By Chris in NorCal

Cappo, League 6

This was, by far, the craziest and most unpredictable draft that I have ever been involved in. Speed went early (Bourn went in round 7, Gomez in round 13), and players were going, at times, four to five rounds before I had them pegged to go. One team selected Johan Santana in the first round, Jake Peavy in the second round, and Erik Bedard in the third round.

I guess, in a 15-team league, with no trading, strange things are bound to happen … but wow! So goes the experience I had in my first ever NFBC draft.

Here’s the team that I drafted:

I had the 9th overall pick in the draft, and I was really hoping that Miguel Cabrera would fall to me. The first six players chosen were no surprise (A-Rod, Holliday, Hanley, Reyes, Wright, and Rollins); then, much to my delight, Crawford went 7th and Utley went 8th, leaving Cabrera for me. I was really happy to have a guy who is going to be a solid contributor in four categories to build my team around.

I knew I would not get one of the top 1B, based on my draft position, and what I wanted to accomplish in the first seven rounds (grab at least two OF, CI, speed, two starters and a closer). I managed to meet each of those aims and was targeting Ryan Garko in the 1oth round to fill my gap at 1B … only to see him taken five picks too soon for me; I then decided to look for Conor Jackson in round 13, but he was taken in round 11. At that point, I decided to wait and ended up with Dmitri Young in round 21. I found out later that week that Young lost the starting gig to Nick Johnson, so I had to hit the free agent wire before the season even began and submitted a bid for Kevin Millar, the only starting 1B still available. Mine was the highest bid, so I had solved my 1B dilemma.

Overall, I feel pretty happy with the team I drafted. One category I am a little worried about is SB, but with Eugenio Velez waiting in the wings, that could be solved if he gets consistent playing time. Another area of potential concern is starting pitching. I have three solid starters in Young, Harang and Snell, a potential solid #4 in Bannister and a sleeper in Gio Gonzalez.

I have a feeling that Gio will be called up sooner rather than later, with the questionable health of the A’s pitching staff. He has the potential to deliver the production of a #3 or possibly #2. Also, pitchers always emerge, and I can dip into the free agent pool if need be.

I like the fact that I have Jay Bruce and Colby Rasmus stashed on my bench. I was hoping to get one of them and, in hindsight, probably should have only taken only one of them. I could have taken Jason Giambi with one of those picks and be in a better position at 1B and not have two of my seven bench spots taken up by players who may not even help me in this league. But it would have been pure speculation as to which one (if either) does make an impact, and having both gives me options as the season progresses. I’m hoping that one of them does get called up at some point, which is one of the reasons I did not want to spend too much on a 5th OF and took Jacque Jones to keep the spot warm.

As I finish this article, the first week of the season is already in the books, and I find myself in 1st place in the league. I know it is only one week and one week does not a season make, but it is always good to get off to a fast start.

In my next article, I will cover the free agent blind bidding process.