Friday night I completed the 3rd of my five fantasy baseball drafts. This one is a 14-team mixed league H2H format. I drew the second pick and quickly took Hanley Ramirez. That was the last pick I had where I got my 1st choice of players.
Very simply, playing in a league with more than 12 teams after months of becoming accustomed to the flow of 12-team leagues takes a shift in mindset. You must be be prepared to get the 4th or 5th or 6th player in your queue when your turn arises. There are four extra players taken every two rounds than there are in 12-team drafts. That is just too much to expect your expected player to be available when you pick.
The immediate effects of the 14-team format was the lack of quality second-tier starters available. Between my third round selection of Curtis Granderson at #30 overall and my fourth pick, Joe Mauer at 55th overall, six starting pitchers were taken. So much for a pitching-heavy strategy.
Here are the players taken with their overall position. Outside of my second and third picks, the overall spots look right. One thing I did do differently, though, was looking for multiple-position eligibility. I especially wanted this because the league uses a LF, CF and RF for the OF and has to start 5 SP. With that level of SP, I will have to use more resources on following SPs.
Round Pick Player Position
- (2) Hanley Ramírez SS
- (27) Brandon Webb SP
- (30) Curtis Granderson CF
- (55) Joe Mauer C
- (58) Carlos Peña 1B
- (83) Delmon Young CF,RF
- (86) Alex Gordon 1B,3B
- (111) Rich Hill SP
- (114) Yovani Gallardo SP
- (139) Joakim Soria RP
- (142) Matt Capps RP
- (167) Plácido Polanco 2B
- (170) Josh Hamilton CF,RF
- (195) Brian Wilson RP
- (198) Billy Butler 1B,LF
- (223) Adam Jones LF
- (226) Matt Garza SP
- (251) Frank Thomas Util
- (254) Ty Wigginton 1B,2B,3B
- (279) Julio Lugo SS
- (282) Wandy Rodríguez SP
- (307) Jonathan Sánchez SP,RP
- (310) David DeJesús CF
- (335) Andy Sonnanstine SP
- (338) Mike Pelfrey SP