Yahoo Baseball 2010
I signed up for a Yahoo League again this year. As always, I set the level of competition as high as possible. Usually, these leagues end up easy to win. This year I signed up on the first day for one of the first "winners leagues". I can already tell that this league may be hard to win.
Rounds 8 and 9 gave early clues. I drafted Carlos Quentin in round 8, not so much because I felt he was critical to have, but it was too early for me to draft the second year non-superstar players that I wanted for catcher and second base. The player I wanted in round 9 went in round 8. The player I wanted in round 10 went in round 9. Enough of this I said. So, I draft Jason Heyward in round 9 instead of round 11. The closers all get drafted, even closer candidates like Jon Rauch, Kevin Gregg and Jason Frasor. Top rookies, like Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman, also get drafted.
But, having a knowledgeable team or two does not mean that the league as a whole will be competitive. That the final pick in the final round was Joe Nathan did tell me this was a competitive league. If anyone was auto-picking or unaware of his injury, Joe Nathan would have been drafted in the first ten rounds. Everyone was aware of this recent news. Drafting him last says, I know he is injured, but I also know he has not yet gone under the knife and there is still a percent or two of hope. There is nothing to lose by drafting Nathan.
My draft position was ninth. Per the default rankings, Kinsler or Cabrera should be available in the second round. In the first round, I am considering Braun or Kemp, essentially the same combination of power and speed in the outfield. When they are picked as number seven and number eight, Mauer, Wright and Lincecum become the top choices for my first round pick. Looking ahead, Victor Martinez will probably be available in the third round, so I consider Wright and Lincecum, and not Mauer, finally deciding on Tim Lincecum, SP as my first round pick. I drafted Mauer in a mock-draft and it seemed like catchers were the top available players every few rounds-- Martinez, McCann, Wieters, Montero, ....
Kinsler and some first base bombers-- Howard, Fielder and Cabrera all go before my second round pick. Two first basemen, Fielder and Cabrera are drafted by the same team in a somewhat unorthodox move that impressed me. Things are not proceeding as they did in the mock drafts. My second round pick turns out to be my second pick for the first round, David Wright, 3B.
In the third round, 33rd pick over-all, I had penciled in Victor Martinez and Felix Hernandez, as players likely to be available. Victor was the 28th over-all pick and I already had my anchor pitcher, so I draft Jose Reyes, SS a round earlier than I had planned. Even with his injury, I bet he would have been gone, if I had left Reyes on the board. McCann, Hernandez and Cano soon go off the board. No problem, as I like Gordon Beckham as a sneaky pick at 2B and like Wieters at C.
I still do not have much power and like to have a strong first baseman. My rankings show Kendry Morales, 1B ahead of Justin Morneau. Justin is the hometown player, and seems to be going as a fifth round bargain. Why not draft them both?
As Justin goes 50th overall, my decision becomes easy. Some think Johan Santana, SP is over the hill. I think that he had a sub-par year (for him) in 2009 because of an injury that he had repaired. Tim and Johan make my rotation strong regardless of who else is added.
I go for outfielders next, while watching additional strong pitchers get drafted. Missing Josh Hamilton by one pick in the seventh round, I take B.J. Upton, OF in round 6, Jay Bruce, OF in round 7 and Carlos Quentin, OF in the 8th. Gordon Beckham is picked two spots after Quentin, and the owner of Beckham does not want to trade them. After getting B.J. Upton, I felt I had more speed than power, and Bruce and Quentin seemed like the two players on the board most likely to hit 40 HRs. Continuing the trend, I speculated on the Albert Pujols potential of Jason Heyward, OF, as I did not see him lasting beyond another round. Matt Wieters was drafted nine spots before. Holes remain at 2B and C.
Howie Kendrick, 2B filled one hole, but when Miguel Montero went two spots later, I knew that I was not going to draft a catcher for a while. Having a third starter seemed more important than a top closer, so Brett Anderson, SP was my eleventh rounder. Then, I started thinking that with Reyes injured, I could not count of his speed and figured now was the time to grab another burner: Juan Pierre, OF.
I took the best available closers in the next three rounds: Tim Hoffman, RP, Mike Gonzalez, RP and Octovio Dotel, RP.
Now was time to plug the hole at catcher: Jorge Posada, C. In round 17, my fourth starting pitcher became Tim Hudson, SP. Tim Hudson does not get as many strikeouts as I would like, but will likely win games for the Braves.
The Yahoo format has added a utility spot, so having extra first basemen and outfielders this year makes sense. Another pitcher slot was also added. With the innings limit still at 1250, this makes room for a middle reliever or up to six closers. I did my best to utilize these new spots by adding Adam LaRoche, 1B, Corey Hart, OF, Nick Johnson, 1B, Conor Jackson, 1B, Phil Hughes, SP/RP and finally Ryan Madson, RP. (Hughes and Madson were the closest relations to closers that I found still available. This draft was competitive as only one team was shut out of closers.)
I assume that this team will do well, because my teams always do well. But, looking at other manager's Yahoo records, it appears everyone feels this way.
I like my draft and my team. How well will it do? No one knows.
Rounds 8 and 9 gave early clues. I drafted Carlos Quentin in round 8, not so much because I felt he was critical to have, but it was too early for me to draft the second year non-superstar players that I wanted for catcher and second base. The player I wanted in round 9 went in round 8. The player I wanted in round 10 went in round 9. Enough of this I said. So, I draft Jason Heyward in round 9 instead of round 11. The closers all get drafted, even closer candidates like Jon Rauch, Kevin Gregg and Jason Frasor. Top rookies, like Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman, also get drafted.
But, having a knowledgeable team or two does not mean that the league as a whole will be competitive. That the final pick in the final round was Joe Nathan did tell me this was a competitive league. If anyone was auto-picking or unaware of his injury, Joe Nathan would have been drafted in the first ten rounds. Everyone was aware of this recent news. Drafting him last says, I know he is injured, but I also know he has not yet gone under the knife and there is still a percent or two of hope. There is nothing to lose by drafting Nathan.
My draft position was ninth. Per the default rankings, Kinsler or Cabrera should be available in the second round. In the first round, I am considering Braun or Kemp, essentially the same combination of power and speed in the outfield. When they are picked as number seven and number eight, Mauer, Wright and Lincecum become the top choices for my first round pick. Looking ahead, Victor Martinez will probably be available in the third round, so I consider Wright and Lincecum, and not Mauer, finally deciding on Tim Lincecum, SP as my first round pick. I drafted Mauer in a mock-draft and it seemed like catchers were the top available players every few rounds-- Martinez, McCann, Wieters, Montero, ....
Kinsler and some first base bombers-- Howard, Fielder and Cabrera all go before my second round pick. Two first basemen, Fielder and Cabrera are drafted by the same team in a somewhat unorthodox move that impressed me. Things are not proceeding as they did in the mock drafts. My second round pick turns out to be my second pick for the first round, David Wright, 3B.
In the third round, 33rd pick over-all, I had penciled in Victor Martinez and Felix Hernandez, as players likely to be available. Victor was the 28th over-all pick and I already had my anchor pitcher, so I draft Jose Reyes, SS a round earlier than I had planned. Even with his injury, I bet he would have been gone, if I had left Reyes on the board. McCann, Hernandez and Cano soon go off the board. No problem, as I like Gordon Beckham as a sneaky pick at 2B and like Wieters at C.
I still do not have much power and like to have a strong first baseman. My rankings show Kendry Morales, 1B ahead of Justin Morneau. Justin is the hometown player, and seems to be going as a fifth round bargain. Why not draft them both?
As Justin goes 50th overall, my decision becomes easy. Some think Johan Santana, SP is over the hill. I think that he had a sub-par year (for him) in 2009 because of an injury that he had repaired. Tim and Johan make my rotation strong regardless of who else is added.
I go for outfielders next, while watching additional strong pitchers get drafted. Missing Josh Hamilton by one pick in the seventh round, I take B.J. Upton, OF in round 6, Jay Bruce, OF in round 7 and Carlos Quentin, OF in the 8th. Gordon Beckham is picked two spots after Quentin, and the owner of Beckham does not want to trade them. After getting B.J. Upton, I felt I had more speed than power, and Bruce and Quentin seemed like the two players on the board most likely to hit 40 HRs. Continuing the trend, I speculated on the Albert Pujols potential of Jason Heyward, OF, as I did not see him lasting beyond another round. Matt Wieters was drafted nine spots before. Holes remain at 2B and C.
Howie Kendrick, 2B filled one hole, but when Miguel Montero went two spots later, I knew that I was not going to draft a catcher for a while. Having a third starter seemed more important than a top closer, so Brett Anderson, SP was my eleventh rounder. Then, I started thinking that with Reyes injured, I could not count of his speed and figured now was the time to grab another burner: Juan Pierre, OF.
I took the best available closers in the next three rounds: Tim Hoffman, RP, Mike Gonzalez, RP and Octovio Dotel, RP.
Now was time to plug the hole at catcher: Jorge Posada, C. In round 17, my fourth starting pitcher became Tim Hudson, SP. Tim Hudson does not get as many strikeouts as I would like, but will likely win games for the Braves.
The Yahoo format has added a utility spot, so having extra first basemen and outfielders this year makes sense. Another pitcher slot was also added. With the innings limit still at 1250, this makes room for a middle reliever or up to six closers. I did my best to utilize these new spots by adding Adam LaRoche, 1B, Corey Hart, OF, Nick Johnson, 1B, Conor Jackson, 1B, Phil Hughes, SP/RP and finally Ryan Madson, RP. (Hughes and Madson were the closest relations to closers that I found still available. This draft was competitive as only one team was shut out of closers.)
I assume that this team will do well, because my teams always do well. But, looking at other manager's Yahoo records, it appears everyone feels this way.
I like my draft and my team. How well will it do? No one knows.
posted by David Rasmussen at 3:02 PM
<< Home