In my 15 keeper league, with minor keepers too, still re-building after last years massive re-building, but got a high proportion of the players I wanted which was cool. I'll cover the other two drafts in subsequent posts.
C - Victor Martinez (keeper), hopefully some pop back this year after last years injuries and complete loss of power
C- John Baker - Got him off waivers last year, very consistent, decent batting ave so he won't be a drain on team ave, no pop though
1-James Loney (keeper), very consistent, reliable, lack of pop for first base though
2- Mike Fontenot - Hopefully he gets the majority of playing time over Miles, could be a really handy addition late in the draft, even with only 400 AB he could cover some of the slack, was surprized and pleased to get him so late
2 - Chris Getz - We'll see on this one, he was my last pick, so no great loss if he pans out, but Minors stats look interesting
3- Chone Figgins (keeper) - More of the usual please, and not too many injuries
3- Mark Reynolds (keeper)- Hopefully he gets off to an Ok start, cuts down on the strike outs a bit, and goes into early 30's in HR's. Slight worry a bad start with worse strike outs than last year could panic the D'Backs management, or if his fielding gets worse, fingers crossed on this one. If I lose him that's a major power source gone, and too early to find gems like I did offensively late last year
SS - Mike Aviles (keeper)- what a great pick up he was last year, hopefully not too much regression, and I don't end up regretting letting Michael Young go as part of my oldies clear out
OF- Ryan Braun, nuff said, and the offensive centrepiece for me,
OF- Torii Hunter, Magglio Ordonez, both consistent as, fair amount of pop, hopefully the ageing process doesn't affect both of them too much
OF- Nelson Cruz, Chris Dickerson, Jodie Gerut, Shin Soo-Choo, Ryan Spilborghs, great pick ups last year, all should be regulars, and with increased playing time this year hopefully they'll cover some of the power loss of letting Thome go, and that their averages aren't too bad, well Dickerson and Cruz specially with regard to averages
OF - Denard Span, my one worry, especially the way he's been playing this spring, I need his steals, though Dickerson, Spilborghs and Cruz should cover that if he loses playing time
OF - Chase Headley, mr consistent, and a steady slow learner all his career, increases across the board would be good and distinctly possible, inc an increase in ave. Need it from him since he was a minor league league keeper for me this year, which meant he was my 16th draft pick, which was a about a 3 round reach, but I didn't want to risk losing him
OF- Now onto the late round young-uns I took a flyer on, Micah Hoffpauir and Nate Schierholtz. Schierholtz should be getting plenty of playing time and could be a real bonus, Hoffpauir less playing time, but should reach the 25 roster and get 200 plus AB's, possibly more with injuries. Both should bat for decent ave and some pop, Hoffpauir could be this years Nelson Cruz for me.
In my minor leaguers I have Elvis Andrus and Jason Donald at short stops, both should get extended playing time this year, possibly Andrus more than Donald, but I'm wary this year, I'll take a hit on his AVE and OBP and SLG for sure, so will probably keep him in the minors, unless he's getting on base and stealing loads. I've also got two excellent back up catchers in Carlos Santana and Max Ramirez, next year I suspect for both of them, though bearing in mind the Indians and Rangers catching depth they could both easily get traded, so we'll see on that one. I've also got Chris Marrerro of the Nationals, and that's definitely at least another years wait.
But I'm overloaded with outfielders, and might well be looking for some trade action about a month in once the picture is clearer
Now onto the pitching, which has weaknesses, especially the SP's at the mo..
SP Jake Peavy (keeper), Ervin Santana (keeper), Kelvim Escobar (was lucky to pick him up so late, in my minor's lists David Price and Derek Holland. Don't think Santana and Escobar will be around til May, Price as well, Holland a good chance of getting called up mid season. So definitely a bit thin there, but the peripherals for all of them are excellent, suspect Escobar is likely to be the only one under 8K/9, and while waiting I've stacked up on high strike out relief pitchers, looking to get holds and saves going early, it's a 7x7 league, check out which of my excess outfielders are firing, and keep an eye for any breaking SP's like Cueto and Volquez from last year early on in the season, or maybe look to trade.
RP - Francisco Rodriguez (keeper), Matt Lindstrom, Joel Hanrahan are my save specialists, with good peripherals. I've also got Jason Motte in my minor leaguers, well pleased with that pick, and Dan Wheeler and JP Howell for picking up some spare saves when Perrcival's out, almost an inevitability, and Isringhausen loses it, a good chance there too. But if not Motte should get at worst some saves, if not become the Cards closer. So saves is looking OK barring injuries.
Re holds, Wheeler Howell, Dotel and Thornton from the White Sox all have high K/9 projections bar Wheeler, and he's so useful for holds and saves, and very consistent.
But I do have pitching weaknesses, I reckon I'll be low on wins, possibly mid table at best on strike outs, but my whip, K/9 and ERA should be near the top. I should be fine for saves, with Motte covering for Lindstrom if he's injured, loses his saver position, and Hanrahans low save potential, which could be higher if the Nationals improve a bit this year.
So all in all, not too displeased on the pitching front, definitely much tougher in my picks this year re peripherals. batting wise think I should be improved this year on ave, got some suspicions about power especially, which is why I stacked up on those outfielders, some worries about Reynolds and lack of cover for 1st and 3rd, and possibly losing Span's steals, but fairly confident I've covered those, so looking forward to a slightly improved year this year from 6th out of 12 last year, and that I'm recovering further from what turned out to be my bad first draft ever last year in this league, covered earlier in a my blog here
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