Conclusion of Fantasy Game Day's Slow Mock Draft

Myself and the other 15 guys finished up our draft just after Christmas. I was very happy with my team across the board. The slow draft gave me time to compile projections for over 300 players. I will have those figures over the next few weeks. Here is my team and the projections for each player. I felt strong in both R and HR with many power hitters and lead off batters. I have compiled a complete standings for this league through  my projections and will post my results. As of now here is my team. Remember its a standard 5X5 league with BB and Holds added...lets call it a 6X6 league.

	Brett Barton	R	HR	RBI	SB	BA	BB
C	Victor Martinez	81	15	82	0	0.305	48
1B	Lance Berkman	85	25	85	2	0.291	90
2B	Dustin Pedroia	105	22	101	22	0.305	77
SS	Alex Gonzales	55	12	62	2	0.244	25
3B	Mark Reynolds	80	35	85	10	0.236	75
MI	Dan Uggla	93	35	102	3	0.255	65
CI	Adam Dunn	62	18	58	0	0.223	77
OF	Jacoby Ellsbury	105	25	77	48	0.314	50
OF	Alejandro  Aza	90	12	52	33	0.281	60
OF	Carlos Lee	72	21	81	2	0.271	45
OF	Jordan Schafer	80	3	35	38	0.277	58
OF	David DeJesus	78	8	45	8	0.271	51
Util	Mat Gamel	56	15	55	0	0.258	33
		1042	246	920	168	0.2716	754
		W	S	ERA	WHIP	K	H
SP	Yovani Gallardo	16	0	3.44	1.25	211	0
SP	Matt Garza	14	0	3.28	1.24	188	0
SP	Cory Luebke	12	0	3.02	1.05	181	0
RP	Mariano Rivera	2	39	2.22	0.87	55	0
RP	Sergio Santos	2	36	2.24	1.21	81	0
RP	Joe Nathan	3	33	3.25	1.11	66	0
RP	Sean Marshall	5	5	2.55	1.13	77	36
P	Jesse Crain	6	0	3.39	1.24	61	33
P	Ryan Vogelsong	11	0	3.66	1.22	133	0
P	Gavin Floyd	14	0	3.98	1.22	148	0
		85	113	3.103	1.154	1201	69

So what do you think? Where am I weak and where do I dominate? This is strictly and draft league with no trades, pick-ups or drops.

Slow Mock Draft Continues

Still participating in Fantasy Game Day’s slow mock draft . As of this morning we are snaking back up through the 14th round. My team to date isn’t shaping up as I would have hoped. I have missed out on most of my targeted 1B/CI as the draft progressed. Missed on Goldschmidt along with Pena's BB. At this time I will most likely have to put Berkman at 1B and find someone for CI. Looks like a Derek Lee, Mike Carp or Casey McGehee type. If I get word that Mat Gamel gets the job at 1B in Milwaukee (once Fielder signs) I may take a flier on him. I did lock up 3 above average Closers and hope to dominate that category. To date my SPs are Gallardo and Garza, both are capable of a 200K season. I am looking at Luebke and Dempster to round out my staff.

As I approach my next selection (1 pick away) I am looking at snagging Luebke or Coco Crisp for solid R and SBs, figuring he bats lead-off again. With 13 pick gone here is what my team looks like. I am definitely punting on SS, having Jason Bartlet in mind for my last pick.

VICTOR MARTINEZ	C
LANCE BERKMAN	1B
DUSTIN PERDROIA	2B
MARK REYNOLDS	3B
	SS
DAN UGGLA	MI
	CI
JACOBY ELLSBURY	OF
ALEJANDRO DE AZA	OF
CARLOS LEE	OF
	OF
	OF
	UT
YOVANI GALLARDO	SP
MATT GARZA	SP
	SP
MARIANO RIVERA	RP
SERGIO SANTOS	RP
JOE NATHAN	RP
	RP
	P
	P
	P

Some surprises I have seen so far in this draft are players who have been taken who might start in the minors out of spring training or who have serious injuries to rehab. Mike Trout and Ryan Howard. Darvish and Cespedes have been drafted to date too. Let me know what you think of my team so far. Remember it is a 16 team league with standard 5X5 with both Walks and Holds included. What categories am I weak  and where do I need to focus on going forward?

Some Of The Greatest Logos From The Past

Over the last half century baseball logos have changed, evolved and re-invented themselves in color and design. Below are some of my favorites from the past. Many logos remind me of certain teams and or players associated with them.

This logo reminds me of the South Siders during the late 70's and 80's. Harold Bains and his sweet lefty swing at old Comisky Park. The demolition of Disco and Carlton Fisk hitting for the cycle, getting a triple (his only one of the year) off Dan Quesenberry.

Pre-Griffey Jr. days when the Mariners were absolutely awful. They had one season of over 74 wins during the early 80's. Bad team great logo, the Trident shaped into the Mariner's "M".

Tampa Bay's inaugural logo. Pre political correctness when they could use the word "devil". The Devil Ray gliding across the rainbow oval was unique for the time. They were so bad early on but I do remember Boggs getting his 3000th hit in those uni's. Can you name 3 players pre 2000 from any Devil Rays team? There was the Crime Dog and Boggs of course...and Rolando Arrojo led the team in Wins...Who?

The Big Red Machine. 1975 and 1976 the best teams ever. I think one year they only lost 15 games at home. Rose, Griffey, Morgan, Bench, Foster, Perez, Conception, and the great name of Cesar Geronimo. That was a line-up.

The Astrodome with the galaxy of baseballs in orbit. This logo reminds me of a few things. First were the awful uni's (on one list rated worst ever). Next was the Bad News Bears playing there in that horrible movie. Last was one of the most under rated Pitchers ever, JR Richards. Check out some of his history.

To me one of coolest logos of all time. The Friar with the bat and his sandals...classic. They too had the turd colored uni's of the late 70's. Everyone remembers Ozzie Smith making that bare handed pick up the middle, falling down then jumping to his feet to throw out Jeff Burroughs.

Just a little trip back in the past as we all wait for the hot stove league to finish. Only 117 days until 1st pitch.

New Baseball Logos

During this hot stove timeframe of Fantasy Baseball I thought it would be fun to take a look at the new logos for 3 baseball teams. The Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles have each proclaimed that they will revert back to previously utilized logos. One of my all time favorite was the cartoon version of the Oriole for Baltimore. The cleated Oriole with the bat was used from 1966-1991. To me it brings back the days of Earl Weaver swearing at umpires and getting ejected. Here is one of my favorite Earl sound bites from his pregame show (warning: bad language but classic Weaver).

The Blue Jays are going with a slightly modified version of their blue jay silhouette that they had in use from their inception in 1977 thru 1996. It has the classic maple leaf which signifies Toronto and Canada. When I think Blue Jays I think Joe Carter’s World Series winning home run.

Next are the Marlins, the new Miami Marlins. I find this new logo hard to describe in baseball terms. It’s a four colored M with a red/orange, white and blue Nike-esque Marlin swimming (or flying) around the M. I have heard they will sport the red/orange home jerseys with Marlins across chest along with classic white and classic black ones that sport Miami. If you are looking for the classic, clean, or traditional baseball uniform these could not be farther from them. The first thought that crossed my mind were the uni’s and floor from that classic 70’s movie The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. (Scroll to bottom of page after clicking the link) Then it hit me. Its the same logo for some Indian Casino I have visited.

All 3 logos can be found here:

Marlins

Orioles

Blue Jays

Back For Another Season

I am back to the blog after a short off season from fantasy baseball. First I would like to congratulate myself on three 1^st place finishes in the five leagues I participated in last season. I had a repeat 1^st place in my Dynasty League, a 3-Peat in my big money league, and a 1^st in a local league.

At the moment I am currently participating in the 4^th annual Slow Mock Draft with the guys at Fantasy Game Day.  The criteria of the league/draft is as follows:  The stats will consist of the standard 5x5 stats plus the addition of Walks and Holds.  The lineups will consist of the following positions: C,1B,2B,3B,SS,MI,CI,OF(5),Util, SP(3),RP(4),P(3). Position eligibility will be based on 20 games.

We will play out this league with no pick-ups throughout the year, it is strictly a draft and play league. Injuries will be a major factor on outcomes and league standings. I will try and shy away from those position players coming back off injury i.e. Grady Sizemore types. SP coming off injury I will consider if available late.

I had the 12^th pick in a large 16 team field. My strategy going in was to draft the best OF on the board with my 1^st pick due to the 5 OF format (that will be 80 OF being drafted, not including possible Util spots fielding an OF) From there I wanted to get the best possible player on the board at my open positions.  I was going to shy away from SP until I would be squeezed from getting a possible 200K+ SP. To date here is what my team looks like.

Round 1: Jacoby Ellsbury

Round 2: Justin Pedroia

Round 3: Dan Uggla

I had these 3 all of these players ranked in my top 32 so I was happy to fill my MI spot with Uggla this early. I should dominate stats from the 3 MI positions. I am going to target Hardy at SS for additional power or Gee for SB.  Have to see how this pans out around the 9^th round.

Round 4: Victor Martinez

McCann was taken just ahead of me but I wanted Martinez in this spot. .300+ BA and 90+ RBI from my C position who will play 148 games this year.

I am thinking of taking Mauer for my Util spot if he falls to the 10^th round. Not just because of his production but to block another team at the weak C position.

Round 5: Yovani Gallardo

With around 15 SP off the board at this point I though Gallardo was a solid pick to anchor my team. 200+ IP and 200+ K. Will probably wait for many rounds to pick another SP. SP I would like to target in the late rounds at Moore TB, Johnson MIA, Wainwright STL, and Zimmerman WAS. Cross my fingers.

Round 6: Lance Berkman

I took Berkman due to his multi position eligibility and that he was the highest ranked position player on my board (Ranked 56^th). I will be targeting Goldschmidt later for my 1B slot and also Mark Reynolds at 3^rd or CI.

Strategy going forward will be to get any OF with 20/20 potential or even 15/15 who take lots of BB. I will also look to lock up as many Closers as I can. If you know me you know my Closer Strategy. The hold category will take my last 2 picks. Targeting Marshal from the Cubs, but any set up man that gets numerous appearances will do.

I will keep you updated on the draft and also bring back some logos from the past in honor of the new Toronto and Miami logos. From there we will run through each team and I will target 2 players on each 40 man roster to either target come draft day or avoid.

Glad to be back!! Only 122 days until opening day.