TG Fantasy Baseball - Below the Fold

Below The Fold
Written by Nick T.
March 30, 2010

Ladies and Gentleman,

We're just about there...less than a week away til the MLB season kicks off! With last minute drafts still taking place and final add/drops running through the waiver wire, my draft analysis may give you some perspective as you prepare to set your lineup and compete in Week 1. As I advised you in my introductory article, my column will focus on gfantasy's season and the decisions surrounding my weekly lineup, trades, add/drops, etc. Therefore, I encourage you to reference our draft results spreadsheet located at: http://www.gfantasy.com/2010/draftresults.html as you read further. As you review the draft, please keep in mind that there is no snake in the first 4 rounds; we begin to snake after the 4 round (Panteli D picks twice).

The first round didn’t have many surprises with the pool of players available. I thought that Wright went a little early but with slim pickings at third base and an abundance of first basemen available, it's justified for Wright to go before Howard or Miggy. I thought that Gallardo or Lind could have gone in round 1 over Holliday and Lee but again, they were all justified picks and solid round 1 players.

Other thoughts in Round 2: Brian Roberts probably could have waited to go later…loved the Votto pick at 24th overall. Only Pujols, Mauer and Fielder topped his OPS in 2009…he has the potential to be a stud first baseman keeper.

In round 3, I thought that Ellsbury was a nice grab with 70 steals and a batting average over .300 in 2009. Surprised to see the closer run start so early but just as we see in all past seasons, the closers top the list with most points for a pitcher. I guess I just value consistency. I took Nolasco in 3 which most didn’t like. However, he still had 13 wins and 195 Ks on a young Marlins team with a stint in AAA. Looking (and hoping) for big things in 2010.

Round 4 I got my boy Jorge De La Rosa who I basically got laughed at for picking (What is wrong with 193 K’s and going 10-2 with a 3.46 ERA in the second half?)…however, his spring numbers seem to be making me look good.

Round 5 I liked the BJ Upton pick…I think he’s in for a big year; especially with the surrounding cast getting older. The Tim Hudson pick is not a typo. I have no further comments on that.

I’m actually not crazy about Fuentes in round 6 and rethinking that pick over and over…especially as I look back on the players that went in that round. Liked the McCann pick and LOVED the Morales pick.

I finally took another bat 6 rounds later in 7….I slept too long on the 2B and SS so I took Bartlett over Stephen Drew after being burnt in 2009. I then went around getting Jose Lopez in 8 with the intention of getting Prado somewhere down the line (12).

Strasburg was a 9th round pick in our league. I’ve seen him higher and lower; I probably would have taken him around here on trade and keeper value alone.

You begin to feel old when you start seeing guys like Soriano and Trevor Hoffman going in the 10th round. Did we really do our research?!

My comments for the remainder of the draft are as follows:

Loved:
Aroldis Chapman in 18
Napoli in 18

Liked:
Helton in 15
Soto in 16

Hated:
Bedard in 17
Bumgarner in 17

For the remainder of my picks, I was pleased to get Prado in 12, hoping Tillman starts the season in the Majors and looking for 14 out of Maine. I’m disappointed with the Iannetta and Wood picks; however, I just picked up Ryan Madson to make up for Wood.

All in all, I am pleased with my draft.

A takeaway that I will leave you with is to NOT draft in February…it can get extremely frustrating watching your players sit on your roster risking getting hurt (Joe Nathan) while you wait for the season to start.

So that’s my brief and poorly written draft review. The following is my starting lineup for week 1:

Batters
Iannetta, Chris C COL
Morneau, Justin 1B MIN
Lopez, Jose 2B SEA
Zimmerman, Ryan 3B WAS
Bartlett, Jason SS TB
Ethier, Andre RF LA
Sizemore, Grady CF CLE
Span, Denard CF MIN
Swisher, Nick RF NYY

Pitchers
De La Rosa, Jorge SP COL
Fuentes, Brian RP ANA
Madson, Ryan RP PHI
Niemann, Jeff SP TB
Nolasco, Ricky SP FLA
Peavy, Jake SP CHW
Wainwright, Adam SP STL

I hope you were entertained and got something out of this. If you’d like to bounce something off of me; as always, please feel free to contact me.

Good luck in week 1!

See you next Tuesday!

NT NT@gfantasy.com

Next Issue (1.4): Week 1 Action