I Have The 12th Pick In Today's Rotowire Industry Draft

[Greg Ambrosius]

There's no rest for the die-hard fantasy baseball writer as we jump right from Christmas Day to an industry draft. This afternoon we have 15 industry writers competing in the Rotowire Fantasy Baseball Draft that will be published in their Rotowire Fantasy Baeball Guide. I have the 12th pick in this 15-team draft.

Here are the participants:

Teams:

Todd Zola - Mastersball.com
Tim Heaney - KFFL.com
Howard Bender - Rotowire (* Commissioner *)
Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports
Derek Van Riper - Rotowire
Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com
Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com
John Halpin - FOXSports.com
Steve Gardner - USA Today
Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com
Jeff Erickson - Rotowire
Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com (Your team)
Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com
Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com
Eric Karabell - ESPN.com

I'll post the first 6 rounds when the draft is complete. This should be fun.

I haven't drafted from the lower end yet, so this should be interesting. I have a feeling that the industry guys won't go as heavy early on for starting pitchers, so we'll see what happens. I'm going to see if I can hold off a little on SPs if that's the trend. Draft time is 4 pm ET, so look for some results when we're done. Thanks all.

Any suggestions on my first two picks?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Well, this was a lot of fun today. Unfortunately, we lost one owner just before the draft and somehow the decision was to go with 14 owners. I wish I had known because I could have slipped someone from the NFBC in there. But we went with 14 owners and everyone moved up a spot. I drafted from the 10th spot.

Here are the first 10 rounds and I'll post my roster next:

Rotowire.com Fantasy Baseball Guide Industry Draft:
Round Team Player Pos Team Pick Time
R1 P1 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Braun, Ryan OF MIL 2s
R1 P2 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Cabrera, Miguel 3B DET 12s
R1 P3 Howard Bender - Rotowire Trout, Mike OF ANA 10s
R1 P4 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Cano, Robinson 2B NYY 8s
R1 P5 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com McCutchen, Andrew OF PIT 18s
R1 P6 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Votto, Joey 1B CIN 9s
R1 P7 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Kemp, Matt OF LA 30s
R1 P8 Steve Gardner - USA Today Pujols, Albert 1B ANA 8s
R1 P9 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Kinsler, Ian 2B TEX 9s
R1 P10 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Gonzalez, Carlos OF COL AutoSelect
R1 P11 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Hamilton, Josh OF ANA 39s
R1 P12 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Stanton, Mike OF MIA
30s
R1 P13 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Fielder, Prince 1B DET 10s
R1 P14 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Wright, David 3B NYM 42s

R2 P1 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Upton, Justin OF ARI 21s
R2 P2 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Beltre, Adrian 3B TEX 41s
R2 P3 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Ramirez, Hanley SS LA 54s
R2 P4 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Tulowitzki, Troy SS COL 12s
R2 P5 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Posey, Buster C SF 35s
R2 P6 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Longoria, Evan 3B TB 8s
R2 P7 Steve Gardner - USA Today Reyes, Jose SS TOR 28s
R2 P8 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Zobrist, Ben 2B TB 38s
R2 P9 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Verlander, Justin SP DET 27s
R2 P10 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Bautista, Jose 3B TOR 21s
R2 P11 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Kershaw, Clayton SP LA 5s
R2 P12 Howard Bender - Rotowire Hernandez, Felix SP SEA 33s
R2 P13 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Pedroia, Dustin 2B BOS 9s
R2 P14 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Granderson, Curtis OF NYY 21s

R3 P1 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Ellsbury, Jacoby OF BOS 56s
R3 P2 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Heyward, Jason OF ATL 23s
R3 P3 Howard Bender - Rotowire Bourn, Michael OF FA 35s
R3 P4 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Encarnacion, Edwin 3B TOR 9s
R3 P5 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Lawrie, Brett 3B TOR 4s
R3 P6 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Jones, Adam OF BAL 17s
R3 P7 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Kipnis, Jason 2B CLE 55s
R3 P8 Steve Gardner - USA Today Holliday, Matt OF STL 9s
R3 P9 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Harper, Bryce OF WAS 12s
R3 P10 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Zimmerman, Ryan 3B WAS 19s
R3 P11 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Strasburg, Stephen SP WAS 17s
R3 P12 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Castro, Starlin SS CHC 40s
R3 P13 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Bruce, Jay OF CIN 4s
R3 P14 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Andrus, Elvis SS TEX 56s

R4 P1 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Gonzalez, Adrian 1B LA 42s
R4 P2 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Price, David SP TB 26s
R4 P3 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Butler, Billy DH KC 58s
R4 P4 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Phillips, Brandon 2B CIN 51s
R4 P5 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Goldschmidt, Paul 1B ARI 11s
R4 P6 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Cespedes, Yoenis OF OAK 6s
R4 P7 Steve Gardner - USA Today Ramirez, Aramis 3B MIL 38s
R4 P8 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Mauer, Joe C MIN 49s
R4 P9 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Weaver, Jered SP ANA 11s
R4 P10 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Freeman, Freddie 1B ATL 6s
R4 P11 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Sandoval, Pablo 3B SF 7s
R4 P12 Howard Bender - Rotowire Uggla, Dan 2B ATL 38s
R4 P13 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Craig, Allen OF STL 33s
R4 P14 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Rollins, Jimmy SS PHI 12s

R5 P1 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Martinez, Victor C DET 58s
R5 P2 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Desmond, Ian SS WAS 16s
R5 P3 Howard Bender - Rotowire Cain, Matt SP SF 38s
R5 P4 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Santana, Carlos C CLE 7s
R5 P5 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Upton, B.J. OF ATL 5s
R5 P6 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Headley, Chase 3B SD 10s
R5 P7 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Morrow, Brandon SP TOR Predrafted
R5 P8 Steve Gardner - USA Today Wieters, Matt C BAL 32s
R5 P9 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Cabrera, Asdrubal SS CLE 6s
R5 P10 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Hamels, Cole SP PHI 37s
R5 P11 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Jennings, Desmond OF TB 44s
R5 P12 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Molina, Yadier C STL 33s
R5 P13 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Hill, Aaron 2B ARI 6s
R5 P14 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Teixeira, Mark 1B NYY 34s

R6 P1 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Greinke, Zack SP LA 13s
R6 P2 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Hart, Corey OF MIL 52s
R6 P3 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Napoli, Mike C BOS 41s
R6 P4 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Rosario, Wilin C COL 11s
R6 P5 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Lee, Cliff SP PHI 28s
R6 P6 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Altuve, Jose 2B HOU 36s
R6 P7 Steve Gardner - USA Today Sabathia, CC SP NYY 50s
R6 P8 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Sale, Chris SP CHW 10s
R6 P9 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Choo, Shin-Soo OF CIN 26s
R6 P10 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Montero, Miguel C ARI 12s
R6 P11 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Espinosa, Danny 2B WAS 9s
R6 P12 Howard Bender - Rotowire Moustakas, Mike 3B KC 7s
R6 P13 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Moore, Matt SP TB 31s
R6 P14 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Darvish, Yu SP TEX 12s

R7 P1 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Gonzalez, Gio SP WAS 22s
R7 P2 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Davis, Ike 1B NYM 48s
R7 P3 Howard Bender - Rotowire Dunn, Adam 1B CHW 23s
R7 P4 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Cruz, Nelson OF TEX 8s
R7 P5 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Jackson, Austin OF DET 12s
R7 P6 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Gordon, Alex OF KC 7s
R7 P7 John Halpin - FOXSports.com LaRoche, Adam 1B FA 37s
R7 P8 Steve Gardner - USA Today Fowler, Dexter OF COL 18s
R7 P9 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Halladay, Roy SP PHI 6s
R7 P10 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Rizzo, Anthony 1B CHC 21s
R7 P11 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Kimbrel, Craig RP ATL 15s
R7 P12 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Weeks, Rickie 2B MIL 19s
R7 P13 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Perez, Salvador C KC 6s
R7 P14 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Ortiz, David DH BOS 42s

R8 P1 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Utley, Chase 2B PHI 6s
R8 P2 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Rios, Alex OF CHW 12s
R8 P3 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Jeter, Derek SS NYY 37s
R8 P4 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Bumgarner, Madison SP SF 7s
R8 P5 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Cueto, Johnny SP CIN 47s
R8 P6 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Wainwright, Adam SP STL 5s
R8 P7 Steve Gardner - USA Today Dickey, R.A. SP TOR 19s
R8 P8 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Beltran, Carlos OF STL 9s
R8 P9 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Escobar, Alcides SS KC 15s
R8 P10 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Gallardo, Yovani SP MIL 23s
R8 P11 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Prado, Martin OF ATL 10s
R8 P12 Howard Bender - Rotowire McCann, Brian C ATL 5s
R8 P13 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Victorino, Shane OF BOS 19s
R8 P14 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Konerko, Paul 1B CHW 7s

R9 P1 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Walker, Neil 2B PIT 57s
R9 P2 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Montero, Jesus DH SEA 21s
R9 P3 Howard Bender - Rotowire Trumbo, Mark 1B ANA 12s
R9 P4 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Cabrera, Melky OF TOR 5s
R9 P5 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Shields, James SP KC 4s
R9 P6 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Kendrick, Howie 2B ANA 10s
R9 P7 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Middlebrooks, Will 3B BOS 24s
R9 P8 Steve Gardner - USA Today Cuddyer, Michael OF COL 18s
R9 P9 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Hosmer, Eric 1B KC 27s
R9 P10 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Aybar, Erick SS ANA 8s
R9 P11 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Medlen, Kris RP ATL 52s
R9 P12 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Swisher, Nick OF CLE 24s
R9 P13 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Ramirez, Alexei SS CHW 5s
R9 P14 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Willingham, Josh OF MIN 31s

R10 P1 Eric Karabell - ESPN.com Ethier, Andre OF LA 30s
R10 P2 Tom Kephart - BaseballHQ.com Scherzer, Max SP DET 48s
R10 P3 Steve Moyer - BaseballInfoSolutions.com Revere, Ben OF PHI 21s
R10 P4 Greg Ambrosius - NFBC.Stats.com Howard, Ryan 1B PHI 40s
R10 P5 Jeff Erickson - Rotowire Reddick, Josh OF OAK 19s
R10 P6 Eno Sarris - FanGraphs.com Latos, Mat SP CIN 11s
R10 P7 Steve Gardner - USA Today Chapman, Aroldis RP CIN 38s
R10 P8 John Halpin - FOXSports.com Zimmermann, Jordan SP WAS 21s
R10 P9 Peter Kreutzer - AskRotoMan.com Pence, Hunter OF SF 4s
R10 P10 Ray Flowers - BaseballGuys.com Lincecum, Tim SP SF 22s
R10 P11 Scott Pianowski - Yahoo Fantasy Sports Garza, Matt SP CHC 18s
R10 P12 Howard Bender - Rotowire Haren, Dan SP WAS 8s
R10 P13 Tim Heaney - KFFL.com Lucroy, Jonathan C MIL 13s
R10 P14 Todd Zola - Mastersball.com Motte, Jason RP STL 7s

Thoughts?

[Greg Ambrosius]

I wasn't too thrilled about drafting from the back of the draft, but I had a goal of creating a strong pitching staff, having a balanced offense and drafting a lot of young players with upside. I think I accomplished those goals. We did this draft on MockDraftCentral.com and the projections had me in first place, with Todd Zola right behind. We were ahead by a large margin, but what the heck do those online projections know!!!

Here's my lineup:

C - Wilin Rosario
C - Ryan Doumit
1B - Ryan Howard
2B - Brandon Phillips
SS - Troy Tulowitzki
3B - Manny Machado
MI - Andrelton Simmons or Gordon Beckham
CI - Chris Davis
UT - Wil Myers
OF - Josh Hamilton
OF - Desmond Jennings
OF - Jayson Werth
OF - Lorenzo Cain
OF - Adam Eaton
Reserves: Michael Saunders, Jedd Gyorko, Delmon Young

P - Stephen Strasburg
P - Madison Bumgarner
P - Kris Medlen
P - Matt Harvey
P - Chris Carpenter
P - Shelby Miller
P - Jason Vargas
P - Craig Kimbrel
P - Drew Storen
Reserves: Mark Buehrle, Wei-Yen Chen, Dylan Bundy

I'd love to play this one out. I like the balance and the upside of many of these players. Let the games begin!!

[ToddZ]

FWIW, those were 2012 projections.

This is the first time I picked from an early spot and as usual, the industry overvalues scarcity and undervalues pitching.

[Baseball Furies]

My first thought is how the hell does someone (Van Riper it seems) just drop out last minute for a draft like this?!. Ridiculous! And my second thought is, why the hell wasn't I called?!!. Oh wait, this was Greg drafting. Never mind. I know why I wasn't called.

My third thought is whenever I see how these drafts go, I wish I could be drafting with the "experts" (except for you Lord Zola, of course ). Just a quick look: Strasburg was a steal even for where you got him...

I could spend all night on the first several rounds alone, but I will spare everyone any additional rants on my part.

[Baseball Furies]

And by the way, someone just please put me on like permanent standby for any such similar situations that may come up with these types of drafts and you find yourself in need of another "expert" to step in and draft. Thanks.

[Edwards Kings]

Interesting. This draft and the trial balloons offered will make good content for the respective publications. Even so, some picks highlight some of the crushes we all seem to have.

Ray Flowers is a great guy and I respect his work immensely, but Brett Lawrie in the 3rd? Are the maybe 15 SB that he will bring to the Corner really worth that high of a pick when you add that to sub-15 HR power from a worm-burner swing and mediocre OBP due to low walk rate? I have seen him go more late fourth or early fifth, which may be too high. Seriously, if these are the skills that excite you, grab Kyle Seager later. At least he promises to hit more line-drives and fly-balls which could positively impact his BA and HR.

I do not know Howard Bender, but Uggla in the fourth is jumping the gun quite a bit. I actually am surprised at how everybody has been describing Uggla as "old". I mean, have you seen the guy? He has not exactly gone to seed. Folks have jumped off the bandwaggon so fast it was almost as if someone released some Dorito-induced wind. Still has 30+ HR power in my book and if you can stand the low BA, not a bad infielder. Just not in the fourth. With Dunn in the seventh, I am going to guess BA was the sacrifical lamb to grab some power to catch up a bit.

Headley is certainly no bargain this year. I understand why he makes sense in the fifth round, but I honestly cannot tell you whether or not last year was just a career year, or if he is a late bloomer like Gordon. Moving the fences in at Petco can't hurt, but he was just unconcious in the 2H of last year. Tough to be on 20 HR from him.

Dexter Fowler in the seventh?

Miguel Montero in the sixth?

And I cannot decide if I like Ryan Howard, even in the 10th. Expecting a rebound from the big guy, Greg? And by rebound, I mean contact rate since the power does not appear to be far off.

[ToddZ]

Seriously, if this are the skills that excite you, grab Kyle Seager later. At least he promises to hit more line-drives and fly-balls which could positively impact his BA and HR.

[Greg Ambrosius]

My first thought is how the hell does someone (Van Riper it seems) just drop out last minute for a draft like this?!. Ridiculous! And my second thought is, why the hell wasn't I called?!!. Oh wait, this was Greg drafting. Never mind. I know why I wasn't called.

My third thought is whenever I see how these drafts go, I wish I could be drafting with the "experts" (except for you Lord Zola, of course ). Just a quick look: Strasburg was a steal even for where you got him...

I could spend all night on the first several rounds alone, but I will spare everyone any additional rants on my part.

If they would have told me they were losing someone I definitely could have filled the spot. Tom was in the office and ready to jump in, but they never asked for a replacement. Mikey, you would have been in my Top 25 to call after Tom!!

I'm not sure why Strasburg was still available at pick 39, but he makes for a nice ace on my staff!! I knew this group would shy away from SPs early on and it held true to form.

[Greg Ambrosius]

And I cannot decide if I like Ryan Howard, even in the 10th. Expecting a rebound from the big guy, Greg? And by rebound, I mean contact rate since the power does not appear to be far off.

Nope Wayne, I'm not on the Howard bandwagon at all. I'm with you, I think the contact rate and low BA will doom this pick, but I thought for sure I'd get Hosmer in the 9th round and he went two picks before me. I knew after Hosmer there was little left at first base, so I went with Medlen in the 9th and scoured for something better than Howard. When I couldn't find anything, I grabbed him and Chris Davis later to hopefully cover myself. I do think in this full season back from injury that Howard will be better, but this was not a "I'm targeting Ryan Howard pick." It was an act of desperation!!

I love getting top NL starting pitchers in these mixed leagues because many times that can be a half point lower on ERA. Strasburg, Bumgarner, Medlen, Harvey and Carpenter is a solid Top 5 with Kimbrel and Storen as closers. I went with Storen over Jim Johnson because I think there will be more saves in Washington this year. I have some good options in my final rotation spots with Shelby Miller, Jason Vargas, Wei-Yen Chen and Dylan Bundy. I'm happy with that part of the team.

[Edwards Kings]

And I cannot decide if I like Ryan Howard, even in the 10th. Expecting a rebound from the big guy, Greg? And by rebound, I mean contact rate since the power does not appear to be far off.

It was an act of desperation!!

Yup. Been there. Done that. Lost much!

I do like your pitching staff. Seriously...what is not to like! "Strasburg, Bumgarner, Medlen, Harvey and Carpenter is a solid Top 5 with Kimbrel and Storen as closers."

Strangely enough, the guy out of your top five starters who scares me the most is Medlen. I mean, I love he is in Atlanta, I love how Atlanta eased him into the rotation (though you will never convince me it was planned to bullpen him until ready rather than needing a warm body after the other fifth starters bombed or got hurt), and how he seemed to be able to just place the ball where ever he wanted (vintage Greg Maddux). The K's last year just surprised me as I never had him pegged as a "stuff" pitcher. Any real decline in command will mean batters can wait on "stuff". No one expects (or at least they shouldn't expect) a repeat of those magical twelve starts, but I hope he does not fall off or fatigue next year.