Jae C. Hong - AP
3 months ago: Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw speaks during a baseball news conference at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011. Kershaw won the National League Cy Young Award on Thursday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
I mentioned a few days ago....maybe a little longer than that, or maybe I have just been repeating myself lately, that I plan on drafting pitching early in my NL-only 5 x 5 redraft league this year. I even talked to another owner in that league this week telling him what my plan was. This owner loves his starting pitchers, and he said he might use his dump power strategy this year. I might do the same.
So, our conversation peaked my interest in what the current sentiment was over at Mock Draft Central. I entered an NL-only draft last night to see what the first round would look like, and it was shocking to say the least.
What used to be a round filled with guys like Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and David Wright is now filled with several starting pitchers. Granted, they are all aces, so one can't argue too loudly about drafting a starter in the first round. But, come on, FOUR starting pitchers in the first round?
The mock draft results after the jump:
| Round | Team | Player | Pos | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 P1 | FakeTeams | Kemp, Matt | OF | LA |
| R1 P2 | more must be better | Tulowitzki, Troy | SS | COL |
| R1 P3 | Mental Bats | Kershaw, Clayton | SP | LA |
| R1 P4 | The Natural Lights | Upton, Justin | OF | ARI |
| R1 P5 | Half Baked | Votto, Joey | 1B | CIN |
| R1 P6 | Scorn Flakes | Halladay, Roy | SP | PHI |
| R1 P7 | Pretty ricky | Gonzalez, Carlos | OF | COL |
| R1 P8 | Fantasy Horsemen | Lee, Cliff | SP | PHI |
| R1 P9 | Fantasy god | Reyes, Jose | SS | MIA |
| R1 P10 | me in a nutshell | Ramirez, Hanley | SS | MIA |
| R1 P11 | Fantasy Stud | Lincecum, Tim | SP | SF |
| R1 P12 | Team12 | Braun, Ryan | OF | MIL |
| R2 P1 | Team12 | McCutchen, Andrew | OF | PIT |
| R2 P2 | Fantasy Stud | Stanton, Mike | OF | MIA |
| R2 P3 | me in a nutshell | Hamels, Cole | SP | PHI |
| R2 P4 | Fantasy god | Wright, David | 3B | NYM |
| R2 P5 | Fantasy Horsemen | Holliday, Matt | OF | STL |
| R2 P6 | Pretty ricky | Bruce, Jay | OF | CIN |
| R2 P7 | Scorn Flakes | Castro, Starlin | SS | CHC |
| R2 P8 | Half Baked | Pence, Hunter | OF | PHI |
| R2 P9 | The Natural Lights | Zimmerman, Ryan | 3B | WAS |
| R2 P10 | Mental Bats | Strasburg, Stephen | SP | WAS |
| R2 P11 | more must be better | Gallardo, Yovani | SP | MIL |
| R2 P12 | FakeTeams | McCann, Brian | C | ATL |
You can tell which team is mine, and not looking at the the team name or highlighted pick either. You can tell by who was drafted first overall. I picked Matt Kemp with the first overall pick. Actually, I did not participate in the draft, so the site gave me their top ranked player.
I love Clayton Kershaw, and am very happy 6 other teams drafted someone else back in 2007, but Kershaw as the #3 overall pick? Ahead of Roy Halladay? I am shocked and can only conclude that the person who drafted him at 3 was present, because I am pretty sure Kershaw is not the 3rd ranked player in the National League.
Wait a minute!!! That makes TWO Dodgers in the first three picks! And someone in Wednesday night's fantasy chat had the nerve to say I was hyping the Dodgers players in the chat. Guess I am not the only one.
But, as I have already mentioned, taking Kershaw at #3 started a run on ace starters, as 3 of the next 8 picks were starting pitchers, including Roy Halladay at 6, Cliff Lee at 8, and Tim Lincecum at 11. The second round brought us more of the same with three more starters drafted: Cole Hamels at 15, Stephen Strasburg at 22, Yovani Gallardo at 23, and Zack Greinke was taken with the first pick in the third round, and 25th overall.
So, there were 8 starters taken in the first 25 picks in this NL-Only league draft. Quite amazing as I have never seen it happen before in any draft I have participated in.
A few other surprises in this mock draft is that Ryan Braun was taken with the last pick in the first round. I would take him in the late second round or early third round, but certainly not the first round. For sure. This pick tells me two things. Team 12 was certainly not present and its quite possible many of the other teams in this draft were present, as Team 12 was given the highest ranked player with the 12th pick overall. That, and the fact that the site's rankings still assumes Braun won't be suspended.
Another surprise for me was the fact that Jose Reyes was the second shortstop off the board, ahead of Hanley Ramirez. I guess I am not the only one who ranks Reyes ahead of Hanley.
Lastly, the fantasy baseball writers here at Fake Teams will be participating in a Fake Teams only mock draft, either on Sunday night or next Tuesday night, so be on the look out for some articles from our writers on the results of their draft.
0 recs | 27 comments
Greinke/Gallardo
Interesting Gallardo would be drafted before Greinke. I know both are fairly close talent wise, but Greinke had nothing but bad luck in 2011 and missed an entire month of the season with an extremely fluke injury @ the start of spring training… and still managed to win 16 games and eclipse 200 K. Not to mention that at the moment 2012 is shaping up to be a contract season for Greinke.
Kevin Boger - January 27, 2012
All these people need a good smack
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
NL-Only?
I say Stupid-Only League
HeLeftYouBagEnd - January 27, 2012
oh
you like less challenging leagues like mixed leagues?
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
It's not that it's more challenging
It’s that you have no control over certain aspects of it. You have no control over whether or not Pujols or Fielder leaves to the AL which is absurd. Losing a player like that doesn’t involve strategy, it involves external factors which are impossible to deal with.
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
thus
more challenging
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
Really????
This is similar to arguing that fantasy football is more challenging, because there are more injuries that can destroy your season. The reason I love fantasy baseball is your strategy and team management play more of a role than random luck / injury does.
Mr. Homerun - January 27, 2012
That's terrible logic
Since it goes the other way as well. If your competition loses Pujols, it’s easier. It’s neither more or less challenging, just more luck dependent. You can argue positional scarcity but it’s just an increase in the standard deviation between players. Just need to modify a solver model on excel to fix that.
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
really
how often does an Albert Pujols or Matt Kemp get traded. Not often.
Only leagues are more challenging because the player pools are smaller. You are arguing one point that MIGHT happen. A player getting traded to another league is similar to someone being out for 2 months due to injury.
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
Again, a smaller pool doesn't make them more challenging
Just increases the standard deviation between players.
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
how?
how is it not more challenging when you are picking 23 players from 16 teams rather than 30?
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
Because everyone is at the same disadvantage
It doesn’t change anything other than the quality of players that each team has.
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
yes
but the challenge is outdrafting other owners….gaining an edge. In mixed leagues, if you don’t get that 30 HR hitter in the first round, you can get one in the 3rd. You can’t do that in only leagues. Same with ace starters….there are just less of them. So you have to make a decision whether you want the ace to anchor your staff or that 20-20 hitter.
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
And everyone faces that decision
It’s not as if other managers have an edge over you. It’s the exact same premise with less players, I fail to see the difficulty in that.
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
That's bc its still a fantasy league with everyone on the same level
It’s a dumb argument, no doubt. You want to play a man’s league then dynasty is what you are looking for.
HeLeftYouBagEnd - January 27, 2012 via Android app
that's it?
that’s all you have?
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
what??
what don’t you get…its all about numbers. You are drafting 23 players from 16 teams in the NL, or 400 plyaers.
In mixed leagues you are drafting 23 players from players on 30 teams, or 750 players……that’s an extra 350 players…..pretty simple.
Ray Guilfoyle - January 27, 2012
So you modify an excel document
Find the averages of the positions, remove players as they are drafted, and voila… it tells you what position to draft. It works the same as in a mixed league.
dudedudedude - January 27, 2012
If you think its harder
then good for you. play all the nl only leagues you want and I will be here playing in my leagues for newbies. Man Ray I wish I was as wise as you so I could play in NL only leagues.
HeLeftYouBagEnd - January 27, 2012 via Android app
I am not the one
who called only leagues stupid…..without any support for that opinion. Give me reasons for your opinions without attacking…and we can be more civil here.
I respect others opinions….but when you come here and say something is stupid and dumb, without a reason, I am not sure what your objective is.
Is your sole reason to comment here to disagree with me? I welcome that…but give me something other than NL -only leagues are “stupid” and “dumb”.
Ray Guilfoyle - January 28, 2012
Saying
“oh you like less challenging leagues like mixed leagues” was quite the civilized retort.
HeLeftYouBagEnd - January 28, 2012 via Android app
People People
This is the dumbest argument yet. All leagues are different. All leagues present their own challenges. We all have our own preferences, some more unique than others, but just the same. All leagues were created equal and until now I believed they all had a place here at FakeTeams. But now I see the truth. Despite this recent league civil war I suggest we move on, grow together in each other’s tastes and values, and all shut the hell up about this useless argument.
HeLeftYouBagEnd - January 28, 2012 via Android app
To me
The appeal of an -only league is similar to that of a 30-team dynasty league. There is certainly something to be said for having to play the game like the actual MLB owners/GMs do, but there’s also something to be said for the added excitement of a 12-16 team league, in which you don’t necessarily have to concern yourself with the minutiae of a great super-U player, or a good-enough SS.
I mean, if we actually wanted to GM real baseball teams, why would we be wasting our time here???
pooptallica - January 27, 2012
Smaller Pool
A Smaller Pool makes your decisions so much easier because your options are so limited. In a mixed league, a spot start comes down to about 4-8 different guys but in an Only league, it’s pretty obvious who your goin with cuz there isn’t anyone to choose from. Same goes for your Utility or bench spots.
Internet Bullies - January 28, 2012
+1
dudedudedude, +1
Internet Bullies - January 28, 2012
Love greinke
this year, especially if he’s valued like this, I’d take him before all the SP drafted in rd. 2. Stras will be limited, Gallardo’s consistency and seeming never ending failure to take that last step into top level trusted SP and just not a Hamels fan 9 especially early rd 2
And would prefer greinke as my ace and two batters in Rd 1 & 2 to kershaw/halladay/lee and batter rd 2 and 3, Not saying Greinkes will be better (he could be though) but prefer
tvators01 - January 27, 2012
+1
Kevin Boger - January 27, 2012
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