my draft 2013

The 2013 draft of our fantasy baseball league was held yesterday and I am pleased with the results. I went in with three goals. First was to secure more pitching to help with saves, ERA and WHIP. Second was to build up my middle infield. Third was to get another catcher in the fold. Other than that I was fairly flexible on who else I picked up. My initial plan was to split the 16 spots between 6 position players, 6 pitchers and 4 farm eligible players.

There was a rules change this season that limited the number of players we could not carry over to the next season that were not under contract or in the farm system. The limit was five so that meant there would be a larger talent pool available. It also meant that I had a much larger bank roll than I've had in a few years. Instead of shopping on a budget it gave me the opportunity to go after a few higher price splurge buys.

I went into the draft with 124 dollars available out of a 300 dollar cap to fill 16 roster spots. By comparison last year I had $53 to fill 12 spots and the year before I had $41 to fill 8 spots. The extra money meant much more freedom as to who I could pursue.

There were some big names available and the first round did garner high prices for them. In order the players that went in the first round were Albert Pujols ($32), C C Sabathia ($25), Miguel Cabrera ($40), Carlos Gonzalez ($34), Joey Votto ($30), Prince Fielder ($29), Paul Konerko ($17), Josh Willingham ($18), Joe Mauer ($20), Lonnie Chisenhall ($8), Adrian Beltre ($31) and Troy Tulowitzki ($30). There were certainly some teams that tossed out nontraditional choices in the first round.

Sabathia was my first pick up of the day. While surprised that he went out so early I was willing to be aggressive since he was at the top of my starting pitcher draft board. I've seen the theory that one top durable top notch pitcher could do as much for your team's ERA and WHIP as three relievers. Sabathia has the durable track record and while the Yankees will likely be down this season he should still perform at a high level. He is coming off minor off season surgery which should correct some issues he was having down the stretch last season. In 2012 he was 15-6, 3.38 ERA, 197 K, 1.14 WHIP in 200.0 IP over 28 games. He had his first outing of the spring last week going 5 innings giving up 8 hits, a walk and 2 runs with 2 K.

I had thrown out Gonzalez starting at $20 and he quickly reached his end price. He had been on my roster for years at bargain prices since I had picked him up as a prospect. Yet I didn't expect to get him back due to market pricing and he was truly my only bait toss of the draft. Outfield wasn't an area of need with Bryce Harper, Giancarlo Stanton, Allen Craig, Drew Stubbs, Dayan Viciedo, Emilio Bonifacio and Chris Carter as options there. Plus Adam Eaton is on the farm and if he breaks out mid season after returning from his injury then I'll call him up.

In the second round I threw out Ben Zobrist at $10 and landed him at $30. Some considered that over priced since it matched what Tulo went for but I needed the double eligibility at shortstop and second base since I was so thin there. I had Josh Rutledge with eligibility at short and second and Bonifacio has a chance to start at second and will at least gain eligibility there if he splits time. In 2012 Zobist hit .270/.377/.471 with 20 HR, 74 RBI, 88 R, 14 SB in 157. This spring training he is hitting .207/.273/.345 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 0 SB in 10 games.

I'm not going to give an account of every player I tossed out as I need to talk about so many players that I acquired. The next player that I picked up who was tossed out by another team was Alex Gordon at $18. Gordon was actually second on my draft board at outfield behind Gonzalez and had to put my bid as "17 going twice" was called out. Couldn't believe no one countered and I consider it a huge bargain. After breaking out with two strong years some consider him a dark horse AL MVP player and I think he will thrive as the Royals lead off hitter. In 2012 he hit .294/.368/.455 with 14 HR, 72 RBI, 93 R, 10 SB in 161 games. This spring training he is hitting .418/.484/.709 with 4 HR, 11 RBI, 15 R, 3 SB in 20 games.

I tossed out Pete Kozma at $2 and landed him at $4. He was the first of my bargain shopping spree the rest of the draft. He is the front runner to claim the Cardinals starting short stop gig after Rafael Furcal had a season ending elbow injury. Kozma split 2012 between Triple A Memphis where he hit .232/.292/.355 with 11 HR, 63 RBI, 61 R, 7 SB in 131 games and the Cardinals where he hit .333/.383/.569 with 2 HR, 14 RBI, 11 R, 2 SB in 26 games. This spring training he hit hitting .333/.393/.510 with 2 HR, 8 RBI, 10 R, 0 SB in 17 games.

Next I tossed out Pedro Ciriaco at $2 and landed him at that. Ciriaco is a player I had picked up as a free agent last season and would have retained him if we didn't have the roster limits So it was nice to pick him back up at a $3 savings. While initially only eligible at third after 35 games there with the Red Sox last season he should also gain eligibility at short (12 last season) and second (16 last season). He split 2012 between Triple A Pawtucket where he hit .301/.318/.406 with 4 HR, 21 RBI, 41 R, 14 SB in 64 games and the Red Sox where he hit .293/.315/.390 with 2 HR, 19 RBI, 33 R, 16 SB in 76 games. This spring training he is hitting .333/.323/.400 with 0 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, 3 SB in 13 games.

Then I tossed out Jordany Valdespin at $1 and landed him at $3. He was another player from last season I got back at a $2 savings. Valdespin is claiming the starting second spot with the Mets after Daniel Murphy went down with injury. After ten games he will be OF\2B eligible and a couple days ago the manager said Valdespin is a good fit to lead off. For much of the seasons Valdespin, Ciriaco and Kozma will be in the MI (middle infield) slot depending on who has the hot bat. In 2012 he split between Triple A Buffalo where he hit .285/.331/.411 with 5 HR, 23 RBI, 22 R, 10 SB in 39 games and the Mets where he hit .241/.286/.424 with 8 HR, 26 RBI, 28 R, 10 SB in 94 games. This spring training he is hitting .347/.396/.633 with 4 HR, 9 RBI, 9 R, 1 SB in 16 games.

Next up was Wilson Ramos who I tossed out at $1 and secured for $3. I had traded for Ramos last off season but dropped him when he had his season ending injury. Ramos is bouncing back from his injury and is battling Kurt Suzuki for starting catcher with the Nationals. Before his injury last season he hit .265/.354/.398 with 3 HR, 10 RBI, 11 R, 0 SB in 25 games. This spring training he it hitting .308/.308/.346 with 0 Hr, 0 RBI, 1 R, 0 SB in 11 games.

The timing was right to continue my pursuit of pitchers as someone tossed out the top closer on my list Jason Grilli. I had followed Grilli last season as one of the top set up men and think he should do well as the closer. I picked him up as my last double digit player at $10. In 2012 he was 1-6, 2.91 ERA, 90 K, 1.14 WHIP, 2 SV in 58.2 IP over 64 games with the Pirates. This spring training he is 1-0, 3.60 ERA, 5 K, 1.00 WHIP in 5.0 IP over 5 games.

I had missed on a couple of starters when someone tossed out Tigers closer heir apparent Bruce Rondon. I had him second on my closer target list and happily landed him at $6. He is having trouble getting the training wheels off with control issues but his cannon for an arm shows why the World Series runner up Tigers are giving him a chance. Once he irons out the kinks Rondon should start piling up the saves with Grilli and my staff veteran Craig Kimbrell. He split 2012 between Class A Advanced Lakeland, Double A Erie and Triple A Toledo. He was 1-0, 1.93 ERA, 34 K, 0.94 WHIP, 15 SV in 23.1 IP over 22 games at Class A Advanced Lakeland, was 0-1, 0.83 ERA, 23 K, 1.11 WHIP, 12 SV in 21.2 IP over 21 games at Double A Erie and 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 9 K, 1.50 WHIP, 2 SV in 8.0 IP over 9 games at Triple A Toledo. This spring training he is 2-1, 5.06 ERA, 16 K, 2.06 WHIP in 10.2 IP over 11 games.

Next I went after another young gun I followed last season as a set up man with the Athletics. I tossed out Sean Doolittle at $1 and landed him at $3.  He split 2012 between Class A Advanced Stockton, Double A Midland, Triple A Sacramento and the Athletics. He was 0-0, 0.87 ERA, 21 K, 0.68 WHIP in 10.1 IP over 6 games at Stockton, was 0-0, 0.82 ERA, 19 K, 0.54 WHIP, 1 SV in 11.0 IP over 8 games at Midland, was 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 K, 0.54 WHIP in 3.2 IP over 2 games at Sacramento and was 2-1, 3.04 ERA, 60 K, 1.08 WHIP, 1 SV in 47.1 IP over 44 games with the Athletics. This spring training he is 2-0, 3.00 ERA, 7 K, 1.17 WHIP in 6.0 IP over 6 games.

After missing on a couple more starters I tossed out Rick Porcello at $1 and secured his services for $5. Seems like he's been around forever as Porcello is entering his fifth MLB season at only 24. It seems like something clicked as he has been pitching much better than his track record this spring. There is talk he may be traded but no matter where he ends up he should compliment the rest of my staff of Sabathia, Zack Greinke, C J Wilson, Jeremy Hellickson, Wade Miley, A J Griffin, Dan Straily, Julio Teheran and Trevor Bauer after some more minor league seasoning. In 2012 he was 10-12, 4.59 ERA, 107 K, 1.53 WHIP in 176.1 IP over 31 games. This spring training he is 3-1, 2.50 ERA, 18 K, 0.78 WHIP in 18.0 IP over 5 games.

After missing out on a couple other starting pitchers I decided to change course and tossed out Ryan Lavarnway and landed him for $1. He had been on my farm but when he was no longer eligible I called him up last season. I didn't carry his $7 over to this season so am happy it worked out I could pick him back up at a $6 savings and turn over his clock. Others were looking at him as the current Red Sox third string catcher. I see him as a future skilled hitter and whether its at catcher and with the Red Sox will be determined. In 2012 split between Triple A Pawtucket where he hit .295/.376/.439 with 8 HR, 43 RBI, 52 R, 1 SB in 83 games and the Red Sox where he hit .157/.211/.248 with 2 HR, 12 RBI, 11 R, 0 SB in 46 games. This spring training he it hitting .150/.205/.175 with 0 HR, 6 RBI, 3 R, 0 SB in 15 games.

My main roster spots were filled and it was time to hunt farm eligible so I could have the possibility of bringing up some of my current farm guys if need be. I'll worry about the accounting later. Top of the list was pitching phenom Jose Fernandez of the Marlins who I threw out for $1 and landed for $5. The former 2011 first rounder out of high school split 2012 between Class A Greensboro and Class A Advanced Jupiter. He was 7-0, 1.59 ERA, 99 K, 0.87 WHIP in 79.0 IP over 14 games at Greensboro and was 7-1, 1.96 ERA, 59 K, 1.00 WHIP in 55.0 IP over 11 games at Jupiter. He even got to make a splash in the big boys pool this spring training going 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K, 0.50 WHIP in 2.0 IP in 1 game.

Next I tossed out Delino Deshields Jr for $1 and got him for $3. The future Astros second baseman gobbled up stolen bases last season at a near Billy Hamilton pac man pace as he swiped 101 between Class A Lexington and Class A Advanced Lancaster. In 2012 he hit .298/.401/.439 with 10 HR, 52 RBI, 96 R, 83 SB in 111 games at Lexington and hit .237/.336/.381 with 2 HR, 9 RBI, 17 R, 18 SB in 24 games at Lancaster. This spring training he  hit .333/.333/.417 with 0 HR, 0 RBI, 8 R, 2 SB in 10 games.

Then I tossed out Joey Gallo at $1 and secured him at $3. Funny how someone will bid on a player when they have no idea who he is. I've actually had a player crush on him for awhile and was one of three players I considered drafting last year out of high school when I also took Carlos Correa. I had seen Gallo play on MLB Network in an All Star game where he hit a monster home run. The next season was his senior season where he performed well enough to be a high school All American for both Baseball America and USA Today. That was after our draft so I would have taken him before the accolades. The Texas Rangers drafted him in the first round and he went on to split the rest of 2012 between Rookie Arizona and Class A Spokane. The third baseman hit .293/.435/733 with 18 HR, 43 RBI, 44 R, 6 SB in 43 games at Arizona and hit .214/.343/.464 with 4 HR, 9 RBI, 9 R, 0 SB in 16 games at Spokane. In a brief stint with the Rangers this spring training he has hit .667/.800/2.000 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R, 0 SB in 3 games.

I missed on a couple prospects then tried for Michael Wacha when I tossed his name out for $1 and got my final player at $3. Wacha was the Cardinals first round pick in 2012 and he split the rest of 2012 between Rookie Gulf Coast, Class A Advanced Palm Beach and Double A Springfield. He was 0-0, 1.80 ERA, 7 K, 0.80 WHIP in 5.0 IP over 3 games at Gulf Coast, was 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 16 K, 0.25 WHIP in 8.0 IP over 4 games at Palm Beach and was 0-0, 1.12 ERA, 17 K, 0.75 WHIP in 8.0 IP over 4 games at Springfield. This spring training he is 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 15 K, 0.69 WHIP, 1 SV in 11.2 IP over 5 games.

Some other prospects that went in the draft were Nick Castellanos ($3), Byron Buxton ($3), Yasiel Puig ($6), Jackie Bradley Jr ($5), Javier Baez ($5) and Kyle Gibson ($1).

It will just be a couple weeks before I see how these picks start to pan out. One change in philosophy this season will be I don't plan on making any transactions before the All Star break unless a player has a season ending injury. Patience will be the mantra this season.