One of the things I'm really trying to avoid on this site is writing at length about my fantasy baseball team. As Jim Rome has postulated on his radio show, only one person cares about your fantasy team -- and that's you.
So I apologize in advance for any extended analysis of my Sliders team. But I do want to use this space to review the draft and write a bit about some of the events.
Our Gabe Paul Memorial League is an 18-team keeper league, using a $265 salary cap, standard 4x4 stat categories and has been in business for more than 15 years. Like a 60s rock band, some members have left the league, new ones have joined, but the bulk have been in this league for many baseball seasons.
We met at the Dover Middle School library and the draft began prompty at 1pm. And that would be lie number one. There are few givens in this world but there are two in our league. One, the draft will never begin on time and two, Dave Mast will always be the last person to arrive. As the 2007 Gabe Paul champion, we awarded the Mastadons owner a small statuette for his 10th Championship. But as one owner noted, we should have purchased him a watch instead.
Victor Martinez was the first player thrown to the wolves and the bidding peaked at $32 for the top catcher on the board. Oddly enough, Brian McCann was the next player tossed for bidding. The Sliders had to overpay for him at $27. I wish I had gone the extra dollar for VMart. But I love having solid top-tier catchers and McCann will work. Russell Martin ($5-0) and McCann are my Backstops of Steel for 2008.
I posted a poll before the draft asking fellow owners who would earn the highest bid. Jimmy Rollins, Alfonso Soriano, Johan Santana, Albert Pujols and various closers were all contestants for this bidding popularity contest. Jimmy Rollins won the poll and it held true at the draft. The Phillies shortstop went to the Millersburg Med Hens for $46. Albert Pujols (sans elbow) went to Bods Bums for $40. Those were the only two guys to break the $40 mark.
Cold feet emerged at the $39 mark. Johan Santana (Amish Mafia), Soriano (Buggy Boys) and Vladimir Guerrero (Mud Hens) all stalled a dollar shy of $40. Other highly paid batters included Mark Teixeira ($38); Lance Berkman, Garrett Atkins and Curtis Granderson at $37; Aramis Ramirez and Magglio Ordonez at $36, Ichiro at $35.
There were eight closers available in the drafting pool that sold for varying amounts. Joe Nathan (All Night Truckers) and Francisco Rodriguez (Steamin' Mastadons) sold for $34, Bobby Jenks $33, Huston Street and Billy Wagner at $30, Trevor Hoffman $29, B.J. Ryan $24, Todd Jones $22. The highest bid for "potential" saves was $14 by the Dandies for Arizona's Tony Pena.
Ten starting pitchers went for bids in the $20s: CC Sabathia $29, Erik Bedard $26, Aaron Harang $25, Roy Halladay $24, Felix Hernandez $24, Chris Young, $24, Carlos Zambrano $24, Matt Cain $23, Dan Haren $23 and John Smoltz $22.
Looking over my team, it doesn't look great. Now that 72 hours have passed and I've had time to think about my team, I may have had my worst draft in many years. I had plenty of money to spend at the draft and chose to spend it in the wrong places. There are three players that I ended up with that were not good decisions. Going into the draft, I was determined to acquire Colby Rasmus, the phenom centerfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. All I've read about Jim Edmonds' replacement has been positive and the comparisons sound like an emerging Grady Sizemore-type of player. I anticipated having to spend as much as $9-12 on Rasmus. When the bidding for Rasmus reached double-digits, only 922 Nation and I were still bidding. He bid $10. I bid $11. He bid $12. I bid $13. It was turning into a staring match. We both wanted Rasmus cheap and neither team was going to end up happy. After a couple more bids, I spoke the dreaded word "seventeen" and Rasmus was a Slider. In retrospect, I should have quit at $15. But sometimes at the draft, things get a little crazy. In other words, I might have been an idiot. (As a final kick in the groin, the next day I read that Rasmus isn't one of LaRussa's favorite players and had been reassigned to AA. Awesome.)
My team is heavy on steals and saves. So what did I spend late money on? Todd Jones ($22) and Ryan Freel ($10). Did Der Lynch Mob spike my drink? Granted, I'm in the minority on Todd Jones, but I think I paid 75-cents per save for the Old Man. He could be nice trade bait this season. But $10 on Ryan Freel? Did I really need a speedy oft-injured fourth outfielder? I should have let Shus on First have Freel at $9. But my drink was spiked, remember?
Last year, there were several bargains that came out of the draft. Ryan Braun ($8), Alex Rodriguez ($43), Alex Rios ($21), Eric Byrnes ($19), Aaron Rowand ($12), Carlos Pena ($5) and Aaron Hill ($1) were among the gems. So who are the players that will be known as the 2008 bargains?
If Barry finds a team that will take him, $3 will be an absolute steal. Geoff Jenkins at $7 could be a good price. Eugenio Velez and his crazy legs fetched $7, which will be a bargain when the guy steals 60 bases this year. Nick Johnson will be a steal at $2. Juan Rivera, his leg now healed, is a good buy at $3.
So will the Sliders finish "in the money" this year, among the touted Top Six? C'mon now, of course. But it's going to take some wheeling and dealing over the season to make up for some of the errors at the draft.
