I was going to talk about my AL
team in the 30 team, all cards used league, but my home league finished
first. My home league is a pretty
standard 20 team, 40 man roster mixed Strat league with players given an
additional 10% of at-bats or innings.
The league was formed in 1985 and I joined in 1993. As it has been together for almost 25 years,
it is pretty special. This year, we
added my next door neighbor, also a fantasy baseball guy. I told him when I offered him a spot that it
was like offering my oldest daughter in marriage.
My team has had a good run of five seasons over .500 after a massive
rebuild in 2002. My hitting slumped late
in the season and I missed the playoffs.
Still, I had a great draft the year before adding Troy Tulowitzki and
Dustin Pedroia. Combine that with the
development of Curtis Granderson and Corey Hart and I’ll have four new regulars
on the team. I did some replays, and I
have a good chance of making the playoffs.
Starting Rotation (Josh Beckett, Ian Snell, A.J. Burnett, Scott Baker, Dontrelle Willis,
Jeremy Sowers and Joe Kennedy)
The success of the team in the past has been built on the strength of
the rotation. All of them have had their
ups and downs in the past. This year
Willis is down and Beckett is up. Last
year it was the other way around. I went
in the draft hoping to improve here, but I didn’t want to waste an early pick
on card value over prospect status. I
figure I can trade to fill a hole if I need to.
Closers (Eddie Guardado, Akinori Otsuaka and Chad Qualls)
This is my weakest position. Otsuka
is limited to 35 innings. Eddie Guardado
is a no-card, but signed a contract potentially to close in Texas.
Combine that with the fact that I traded for him in 1995 and he has
stayed on the roster ever since, I decided to keep him. Chad Qualls is a closer 2, so he is the #2
closer, but that straight up homerun at 4/5 is pretty brutal. Otsuka will close against righties and Qualls
against lefties.
Relievers (Scott Linebrink, John Grabow and Scott
Proctor)
The other three guys are usable.
I need some additional depth here.
Technically, I was going to use Kennedy in the bullpen most of the
season.
Catchers (A.J. Pierzynski and Ramon Hernandez)
I’ve had these two catchers for years now. Hernandez has been the #1, but this year it
is the other way around. I need some
future here as they are getting older.
First Base (Jim Thome, Conor Jackson, Kendry
Morales and Dan Johnson)
Jim Thome came with the team when I got it in 1993 and he’s been on the
team ever since. He leads the team in
almost all categories. He’s been my
first baseman since he moved from third.
I realize that he’s getting older and needs to be replaced. I drafted Conor Jackson with my first pick in
2006 and I hoped he’d supplant Thome at first, but it hasn’t happened yet. I drafted Kendry Morales just in case last
year and I still wasn’t happy. I traded
Marcus Giles for Dan Johnson just in cast again, but I’m still not satisfied.
Second Base (Dustin Pedroia and Kelly Johnson)
I drafted Kelly Johnson in the 4th round of the 2006 draft
as a left-handed outfield bat. I decided
to keep him for some reason I don’t remember.
I think it was the on-base and the left-handed at-bat. I’m glad I did. Sometimes you are lucky that way. I drafted Dustin Pedroia 3rd round
last year. Both of them deserve playing
time so I’ll use Pedroia at second and Johnson as a DH and leadoff hitter.
Third Base (Joe Crede and Eric Chavez)
Last year I thought this was my deepest position. Turns out it is not as they both got
hurt. I figure one of them must be
healthy next year.
Shortstop (Troy
Tulowitzki and Bobby Crosby)
I drafted Crosby over Joe Mauer in 2005 because Mauer was injury prone
and Crosby was supposed to be a good defensive
shortstop with power. That turned out to
be a real blunder, but when you have two good catchers, it seemed to make sense
at the time. Deeply concerned about Crosby’s health, I drafted Tulowitzki with my first pick
last year. Crosby
will be the backup in Triple-A. I didn’t
cut him, as it is always good to have a backup in every position.
Centerfield (Aaron Rowand and Curtis Granderson)
I drafted Rowand with my 3rd round pick in 2002. This is his best card in years. Granderson has been a great asset and I’ll
use him in left. His weakness is his
ability to hit left-handers. I will need
to protect him.
Left / Right Field (Milton Bradley, Corey Hart and
Geoff Jenkins)
Bradley has been a huge disappointment.
I traded for him to be my centerfielder years ago and I’m still waiting
to see his full potential. Corey Hart was
a third round pick in 2006 and will take over in right. Jenkins, my previous starter will be demoted
to part-time player.
I have the 12th pick overall. Here is how the draft went.
First Round (12th Pick)
I figured it was a slim chance that Matsuzaka was going to fall to me,
although he lasted until the 9th pick. I wasn’t willing to use the pick on some
instant help like Kendrick. My choice
was between Joakim Soria and Jacoby Ellsbury.
Soria would give me instant help and Ellsbury would give me a future
leadoff hitter and spark plug.
I didn't expect Ellsbury to fall to me. Basically, my whole draft was going to be defined with my first pick. Do I go for now or do I go for the future? One-Hundred and Twenty seconds to
decide... I decided to go with the
future and took Ellsbury.
Second Pick (32nd Pick)
I’m still not happy with my situation at first, so I went with Daric
Barton. I had hoped that a good closer
would fall, but Okajima (a closer-3) was taken before me. I also wanted catcher J.R. Towles, but he
went. Both Butler and Voto went, so if I wanted a first
baseman, I needed to take there. I’m now
confident that I have Jim Thome’s replacement.
Third Round Picks (52nd and 58th Picks)
I traded Frank Thomas for the 58th overall pick. I hoped to pick up some forgotten starting pitching
prospects in the third round, but nothing I wanted fell. Andrew Miller, Ubaldo Jimenez, Jair Jurrjens,
Kevin Slowey and Homer Bailey were all gone.
Looking at the rosters, I saw that many league owners were going to be looking
for bullpen soon, so I figured I needed to get when the getting was good. I picked up Matt Lindstrom and Eric O’Flaherty
to provide depth from both the left and the right. Lindstrom has a small chance to become a
closer some day and O’Flaherty is a good option as a setup man. They will give me a combine 119 good innings
which will help me this year.
Fourth Round (72nd Pick)
Miguel Montero was available and provides me with a potential catcher
of the future. The fact that he’s a
left-handed bat is bonus.
Fifth Round (92nd Pick)
Jo Jo Reyes was available and I took him. He has some real potential, although it won’t
happen next year. He fell because he’s
going to spend a year in Triple-A. I can
afford to wait. Hopefully he joins the
rotation in 2010.
Sixth Round (112nd Pick)
Delwyn Young can hit and the Dodgers are trying very hard to find him a
spot. He’s been taking ground balls at second
and third and he’s out of options so I’m hopeful he’ll make the team as a good
hitting super utility player in the mold of Mark De Rosa. It’s important to have a guy like that on
your team, especially when you have too many left-handed hitters and need pinch
hitters and platoon-mates. Basically, he
can hit. There is no question about
that.
Seventh Round (132nd)
Danny Richar was still sitting there.
The one position I don’t need help in is second, but you don’t pass up a
potential starter at this point.
Eighth Round (152nd)
I need some at-bats at third and Joe Dillon was there. If you can’t have a good defensive player,
get the goon-card I always say. His
end-of-season performance was good enough that he might get a chance as a
utility player with the Brewers. If not,
I’ll enjoy his 83 at-bats and cut him next year.
Ninth Round (172nd)
The only hole left on the team was someone to played shortstop. I’m required to carry at least two players in
every position. If I didn’t pick up
someone with a shortstop rating, I would need to have Bobby Crosby on my active
roster all season. I picked up Abraham
O. Nunez. He’ll get some at-bats against
left-handers with Chavez limited. He is
also solid defensively, so I can pinch hit for Chavez and still have someone
for the position. Joe Dillon didn’t have
a shortstop rating.
Overall Analysis
I have once and for all solved my issues at first base. Either Conor Jackson or Daric Barton will be
Jimmy Thome’s replacement. Jacoby Ellsbury
will give me the leadoff hitter I so badly need. As I’m competing, I’ve added some critical
depth in the bullpen.
On the other hand, I still have a big need for a closer. I didn’t add any help to my rotation, so I
need what I have to bounce back. Despite
some injury concerns at third, I have no replacement.
What I’m hoping for is that I some of the prospects I acquired, like
Danny Richar will develop so that I can trade to fill my needs where I was
unable or unwilling to pay the price to fix now.
Sometimes you are not able to fix everything and this year is an
example of that.
JP Kastner is the winner of the 2007
Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online Expert League World Series. In five seasons
of SOMBOE, JP Kastner has five winning seasons, four playoff appearances, three
World Series appearances and now one World Championship. He is in his
second season in the Tout Wars mixed league.