Battle of the Fantasy Gods Draft Analysis - Jeff Boggis

2011 CBS Sports Battle of the Fantasy Gods Draft Recap


Jeff Boggis for http://www.fantasysportsempires.com/

Pros – Awesome number of industry experts in this league each season that all have different strategies, yet bring their A game each season. Plenty of Charlie Sheen jokes throughout the draft on the live chat!

Cons – 14 teams versus 12 team league format, only 45 seconds per pick, and the pre-rankings differ vastly from ESPN, Yahoo Sports, and Mock Draft Central to where starting pitchers are pre-ranked higher.

Round 1
I wanted Votto, CarGo, and Braun in that order in round 1, so I was happy to get Carlos Gonzales in the first round. I was really hoping for Votto, but in hindsight, I liked my pick as I came up a little short in stolen bases.

Round 2
I was targeting a 3rd baseman due to positional scarcity and I thought that I had a good shot at Ryan Zimmerman. I “settled” for Jose Bautista (3B,OF – TOR) which I thought was a reach, but may turn out OK. It was either him or Prince Fielder and with first base being pretty deep, I went with Bautista over Fielder. This was the toughest decision all night in the draft for me and with 45 seconds to pick, I had little time to ponder over this pick.

Round 3
I was targeting Nelson Cruz, but he went 2 picks before me. I took Jason Werth (OF – WAS), but it may have been 1 round too early, but I had to as Cruz, Choo, and McCutchen were all of the board early in round 3.

Round 4
I was happy with Andre Ethier (OF – LAD) in the 4th round as I wanted to get the top outfielders as my strategy in this league where we start 5 OFs. Would have liked to have Jay Bruce, or Hunter Pence, but they went 4 picks and 2 picks respectively before my pick.

Round 5
I finally drafted the person that I targeted in this round with Mike Stanton (OF – FLA). He’s one of my top players to exceed their average draft pick for 2011.

Round 6
Looking for an ace starting pitcher and I took Jered “subway” Weaver (SP – LAA) with this pick. Weaver led all pitchers with 233 K’s in 2010.

Round 7
I really needed to fill my first base position and grabbed the last good player tier on my rankings with Paul Konerko (1B – CWS). Will he have the season he had last year? Doubtful, but he still will be productive.

Round 8
Looking for a #2 starting pitcher and I wanted Matt Cain, but he went 2 picks before mine. I drafted Mad Max Scherzer (SP – DET) who should live up to a #2 SP ranking.

Round 9
Looking for a #3 SP in this round and landed Chad Billingsley (SP – LAD) with the pick. I was very pleased with having Billingsley as my #3 SP. I am getting concerned that I still have not drafted a catcher in a 2 catcher league.

Round 10
I was looking for a catcher, closer, or another starting pitcher in this round. I drafted Daniel Hudson (SP – ARI) in this round. It may have been a bit of a reach, but based off of CBS pre-rankings, if I did not take him in this round, it was doubtful that he would be available for me in round 11.

Round 11
I really wanted a 2nd tier closer in this round, but I was top heavy in power, and needed a speedster. John Axford and Francisco Rodriguez went a couple of picks before me, so I took the top stolen base stealer on the board with Michael Bourne (OF – HOU). He’s projected for 50 SBs this season. Juan Pierre was drafted in round 10 and Rajai Davis went 3 picks after my Bourne Identity pick, so I felt I made the right choice here. My 5 outfield slots look solid with Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Werth, Andre Ethier, Mike Stanton, and Michael Bourne.

Round 12
It was time to draft a closer and the best closer still on the board was Craig Kimbrel (RP – ATL). He is a strikeout machine and although I am a little nervous about Kimbrel being my #1 RP, I feel he has upside. With 14 league managers, and 30 MLB closers, the average league manager has 2.14 closers per team. My goal is always to have 3+ closers or 2+ closers with 1-2 closers in waiting. (More on that later in the draft.)

Round 13
Since I felt that I was still weak at closers, I wanted to grab one of the remaining closers left on the board. I went with Drew Storen (RP – WAS). He’s had a rough spring, but had a good outing during his last appearance. He’s a sleeper closer on most everyone’s list this season. Players that went in this round that I would have like to have drafted include Vernon Wells (OF – LAA), Carlos Lee (1B, OF – HOU), and Leo Nunez (RP – FLA). Lee should have a bounce back season, and Nunez is an underrated closer in Florida.

Round 14
With two closers now on my team, it was time to fill in the offensive holes. I started by taking one of my deep sleepers in Ryan Raburn (OF – DET). Raburn will qualify at 2B after 5 games in our league and that is where I plan to play him this season. He could turn out to be a nice late round addition for me.

Round 15
Following through my philosophy of 2+ closers on my team, I wanted Brandon Lyon, but he went 3 picks before me. I settled on Jake McGee (RP – TB) who is penciled in as the closer for Tampa Bay this season and could be a nice source of cheap saves. Mike Aviles (2B – KC) and Dexter Fowler (OF – COL) were two other players that I liked in this round that were taken before me. Fowler in a full time role has the potential for 30+ stolen bases.

Round 16
I was targeting my first catcher with Carlos Ruiz (C – PHI), but he was taken 1 pick before me, so once again I went in a different direction. At this stage of the draft, I’m always looking for upside and I was torn between taking my #5 SP or a 4th closer. I’m not a big Francisco Cordero fan, so to assist with vulture wins, ERA, WHIP, and especially strikeouts per innings pitched, I drafted Aroldis Chapman (RP – CIN). Chapman could take over closer duties for Cordero sometime this season. While I patiently wait, I will enjoy the other statistical buffet that Chapman has to offer, while Coco Cordero enjoys the other type of Buffet.

Round 17
I was determined to take my first catcher in this round, but once again the player that I was targeting, Chris Iannetta (C – COL) was taken 5 picks before me. I also needed a shortstop, so I selected Jason Bartlett (SS – SD). Not a glamorous pick, but hopefully a change of scenery from Tampa Bay to San Diego will deliver serviceable fantasy numbers for 2011. Both John Lackey (SP – BOS) and Jake Peavy (SP – CWS) would have made very good picks in this round.

Round 18
Two catchers were my main focus of concentration for rounds 18 and 19 and in round 18 I took John Buck (C – FLA). He’s a catcher that is not flashy, but can put up decent numbers. Sure, I would have rather had Iannetta and Ruiz a couple of rounds earlier, but hopefully there will not be a significant drop off in stats from them to John Buck. I missed out on Frank Francisco (RP – Tor) who can emerge as the closer in Toronto this season and perform very well in the closer role.

Round 19
Grabbing my #2 catcher was essential in this round and I drafted Russell Martin (C – NYY). With Jose Posada now in the DH slot with the Yankees, if Martin can stay healthy, and that is a big if, then he is a serviceable #2 catcher for my team. By taking another catcher in this round, I missed out on players such as Luke Scott (DH – BAL) in a much improved Baltimore offense and Scott Baker (SP – MIN). Alfonso Soriano (OF – CHC) could turn out to be a great draft pick in a 5 OF league this late of the draft.

Round 20
For my corner infielder (CI) position, I drafted Placido Polanco (3B – PHI) who won’t hit a lot of HRs or steal a lot of bases, but he will help me in batting average and runs scored. It was either Polanco or Kila Ka’aihue (1B- KC) with this pick, but I went with experience over upside, and I felt I needed to address batting average more than home runs and RBIs with my team, so Polanco was the pick to click.

Round 21
This round came down to solidifying my #5 SP and it was a choice between Tim Stauffer (SP/RP – SD) and Bud Norris (SP – HOU). Norris has the potential to strikeout 200+ batters this season, but his recent hamstring injury was the deciding factor in making my decision. I went with Tim Stauffer (SP/RP – SD) with this pick. I missed out on Koji Uehara, who will battle Kevin Gregg for the closer role in Baltimore. I feel that Uehara has the better stats for the role and could win the role in spring training or during the regular season should Gregg falter. Erik Bedard (SP – SEA) also makes a nice endgame selection.

Round 22
I really wanted Lance Berkman (1B – STL) in this round, but missed out by 4 picks. I then shifted my pick to one more starting pitcher with the greatest risk reward left of the board. It came down to Johan Santana (SP – NYM) and Brandon Webb (SP – TEX). The difference between the two is that Santana will be out until June or July, while Webb is scheduled to be ready on opening day. Advantage Webb and I drafted him in this round. Santana ended up getting drafted by another team in the 25th round.

Round 23
Looking to solidify my middle infielder (MI) position, this draft choice was an easy one for me with the acquisition of Erick Aybar (SS – ANA). I was surprised to still see him on the draft board this late in the draft. “Winning!” Juan Uribe (SS – SF) was another decent option in this round.

Round 24
Note that Rounds 24 – 28 were primarily for the 5 bench slots we have in this league this season.
Looking for that pick that just said “If I could just put it all together for one more year and stay healthy then I think I can produce!” That pick was Chipper Jones (3B – ATL). OK, so I am dreaming and it was a homer pick, but hey it’s the 24th round! There were a lot of good picks in this round with Hideki Matsui, Asdrubal Cabrera, Mitch Moreland, and Jose Lopez going in this round.

Round 25
Still not satisfied with my middle infield situation, I drafted Alex Gonzalez (SS – ATL). He’s lost some weight in the off season and although I do not see a repeat of 23 home runs in 2010, but he can score a lot of runs in Atlanta this season.

Round 26
I drafted Mark DeRosa (OF – SF) hoping that he could come back from the injury plagued season of 2010. Not counting on a lot of production out of him this season, but round 26 is for hope anyway. How the mighty have fallen as Dice K (SP – BOS) goes in this round.

Round 27
Matt Joyce (OF – TB) is a sleeper pick this late. He’s off to a slow start in spring training, so this pick was more of a “let’s get going now Matt Joyce” pick more than anything. Kyle Drabek (SP – TOR) is a nice sleeper pick in this round with a lot of upside. The player that is my super sleeper of the year is Dan Johnson (1B – TB). With Carlos Pena no longer in TB, the window of opportunity is open for Dan this season to excel. I missed out on him in this round as I had him in the queue and was ready to pick him.

Round 28
With my last pick, I took Dustin Ackley (2B – SEA). Quite honestly, he’ll be dropped soon as I wanted Orlando Hudson (2B – SD) but somehow was on auto draft and I picked the wrong person. At this point, it was not worth even asking the commish to back up the draft. No biggie.

Summary
A well balanced team with plenty of upside to finish towards the top of the pack.