This is the team I drafted in last night's 13-team Fantasy Baseball Express Writers League. As I usually do, I focused on hitting in the first five rounds and switched to pitching afterwards. It is my belief that the quality of hitters levels off after 50-60 picks and that teams have filled positions that force them to begin drafting with the roster's parameters in mind i.e I need a SS no matter how much I want to draft a 3rd 1B.
| Round | Player | Overall | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan | Howard | 5 |
| 2 | Manny | Ramírez | 22 |
| 3 | Derek | Jeter | 31 |
| 4 | Bill | Hall | 48 |
| 5 | Rocco | Baldelli | 57 |
| 6 | Jeremy | Bondrmn | 74 |
| 7 | Jason | Schmidt | 83 |
| 8 | Barry | Zito | 100 |
| 9 | Mike | Mussina | 109 |
| 10 | Mike | Cameron | 126 |
| 11 | Richie | Sexson | 135 |
| 12 | Ian | Kinsler | 152 |
| 13 | Salomón | Torres | 161 |
| 14 | Jorge | Posada | 178 |
| 15 | Seth | McClung | 187 |
| 16 | Corey | Hart | 204 |
| 17 | Joel | Piñeiro | 213 |
| 18 | Daniel | Cabrera | 230 |
| 19 | Ted | Lilly | 239 |
| 20 | Brad | Hawpe | 256 |
| 21 | B.J. | Upton | 265 |
| 22 | Kenny | Lofton | 282 |
| 23 | Kevin | Youkilis | 291 |
| 24 | Boof | Bonser | 308 |
| 25 | Henry | Owens | 317 |
I was ready to grab hitters with my ninth pick but chose to grab Mike Mussina because the drop-off after him was quite dramatic. Following my pitching run, I focused on categories I did not address and the positions I need to fill. Again, I typically look for HR/SB combos. In this draft, I took Mike Cameron. When my 11th pick came along, I grabbed Richie Sexson because there was no other 30+ HR I deemed as reliable of Sexson.
At this point, the best players at each position are gone, and I began to grab the best available at the positions I needed. I had hoped to wait on Ian Kinsler, but the two other 2Bs I targeted - Josh Barfield and Brandon Phillips fell off the board.
Once those spots were addressed, I began to take best available hitters and pitchers for my bench while addressing SB. I couldn't pass on Brad Hawpe but then took BJ Upton and Kenny Lofton in hopes both can steal 25 this year. Kevin Youkilis is a Runs sleeper this year. His power numbers do not stack-up well as a corner, but he is a lock for 90+ runs due to his excellent OBP.
In general, my drafts follow the same course - 4-5 hitters with a couple of personal sleepers, 3-4 pitchers, 5-6 best players at positions of need, wrap up with sleepers and best availables.
Here are the draft results. Let me know where I went wrong or could have done better.