I say it all the time on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. We spend way too much time each year worrying about the first couple of rounds of drafts. It's all anyone wants to talk about for all of February and March. I try to tell people it's way more important to discuss the mid to late rounds of a draft, but no one listens, despite the fact that many leagues are won or lost well beyond the top of a draft. You want proof? I beat 11 hosts on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio in a league where my first three selections were Joey Votto, Troy Tulowitzki and Shin-Soo Choo. If that doesn't prove to you that you may be looking at your draft in a way that isn't the best use of your time, I don't know what is.
OPENING DAY ROSTER
(click on this link to see the preseason write-up).
Catcher: Carlos Santana (5th round), Alex Avila (23)
First Base: Joey Votto (1)
Second Base: Howie Kendrick (15)
Third Base: Pablo Sandoval (9)
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki (2)
Middle Infielder: Alexei Ramirez (16)
Corner Infielder: Kyle Seager (10)
OF: Shin-Soo Choo (3), Giancarlo Stanton (4), Desmond Jennings (8), B.J. Upton (17), Michael Brantley (19)
Utility: Nick Markakis (21)
Pitchers: Craig Kimbrel (6), Greg Holland (7), Johnny Cueto (11), Shelby Miller (12), C.J. Wilson (13), Tim Lincecum (14), Bobby Parnell (18), Corey Kluber (20), Neftali Feliz (22)
BENCH: Neil Walker (24), Brandon Morrow (25), Corey Hart (26), Todd Frazier (27), Wily Peralta (28), Jarrod Dyson (29), Jemile Weeks (30)
WHAT WENT WRONG
Votto, a perennial .320-20 guy, appeared in 62 games batting .255 with six homers. Stupendously ineffective was he.
Tulowitzki was spectacular when he was on the field hitting .340 with 21 homers and 71 runs scored. Of course, he only played 91 games and drove in just 52 runs. Wildly successful but far from the desired outcome due to the games played limitation.
Choo who had gone 15/20 in 4-straight healthy seasons, and 20/20 in three of them. He hit 13 homers and stole three bases. He also batted .242 with a .714 OPS (career .836). Disaster is a word that comes to mind.
Jennings and B.J. Up were terribly disappointing in the outfield. They combined for 22 homers and 35 steals. In 2011 Upton reached those numbers.
On the hill...
Miller had a great finish but he was still a huge disappointment with 10 wins, a 3.74 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and just 6.25 K/9. He lost a batter an a half off his strikeout rate. Wilson was on every team of mine and he was terrible on all of them. Lincecum? Ditto. Parnell was hurt and pitched one inning. Feliz was in limbo for most of the year before finishing with 13 saves.
On the bench Morrow and Hart were useless. I would have been better not even drafting that and just hitting waivers after the draft started.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
Ramirez is usually overlooked and always productive. He hit his normal .273 with 21 steals while swatting 15 homers, driving in 74 and scoring 82 runs.
Seager improved his average, homer total and RBI mark as well. He was one of the better third sackers in league (.268-25-96-71-7).
Stanton lost the end of the season when he was hit in the face by a pitch, but he had a season everyone knew that his talent dictated was possible (.288-37-105-89-13 with a .950 OPS).
Brantley in the 19th round. Don't need to break down why he's in this category.
Let's talk pitching.
Cueto was my first starting pitcher, my first, in round 11. When I made the selection the guys on the broadcast called me out, said it was a bad pick, and that I wasn't going to be able to win with Cueto as my ace. Well, we know how that one turned out. Cueto is about to finish second in the NL Cy Young race.
Kluber in the 20th round - highway robbery. You know it by now.
Think about this.
I won a league in which through 19 rounds of a draft my only starting pitcher of value was Cueto. That's it. The only one. Think I'm lying? Look at the list again. In the first 19 rounds the only other starting pitchers on my roster were Miller, Wilson and Lincecum.
YOU CAN WIN A LEAGE WAITING ON PITCHING.
I crushed two selections on the bench in rounds 27-28. It sounds foolish at this point that they were available that late, but folks just weren't sold on either guy in March. Welcome to the party Todd Frazier and Wily Peralta.
Let's talk waivers (the fill list is below). The following players were huge "hits" off waivers.
Wk.1 Qualls
Wk.2 Ozuna
Wk.5 Volquez
Wk.6 Rondon
Wk.13 Harrison
TRADES
Week 14: Sent Todd Frazier to receive David Price
Both teams - myself and Colton & the Wolfman (plus Stacie Stern) - got what they needed out of the deal.
ADDS
($1,000 FAAB)
Week 1: Chad Qualls $49, Dustin Ackley $48
Week 2: Matt Lindstrom $87, Marcell Ozuna $67
Week 3: Shawn Kelley $21
Week 4: Yasmani Grandal $17, Jon Niese $13
Week 5: Edinson Volquez $37
Week 6: Hector Rondon $91
Week 7: Jeurys Familia $19
Week 8: Welington Castillo $17, Mitch Moreland $23
Week 9: Josh Rutledge $43, Bryan Shaw $39
Week 10: Michael Saunders $29
Week 11: Yasmani Grandal $9
Week 12: Erick Aybar $37, Jesus Montero $33, Joba Chamberlain $19
Week 13: Josh Harrison $11 #Winning
Week 14: Alex Avila $13
Week 15: Logan Morrison $19
Week 16: Nick Swisher $9, Neil Ramirez $11
Week 17: Zach Putnam $7
Week 18: Jacob Petricka $19, Chris Young $9 (SP)
Week 19: Conor Gillaspie $19
Week 20: J.P. Arencibia $13
Week 21: Alejandro De Aza $6
Week 22: Caleb Joseph $9
Week 23: Kevin Quakenbush $4, Joe Panik $7, Jon Jay $13
Week 25: Lorenzo Cain $24, Matt Shoemaker $13, Drew Storen $13
Week 26: Scott Feldman $2, Yusmeiro Petit $2, Brandon Crawford $2, Robinson Chirinos $1, Wellington Castillo $1
WINNER: Ray Flowers. I led the league in saves and was second in ERA, homers, RBIs and runs scored to pull out a 0.5 point victory in the last week of the regular season.
FINISH: 1st out of 12 teams. At least I won one league in 2014, and out of the five experts leagues I participated in I had two top-2 finishes. Not bad, but it's the three crapola efforts that will likely stick with me longer. I gotta tell ya though, it feels pretty damn sweet winning a league where my first three selections are underperformed, not to mention that through 19 rounds I one usable starting pitcher. Oh, and everyone that doubted me selection of Cueto you can suck it.