The Official Fake Teams H2H Points League: Alex's Division

On Wednesday night, 12 loyal Fake Teams' readers, Brian Creagh and myself got together in virtual space and drafted our teams in the Official Fake Teams H2H Points League. Brian won the league last year and has already offered up his initial thoughts from the draft in his quest to repeat as league champion, and today, we present you with our favorite and least favorite picks for each team, including our own.

Keep in mind that while some picks may look worse than others, we were all dealing with the "Curse of the Queue," which really threw many of us off our game. Any player placed in the queue was swallowed up immediately, while players in nobody's queue, like Adam Dunn, weren't being drafted, even by the autobots!

The league consists of 14 teams and is broken down into two divisions of seven, with Brian in one division and myself in the other. We've decided to write a separate post for each division, so Brian will take his division and I will take mine. I believe the league is public and you can follow along with us here.

Brian plans on posting his division later today. Onto the picks...

Alex - Fake Teams

Best pick - Jordan Zimmermann (Round 6, Pick 74)

Zimmermann was my second starter taken, but really he's my No. 1. I took Aroldis Chapman a round earlier and Craig Kimbrel in Round 3 after going hitter-hitter (Andrew McCutchen and Adrian Beltre) in the first two rounds. My initial plan was to go pitcher-pitcher, but Cutch and Beltre fell to me and I strayed from the plan. Last year, Zimmermann was stretched out to 195.2 innings, and I expect him to take the next step in 2013 -- my season kind of depends on it.

Worst pick - Matt Holliday (Round 3, Pick 46)

Don't get me wrong, I love Matt Holliday. But I immediately regretted taking him after seeing who went right after -- Billy Butler. Every draft, I try to take two top-15 outfielders because every year, outfield is said to be deep, and every year, it dries up quicker than expected. While Holliday is soild, he's also getting up there in age and Butler is just hitting his prime. I ended up with Freddie Freeman at first, but I'd be much more comfortable with Butler, especially in a points format. I have quite a few fragile vets on my team, and that could torpedo my season very quickly.

Crazy Fred Wilpon

Best pick - Max Scherzer (Round 5, Pick 62)

After going with Robinson Cano and Evan Longoria with his first two picks, Crazy Fred turned his attention to pitching, using four of his next five picks on starters (Gio Gonzalez, Scherzer, Yovani Gallardo and Roy Halladay). The strategy worked out like a dream, and I think Scherzer in Round 5 was the best value of the bunch. No one had a higher K/9 in 2012, and Mad Max could win the strikeout title if he reaches 200 innings for the first time.

Worst pick - Zack Cozart (Round 12, Pick 163)

This pick was probably the result of the shortstop position being plucked thin when I took J.J. Hardy five picks earlier. My only problem with the pick is that Crazy Fred was able to grab Alexei Ramirez in Round 18, and I think Ramirez makes for a better starter than Cozart.

Gamehenge Multibeast

Best pick - Troy Tulowitzki (Round 2, Pick 17)

Ugh. I liked this pick so much it hurt, because it was the pick directly before me, where I planned on taking Tulo. Of course he needs to be healthy, but Tulo can carry a team for weeks at a time, and that's especially enticing in a weekly head-to-head league.

Worst pick - Chris Davis (Round 16, Pick 213)

Davis blasted 33 home runs with a .270-average and only scored 288 points last year in this format. Why? Look no further than his 169 strikeouts. At Round 16, it's not a make-or-break pick, but Multibeast also took Ike Davis in Round 7 and Ryan Howard in Round 15. Those strikeouts could pile up very quickly.

Green Apples

Best pick - Martin Prado (Round 5, Pick 69)

Prado is a head-to-head star, as he scored the ninth most points among outfielders with 427. He's also eligible at second, third and short, so the possibilities of setting your lineup are endless. Prado was one of the first picks I remember that really drew high praise from other teams in the chat. I also liked Green Apples' selection of Norichika Aoki in Round 9, and Lance Lynn in Round 11.

Worst pick - Chris Perez (Round 13, Pick 181)

Perez might not make it to Opening Day after suffering a strained right shoulder early in the spring, and I'm making it a point to not draft him in any league. Last year, he scored 296 points, which was 17th among closers, and he always seems to be in some sort of trouble.

The Goon Squad

Best pick - Justin Verlander (Round 1, Pick 7) and Cliff Lee (Round 2, Pick 22)

Kudos to the Goon for picking a strategy and sticking to it (something I didn't do). Verlander has a realistic chance of leading the league in points and Cliff Lee could find himself not far behind if his unlucky streak of not winning ends.

Worst pick - Eric Hosmer (Round 7, Pick 91)

I thought Round 7 for Hosmer was a little too early with first basemen like Freddie Freeman and Paul Konerko still on the board. The Goon must be banking on a big bounce back from the Hos, and that's something I'm less optimistic on.

Yu Tang Clan

Best pick - Yu Darvish (Round 3, Pick 33)

The Yu Tang Clan didn't disappoint and picked Yu Darvish as his staff ace. Let that be a lesson to all Yu fantasy players out there. If you name your team after a player and then don't draft that player, Yu lose all respect. Yu Tang Clan has my respect.

Worst pick - Zack Greinke (Round 4, Pick 52)

After going Matt Kemp, Bryce Harper and Darvish in the first three rounds, Yu Tang scooped up his No. 2 with the Dodgers' real-life No. 2, Greinke. It was a bold move, as Greinke is experiencing elbow inflammation and could miss Opening Day. I've been avoiding him in my drafts until we get further clarification. Of course, this pick can turn into a great one if all is right in the world of Greinke.

Choo Your Trout

Best pick - Billy Butler (Round 4, Pick 47)

No, Choo Your Trout didn't draft Shin-Soo Choo or Mike Trout, but, in all fairness, he had no chance at getting Trout with the 10th pick. I already told you how I screwed up not taking Butler over Holliday, so my choice for this best pick shouldn't surprise you. Butler scored the fifth most points among first basemen in 2012, and I expect him to be right around the top 5 again in 2013.

Worst pick - C.J. Wilson (Round 7, Pick 94)

If I remember correctly, Choo Your Trout didn't intend to draft Wilson in Round 7, but I liked the two starters who went after Wilson -- Ian Kennedy and Jeff Samardzija -- a lot more. Oh, and Choo (the player) went four picks after Choo (the team) drafted Wilson, so Choo (the team) has got some splainin' to do.

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