A quick recap of my draft in the FBL I participate in...there were 14 teams, snake-style draft setup...
1st round (3rd pick) -- Albert Pujols. I forgot about the draft until about 10-15 minutes in, and this was an auto-selection. I would have made that selection if I'd be there anyway, though...ARod and Teixeira went 1-2...
2nd round (26th pick) -- Victor Martinez. Pretty easy pick there. There was no one else left on my board that I wanted as much as Martinez, who was an MVP candidate last year and will probably provide the best fantasy production from the catcher's slot.
3rd round (31st pick) -- Grady Sizemore. Probably a bit of an over-draft, but I like to fill my middle-of-the-field slots early. I ended up with 4 CFs on my roster, though, which makes the CF selection here a bit less valuable...but realistically, the only guy on the board in retrospect I think I should have taken here instead was Travis Hafner, who went three picks later.
4th round (54th pick) -- Bobby Crosby. Probably jinxed by Gammons and Stark both picking him as AL MVP. I really wanted Jhonny Peralta with this pick, but he went at #53, and Crosby was the last of the upper-tier shortstops left on the board. And I think he's a good bet for a solid rebound year after last year's injury-shortened season.
5th round (59th pick) -- Marcus Giles. Same thinking as Crosby. The last top-tier second baseman left on the board, and a guy who I think will give me solid numbers. And with Giles, Crosby, Martinez and Sizemore, I'd filled all my up-the-middle slots, so I could focus on corner position sleepers, like...
6th round (82nd pick) -- Scott Rolen. There's some question as to how good, and how healthy, he'll be, but in the St. Louis lineup, he get plenty of opportunities for runs and RBIs, and he's the type of high-upside guy I like to take in this part of the draft.
7th round (87th pick) -- Brad Wilkerson. This makes four picks in a row where I've got guys who should be great value if they are healthy, but who haven't stayed healthy the past few years. If Wilkerson plays 150 games, I think I got a steal here. Mark Prior went 6 picks later...oh, how the mighty have fallen...
8th round (110th pick) -- Jeremy Bonderman. I think I pick Jeremy Bonderman every year, on just about any fantasy team I have. He's the new Adam Eaton (the guy I used to draft every year, thinking he was about to bust out). My first pitcher taken, as well...I don't like taking pitchers early in the draft...
9th round (115th pick) -- Dan Haren. I think he'll end up being the 2nd best pitcher on the Oakland A's staff. Another guy who seemed to have slid too far. Interestingly, this ended up being the "fallen star" round, as well...Nomar Garciaparra, Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens, and A.J. Burnett all went in this round, with the likes of Matt Holliday and Robinson Cano.
10th round (138th pick) -- Frank Thomas. We have one Utility spot, and Thomas (who only ranks as a DH) takes it. He may not be healthy all year, but when he's healthy, I think he'll give me big numbers. Johnny Gomes, whom I had targeted, went 5 picks earlier (I would have taken him instead of Thomas if he'd fallen), and Ian Kinsler went 2 picks ahead of Thomas.
11th round (143rd pick) -- Oliver Perez. I took him instead of Mark Mulder and Doug Davis, who went 2 and 3 picks later, respectively. I've got a soft spot for Perez. And you may have noticed, there's a trend here...high-ceiling guys who had injury problems the year before. I figure I can find someone not much worse than, say, Geoff Jenkins or Livan Hernandez (2 other 11th round picks) later in the season on the waiver wire, if need be. I'd rather go with guys who can give me big returns.
12th round (166th pick) -- Jason Lane. I needed an outfielder, and Austin Kearns, the guy I had targeted, went earlier in the round. I think he'll get regular playing time. We'll see how this works out.
13th round (171st pick) -- Brad Radke. K/BB ratio is a category this year, which Radke should help with. I expect him to be like most of my starters...a nice contributor who will hopefully keep me in the middle of the pack in the pitching categories. My strategy is to not suck too bad in those, and try to dominate on offense.
14th round (194th pick) -- Craig Wilson. I liked him a lot more when he still qualified as a catcher. Basically, I'm hoping either Casey or Burnitz go down, or he gets traded to the A.L. If that happens, he's a great value here. If not, I'll be looking for a corner guy. It was this pick where I was looking at Chris Shelton, but mistakenly thought that I had run out of slots for a corner infielder, so took Wilson instead. Shelton went in the 17th round.
15th round (199th pick) -- Kam Loe. I'm a Loe believer. I think he's going to be a solid starting pitcher this year. Willie Moo went two picks later, and he's someone I was looking to grab in the later rounds.
16th round (222nd pick) -- Jeremy Reed. Another CF, dammit. But a guy I think could bounce back and have a 2004 Aaron Rowand type season, which would give him value, and allow me to trade him (or Sizemore, or Wilkerson) later this season to a team without my awesome CF depth. I took him instead of Mike Cameron, another fantasy fave of mine, and Cameron went three picks later.
17th round (227th pick) -- Jonathon Papelbon. He has no value as a middle reliever (or almost none), but I took him in the belief that he'll either be closing or in the rotation by mid-May -- most likely, closing.
18th round (250th pick) -- Neal Cotts. Like Papelbon, a roll of the dice on someone I think could end up closing games. I'm not a believer in Bobby Jenks, and if his spring struggles continue, Cotts will be picking up saves.
19th round (255th pick) -- David DeJesus. Yet another CF. But I needed another outfielder, didn't like the other outfielders on the board (Craig Monroe and Curtis Granderson were the next two selected), and see him as a possible breakout candidate this year.
20th round (278th pick) -- Jerome Williams. Those of you who have read my blog know that no additional comment is necessary here.
21st round (283rd pick) -- J.J. Hardy. I needed a player to fill the MI slot, and Hardy falls in the same category as guys like Reed and DeJesus, young players who could break out. And the other available options were terrible...
22nd round (306th pick) -- Greg Maddux. A sentimental pick, with no other good players left on the board.
23rd round (311th pick) -- Mike Timlin. In case Keith Foulke didn't start the season as the closer. I've since released Timlin and picked up Kris Benson, since he and his wife are reconciling, and his wife is hot. Mark DeRosa, incidentally, was selected in this round by another team.