Our League's alternative to our March 27 auction

[chancellor]

Caleb Smith is definitely a "go for broke" pick, and he's been fashionable and in my mocks picked well before his ADP. But I'd be inclined to go with Molina here - he has much better upside than any of your other C's, is still pretty durable, and the Cards will trot him out there almost every day - especially in a short season.

I'd not sleep too long on Marquez, either - with the chance that the season is partly done in ST sites, he may well get a higher ratio of games out of Coors, giving him considerable upside.

Castro would be my favorite if you want to go CI. I always think he's older than he is since he's been around for seemingly ever, but he's only 30, pretty durable, and pretty reliable in counting stats at the end of the year. I wouldn't take him with your next pick simply because with your choices, the dropoff from Molina is much greater than the dropoff from Castro.

[Judge Jude]

my assistant GM!


very interesting.

if I take Molina, my offense is even more likely to be strong.

also, Molina is 100 pct known commodity and the last good C for anyone to pick.

CSmith? maybe others prefer Mikolas (how is he not owned yet?), Porcello, DeSclafani, Musgrove, Stripling in the next round. or Lugo, Melancon, Oberg on the RP side.

and if Smith doesn't come back to me - that's a wild card - then I could pivot and shoot for Marquez AND JGray.

the point about possibly no games in Denver - holy crap, that's brilliant and I should have thought of the chances.

hmm, if I didn't think of it, did anybody else in my league?

the chess game nears its..... well, whatever point in a chess game turns dramatic (if any).

[chancellor]

the chess game nears its..... well, whatever point in a chess game turns dramatic (if any).

The middle game. Well, at least for cavebird. In my competitive chess career, I was usually scrambling just to survive by that point. He was usually crushing people like me by then.

[Judge Jude]

ok, I took Molina.

I figure that teams who have 3 SPs already won't take a 4th yet, but those with only 2 are liable to fish in that pond in the next 12 picks (except the guy who hasn't picked a single P yet, can't wait to see what his squad ends up looking like!).

WOW, only one other team also doesn't have 3 SP - that bodes well!

forgot that Molina also gives you a sneaky 6 SB or so (in a full season)

now at pretend-162 G stats of 160 HR, 541 RBI, 609 R, 93 SB, .268 AVG

am all set in SB, and pretty solid in AVG. can take at least one lummox as my next batter, but maybe after an SP.

[ThatRogue]

Big Caleb Smith fan here...but I think Molina was the right choice. Marquez/Gray outside of Coors is a highly underrated combination (assuming your league mates haven’t thought of it), and adding Smith gives you a very potent pitching staff. Of course, the flip side is that, with the focus on hitting, there should be interesting pitching options available later. Unfortunately, certain sleeper picks (Smyly or Cahill in SF) don’t look as attractive in Arizona....nor is Caleb as attractive away from his home ballpark.

[Judge Jude]

my remaining options (meaning unpicked players I have owned before) with one more pick ahead of me - Castro, AWood, and Cooper now off the board

C - Posey, Molina, Wolters, Barnes
1B - Murphy, Votto, Kendrick, Belt, Cooper
3B - Kendrick, Longoria
2B - Kendrick
SS - Crawford, EGonzalez
OF - Belt, Markakis, Franchy, Fowler, Bruce, Pence, Naylor, Kemp
SP - Marquez, CSmith, JGray, PLopez, Samardzija, Cueto, Mahle, Leake
RP - DHudson, Watson, AMiller, Knebel, Stanek, Lorenzen

MY SQUAD SO FAR
1 SP Scherzer, 2 2B Albies, 3 1B Rizzo, 4 3B ESuarez, 5 RP Neris, 6 SP Hendricks, 7 SS DeJong, 8 OF Polanco, 9 OF Eaton, 10 OF Dyson, 11 C Molina

HQ faves, re projections: Murphy 17, Votto 17, Kendrick 16, Longoria 11, Cespedes 10, Marquez 8, CSmith 7, JGray 7, Belt 7, Markakis 7, Fowler 7, BCrawford 6

Kendrick will last another round or two - but can I pass on Murphy or Votto, while kinda wanting Smith? at least one of those CIs will be available

one owner randomly has taken 5 "Howie eligibles" in 12 rounds - 5 McMahon, 8 Bumgarner, 9 Nimmo, 11 Castro, 12 Cooper

[chancellor]

No way I touch Votto this early. While I greatly respect Shandler's team, I think they're off by half - or more - on Votto's value. Not only do key metrics support that he's cratering, but the eye test matches up. Votto, to me, matches up with Nick Markakis' numbers more than anyone else on your list. I'm more optimistic on Murphy from a production quality standpoint, but in a draft and hold league, it sure seems like he's falling apart bit by bit. And you've built a very solid hitting foundation so far. I'd go for favorite starter at this point.

[Judge Jude]

plus Murphy and everyone else may be playing in Arizona this year!

makes Marquez the best pick, but only obvious if you know his home/road stats. so could easily still be available in Round 13

hmm

[chancellor]

No argument from me going with Caleb Smith, either, if you like him. I'd expect him to be picked ahead of Marquez.

[Judge Jude]

ooh, that makes it tough!

UPDATE: Gotta trust my partner here, hasn't steered me wrong yet - so Smith it is

[Judge Jude]

ok, NOW I feel like a real draft owner


with the 6th and 7th picks of the 12 between CSmith and my next pick, same 'wraparound' owner takes MARQUEZ and VOTTO.

ok, the last guy I knew was a goner. but Marquez?

roughest part is that the owner who picks him is probably the busiest of all of us. half the owners are retired, nothing but time. but the guy with a wife and 4 kids figures out to take Marquez!

on the one hand, now I hope the Rockies play half their games at Coors.

on the other hand, I'll probably try for JGray tomorrow on the same premise.........

my remaining options (meaning unpicked players I have owned before)

C - Posey, Molina, Wolters, Barnes
1B - Beaty, DSmith
3B - Longoria, Gyorko, NWalker
2B - Hechavarria, Solano, Dietrich
SS - Crawford, EGonzalez, Hechavarria
OF - Markakis, Franchy, Fowler, Bruce, Pence, Naylor, Kemp, Beaty Duvall
SP - PLopez, Samardzija, Cueto, Mahle, Leake, Hamels, Arrieta
RP - DanHudson, Watson, AMiller, Knebel, Stanek, Lorenzen

MY SQUAD SO FAR
1 SP Scherzer, 2 2B Albies, 3 1B Rizzo, 4 3B ESuarez, 5 RP Neris, 6 SP Hendricks, 7 SS DeJong, 8 OF Polanco, 9 OF Eaton, 10 OF Dyson, 11 C Molina, 12 CSmith

HQ faves, re projections: Kendrick 16, Longoria 11, Cespedes 10, JGray 7, Markakis 7, Fowler 7, BCrawford 6

[Judge Jude]

looking at Kendrick, Longoria, Gray, Belt

the last 3 may benefit from an "Arizona League" scenario

boy, a redraft 12-team NL-only league - the talent dries up fast!

[chancellor]

Yes, it does. Agree on Kendrick at this point.

[Pauly]

Dont overlook daniel hudson.

[Judge Jude]

Belt goes off the board, now one more pick before me

I have to take Kendrick and Longoria and JGray and DanHudson - what's that, I can only take one?