Funny and Mean Drafters

[DOUGHBOYS]

We are both a funny and mean lot as fantasy baseball owners.
We are funny in that if we don't see a player fail for a year, we revere (not ben) him.
For instance, Mookie Betts has yet to fail. He is a bottom of the first round or top of the second round selection.
Same with Kris Bryant.
Same with Carlos Correa.
We even think of Kyle Schwarber as a success.
We have not seen these players fail, so that thought, magically, does not exist when selecting them in a draft.


It's not a bad thing. We like our players to have as few faults as possible.
We are also funny in the way we excuse past injuries.
AJ Pollock is usually taken a couple players on either side of Mookie in drafts.
By the way, I love players that have such distinctive first names that the last name is not needed.
Mookie will be called Mookie more than 'Betts'.
Pollock has one healthy year. Last year.
Fresh in our minds, we magically forgive Pollock's other years of injury.
Same with Manny Machado.

Troy Tulowitzki has been forgiven for injuries over and over.
Last year, he played the fourth most games in his career.
But plummets (for him) from the second round to fourth round.
Now, in a way, he is being forgiven for underperformance.
Tulowitzki's numbers last year were no better than Jhonny Peralta's.
Still, the name of Tulo, and things done earlier in his career, keep him in the top four rounds.
Even after moving from Coors.
We are, indeed, a funny lot.

We are a mean lot as well.
Not mean as in yelling at a draft mate to be like a kid with a small booger hanging out his nose and yelling, "MAKE A DAMNED PICK!!!" in draft chat.
Not mean as in thinking, "What a dumbass pick!!", while drafting.
No, I mean mean as in back to the middle.

Edwin Encarnacion is a solid second round selection. He has put up power numbers for years. No matter how we feel about him, he puts up the numbers. JD Martinez is a 'Johnny come lately'. It's harder for us to trust a 'Johnny come lately'.
We've seen JD fail. BUT, he has put up Encarnacion numbers for a year and a half.
He could be a second rounder, but not. We weigh those past failures and put him behind the player who has done it every year.
Even though JD Martinez star may be on the rise while Encarnacion's is flickering.

Last year, Yoenis Cespedes beat Jos Abreu in every roto category.
Abreu is being taken in the second round of every draft. Cespedes, anywhere from the second to fourth.
Drafters, no matter where he lands, are not confident that he can repeat his numbers.
They are being mean to him.
Expecting his numbers to fall somewhere between last years numbers and his previous numbers.
Cespedes is hard to like on top of everything else.
He plays the game in a selfish manner.
I get the feeling that he is not trying to help his team as much as feed his ego.
But, maybe that's a personal feeling.
If having that feeling about a player, no matter his numbers, it is still hard to draft that player.
Most regard ARod as hard to love. Even after last year's numbers, a hard take for most.
That may be just plain mean.