Stephen drafted #7 and Artie #9. I hadn't met Stephen before. We chatted before the draft and he pretty much convinced me that one of these years I have to fly out to Las Vegas to experience the NFBC / NCAA tournament out there. 
In the days leading up to the draft, I agonized over what to do with my first round pick. I gave Dee Gordon due consideration as per Mark Shrebo, but ultimately I had decided upon Adam Jones over Jacoby Ellsbury and Robinson Cano. That of course was presuming my top seven players were all off the board. I was realistically hoping that one of three players would be available for me, those being Ryan Braun, Carlos Gonzalez, or Clayton Kershaw. It turns out that none of them were available but to my surprise Andrew McCutchen was. All of that angst over the first round pick was all for naught!
Artie was hoping McCutchen would last one more pick. He settled for Adam Jones which I think is a great pick at #9. This year I made a conscious decision to be more bold with my selections. I really like drafting from the eight spot because there are only 14 picks between each of my selections. I'm better able to adjust to the dreaded closer runs, plus I don't have to reach nearly as much for players I like. Of course I did reach a round or two for a couple players that I really liked, but for the most part I was able to wait until the ideal round that I was targeting a player. That's much tougher to do drafting towards the end. Naturally I didn't get all of my "must have" players, but I did land a few. I wanted Everth Cabrera in round six but he went off the board in round five. The lone solace I took in this misfortune is that the owner landing him had to expend a high draft pick. Nonetheless, I wound up scrambling a bit for steals. I steered clear of Elvis Andrus because I'm concerned about that elbow injury.
I am generally pleased with the team I assembled. The pitching is a little light, but there's enough of a foundation to work with. I thought the last six picks got away from me. Maybe I was punch drunk by then? I also noticed after the fact that I wound up with three hitters from the Braves. Not exactly ideal. I also have two starting pitchers from the Orioles. If this was the early 1970's and they were Jim Palmer and Dave McNally, that would be great. Not so much now, but sometimes you have to make choices that are less than ideal.
Here is the team which I assembled from the players Stephen, Artie and friends left me:
01) Andrew McCutchen OF
02) Freddie Freeman 1B
03) Adam Wainright SP
04) Eric Hosmer 1B I like him enough to take him in round two, but rolled the dice he'd last until the 4th.
05) Wil Myers OF
06) Jason Heyward OF Was not expecting to get him, but gambled since he lasted longer than I expected him to.
07) Martin Prado 3B/2B/OF - love the defensive flexibility
08) Danny Salazar SP
09) Matt Moore SP
10) Jonathan Papelbon RP
11) Chase Headley 3B This was one of my must have players. Waited as long as I dared.
12) Asdrubal Cabrera SS Missed on Starlin Castro a few rounds earlier.
13) BJ Upton OF I got enough high average guys early on to assume the major BA risk here
14) Rex Brothers RP The closer well was about dry at this point
15) Chris Tillman SP Another target. Really like Tillman
16) Ubaldo Jimenez SP
17) Josh Reddick OF
18) Travis D'Arnaud C You mean we actually have to take a catcher?
19) Adam Lind 1B
20) Carlos Ruiz C You mean we actually have to take two catchers? Should have waited on second catcher here. Bad pick.
21) Dustin Ackley 2B/OF Playing a hunch here.
22) Jon Niese SP Good value pick here, IF he stays healthy.
23) Noah Syndergaard SP Mid-season reinforcement.
24) Phil Hughes SP
25) Danny Farquhar RP Silly pick here, although it is safe to infer that I'm not a big believer in Fernando Rodney.
26) Mike Leake SP
27) Drew Stubbs OF Hoping he takes to the thin air of Coors Field
28) Yunel Escobar SS
29) Brian Wilson RP Will cash in on his 1 IP nothing across with 2 K in the opener.
30) Scooter Gennett 2B How can you go wrong with that name?
Kevin
