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Sport Fanatics Fantasy Sports conducted a 25 round mock draft with 11 other fantasy baseball addicts on February 13, 2009 (Sport Fanatics picks are in light blue). The draft was based on a typical 5X5 rotisserie league, with the following scoring categories: Batters - Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI's, Stolen Bases and Runs. Pitchers - Wins, Saves, Strikeouts, ERA and WHIP.
The starting lineup consists of: 2 C, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 SS, 1 3B, 1 MI, 1 CI, 5 OF, 1 Utility player and 9 pitchers. Team has 23 starting players and 2 bench players.
After the draft I assigned the current Sport Fanatics Rank (SF Rank) and Sport Fanatics Tier (SF Tier) as of February 13, 2009. This can be helpful to see if players are being drafted ahead or behind of our Sport Fanatics rankings.
You are viewing the Sport Fanatics draft commentary, click other links to view by the actual draft order or to see the team roster
General Draft Notes: It is quite obvious to see that catchers and relief pitchers (closers) were drafted well ahead of Sport Fanatics rankings. The reason for this is the Sport Fanatics rankings only look at fantasy points to determine rankings, they do not consider position scarcity and do not adjust for one category specialists (saves and/or stolen base) to determine their rankings. In this mock draft, two catchers were required which increased their overall value, in many leagues only one catcher is required.
Sport Fanatics Commentary Basic philosophy heading into the draft: Wanted to draft a balanced hitting/pitching team with a little more emphasis on hitting than pitching. Always looking for value picks especially in the mid-late rounds, do not mind drafting proven veteran players especially in the middle of the draft (as this draft is a single season league, not a keeper league) and willing to take a chance on players with potential upside once we get past round 15 of the draft.
Round 1 - Had the 2nd pick in the draft, was debating between Alex Rodriguez and David Wright. Either pick should be a stud who will produce in all five scoring categories. I went with Wright because they are so close in talent and A-Rod numbers may drop slightly from all of the anxiety associated with the various steroid questions he will have to deal with for some time.
Round 2 - With the 23rd pick in the draft, I was really hoping Tim Lincecum would fall to me, but he did not. I decided on C.C. Sabathia since I knew I was not going to pick another starting pitcher for several rounds I wanted that one ace who I could rely on to get me 18-20 wins, 200 K's along with very low ERA and WHIP.
Round 3 - With the 26th pick in the draft, I was debating on a big HR hitter like Manny Ramirez, Evan Longoria or Carlos Quentin or a very solid all purpose player like Nick Markakis or Alex Rios. I went with Markakis as he was the highest player left on my draft board and because he was the only player that I thought could provide 100 runs, 100 RBI's, 10 SB's, 22-5 HR's and a batting average above .300
Round 4 - Was at the back end of round four with the 47th pick overall. Was happy with my C.C. pick seeing all of the ace starting pitchers gone by the time it was my pick in round four. At this point I went a little off of my draft list and looked at position scarcity. All but one of the top 2B was taken, so I grabbed the last 2B that I thought had star quality and drafted Brandon Phillips. Once again, I went with a player that will help in several categories, as Phillips should do well in all categories except for batting average (.270-.275).
Round 5 - Went back to my draft list and picked the highest one left on my chart. I picked Curtis Granderson, who like my other picks in rounds 1, 3 and 4 is a very good stats filler in all scoring categories. Granderson may not have the pop that some OF have, but he should more than make up for it in runs scored and stolen bases.
Round 6 - At this point I wanted to get one of the remaining 1B eligible players who had HR and RBI numbers. I was debating between Carlos Delgado, Garrett Atkins and Aubrey Huff. Huff has a great year in 2008, but had not produced that well in the three previous seasons. Atkins is great at home, but there are trade rumors with him and his value would drop significantly if he left Coors Field. So, I went with old reliable, Carlos Delgado. I believe Delgado will once again put up a 30 HR and 100 RBI season.
Round 7 - Because we need two catchers in this league, much more value is put on them then typical one catcher leagues I play in. With that said, Mauer, McCann and Martin were all taken in round 5. Geovany Soto was still available and is the cream of the remaining catcher crop, so I drafted him even though he was down lower on my draft board.
My team now consists of the following through round 7: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, 2 OF and SP
Round 8 - At this point in the draft I look at what positions I have filled and maybe concentrate a little more with my next 4-6 rounds on filling needs to balance out my team. My infield looks very solid and since we have to have 9 pitchers and 5 OF, I decided to concentrate on those 2 positions. With the 95th pick I drafted James Shields who Sport Fanatics has ranked at 71. Shields should get me 14-15 wins, 170 K's a very low WHIP and a decent ERA.
Round 9 - As mentioned in my round 8 comments, I am concentrating on pitching and outfield positions. With Ryan Ludwick picked just ahead of me, it made my choice easy and I picked Johnny Damon. With a quality lineup behind him, Damon should put up good run numbers and always does well in the stolen base category. I also think he will help in the HR and batting average categories, but to a lesser extent.
Round 10 - With the 119th pick I drafted Zach Grienke. Although he plays on a bad team (which is improving), Grienke should do very well across the board in K's, WHIP and ERA and may even get me 13-14 wins as well.
Round 11 - Seen four OF's that I would not mind drafting. I was deciding between Xavier Nady who was the highest one left on my draft board, Mark DeRosa who has position eligibility at OF, 2B and 3B, Conor Jackson who has 1B and OF eligibility or Lastings Milledge who has the most upside potential of the four players. I decided on Milledge because I like the fact that he does have a lot of upside potential that the others do not and because he will give me 20-25 SB's that the others can not come close to producing.
Round 12 - At this point a think I have a very balanced team except for one category, which is saves. Looking at what closers are left, I decided my next two picks were going to be quality closers who provide me the best chance of getting 30-35 saves each. Jonathan Broxton is my pick as he will be the Dodgers closer and should produce very low ERA, WHIP and 75-80 K's to go along with at least 30 saves.
Round 13 - Three picks after Broxton, I went with Bobby Jenks as my second closer. Jenks has lost some velocity and does not get me many K's, but there is no real threat of someone taking over his job and 33-35 saves seems highly likely.
Round 14 - Looking at my roster, I could use a little more in the HR category. I looked to see if there was a HR hitter who had slipped. There were 3 decent choices in Jim Thome, Adam LaRoche and Mike Jacobs. I decided to pick Thome as he was my best bet to get 30 HR's, even though I will have to sacrifice a little for his .250-.260 batting average.
Round 15 - At this point, I needed to fill my SS position. Miguel Tejada was on the board, so I picked him. I know he might be having some legal problems in the future, but as of this draft day, it appears the chances of him serving any time in jail are slim.
My team now consists of the following through round 15: C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, 4 OF, 1 Utility, 3 SP and 2 RP. I need to still fill the following positions: C, 1 MI, 1 CI, 1 OF, 4 P and 2 bench players (any position)
Round 16 - Wanted to get a solid SP who could get me 13 wins, 150 K's and an ERA below 4.00. John Danks is who I drafted and I think he will meet all of those criteria I listed in the SP I wanted to draft.
Round 17 - Recent news has come out that Matt Wieters will probably begin the season in Triple A since the Orioles signed Greg Zaun, I think this pushed down his value considerably. To see Wieters on the board in the 17th round was a no brainer for me. If this were a real league, I would use one of my bench spots for Wieters and put a free agent catcher in my lineup until he comes up to the big leagues which should be before June if all goes as planned. All indications are his game is similar to Joe Mauer... with more power. I'll take 1/2 a season of that in round 17.
Round 18 - Could not pass up on Casey Blake as I have him rated at #164 on my draft board, and will get a lot of value as this is pick #215. Blake should get 20 HR's 70-75 runs and RBI's and bat around .270.
Round 19 - There were plenty of potential middle infielders I could have picked at this point. I did not go with my draft board on this pick and went with a need to bolster my batting average. I drafted Howie Kendrick as I see him with decent potential and one of the few players left that should hit above .300 and add a 10-15 SB's to my totals.
Round 20 - In round 20 I drafted Aaron Rowand. He came to SF in 2008 with much promise, but did not produce as expected. After a year under his belt in SF and getting better adjusted to his teammates, we see Rowand getting back to 75 runs and RBI's as well as 15 HR's and a .270-.275 batting average which is all good for a 20th round pick.
Round 21 - There always seems to be value late in the draft for starting pitching, that is why I held my final few pitching slots until late in the draft. I am drafting another underachiever in 2008. A lot was expected from Fausto Carmona in 2008 after a stellar 2007 season, at this point in the draft if I could get anywhere near the 2007 numbers this is a steal. Carmona is only 25, so he has potential upside.
Round 22 - We are now on pick #263, once again I am looking for a value pick on someone who may have fallen below the radar of the other people drafting. The person I found is a Colorado pitcher that scares off many team owners, but not me. Ubaldo Jimenez has excellent stuff, he just needs to better his control. At 25, Jimenez could be ready to blossom into a very good pitcher. We project 12 wins, 160+ K's a relatively low 4.20 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.
Round 23 - At this point I could fill out my starters by drafting a pitcher or draft one of the best remaining players on my draft board. I was deciding between Michael Cuddyer, Adam Jones, Brian Giles and Elijah Dukes. All of these players have some sort of playing time issue, other than Giles who plays his home games in San Diego (best pitcher park in the majors). I decided on Adam Jones as I like the fact that he can help in many categories, will not hurt me in any of them and because of his upside. He is only 23, but he has already played a full major league season.
Round 24 - Decided to pick my final pitcher which could be a SP or RP. I feel very confident in my SP and it is always easier to pick a SP off the waiver wire, so I picked a closer. I was debating between George Sherrill and Chris Ray as one of them will be the closer in Baltimore this year. Ray is coming back from being off in 2008 with an injury, so I picked Sherrill who was good in the first half of the season last year.
Round 25 - Final pick, many... many players to pick from. Since I am a huge Twins fan I went the homer route and picked a Twin, who once again, has a lot of upside potential. I drafted Alexi Casilla with my final pick.
Final Comments: I followed my draft plan/philosophy and think I would have an excellent chance of taking the title in this league if we played it out. I have a very balanced team who should do well in both hitting and pitching scoring categories. I drafted numerous "sure things" in the first half of the draft and many solid young players later in the draft who are already established starters that have plenty of upside potential.
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