OT: best fantasy draft (also: AL-Only Keeper League info)

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 10:20 AM CDT

Pretty bored right now, so I thought I'd start a thread for everyone to share their best fantasy draft so far this season.

I'm in a few leagues on espn.com, straight out of their live draft lobby, and I had one of the best drafts of my life yesterday, people around me were just jumping on some strange picks. Here's my draft:

I was pick #5 in the first round

(1)   David Wright                                 (14) Tim Lincecum
(2)   Ichiro Suzuki                               (15) Matt Cain
(3) Mark Teixeira                            (16) Matt Capps
(4)   C.C. Sabathia                            (17) Aaron Hill
(5) Nick Markakis                             (18) Kevin Kouzmanoff
(6) Troy Tulowitzki                             (19) Manny Corpas
(7) Russell Martin                            (20) Ty Wigginton
(8) Roy Halladay                            (21) Andre Ethier
(9) Corey Hart                                  (22) Hank Blalock
(10) Matt Kemp                                   (23) Rajai Davis
(11) Carlos Zambrano                       (24) Yunel Escobar
(12) James Shields                            (25) C.J. Wilson
(13) Felix Hernandez

(as AJM would say) More after the jump...

Drafting Blalock at all was probably a weak move, but I've already dropped him to pick up Connor Jackson, because I need a 1B back up. Might have been a little weak to go on that 6 round stretch of drafting pitching, but I went so offensive heavy to begin with, and it was pretty convenient each time one of those pitchers fell to the next round.

There weren't a whole lot of draft picks in this one that are shocking on their own, but shocking when compared to other players that were available.

Victor Martinez was taken in round 2, and Josh Hamilton in round 5. Hamilton was drafted in 12 and 15 in earlier drafts of mine.

Anyways, probably the craziest things I've seen so far in fantasy drafts this spring:

Picking Jonathan Papelbon in the 2nd Round, 13 overall.
Another draft, basically had a guy making a fantasy team out of the Yankees:
(2) Jeter, (3) Chamberlain, (4) Abreu, (5) Posada, (12) Wang, (14) Melky Cabrera, (18) Mussina, (23) Giambi, (25) Ian Kennedy.
That guy doesn't get out much.

At any rate, share your best draft so far this fantasy baseball season!

0 recs | Comment 28 comments

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Comments

Competition

You must not have much in your league. Is that a public league?

I've found public leagues to be the best way to boost my "fantasy" self-esteem.

Nice roster though.

by ravscloC on Mar 25, 2008 10:34 AM CDT 0 recs

Yeah, it is a public league

I didn't really get a chance to join any private leagues this year. Most of the LSB ones were all on yahoo, and I'm a little tired of their interface.

The big thing I wanted to do was be a part of an AL only league, but espn.com doesn't let you make any customized leagues public, and I don't really know enough people interested in dedicating themselves to a fantasy baseball season to fill up one on my own.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 10:40 AM CDT up 0 recs

AL Only Keeper League on ESPN.com

Speaking of fantasy baseball, I want to do one last league...
An AL Only Keeper League.

I haven't set anything up, but I'd like to get enough people together so I can. It would have to be a private league, so I'd need an email address to send the invite out on.

Please let me know if you're interested.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 11:47 AM CDT 0 recs

I'd def be down with that

I've actually been looking for an AL-only keeper.

Jason Botts PWNS.

by thedirkatron on Mar 25, 2008 12:01 PM CDT up 0 recs

Cool, let's run with it...

What scoring type do you think is more appropriate for a league like that?

I'm sort of thinking head to head, and making the rosters something like:

C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, UTIL, SP, SP, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, RP, RP, BN, BN, BN, BN, DL, DL

That might be too much, but I think an AL only league would have a pretty interesting dynamic if it emulated actual rosters, rather than 5 spots for OF, 1 for 2B/SS and 1 for 1B/3B.

Let me know what you think/prefer.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 12:15 PM CDT up 0 recs

I prefer P slots

as opposed to dedicated SP/RP slots.

I agree it'll be more fun with the actual rosters rather than 5 of slots and extra IF slots, though I'd like a few more bench slots since you'll need so many backups with the individual OF spots all being different.

I prefer standard roto scoring to head-to-head (so much luck in head to head), but whatever you decide is fine so long as the league is full of owners who give a crap.

I don't play ESPN, what're their keeper rules? How many keepers/ how long do they run?

Jason Botts PWNS.

by thedirkatron on Mar 25, 2008 12:32 PM CDT up 0 recs

how its going to work:

For this year, we obviously won't start with any kept players. The draft will be open and straight up.
Then, we'll use keeper players for 2009. There will be a deadline sometime before the 2009 season to declare the players you're keeping. I can set the number of keepers to be anything we want. I've never really done a league like this, so I don't really know what is standard. Any advice here would be helpful. I should be able to change the number anytime throughout the season, maybe after we have a vote on it or something. Just as some starting point... I'll make it 4 keepers.

ESPN.com allows leagues to be activated automatically from year to year, teams can be dropped or added too. So, basically, as long as we have active players, and ESPN.com is still around, we can make it run as long as it stays alive.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 1:33 PM CDT up 0 recs

Sent you an e-mail

as I couldn't sign up for the league from your link.

I'd probably prefer the NFBC-style with 2 Cs, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, 5 OF, UTIL, 9P, but then I think I'm trying to eventually try out NFBC eventually.

Also, I agree that I'd prefer roto-style vs. head-2-head as roto tends to be less luck-inclined.

Req

by Requiem on Mar 25, 2008 2:57 PM CDT up 0 recs

Sent your invite

thanks for the info, that the link doesn't work.

We're going roto, I agree with you guys about the luck factor.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 3:06 PM CDT up 0 recs

Sent you an email

by LiamP on Mar 25, 2008 3:20 PM CDT up 0 recs

you got it!

anyone else, just post your email or send it to me! 4 Slots to go!

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 3:28 PM CDT up 0 recs

sure, I'm in

ryanlandryclark@gmail.com

by naropean on Mar 25, 2008 11:05 PM CDT up 0 recs

nevermind

saw the link below, I got this

by naropean on Mar 25, 2008 11:07 PM CDT up 0 recs

I don't think

the link below worked, so I sent you an invite from espn.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 11:21 PM CDT up 0 recs

thanks anyway

But actually I looked at the time for the draft, and I won't be able to make it.

by naropean on Mar 26, 2008 4:27 AM CDT up 0 recs

I'd be down

by LiamP on Mar 25, 2008 12:37 PM CDT up 0 recs

Count me in

soleyh@gmail.com

by Panorama on Mar 25, 2008 12:48 PM CDT up 0 recs

im interested

at work, but saw the post and i've been looking for a keeper. so save me a spot.

"When we're mad we'll use our words. Then the rest of the world will play nice with us. And the only boom-booms will be in our pants." - Ralph Wiggum

by rentz on Mar 25, 2008 1:57 PM CDT up 0 recs

KEEPER LEAGUE LINK

Hey everyone,

Here is the link for the keeper league...
http://games.espn.go.com/flb/tools/join?leagueId=134527
This is taken out of the invitation sent to the email addresses I had so far. If it doesn't work, please let me know, and give me your email address and I'll send you an invite. If you don't feel like posting your email, send it to me here: tdi1985@hotmail.com

I'm holding spots for rentz and LiamP. That leaves 5 more open. Let's fill them!

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 2:42 PM CDT up 0 recs

Okay....

based on what Req said, the link above won't work. So you need to post your email, or email it to me.

Thanks for the interest guys. The draft is set for Wednesday (3/26) night, at 9:15pm EST. If the league doesn't fill, we'll push it back, but no later than Saturday night.

We'll also set up a message board thread on the league to hammer out the preferences we all want.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 3:08 PM CDT up 0 recs

Signed up

Should be fun.

And hopefully since everyone posts here, if someone stops checking their team we can track them down and yell at them, LSB-style:)

Jason Botts PWNS.

by thedirkatron on Mar 25, 2008 5:41 PM CDT up 0 recs

It's going to be tough

to get a guy like Hamilton in that league!

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 5:44 PM CDT up 0 recs

rentz...

I'm going to need your email to send the invite along to you.

We still have two spots open! Feel free to get in touch with me and ask for an invite folks! tdi1985@hotmail.com

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 8:59 PM CDT up 0 recs

email sent

"When we're mad we'll use our words. Then the rest of the world will play nice with us. And the only boom-booms will be in our pants." - Ralph Wiggum

by rentz on Mar 26, 2008 8:34 AM CDT up 0 recs

ESPN public leagues are absolutely retarded.

Even more so than Y! public leagues, which is saying something. Here's my best private league draft.

Round Pick Player Position
1. (8) Miguel Cabrera 3B
2. (17) David Ortiz 1B
3. (32) Lance Berkman 1B,OF
4. (41) Brandon Webb SP
5. (56) Nick Markakis OF
6. (65) Rafael Furcal SS
7. (80) Ian Kinsler 2B
8. (89) Félix Hernández SP
9. (104) Tim Lincecum SP
10. (113) Nick Swisher 1B,OF
11. (128) Shane Victorino OF
12. (137) Matt Capps RP
13. (152) Chad Billingsley SP,RP
14. (161) Eric Gagne RP
15. (176) Dustin McGowan SP
16. (185) Kerry Wood RP
17. (200) Jeremy Accardo RP
18. (209) J.R. Towles C
19. (224) Bengie Molina C
20. (233) Justin Upton OF
21. (248) Scott Rolen 3B
22. (257) Jon Lester SP
23. (272) Jair Jurrjens SP

There was a MASSIVE closer run between rounds 3-6. Dudes like Isringhausen and Todd Jones were taken in round 7. It was honestly one of the stranger things I've seen in a league where people kind of knew what they were doing. Here's 1 of my 2 public leagues as a point of comparison:

Round Pick Player Position
1. (1) Álex Rodríguez 3B
2. (24) Carlos Beltrán OF
3. (25) B.J. Upton 2B,OF
4. (48) Brian Roberts 2B
5. (49) C.C. Sabathia SP
6. (72) Carlos Guillén 1B,SS
7. (73) Dan Haren SP
8. (96) Hunter Pence OF
9. (97) Daisuke Matsuzaka SP
10. (120) Nick Swisher 1B,OF
11. (121) Scott Kazmir SP
12. (144) Brad Lidge RP
13. (145) Jason Isringhausen RP
14. (168) Josh Hamilton OF
15. (169) Dustin McGowan SP
16. (192) Brandon Lyon RP
17. (193) Alex Gordon 1B,3B
18. (216) Carlos Ruiz C
19. (217) Ryan Garko 1B
20. (240) Matt Garza SP
21. (241) Heath Bell RP

Public leagues are almost guaranteed wins.

by LiamP on Mar 25, 2008 12:18 PM CDT 0 recs

Good pick on Kerry Wood

That should show some dividends now that he's been named closer.

Troy I.

by tdi1985 on Mar 25, 2008 12:20 PM CDT up 0 recs

Just hoping to get some value from him

Before I trade him at a high point. Marmol's the long term answer there and everyone but sweet Lou knows it.

by LiamP on Mar 25, 2008 12:25 PM CDT up 0 recs

LSB Fantasy League

I'm in a 14 team league of LSB Posters. It's the only league I'm doing this year and I like my team fairly well. I hope my outfield shakes out okay, but otherwise I feel good about it. This league substitutes OPS for AVG so that changed my draft philosophy. Lots of roster spots too for this many teams. C, 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, OF, OF, OF, OF, Util, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P, P

1. (14) Ryan Howard 1B
2. (15) Grady Sizemore OF
3. (42) Brandon Webb SP
4. (43) Ian Kinsler 2B
5. (70) Brian McCann C
6. (71) Francisco Rodríguez RP
7. (98) Adrián González 1B
8. (99) Ryan Zimmerman 3B
9. (126) Matt Cain SP
10. (127) Jeff Francoeur OF
11. (154) Kelly Johnson 2B
12. (155) Jhonny Peralta SS
13. (182) Oliver Pérez SP
14. (183) Evan Longoria 3B
15. (210) Justin Upton OF
16. (211) Luke Scott OF
17. (238) Hiroki Kuroda SP
18. (239) Brian Wilson RP
19. (266) Nick Johnson 1B
20. (267) Gil Meche SP
21. (294) Brad Wilkerson 1B,OF