Mound Talk

Wednesday opens the Yahoo! fantasy frenzy so I thought I’d get a jump on everything and run a mock draft on www.couchmanagers.com. The following analyzes the results of a 12 team 18 round mock draft. The draft moved rather quickly as a couple teams were simulated by computers. Some were drafted by people I know and some were drafted by people I don’t know. The results of the draft in order can be found here and a team by team breakdown can be found here.
I feel as though my team is pretty solid. I was happy to grab Utley in the first round and ecstatic when Miguel Cabrera fell to me in the second. Hafner in the third rounded out a good power run for me and, though I don’t like drafting DHs as much, I was happy to get a powerful, good average team right off the bat. Ichiro in the fourth was an ok pick. I didn’t need his average and I feel his steals are going to keep slipping. But if he hits .315 for me and steals 25 bases, it would help maintain a high team average and help with some steals. When Michael Young was still around in the fifth (partially due to the pre-rankings, partially due to people) I had to grab him. Steal!

I feel as though BJ Ryan and Jake Peavy were good value picks, though I usually don’t like to take too many pitchers early. I grabbed a solid closer and a legit ace without too much cost to me.

In the 8th, I made my worst pick of the draft. Though an oversight, admittedly, I panicked and took Overbay instead of holding out for the man I really wanted, Prince Fielder.

Victor Martinez in the 9th was great. Huston Street and Brad Hawpe were good picks and that began my pitching streak. I am a big proponent of selecting 6 or 7 high upside pitchers and cutting bait on the guys that don’t live up to my expectations. Chris Young, Felix Hernandez and Tom Gordon were interrupted by my last starting position player, Corey Patterson.

Andre Ethier in the 16th had too much value to pass up on as did Weeks. Then it dawned on me that no one took Ben Sheets. Chalk that up to it being a mock draft and people not paying much attention.

So to recap my team:

C: Victor Martinez

1B: Lyle Overbay

2B: Chase Utley

3B: Miguel Cabrera

SS: Michael Young
OF: Ichiro Suzuki

OF: Brad Hawpe
OF: Corey Patterson

UTIL: Travis Hafner

Bench: Andre Ethier, Rickie Weeks

Starting Pitching: Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Felix Hernandez, Ben Sheets

Relief Pitching: B.J. Ryan, Tom Gordon, Huston Street

I’d say pretty good for a 12 team league. May lack some stolen bases but overall, pretty good.

Some other comments on the mock draft:

Mauer in the second was a big reach, but was also consistent with much of what I’ve seen. Teixiera fell too far. That’s consistent with the feel of this draft to be risk adverse. Pitchers started to go too early in the fourth round. Chien-Ming Wang came off the board WAY too early. Of course I feel too many people passed on Michael Young and I think the same can be said of Chone Figgins. I was trying to nab Figgins. Robinson Cano lasted way too long but I couldn’t take him because there was too much value on the board.

Mock Draft 1 had some glitches and certainly had its share of twists and turns that were completely unexpected. But it was a first draft. Next week will feature some excellent writers from some excellent sites. Stay tuned for more updates!