2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 3 & 4

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.

Four rounds completed in a little more than two days. As this article is published, 64 selections have been made over the first 54 hours. That's an average rate of 1.19 picks per hour or 28.4 picks per day, which means we could expect this draft to be finished in about eight days from when the draft began. Wednesday, December 21st is great compared to February as we will now have Christmas and New Years to ourselves.

It took a very long time for the draft to snake back to me in the third round. I knew I would not be able to stay awake to make my pick when it finally came to me around 3AM CST, so I filled my queue and hit the sack. I woke up this morning to find I had selected Jered Weaver, which is not a bad thing, but the next choice in my queue after him was who I would have really preferred. Mike Napoli would have been the big bat my current lineup needs who also has the ability to maintain a decent batting average and plays a position where those characteristics are unusual, but he was taken at the end of the round.

Round four had looped around quickly as it was time for my pick with the clock ticking when I sat down at the computer this morning. I really wanted to find that big bat, but also wanted to fill in a weak position before it was too late. I decided upon Ben Zobrist whom I have overlooked several years beforehand and only considered him now from what I had read. Rickie Weeks and Howie Kendrick were other options at the position, but I felt that Weeks' consistently low batting average would hurt me and thought it was too early for Kendrick. I would be ecstatic with this pick if the 2012 Zobrist is the same from 2011 or 2009.

Round #3, Pick #38 - Jered Weaver
This pick was a borderline mistake as I set my queue before I hit the sack last night and expected Weaver to be selected by one of the three teams before mine. The second player in my queue was actually my top choice as I hoped to use this round to acquire a big bat at a weak position, but Mike Napoli was taken before the round ended.

Round #4, Pick #47 - Ben Zobrist
I wanted to use round four to fulfill my desire of some power in an otherwise weak position. Rickie Weeks was a possibility, but his batting average would drag the team down. Howie Kendrick could have been another option, but not in round four. Rather than risk waiting, I chose Zobrist who has the power to hit 20-30 homeruns, drive in 80-90 runs, and potentially bat for a decent 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!

2012 Mock Draft, Rounds 1 & 2

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, but apparently everyone is anxious to try to prepare for 2012. Two rounds down, only 14 to go!


I landed in the #10 slot and quickly realized I would not be able to acquire any of my top three choices (Matt Kemp, Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista), but I definitely lucked out when it finally came time for my first round pick as Jacoby Ellsbury fell in my lap.

The second round was much more difficult as I hate to snag pitchers early in drafts and the guys I hoped would fall through the cracks were taken (Justin Upton, Carlos Gonzalez, Adrian Beltre, Curtis Granderson, Prince Fielder). I took a risk, which is unlike me in the second round, and decided upon Hanley Ramirez who had a terrible 2011. If everything pans out, then I have two guys with the potential to contribute in all five categories.

Round #1, Pick #10 - Jacoby Ellsbury
There were only three guys in 2011 to collect 100 runs, 100 RBI, 30 HR, and 30 stolen bases while also posting a batting average of .300 or better: Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, and Jacoby Ellsbury. Kemp was taken in the first round and no one is going to touch Braun this early when he may have to serve a 50 game suspension, so there was little hesitation when I chose Ellsbury. I don't foresee him maintaining the disposition as a 30/30 guy, but would be happy with a 20/40 season. He's practically a knack for 100 RBIs and runs as long as he is healthy in a Red Sox uniform.

Round #2, Pick #19 - Hanley Ramirez
This was less of a given. I have a very hard time taking pitchers early in drafts, unless it's an auction and only for cheap, which is why I passed on guys like Roy Halladay and Clayton Kershaw. Bill James projects Hanley Ramirez to bounce back to similar numbers from 2010. There are very few shortstops who have the upside to hit 20-30 HR and steal 20+ bases while also maintaining a batting average close to .300. I settled on Hanley hoping 2011 was a fluke year. I would typically prefer my 2nd round pick to have less risk, but I just couldn't justify any of the other alternatives.

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 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

I will be a participant of a slow fantasy baseball mock draft which begins today Tuesday. It was supposed to start on Monday, but it was pushed back while we scrambled to fill the last few slots. The draft will be coordinated by Jeffrey from BleacherGM who provided an introduction on their website.

Here are some of the details:

"Today marks the start of our very first BleacherGM Fantasy Baseball Slow Mock Draft. We've assembled a great group of fantasy baseball enthusiasts, each with varying levels of experience. Over the next couple weeks we'll each draft a full roster for the 2012 season. I know it is very early, but it should be interesting to see how the draft positions of players change from last year and start to get a feel for which positions will be the most shallow, who will be this year's 'sleepers' and just how far Ryan Braun falls due to the very real possibility that he'll miss a significant amount of time to start the season.

Anyway, here are the rules. We will draft 16 positions; C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UT, SP, SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P and use the basic 5x5 Roto scoring statistics; R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, S, K, ERA, WHIP.

Throughout the draft we'll have each team give thoughts on their picks. At the end of the draft we'll use some preliminary projections to crown a champion of BleacherGM's inaugural Mock Draft."

You can find a short bio for each participant on his website, so go check them out!

The draft will be performed on Couch Managers, so you should be able to follow it. I will gladly accept any criticisms you may have as it will almost certainly help out in my upcoming drafts.

Furcal Returns for Two Year Deal

The St. Louis Cardinals made a move I was expecting and signed veteran shortstop Rafael Furcal to a 2 year contract worth $14 million. The price was reasonable as I had predicted a seasonal salary of about $8 million. This acquisition supports the "realistic outcome" I theorized in my post on Friday. Check it out if you haven't read it yet.

Furcal is not a terrible baseball player, but he is a rather high risk at this price. He used to be a major threat on the bases who would steal 20+ bases per season. Now his greatest threat is to land on the disabled list for most of the season. He played in fairly unabbreviated seasons for the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers from 2002 through 2007, but has averaged only 92.5 games per season since 2008.

I understand the Cardinals did not want to give Jimmy Rollins the five year contract he desires. Not signing Rollins also allows them to avoid talking to Dan Lozano for a second time, which is probably ideal after their failure to sign Albert Pujols. I have a tendency to avoid confrontation, so I would have done the same thing in their situation.

This acquisition almost certainly indicates Ryan Theriot will be non-tendered. If they continue with the "realistic" route, then I'm willing to place a bet on seeing Nick Punto, Darren Oliver, George Sherrill, and Carlos Beltran pop up in Cardinals rumors.

Pittsburgh Pirates Offseason Outlook

I provided a followup piece to the Pittsburgh Pirates Report Card for Mr. Bill Ivie on Baseball Digest. It was actually published on December 1st, so it is lacking the latest information regarding their acquisitions of Erik Bedard, Nick Evans, details on the Rule V draft, etc.

http://www.baseballdigest.com/2011/12/01/bd-off-season-outlook-pittsburgh-pirates

The website was removed. The article can now be found here: Pirates 2012 Offseason Outlook

I apologize for the delay, but you can believe it's been a crazy week with the winter meetings and all.

Please go check it out if you've not already. Thanks for reading!