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What better way to study then to look at the top team? This was a fascinating draft, if you have not looked at it yet, and you read these boards (meaning you love this stuff), check it out. Pitching in general went like wildfire super early.



L's first 5 from 4 spot were



Mauer

Reyes

Zimmerman

Santana

Wainwright



L did not take an outfielder until the late teens. So it seems as if his plan was to fill in tougher positions players first and then he might have gotten derailed from that strategy by the pitching run. He took Pitchers with picks 4-8. Either way, Reyes has produced above slot and Mauer, despite numbers not close to 09, has given decided positional advantage sought by pick.

Wainwright really was undervalued this year, even going in 4-5 rd...he has been best fantasy pitcher (and maybe best period)



Picks 6-10

Cain

Cl Lee

Wagner

Uggla

Aardsma



Pitching is so bloody risky, and yet L hit on every single guy. Not even an injury to all of them. Uggla is seen on so many top teams since he has 1-3rd rd value in 9-10.



After 10 picks, he has 2 closers and 4 starters and 4 of 5 IF positions.



11 Cantu (first minor miss)

12 Ortiz

13 Furcal

14 Dotel

15 Sheets



Cantu was good for a couple of months. Ortiz has been a awesome since end May and Furcal had verys solid 4 months. Dotel was a key pick up since it provided that 3rd closer...not sure if he had been announced as of the second weekend.



Then we get to the area that possibly won L 100k:



16 Hart

17 C Young

18 Huff

19 Bradley

20 Correia



The trilogy of Hart, Young and Huff gave L two top tiered OF and a very, very good 1b...alll with bottom half of draft. This is either unbelievable skill, luck or some modicum of each. Ordinarily filling 5 OF spots is a difficult task. My team has been struggling for 2-3 spots all year. L got 3-4th rd value in 16-18.



Pick 21 was Pods (again that name appears...Pods, Uggla NFBC MVPs?) Otherwise, L's 21-30 was not successful.



Believe it or not, L has not been hugely successfull in FAAB. He had three large expenditures fairly early:



Pudge 189 (neatly filling the second c hole from his draft)

Zambrano, pre blow up for 177

Cust 185



It seems that every team makes three big plays per season, or thereabouts. Spending almost 600 for basically Pudge, is not great. The next highest bid on Cust was $29.



L's big pick ups were

ANkiel

Neil Walker

LeBlanc

H Bailey

Brantley



Walker has been pretty good, but I dont know if this can be considered even a good FAAB season.



L's current lineup is:

Mauer, Pudge

Huff

Uggla

Zimm

Reyes

Walker

Teahan

Ankiel, Hart, Brantley, Pods, C Young

Ortiz



Pitch: Aardsma, Wagner

Bailey, Cain, LeBlanc, CLee, Wainwr, Santana



Lessons learned: 1. this would be a very difficult strategy to follow. L's ability to hit so hard on power/avg in late teen rds for OF/1b is almost impossible feat 2. I do think that nailing down at least 2 closers is important and getting third potential is very beneficial 3. L seems better at picking up hitting then pitching, so he solidified numerous SPs early



Remembering that L has had huge success previously disavows me of the notion that hitting on all of these studs late is luck. That said, this does have the appearance of a perfect storm...getting serious comeback years from 3 players, no sp injuries, 3 closers who kept job until trading deadline, healthy Reyes and Dan Uggla.

Nice job with these 'Cold Hard Looks'.



I like the honesty of your reviews and the insight it provides into the top teams.

Schnks--I've been enjoying your posts on drafting strategy on the top teams. (Where were you last year?). This last one on Longood's team is especially interesting to me. I have battled him for years in the Ultimate Auction and he has been very successful there. He has always placed heavy emphasis on pitching. Last year he spent $130 on pitching, half of his budget. His total outlay for his outfield and DH was $22. Final result was a $35000 profit. So his drafting this year in the main and his success there is no surprise to me. He and his sons are tremendous players. Forget the 75-75 mantra, take six pitchers in the first 10 rounds.

Doug,

Your PM box is full.

Thanks. Yeah I was not a main eventer last year so I was not as interested, though I did review everything you did last year....lots of good that did me.



I appreciate the compliments...the analyses actually take a long time, so it is gratifying to know others enjoy them.



Dough...have cleared out in box.