Fantasy Baseball Crackerjacks: Draft Recap Part 3

Sep 16, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman

Jose Abreu

(79) is congratulated by team mates in the dugout after scoring in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Last Sunday, we had a fantasy draft consisting of a combination of site writers and a few select fans. It is a 12 person head-to-head league, which categories are: R,HR, RBI, OPS, and SB for the offense and QS(quality starts). ERA, WHIP, SV, and K/9 for pitching. I had the 10th spot overall, so it left me with a couple unique ways to draft my squad.

RD. 1 (10)—Jose Abreu

Absolutely thrilled for him to fall to me at 10. Do not believe in any sophomore slump with this guy.

RD.2 (15)—Adam Jones

Went conservative with this pick, I like what Jones gives me stability wise. I am starting to regret not taking Donaldson here though.

RD. 3 (34)—Justin Upton

Power will be a major theme of my team, as it is the hardest commodity to find in baseball. J-UP gives me another 30 HR threat.

RD. 4 (39)—Billy Hamilton

With this league not having AVG as a category, Hamilton’™s struggles are somewhat masked, even though a poor OPS is still going to remain. I want my offense to be able to win every category, so Hamilton gives me that edge in SB.

RD. 5 (58)—Todd Frazier

This pick was supposed to be Chapman, but he went right after my Hamilton selection. Then it was supposed to be Seager, and of course he went 4 picks ahead of me. Therefore, Frazier is my fallback who is another power option and hopefully he can chip in 10 SB.

RD.6 (63)—Chris Carter

This is a reach, but I did not care, and I did not want to risk waiting and losing out on him. My team is power heavy, just like I wanted it to be, so when I have a chance to get possibly the AL HR king, count me in.

RD. 7 (82)—”Dee Gordon

Once again the plan was to get a top shelf closer, but Holland went at the start of the round, thus making me adjust my plan. Having Gordon and Hamilton, should make me the favorite for SB’s every week.

RD. 8 (87)—-Jacob deGrom

I will concede that I did not believe that so many pitchers would go within the first 8 rounds, so I found myself as basically the last guy without a pitcher. I believe in deGrom as a true fantasy ace and with QS as a stat, deGrom should consistently allow me a good chance at 1-2 QS’s a week.

RD. 9 (106)—Marcell Ozuna

I was quite mad that neither Arrieta, Betances or Gattis made it back to me. I had them all queued up, but that is the draft for you. So I diverted my attention to another OF asset in Ozuna. Another power guy that could flirt with 30 HR.

RD. 10 (111)—Alex Wood

I love Wood this season as I think he is one of the more overlooked fantasy aces in baseball. With wins not being a category, he should be able to produce plenty of QS, so pairing him with deGrom gave me somewhat of a decent foundation in my rotation.

RD.11 (130)—Brian McCann

This was my fallback plan for missing out on Gattis, so I decided to make sure to roster him. He should bounce back this season to at least be more consistent throughout the year. Once again, the theme of my team is power.

RD. 12 (135)—Andrew Miller

In a league where K/9 is a category, it makes premier bullpen arms a big contributor to your team. I missed out on the big time closers that I wanted, so I decided to shift my attention to guys that can help soften that blow.

RD. 13 (154)—Fernando Rodney

Not really in love with this pick, but I had Kennedy swiped from right in front of me going the pick before. Rodney teeters on brilliance and implosion, so he can be a roller coaster ride throughout the season. But Seattle is improved, so the SV chances should be aplenty.

RD. 14 (159)—Michael Pineda

If he stays healthy he is one of the best pitchers in the AL, I will take that risk as he is my No. 3 SP. With deGrom, Wood, Pineda, I felt as though I built a quality staff without spending premium picks.

RD. 15 (178)—Hector Rondon

I believe in Rondon and the Cubs will be in more games this season. I think he was quietly solid last season and hopefully he can get close to 35 saves for me.

RD. 16 (183)—Wade Davis

Pairing him with Miller allows me the ability to stack my RP group with high K/9 producers. He was the best set-up man in baseball last season, so I have confidence in him producing similar stats.

RD. 17 (202)—Jhonny Peralta

I punted this position after I was not able to get Desmond earlier in the draft, so I targeted Peralta as my SS later in the draft. He fits my power theme even though I do not fully trust him to remain consistent.

RD. 18 (207)—Ken Giles

I immediately regretted not taking Keuchel instead of Peralta as Keuchel was who I wanted at this pick. Giles works as he falls into my high K/9 setup man strategy. He should be the closer at some point of the season as well. He is electric and has the ability to carry me in K/9 every week.

RD. 19 (226)—Chris Tillman

At this point of the draft I was looking for a solid SP that could replace one of my big three in case they went down. Tillman servs that role for me as he has proven to be solid and durable.

RD. 20 (231)—Khris Davis

I bought in on Davis last season and he gave me some solid value. If he can quell his strikeout tendency and get over second half struggles, I believe I acquire a pretty cheap 25 HR option here in the 20^th round.

RD. 21(250)—Brandon Phillips

He is boring, and I know what I am getting. I wanted some help up the middle for my team and I know that even if Phillips gives me his career norms, I will take it here in the 21^st round.

RD. 22 (255)—Kennys Vargas

I think Vargas could be a player that makes a leap in fantasy this year because the power is legit. If he can cut done on the the K’s, I think that I may be able to get 20 HR’s out him.

RD. 23 (274)—Carlos Beltran

I thought this was extremely too low for Beltran to fall to, so I decided to end the slide. He did not forget how to hit all of a sudden, and he battled a nagging elbow injury majority of last season. Hopefully, he surprises me and gets back to vintage form, and in the 23^rd round, sign me up.

RD. 24 (279)—Ryan Howard

No offense to Howard, but I hated this pick solely because I completely whiffed on taking C.J. Cron. Almost immediately after I selected Howard, I scrolled to see Cron still available and then soon taken. It made me regret this selection. I am hoping Howard can stay relatively healthy and just give me what he did last season.

RD. 25 (298)—Jonathan Schoop

Certainly some power potential here and he gives my some IF insurance. I am hoping he learns to not swing at everything and change his approach at the plate, which would allow him to show off his power even more. Purely an upside pick.

RD. 26 (303)—Wilmer Flores

Another potential power threat that I hope can stick at the majors this year. If I could potentially get a 20 HR guy out of a SS, I would be ecstatic.

RD. 27 (322)—Torii Hunter

This was purely an insurance pick here, just in case one of my OF gets hurt during the season. Hunter is durable and still can provide some decent stats. So there is value in some sense of stability.

Overall, I am pleased with the makeup of my team. I went hitter heavy and built a great power and speed laced lineup. The amount of pitchers taken early surprised me, especially the RP, so I had to adjust my strategy some to accommodate losing out on the more marquee arms.

I see no reason why my team should not be competitive throughout the season, even though the nature of my team can tend to be volatile. There will be weeks where people wonder, œ”How did we let him get all those guys?” Then, there will be weeks where my team will struggle to crack a .500 OPS. But, that is the beauty of fantasy baseball. It should be fun regardless.

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