Fantasy Baseball 2007 Draft Diary: Overcoming Unusually Good Odds of Drafting a Competent Team, One Misguided Pick at a Time

Fed up with years of leagues run by groups of high school friends &, in the case of our last basketball league, Germans, for our second baseball league this year, Amy F & I decided, hey. We’ve done this enough to know how to run a league. Why don’t one of us try to be commissioner this time? So Amy F started a league. We also got her sister Jean to join. Amy F is one in AMYlion, I am selflessamy…

one in A MYlion: btw, i could have order myself first in the draft but i didn't
one in A MYlion: i'm leaving it up to chance
selflessamy: way to have principles, my friend
one in A MYlion: thanks
one in A MYlion: it took some willpower
selflessamy: I'm sure it did, since it will never, ever happen by chance
one in A MYlion: perhaps this time
selflessamy: I'm glad one of us hasn't given up on the dream

But haha, the joke was on me b/c lo & behold, what do I see when the order comes up?

selflessamy: HEY! you ARE first
one in A MYlion: um...i didn't do it?
selflessamy: then good things come to those who are virtuous!
one in A MYlion: haha
one in A MYlion: this has never happened before....
selflessamy: are you going Albert??
selflessamy: this is so exciting
one in A MYlion: yeah
one in A MYlion: it's really the only way to go

Never ever, in all our years of fantasy, have either of us had the number 1 pick. Don’t worry, I still had the 6th pick, but still. Very exciting stuff. Jean is drafting last & will hold the coveted back-to-back picks.

selflessamy: I hate being in A-Rod range
selflessamy: I am really hoping someone takes Santana too high again
one in A MYlion: yeah
one in A MYlion: i should take Dice-K first
selflessamy: hee
selflessamy: that'd throw everyone off
selflessamy: this team "Blown Out Knees" gave me the idea for my next hockey team name
selflessamy: it's gonna be called "Lower Body Injury"
selflessamy: either that or "Flu-Like Symptoms"

And off we go. Amy takes Pujols. It’s as awesome as I’ve always dreamed it would be. Reyes, A-Rod & Sori go quickly &… In our first league, Ryan Howard dropped to me at 5, which I considered a borderline miracle, comparable in scope to that time I got Dirk at 5. The team at 5 here is taking the full 2 minutes…

one in A MYlion: if howard drops to you...
one in A MYlion: omg....

YES! The team at 5 takes Crawford. My cursor barely turns yellow before I take Howard.

selflessamy: UNBELIEVABLE!!
one in A MYlion: i hate you
selflessamy: HAHA!
selflessamy: this is amazing

The only other interesting thing that happens in the first round, besides Jeter going too high in yet another draft, is the revealing of Jean’s Most Awesome Draft Strategy of All Time. See, the thing about being a player of fantasy sports is, you don’t actually get to put together your dream team. You’re not taking the players you like, you’re taking the ones you think will help you fill certain stat categories. A lot of times, you are forced to take players you loathe (Amy F taking Antoine Walker last year anyone?) b/c it is the intelligent choice at the moment. But Jean isn’t usually a fantasy player. And her strategy is, literally, to pick her fantasy team. A team of players she likes, without regard for their fantasy value or what round we’re in.

It’s actually kinda cool.

It also explains her back-to-back picks of Ichiro & Huston Street to kick off the second round.

selflessamy: uh oh Ichiro
one in A MYlion: yeah
selflessamy: UH OH
one in A MYlion: oh dear
one in A MYlion: she says that she doesn't care
selflessamy: interesting
one in A MYlion: i told her just to use the yahoo rankings....
selflessamy: well that could be disasterous also

I take universal mock draft 2nd rounder Carlos Beltran next. It doesn’t feel as good as you would think it would. That’s what it feels like to get a player at his approximately appropriate draft position. Very bleh. Meanwhile, Amy F has the incredibly awesome last pick of the 2nd/first pick of the 3rd back-to-backs, which almost always results in very good value…it does. She takes Manny & Sizemore.

selflessamy: I LOVE Sizemore
one in A MYlion: me too
selflessamy: hope you love just Manny being Manny...
one in A MYlion: i hope that means a lot of HR and RBIs
selflessamy: it means a lot of things
one in A MYlion: haha

Tex goes before it gets back to me, which is good b/c I was going to pass & felt insecure about it. Carlos Lee—who I gushed so much about, the fantasy gods punished me by getting him traded to the Rangers, where he immediately became just okay & then promptly fled to Houston in the offseason—goes right before my pick. I take another meh-value, Miguel Tejada. So underwhelming.

Joe Mauer, who I took in the 2nd in my other draft, goes right before Jean picks in the 3rd. I’m a little annoyed, since all the mocks I looked at had him as a first-rounder. Anyway, Jean takes Cano way too early & then recovers nicely with Morneau. You’ll remember, Morneau was my third 1B last year who started slow so I dropped him, so he naturally went on to win the AL MVP. Yeah. You’re surprised I didn’t have an entire blog entry devoted to him, aren’t you? It was too painful to talk about for a while. You have to give these things time.

Anyway, round 4 starts a run of good sluggers. Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay & Vernon Wells go & I take Matt Holliday. Amy F takes Bobby Abreu & MY.

selflessamy: my OF is looking considerably better than that last league
one in A MYlion: i think my OF is done....
selflessamy: heh nice

Okay, the background to my next pick…in the other league, something strange happened & all the sure shot closers got snatched up early & I decided to wait it out for value picks. Only the value picks also got snatched up, so my only real closer in that league is JJ Putz. Things are not going well in that category. Anyway, I said all that so you would understand why I took BJ Ryan in Round 5.

selflessamy: I hope that wasn't a mistake just now

By now we’ve all realized it was an even worse mistake than I originally thought.

one in A MYlion: closer already?
one in A MYlion: wow
selflessamy: yeah um, I'm reacting poorly to what happened to me yesterday
one in A MYlion: haha
one in A MYlion: OF and RP already?
selflessamy: shut up ;)

Apparently I set off a run of closers, b/c Nathan, Papelbon, K-Rod, Rivera, Hoffman & Putz all go in the next time around. Amy F takes Rivera & Sheets.

selflessamy: thank you for taking Sheets so I don't have to
one in A MYlion: haha
one in A MYlion: sure
selflessamy: when's the earliest I'm allowed to look at Dice-K?
one in A MYlion: it's about now...

OMG should I do it? I don’t have an ace. A flyer can’t be the first SP I take, right? Right. So I take Bonderman & start praying Dice-K falls.

selflessamy: couldn't quite do it
one in A MYlion: haha

Meanwhile, Jean continues her path of destruction. She now owns every Oakland Athletic who is even remotely fantasy-worthy.

one in A MYlion: jean really likes the A's
selflessamy: yep
selflessamy: Haren is a sleeper of mine
selflessamy: but like in round 15

Unbelievably, with Dice-K still on the board, the team before me takes King Felix.

selflessamy: OMG...
one in A MYlion: is it time?

YES!

selflessamy: !!!!!
one in A MYlion: haha

Someone takes Aki Otsuka too early. I got him off waivers last year & he gave me 30+ saves. Gagne is currently on the DL with an absurd butt injury (I couldn’t make this s#&$ up if I wanted to), but I still don’t know if Aki’s a top 10 rounder.

selflessamy: hehe...Jean's going for every A that ever existed
one in A MYlion: it's true
one in A MYlion: it's the all A's team

Meanwhile things are not going well. I panic-pick Brad Lidge.

selflessamy: #jFJ(#SKJSJKLS
one in A MYlion: not feeling good about that one
selflessamy: I don't know how to feel!
selflessamy: where did you get Lidge?
selflessamy: later, right?
one in A MYlion: 10th round
selflessamy: oh ok good
selflessamy: the other guy I was looking at was a catcher & you know how much I hate drafting catchers
one in A MYlion: haha

Amy F takes Dan Uggla. This is a major problem b/c he is, in fact, one of the few remaining decent options at 2B.

one in A MYlion: i think i might have reached for uggla
selflessamy: I still don't have a 2B or a C
selflessamy: this may end up being a problem
one in A MYlion: that's why i have uggla
one in A MYlion: :(
selflessamy: heh
selflessamy: that smiley looks especially sad

Logically, I take Torii Hunter.

selflessamy: well, that wasn't a C or a 2B
selflessamy: my strategy is working
one in A MYlion: haha
one in A MYlion: it's true

I finally (& it turns out tragically) take Ramon Hernandez in the 12th & Jeff Kent in the 13th.

selflessamy: f-ing Kent better not die during the season
one in A MYlion: that's a legit concern
selflessamy: was that insensitive?

Someone rather gutsy-ly takes GMJ. Then someone takes Howie Kendrick.

selflessamy: dammit, I wanted Kendrick, but like 2 rounds from now
one in A MYlion: haha

Amy F steals Felipe Lopez from under my nose after I debated taking him in the 14th. Then she takes List of 12 pick Chris Capuano in the 18th, one of my big sleepers that I was gearing up to take in one of late rounds.

selflessamy: I probably shouldn't be looking up Pettite's health status AFTER I draft him, huh
selflessamy: you stole my pick again...wtf dude
selflessamy: do you secretly hate me?
one in A MYlion: haha that's what I'm here for
selflessamy: how are you reading my mind????

I settle for taking a flyer on Jered Weaver, current DL resident, & my ill-advised sleeper (as it turns out) Gerald Laird.

selflessamy: I was gonna take Betancourt, but apparently he has to go testify against the guy who smuggled him into the country illegally...
one in A MYlion: wow, he's kinda selling out there...
selflessamy: yeah I know
selflessamy: you know what that says to me...not trustworthy
one in A MYlion: yeah....

I take multi-position phenom Rich Aurilia as my final pick & we’re done. My team & where it’s at now…

C: Hernandez (who immediately retreated to the DL), Laird (who quickly established new standards of suck), John Buck (you know you are desperate for hitting when you pick up a Kansas City Royal)
1B: Howard, Fielder
2B: Kent, Durham
3B: Hall, C Jones
SS: Tejada, Aurilia
OF: Beltran, Holliday, Francoeur, Hunter
SP: Bonderman, Dice-K (who it turns out, I have since been forced to trade for Joe Nathan), Mussina, Pettite, Jered Weaver (still on the DL)
RP: Ryan (disaster, hopefully not done for the year), Lidge (disaster, wasting away on the bench), Nathan (trade), Weathers (waiver wire claim for the 3rd year in a row)

selflessamy: "John Patterson "kind of passed out" Saturday after shagging flies during batting practice, manager Manny Acta said. The club said Patterson complained of dehydration and was given intravenous fluids. He's expected to make his next start and pitch on Opening Day for the Nats."
selflessamy: is this someone I want to pick up off waivers for one start?
one in A MYlion: um....he sounds kinda weak
one in A MYlion: perhaps you can just play him on cloudy days?
selflessamy: hehe

Play Ball!