Our League's alternative to our March 27 auction

[Judge Jude]

yes, I gambled that Suarez would come back to me in Round 4 but I couldn't see him getting to Round 5. somebody would have put 2 and 2 together.

[ThatRogue]

Suarez FTW!


...

YAHTZEE!!!

That’s a very nice start for your team.

[Judge Jude]

Scherzer, Albies, Rizzo, Suarez inj 11-team NL-only

now I think I can and should get Neris and Hendricks in Rounds 5 and 6.

not preposterous reaches, and I have few alternatives based on my plan.

all the OFs I can eat in the rounds to follow. and I see a dead-cat bounce left in Posey, too.

[Judge Jude]

whew, snuck Neris through in Round 5. with Hader and Iglesias already gone, not a lot of appealing other closer choices in a "draft and hold" NL league. there are no midseason snags of newly-minted closers, or trades. we'll just dance with the 23 gals we draft all season (if there is one).

4 picks left in Round 5, and one of them doesn't have a SP yet. I hope he goes Bauer, SGray, Price, or Soroka.

SP Scherzer, 2B Albies, 1B Rizzo, 3B ESuarez, RP Neris so far

WRINKLE: The main news is that our 'wayward owner' checked in and is okay.
minor part is that he may make 5 picks once Round 5 ends, then play it out just for the heck of it.
in the spirit of camaraderie, would be nice to have the whole band back together!

[Judge Jude]

updating this slooooooooooooooooow draft, I indeed landed Hendricks in Round 6 of a now 12-team NL-only.

haven't gotten "buddyfocked" my someone poaching a desired/seemingly gettable player yet, which is sweet.

likely to land my first OF next

[chancellor]

Nice first six rounds!

[Judge Jude]

this will sound familiar to draft veterans - a run on closers like they were toilet paper or something - but with a unique twist:

guy picking 69th sees Soroka go off the board at 67, and he texts me with an expletive.
now pick 68 - and it's Julio Urias, who guy picking 69th has an unhealthy obsession with.

Mr. 69 settles for Kenley Jansen, and 70 is Edwin Diaz and 71 is Archie Bradley - for just a moment.

"not for nothing, but shouldn't [guy who picked 70] be picking ahead of me in this round?" 69 texts me.

huh, how 'bout that. doesn't matter, probably, but just to be safe, I ask 70 if he'd have preferred Jansen - who should have been available to him if not for an errant picking order listing.

and, of course he says, "oh yeah, Jansen was my guy."

Mr 69 was informed (and 71's pick was only on the board for maybe 10 seconds before I was able to delete it).

"An unheard of TRIPLE Buddyfocker," he replied, using the lingo of the league.

he is now taking what he calls a "long pause" before he picks.

UPDATE: He took Kimbrel, and 71 - who for about 30 seconds had Bradley - instead pivoted to Diaz.

I expect the team at 72-73 will take Bradley as one of the picks.

[Judge Jude]

my turn for Round 7. I have no OFs (and 3 Ps), so they are in CAPS. these are HQ values for my league parameters and having to previously having been owned by me

EATON 21 (!), Murphy 17, Castro 17, Votto 17, Kendrick 16, CDICKERSON 15, DeJong 13, Molina 11, Longoria 11, CESPEDES 10, MCCUTCHEN 10, GPOLANCO 10

reality check: would any of you guys pick Eaton in as the 79th pick? I'm guessing no. can I still get him at 90? I think so.
notice how OLD this group is. not sure how many owners are ready to go boring/no breakout hopes.

that's why I may go Polanco. he's a wild card, but the Rotisserie gods favor the bold!

thoughts?

[chancellor]

I'd take DeJong before Polanco. By a long shot. BA might hurt a bit, but he's got strong production in R/HR/RBI and upside in speed. And Shandler's peeps love him. Heck, I'd take DeJong before Eaton.

[Judge Jude]

interesting.
I'd still have no OF - but an INF of 1B Rizzo, 2B Albies, 3B Suarez, SS DeJong (!)

my first 3 guys project to .283, and a .2680 took second in my league last year.

plus if someone snipes DeJong, it's basically mediocre Crawford or bust - so I might have to reach a little bit, later in the draft.

DeJong and Polanco both projected to .251. it's Polanco in SB, 11 vs 5.

[chancellor]

You may be able to get any of them later, but DeJong seems the most likely to come off the board. To wit: 97/30/78 R/HR/RBI last year, with a 26% BABIP. And he has decent speed, so that BABIP is likely to come up. Eaton would be my next choice, but I think DeJong has way, way more upside than Eaton. Polanco....not likely, IMO. You easily have two rounds before you even have to think about him.

[Judge Jude]

yep. DeJong it is!

1 Scherzer, 2 Albies, 3 Rizzo, 4 Suarez, 5 Neris, 6 Hendricks, 7 DeJong

I'd imagine that's like a mixed-league infield, lol

[Judge Jude]

at the turn in Rounds 7-8, our Roto champ takes:
Will Smith and
Will Smith

probably a bit early, but so worth it!

....................

Bumgarner just went 4 picks ahead of me in Round 8, so that simplifies things. I'll stock up on OFs because I don't have another SP worth taking for a bit. My top 2 will have to do some heavy lifting at SP.

SP Scherzer, Hendricks
RP Neris
INF 1B Rizzo, 3B Suarez, 2B Albies, SS DeJong
OF ------

updating my "pool"

C - Posey, Molina, Wolters, Barnes
1B - (I own Rizzo) Murphy, Votto, Kendrick, Belt, Cooper
3B - (own Suarez) - Castro, Kendrick, Longoria
2B (own Albies) - Castro, Kendrick, EHernandez
SS - (own DeJong) - Crawford (EGonzalez)
OF - CDickerson, Eaton, GPolanco, Nimmo, McCutchen, Dyson, Belt, Cooper, Braun, Markakis, Franchy, Fowler, EHernandez, Bruce, Pence, Naylor, Kemp
SP (own Scherzer and Hendricks) - Marquez, CSmith, Lucchesi, PLopez, AWood, Samardzija, Cueto, Mahle, Leake
RP - (own Neris) DHudson, Watson, AMiller, Knebel, Stanek, Lorenzen

[Judge Jude]

you guys steered me right in picking DeJong - both Polanco and Eaton are still available to me in Round 8 (well, there is one more pick ahead of me).

so my hunch on not taking Eaton in Round 7 worked out nicely

my turn

TAKE EATON NOW
he is the top-rated player by HQ values on the entire board - not just my limited board - at $21 (along with unpickable Segura). Trust the process!

WAIT ON EATON
As I have noted, probably half the lead thinks very little of Eaton. on FanTrax, there are 12 players on the overall board rated ahead of Eaton in this format.
if I am correct that Eaton is seen as no more than a $14 player by my rivals, well, there are 21 players on the overall board whose HQ value for this format is 14 or higher (and 7 more rated at $13). there will be 10 selections before I go in Round 9. four of those teams already have 3 of their 5 OF.
also, HQ rates Braun at 20 - so if Eaton goes, it's likely a similarly boring player remains an option in Round 9.
Eaton has little to no breakout chance, and owners like to dream - especially these days. my owners already have taken fliers on the likes of Lamet and Dubon, seeking a black swan.

the pick just made was: "Trent Grisham, OF, prepared for a breakout year."

[Judge Jude]

so it was unanimous - Polanco!