2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 13-16

As I stated previously, I am participating in a fantasy baseball slow mock draft being coordinated by Jeffrey from BleacherGM, which can be followed on Couch Managers. There are 14 teams and there will be a total of 16 rounds. The draft began on Tuesday, December 13th and was originally anticipated to last until sometime in February.

I took a short trip with my girlfriend, so I was out of town for about two days and had to rely on my queue a little bit. We returned Wednesday night where I saw there were only two picks remaining in the draft. It is now Thursday morning and there is no solid indicator, but it looks like the draft ended around 7:00am CST. We had the potential to finish last night, but I accept this ending as it means four of my five projections were accurate and it was still over a month quicker than expected.

224 picks / 213 hours = 0.95 hours per pick or 25.24 picks per day.

Round #13, Pick #178 - Clay Buchholz
I should have guessed the rest of the guys would begin scrambling for closers. I had quite a few starters ranked on top of my queue and Buchholz was drafted as a result of my being auto queued. If I had the opportunity to make a human intervention, then I would have selected one of the three closers drafted after me (Jordan Walden, Sergio Santos, Andrew Bailey). Buchholz missed a lot of 2011, but I still like him in my rotation even though he was a mistake.

Round #14, Pick #187 - Jaime Garcia
Garcia was a human decision, though fan-weighted. I preferred taking the young lefty from the defending world champions and attempt to scrape the bottom of the barrel for my last two picks.

Round #15, Pick #206 - Torii Hunter
You can criticize Hunter all you want. It's probably justified, especially considering the Angels' lineup is still up in the air. There are only two slots I consider set in stone: Albert Pujols at first base, batting third and Hunter in right field batting behind him. He should collect at least 20 homers, but perhaps his batting average will be rejuvenated due to Pujols' presence. Wishful thinking.

Round #16, Pick #215 - Frank Francisco
I had several bottom dweller closer options in my final round including Matt Capps, Jonathan Broxton, Francisco Rodriguez, Daniel Bard, and "Leo Nunez." I decided upon Francisco who was recently traded from the Blue Jays to the Mets. Earlier reports from New York show he is the most likely candidate to receive the team closer role, which makes sense given his great career strikeout rates (9.9 K/9, 2.5 K/BB).

*FanGraphs fans projection

Rounds 1 & 2
Rounds 3 & 4
Rounds 5 & 6
Rounds 7 & 8
Rounds 9 & 10
Rounds 11 & 12
Rounds 13 - 16

Critiques are welcomed!

2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 11 & 12

As I stated previously, I am participating in a fantasy baseball slow mock draft being coordinated by Jeffrey from BleacherGM, which can be followed on Couch Managers. There are 14 teams and there will be a total of 16 rounds. The draft began on Tuesday, December 13th and was originally anticipated to last until sometime in February.

Round nine was a bit of a struggle, but we rolled through round ten pretty quick. I even managed to take my 11th round draft pick before we stalled again. We probably would still be rolling along if BleacherGM would not have disabled auto queue. 159 picks were made in nearly 155 hours, which gives us an average of 0.98 hours per pick or 24.53 picks per day. Our draft rate has sustained a fairly steady pace as we creep closer toward the finish line. Only four rounds left.

Expected Date to Complete at Current Rate: Thursday, December 22, 2011
Latest Date to Complete at Maximum Rate: Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I should mention I will be taking a short trip starting Tuesday afternoon, so I may have to rely on my queue.

Round #11, Pick #150 - Yadier Molina
I believe you should not let your inner fan take control of your picks, which is why I actually regret picking Molina. He's one of the most popular players in St. Louis since Albert Pujols left the team and plays great defense, but it doesn't matter in an offense-only fantasy world. He was on top of the heap of leftover catchers with the catcher slot still open for three other teams. I would have considered taking a second closer this round, but all of the "tier two" closers were taken after my last pick.

Round #12, Pick #159 - Nick Markakis
I had Brandon Morrow on top of my queue to enforce my strikeout category, but he was taken just before me. Markakis was my silver medal in round 12. He plays for the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East, which means they face pitchers like CC Sabathia, Jon Lester, James Shields, and possibly Yu Darvish more often than other teams in weaker divisions. However he still manages to post 70+ runs and RBIs, 10+ home runs and stolen bases, and a respectable batting average in the .300 range.

*FanGraphs fans projection

Rounds 1 & 2
Rounds 3 & 4
Rounds 5 & 6
Rounds 7 & 8
Rounds 9 & 10
Rounds 11 & 12
Rounds 13 - 16

Critiques are welcomed!

2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 9 & 10

As I stated previously, I am participating in a fantasy baseball slow mock draft being coordinated by Jeffrey from BleacherGM, which can be followed on Couch Managers. There are 14 teams and there will be a total of 16 rounds. The draft began on Tuesday, December 13th and was originally anticipated to last until sometime in February.

Five days have past, but progression stalled during round nine due to three managers using their full eight hour time limits. 136 picks were made in over 132 hours, which gives us an average of 0.97 hours per pick or 24.66 picks per day. As you can see, our rates are unfortunately trending upwards. It was a lot worse earlier until we had a recent draft "boost."

Expected Date to Complete at Current Rate: Thursday, December 22, 2011
Latest Date to Complete at Maximum Rate: Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Round #9, Pick #122 - David Ortiz
There is plenty of quality pitching still available, so much so I felt it would have been dumb to pass up on Ortiz again. He's 36 and on the decline, but I'm comfortable with him in my utility spot considering he accepted Boston's arbitration offer. Run production is a safe assumption as long he is a part of the Red Sox lineup.

Round #10, Pick #131 - Mat Latos
I was still under the firm belief that pitchers are abundant while good offense is becoming more scarce, but just could not pass up on the opportunity to snag Latos. Now he can be counted on for all categories since he was recently traded to Cincinnati, even wins. I think he's going to be a stud in 2012.

*FanGraphs fans projection

Rounds 1 & 2
Rounds 3 & 4
Rounds 5 & 6
Rounds 7 & 8
Rounds 9 & 10
Rounds 11 & 12
Rounds 13 - 16

Critiques are welcomed!

2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 7 & 8

As I stated previously, I am participating in a fantasy baseball slow mock draft being coordinated by Jeffrey from BleacherGM, which can be followed on Couch Managers. There are 14 teams and there will be a total of 16 rounds. The draft began on Tuesday, December 13th and was originally anticipated to last until sometime in February.

Not quite eight full rounds completed in four days. 110 selections have been made in nearly 103 hours, which is an average rate of 0.94 hours per pick or 25.64 picks per day. I am quite surprised to see the pace is unchanged after waiting for close to a century for a couple guys last night and this afternoon. I hope things speed up as the girlfriend and I plan to take a trip next week before Christmas.

Expected Date to Complete at Current Rate: Thursday, December 22, 2011
Latest Date to Complete at Maximum Rate: Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Round #7, Pick #94 - John Axford
I'm fairly happy with my offense thus far and there were several upcoming options to help enforce it, but I knew the market for quality pitching would pass me by if I didn't act now. Craig Kimbrel was on the top of my queue, but was three slots too slow. I drafted Axford as my second choice who should assist my saves category, though there is some risk with Francisco Rodriguez in the same bullpen.

Round #8, Pick #103 - Matt Moore
I originally intended my followup selection to be a second top quality closer, but changed my mind at the last moment and opted for another starter. Once again my first choice was taken just before it was my turn. C.J. Wilson on the 101st pick is an amazing steal. I took Moore, the phenom from Tampa Bay. This will be his true rookie season, so hopefully there is no sophomore "slump."

*FanGraphs fans projection

Rounds 1 & 2
Rounds 3 & 4
Rounds 5 & 6
Rounds 7 & 8
Rounds 9 & 10
Rounds 11 & 12
Rounds 13 - 16

Critiques are welcomed!

2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 5 & 6

As I stated previously, I am participating in a fantasy baseball slow mock draft being coordinated by Jeffrey from BleacherGM, which can be followed on Couch Managers. There are 14 teams and there will be a total of 16 rounds. The draft began on Tuesday, December 13th and was originally anticipated to last until sometime in February.

Six rounds completed in three days. 89 selections have been made in over 82 hours, which is an average rate of 0.93 hours per pick or 25.80 picks per day. Some people are proving to be major hurdles in this draft, which makes it seem like a lot more time has past, but my impatience is probably caused by my baseball deprivation.

Expected Date to Complete at Current Rate: Thursday, December 22, 2011
Latest Date to Complete at Maximum Rate: Monday, January 30, 2012

Round #5, Pick #66 - Lance Berkman
I thought about using this opportunity to acquire another pitcher while guys like Jon Lester, Matt Cain, and Adam Wainwright were still available, but decided against it. I did not like many of the other first base options behind Berkman, which is why I decided to pick him up while I could. He's been an extremely consistent hitter with at least 20 homers and a batting average over .270 every season since 2000, excluding 2010. If he can do that in 2012, then the runs and RBIs will follow as long as he's in St. Louis.

Round #6, Pick #75 - Michael Young
While looking ahead at the rest of the position players available, I really wanted to fill third base before it was too late. I had queued Young and Kevin Youkilis before I went to bed, hoping to have drafted one of them before the morning. I ended up with Young, which is fine. He will be constantly scoring and driving in runs in the Rangers lineup thanks to his steady batting average of .280 or better. In retrospect, I wish I would have taken Brett Lawrie instead after realizing his potential in a full-time role, but at least Young will keep up my team's batting average.

Rounds 1 & 2
Rounds 3 & 4
Rounds 5 & 6
Rounds 7 & 8
Rounds 9 & 10
Rounds 11 & 12
Rounds 13 - 16

Critiques are welcomed!