This draft was by Yours Trudy. Never understood that, Yours Trudy. Who is this Trudy that everyone is talking about? No, no, I’m not changing the subject before even embarking on the subject simply because I’m not happy with my team. How dare you j’accuse Yours Trudy of that! So, yesterday, on the Not-the-Ides of February, Grey Albright, the Fantasy Master Lothario (don’t abbreviate it!) took part in a 12-team NL-Only draft that was commissioned by Scott White of CBS Fantasy. You know, CBS, they brought you such head-scratchers as Viva Laughlin and Travis d’Arnaud as a top 60 overall pick. In fact, I razzed one of the CBS ‘perts about his d’Arnaud love in the beginning of the draft, then the room nominated d’Arnaud and the CBS ‘pert didn’t draft him. I think I might’ve shamed too hard. *shrugs* C’est la. This league is deep so hold onto ye old hat. (If you want a shallower league, play against me and 1,000 of your closest buddies in the Razzball Commenter Leagues.) Anyway, here’s my 12-team NL-Only team and some thoughts:
C: Wilin Rosario $16
C: Jordan Pacheco $1
1B: Michael Morse $17
2B Javier Baez $16
3B: Kelly Johnson $6
SS: Chris Owings $6
MI: Jedd Gyorko $12
CI: Yonder Alonso $11
OF: Justin Upton $27
OF: Jason Heyward $24
OF: Khris Davis $18
OF: Grady Sizemore $2
OF: Dexter Fowler $14
U: David Peralta $14
P: Alex Wood $17
P: Mike Fiers $13
P: Jason Hammel $7
P: Francisco Liriano $11
P: Rafael Soriano $2
P: Jenrry Mejia $12
P: Tony Cingrani $6
P: Yusmeiro Petit $4
P: Sergio Romo $4
Reserves: Joel Peralta
Reserves: John Mayberry
Reserves: David Buchanan
Reserves: J.P. Howell
Reserves: Jeff Francoeur
Reserves: Jace Peterson
Reserves: David Ross
NICE OUTFIELD, SENOR GRIS, AND I ALSO LIKE YOUR…UH…UM…LET’S SEE…WELL, YOU GOT A NICE OUTFIELD.
It’s hard to just look at my team and visualize wonderful without some context, I get that. When you’re used to looking at shallower leagues, you lose some perspective. It even happens to me. This, over-the-internet friends, is not a mixed league team. It is a deep, NL-Only league. To give you some ideas, one ‘pert has in their starting lineup Zoilo Almonte, Corban Joseph and Cody Ross. That’s not reserves. That’s in someone’s starting lineup. Another team is starting Tommy La Stella, Jose Peraza and Mark Reynolds. Someone else has Cory Spangenberg at corner, Justin Turner at UTIL and Scott Van Slyke as their 1st baseman. So, shizz is rough everywhere. So, Part II, So Here’s Another One: Stop looking at my team through that sneer!
YOUR PITCHING ISN’T BAD, ESPECIALLY NOT WHEN YOU COMPARE IT TO YOUR CORNER INFIELD. DOT DOT DOT. THEY SUCK!
Yonder and Morse? Isn’t that an Australian cop show streaming on Netflix? That’s not really a 1st baseman and corner man, is it? Wait, Imma let me finish but first I gotta say I have Kelly Johnson as my 3rd baseman! *cuts three holes out of a paper bag, puts paper bag over head* I’m the Unknown Fantasy Baseball Drafter. Yeah, shizz went pear-shaped with my corner men. I just refuse to draft guys for over $30 in a league this deep, because when you do you can’t afford to fill all your positions. That aforementioned team that had Cory Spangenberg spent $36 on Giancarlo. I almost went to $29 for Arenado (the price he went for), but I wanted middle infielders. The team that got Arenado, they have Luis Sardinas at 2B and Jesse Winker in the OF with Rymer Liriano at UTIL. You have to have tradeoffs, and in order to have a team that in theory will play on most days, I have Kelly Johnson, Morse and Yonder.
SO THAT’S WHAT YOU MEANT WHEN YOU PREACH SAGNOF. DO YOU EVEN HAVE A CLOSER? I FEEL BAD FOR YOU.
You can imagine how excited I was when I was able to get Joel Peralta in the free rounds. By the by, Peralta really had no business being available still. Closers go for $18 to $20. Middle relievers go for $3 to $5. Guys that are the frontrunner to fill in for an injured closer? Well, see my price for Mejia to give you a better idea. Joel Peralta should’ve been drafted. Since it’s early in the spring, I also double-downed with J.P. Howell, the Third. Just in case Mattingly does something crazier than even shaving his mustache. Sergio Romo was another shot-in-the-dark-I-got-no-saves-and-I-really-need-to-get-lucky closer-in-waiting. Basically, I was throwing shizz at the walls for saves. In a league this deep, I need to scrap together 40 saves to be around middle of the pack. Hopefully Parnell has a setback and Rafael Soriano signs with the Brewers.
I SEE YOU REALLY ARE TAKING THIS WHOLE PADRES BEING GOOD THING TO HEART. HEY, WHO KNOWS MAYBE NORTH KOREA WILL INVADE SAN DIEGO AND THEY’LL HAVE TO PLAY THEIR HOME GAMES IN COORS. CAN ALWAYS DREAM.
That Bold Al Capps between paragraphs is real snarky. AW, DON’T BE A WUSSY. Yeah, I have more Padres on this team than prolly any other fantasy team I’ve ever drafted. It wasn’t done consciously. AH, YOU WERE UNCONSCIOUS. THAT MAKES SENSE. I just liked the prices for the players. Since I don’t project for NL-Only, I used our Steamer NL-Only rankings and then went a little bit stronger after players I like. As you see, there we have Gyorko for $13, Alonso for $13, and Upton for $22, but I like Upton as you know from my own rankings.
OKAY, LEAVE ME WITH SOMETHING POSITIVE, OTHERWISE MY WHOLE DAY WILL BE BUMMED OUT. THIS IS AFTER ALL ABOUT ME.
I wasn’t able to get Wong — I SAID POSITIVE — but I drafted Wood, Fiers, Owings, Gyorko, Khris Davis, Upton, Heyward, Yusmeiro, Baez and Cingrani. Guys I wouldn’t kick out of bed in a 12-team mixed league league. Though, if I were the proud Owings of Wood that caused Fiers when I Gyorko’d, I would be concerned.
