Fantasy Baseball Drafting Stratagy (Part 2)
Okay lets get right into this and pick up where I left off.

Outfield:
There is a lot of depth at this position so it gives you multiple options on who and when to grab. In a 12 team pool you're looking at a minimum of 36 outfielders being drafted, but the actual number taken will probably be closer to 60 because a lot of teams will use an outfielder in their utility spot and bench, plus there are a few of these guys with multiple position eligibility. So we might as well start at the top.

Vlady Guerrero (1st and 1st)
Manny Ramirez (1st and 1st)
Carl Crawford (1st and 1st)
Miguel Cabrera (2nd and 1st)
Bobby Abreu (2nd and 2nd)
Chad Kroger (2nd and 1st)
Gary Sheffield (3rd and 2nd)
Ichiro Suzuki (1st and 2nd)
Andruw Jones (3rd and 3rd)
Chone Figgins (2nd and 3rd)
Lance Berkman (3rd and 4th)

Cabrera is an interesting player because he can be used at either 3rd or OF so if you draft him make sure you're aware of the flexability when making pick later on. So if you don't like some of the OFs available in one round but a guy like Chavez or Rolen is still kicking around on the 3B list you know what to do. Again, if you're taking Figgins you really want to be using him at 2B, but depending how the draft goes just remember to be aware of player flexability. Berkmen went in the 4th round with the pick right before mine, otherwise I'd have him in both pools. I love Berkman, which might be making me biased, but I think hes going to have a monster year. With Bagwell out the move to first will put less strain on his body and he should be able to mash all season. In case you hadn't figured it out yet, Chad Kroger is actually Canada's baseball golden boy Jason Bay, hes got a slightly improved lineup around him and Sean Casey is in a contract year so I definitly like his outlook. I'm avoiding Abreu and Sheff just because there are other players of equal value that I'd rather cheer for all season.

Carlos Lee (4th and 4th)
Grady Sizemore (5th and 6th)
Carlos Beltran (5th and 4th)
Juan Pierre (5th and 4th)
Adam Dunn (6th and 4th)
Jhonny Damon (6th and 6th)
Scott Podsednik (6th and 4th)
Hideki Matsui (7th and 5th)
Vernon Wells (7th and 6th)
Pat Burrell (9th and 8th)
Griffey Jr. (8th and 4th)
Barry Bonds (7th and 8th)

Yeah, I drafted Barry Bonds, big whoop, wanna fight?? I fucking hate the guy, but hes a machine and if you can get passed having him on your team you might want to look at him. This is hard for me to type as an Astros fan, but I was looking to take Carlos Beltran in both pools too, last year had to be a fluke plus hes gonna have Delgado with him this year. I hate the guy, but I'd put him on my team. Ugh, damn I gotta go have a shower now, thats how dirty I feel after talking about taking those two guys. Matsui always seems to be undervalued to me and hes definitly worth grabbing even if he is a Yankee. On the other hand, fuck Damon. Same for Adam Dunn. Last season was the first time in the history of my fantasy sports days that I didn't draft Griffey, and he ended up getting almost 500 ABs. I didn't draft him again this year so hes probably going to hit 300 HRs...on opening day. Scotty Pod is a steal monster, but hes kinda risky. V-Dub wasn't great last year, but adding Overbay and Glaus has to help right? Right.

Jim Edmonds
Chad Tracy (10th and 10th)
Coco Crisp (10th and 10th)
Matt Holliday (10th and 8th)
Aubrey Huff (12th and 10th)
Brian Giles
Randy Winn
Michael Bradley
Willy Tavaras (13th and 11th)
Aaron Rowand

I'm not even considering the guys that I didn't put draft positions down for. Coco should be good hitting at the top of the Red Sox lineup. Holliday plays home games at Coors Field so thats worth a couple points. Huff is my homeboy so I always like him. Berkman going to first should give Tavaras the starting job in center, and when he gets on base he can run. Its just getting there thats the issue. Okay these next guys are my sleeperish picks.

Brad Wilkerson (16th and 13th)
Preston Wilson (15th and 18th)
Rocco Baldelli (undrafted and 13th)
Alex Rios (undrafted and 9th)
Austin Kearns (16th and undrafted)
Jeremy Burnitz (undrafted and 18th)
Wily Mo Pena (undrafted and undrafted)
Joey Gathright (undrafted and undrafted)
Jeremy Hermidia (16th and 16th)

Moving from the Nationals lineup into the Rangers one can't hurt, but Wilkerson has some shoulder issues, so there is a risk there. Preston Wilson joins the Astros and I expect him to take full advantage of the Crawford Boxes in left. But that might be my bias again. Baldelli missed all last season, and hes not 100% right now, but if he plays he might be work grabbing with a late pick. Gathright is a freak, hes got speed for days, and with Aubrey Huff potentially moving to third, Delmon Young being sent down to AAA (who I drafted by the way) and Baldelli banged up he might just have a starting job. If he plays, hes gonna steal bases, a lot of them. Hermidia is one of the favorite to challenge for the ROTY in the National League and has been put into the #2 spot hitting in front of Miguel Cabrera and Josh Willingham.

Alrighty, well that takes care of the batting positions. Time to move on to the guys throwing heat.

Starting Pitchers
The key to having a winning team in a head to head pool is having the right balance between hitting and pitching. I've never really mastered that philosophy, in my public pool I went hitting strong and in the 14 man pool I targeted pitching. Last year I went pitching strong in all my pools and had three 2nd place finishes to go along with my one win. Who knows what this year will bring.

Johann Santana (1st and 1st
Pedro Martinez (2nd and 2nd)
Chris Carpenter (2nd and 2nd)
Jake Peavy (3rd and 2nd)
Roy Oswalt (3rd and 2nd)
Roy Halladay (3rd and 2nd)
The Big Unit (5th and 3rd)
Carlos Zambrano (5th and 4th)
Rich Harden (5th and 4th)
Dontrelle Willis (1st and 4th)
Ben Sheets (5th and 5th)
Felix Hernandez (6th and 5th)
Mark Prior (7th and 4th)
Andy Pettitte (7th and 3rd)
Bartolo Colon (7th and 3rd)
Mark Buehrle (4th and 4th)

You'll want to get at least one of these guys (although you'll notice I didn't in my public pool), but you also don't want to be the guy taking Willis in the first round. I love Oswalt and Halladay, The Doc I expect to be dominant and challenge for the Cy Young this year, Oswalt has had back to back 20 win seasons and I hate to say it but he might be due for some DL time. I've got him in my other 2 pools though, and as an Astros fan I'm planning on him being his old dominant self. I'm avoiding Cubs pitchers because they've hurt me in the past so I'm staying away from Zambrano, Prior and Wood. I'm also staying away from The Unit because hes old and hes lost the Mullet Power that made him so dominant.

Brett Myers (8th and 8th)
John Smoltz (9th and 5th)
Brandon Webb (9th and 6th)
Barry Zito (6th and 6th)
John Patterson (9th and 8th)
Jason Schmidt (9th and 4th)
Cliff Lee (5th and 9th)
A.J. Burnett (9th and 5th)
Roger Clemens (10th and 9th)
Curt Schilling (5th and 8th)
Josh Beckett (6th and 5th)
Freddy Garcia (10th and 10th)
Nate Lowry (11th and 10th)
C.C. Sabathia (11th and 10th)
John Garland (8th and 9th)
Doug Davis (11th and 11th)
John Lackey (8th and 7th)
Jose Contreras (11th and 9th)
Danny Haren (10th and 8th)
Mark Mulder (9th and 8th)
Tim Hudson (12th and 11th)

The experts are saying to stay away from the ex-Marlins Burnett and Beckett, and they're probably right. I like A's and ex-A's which is why I've got Haren, Hudson, Harden, and Mulder. Zito isn't a bad option either. In this block of guys I feel like you can just take whoever you like most and the difference maker will probably be health. The Rocket still hasn't commited to the season, and I would avoid him. Other than the A's guys I like Davis and Schmidt, and they would make good options on any rotation.

Kerry Wood (12th and 11th)
Kevin Millwod (12th and 12th)
Matt Cain (13th and 14th)
Zach Duke (13th and 10th)
Jeremy Bonderman (15th and 12th)
Jake Westbrook (15th and 15th)
Aaron Harang (15th and 12th)
Scott Kazmir (14th and 12th)
Francisco Liriano (17th and 20th)
Greg Maddux (20th and 10th)
Josh Towers (21st and 16th)
Jaarod Washburn (17th and 18th)
Kelvim Escobar (undrafted and 19th)
Oliver Perez (21st and 21st)

Wood and Maddux are Cubs so I'm not looking at them. Cain, Kazmir and Duke are all young guys that are expected to have half decent numbers. Bonderman probably shouldn't go as high as he is, but he might be worth it if he drops a couple rounds. If you want one more pitcher in the last two rounds I like taking any combonation of Towers, Perez or Escobar.

Okay, all we've got left now are the relievers. I don't think I have too much to say about these guys so I'll get on with wrapping this thing up.

Relief Pitchers:
You want to have at least one of the top guys, if you can swing two or more you're laughing.

Mariano Rivera (3rd and 3rd)
Brad Lidge (4th and 5th)
Francisco Rodriguez (5th and 5th)
Billy Wagner (6th and 6th)
Joe Nathen (6th and 7th)
B.J. Ryan (6th and 7th)
Huston Street (6th and 7th)
Chad Cordero (7th and 8th)
Eric Gagne (7th and 3rd)
Eddie Guardado (9th and 9th)
Trevor Hoffman (7th and 6th)
Jason Isringhausen (7th and 5th)

If you can get one of those top 4 guys and then add another one like Gagne or Cordero provided you put a decent team together you should be able to handle the pitching stats each week.

Francisco Cordero (8th and 9th)
Derrick Turnbow (7th and 9th)
Brian Fuentes (10th and 12th)
Todd Jones (10th and 12th)
Keith Foulke (12th and 13th)
Bobby Jenks (12th and 11th)
Tom Gordon (13th and 14th)
Armando Benitez (14th and 9th)
Jose Valverde (14th and 11th)
Bob Wickman (12th and 14th)
Ryan Dempster (10th and 11th)
Joe Borowski (14th and 17th)
Mike Gonzalez (14th and 15th)
Dan Wheeler (19th and 19th)
Neal Cotts (undrafted, but picked up and undrafted, but picked up)
Ambiorix Burgos(18th and undrafted, but picked up)

These are your second tier guys, Cotts has jumped off the FA list because Jenks has had trouble in spring training and might lose the closer job. Burgos should have the closing job in KC for at least the start of the season, and if he looks good he might just keep it. Okay I guess I'm just avoiding Cubs starters, because I kinda like Dempster. Wheeler is one of the best non-closing relievers in the league, and if Lidge gets hurt hes the guy to step in. Another guy worth keeping an eye on is Mike Timlin in Boston should Foulke blow it out of the start.

Okay thats all I've got on the players. I'll be back again tomorrow with some more general thoughts on draft stratagy.
- posted by Mike @ 5:45 PM