold down the spot until Rizzo get call back up(If you can keep him on the bench that long?)I think Rizzo is going to be good once he get a chance in Wrigley and be out of Petco.

I am not that high on your pitching,you are going to need a few guys to pitch at the top of their game and nobody have a bad season. Rivera is as good as it get, but Francisco worries me alot that he can't keep the job all season. Perkins could be a nice find if he gets the opportunity.

Like all main event team you are going to have some hold to pacth during the season, that will tell the story of how successful this team will be.

True on the Venable thing, but getting both Venable and Rizzo, that was a smart play... Regarding the pitching, after the first 9 picks, I was thinking, this could be a disaster if he didnt take the right pitchers... I think what you did very smart here was, after waiting 9 rounds, you chose to pick mostly safe pitchers, with high strikeout ability, along with some decent young pitching with upside... Very nice job.. but as I said, I think the ratios could be your downfall.. but in a 15 teamer, no team is perfect, but I think you set yourself up for a run at it, if your pitchers can bounce back...

Thanks for the feedback / perspectives. I definitely felt very fortunate to construct the pitching staff I did while waiting until Round 10 to start accumulating SPs. Not sure I'd be able to repeat that trick again! I am hoping that having Marlon Byrd on the bench can offer some downside protection against Venable and/or Viciedo not performing. At least until the cavalry arrives from AAA...

I really like this team. Some solid guys on offense and good pitching considering how long you waited. I know how you felt getting Braun at # 6 since he fell to me at # 8 in Main Event Weekend 1 Mahwah,NJ League 1.Except for grabbing Price in round 4 I also waited on SP's, not picking next one until round 12. I'm going to post my team on the boards and would appreciate and feedback that you would like to give,either good or bad.
Rich McCormick
Astoria,NY

Very solidly built roster. There's a solid hitter in every roster slot, 7 good SP and 2 Closers. Typically injury prone teams look very good on paper, I know them well, lets just hope that IF holds up.

By far the best main event team I have seen posted so far. The pitching really fell into place for you. Well done!