1st Draft for 2013 Underway

Congrats to the Giants on a World Series Championship.  Now that baseball is over its time to start planning for next season.  So far I am more than planning. I am immersed in my first draft for 2013.

This will be a league set up for weekly line ups using a Roto 5x5 format. It will be a 2C league with standard positions that include 5OF, CI, MI and Utility. We will have a full pitching staff and 5 bench spots. The only caveat to this league will be no trades or FA pickups. It is strictly who you draft plays for the year.  This was originally going to be just an early mock draft but it quickly turned into a full blown league.

Due to this format teams will be unable to stream pitchers in and out of their line-ups. Because of this I decided to go SP heavy once the draft took off.  Originally I wanted to find some players with multi-position eligibility so I could have a little flexibility due to injuries. It was decided that a 20 game minimum would be in place to qualify for a position. That took players like Prado, Young, and Bonifacio down a notch in value from the previous year to their versatility.

With this format, staying healthy will be the biggest concern. So far we are about a third of the way through the draft. We are commenting on picks through Twitter if you would like to follow. The hash tag to follow is #FGDmock  . Some of the picks coming in are vastly different from last year’s draft. I called it a changing of the guard for 2013; at least for the few opening rounds. Here are the first 10 rounds of action to date.

Round 1
1)	Miguel Cabrera		3B		DET		Daniel Schwartz
2)	Ryan Braun		OF		MIL		Joel Hanard
3)	Mike Trout		OF		LAA		Cody Pfleiger
4)	Matt Kemp		OF		LAD		Greg Sullivan
5)	Giancarlo Stanton		OF		MIA		Mike Lester
6)	Albert Pujols		1B		LAA		Joshua Feiger
7)	Andrew McCutchen		OF		PIT		Brett Barton
8)	Prince Fielder		1B		DET		Scot Nesbihal
9)	Carlos Gonzalez		OF		COL		Scott Gilroy
10)	Buster Posey		C/1B		SF		Mark Rogovin
11)	Robinson Cano		2B		NYY		Yoram Batner
12)	Joey Votto		1B		CIN		Dan Kercher
Round 2
1)	Jason Heyward	OF		ATL		Dan Kercher
2)	Jose Bautista	OF		TOR		Yoram Batner
3)	Adrian Beltre	3B		TEX		Mark Rogovin
4)	Troy Tulowitzki	SS		COL		Scott Gilroy
5)	Adam Jones	OF		BAL		Scot Nesbihal
6)	Adrian Gonzalez	1B		LAD		Brett Barton
7)	Evan Longoria	3B		TB		Joshua Feiger
8)	Josh Hamilton	OF		TEX		Mike Lester
9)	Justin Verlander	SP		DET		Greg Sullivan
10)	Jose Reyes	SS		MIA		Cody Pfleiger
11)	David Wright	3B		NYM		Joel Hanard
12)	Clayton Kershaw	SP		LAD		Daniel Schwartz

Round 3
1)	Justin Upton		OF		ARI		Daniel Schwartz
2)	Ian Kinsler		2B		TEX		Joel Hanard
3)	Hanley Ramirez		3B/SS		LAD		Cody Pfleiger
4)	Dustin Pedroia		2B		BOS		Greg Sullivan
5)	Jay Bruce		OF		CIN		Mike Lester
6)	Stephen Strasburg		SP		WAS		Joshua Feiger
7)	Ryan Zimmerman		3B		WAS		Brett Barton
8)	Matt Holliday		OF		STL		Scot Nesbihal
9)	Billy Butler		1B		KC		Scott Gilroy
10)	Curtis Granderson		OF		NYY		Mark Rogovin
11)	Edwin Encarnacion		1B		TOR		Yoram Batner
12)	Starlin Castro		SS		CHC		Dan Kercher
Round 4
1)	Brett Lawrie	3B		TOR		Dan Kercher
2)	Bryce Harper	OF		WAS		Yoram Batner
3)	David Price	SP		TB		Mark Rogovin
4)	Cole Hamels	SP		PHI		Scott Gilroy
5)	Brian McCann	C		ATL		Scot Nesbihal
6)	Felix Hernandez	SP		SEA		Brett Barton
7)	Jacoby Ellsbury	OF		BOS		Joshua Feiger
8)	Ian Desmond	SS		WAS		Mike Lester
9)	Yadier Molina	C		STL		Greg Sullivan
10)	Jered Weaver	SP		LAA		Cody Pfleiger
11)	Elvis Andrus	SS		TEX		Joel Hanard
12)	Allen Craig	1B/OF		STL		Daniel Schwartz

Round 5
1)	Desmond Jennings	OF		TB	Daniel Schwartz
2)	Matt Wieters	C		BAL	Joel Hanard
3)	Alex Rios	OF		CHW	Cody Pfleiger
4)	Chase Headley	3B		SD	Greg Sullivan
5)	Carlos Santana	C/1B		CLE	Mike Lester
6)	Joe Mauer	C/1B		MIN	Joshua Feiger
7)	Victor Martinez	C		DET	Brett Barton
8)	Gio Gonzalez	SP		WAS	Scot Nesbihal
9)	BJ Upton	OF		TB	Scott Gilroy
10)	Yoenis Cespedes	OF		OAK	Mark Rogovin
11)	Craig Kimbrel	RP		ATL	Yoram Batner
12)	Jason Kipnis	2B		CLE	Dan Kercher
Round 6
1)	Austin Jackson		OF			DET	Dan Kercher
2)	Aroldis Chapman		RP			CIN	Yoram Batner
3)	Cliff Lee		SP			PHI	Mark Rogovin
4)	Ben Zobrist		2B/SS/OF			TB	Scott Gilroy
5)	Aramis Ramirez		3B			MIL	Scot Nesbihal
6)	CC Sabathia		SP			NYY	Brett Barton
7)	Adam Wainwright		SP			STL	Joshua Feiger
8)	Mark Teixeira		1B			NYY	Mike Lester
9)	Paul Goldschmidt		1B			ARI	Greg Sullivan
10)	Aaron Hill		2B			ARI	Cody Pfleiger
11)	Matt Cain		SP			SF	Joel Hanard
12)	Madison Bumgarner		SP			SF	Daniel Schwartz

Round 7
1)	Jimmy Rollins	SS		PHI		Daniel Schwartz
2)	Freddie Freeman	1B		ATL		Joel Hanard
3)	Adam LaRoche	1B		WAS		Cody Pfleiger
4)	Michael Bourn	OF		ATL		Greg Sullivan
5)	Matt Latos	SP		CIN		Mike Lester
6)	Pablo Sandoval	3B		SF		Joshua Feiger
7)	Zack Greinke	LAA		SP		Brett Barton
8)	Johnny Cueto	SP		CIN		Scot Nesbihal
9)	Matt Moore	SP		TB		Scott Gilroy
10)	Kendrys Morales	1B		LAA		Mark Rogovin
11)	Carlos Beltran	OF		STL		Yoram Batner
12)	R.A. Dickey	SP		NYM		Dan Kercher
Round 8
1)	Shin-Soo Choo		OF		CLE		Dan Kercher
2)	Corey Hart		1B/OF		MIL		Yoram Batner
3)	Jonathan Papelbon		RP		PHI		Mark Rogovin
4)	Alex Gordon		OF		KC		Scott Gilroy
5)	Brandon Phillips		2B		CIN		Scot Nesbihal
6)	Roy Halladay		SP		PHI		Brett Barton
7)	Yu Darvish		SP		TEX		Joshua Feiger
8)	Josh Reddick		OF		OAK		Mike Lester
9)	David Ortiz		Util		BOS		Greg Sullivan
10)	Ian Kennedy		SP		ARI		Cody Pfleiger
11)	Chris Sale		SP		CHW		Joel Hanard
12)	Anthony Rizzo		1B		CHC		Daniel Schwartz

Round 9
1)	Max Scherzer	SP	DET		Daniel Schwartz
2)	Josh Willingham	OF	MIN		Joel Hanard
3)	Eric Hosmer	1B	KC		Cody Pfleiger
4)	Kris Medlen	SP	ATL		Greg Sullivan
5)	Yovani Gallardo	SP	MIL		Mike Lester
6)	Ike Davis	1B	NYM		Joshua Feiger
7)	Ryan Howard	1B	PHI		Brett Barton
8)	Jason Kubel	OF	ARI		Scot Nesbihal
9)	Jason Motte	RP	STL		Scott Gilroy
10)	Jose Altuve	2B	HOU		Mark Rogovin
11)	James Shields	SP	TB		Yoram Batner
12)	David Freese	3B	STL		Dan Kercher
Round 10
1)	Miguel Montero			C		ARI	Dan Kercher
2)	Michael Morse			OF		WAS	Yoram Batner
3)	Norichika Aoki			OF		MIL	Mark Rogovin
4)	Jordan Zimmermann			SP		WAS	Scott Gilroy
5)	Jim Johnson			RP		BAL	Scot Nesbihal
6)	Adam Dunn			1B		CHW	Brett Barton
7)	Shane Victorino			OF		LAD	Joshua Feiger
8)	Danny Espinosa			2B/SS		WAS	Mike Lester
9)	Mark Trumbo			OF/1B		LAA	Greg Sullivan
10)	Joe Nathan			RP		TEX	Cody Pfleiger
11)	Paul Konerko			1B		CHW	Joel Hanard
12)	Kenley Jansen			RP		LAD	Daniel Schwartz

My Season Ending Record

Another season in the books; and another great showing from yours truly here at Fantasy Baseball Vision. With the 5 Leagues I participated in I had a 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, and a 5^th place finish also included is a 10^th in that Points League. See my feelings on Points Leagues here.

Yahoo Pro League

Nice payday here in my inaugural Yahoo Pro League, Daily Roto 5X5. I maxed out nearly every position player and innings limit down the stretch. This was one league I kept a hold on 1^st place from mid-May on except for probably 3 days. It was no run-away as I had constant pressure from 3 other teams. I finished with 97.5 points good for a 1.5 point Win. I constantly hovered between 95 and 99 points most of the year. Great SP staff with King Felix, Jake Peavy, Mat Latos, and Brandon Morrow. Had Wandy for a time and streamed Estrada with Straily as much as possible. 12 in both ERA and WHIP.  Papelbon got me in Saves and finished with 8’s in W, S, and 9 in Ks. Best trade was in May when I picked up Pujols, Choo and Romo for BJ Upton, Billy Butler, and Street. Only finished with 7 points in HR but all other hitting categories were 11’s with an 8 in BA. Some key pickups throughout the season were Sheets for his first 4 starts, Napoli for the last month of the season. Another trade was giving up Gio in June foe Maurer and Broxton. Not that it hurt my team but Gio went on to have a fantastic year.  I would recommend a Yahoo Pro League to everyone.

I Win MLB 2012

This is my Dynasty League: Daily H2H 6X5 includes OPS. I had won this league the last two years. This year I once again made it to the Championship game and lost fairly convincingly. This league is allowed 5 pickup/drops a week and I used it to my advantage streaming SP as much as possible. It won me the K’s and W categories quite frequently. I did this because I traded off most of my elite SP for bats this year. I gave up Hamels for Lawrie and then gave up CC for McCutchen. I also gave up an aging Putz for Alvarez after I had stockpiled many Closers. Best draft choice was Jordan Zimmermann; this was after each team kept 15 players. I had last pick in opening round…great pick for a Dynasty League. If you are playing in a Dynasty League you should seriously consider joining/starting one.

FGD Readers vs. Writers II

This was Fantasy Game Days sponsored League. I finished 4^th 14.5 point behind. This was Roto 5X5 Auction League. I did well drafting in this league but missed out on all top tiers 1B. I drafted Goldschmidt and he started the season off so bad I dropped him in May. I got crushed in BA finishing with a 3 way tie at .255 but only garnered 1 point. I was snake bit by Wins too, the hardest category to expect production from on a consistent basis. Coming out of the draft I thought my rotation was solid, CC, Johan, Ervin Santana, Edwin Jackson, Hellickson and Sale. But I could only manage a 3 point season in Wins. Every other hitting and pitching category was above par with 8R, 11HR, 9RBI, 10SB, 8S and 9s in Ks, ERA,and WHIP.  Great league and was happy I was invited to represent Fantasy Baseball Vision.

Rusty Kuntz Special

This was our previous 5 man Keeper League that I had won the last 3 years. Due to managers having so many poor Keepers and general apathy on some it was decided to bring in a little new blood and re-draft this year. I finished 5^th and 17 points behind. It was a Roto 5X5 Weekly League. Though I do not mind weekly Leagues I prefer daily. This league has no innings limit so managers try and gain an advantage by streaming as many 2 start SP as they can every week. This leads to a bi disparity in Ks and Wins at times. With down years from Han Ram and Adrian Gonzalez it seemed I was scrambling all year on the hitting side. It didn’t help that my OF was one of the weakest I had ever drafted: BJ Upton, Gardner (who was to be out a series, then a 15 day DL stint, then until the ALL-Star break…ouch) Maybin who was hitting .175 when I dropped him. Then Willingham, JD Martinez and the Jason Bay. My final starting OF consisted of Upton, Ross, Willingham, and DeJesus sprinkled in with Viciedo. Another league where I got hurt with a 2 in BA and a 4 in Wins. I was consistently in the middle of the pack all year, fluctuating from as high as 2^nd in early June to as low as 7^th in early August.

Pacheco Gains C Eligibility

With the Fantasy season winding down many managers must start thinking about who to stash in their keeper leagues. One player that just gained Catcher eligibility is Jordan Pacheco. He will go into next year with 3B, 1B, and now C eligibility. Even if he does catch a game next year having that flexibility of an everyday player you can slot into your Catcher position can surely garner you an extra 100 ABs a year. No he won’t hit 25HR or drive in 100 but he does play in Coors and he is hitting a solid .300 this year in nearly 500 ABs. With Helton nearly 40 and the Rockies having no one else at 3B Pacheco should get over 540 ABs next year. He also enters next season as his age 27 season. He is not your prototypical corner infielder but he will get everyday ABs. So if you are on the fence about a Keeper, Pacheco would be a solid player to have that can boost your Average and maybe turn some of those 30+ doubles into Coors Field HR next year.