Here are the results of my beloved Home League. It's a 12 team, 5x5 league with 21 roster spots which means no MI, no CI, one C, and only 3 OF. My goal was to go hitting heavy except at Catcher where I knew a solid option would be available late. Despite not needing to fill a MI spot I wanted to target the position scarce spots up the middle. As you'll see that strategy may have led me to reach a bit in Round 2.
Here are the results:
1. Miguel Cabrera
I couldn't pass him up at 8
2. Dustin Pedroia
Admittedly, this was a few picks too high. If he has close to 700 plate appearances like in '08 I'll be alright.
3. Alex Rodriguez
With no Corner Infield spots in this league I know I'll be able to take a quality April replacement in the later rounds. I was happy to get him here although I'm taking on risk early which I don't like to do normally.
4. Matt Kemp
How does 25/35 sound? With Manny around for a full season it's expected his runs and RBI would also increase. He's still only 24 . . . I wish this were a keeper league.
5. Rafael Furcal
This was a little high as well but, I was looking for a great middle infield. Remember how Furcal was the #1 player in fantasy a month into '08? If he stays healthy in '09 with Manny in the lineup, he'll score 110 runs along with the other fantasy goodness he provides. I've already said IF twice in 2 of the first 5 pick write ups . . . . hmm, not good.
6. Magglio Ordonez
Ahh, that's better. Magglio is a solid .300/25/100 and provides less risk than your typical 35 year old.
7. Brad Lidge
This league was a more pitching heavy than I'm used to. Lidge was the 18th pitcher taken at pick 7.8. I always like to get one solid closer in the first handful of rounds and was pleased to get Lidge here.
8. Ryan Ludwick
'08 wasn't a fluke. Even if I get 85% of his '08 totals he'd put up 30/100
9. Scott Kazmir
It was time to stock up on starters so I grabbed the best available SP. He so happens to be 25 with a career K/9 north of 10.
10. Yovani Gallardo
I'm a believer in YoGa. Two short years ago he was in the same conversation as Tim Lincecum. Now he's back from the ACL and looks great to break out in '09.
11. Lastings Milledge
Speed was a need here. I realized I could risk average for a 20/30 upside from a 24 year old. By the way, it looks like he'll be the Nationals lead off man.
12. Adam Wainwright
I also owned Wainwright in this league last year and he was fantastic till his finger injury in June. I'm saying "IF" again but, if Wainwright has 30 starts he'll be a nice value as a 12th rounder.
13. Brett Myers
I hated this pick at the time and I still hate this pick. Justin Upton went right after Myers . . . nuff said.
14. Josh Johnson
Johnson made 9 out of 10 quality starts to end the year in '08 after coming back from his TJ surgery in '07. He and Ricky Nolasco look like the Marlins aces for the near future. He featured a nice strikeout rate, good command, and pitches in a great ballpark. On the whole, the AL is a great place to pitch with 4 of 5 parks favoring pitchers.
15. Frank Francisco
Middle of the road closers scare me but, I felt like Francisco had fallen through the cracks of this closer crazy group of fantasy owners. Francisco was put into more highly leveraged positions in the second half and responded with 43K's in 31 innings with a 2.59 ERA and 0.89 WHIP. 15th round seemed a bit early for him but if I waited around a few more rounds I would have been stuck with setup men.
16. Jorge Posada
This will work if he bounces back, if not we've got Chris Snyder and Ramon Hernandez on the FA wire.
17. Elijah Dukes
I decided to round out the All-Character team (ARod, Furcal, Myers, Francisco) with Dukes. As a player he's got massive upside and makes a great UT/first-man-off-the-bench type. 13/13 in 81 games in '08 looks great as a 17th round pick in '09. He appears to have an everyday spot in RF and looks like a shoe-in for 20/20 with 500 ab.
18. Mark Reynolds
Here's my fill in for ARod. If he repeats his '08 April in '09 the ARod pick will be more than justified.
19. Ubaldo Jimenez
I probably should have gone another direction here but, I like his upside as a late flyer.
20. Jason Giambi
21. Dan Wheeler
Both Giambi and Wheeler will have short leashes considering how shallow this league is. For example, Hermida, Konerko, LaRoche, Hafner, and Cameron are all sitting on the wire. There's talent readily available and I'm regretting not going for more upside with my last few picks.
All in all, I like my draft but I'm aware of my team's flaws. I've got Starting Pitchers with upside but most of them have increased risk coming off somekind of injury in '08. With all the depth in the FA pool I'm confident that I'll compete in the pitching categories and be strong in most every hitting category.
Your thoughts?