Before we get this post-Turkey celebration of When Fantasy Baseball Writers Have Nothing To Do In The Offseason up and running, I’d like to pass along a special thanks to our very own Grey Albright and Bryan Curley of Baseball Professor for setting up this multi-site super exposition of the aforementioned When Fantasy Baseball Writers Have Nothing To Do In The Offseason, or WFBWHNTDITO, if you’re into the whole brevity thing. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you can find the Round 1-5 Recap by clicking on this conveniently placed hyperlink right… about… now. And for the full results, you can check them out here. (If nineties website design is your crème de jour, enjoy that layout bro.) Anyhow, let’s get this going after the jump so I can go make some turkey sammiches.
Here’s the lowdown, because nobody calls it the updown…
Style: 5×5 Roto, Size: 12-team, 25-man rosters, Positions: 2 C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, 5 OF, U / 5 SP, 2 RP, 2 P / 2 BN
Draft Roster and Order:
1 — George Fitopoulos, Baseball Professor, @BaseballProf
2 — Chris McBrien, Dear Mr. Fantasy, @cmcbrien
3 — Nate Springfield, Baseball Press, @NateSpringfield
4 — Clave Jones, Fantasy Baseball Crackerjacks, @clavejones
5 — Eric Broutman, Baseball Professor, @BaseballProf
6 — Paul Beck, Baseball Professor, @mroaklanda
7 — Jake Devereaux, Baseball Professor, @devjake
8 — Tanner Bell, Smart Fantasy Baseball, @smartfantasybb
9 — Bryan Curley, Baseball Professor, @BaseballProf
10 — Zach Pincince, Baseball Professor, @BaseballProf
11 — Adam Nodiff, Baseball Professor, @ANodBaseball
12 — Jason Longfellow, Razzball, @jaywrong
Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Recap, Rounds 6-10
6.61 — Chris Sale SP, CHW
Mark this event down in your Bruce Lee themed calenders. Picking Chris Sale is probably the last ‘easy’ pick I had to make during the draft. Everything that followed could be construed as either Inception BWWWAHM mind-blowing awesomeness, or the opposite of that. Which, I guess is, err. I have no idea what the opposite of that is. Maybe it’s this. The point is, I don’t have to justify picking Chris Sale here, especially in a redraft league. UNNNNNGGGGG, BUT YOU ALWAYS SAY HE’S GOING TO GET INJURED! Yeah, I know. He is. Wait, what? Look, I’m sticking with my story. What I want to point out is, I’ve been saying this the last two seasons, and his arm has still amazingly stayed attached. So since we’re not in a keeper, I’m okay buying him and buying him at this price.
Sixth Round Notes: To further drive the Chris Sale nail into the proverbial coffin of the superior argument, which is probably made of wood from the forest in FernGully, ’cause that’s how I roll, David Price (6.62), Zack Greinke (6.67), and Cole Hamels (6.68) were the next three pitchers taken off the board. Out of all those names, I’m still selecting Sale and not thinking too much about it. As a noted Padres homer, hey buddy, we all have our vices, I’m still up in the air about the aggressive selection of Everth Cabrera (6.65). I mean, was it even aggressive? I’d like to say yes, since even I was reluctant to start thinking about him until another round or two. It just comes down to how much you believe in the year he just had. I am luke-warm with my assessment, which perhaps means you should be too. The speed will be there, no doubt. But BABIP driven players are the most volatile, so just keep that in mind.
7.84 — Aroldis Chapman RP, CIN
8.85 — Greg Holland RP, KC
I’m combining these two picks and rounds together because I went all closer’s, all the time, for at least two of those times. Makes total sense. No it doesn’t. Look. I get it. Nobody pays for saves. Well, except for that one dude who always drafts Craig Kimbrel. In this draft, that was Eric Broutman (Baseball Professor). Once that happens, you’ve pretty much opened the door that cannot be closed anymore. Like virginity. And Spam containers. But I digress. Now, I understand what I did was… uncanny, but I just didn’t like what was on the board at that particular moment. And if you are going to pay for saves, make sure it’s for the ‘sure thing’. As mentioned, with Craig Kimbrel (Did anyone notice that Holland had a better year than Kimbrel?) taken the round before, my strategy here could be described as two-fold. First, the obvious, was to nab the remaining two elite closers left in one fell swoop with a shock and awe campaign. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. (Because that tagline totally worked out so well the last time.) The second part to my strategy was… I just wanted to see what would happen. Would I start a rush on closers? Would I be burned at the stake as a heretic? Would someone buy me a Twix bar? Apparently, none of the above, seeing as I had to buy myself a Twix (Jerks!). On one hand, you could say it was an action of mine that fell pretty much flat. On the other hand, you could say that I was able to concentrate in other areas of my team later on the in the draft when other teams were fighting over scraps like Fernando Rodney and LaTroy Hawkins. There’s something to be said for that peace of mind with a side of 65+ saves. Maybe. If this was a real draft, would I do something like that again? Eh. I’ll let you know when I finish up this Twix bar.
Seventh and Eighth Round Notes: So, I guess you should know Billy Hamilton (7.78) happened. My first reaction was “man, that’s crazy”. My second reaction was “man, that’s crazy”. This is my third reaction: “man, that’s crazy”. I’m nothing if not consistent. I understand the payoff here, but something just worries me. I keep on reading ‘100 SB+’ everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Even here. You know how I feel about that? The same way people were talking up C.J. Spiller in the preseason. How’s that working out for us? WHERE ARE THOSE 1500 ALL-PURPOSE YARDS YOU PROMISED US FANTASY PUNDITS! Yes, I drafted him everywhere. How could you tell? Jose Altuve (7.82), Starling Marte (7.83), and Alex Gordon (8.88) were selected afterwards, and I’d feel more comfortable with all three of them. This could be a personal preference type of selection, that’s fine. And don’t get me wrong, I believe in the speed. But in baseball, you sorta have to get to first base to use it. That’s the part I’m worried about.
9.108 — Anibal Sanchez SP, DET
I’m not quite sure how Anibal Sanchez fell this far, but was quite happy to scoop him up this late. Sure, he missed some starts, but still managed a 2.57 ERA (2.39 FIP) and 202 K’s in 182 innings pitched. What am I missing here? Jordan Zimmermann and Homer Bailey were selected before him. Why? No, seriously, I’m asking you, the reader. No, no, stop talking to the screen. That’s silly. And you look stupid. Scroll down to the comments and type it out.
Ninth Round Notes: Starlin Castro (9.98), Nelson Cruz (9.101), and Brett Lawrie (9.107) were interesting choices here, but offer a lot of question marks going into the 2014 season. It’s fair to say that Castro has the highest upside of the three, but also has the ability to make you want it to snow cocaine all over the place to stave off those feelings of disappointment and sadness. With these discounts, I’d take a gamble on both Castro and Cruz. Lawrie? Yeah buddy, we were just talking about disappointment and sadness. You’ve burned me way too many times. Fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again. Exactly. Xander Bogaerts (9.103) also got snagged off the board this round as well. Eh, I’m okay with that. Sorta. You really wouldn’t catch me doing it (says the guy who cornered the saves market), but there are some plausible arguments to be made. The biggest wild card is the playing time, and that’s something that should be more fleshed out as the off-season progresses.
10.109 — J.J. Hardy SS, BAL
The thing is, I usually don’t fill my MI positions until late in the draft. The strategy has always seemed to work out quite well for me. For example, I grabbed Daniel Murphy and Everth Cabrera at the end of a lot of drafts last season, and that seemed to work out spectacularly, sans Cabrera’s suspension. But for some reason, Hardy just stuck out to me, like a beacon. To bad it wasn’t bacon. Darn, now I want some bacon. Here’s the thing. Besides bacon, there were only 27 players in the MLB that hit 25 or more home runs last season. Hardy was one of them. And he was tied with Prince Fielder AND Troy Tulowitzki. Yeah, it’s only using home runs as a litmus, but still, that statement has merit when you look at the cost. The average is manageable for the position he plays, and I found the power potential to be intriguing at this point in the draft.
Tenth Round Notes: I call this round the pitcher round, because most of the picks were pitchers. Except for Michael Cuddyer. But it’s Michael Cuddyer, so who cares. Actually, out of all the pitchers selected, there wasn’t one here to complain about. Mike Minor (10.110), Shelby Miller (10.111), Kris Medlen (10.117), Gerrit Cole (10.118), Gio Gonzalez (10.119), and Jered Weaver (10.120) present a good mixture of young guys with potential, along with guys who have been around the block, are somewhat stable, and offer a good amount of K’s.
Don’t worry folks, I’ll be back soon to finish off this wonderful Mock Draft Recap, going over the 11-25 rounds of WFBWHNTDITO. But not until all my turkey leftovers are gone. TURKEY TURKEY TURKEY.
Jason Longfellow, aka Jay Long, aka JayWrong, aka Jay, aka JW-1, is a 31-year old Korean/Irish writer who finds solace using Makers Mark as a vehicle to impress women, and also has an affinity for making Jennifer Lawrence GIFs. You can follow him @jaywrong, read his blog Desultory Thoughts of a Longfellow, or, you can find his GIFs at his tumblr, named Siuijeonseo.
