Left to Right: Matt Deutsch, Ray Flowers, Kay Adams, Kyle Elfrink, Rob Touzet
If you didn't get a chance to hear the draft live on Thursday at SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, or even if you did but wanted to delve a bit deeper into things, this is a piece for you. Today, I'll break down the 14 person, mixed league, 5x5 draft of the hosts from SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (XM147, Sirius211) by focusing on the squad I assembled (at the end of the piece there is a link to a PDF file that shows how each of the 14 teams chose to put their teams together).
LEAGUE RULES
14 teams, 5x5, 23 starters, six bench spots Hitters: C, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, OF, OF, OF, OF, OF, UT Pitchers: Any combination of nine hurlers Free Agency: FAAB Budget
MY CLUB
I had the 11th pick in the snake draft (number in parenthesis is round the player was taken).
C: Kurt Suzuki (9), Chris Snyder (28) 1B: Billy Butler (6) 2B: Robinson Cano (1) 3B: Ryan Zimmerman (2) SS: Jimmy Rollins (4) MI: Howie Kendrick (10) CI: Chase Headley (19) OF: Shane Victorino (5), Ben Zobrist (7), Nick Markakis (8), Carlos Quentin (13), Nate McLouth (18) UT: Mike Morse (21)
PITCHERS: Tim Lincecum (3), Wandy Rodriguez (11), Matt Thornton (12), James Shields (14), Josh Beckett (15), Joel Hanrahan (16), Scott Baker (17), Evan Meek (20), Ryan Madson (23)
BENCH: Yunel Escobar (22), Erick Bedard (24), Daric Barton (25), Josh Willingham (26), Jason Motte (27), Takashi Saito (29)
TEAM REVIEW
* I've never done a draft this year in which I took Cano, Zimmerman or Lincecum – and I've done like 25 totals drafts if you include all the mocks I've been a part of. So why did I take all three here? Because they were the best players on the board. I grabbed the best 2B in the game, a position further cemented by the injury to Utley, and it's not like I'm sold on Rickie Weeks or Ian Kinsler staying healthy. I nearly passed on Zimmerman to take Fielder or Kemp, and in retrospect maybe I should have, but Zimmerman should be a strong option at third as you all know. As for Lincecum, what can I say, I went against my “never draft a pitcher early†strategy. Why? Two points.
1- It was a great value pick. Lincecum has an ADP of about 23 and I took him at pick #39. Had to jump at that value.
2- In retrospect it was a great value play, but I still shouldn't have done it. Look at Kay Adams' team. She grabbed Jon Lester in the 5th and Dan Haren in the 6th showing there simply is no reason to reach on a hurler early.
* For some reason, the league went bonkers on catchers. By the end of the fifth round there were seven taken amongst the first 98 selections. According to ADP numbers the seventh catcher shouldn't have been taken until around the 120th pick. Regardless of ADP, I think some of the participants panicked a but since we start two catchers in this league. Why did I take suck ass Chris Snyder as my backup catcher? I considered Ryan Hanigan, but I needed the power of Snyder. Hopefully he'll pop 20 homers like John Buck did last year.
* Speaking of power, my team could be a bit short there. If Carlos Quentin stays healthy and hits 30 homers I'll feel much better about the club. I also grabbed McLouth and Morse later in the draft, and I think the duo could easily hit 40 homers.
* I figured I could afford Quentin and Snyder and their potential batting average drag on my club by taking guys like Cano, Billy Butler and Howie Kendrick earlier on.
* I love Kendrick, and have no issue with taking him in the 10th round. However, it may not have been the best move because I already had Ben Zobrist who could move to second or MI from the outfield if I needed depth there (I ended up taking three players who qualified at 2B – Cano, Kendrick, Zobrist). Still, I think Kendrick could hit .300 with 15 homers and 15 steals, and that's money at the MI spot.
* Though I took The Freak in the third round, at least I showed some patience after that and waited to take my next pitcher until round 11. Then I went nuts. From 11-17, a span of seven picks, I went all pitchers except for Quentin in the 13th. I'm either going to be right, or dead wrong about my pitchers as I took “my guys†in the middle rounds.
James Shields, Josh Beckett, Scott Baker and Wandy RodriguezI went bonkers late and took Erik Bedard. Feel free to cast aspersions at me.
* In the pen, there may have never been assembled a better group of arms: Thornton, Hanrahan, Meek, Madson, Motte and Saito. Will that group give me a ton of saves? Maybe (I tried to cover myself a bit by taking both Pirates' arms). But even if they don't rack up the saves they are going to give me dynamite ratios and a wonderful K/9 mark if they stay healthy.
* In short, my power is a bit light, and I won't lead the stolen base category either, but I like the overall strength of the offense. On the hill, saves are a wild card, but I'm fully confident that I will finish near the top of the ratio categories if my guys stay healthy and perform as expected.
Tired of hearing me ramble on about my team?
Here's the link to the PDF file for the SiriusXM-ExpertsLeague.