It cost me $31, but I got Lester

My final draft, in fellow blogger Chris Cwiks’ league, took place last Thursday, and it was a marathon to put it lightly. The draft nearly lasted five hours with no breaks.

In a draft that long you can’t have some crazyness or some questionable bids.

Here were the top moments.

1.By accident, and later fixed by Cwik, an owner bidded $111 on Joey Votto. He probably meant to bid 11, but put in an extra 1, and for about 30 picks, he was stuck with Votto at 111, before being allowed to select him at 40 bucks.

2. Justin Upton going for $50, the same value as Pujols and 3 dollars more than Hanley Ramirez

3. Troy Tulowitzki was the 5th most expensive player at $42. Ahead of him were: Upton and Pujols for $50, Hanley for $47 and Braun for $44.

4. Rafael Soriano went for $7 and Alfonso Soriano went for $5

5. Jason Heyward was the 2nd player nominated in the auction and went for $11. He was the second most expensive player to never play a MLB game to Stephen Strasburg at $14

My strategy was built on one of two premises

Scenario 1: Get Hanley Ramirez

Scenario 2: Get Troy Tulowitzki

Well, both of the plans failed, despite my bidding efforts, both players became too expensive, so I had to readdress my plan. Since players were going for so much early, I didn’t draft a player until the 31st nominated player with Jon Lester and I overpaid to get him at $31.

After Lester, I was running thin on infield and elite SP, so I needed to make some moves…

Here is my roster for the “Who Farted? Jorge FabreGAS”…

C-Chris Iannetta- I like his possibility of 20+HR and he projects to have an obp around .370

1B- Adam Dunn- Similar to Ianetta, I waited too long on 1B. 1B weren’t cheap in this draft and I got dunn at $21 and he went for $8 less than Justin Morneau

2B- Brandon Phillips- I was a bit hesitant on Kinsler, Cano was nominated too early for me to pay for him and Pedroia went for $6 more than Phillips

SS- Jose Reyes- I got Reyes for $17, an absolute bargain for my 3rd SS on the board with Hanley going for 47 and Tulo for 42.

3B- Mark Reynolds- I paid way too much, $31, for Reynolds. I wanted Zimmerman more, but he went for $37. In retrospect, Wright at $29 was the best bargain of all 3B, but I was so focused on Zimmerman, than I didn’t pay as much attention to Wright as I should have.

OF- Grady Sizemore- He cost me $27, and I thought I was going to have to enter the 30s to get him, but I’m very happy with this 5-tool player at this price

OF- Curtis Granderson- I thought Curtis was going to go for a bunch of money, but he didn’t, I got him at $19

OF- Carlos Gonzalez- I wanted Gonzalez and thought I could get him cheap, but I was wrong, I got in a bidding war and paid $14 for him

Util- Chris Coghlan- Coghlan had a great year last year and is off most people’s radar and he only cost me $5

SP- Jon Lester- I wanted a stud, and I paid for it, $31. That may be too much for Lester, but #1 SP’s were expensive, so I paid close to his value relative to the market

SP- Jake Peavy- I wanted Peavy, but with a few White Sox fans in the league, I figured I had to pay a ton, but I didn’t, he cost me $15

SP- Cole Hamels- I was willing to pay up to $20 for Hamels after having Lester and Peavy, and I paid 15, so mission accomplished

RP- Huston Street- I refused to pay for saves, so I get Street

RP- Matt Capps/Jon Rauch- see above

BN- Stephen Strasburg- I paid $14 to hold his rights. I understand he may not reach the majors until the ASB, but in a keeper league, his upside was too good to pass up.

BN- Ubaldo Jiminez- Jiminez throws a ton of grounders and K’s and he seemed like a no brainer #3 or 4 starter.

BN- Adrian Beltre- I like Beltre for a bounce back and got him super cheap

BN- Julio Borbon- I wanted someone as a source for steals, and Borbon went for $4, a benefit of being nominated late

BN-Nick Johnson- I needed a high OBP player on my roster, and Johnson fits that role nicely, even if he isn’t always healthy

BN- Alcides Escobar- I saved my money the best I could to get Escobar. With Reyes’ health concerns, I wanted a stud #2 SS, and I spent $5, my max bid to get him.

BN-Milton Bradley- See Nick Johnson

BN- Jeff Niemann- I’ve been on the Niemann bandwagon for a while and his spring has been great after a solid rookie season. Makes a great 5th starter

BN- Desmond Jennings- Before entering the minors draft, I didn’t think he would fall to me, so I just used my last roster spot on him, even if he doesn’t play this year

Minors:

Buster Posey-Position scarcity and power at the catcher position intrigue me

Dustin Ackley- I had a couple choices here, but he has some real power and could be the Ms future 2B, and that would be great if he plays there for Seattle

Kyle Drabek-Has a great arm and I needed a pitcher in the minors

Chris Carter- Best available prospect at the time

Julio Teheran- See Chris Carter

In conclusion: I don’t think it’s the best team in the league, but I should be good enough to compete.  I have some weaknesses at closer and batting average, so we will see how much that impacts my team during the season.

I was disappointed I couldn't draft with these guys

After months of having the bitter taste of losing my CBS by a strikeout and several mock drafts, I did two league drafts yesterday. One league is with my friend Jim and we are in year 7 of that league. The other is just for fun with my roommates

I have spent most of my time prepping for fellow blogger Chris Cwik’s 12 team auction keeper league, which drafts this week. Let me say that preparing for an auction draft with smart owners is 100 times harder than preparing for a standard draft. Doing those mocks gave me a good sense of value, so I felt I didn’t need to practice any standard drafts.

That aside, here is a breakdown of Jim’s draft from my perspective…

Jim’s league is a 12 team H2H, standard categories adding hits on offense and walks allowed for pitching with 24 roster spots on Yahoo.

I had the 11th overall pick. When I saw this I thought about going the best 1b available then Tulo/Wright on the way back with my first two picks.

Well so much for that plan. I wrote the other day that Tulo could be 1st round fantasy pick. Well, not only did Tulo go in the 1st round, he went 7th overall!

1st Round (11)- Prince Fielder. I had Tex, Howard and Cabrera available to me, and I wanted one of those 1b. I like Prince’s HR, RBI and he will hit around .300.

2nd Round(14)- Justin Upton. I used nearly all 1:30 of the clock to make this pick. Wright, Kinsler, Howard and Cabrera were available. I realize the talent I passed on, but Upton is such an amazing talent with 5 tools that broke onto the scene last year. I think he will put up 1st round fantasy numbers this year. Also, I figured a good 3B and 2B will be available to me later on, so I took a risk by not drafting position scarcity.

3rd Round (35)- Mark Reynolds. I was torn between Reynolds and Zimmerman with this pick, but Zimmerman went the pick before, so this pick was easy for me to make. After Reynolds the next 3B was Aramis Ramirez in the 5th. I’ll take Reynolds 40 HR and suck up his BA knowing I have Upton and Prince both set to hit around .300

4th Round (38)- Jose Reyes. I know, I know, Reyes is coming off thyroid problems from last year and his thyroid is still bothering him. This was my riskiest pick by far, especially with Jeter still on the board. I like Reyes a lot, and I’ll take my chances because he is a 1st round talent that could give my team some high amounts of runs and steals

5th round (59)- Nick Markakis. I’m not the biggest fan of Markakis. He will hit around 20 HR, not steal any bases, but he is in an Orioles lineup that is improving around him. He could have around 100 runs and RBI. Other OF available were Bobby Abreu, Andrew McCutchen and Nelson Cruz

6th round (62)- Jon Lester. I’m a huge fan of Lester and his 200+K’s, potential for 20 wins and an excellent ERA. I needed a pitcher and he was the best available by far.

7th round (83)- Cole Hamels. Hamels struggled the start of last year, finished the regular season strong, but had a weak playoffs. I will give him the benefit of the doubt over most pitchers, once again good K’s and a chance for 17-20 wins with a great lineup. Other starters available: Jake Peavy, Chad Billingsley, Matt Cain and Ricky Nolasco

8th round (86)- Gordon Beckham. I needed a 2B badly, Asdrubral Cabrera was next best available, and his number project much better for a fantasy 2B compared to a 3B. I thought I took him early relative to his ADP in Yahoo drafts, but in a league full of Sox fans, there was no way he was making it back to me in the 9th. I will have to wait five games for him to get 2B eligibility, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the fantasy season

9th round (107)- Brett Anderson. I’m a big Anderson fan, and once again, I wanted to make sure I got him. So now, all of my starters are lefty’s. A’s offense won’t help him too much, but his potential was tough to pass on. Other starters available…John Danks, Gavin Floyd and John Lackey

10th round (110)- Carlos Gonzalez. I love his 20-20 upside and his 2nd half of last year was insane. Hitting in Colorado helps and he is an every day starter. Best available OF at that point…Josh Hamilton, Julio Bourbon and Denard Span

11th round (131)- Yunel Escobar. This was a two-fold pick. One, as an insurance policy for Reyes and second is that he’s a solid SS with great upside. He doesn’t do anything that well, but he is a balanced player that should be a nice commodity to have to fill in gaps that are needed

12th round (134)- Chris Coghlan. I didn’t plan on taking Chris after taking Car-Go in the 10th, but he was just sitting there on the board for a good round and a half, and he was too good to pass up. I probably should have gone closer here, but with two utility spots, I’m fine with using a 12th rounder on last year’s ROY

13th round (155)- Jeff Niemann. I’ve been on the Niemann train for a while now and will take him in any league I can get him. He’s my 4th starter and having an amazing spring.

14th round (158)- Chad Qualls. Needed a closer and he was best available

15th round (179)- Miguel Montero. He has some power out of the catcher spot and is young. I just realized I’m starting 3 of the 8 everyday starters for the D’Backs…and I’m fine with that.

16th round (182)- Bobby Jenks. Being buried in the 300’s on Yahoo’s board with injury concerns, I was able to pick him much later than he should have gone.

17th round (203)- Vladimir Guerrero. Why not?

18th round (206)- Mike Gonzalez. Aha, I have three closers, all drafted after the 13th round.

19th round (227)- Matt Capps. Closer isn’t a bad position to have redundancy

20th round (230)- Joba Chamberlain. He is in relief, but if he matches his 2008 numbers, he could be a very solid middle reliever to help with ERA and WHIP, and pick up the occasional win

21st round (251)- Wade Davis. Solid upside, but I’m not expecting much from him, but if he has a Niemann-esque type year, I’ll be happy to have him on my roster

22nd round (254)- Nick Swisher. 1B and OF eligibility and he hit 30 bombs last year

23rd round (275)- Madison Bumgardner. Oops, I thought he was gonna make the rotation, but he’s not, he will get dropped soon

24th round (278)- Orlando Hudson. My five game stop gap at 2B until Beckham takes the reigns.

In conclusion…I went young, with more high ceiling’s than established floors. I put a bigger priority on drafting offense ahead of pitching. My starters are good, but not the best in the league and my closers are what they are. My bench has some balance. I would have liked to walk away with 1 or 2 more solid starters, but hey, you can’t always get what you want. On the whole I’m very happy about my team and can’t wait for the season to start.

Jayson Werth's 2 HR weren't enough for the Phillies in Game 3

After two pitching duels in New York, the first game in Philly provided plenty of fireworks. Home runs by Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui, Alex Rodriguez (I’ll get to this one in a bit), Jayson Werth (2 times) and Carlos Ruiz gave fans more than enough reason to hang around and watch this one after a hour and 20 minute rain delay.

Game 3 was easily the most exciting game of the series, and the first time both offenses got to the opposing starter. Cole Hamels made it into the 5th inning, but gave up five runs to Yankees hitters. Hamels hasn’t gone six full innings in any of his four postseason starts. And including the regular season, he’s 1-5 with a 7.32 ERA in his last seven starts. Andy Pettitte didn’t pitch great, but did enough to earn the win, 6 innings, 4 runs allowed. Althought, Pettitte did help out his cause in the 5th by driving in Nick Swisher, the first RBI by a Yankee pitcher in a World Series game since 1964 when “Ball Four” author Jim Bouton drove in Tom Tresh.

The Yankees offense drove in three runners off the Phillies bullpen, including a Nick Swisher HR. That hit for Swisher may have secured his starting spot for the rest of this series. He was benched in Game 2 in favor of Jerry Hairston Jr and nearly didn’t play right field with Hideki Matsui’s hot bat.

A-Rod’s Double-then-HR brought the Yankees to within one run of the Philly lead in the 4th. While the call was reversed, what’s interesting is that the umpires decided before the game that any ball hitting camera above the right-field fence would automatically be a home run.

For the Phillies, Jayson Werth’s 7 HR this postseason puts him one behind Carlos Beltran (2004) and Barry Bonds (2002) for the major league record. Carlos Ruiz continues to play well this postseason going 1-2 with two runs scored, two walks and a HR in Game 3. He now has a .343/.489/.600 this postseason in 35 AB. Small sample size? Sure, but it never hurts to have your catcher going on a hitting tear.

Interesting note…nine of the last 10 teams to win Game 3 when the World Series was tied 1-all went on to take the title. The exception was the 2003 Yankees, who lost the next three games to Florida.

Up next: Game 4 is today, 7:20 CST first pitch. Joe Blanton vs. CC Sabathia. That comes as end of a great triple-header for Fox Sports. First is Giants-Eagles, nice timing of that, Second is Favre’s return to Green Bay then WS Game 3.

Utley led the Phillies to a Game 1 win.

After two games in the Bronx, what I’m most impressed with was the quality of starting pitching on both sides. All four starters, Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett pitched into the 7^th inning with success. Pedro and CC gave up solo shots, but neither allowed any significant offensive rally. A.J. pitched strong and fooled Phillies hitters while Cliff Lee pitched one of the best games in World Series history.

The Yankees big sluggers of Teixeira and A-Rod are 1-15 with a Teixeira HR in the World Series. Granted it’s just two games, but in a seven game series, you can’t afford any type of slump. The Yankees bats need to come alive soon, because unless CC or Mariano Rivera is on the mound, the Phillies have a serious threat to score. It doesn’t help the Yankees offense that Jerry Hairston Jr. and Jose Molina are getting at bats, but Damon, Cano and the two big boppers need to start mashing. For the Yankees hitters, seeing Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton in Games 3 and 4 should be enough to turn around those bats. Hamels hasn’t too great this season, or postseason for that matter and Blanton is serviceable, but not great. The Yankees want to get into that bullpen early and so far, they haven’t.

The Phillies are averaging seven runs per game at home this postseason and they have serious HR power in that lineup. The Phillies (53) were second to the Red Sox this season with most games with four or more extra base hits while the Yankees were 4^th with 49. With Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Ibanez, Werth and the suddenly hot Carlos Ruiz, Philly matches up with the Yankees O. The Yanks will toss Andy Pettitte then CC for Games 3 and 4. The Philly pitching has avoided going deep into their bullpen, which is exactly what they wanted to do. Their confidence in Brad Lidge is low, and at some point he will pitch this series and Philly fans will have to hold their breath.

In my opinion, Philly has the advantage at this point, because the Yankees bats haven’t awoken yet. The Phillies and Yankees are 6th and 7th respectively in W-L record this season when teams score at least five runs in a game. Thus, the pitching holds the key to the rest of this series, and so far, the Phillies hold the upper hand.

How does Ryan Howard and the Phillies stack up in the 2009 postseason?

Season recap

For the third consecutive year, the Phillies won the NL East.  They finished with a record of 93-69 and we’re never really threatened by anyone in the division.

Starters

The Phillies have one of the best starting rotations in the league.   Despite underachieving this year, Cole Hamels is still the ace of this staff and has shown how good he can be in the Phillies World Series run.  The acquisition of Cliff Lee from Cleveland this year could be the biggest trade of the year.  Lee has been nothing short of spectacular since coming over from the Indians, but his late season struggles have been a little concerting for Phillies fans heading into the playoffs.  Joe Blanton and Pedro Martinez have both resurrected their careers in Philadelphia this year and round out a very balanced Phillies Rotation.

Relievers

One word describes the Phillies relievers this year, awful.  After having a great year last year, the Phillies bullpen has struggled mightily.  After posting a perfect 2009, closer Brad Lidge has a 7.21 ERA this year and can’t seem to get anyone out.  Scott Eyre, Ryan Madson, and JC Romero have also underachieved and unless the Phillies get their bullpen in order, they will have a hard time repeating.

Lineup

The Phillies have a solid lineup from top to bottom but will need more production from some of their big names come playoff times.  Jimmy Rollins has been awful this year hitting just. 250 from the leadoff spot, and Raul Ibanez has really struggled since the All-Star Break.  Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley have all had great all around years and will hope to keep up their success in the post-season.  The Phillies also have all-around player Jayson Werth who always seems to come up clutch despite his mediocre stats.  Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz are both low-average hitters that round out the Phillies lineup.

Defense

The Phillies have one of the better defenses in the National League.  Jimmy Rollins is probably the best fielding shortstop in the league, Chase Utley always plays solid at second, and Shane Victorino’s speed makes him a huge asset in center field

Bench

The Phillies biggest plus may be its bench.  In the run to the World Series last year, the Phillies got big hits from Greg Dobbs and Matt Stairs.  Both of these bench players are back to pinch hit if needed in the playoffs.  Throw in all-around player Ben Francisco, who was acquired with Cliff Lee from Cleveland, and the Phillies have the best bench out of any team in the playoffs.

Coaching

The verdict on Charlie Manuel as a manager is still out.  Many in Philadelphia were calling for his head last year, but he turned around and won the Phillies their first world series in over 20 years.  One thing Charlie Manuel excels at is putting his players in a position to succeed, and always seems to know who to call on in big situations (see Matt Stairs).

Reason why they will win the WS

The Phillies are the most experienced team in the National League, and coming off a World Series title last year, they already know what to expect.  While experience may be overrated, the Phillies will use this along with their potent offensive lineup to compete.  The one good thing about the Phillies is that they can win any kind of game, they can score 11 runs if necessary but they can also win a 2-1 game.

Reason why they won’t win the WS.

One word, bullpen.  As stated above, the Phillies starting pitching is great, but the bullpen hasn’t been able to hold leads all year.  If the Phillies do not win the world series, I guarantee Brad Lidge and company will be at least partially to blame

Cole Hamels has struggled with an ERA of 4.69 entering tonight. Jamie Moyer didn’t have his best stuff this year and was replaced in the rotation by Pedro Martinez, ouch! Brett Myers hasn’t pitched since May 27^th and may return this season, but his positive impact is suspect. Hamels, Moyer and Myers were the three key starters that helped the Phillies win the World Series last year.

Along with Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ are carrying the starting rotation the 2nd half of this season.

-You already know about Lee.

-Blanton has not allowed more than 3 runs in a game since June 18^th and

-J.A. Happ leads the team in ERA at 2.66 for his full season at the MLB-ripe age of 27.

This year offensive pieces, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, and Raul Ibanez are helping slug the Phillies to a NL best 628 runs.

The Phillies were carried last season by the same outstanding offense except replace Raul Ibanez with Pat Burrell.

This year, the Phillies have the 3^rd best run differential, and a 6 game division lead. Last year, they had the 5th best run differential and were in 2nd place.

If Brad Lidge can get his 7.21 ERA back to his career average of 3.45 then the Phillies could use their formula of 3 hot starters with a great offense and a closer to win the World Series.