Mock Draft #2

Second mock draft of the night. This one has both AL and NL players. Same as the last mock draft I just participated in. 10 teams, snake, and again, I'm the third pick.

1) Hanley Ramirez, SS (I wanted Alex Rodriguez, but that never happened. I can sacrifice a bit of power for speed.)

2) Lance Berkman, 1B (A relatively deep position, I wanted to grab one of the best out there before he was gone.)

3) Brandon Webb, SP (High win and strike out totals complimented by a healthy ERA and WHIP.)

4) Brandon Phillips, 2B (I almost picked Robinson Cano hoping for a comeback year, but wasn't too set on him yet.)

5) Brian McCann, C (Joe Mauer was drafted, McCann is his NL counterpart.)

6) Magglio Ordonez, OF (I was going to pick Curtis Granderson, then I saw Mags was still available, yoink!)

7) Jon Lackey, SP (second of my two strong starters. Not necessarily the best draft out there, but it was him or the injury prone Beckett.)

8) Garret Atkins, 3B (Although Chipper was still available, I wanted a 3B without any injury concerns.)

9) Pay Burrell, OF (Tough choice here. No idea where Bobby Abreu would wind up, so I lowered my standards a bit an went with the new Ray.)

10) Trevor Hoffman, RP (I nearly forgot to grab a reliever. With Hoffman now on the Brewers, I see 35+ saves headed his way on a potential playoff team.)

11) Joba Chamberlain, RP/SP

12) Raul Ibanez, OF

13) Derek Lowe, SP

14) Kevin Gregg, RP

15) George Sherrill, RP

16) Ryan Doumit, C

17) Andre Ethier, OF

18) Xavier Nady, OF

19) Gil Meche, SP

20) Andy Pettitte, SP

21) Jason Werth, OF

22) Lastings Milledge, OF


I feel a lot better with this draft. Even with my ignorance of the reliever category, I managed to pick up three solid closers. Obviously I was pitcher heavy in the later rounds, but I felt like I had enough offense to hgold me over and still got my two strong starters in.

I will probably participate in a couple more mock drafts in the next few weeks and prepare myself for the real deal come league formation.

Mock Draft #1

Over at CBSsports.com I joined one of the many mock drafts. The good part is I can practice my draft techniques, the bad, it was NL only...mildly disappointing.

Here are the round by round results of my draft. NL only, 10 teams, 3rd pick snake draft

1) Ryan Howard, 1B (was a toss up between him and David Wright. I could use the pop and grab some AVG next round.)

2) Brandon Webb, SP (with some of the top pitchers leaving early in the draft, I though it would be a wise choice to lock up last year's NL Cy Young winner as my #1 starter.)

3) Aramis Ramirez, 3B (Chipper Jones was available, but I am not a fan of his injuries.)

4) Geovanny Soto, C (catchers were going like hotcakes and I had to grab one before the better choices were gone.)

5) Stephen Drew, SS (a shortstop with some pop in his bat is not very common, Drew was a nice fit.)

6) Kelly Johnson, 2B (tough pick here between Johnson and Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez proveded a strong second half after an injury, however, Kelly was consistent throughout the entire season.)

7) Derek Lowe, SP (In an NL only league, I was surprised to see Lowe fall so far. Had to grab him for a more secure pitching staff.)

8) Justin Upton, OF (Francoure was my first choice, but with him drafted right before me, Upton was the next best choice)

9) Milton Bradley, OF (I probably should have drafted a pitcher this round)

10) Yovani Gallardo, SP (missed most of last season with a knee injury, came back and helked the Brewers in the playoff race. Will be the ace of the staff with Sabathia gone.)

11) Max Scherzer, SP (showed a lot of promise in his rookie season last year, as my fourth drafted pitcher, it could pay off)

12) Adam LaRoche, 1B

13) Ryan Church, OF

14) Kosuke Fukudome, OF

15) Luis Castillo, 2B

16) Kyle Lohse, SP

17) Chad Qualls, RP

18) Barry Zito, SP

19) Ryan Franklin, RP

20) Brian Schneider, C

21) Jerry Hairston, OF

22) J. J. Putz, RP


I'm not too happy with my draft results, and I don't think this is a league winning team. Playoff team, yes, win it all, no.

Mock Drafts

They sound pointless, they mean nothing, and it's a general waste of time.
However, if one would have 50 different teams, a little practice never hurts. Over at CBSsports.com I will participate in a few mock drafts just to warm up before I participate in live drafts.
I'll post every roster that I draft just to track my picks and the general picks of the rest of the mock league. I am up against real people and not bots, unless one decides not to show up.

Wish me mock luck.

Small Update

I have verbally committed to three leagues so far. One of which I may be a league manager. I doubt I will create my own league, but that could change.

Bummer...

I just found out that Street & Smith's parent company bought SportingNews. This just means I will only buy two titles instead of three.
Bummer.

Athlon Sports will be releasing their 2009 fantasy baseball magazine soon. No exact date set. Some of their magazines will be for a fan base, some multiple fan bases. For example, I am a Yankees fan, my copy will reach out to three different fan bases; the Yankees, Rays, and Marlins.
Don't know why a New York team will share the cover with two Florida teams. Not a big deal for me, the info inside is what I want.

Fantasy Magazines

So, while I was out shopping for food to survive these next two weeks, I stopped by the magazine rack to see if there were any fantasy baseball magazines.
There were two out on display. One, I forget the company, looked too bland. Nothing but stats. I like to do a little leisure reading while preparing my draft and cheat sheets.
The second one was from Sporting News. This is the one I bought.
I have my stats, pre-season rankings, and a few pages of quality reading material and expectations of rookies and other players.
They have Alex Rodriguez listed as their number 1 draft choice, a choice I didn't agree with initially, but after reading what they were looking for in their ranking I understand why.
Sporting News and the baseball experts, I use that term loosely, are looking for 5-tool players and since A-Rod can steal bases, they found it fitting to rank him #1 overall.

Their top 10 ranks are as follows:
1) Alex Rodriguez, 3B
2) Albert Pujols, 1B
3) Hanley Ramirez, SS
4) David Wright, 3B
5) Matt Holiday, OF
6) Grady Sizemore, OF
7) Josh Hamilton, OF
8) Jose Reyes, SS
9) Ryan Howard, 1B
10) Ryan Braun, OF


There will be two other fantasy magazines that I will buy in the upcoming weeks, one from Street & Smith, the other from Athlon Sports. Both that I have been purchasing since the turn of the century.

Thinking, Planning, and Craziness

Late December of last year I was thinking about participating in 100 fantasy baseball teams.
That was quickly dismissed.
The thought came back, but instead of 100 teams, I'll cut it in half and participate in 50 different leagues, mostly on ESPN.

I think that all 100 teams will be scored head-to-head with at least 90 leagues using a basic scoring system.

There is no chance I will be able to participate in 50 separate drafts, so the majority of my leagues will be auto draft and I will have to deal with the cards given to me. Almost like a real manager taking over a team in mid-season.

There are a select few drafts that I will in fact attend. Those will be leagues that I am invited in by some friends, co-workers, and ones that I will set up.

I believe once all the drafting has concluded, my job will be a lot simpler. Set up trades, pick up free agents, drop player, and of course, manage the injuries.

It's January, pitchers and catcher report in a matter of weeks, spring training in six weeks...SIX WEEKS!!!! I cannot wait until baseball season starts.