SiriusXM Hosts League Draft

Last night, live on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, we had another hosts draft in which I got to pit my wits against some of the industry leaders in a 12 team, mixed league snake draft. Let’s see how I did.  The number in parenthesis is the round the player was drafted in the fantasy baseball draft.

C: Kurt Suzuki (16), John Buck (26)
1B: Kevin Youkilis (4)
2B: Dustin Pedroia (2)
3B: Ryan Zimmerman (3)
SS: Derek Jeter (12)
MI/CI: Yunel Escobar (18), Billy Butler (7)
OF: Carlos Gonzalez (1), Carl Crawford (5), Shane Victorino (6), Brett Gardner (8), Carlos Lee (20)
UT: Mark Reynolds (11)

SP: James Shields (9), Ricky Romero (10), Brandon Morrow (13), Max Scherzer (15)

RP: Sergio Santos (14), Kenley Jansen (17), Brett Myers (19), Matt Capps (21), Aroldis Chapman (23)

BENCH: Denard Span (22), Ricky Nolasco (24), Erik Bedard (25), Ian Stewart (27), Brian Roberts (28)

* I wanted to roster Nick Hundley or Chris Iannetta as my second catcher, but both were taken the round I was going to add them. I then thought I’d take Carlos Ruiz, but he too was taken so I just waited to add Buck. If you can fill bench spots before you have to fill your starting lineup, you might consider a similar strategy.

* I was certainly tempted to take Joey Votto with my first pick, but two things played into my choice of CarGo. (1) I like the five category skills of Gonzalez a wee bit better. (2) Yahoo, which is the service we held the draft on, pretty much qualifies everyone in the game as a first or third baseman, so I felt comfortable passing on the elite first baseman.

* Speaking of the corners, look at the lineup I rostered. Youkilis can play first or third, ditto with Reynolds, an even Butler qualifies at first in this set up too (so does Lee). People might look at Butler in the 7th round and think that’s too early to take him, but as a first base eligible player he’s of real interest. To compare, Eric Hosmer hit .293 with 19 homers and 78 RBI last year in 523 at-bats while Butler hit .291 with 19 homers and 95 RBI in 597 at-bats. Plus, Butler is a rock of consistency.

* Jeter is old, but I don’t doubt that he’ll hit at least .280 with 15 steals and 80 runs scored – at a minimum. Escobar in the 18th round was also a solid add at middle infielder. Speaking of middle infielders, why in the hell did I take Brian Roberts in the 28th round? Did my computer do on auto-draft? Did I drink too many Paradise Punch’s and think it was 2007? You know how I always preach about knowing your league rules? This is a perfect example. Roberts will start the year on the DL, so if he’s taking up a bench spot in a 12 team mixed league it’s pretty tough to justify his inclusion on your roster. However, this league has DL spots. I drafted Roberts, immediately placed him on the DL after the draft (I was able to add Chad Billingsley). In essence, I’ll get a player I was targeting with my last pick in the draft anyway, an I’ll have Roberts for free cause he isn’t impacting my active roster. If/when Roberts plays, he’ll be effective. It’s just a matter of when that will occur.

* I waited on pitching, but so did everyone else to a certain degree. That resulted in a large number of solid starting pitchers being available late (Nolasco, Bedard types). However, people went hot and heavy on relievers, so I just waited that out. In the end, I’ve got three closers – Santos, Myers, Capps – though I really only like the first one. Still, saves are saves, so I’ll pay the price in the ratio cats to get them from Capps and Myers. I also added Chapman on the off chance that the Reds decide to give him some 9th inning work which is certainly possible (especially after Dusty Baker said the other day that he isn’t locked into using Sean Marshall exclusively in the 9th). As for my starters, see what I say about waiting on arms? Shields, Romero, Morrow and Scherzer all have the talent to win 15 games with at least 175 Ks. I wanted to take Morrow in the 11th but showed patience and got him two rounds later. I also wanted Scherzer in the 13th but was able to get him two round later as well.

So there is the squad. What do you think? Oh, by the way, for the full draft results click on the link to SiriusXM Experts Draft.

To sign up for fantasy baseball, give Fleaflicker a look.

By Ray Flowers

Sirius XM Experts League Draft

Left to Right: Matt Deutsch, Ray Flowers, Kay Adams, Kyle Elfrink, Rob Touzet

If you didn’t get a chance to hear the draft live on Thursday at SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, or even if you did but wanted to delve a bit deeper into things, this is a piece for you. Today, I’ll break down the 14 person, mixed league, 5×5 draft of the hosts from SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (XM147, Sirius211) by focusing on the squad I assembled (at the end of the piece there is a link to a PDF file that shows how each of the 14 teams chose to put their teams together).

LEAGUE RULES

14 teams, 5×5, 23 starters, six bench spots
Hitters: C, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, OF, OF, OF, OF, OF, UT
Pitchers: Any combination of nine hurlers
Free Agency: FAAB Budget

MY CLUB

I had the 11th pick in the snake draft (number in parenthesis is round the player was taken).

C: Kurt Suzuki (9), Chris Snyder (28)
1B: Billy Butler (6)
2B: Robinson Cano (1)
3B: Ryan Zimmerman (2)
SS: Jimmy Rollins (4)
MI: Howie Kendrick (10)
CI: Chase Headley (19)
OF: Shane Victorino (5), Ben Zobrist (7), Nick Markakis (8), Carlos Quentin (13), Nate McLouth (18)
UT: Mike Morse (21)

PITCHERS: Tim Lincecum (3), Wandy Rodriguez (11), Matt Thornton (12), James Shields (14), Josh Beckett (15), Joel Hanrahan (16), Scott Baker (17), Evan Meek (20), Ryan Madson (23)

BENCH: Yunel Escobar (22), Erick Bedard (24), Daric Barton (25), Josh Willingham (26), Jason Motte (27), Takashi Saito (29)

TEAM REVIEW

* I’ve never done a draft this year in which I took Cano, Zimmerman or Lincecum – and I’ve done like 25 totals drafts if you include all the mocks I’ve been a part of. So why did I take all three here? Because they were the best players on the board. I grabbed the best 2B in the game, a position further cemented by the injury to Utley, and it’s not like I’m sold on Rickie Weeks or Ian Kinsler staying healthy. I nearly passed on Zimmerman to take Fielder or Kemp, and in retrospect maybe I should have, but Zimmerman should be a strong option at third as you all know. As for Lincecum, what can I say, I went against my “never draft a pitcher early” strategy. Why? Two points.

1- It was a great value pick. Lincecum has an ADP of about 23 and I took him at pick #39. Had to jump at that value.

2- In retrospect it was a great value play, but I still shouldn’t have done it. Look at Kay Adams‘ team. She grabbed Jon Lester in the 5th and Dan Haren in the 6th showing there simply is no reason to reach on a hurler early.

* For some reason, the league went bonkers on catchers. By the end of the fifth round there were seven taken amongst the first 98 selections. According to ADP numbers the seventh catcher shouldn’t have been taken until around the 120th pick. Regardless of ADP, I think some of the participants panicked a but since we start two catchers in this league. Why did I take suck ass Chris Snyder as my backup catcher? I considered Ryan Hanigan, but I needed the power of Snyder. Hopefully he’ll pop 20 homers like John Buck did last year.

* Speaking of power, my team could be a bit short there. If Carlos Quentin stays healthy and hits 30 homers I’ll feel much better about the club. I also grabbed McLouth and Morse later in the draft, and I think the duo could easily hit 40 homers.

* I figured I could afford Quentin and Snyder and their potential batting average drag on my club by taking guys like Cano, Billy Butler and Howie Kendrick earlier on.

* I love Kendrick, and have no issue with taking him in the 10th round. However, it may not have been the best move because I already had Ben Zobrist who could move to second or MI from the outfield if I needed depth there (I ended up taking three players who qualified at 2B – Cano, Kendrick, Zobrist). Still, I think Kendrick could hit .300 with 15 homers and 15 steals, and that’s money at the MI spot.

* Though I took The Freak in the third round, at least I showed some patience after that and waited to take my next pitcher until round 11. Then I went nuts. From 11-17, a span of seven picks, I went all pitchers except for Quentin in the 13th. I’m either going to be right, or dead wrong about my pitchers as I took “my guys” in the middle rounds.

James Shields, Josh Beckett, Scott Baker and Wandy Rodriguez
I went bonkers late and took Erik Bedard. Feel free to cast aspersions at me.

* In the pen, there may have never been assembled a better group of arms: Thornton, Hanrahan, Meek, Madson, Motte and Saito. Will that group give me a ton of saves? Maybe (I tried to cover myself a bit by taking both Pirates’ arms). But even if they don’t rack up the saves they are going to give me dynamite ratios and a wonderful K/9 mark if they stay healthy.

* In short, my power is a bit light, and I won’t lead the stolen base category either, but I like the overall strength of the offense. On the hill, saves are a wild card, but I’m fully confident that I will finish near the top of the ratio categories if my guys stay healthy and perform as expected.

Tired of hearing me ramble on about my team?

Here’s the link to the PDF file for the SiriusXM-ExpertsLeague.

Living the Fantasy League

In what follows I will discuss the 12 teams that were entered into the Sirius XM Living the Fantasy 2011 draft. I will highlight each teams best selection, and their worst, and then give a brief statement on something that stood out about the squad. At the end of my the comments there will be a link to a PDF file that will have the entire draft broken down by team.

CZARS
Best Pick: C.J. Wilson (217th overall)
Worst Pick: Brian Roberts (120th overall)
Comment: Punted catchers taking Ryan Hanigan and Alex Avila with last two picks.

KYLE ELFRINK
Best Pick: Tim Stauffer (287th)
Worst Pick: Michael Cuddyer (122nd)
Comment: He must have spent a lot of time studying at BBGuys – McCutchen, Rios, Chris Young, Hill, Stephen Drew, Headley, Danks, Stauffer.

LIVING SOUTHERN COMFORT
Best Pick: Jonathan Niese (286th)
Worst Pick: Jorge Posada (123rd)
Comment: Took a lot of chances late on Texas players – Ogando, Holland and Smoak (old Rangers’ farmhand and part-time 1B last year).

ROCKSTARS
Best Pick: Mike Morse (285th)
Worst Pick: Clay Buchholz (124th)
Comment: Took two injured closers (Brian Wilson, Andrew Bailey), but got three nice power arms late (Venters, Madson, Gregerson).

BEANS & CONRBREAD
Best Pick: Erik Bedard (308th)
Worst Pick: Erik Bedard (308th)
Comment: Sorry, couldn’t resist.

PRODUCER DREW
Best Pick: Placido Polanco (283rd)
Worst Pick: Carlos Santana (67th)
Comment: Took two pitchers in first three picks (Halladay, King Felix) but then, oddly, took a risk at first with Morneau in 5th round.

RAY FLOWERS
Best Pick: Scott Baker (258th)
Worst Pick: Adam LaRoche (162nd)
Comment: Went reliever crazy late with four of last five picks netting Meek, Capps, Uehara and Romo.

B. DOUG IS A MAN
Best Pick: Jordan Zimmerman (209th)
Worst Pick: Miguel Montero (104th)
Comment: Can’t figure out why anyone would take three catchers in first nine rounds, and don’t blame the autopick.

BIG STICKS
Best Pick: Madison Bumgarner (208th)
Worst Pick: Mariano Rivera (88th)
Comment: Marmol and Rivera in the first eight rounds caused issues in the outfield.

LUMBERJACKS
Best Pick: Carl Pavano (322nd)
Worst Pick:Michael Young (63rd)
Comment: Took chances on a bunch of guys looking for bounce backs – Lind, Figgins, Ordonez and Berkman.

KAY ADAMS
Best Pick: Cameron Maybin (323nd)
Worst Pick: Kendrys Morales (86th)
Comment: Took a chance late on talented but injury prone guys – Hardy, Chipper and Peavy.

VANCE McCULLOUGH
Best Pick: Aaron Harang (325th)
Worst Pick: Corey Hart (85th)
Comment: Went with Wright, Arod in first two rounds waiting until 10th round to take a first baseman (Aubrey Huff).

For those of you interested in the results of the draft, click on the link to LivingtheFantasyLg-Rosters for every pick made in the 12-team draft.

The Stange Case of Rafael Soriano

Rafael Soriano is still looking for work. There is no telling what his agent Scott Boras is asking for – my guess is that he is telling everyone that Soriano is the second best closer in baseball history behind Mariano Rivera – but the fire-balling righty is still looking for a job. Reports this week were that he would considering serving as the setup man for Rivera with the Yankees, but the Yanks quickly shot down that rumor and said they weren’t interested in dropping a ton of dough for a setup man (could that change if Andy Pettitte officially retires?). So where will Soriano end end? There aren’t too many openings to fill 9th inning roles left vacant, so perhaps Soriano will have to settle for a smaller money deal, something that seemed unlikely a few weeks back when guys like Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier were getting 3-year deals. Has Mr. Boras finally failed one of his clients? You should know better than to doubt Mr. Boras at this point.

The real reason for the reluctance of teams to shed out major dinero for Soriano must be tied to his awful record of health since he has kept many a trainer/doctor in business over the years with a plethora of arm issues constantly slowing him down. Here are his innings pitched totals since he reached the big leagues.

47.1
53.0
3.1
7.1
60.0
72.0
14.0
75.2
62.1

Let me sum that up for you. In three of last eight seasons Soriano didn’t even toss 15 innings. Would you be comfortable giving a guy like that $10 million a year? Me neither. At the same time, Soriano has tossed 60-innings in back-to-back seasons for the second time (the first was in 2006-07), though it’s not as if he has been 100 percent healthy in that time. The fact of the matter is that all pitchers are at risk with every toss, though Soriano is clearly much more likely to come down with some ailment than your average hurler.

All of Soriano’s injuries have obscured the fact that he is an absolutely dynamic pill tosser. Check out his career numbers. They are scintillating.

2.73 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.62 K/9, 3.58 K/BB, .193 BAA

You think those numbers are great? They are, but his 2010 effort made even those strong totals look average.

1.73 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 8.23 K/9, 4.07 K/BB, .163 BAA

Wow is right.

I didn’t even mention that Soriano racked up a career best 45 saves to lead the AL (he entered the year with 43 career saves). Soriano also posted the fourth best ERA in baseball for any hurler with at least 60-innings pitched while his WHIP was second (Joaquin Benoit was first at 0.68). That’s some serious dealing folks.

Someone is going to end up with one hell of a reliever. The only question is will he be able to stay healthy long enough to reward that team for their investment in his golden arm?

All Free Agent Team

I’m scheduled to visit with Jeff Rickard on Saturday around 11 AM PST on MLB Network Radio to talk free agents. We’re actually going to discuss whether or not you could put together a fantasy worthy team of players still looking to find a home for 2011 (i.e. they are free agents). Here is my all free agent fantasy team.

C: Bengie Molina
1B: Russell Branyan
2B: Adam Kennedy
3B: Jorge Cantu
SS: Orlando Cabrera
OF: Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, Johnny Damon
DH: Jim Thome
SP: Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano, Bruce Chen, Kevin Millwood, Freddy Garcia, Brad Penny, Chris Young
RP: Mr. Soriano of course, Brian Fuentes, Jon Rauch, Chad Qualls

It’s not exactly a powerhouse team that would win any leagues, but I’ve also seen people put together worse teams.

By Ray Flowers