Saturday, February 9, 2008

A Recent Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

I am going to interrupt my examination of the past Fantasy Football season today to talk a little baseball. I know it is still early, sorta, but I was perusing MLB’s Fantasy 411 blog and came across a mock draft by some of the experts. BTW—if you don’t already listen to these guys, you really should. They are fantastic, personable, and truly understand the game. They are the kind of guys you wanna grab a beer and talk baseball with.

Anyways, here is a mock draft the two expert/hosts (Mike Siano & Cory Schwartz) of the Fantasy 411 participated in with 10 other experts. I am just providing the numbered list from the draft, if you want to see who picked whom and why, you can read it for yourself on their blog at (http://fantasy411.mlblogs.com/mlbcoms_fantasy_411/2007/11/early_411_mock_.html)

ROUND 1
1. ALEX RODRIGUEZ
2. HANLEY RAMIREZ
3. ALBERT PUJOLS
4. DAVID WRIGHT
5. JOSE REYES
6. MATT HOLLIDAY
7. CHASE UTLEY
8. JIMMY ROLLINS
9. GRADY SIZEMORE
10. RYAN BRAUN
11. MIGUEL CABRERA
12. RYAN HOWARD

ROUND 2
13. CARLOS BELTRAN
14. PRINCE FIELDER
15. CARL CRAWFORD
16. VLADIMIR GUERRERO
17. ALFONSO SORIANO
18. JOE MAUER
19. DAVID ORTIZ
20. MARK TEIXEIRA
21. CARLOS LEE
22. ICHIRO SUZUKI
23. JOHAN SANTANA
24. C.C. SABATHIA

ROUND 3
25. JAKE PEAVY
26. B.J. UPTON
27. BRANDON PHILLIPS
28. RUSSELL MARTIN
29. ALEX RIOS
30. VICTOR MARTINEZ
31. LANCE BERKMAN
32. CURTIS GRANDERSON
33. ADAM DUNN
34. MANNY RAMIREZ
35. FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ
36. MAGGLIO ORDONEZ

I know it is early yet, so it would be hard to really judge how well these picks will perform, I was really surprised by some of the picks. Most of the first round picks made sense to me except Braun. Don’t get me wrong, cuz I have him in my keeper league, but is Braun a first rounder? His numbers were fantastic, but I am not sure I would grab him so early since he is so young to the league. Probably the second round though.

The second round had more surprises for me, but I will limit my commentaries to just a few. First, I was surprised to find Soriano there. Being traded last year and getting hurt early on, I can’t imagine he will have another unproductive year (although I recognize that his injuries could continue) at Wrigley. He should be primed for solid numbers. Second, is Santana not a 1st rounder now that he moved to the Mets. It seems like his value should only increase, even with the extra year of age, rather than decrease. He is still a solid pitcher and has the Mets bats for back up. Even though he now has to hit, I don’t think it will bother him. He is a solid pitcher, and one of the few reliable players in the league. That being said, I personally will not take a pitcher in the early rounds, so this is all a mute point personally. And that brings me to third, CC Sabathia in the 2nd round! Really? Are we sure about this? I mean, I would have been shocked to see a run on pitchers at the end of the 3rd, but am just baffled by the push at the end of the 2nd. Not what I would have expected. Pitchers are just too delicate to waste early picks upon. I did that last year with Carpenter, and never got a single game out of him.

I have the same issue with the 3rd round. Too many pitchers were taken. And a closer? In the 3rd? Really? I wasn’t expecting to see that. Perhaps closers are a more scarce position this year than I realize. That all being said, you can’t get much better than Francisco. You are virtually guaranteed solid production, while Boston’s Paps is too babied and may or may not provide the numbers needed to take the saves category. And finally, how the hell does Man-Ram, Dunn, and Berkman get ahead of Magglio? I know Mags has had injury issues in the past (heck even last year), but he has also put up solid numbers lately and is far more reliable than Man-Ram (keep in mind, I have been burned so many times by Manny that he dead to my roster. If I ever pick him up on a team, it is only for trades.).

One final thing about the mock draft, I was not surprised to see so many catchers in the early mix. I personally think that is one of the scarcest positions this year. After the top 4, the competition drops to virtually nothing. I myself will be looking for a C in the early rounds, although I may wait until 4th. Man, I can’t wait til the season starts…

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