I participated in my “big” NL-only league draft last night, and between the problems with connecting to the online draft room and VERY slow picks by owners, we completed the draft at 12:30 AM. One owner easily took about 5 minutes for each pick after the second round, but the commissioner has no problem with that because he is guilty of doing the same.
Fantasy Baseball: My Second NL-Only 5 x 5 League Draft
Anyway here are the results of my draft, by round (I was picking # 5 in an 11 team league):
1-Ryan Braun
6-Ricky Nolasco
7-Josh Johnson-yes, that Josh Johnson
10-Troy Glaus
11-Geovany Soto
12-Tim Hudson
15-Jonny Gomes
16-Felipe Lopez
17-Xavier Nady
19-Jason Hammel
20-JR Towles
21-Mike Leake
22-Christian Guzman
23-Edison Volquez-replaced with Jason Motte
I thought once I learned I got the 5 pick, that Matt Kemp could slip to me. Instead, I was happy to grab Ryan Braun at the 5 pick. The guy who took Kemp with the 3rd overall pick is a Phillies fan, and I thought he would take Chase Utley like he did last year. I offered him Braun straight up for Kemp during the draft.
I targeted Zimmerman and McCutchen in the 2nd and 3rd rounds as I like them both. I selected McCutchen over Joey Votto because I needed a speed guy who has some pop and should score some runs.
I wrote about taking a starting pitcher in the 3rd or 4th round, but there so many left after the 3rd round, I decided to grab some power in Jay Bruce. I took Bruce over Carlos Gonzalez with my 4th pick.
After taking Bruce, I targeted Kershaw in the 5th round and got him. I chose him over Ubaldo Jiminez, Matt Cain Josh Johnson, Chad Billingsley and Ricky Nolasco. Lucky for me, I was able to snag Nolasco in the 6th round, and Josh Johnson in the 7th round. Johnson was drafted AFTER Wandy Rodriquez, Chad Billingsley and Matt Cain, to name a few. Shocking.
Then in the 8th round I targeted Kyle Blanks for another power hitter, and got him. I chose Blanks over Drew Stubbs thinking Blanks will play more and hit for power. In the 9th round, I targeted Alcides Escobar, but he was taken late in the 8th round, so I grabbed some speed with Everth Cabrera.
I targeted more power in the 10th and 11th rounds and grabbed Troy Glaus and Geovany Soto to fill my CI and C positions. In the 12th-14th rounds, I grabbed Tim Hudson to solidify my starting pitching, and two mediocre closers in Franklin Morales and Matt Lindstrom. They were the best available at the time.
Overall, my infield is lacking as every round I targeted a middle infielder or first baseman, the guy drafting 2 picks ahead of me grabbed who I wanted, so I had to adjust. I think I have enough power to compete in the HR and RBI categories, and I should be solid in the Wins, ERA and WHIP categories with my pitching heavy roster.
I think I can trade one of my three ace pitchers for an upgrade at first base down the road. Or, should Glaus stay healthy, I will move him there and move my current first baseman Ramon Hernandez to catcher. Due to my focusing on pitching in the draft, I waited to drafted Mike Jacobs as my first baseman in the 20th round, but since he isn't elgible at first due to the rules, I had to draft JR Towles and move Hernandez.
Some surprising picks:
-Jonathan Broxton in the 4th round
-Ian Stewart in the 4th round, and Jorge Cantu with the first pick in the 5th round.
-Jason Heyward was drafted in the 6th round.
-Josh Johnson in the 7th round
-J.A. Happ drafted before Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly
-James Loney drafted in the 6th round as first baseman were drafted early
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