Asakusabashi Fishiokas-- CBS Money League
What Went Right?:
Punting catchers worked out well, as there seem to be about 24 good ones. Arencibia and Pierzynski were the last catchers on my cheat sheet and very nearly the final two $1 picks of the draft.
Starting closers went from $7 (Kevin Gregg) to $24 (Mariano Rivera), except, Kyle Farnsworth was available at $4. Brian Fuentes will close at the start of the season and was available for $4. Koji Uehara will likely close and was also available. Having two protected closers worked out well.
What Went Wrong?:
I would have preferred Shaun Marcum at $3 to Ricky Nolasco at $3, but had already filled the SP slots. I would have preferred Michael Pineda or Erik Bedard to Edwin Jackson at $4, but was saving the spot for a higher ranked pitcher (Latos, Haren or better). Nolasco and Jackson came cheap and could work out fine, but were definitely not targets.
I start with seven protections:
1B: A. Gonzalez, $19
OF: J. Heyward, $6
SP: Liriano, $18
SP: Buchholz, $6
SP: Morrow, $6
RP: Feliz: $11
RP: C. Perez: $9
There are five roster spots where I would like to spend about $30 each. These are at 2B, 3B, SS, OF2 and SP4. I succeed except that I am unable to draft a top starting pitcher, all of whom go over budget:
SS: Reyes, $28 (H. Ramirez went for $48.)
3B: A. Rodriguez, $31
OF2: M. Kemp, $31
2B: Phillips, $22 (under budget)
Rotoworld has Curtis Granderson at $23, so I jump on him.
OF3: Granderson, $17
Once I take Granderson, I have $56 for my last ten picks. I spend a big chunk of it on the player whom I believe will lead the league in homeruns:
OF4: Stanton:$21
So, the outfield is stacked at this point.
Here is the most interesting part of the draft, the bargains:
OF: C. Hart, $6 (out until mid-April, but rated at $19)
MI/2B: B. Roberts, $7, rated at $18
SP: R. Nolasco, $3, rated at $14
RP: Farnsworth, $4
SP: E. Jackson, $4, with upside, but descending per Sporting News
RP: Fuentes, $3
I tried for Saltalamacchia, but end up saving my final two $1 picks for catcher. My final picks are:
OF/U: M. Ramirez, $1
CI: M. Moreland, $2
C: J. Arencibia, $1
C: A. J. Pierzynski, $1
I am happy Arencibia was still available, since I wanted a catcher whose name ended with "ia". Manny seemed to be a huge bargain as Rotoworld listed him at $16 and Sporting News listed him at $15, though with a bust alert as he misses games and is not reliable. But, everyone knows Manny is not reliable. It is his brand. Manny and A.J. are her favorite players, so my wife is happy, too.
We draft six additional players. Due to injuries, Garcia will start in place of Morrow and Smoak will start in place of Hart. I also pick up Koji Uehara, Jorge de la Rosa, Hiroki Kuroda and Logan Morrison, all of whom begin on the bench.
It was a good draft for hitters. But, I missed on my pitching targets. A quick check in the Razzball War Room confirms the obvious.
Hitting rates highly, and I am not even worried about SBs as there is always a burner on the waiver wire. 86 infield SBs and 66 outfield SBs seems competitive enough. If/when Roberts or Phillips go down with an injury, there is probably a speedier 2B replacement.
R HR RBI SB AVG
73 18 70 13 0.271 Target/Hitter
78 22 81 10 0.274 Razzball Projection/Hitter
Pitching needs improvement, though saves will in fact not be an issue,with four current closers. K's might also be okay. The question will be WHIP and ERA of the starters. (That was the question last year, even with Felix Hernandez in the rotation.)
ERA WHIP W S K
3.56 1.23 10 14 141 Target/Pitcher
3.72 1.25 8 8 128 Projection/Pitcher
Complete Projections:
Rank Name Sal Team POS 12 AB R HR RBI SB AVG
11 Gonzalez, Adrian $19 BOS 1B 586 100 37 110 0 0.280
29 Phillips, Brandon $22 CIN 2B 644 85 20 70 17 0.270
26 Reyes, Jose $28 NYN SS 610 110 12 60 40 0.290
17 Rodriguez, Alex $31 NYA 3B 524 90 32 110 7 0.280
114 Roberts, Brian $7 BAL MI 558 80 7 45 22 0.285
263 Smoak, Justin $0 SEA CI 519 75 22 90 0 0.275
260 Arencibia, J.P. $1 TOR C 617 40 15 55 0 0.240
Pierzynski, A.J. $1 CHA C 498 50 12 55 0 0.275
14 Kemp, Matt $31 LAD OF 620 100 30 105 22 0.285
23 Heyward, Jason $6 ATL OF 567 100 25 105 12 0.285
87 Stanton, Mike $21 FLA OF 586 70 32 80 7 0.250
88 Granderson, Curtis $17 NYA OF 534 70 25 80 15 0.260
99 Hart, Cory $6 MIL INJ 549 70 21 80 10 0.260
120 Ramirez, Manny $1 TB OF 414 75 22 85 0 0.300
185 Morrison, Logan $0 FLA BN 522 65 18 80 5 0.290
Moreland, Mitch $2 TEX UT 456 75 19 83 4 0.276
Rank Name Salary Team POS IP ERA WHIP W S K
51 Liriano, Francisco $18 MIN SP 200 3.15 1.18 15 0 220
126 Buchholz, Clay $6 BOS SP 192 3.75 1.25 12 0 140
156 Kuroda, Hiroki $0 LAD SP 180 3.45 1.18 12 0 140
169 Morrow, Brandon $6 TOR SP 175 3.80 1.38 12 0 195
170 Jackson, Edwin $3 CHA SP 214 3.80 1.30 13 0 190
173 De La Rosa, Jorge $0 COL SP 175 3.80 1.30 11 0 175
183 Nolasco, Ricky $3 FLA SP 191 4.35 1.25 12 0 170
240 Garcia, Jaime $0 STL SP 174 4.15 1.35 9 0 130
71 Feliz,Neftali $11 TEX CL 84 2.75 1.00 5 40 90
174 Perez, Chris $9 CLE CL 65 3.10 1.16 1 30 70
226 Farnsworth, Kyle $4 TB CL 61 4.60 1.35 4 20 55
300 Fuentes, Brian $4 OAK CL 50 3.65 1.18 2 10 45
Uehara, Koji $0 BAL BN 65 3.65 1.18 2 7 50
This draft was better than average, certainly better than last year, but not great like the Yahoo draft. (I feel like the Yahoo team might just run away from the rest of the league.) Given the makeup of the Asakusabashi Nishioka's, streaming two start pitchers based on good match ups will be key.
Punting catchers worked out well, as there seem to be about 24 good ones. Arencibia and Pierzynski were the last catchers on my cheat sheet and very nearly the final two $1 picks of the draft.
Starting closers went from $7 (Kevin Gregg) to $24 (Mariano Rivera), except, Kyle Farnsworth was available at $4. Brian Fuentes will close at the start of the season and was available for $4. Koji Uehara will likely close and was also available. Having two protected closers worked out well.
What Went Wrong?:
I would have preferred Shaun Marcum at $3 to Ricky Nolasco at $3, but had already filled the SP slots. I would have preferred Michael Pineda or Erik Bedard to Edwin Jackson at $4, but was saving the spot for a higher ranked pitcher (Latos, Haren or better). Nolasco and Jackson came cheap and could work out fine, but were definitely not targets.
I start with seven protections:
1B: A. Gonzalez, $19
OF: J. Heyward, $6
SP: Liriano, $18
SP: Buchholz, $6
SP: Morrow, $6
RP: Feliz: $11
RP: C. Perez: $9
There are five roster spots where I would like to spend about $30 each. These are at 2B, 3B, SS, OF2 and SP4. I succeed except that I am unable to draft a top starting pitcher, all of whom go over budget:
SS: Reyes, $28 (H. Ramirez went for $48.)
3B: A. Rodriguez, $31
OF2: M. Kemp, $31
2B: Phillips, $22 (under budget)
Rotoworld has Curtis Granderson at $23, so I jump on him.
OF3: Granderson, $17
Once I take Granderson, I have $56 for my last ten picks. I spend a big chunk of it on the player whom I believe will lead the league in homeruns:
OF4: Stanton:$21
So, the outfield is stacked at this point.
Here is the most interesting part of the draft, the bargains:
OF: C. Hart, $6 (out until mid-April, but rated at $19)
MI/2B: B. Roberts, $7, rated at $18
SP: R. Nolasco, $3, rated at $14
RP: Farnsworth, $4
SP: E. Jackson, $4, with upside, but descending per Sporting News
RP: Fuentes, $3
I tried for Saltalamacchia, but end up saving my final two $1 picks for catcher. My final picks are:
OF/U: M. Ramirez, $1
CI: M. Moreland, $2
C: J. Arencibia, $1
C: A. J. Pierzynski, $1
I am happy Arencibia was still available, since I wanted a catcher whose name ended with "ia". Manny seemed to be a huge bargain as Rotoworld listed him at $16 and Sporting News listed him at $15, though with a bust alert as he misses games and is not reliable. But, everyone knows Manny is not reliable. It is his brand. Manny and A.J. are her favorite players, so my wife is happy, too.
We draft six additional players. Due to injuries, Garcia will start in place of Morrow and Smoak will start in place of Hart. I also pick up Koji Uehara, Jorge de la Rosa, Hiroki Kuroda and Logan Morrison, all of whom begin on the bench.
It was a good draft for hitters. But, I missed on my pitching targets. A quick check in the Razzball War Room confirms the obvious.
Hitting rates highly, and I am not even worried about SBs as there is always a burner on the waiver wire. 86 infield SBs and 66 outfield SBs seems competitive enough. If/when Roberts or Phillips go down with an injury, there is probably a speedier 2B replacement.
R HR RBI SB AVG
73 18 70 13 0.271 Target/Hitter
78 22 81 10 0.274 Razzball Projection/Hitter
Pitching needs improvement, though saves will in fact not be an issue,with four current closers. K's might also be okay. The question will be WHIP and ERA of the starters. (That was the question last year, even with Felix Hernandez in the rotation.)
ERA WHIP W S K
3.56 1.23 10 14 141 Target/Pitcher
3.72 1.25 8 8 128 Projection/Pitcher
Complete Projections:
Rank Name Sal Team POS 12 AB R HR RBI SB AVG
11 Gonzalez, Adrian $19 BOS 1B 586 100 37 110 0 0.280
29 Phillips, Brandon $22 CIN 2B 644 85 20 70 17 0.270
26 Reyes, Jose $28 NYN SS 610 110 12 60 40 0.290
17 Rodriguez, Alex $31 NYA 3B 524 90 32 110 7 0.280
114 Roberts, Brian $7 BAL MI 558 80 7 45 22 0.285
263 Smoak, Justin $0 SEA CI 519 75 22 90 0 0.275
260 Arencibia, J.P. $1 TOR C 617 40 15 55 0 0.240
Pierzynski, A.J. $1 CHA C 498 50 12 55 0 0.275
14 Kemp, Matt $31 LAD OF 620 100 30 105 22 0.285
23 Heyward, Jason $6 ATL OF 567 100 25 105 12 0.285
87 Stanton, Mike $21 FLA OF 586 70 32 80 7 0.250
88 Granderson, Curtis $17 NYA OF 534 70 25 80 15 0.260
99 Hart, Cory $6 MIL INJ 549 70 21 80 10 0.260
120 Ramirez, Manny $1 TB OF 414 75 22 85 0 0.300
185 Morrison, Logan $0 FLA BN 522 65 18 80 5 0.290
Moreland, Mitch $2 TEX UT 456 75 19 83 4 0.276
Rank Name Salary Team POS IP ERA WHIP W S K
51 Liriano, Francisco $18 MIN SP 200 3.15 1.18 15 0 220
126 Buchholz, Clay $6 BOS SP 192 3.75 1.25 12 0 140
156 Kuroda, Hiroki $0 LAD SP 180 3.45 1.18 12 0 140
169 Morrow, Brandon $6 TOR SP 175 3.80 1.38 12 0 195
170 Jackson, Edwin $3 CHA SP 214 3.80 1.30 13 0 190
173 De La Rosa, Jorge $0 COL SP 175 3.80 1.30 11 0 175
183 Nolasco, Ricky $3 FLA SP 191 4.35 1.25 12 0 170
240 Garcia, Jaime $0 STL SP 174 4.15 1.35 9 0 130
71 Feliz,Neftali $11 TEX CL 84 2.75 1.00 5 40 90
174 Perez, Chris $9 CLE CL 65 3.10 1.16 1 30 70
226 Farnsworth, Kyle $4 TB CL 61 4.60 1.35 4 20 55
300 Fuentes, Brian $4 OAK CL 50 3.65 1.18 2 10 45
Uehara, Koji $0 BAL BN 65 3.65 1.18 2 7 50
This draft was better than average, certainly better than last year, but not great like the Yahoo draft. (I feel like the Yahoo team might just run away from the rest of the league.) Given the makeup of the Asakusabashi Nishioka's, streaming two start pitchers based on good match ups will be key.
posted by David Rasmussen at 11:46 PM
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