Strategy: Simple - don't reach for anyone and don't punt any categories. Try to achieve balance and mitigate risk within reason. Try to get two closers, one good, one viable in rounds 8 through 12. Grab 3 to 4 SP's to anchor my staff, two in the first 7 rounds and two after my first closer. Don't punt catcher! Other than that, let the draft come to me and grab "value" when it falls into my lap.
I think I accomplished most of this, but you be the judge.
Pick 1
Albert Pujols. I guess it was between Hanley and him. I never really considered Hanley though.
2/3
Predraft I was actually considering drafting VMart and McCann here if they were both on the board. It would give me a huge edge at 3 positions within my first 3 picks, but leave me woefully short in steals. When Martinez was taken in the mid-second I still considered McCann, but with Reyes already playing (and homering) in actual games I was secretly hoping he was there at pick 30. He was and I took him, but to my surprise someone else was there that I had never considered - Mark Reynolds. Easy choice for me as he's nearly the perfect player to pair with Albert Pujols.
With a healthy Reyes for over 500 AB's I think with these first 3 picks I will have gotten pretty close to the 75/75 start though I wasn't really too concerned with this going into the draft - it just sort of happened.
4/5
Here I wanted a staff anchor and thought Johan might make it this far. He went at pick 52, so I chose to grab Javier Vazquez. For me, at this pick, it was between him and Beckett, but I like Vazquez a bit more. Some folks don't care for him, but he's a very consistent high K pitcher and, knock on wood, injury resistant though *ERA results may vary*.
With my other pick at the 60/61 turn I wanted another power/speed bat and was hoping Granderson or Zobrist would fall this far (though not expecting it). Was also looking possibly for Aaron Hill. I know - wishful thinking on all accounts. I almost draft Hunter Pence several rounds early right here, but my Dad caught another player on the board far after he should have been drafted - Jason Bay! Easy choice but now I have to consider future draft picks fairly carefully as my BA is at risk with Reynolds and Bay.
6/7
At this pick I was hoping to grab Nolasco and another good bat though in this particular draft I was trying to be careful as to not pigeonhole myself into selecting my pre draft targets, but rather just go with the flow. Nolasco is there so I do select him, but the other pick here was a big surprise to me. I select Jonathan Papelbon. He's a top 3 closer in my book and usually is drafted long before this pick. This will hurt my bats but I felt I couldn't pass up great value with a top closer (especially since I have no top closers in any of my other leagues (except Nathan)).
8/9
I was thinking this would be the pick that I take one of the upside young guys everyone is so high on such as Carlos Gonzalez. He disappears and so does Heyward. I decide to grab Jay Bruce though I realize this jeopardizes my BA in a huge way. I figure that if I can still grab two decent catchers I'll cover the BA drain that most other teams will see from having to grab catcher combos like Olivo/Barajas, etc.
For my other pick I take Brian Wilson. Partly because I like him to keep his job and partly because most of the closers were surprisingly still on the board. I figured with the 28 pick gap a large chunk of the closers would be gone before my tenth pick. Also, if I was correct in a lot of closers being picked that would mean that a lot of bats didn't get picked so they'd still be there at 10.
10/11
I grab my 3rd stud SP (in my mind, results may vary) in Jered Weaver - a guy I still think can be better than he was last year, though I'd probably be fine if he put up the same stats.
There were a lot of other "breakout" SP's at this pick, but I figured I'd draft the guy I liked the most here rather than draft the guys everyone else is high on. That way, if I lose, at least I did it with guys I wanted.
My other pick I may have jumped a couple rounds, but didn't want to get shut out on any single position so I grab Rickie Weeks here *Danger Will Robinson, BA is sicking quickly*
12/13
As the draft was unfolding here I was thinking I needed to grab both catchers here, something I hated doing but felt I needed to to regain some of the BA I had been losing. Doumit and Piersynski, two of my targets were taken right before and I prayed the next couple drafters didn't take the only two legit catchers left. I grab Bengie and Yadier.
14/15
I took one of these guys against my Dad's judgment and so I took one guy for him as well.
Ted Lilly was my guy. Great pitcher and could be a great number 4 for my team if he's healthy. And this satisfies my 4 stud SP goal.
Colby Rasmus was my Dad's guy. He stongly urged me to take him, though I had concerns about his BA potential I gave in. My Dad liked what he saw in the spring from Rasmus so I trusted his eye over my projections.
And besides that I still needed 3 OF's
16/17
Here I fill two more OF spots with plus BA in Delmon Young and Juan Rivera. Delmon I think performs better than he's ever done this year, though that isn't saying much since he's never done much and Rivera I feel should put up similar numbers. I feel these types of picks here are far better than having to draft catchers like Baker, etc. in these rounds so I semi-planned the draft to work this way.
18/19
Here I bring my BA back up some more with the only legit .300 hitter left on the board in Magglio Ordonez. I also grab Marco Scutaro which I actually think is a pretty good option this late as a MI.
I had a conversation with Gekko about him this year after I had selected him in the 14th round of an early draft and Gekko hated the pick! He suggested I take someone like Sizemore, etc several rounds later. Well, the upside MI's were mostly gone by this round in this draft, but I passed on Scutaro for several rounds thanks to Mr. Gekko. I also grabbed him in the 20th round of another draft. Gekko saved me 6 rounds! He may be brash sometimes, but he does seem to know baseball.
20/21
Interesting pick here because I knew Alex Gordon would start on the DL and I still needed a CI. I was hoping Kouz would make it but that didn't happen. I figured I'd grab Gordon here and then grab Huff or Rolen later as fill-ins (or full-timers if Gordon sucks when he comes back).
I also grab Barmes so I have a complete middle infield while Reyes is out and the option to rotate him into the lineup when he's in Colorado.
22/23
Aubrey Huff and Colby Lewis. I like what Lewis brings to the table this late in the draft. Hopefully he can replicate his foreign numbers here. If not, a 23rd rounder is an easy cut.
24/25
Westbrook (I had him in the lineup - ugh!) and Dallas Braden. Not great starters and maybe not even great upside (if any), but guys I don't mind playing match ups with.
26/27
Marquis/Lohse - see above.
28/29
Here I grab Jose Guillen for a little insurance against my higher risk OF. I also grab Gorzelanny! Why you ask? Well, because I saw that Childs drafted him of course. No, really, that's the only reason.
30
Alfredo Aceves.
I'd like to hear thoughts on this team as I do think it is my best team this year in all my leagues and I was very happy with it after the draft.
I have some conservative projections of about 275/150 with a surprisingly decent BA of about .280
C Molina
C Molina
CI Pujols
CI Reynolds
CI Huff, Gordon
MI Reyes
MI Weeks
MI Scutaro, Barmes
OF Bay
OF Bruce
OF D Young
OF Rivera
OF Rasmus
UT Ordonez, J Guillen
CL Papelbon
CL Wilson
SP Vazquez
SP Nolasco
SP Weaver
SP Lilly
SP Marquis
SP Braden
SP Lohse
SP Lewis
SP Westbrook
RP Aceves
[ April 06, 2010, 05:38 AM: Message edited by: EliGrimmett ]