It has been quite awhile since I have written. Yesterday was my yearly fantasy baseball draft and I think I put together a nice club that has potential to be very good.
My draft position was 13th due to winning my division last year and going deep into the playoffs. This meant I was going to miss out on some really fantastic star players who weren’t keepers for whatever reason. So I had to adjust my strategy quite a bit, as I would lose out on lots of good players in between turns. I took some risks with younger players who haven’t lived up to their potential yet or haven’t proven their performances haven’t been flukes. I also took some considerable risks with older veterans, although I will not be relying on them to carry my team. With the way the league I am in is designed, I have to take risks like this to stay in the playoffs 2 seasons in a row, else if I play it too safe, I do not think I will make it past .500.
Why no closers on my list? Simple, two of the teams were on autopick and as a result, they got 7 closers apiece! While some other teams picked up closers during the draft, several teams including mine decided to go without a closer and hope that these two teams either drop or trade their surplus closers.
Below are the results of my draft:
- 1B Albert Pujols (Keeper)
- 2B Dustin Pedroia (Keeper)
- SP Dan Haren
- SP Cliff Lee
- OF Ryan Ledwick
- OF Delmon Young
- SS J.J. Hardy
- SP Adam Wainwright
- SP Zack Greinke
- 3B Hank Blalock
- OF Jayson Werth
- 1B Jason Giambi
- 2B Aaron Hill
- C Jorge Posada
- OF Brian Giles
- SP Mark Buehrle
- DH Travis Hafner
- OF Mike Cameron
- RP Scot Shields
- RP Rafael Soriano
- 1B Nick Johnson
- 2B Mark Ellis
- RP Manny Delcarmen
- SP Pedro Martinez
- OF Gary Sheffield
Immediately after the draft, I did do some free agent signings and cut some players. Sheffield and Delcarmen are gone.
I think my team will be above .500, which in my division almost always results in a playoff spot and sometimes even the division title.