To aid in the reading of this, you should summon the voice of those old NFL videos. It was a cool and blustery Thursday evening, the hallowed ground known as Smokey's couch laid host to an auction draft of seismic proportions. With no guide, just a 30 pack of PBR, in his hand he used his deft intellectual prowess as he looked over his vacant roster of fantasy fortitude. His grip of his laptop was firm yet sure, as he put his auction ducketts up against 13 other worthy adversaries. Ok, enough of that. I want that guy to come and tuck me in to bed every night and read soft tales of teenage vampires or whatever the youngins read now. The format is 5 x 5 (R,AVG,HR, RBI,SB-ERA Wins, WHIP,Saves, K's), 26 man rosters with C, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, OF, OF, OF, OF, OF, Util, SP, RP, P, P, P, P, P, P, P, BN, BN, BN. Any the who, here are the results of my auction with some fresh goodies of fantasy analysis.
| Fake Teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $260 | ||
| 1. | (8) | Adrián González(Bos - 1B) | $41 |
| 2. | (40) | Andrew McCutchen(Pit - OF) | $36 |
| 3. | (53) | Ryan Zimmerman(Was - 3B) | $23 |
| 4. | (55) | Dan Haren(LAA - SP) | $23 |
| 5. | (74) | Dan Uggla(Atl - 2B) | $21 |
| 6. | (81) | John Axford(Mil - RP) | $15 |
| 7. | (95) | B.J. Upton(TB - OF) | $14 |
| 8. | (109) | Drew Storen(Was - RP) | $6 |
| 9. | (128) | Michael Pineda(NYY - SP) | $8 |
| 10. | (144) | José Valverde(Det - RP) | $9 |
| 11. | (158) | Freddie Freeman(Atl - 1B) | $11 |
| 12. | (169) | Danny Espinosa(Was - 2B) | $6 |
| 13. | (180) | Wilson Ramos(Was - C) | $6 |
| 14. | (184) | Jaime García(StL - SP) | $8 |
| 15. | (213) | Brennan Boesch(Det - OF) | $6 |
| 16. | (228) | Doug Fister(Det - SP) | $3 |
| 17. | (247) | Delmon Young(Det - OF) | $7 |
| 18. | (252) | James Loney(LAD - 1B) | $3 |
| 19. | (256) | Zack Cozart(Cin - SS) | $4 |
| 20. | (309) | Alejandro De Aza(CWS - OF) | $3 |
| 21. | (329) | Will Venable(SD - OF) | $1 |
| 22. | (338) | Rod Barajas(Pit - C) | $1 |
| 23. | (345) | Mike Adams(Tex - RP) | $2 |
| 24. | (351) | Francisco Rodríguez(Mil - RP) | $1 |
| 25. | (357) | David Hernández(Ari - RP) | $1 |
| 26. | (362) | Iván Nova(NYY - SP) | $1 |
Continue reading for more.
Here is a positional breakdown of steal, deals and my team.
Catcher- I wasn't getting involved with the top catchers regardless of what they went for. Carlos Santana @ 26,Mike Napoli @ 21, Matt Weiters @ 17 and Brian McCann @ 19 were the 4 highest won catchers. There was good medium value to be had with Alex Avila @ 11 and Yadier Molina @ 7. Buster Posey @ 16 and Joe Mauer @ 14 offer good return if they are the players we want them to be. It's hard for me to even find a value pick in the bunch as I am so jaded toward catchers it's not even funny.
Let me repeat, I am never big on catchers. Could be a 4 catcher league and I would prolly still punt. I can say I got one fairly decent catcher with some fantasy upside, Wilson Ramos @ 6, for me, that is a huge victory. I would have liked someone else beside Rod Barajas @ 1, but with 14 teams and everyone waiting til the end 1 buck catchers quickly became 2 and I wasn't biting.
First Base - Ricky Bobby said it best, "your either first or your last". For me rosters don't look the same if it doesn't have a big thumper from the top 6 1B. All of these guys went for $38 or more. Led by Miggy Cabrera @ 49, the 3b eligibility factor helps him and he is tied for the highest bought player overall, which, to me, makes perfect sense. Pujols snuck through @ 45, followed by Votto @ 43, AdGon @ 41, Prince @ 40 and Teixeira @ 38. Some trendy 1b were Hosmer @ 26, Adam Dunn @ 8 and Kendrys Morales @ 9. Good value picks in Belt @ 6 and Duda @ 6, both these guys were fair market and could see an increase in value if one gets the playing time and the other does what he is supposed to.
I ended up with 3 1b, Adrian Gonzalez @ 41, Freddie Freeman @ 11 and James Loney @ 3. AdGon is a fantasy stalwart and basically my first overall choice. I think he can equal or eclipse last years numbers, which were pretty stellar. I'm a big supporter of the other 2. Freeman is basically a 90% version of Hosmer, so 20/80 with a 280 BA., and at 15 bucks cheaper. Loney is in his walk year before hitting free agency, and while he is never outstanding in any one category, for 3 bucks you could do worse.
Second Base - depth is the key word here this year. There are alot of deeper guys that I think can still give decent to moderate value at 2B. The top 3 guys were Cano @ 44, Pedroia @ 38, Kinsler @ 34. Than there was a big drop off to the next group led by Uggla @ 21, Phillips @ 20 and Zobrist @ 18. Good value guys like Kendrick @ 14 and Dustin Ackley @ 8 can easily outperform there auctioned value. How far Chase Utley has fallen, I will tell ya, all the way to one measly buck.
I got who I wanted here, Uggla was a target for one factor only power. Average be damned, I will take the 30 plus homers and offset the average here and there with high average guys later. Danny Espinosa @ 6, was my second get here. Love the 18/18+ potential, once again average is his achilles, but sneaky power/steals guys are what make your fantasy roster better.
Third Base - I tried searching the database as I wanted MC Search here but alas he wasn't eligible, I would have settled for Prince Paul but still not there. Why doesn't yahoo keep tabs on the old school rap guys. Anyways the top three guys are no surprise led by Jose Bautista @ 46, Evan Longoria @ 41 and Adrian Beltre @ 31. For inquiring minds, Brett Lawrie went for 26, one behind David Wright @ 27, and 3 more then Panda @ 24. Arod @ 21 could be a decent value if he gets 600 plus plate appearances.
Here's to hoping that Ryan Zimmerman's wallet doesn't start batting for him. I am hoping for a bounce back, but it doesnt have to be all the way back. I'm not being greedy Ryan, so no pressure. At 23 bucks, it's less than the elite guys but based on ADP, the value is skewed somewhere so I'll take the advantage in my favor.
Shortstop - Top heavy is not the word, structurally unsound may be better. SS is that pool when your a kid that drastically slopes down, and your walking and walking and then, poof, you forget how to swim and remember that pool water tastes yummy. Top guys here were Tulo @ 49, tied wih MCAB for highest overall, Hanley @ 38, Jose Reyes @ 32. The new darling of the ball Dee Gordon went for 18. Good value guys were Erick Aybar @ 8 and Jhonny Peralta @ 6.
I landed Zack Cozart @ 4, could have done better, but I am not arguing after missing out on Yunel and Aybar previously. He just needs to keep Dusty happy. Buy him roses or some Hai Karate, I don't care. If in the lineup should be at least a 12/12 guy and that's prolly me being modest.
Outfield - "Josie's on a vacation far away", wait... huh, oh sorry. I do love that song. "Come on in and talk it over" dang sorry. OF is a tricky beast especially with 5 OF spots, as it falls off a shelf, and your left with a fringe rosterable guy in other formats as your 4th OF. Top guys were Matt Kemp @ 46; with Ellsbury, Braun and Upton all at 43. I like the value in the next grouping as Stanton @ 30 and Granderson @ 32 could return great value. Farther down Alex Gordon @ 16 could be a steal for a 20/20 producer.
I overpaid by a few bucks for Andrew McCutchen @ 36. He is a far better hitter than the .253 average from last year. The homers and steals should well be into the 20's, so a couple of bucks here and there on a guy you want is money well spent. I'll take the injury discount on BJ Upton @ 14, if he misses a week or 2 will anyone really notice. I rounded out my OF with bounce back candidates in Boesch @ 6 and Delmon Young @ 7 and added to them some sneaky steals guys in De Aza @ 3 and Wil Venable @ 1 as an injury replacement for BJ Upton. If all goes right with my OF should be an easy 100 steals from the 6 guys combined.
Starting Pitcher - Was a slow starting affair but everything fell into place dollar value wise. Clayton Kershaw topped the list @ 33. Followed by Halladay @ 29, Verlander @ 28, and Cliff Lee and Lincecum @ 26. There was definitely alot of value to be had in the middle of the draft as most of the #2-3 starters went for between $7-$14. Some of the guys I liked from that list were: Ricky Romero @ 7, James Shields @ 12, Dan Hudson @ 12 and Cory Luebke @ 10.
I admit I fell asleep at the wheel here a little. I thought I had another SP before I realized I didn't. A staff that starts with Haren @ 23 is always a good start. I filled it in with Jaime Garcia and Michael Pineda @ 8 and Fister @ 3. This is definitely a streamer league, as the inning limit is 1400, so with only 4 real options for me to garner wins with I will have to be very streamer oriented.
Relief Pitcher - Most of my relief pitchers are now in the recycling bin. It was very modest going for the relief pitching, less then I assumed it would be anyways. The top guys here were: Craig Kimbrel @ 17, Rivera @ 15, Axford @15 and Papelbon @ 14. No real surprises, as that is pretty much how I have them ranked on this site. Closer prices prettty much stayed in the $8-$12 range for almost anyone who has a chance to close for any team, which is pretty decent value.
I think I made out fairly well here. I landed Axford @ 15, Valverde @ 9 and Drew Storen @ 6. The arm injury discount for Storen may look awesome or may just blow up in my face, but for 6 bucks it's worth the risk of paying half price for a dented can. I filled out my reliever ranks with 3 guys (Adams,K-Rod,David Hernandez) that will definitely put up good peripheral numbers and great K numbers. Add in the fact that they are the defacto closer should something happen to Nathan/Putz/Axford. Overall this is my strength position of drafting.
Overall I think my team is decent, lacking in 2 areas. Batting average may be a little low if some guys don't prerorm up to snuff, and wins/K's both will be addressed by streaming now and again. Now I don't think I have the greatest team, I should be middle to upper tier, but who knows because they haven't played any games yet. Questions or inquiries on who sold for what are welcomed.