7 comments

1. samuelLsamson says:

   January 26, 2009 at 10:33 am

   Was a fun draft, being in England it’s lucky I’m not an early sleeper. I drafted the Rams from slot 5, and am fairly happy with the team I came away with; I didn’t check the site’s projections until afterwards, and they ranked my draft third which sounds reasonable. I could have done a better job with drafting RPs, with that ranking in mind, though the guys I ended up with have closer potential. Would have been better to nail down some more saves in the late middle rounds.

   I can see your point about taking Lee in round 6, and maybe I believe in his 2008 more than most, but I also got Beckett in round 7 so it worked out okay. I echo your point about knowledgeable drafters – hardly a round went by without the top guy or two disappearing off my queue just before I picked. Good practice though for when drafting starts for actual leagues. My favourite pick was Slowey (well and Reyes but that was a no-brainer); the pick I’d like to have back was Ryann Zimmerman in the 10th.

   Thanks for organising this, was a nice way to spend the early hours of Monday morning. If you go ahead with running an actual league do let me know, I’d be very happy to participate.

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2. John says:

   January 26, 2009 at 11:19 am

   To speak to the two concerns you had for my team (Tears for Zeller), I liked the David Ortiz pick for my team in R4 instead of a top-flight SP who may be an injury risk (Hamels and Peavy), Chipper (also will almost certainly miss time) or reaching for McCann as my C1. Yes, Ortiz’ wrist injury may linger into the start of the season, but I feel confident that when his wrist is fully healthy, he will return to being one of the best hitters in the game. I had also selected power/speed with my first three picks (Sizemore, Utley, Markakis) and felt that I needed a true power hitter at that point.

   As far as Lindstrom goes, he was very solid last year, much more solid than “name” guys such as Capps, Hoffman or Wilson. He may not have the highest K rate, but I’ll take a small hit in K’s if he puts up a good ERA and WHIP. Also, who’s to say that Lindstrom won’t hold the job all year? The only competition he will have will be from similar no-name guys (Leo Nunez, Renyel Pinto) who were markedly worse than Lindstrom was this year. If Lindstrom pitches this year similar to how he did in 2008 and stays healthy, I have no concern whatsoever that he’ll be evicted from the closer role.

   All told, I’m a big fan of my team. I might be a touch light on power and my catching will probably be weak with Wieters being held in AAA until May, but practically all of my pitching is high-upside. I feel confident that this team would contend for a title.

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3. Tim McLeod says:

   January 26, 2009 at 11:37 am

   I had a great time last night and thanks again for organizing the event. I chose the first slot in last nights draft, and as expected was a bit of a challenge. I’m very happy with the results, as think I managed a very solid balance on O and the pitching although not overwhelming should get the job done. I do agree to disagree with you on the Kemp pick. Yes, it was a bit early, but he certainly wasn’t going to be around for my next set of picks, so made the decision to reach as he was a very solid fit in my overall team plan. Those first few rounds when drafting at a corner position are a challenge and I believe a calculated reach, and the stats to go along with that reach are much better than watching those stats accumulate on another team. Thanks again Eric, and good fortunes with all your future endeavours!

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4. C Bass says:

   January 26, 2009 at 12:33 pm

   Great picks:
   Brian McCann – The professor is right he’s the best and last pick in round 4 is very valuable for him.
   Josh Beckett – Pitchers weren’t going as quickly here as in the first mock but this is incredible value.
   John Lackey – Not sure why he went below a number of pitchers who went before him. He showed he’s a top 10 pitcher last year when he absolutely dominated after sitting out the first 6 weeks of

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5. C Bass says:

   January 26, 2009 at 1:19 pm

   (wrong button, continued)

   the season.
   -Raul Ibanez – This guy gets disrespected every year but keeps producing in 4 categories. Moving from Seattle’s lineup and ballpark to Philly’s should more than even out him being one year older.
   -Kerry Wood – Perfect pick. Such a difference between him and the closers picked after him. Great value if healthy obviously.
   -Jered Weaver – Round 20 pick with round 8 potential. Great pick.
   -Jorge Posada – I don’t know what to say about this one…..he’s old and coming off injury, i know. But he’s in the Yankee lineup and if healthy he’s a lock for .270 with 15-20 HRs and 70-85 RBI. When Chris Ianetta, Matt Wieters and Mike Napoli are picked in round 11 and Posada drops to round 16 theres a problem.
   JD Drew – This is a great pick for this part of the draft. Worth the risk even if you only get half a season’s production from him.
   -Mark Buehrle – Last round. Great pick. Always a given for a great WHIP with solid W, ERA and K totals.

   Bad picks:
   -Matt Kemp: I understand the rationale, I just have to agree with the professor here.
   -Brad Lidge – I never like to select the first closer. How much better is he than Rivera Soria and Jenks who went in rounds 8 and 9.
   -Hunter Pence – Sorry Eric. Don’t like the pick. I’m not sure he’ll be better than the OF’s taken 3-4 rounds after him but if he is he won’t be much better. Vernon Wells in round 9 and Pence in round 6 doesn’t add up.
   -Chris Davis – Too early. No value here. This is his upside.
   -Francisco Liriano – Question:What’s the difference between him Rich Harden? Answer: Harden threw DOUBLE the innings he did last season with a BETTER strikeout rate with a BETTER WHIP and he’s on a BETTER team. So why does he go 3 rounds before Harden? No idea.
   -Yovanni Gallardo – See above and substitute Liriano’s name with Gallardo but with half the upside.
   -Alex Gordon – It’s time to start to wait for production and not expect it from this middle of the order Royals hitter.
   -Nelson Cruz – Pleeasssssseeeeeee. Who is this guy and what has he done to be selected above people like Ibanaez and Burrell who can very well give you 30 and 100.
   -Randy Johnson – He’s worth a shot late in the draft but not in the middle. He’s on SF now. This means that when he goes down with his middle of the season injury he won’t be brought back for a playoff push because there won’t be one. You’re picking for half an RJ on a bad team.
   -Aaron Cook – Theres no way he should be above Maine, Pelfrey, and Jurrjens amongst others.

   All in all good job guys. Time to start getting pumped for the season. I wish you all the best.

   Reply
6. Ivar Anderson says:

   January 26, 2009 at 1:26 pm

   I picked as Planet 10 in the 11th position. I was trying out a different draft slot to see what fell to me in the first round and to get a feel of how I would handle the not quite back to back picks that come with the next to last spot. The concern about Lowe in the 13th round is justified, as I should have taken Danks instead. Not sure about Kershaw this season, at least. With regard to taking Clement in the 17th, I know that was a reach, but I don’t like Pierzynski as he’s simply a plug-in at C, and Hernandez is dead to me after the last two seasons-like Sheets last year, he has to show me a full season of performance before I take a chance on him again. I feel that Clement has a bigger potential upside that AJ or Ramon, so I took my second catcher before I was left to ponder over Laird and the like.
   Konerko in the 14th may have also been a reach, but I expect good things from him this season, since he’s now healthy and hitting a good park for him. Out of what was available for a CI, he seemed the best bet for power.
   I didn’t like the fact that I took starting pitching so early, but every time I queued up a MI/CI or OF to fill a slot, he was grabbed a pick or three in front of me, so I tried to adapt by selecting quality pitching instead. Don’t think that I’ll follow that technique in an actual draft, however, just based on how my team turned out. Overall, the projections of MDC have my team at 3rd-6th, depending on which button is selected. Average was my largest problem, but I’ve usually found that to be the case with the way I build teams on power and speed on offense, and Ks and WHIP/ERA on the pitching side. Not my best mock draft this year, but a valuable learning experience.
   To echo Sam’s comment, if you decide to create an actual league, please keep me in consideration for a team. Thanks for putting this together and helping all of us get some valuable draft experience.

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7. Bill says:

   January 26, 2009 at 9:53 pm

   Eric, thanks for setting up the draft as it proved to be a good way to prepare. My team was Peach-Fuzzed Beaver Traps. The mock draft was good, because almost everyone was there and they knew their stuff. My team looked pretty good until I took Aubrey Huff in the 8th, which I regret very much. I should have taken Tulo after losing out on Peralta since I could have gotten value later at 3b/CI position with someone like Beltre. This error really hurt the rest of my draft and team.

   I showed once again that I have Shiny New Toy Syndrome taking guys like Bruce, Kershaw, J. Upton, and Perez. These picks would make more sense for a keeper league than yearly. I also decided to gamble on Hafner adding another risky, possibly high upside guy. I think late in the draft it is a good idea to add a couple of these types but my team has too many question marks for my liking.

   The Hanrahan pick was due to mismanagement on my part after missing out on several players I had been targeting. Good thing this was a mock draft.

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