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Background: We held our 12-team mixed redraft mixed league via Google Hangouts this Saturday. For a little over half of us, this is our fun league, with our AL only auction following the next day. Our in-person auction has been delayed, so alcohol flowed more freely than normal. The league is a 5x5, with OBP and SLG replacing BA and HR; the five pitching categories are standard. Weekly changes. Positions are 1 C and 2 UT, otherwise standard. I had drawn the third pick, but the manager with the second pick offered a deal where we’d trade positions in the first and second round, which I immediately accepted. This secures me either Mike Trout or Christian Yelich, who are rated the most valuable players in our league via every calculator I ran.
Plan: A Patel Plan on starting pitcher steroids. Wanted to get 3 top OF, 1 good CI or UT, and three good to great SPs in the first seven rounds. Get two more good hitters and a SP and RP in the next four rounds. After that, assess needs and draft to fill key positions.
First two rounds: Pretty much all the names you’d expect go in the top-24, though the order was unusual. Story, TTurner, and Arenado are all taken in the top seven, meaning Bellinger, Soto, and Betts all drop like gifts from the gods to lower pick managers. DeGrom and Cole go in the first round – and then their managers doubled back and took Verlander and Scherzer right behind them. I get Yelich and Bryce Harper, so I’m happy.
Next three rounds: Starting pitching starts flying off the board, leading to some pretty wild reaches early. Nola/Berrios went picks 36/37 back to back. I end up following my plan, getting Bieber in round 3, Yordan Alvarez in round 4, and Clevinger in round 5.
Rounds 6-9 – Round 6 continued the run on SPs; I join in and take Woodruff. Took hitters in rounds 7-9; Matt Chapman, Carlos Santana (1B was the other position getting really thin), and unusual for me, go for JT Realmuto in round 9. Normally I wait until the late-teens rounds to take a catcher, but Todd Zola convinced me on the value of Realmuto.
So, post round 9 assessment at our break – 6 hitters, 3 SPs. I like my OBP/SLG with my hitters, but know I need more speed and have no closers. Because I took Realmuto, I’m also one OF behind where I want to be. There’s about four more SPs I’m interested in – Carrasco, Bumgarner, KHendricks, and Montas.
Round 10-11 – Five of the first six picks of round 10 are the starters listed above, plus Carlos Martinez. I get Carrasco. Coming back in round 11, I’m looking at my OF list and see Michael Brantley is still available. Grab him, fill my 3rd OF slot, but realize I’ve made no progress on steals or saves.
Rounds 12-14 – I move to address my deficiencies in speed and saves and grab Amed Rosario, Hector Neris, and Elvis Andrus. Was interested in Oscar Mercado, but he was picked right before I took Neris. I also have one other hole that, likely due to the third pale ale I had, I missed for a couple more rounds.
Rounds 15-16 – Took Shin-Soo Choo in round 15. Like his OBP, scores a lot, probably good for 12-ish SBs. Look over the SP pool and decide to work on my ratios and take Sean Manaea.
Round 17 – It suddenly dawns on me that I have no 2B. And my 2B list has about 14 lines drawn through names. Panicked, thinking I might have to gamble on Hampson, I see that the new Indians 2B is available, and grab Cesar Hernandez. I’m rewarded with sputtering obscenities from one of our leading managers, and realize he’s also put off 2B. Worse yet, the guy in front of him – who’s a big Rockies fan – grabs Hampson.
Rounds 18-19 – Value shopping for hitters. Round 18, I grab Brian Anderson, who gives me some positional flexibility, decent OBP, and growing power. Round 19, the broken jawed Willie Calhoun falls to me.
Rounds 20-23 – Time to fill out the pitching staff. Get Ryan Yarbrough (who I really like), Sean Dolittle (closers slid all draft) and Yonny Chirinos. For my last pick to fill out my roster, I grab Ian Happ.
Reserve rounds – We did two reserve rounds, with four more to follow via a slow draft. Players who have no major league experience, or are not on the ML roster, or are free agents, or are just undrafted can be picked here. To my shock, Yasiel Puig slips to me, who I grab for my first pick, and then get Joe Jimenez as a third closer.
So, final team:
C – JT Realmuto
1B/3B/CI – Carlos Santana, Matt Chapman, Brian Anderson
2B/SS/MI – Cesar Hernandez, Amed Rosario, Elvis Andrus
OF – Christian Yelich, Bryce Harper, Michael Brantley, SS Choo, Willie Calhoun, Yasiel Puig
UT – Yordan Alvarez, Ian Happ
SP – Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Brandon Woodruff, Carlos Carrasco, Sean Manaea, Ryan Yarbrough, Yonny Chirinos
CL – Hector Neris, Sean Dolittle, Joe Jimenez
Plan: A Patel Plan on starting pitcher steroids. Wanted to get 3 top OF, 1 good CI or UT, and three good to great SPs in the first seven rounds. Get two more good hitters and a SP and RP in the next four rounds. After that, assess needs and draft to fill key positions.
First two rounds: Pretty much all the names you’d expect go in the top-24, though the order was unusual. Story, TTurner, and Arenado are all taken in the top seven, meaning Bellinger, Soto, and Betts all drop like gifts from the gods to lower pick managers. DeGrom and Cole go in the first round – and then their managers doubled back and took Verlander and Scherzer right behind them. I get Yelich and Bryce Harper, so I’m happy.
Next three rounds: Starting pitching starts flying off the board, leading to some pretty wild reaches early. Nola/Berrios went picks 36/37 back to back. I end up following my plan, getting Bieber in round 3, Yordan Alvarez in round 4, and Clevinger in round 5.
Rounds 6-9 – Round 6 continued the run on SPs; I join in and take Woodruff. Took hitters in rounds 7-9; Matt Chapman, Carlos Santana (1B was the other position getting really thin), and unusual for me, go for JT Realmuto in round 9. Normally I wait until the late-teens rounds to take a catcher, but Todd Zola convinced me on the value of Realmuto.
So, post round 9 assessment at our break – 6 hitters, 3 SPs. I like my OBP/SLG with my hitters, but know I need more speed and have no closers. Because I took Realmuto, I’m also one OF behind where I want to be. There’s about four more SPs I’m interested in – Carrasco, Bumgarner, KHendricks, and Montas.
Round 10-11 – Five of the first six picks of round 10 are the starters listed above, plus Carlos Martinez. I get Carrasco. Coming back in round 11, I’m looking at my OF list and see Michael Brantley is still available. Grab him, fill my 3rd OF slot, but realize I’ve made no progress on steals or saves.
Rounds 12-14 – I move to address my deficiencies in speed and saves and grab Amed Rosario, Hector Neris, and Elvis Andrus. Was interested in Oscar Mercado, but he was picked right before I took Neris. I also have one other hole that, likely due to the third pale ale I had, I missed for a couple more rounds.
Rounds 15-16 – Took Shin-Soo Choo in round 15. Like his OBP, scores a lot, probably good for 12-ish SBs. Look over the SP pool and decide to work on my ratios and take Sean Manaea.
Round 17 – It suddenly dawns on me that I have no 2B. And my 2B list has about 14 lines drawn through names. Panicked, thinking I might have to gamble on Hampson, I see that the new Indians 2B is available, and grab Cesar Hernandez. I’m rewarded with sputtering obscenities from one of our leading managers, and realize he’s also put off 2B. Worse yet, the guy in front of him – who’s a big Rockies fan – grabs Hampson.
Rounds 18-19 – Value shopping for hitters. Round 18, I grab Brian Anderson, who gives me some positional flexibility, decent OBP, and growing power. Round 19, the broken jawed Willie Calhoun falls to me.
Rounds 20-23 – Time to fill out the pitching staff. Get Ryan Yarbrough (who I really like), Sean Dolittle (closers slid all draft) and Yonny Chirinos. For my last pick to fill out my roster, I grab Ian Happ.
Reserve rounds – We did two reserve rounds, with four more to follow via a slow draft. Players who have no major league experience, or are not on the ML roster, or are free agents, or are just undrafted can be picked here. To my shock, Yasiel Puig slips to me, who I grab for my first pick, and then get Joe Jimenez as a third closer.
So, final team:
C – JT Realmuto
1B/3B/CI – Carlos Santana, Matt Chapman, Brian Anderson
2B/SS/MI – Cesar Hernandez, Amed Rosario, Elvis Andrus
OF – Christian Yelich, Bryce Harper, Michael Brantley, SS Choo, Willie Calhoun, Yasiel Puig
UT – Yordan Alvarez, Ian Happ
SP – Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, Brandon Woodruff, Carlos Carrasco, Sean Manaea, Ryan Yarbrough, Yonny Chirinos
CL – Hector Neris, Sean Dolittle, Joe Jimenez
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