I'm back to defend my title. Last season I was the winner of one of two SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio  Experts Leagues (you can read about my winding path to victory in this review). You know me. I'm arrogant. I'm flippant. I'm irreverent. I'm also sometimes informative. I'm also manically determined to be the best, or at least one of the best in the world of fantasy sports, so I'll do my best to follow up a victorious effort with another strong fantasy baseball season in 2015. Before getting to the club I rostered, let's setup the league.

THE LEAGUE

14 teams, mixed league
Standard 5x5 scoring
Lineup changes once a week
FAAB with $100 for in-season moves
14 hitters (2C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, 5 OF, UT)
9 pitchers
5 bench spots
5 DL spots

THE OWNERS

Here are the 14 men who will be competing. 

1 Joe Pisapia
2 Jeff Mans
3 Ray Flowers
4 Greg Ambrosius
5 Tony Cincotta
6 Glenn Colton, Rick Wolf
7 CJ Nitkowski
8 Kyle Elfrink
9 Schuyler Dombroske
10 Nando DiFino
11 Peter Schoenke
12 Mark Bloom
13 Craig Mish, Cliff Floyd
14 Tom Kessenich

Is it just me or is it odd that even though we have two drafts that everyone at Fantasy Alarm was put in the same draft? Not just that but my co-host, Kyle Elfrink, is also hear. I smell a conspiracy.

GET YOUR COPY OF THE 2015 FANTASY ALARM BASEBALL DRAFT GUIDE NOW --- AND FOR FREE!

 

MY TEAM

*** Note, round taken is in parenthesis.

CATCHER: Miguel Montero (17), Chris Iannetta (21), Stephen Vogt (27)
FIRST BASE: Eric Hosmer (7), Brandon Belt (12), Ryan Howard (23)
SECOND BASE: Aaron Hill (22)
THIRD BASE: Carlos Santana (5), Maikel Franco (26)
SHORTSTOP: Hanley Ramirez (2), Jose Reyes (4)
OUTFIELD: Andrew McCutchen (1), Matt Kemp (3), Shin-Soo Choo (9), Ben Revere (10), Desmond Jennings (16), Dexter Fowler (19), Melvin Upton (28)

PITCHERS: Alex Cobb (6), James Shields (8), Steve Cishek (11), Jered Weaver (13), Jose Quintana (14), Santiago Casilla (15), Jose Fernandez (18), Ken Giles (20), Shane Greene (24), Joakim Soria (25)

COMMENTARY

1st round: Taking McCutchen #2 overall makes me happy. Not many know that he had a better AVG, OBP, OPS and steal total than Mike Trout in 2014.

2nd round: Ramirez qualifies at shortstop and will pick up outfield soon enough. A year removed from hitting .345 and Fenway suits his game well. 

3rd round: Justin Upton and Evan Longoria caught my eye. I think there's enough depth to wait at third. Upton was taken so that left me with Kemp who over his last 64 games hit .309 with 17 homers, 54 RBIs and a .971 OPS.

4th round: Why Reyes? I've already started to construct the all 2011 team, so might as well keep it going. Reyes brings me the speed I need, and gives me two of the top-5 shortstops in the game. At first and third there are a plethora of options still available, so I will grab one in the next round.

5th round: Tempted to go Jason Kipnis who I hope will still be around in round six. Going Santana because he qualifies at first and third giving me coverage at two spots I don't have filled yet (really wanted Kipnis). Not many seem to know that Santana had more homers than Kyle Seager (27 to 25) and more RBIs than Todd Frazier (85 to 80).

6th round: The second basemen all went - Brian Dozier, Dustin Pedroia & Kipnis - so I decided to go pitching with Cobb, a breakout start in the waiting. All he need is health to be an elite option.

7th round: With Cobb not being a big innings pitched guy to this point of his career, I really wanted to go with James Shields, a guy who is the definition of an innings eater (from 2007-14 Shields led baseball in innings pitched with 1785.2). It's just that first base is a mess. Brandon Belt and Eric Hosmer were the only two guys left who I had any confidence in, so I had to go with Hosmer. 

8th round: I won the draft with this pick getting Shields. OK, maybe not, but couldn't be happier. See his Player Profile.

9th round: Wasn't it just a year ago that Choo was coming off a .285-21-54-107-20 effort? He was going in the 3-4th round last year. With health, he could return value very close to that in '15. 

10th round: Is there really a six round difference between Billy Hamilton and Revere? Really?

11th round: I wanted to go Chris Archer but there are still plenty of solid arms as starting pitchers at this point so I took my first closer in Cishek who will pitch for a much improved team in Miami.

12th round: Belt was a temptation a few rounds ago, so I'll take the plunge here for him to fill my corner infield spot (Player Profile). Note that Justin Morneau and Aramis Ramirez went with the next two picks so I read the draft right. Here's some audio about me talking first base.

13th round: Weaver isn't sexy, and the offseason weight gain is a bit concerning, but he's still a solid SP3. The increase in walks is a bit concerning but he's still only 32 years old.

14th round: Quintana could take the next step this season. Three solid years are in his pocket, and the metrics I look at all suggest Quintana is still on the upswing.

15th round: Alex Rios... was not my pick cause Jeff Mans took him. I hate Jeff. He is such a jerk-hole. He probably read Rios' Player Profile. Going with Casilla as my second closer... as this league is going hot-n-heavy with relievers. 

16th round: Jennings. Player Profile. Read it.

17th round: Might as well do the same on Montero. Player Profile. Read it.

18th round: Fernandez is a very un-like Ray selection. Why did I do it? For one reason only. We have eight spots for the DL in this league. As soon as I'm able, I'll just place Fernandez on to that list and hit waivers to get another starting pitcher. 

19th round: Fowler is a solid, all-around player that merely needs health to have a strong season. If he can stay healthy, and the Cubs youngsters come through as expected... then Fowler will be the best 6th outfielder in this league. If not... he's only my 6th outfielder.

20th round: Giles will likely close when Jonathan Papelbon is dealt. Note I said when not if. Papelbon will be gone at some point, and boy does that Giles have an arm.

21st round: Iannetta could make upwards of 115 starts according to Mike Scioscia as Hank Conger is now a part of the Astros organization. Iannetta takes a walk, has power, and could be a strong second catcher if he does indeed get his first 350 at-bat season.

22nd round: Hill isn't good. I get it. Every time I went to grab a second sacker, it just didn't happen. I had to settle with Hill. Boring. Blah. I just need solid Aaron. Get on that.

23rd round: Howard is in the best shape of his life. Does that matter? Likely not much, but think of this. Did you know that Howard has hit at least 23 homers with 95 RBIs in each of the seven seasons in which he's appeared in 100 games. 

24th round: Greene has strikeouts, gets grounders, and as an upcoming Player Profile will suggest, Greene might just be a pitcher who takes his game to the next level in 2015.

25th round: Soria will lead the Tigers in saves in 2015. If he doesn't I'll be shocked. Joe Nathan looked done last season. 

26th round: Franco has 30 homer power. Will he start the year in the bigs? Likely not. But, he may have found his game in the Dominican Winter League where he hit .337/.344/.570 with four homers over 22 games. 

27th round: Vogt only qualifies at first base right now, but once he picks up in-season catcher eligibility, then we'll be cooking with gas. 

28th round: Upton stinks. He's out 4-6 weeks with injury. Remember though, I can put Upton and Jose Fernandez on the DL as soon as they are placed on it, and I'll add two arms to round out my pitching staff.

DRAFT RESULTS

To view how the draft played out check this Google doc. 

Here's another write up from the even by Joe Pisapia of The Fantasy Black Book.