A Thirty Team Draft

I finished a thirty-team league draft where nearly every card is used.  I have traditionally played in twenty-team leagues and the dynamics of a thirty-team are very different.  For one thing, utility players are key to your success.  You are going to appreciate players you’d never consider rostering in a twenty-team league.

Before I tell you who I drafted, I need to explain some things first…

As this fantasy league is based upon the Major Leagues, there are two American Leagues to be concerned about.  When I talk about the Major Leagues’ “American League” I will use the abbreviation “AL”.  When I talk about the fantasy league’s “American League” I will use the abbreviation “AX”.  You’ll see why understanding this distinction is important.

The pool of players to be drafted consisted of all players who were not on a fantasy roster from the AL plus all the players who were cut from teams in the AX.  Got that?

This team is my creation.  I drafted it three years ago and took it to the World Series right way.  I preceded to loose in five games.  It wasn’t a fair fight as the National League team was much more mature and had a full bullpen of left and right-handers.  The team was very good last year, but missed a playoff spot by one game.  I’m in a holding pattern this year because the team is good, but hurt.  I expect to do much better next year.  I made one trade where I sent two players I was going to cut plus my #2 pick for a #1 pick (13th overall).

First Phase

1. Jed Lowery (Round: 1 Pick: 10 Overall: 10)

I have two holes I need to fix.  I need a third baseman and a shortstop.  My primary third baseman is Hank Blalock.  You know how well that is going for me.  Damian Easley will back him up.  David Eckstein is my primary shortstop and I don’t have anyone else.  Jed Lowery is a great pick for the team.  He is either going to fix the hole at third or short.  His range at short is a question, but he is solid.

2. Taylor Teagarden (Round: 1 Pick: 13 Overall: 13)

I have Jorge Posada and Kurt Suzuki behind the plate.  Teagarden is a “best available prospect” pick.  I figure that skilled positions like catcher, shortstop and centerfield are the easiest to trade.  If I cannot fix my holes in the draft, I might be able to trade a skills position player to fix it.

3. Roy Corcoran (Round: 3 Pick: 9 Overall: 38)

I’m going to need a solid bullpen as my rotation is wounded.  Corcoran induces ground-outs and has a ton of innings.  His closer rating is a bonus.

4. David Robertson (Round: 4 Pick: 9 Overall: 52)

I wrote about Robertson in my article on my twenty-team league.  He is young and has a strikeout ratio of over 10:1.

5. Matt Tuiasosopo (Round: 5 Pick: 10 Overall: 66)

Tuiasosopo has been hitting well this spring and is still young.  If his power develops and he does well this year, the Mariners will have to consider him for the third base job.  In an ideal world, both Lowrie and Tuiasosopo become staples of my team’s future.  I know it is unlikely, but it is possible and in a shallow draft, that is the best you can hope for.

Second Phase

After the AX and NX teams had their respective drafts, the remaining cards were thrown into a pile and we had a three round draft.

6. Aquilino Lopez (Round: 1 Pick: 24 Overall: 24)

It is not a great card, but 79 innings and a reliever rating of 3 make him an ideal first option out of the bullpen.  As we tack on 120% for usage, he gives me 95 innings to follow up likes of Jeremy Sowers and Fausto Carmona.  I guess no one wanted him because he is still unsigned.

7. Luis Cruz (Round: 2 Pick: 24 Overall: 54)

The Pirates want to turn Cruz into a super-utility player.  With only a handful of players left, any future is bonus.  His ss-3e8 make him the best defensive shortstop on the team, so he might make the active roster.

8.) Brian Horwitz (Round: 3 Pick: 24 Overall: 84)

There were tweleve cards left at this point.  Horwitz has 39.4 on-base chances and eight diamonds against left-handers.  Although he only has 36 at-bats, I’ll use them.

Observations

My goal was to plug holes at third and shortstop and I did that.  I added to my bullpen, always a good choice.  Teagarden is a fine second #1 pick as I can trade a catcher and everyone needs a catcher.  He looks to be a c-2(-2) well into the future and could become my #1 catcher if he hits at the Major League level.  Defensively, he may be an elite Strat-O-Matic catcher.  Of my first five picks, all of them have some future.  Of my last three, it is remote, but Luis Cruz could earn another card.  I do have some stuff to trade, which is what I need to do.