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The
weekend before Opening Day is when I draft in all my fantasy leagues. I am
usually well prepared with a cheat sheet and a draft plan but these are the
things I have experienced:
1)
Unless you have one of
the top 3 picks you’ll find it hard to get a top catcher, second baseman and
shortstop.
2)
If you can’t get one
of the top catchers, second basemen or shortstops don’t target a particular one
but pick the next best one within reason.
3)
If you draft an impact
player others passed up early for the utility spot you’ll have trouble catching
up with the positions you need to fill.
In
my first draft I had the 3rd overall pick. After Albert Pujols and
Troy Tulowitzki were chosen Hanley Ramirez was a no-brainer. First problem
position filled! Mark Teixeira and Ryan Zimmerman were my next picks. In the 4t
round I picked Brandon Phillips 38th overall followed by Victor
Martinez 43rd overall. This draft went according to plan.
My
second draft did not go all that well. With the 9th overall pick I
chose Carlos Gonzalez. With the 16th overall pick I didn’t want to
draft Jose Reyes, Dustin Pedroia or Ian Kinsler so I got Roy Halladay. In round
3 and 4 I drafted Joe Mauer and Brandon Phillips. That left the shortstop as
the only remaining problem spot. By round 5 Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins had
gone. I didn’t fancy the likes of Alexei Ramirez, Stephen Drew or Elvis Andrus
so I targeted Starlin Castro at round 13. Of course he was gone by then. This
left me with an empty shortstop spot after 13 rounds. I ended up drafting Mike
Aviles in the 18th round as most don’t even know him and everyone in
my league had a shortstop by then anyway. Aviles has sleeper potential though
and might turn out to be a steal this late in the draft. Straight after the draft
someone proposed a trade offering Jose Reyes for Brandon Phillips. I accepted.
It improves my team overall, especially at shortstop. At second base I can
choose between starting Mike Aviles and Juan Uribe.
In
my 3rd draft I had the 8th overall pick and figured I
will have one problem-spot issue once again. Turns out to be the catcher
position but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. In the 1st
round I managed to get Miguel Cabrera. In round 2 I took Josh Hamilton. Now the
catcher picks started way above value and I decided not to join in. I figured
I’d get Kurt Suzuki or Jorge Posada when most have already drafted their
catchers. With the next three picks I had my infield complete as I took Ian
Kinsler, Jimmy Rollins and Adrian Beltre. Now it was time to take care of
pitching. In round 6 I took Carlos Marmol. In the next round I wanted a
starting pitcher but noticed that Billy Butler was still available. This guy
served me well last year and is a bit of a cheaper version of Ryan Zimmerman.
Although I already have Miguel Cabrera I just could not resist the temptation
and drafted him 80th overall for my utility spot. The problem I
faced now was my pitching staff. The top pitchers had already been drafted
which left me with Mat Latos as the next best available pitcher. As pitchers go
very fast in the middle rounds I had to do with Wandy Rodriguez, Tim Hudson,
Hiroki Kuroda and Ervin Santana as my other starters. Pitching doesn’t usually
worry me as you can always find a good pitcher on waiver wire but I don’t
expect to take an early lead in any of the pitching categories here. As for the
catcher, of course Kurt Suzuki and Jorge Posada were drafted earlier than I
expected. I ended up choosing John Jaso and J. P. Arencibia but mark my words,
Arencibia is the catcher Matt Wieters never will be.
My
fourth and final draft of the weekend presented me with the 3rd
overall pick once again and, after all the problems I faced in my earlier
drafts, should provide me with my best team. My first 4 picks were Hanley Ramirez,
Ryan Howard, Dustin Pedroia and Joe Mauer. There I had all problem spots
covered immediately. In the 5th round I took Clayton Kershaw and
together with Brett Anderson, Wandy Rodriguez, Brian Matusz, Jaime Garcia and
Jair Jurrjens I have decent pitchers as well. Most impressively my league
ignored many players so I could stash my bench with players like Chase Utley,
Billy Butler, Bobby Abreu, Starlin Castro, Kurt Suzuki and Mike Aviles.
Now,
after two days of drafting I can’t wait for the season to start. On Thursday
the best 6 months of the year are upon us!
These
are my four teams fighting for glory:
Victor
Martinez J. Mauer J.
P. Arencibia J. Mauer
M.
Teixeira P. Konerko M. Cabrera R.
Howard
B.
Phillips M. Aviles I. Kinsler D. Pedroia
R.
Zimmerman I. Stewart A.
Beltre A.
Beltre
H.
Ramirez J. Reyes J. Rollins H. Ramirez
C.
Young C. Gonzalez J. Hamilton J.
Heyward
B.
Abreu A. Rios D. Young D. Stubbs
T.
Hunter B. Abreu B. Abreu B. J. Upton
S.
Drew J. Tabata B. Butler B. Butler
B.
Roberts T. Hunter
M. Latos C. Kershaw
U.
Jimenez R. Halladay W. Rodriguez B. Anderson
M.
Scherzer F. Liriano T. Hudson W.
Rodriguez
T.
Lilly M.
Scherzer H. Kuroda B. Matusz
J.
Sanchez B. Matusz E. Santana J.
Garcia
E.
Santana J. Jurrjens C. Marmol J.
Jurrjens
M.
Rivera M. Rivera J. J. Putz C. Marmol
J.
Soria J.
Papelbon D. Aardsma B. Wilson
J.
Valverde J. Hanrahan J. J.
Putz
C.
McGee F. Rodney I. Desmond D. Aardsma
M. Cuddyer
C.
Quentin D. Lee R.
Rayburn C. Utley
I.
Stewart J. Uribe J. P. Arencibia M.
Young
J.
Posada J. P. Arencibia B. Abreu
F.
Gutierrez D. Lowe S. Castro
J.
P. Arencibia J. Garland K.
Suzuki
M. Aviles
Source: http://nybblogs.com | 
