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April 1st WTA - league 1



I knew there would be an SP run early in the draft, especially being the last draft before the season starts and from looking at other drafts going on, everyone wants to get their target SP ace they might have missed in their previous drafts.

I decided to try a Lincecum/Greinke strategy. 4th round went the way I wanted. Huge pitcher run, Beckett, Wainwright, Lester and more were getting picked early 4th making the Greinke pick that much better in the late 3rd.

Tried to get 75/75 with a .300 BA out of my first 3 offensive players. Got Ellsbury (2), D-Lee (4) and Josh Hamilton (5). Figure I get maybe 65 homers with 75 steals and a .290 with upside, close to my goal. I figured power would be the tough one to come up with while getting 2 SP's in the first 3 rounds. Busted out Berkman in the 6th (at some point he looks good) and Uggla in the 7th. I didn't rest on Lincecum/Greinke but solidified it by taking Jurrjens in the 9th and Liriano in the 11th. I figured I've got K's, e.r.a, whip locked up with potentially strong saves especially since I can run 3 out there from time to time and my K's won't hurt too much with dominant strikeout pitchers on roster. I might have some more wiggle room than others for running out double start pitchers maximizing win while maintaing a dominant e.r.a./whip.



I like my draft, I've got to fill some holes though. 2nd catcher, 5th outfielder, 7th starter. I knew going in with this strategy it would leave some holes to fillbut might give me an edge, especially if I can make some sneaky pickups during the season to help my offense.



My X factors are Josh Hamilton and Francisco Liriano. Going for major upside here, of course with equal risk.



C Bengie Molina SF (12th round)

C Gregg Zaun MLW (didn't want to waste 15th round pick on a Carlos Ruiz type)need replacement

1B Derrek Lee CHC hoping for 30 homers again

2B Dan Uggla FLA .255-30-100-100 from 2nd

3B Chipper Jones ATL (.365 in 2008)

SS Rafael Furcal LAD (pray for 20 steals)

MI Orlando Hudson MIN (solid, unspectacular)

CI Lance Berkman HOU (very risky play)

CI Blake DeWitt LAD (fill-in for Berkman)

OF Josh Hamilton TEX (.300-30-100 potential)

OF Jacoby Ellsbury BOS

OF Vernon Wells TOR (not bad for 15th round)

OF Brett Gardner NYY (just hold onto job)

OF Carlos Guillen DET (need a replacement)

UT Travis Hafner CLE (.290-25-90)??

______________________________________________



P Tim Lincecum SF (11th pick)

P Zack Greinke KC (late 3rd)

P Francisco Liriano MIN (11th round)

P Jair Jurrjens ATL (9th round)

P Derek Lowe ATL (18th round)

P Colby Lewis TEX (sleeper here)

P Randy Wells CHC



P Joakim Soria KC (8th round)

P Mike Gonzalez BAL

P Chris Perez CLE (3rd closer)





P Bench Oliver Perez NYM (wasted 30th round)

P Bench Todd Wellemeyer SF (asking for 2008)

OF UT Bench Kosuke Fukudome CHC (not Ichiro)

MI SS UT Bench Mike Aviles KC (interesting)

P Bench Madison Bumgarner SF (future drop)



I just wanted a foundation. I was looking at some bounceback candidates, looks like a high risk/high reward draft, just what I wanted.



I gotta be there in Vegas, 2011 for my first Main Event. Could this be my year?

Good to see you back again, Craze.

Good to be back, thanks.

what up loco? long time no hear.



I think you deserve props for yer Nostradamus-like prediction about Matt Holliday last yr. Had he remained an Athletic chances are good that folks who drafted him would've been very disappointed.



forgot to mention yer team - after Timmy & Zack, (Liriano is a wildcard w/ upside), but the rest of the rotation isn't as strong as you think imo, 3 good closers is nice...



you may want to lower expectations on Chipper if yer talkin' bout .365....Hamilton better be a monster and even still yer power #'s are in doubt cuz (as billy mentioned) too many other injury risks/old guys.....for example Hafner, I'll believe it when I see it...grapefruit #'s don't go north



also, just curious, if Perez was yer "wasted 30th rd pick" when the heck didya take Dewitt? not a good fill-in for Berkman, but I do love the Puma, when all said and done ppl will wonder how the hell some got him in the 7th rd (or later )



good luck!



[ April 03, 2010, 04:22 PM: Message edited by: rockitsauce ]

Crazy,



I like your pitching, as two studs in Lincecum and Greinke allow you to "ride the lightning" with Liriano (who I like a lot!) You also have 3 closers to start the season. I could see 60+ points from this staff.....very nice!



Now for the downside... your hitters are some of the weakest out of all the teams I have seen.



You have WAY TOO MANY old men/injury risks. If this was 4 years ago, you could feel good, but aging Lee, Berkman, Molina, Hudson, Furcal and injury risks..Hamilton, Wells, Hafner, over half your hitters are too risky IMO. I see about 35-40 points from your hitters which is more than likely going to leave you at least 10 points short in a WTA.



Best of luck!

Originally posted by rockitsauce:

what up loco? long time no hear.



I think you deserve props for yer Nostradamus-like prediction about Matt Holliday last yr. Had he remained an Athletic chances are good that folks who drafted him would've been very disappointed.



forgot to mention yer team - after Timmy & Zack, (Liriano is a wildcard w/ upside), but the rest of the rotation isn't as strong as you think imo, 3 good closers is nice...



you may want to lower expectations on Chipper if yer talkin' bout .365....Hamilton better be a monster and even still yer power #'s are in doubt cuz (as billy mentioned) too many other injury risks/old guys.....for example Hafner, I'll believe it when I see it...grapefruit #'s don't go north



also, just curious, if Perez was yer "wasted 30th rd pick" when the heck didya take Dewitt? not a good fill-in for Berkman, but I do love the Puma, when all said and done ppl will wonder how the hell some got him in the 7th rd (or later )



good luck! What's up RockitSauce? It has been awhile.

As far as Holliday, had he remained in Oakland he would have probably dumped for anyone who had him. He was very mediocre over there until he turned into Pujols in St. Louis. In the end, I look wrong because he turned in a fine season, oh well.



I agree with you, power could seriously be a problem here. With Chipper, I feel like he is a good buy in the 10th round. If I just get 450 at-bats out of him he can give me very solid production and a BA that could easily be .300+. Berkman is another injury risk guy. Billywaz is right, lots of injury risk players, probably too many, but really, if most of them come through for me the way I expect combined with some savvy management and dominant pitching staff.....why not? I think most would be hardpressed to build a better offense combined with this pitching staff, if they have I'd like to see it.



Great to be back on the boards. Love the critiques and unlike before, I've really learned to take in everything I hear and filter it instead of disregarding it.



Again, it's great to be back. I miss the boards and chatting with you guys. Can't find this anywhere.

Originally posted by billywaz:

Crazy,



I like your pitching, as two studs in Lincecum and Greinke allow you to "ride the lightning" with Liriano (who I like a lot!) You also have 3 closers to start the season. I could see 60+ points from this staff.....very nice!



Now for the downside... your hitters are some of the weakest out of all the teams I have seen.



You have WAY TOO MANY old men/injury risks. If this was 4 years ago, you could feel good, but aging Lee, Berkman, Molina, Hudson, Furcal and injury risks..Hamilton, Wells, Hafner, over half your hitters are too risky IMO. I see about 35-40 points from your hitters which is more than likely going to leave you at least 10 points short in a WTA.



Best of luck! Thanks Billywaz. I appreciate the honesty. I probably should have taken a few more lower risk, solid "healthy" performers instead of going after the risky knockout blow. I atleast hope you appreciate the lesser hyped picks (veterans alot of times are looked over because they're not as exciting to own as the younger guys...fact) but you do point out that most of my picks also have injury tags which it duly noted.



I'm curious what chances you give me for finishing in first place? Hint, be brutally honest here. I can take it. Thanks for the critique Billywaz and good luck on your teams.