My Draft

I know we aren’t supposed to analyze our own drafts, but whatever. I will do some other ones, including Draino’s (aka Football Commish) next. Going into the draft, I had some solid keepers with Johan in the 2nd, Hafner 7th, Konerko 14th, Huston Steet 22nd, Brandon Wood 23rd. I also kept Mussina 16th and Justin Upton 24th. A decent balance on offense and defense, but a good draft was needed to improve on a 6th place finish from last year.

Round 1: Garrett Atkins. I’ll be the first to admit that this was a reach at the #6 overall pick. However, I drafted based on position scarcity, and A-Rod, Aramis, Miggy Cabrera, Zimmerman and David Wright were all gone. Atkins was the only other third baseman I wanted on my team.

Round 2: Johan Santana, keeper. Is the consensus #1 SP ANYWHERE you look, which actually makes me nervous. Good thing Madden doesn’t make a baseball game.

Round 3 (in a trade with pasta): Miguel Tejada. Pre-draft, I planned on taking a SS with this pick, and I was really happy that Tejada was still available. I had projected Furcal or Michael Young to be whom I would chose from. This also makes my first round pick seem like a little less of a reach.

Round 3: Johnny Damon. Probably another reach, especially if he’s my #1 OF. However, he will contribute in all 6 offensive categories, and could be a 25/25 guy.

Round 4: Chone Figgins. I’ll play him at second base. Since Utley was kept, he’s the only second baseman I would have taken in the first half of the draft.

Round 5: Mariano Rivera. Considering there was a mini-run on closers, I have no idea how he was still available. Add him to Street and I’ve got a solid tandem of RPs.

Round 6: Bill Hall. A mistake here, as I draft him as a second OF, but he wont be OF eligible in Yahoo until the second week of the season. His HRs and average will likely go down, but he does have the potential to be another 20/20 guy and maybe reach 90 to 100 RBIs as the Brew-Crew’s cleanup man.

Round 7: Travis Hafner, keeper. PRONK!

Round 8: traded to Draino for Clemens.

Round 9: Randy Johnson. Not bad for a #3 SP. As long as his back is healthy, could be good for 200 Ks. Likely will see a drop in Wins as he switches teams. However, he’s 44 and may have Alzheimers disease by the All Star break.

Round 10: traded to Pasta in Soriano trade.

Round 11: Jorge Posada. I was happy last year when I took Javy Lopez. I’m happy this year with Posada. I wonder if I’ll ever have a good catcher…

Round 12: Ervin Santana. Was great in the first half last year, but faltered after the break. Hopefully another year and he’s ready to turn the corner and become more consistent. Plus, his real first name is Johan, so this can’t be that bad.

Round 13: Jorge Cantu. This may sound dumb, but I actually targeted him going into the draft. He’s young, and he was injured last year. He will probably suck, but I’m not banking on him for anything. Whatever, I don’t even care.

Round 13: Mark Teahan. Another young guy with upside. He struggled in the first half, but had a great second half. Could be another 6-category contributor. Once he gets OF eligibility, could be my 3rd outfielder (supplanting Huff or Cameron).

Round 14: Paul Konerko, keeper. Solid and consistent.

Round 15: Traded to Donny in a position swapping trade.

Round 16: Mike Mussina, keeper. Whatever…I needed more Yankees!

Round 16: Daniel Cabrera. If he cuts his walks down to 5 per game, could be a great pick. However, will likely tease me with games where he K’s 12, and walks 3, followed by games where he walks 9 and doesn’t get out of the first inning.

Round 17: Aubrey Huff. I don’t know why I drafted him…I hate him.

Round 18: Steven Drew. I doubt I’ll use him this year, but could be a great keeper pick.

Round 19: Mark Prior. This pick looks worse and worse every day. Apparently he’s only throwing 87 mph. Ugh.

Round 20: Scott Linebrink. Going into the draft, I wanted one or two setup men. The problem is, I wanted Zumaya and Shields. When they were already drafted, I should have abandoned this strategy. I will probably hold on to him in the hopes that he gets traded to another team and closes.

Round 21: Justin Duchererererer. This was a bad pick…I already dropped him for Mike Cameron, who apparently went 20/20 last year.

Round 22: Huston Street. Incredible pick 2 years ago!

Round 23: Brandon Wood. I hope the Angels bring this guy up this year. I hear that he’s moving to 3B.

Round 24: Justin Upton. I think he’s still 19 or 20, but has been compared to Ken Griffey Jr. However, I think Rick Ankiel was compared to Randy Johnson at some point. So I guess this means that Upton is the next Johan Santana.

Overall, I am happy with my team. I am excited to see what some of the young guys will do, especially Bill Hall, Teahan and Daniel Cabrera. I’ve always wanted Tejada on my team, so we’ll see if that works out. I don’t think that my offense is good enough to stand up to Donny or Steel, but I have a well-rounded team, and can see myself in the top 3 in the league. We’ll see…