Academic

My 2009 fantasy baseball team

By Tung Yin

It's springtime, which means it's fantasy baseball season.  We had our live draft on Wednesday night, 11 managers including -- for the first time -- another law prof!  I had the #9 pick, which was kind of a bummer since there were no obvious superstars likely to drop that far down.

I didn't do a whole lot of advance reading (too busy with other stuff), but I did go into the draft with my usual strategy of trying to draft power hitters early and holding off on pitchers -- especially closers -- until at least after the 5th round.  I also decided that I was going to be extremely ageist and avoid any hitters who were 30 or over, if I could.

Here are my picks:

1. Ian Kinsler (Tex - 2b)

Other choices here were Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, or Chase Utley.  All three Phillies players are over 30, so I went with Kinsler, who's likely to get better rather than slightly worse.  My preference would have been to take a bigger hitter rather than a middle infielder, but what can you do?

2. Mark Teixeira (NYY - 1b)

I can only hope that putting Teixeria in the middle of the Yankees lineup will produce awesome stats . . . .

3. Nick Markakis (Balt. - of)

Shares my first son's name (sort of).  Enough said.

4. Carlos Quentin (CWS - of)

Hopefully not just a flash in the pan.  But another youngster with upside.

5. Joe Mauer (Minn. - c)

In retrospect, this was probably a mistake.  Sure, he's got a nice batting average, but he hasn't been stealing bases, and he doesn't have much power.  I could have taken Jake Peavy or Dan Haren, which would have been a round earlier than I would normally take pitching, but still would have been better.

6. Josh Beckett (Bos. - sp)

I was all set to take Chad Billingsley here, but then, while waiting for my turn, I was reading about his recent groin injury.  Maybe it wasn't that serious a problem, but I decided not to risk it.

7. Felix Hernandez (Sea. - sp)

Most of the picks around this one went to other starting pitchers or older hitters.  I drafted Hernandez a couple of years ago, too early as it turned out, but I like the strikeout potential and the home ballpark.

8. Francisco Rodriguez (NYM - rp)

I don't like to draft closers early, but K-Rod has amazing stuff and is going to a pitcher's park.  I don't expect him to get 60+ saves again, but I do expect lots of Ks and great ERA and whip.

9. Rich Harden (ChC - sp)

Great results when he pitches.  Roy Oswalt was the pick right before this one.  I've always like Oswalt as a player, but last year (when I drafted him) was kind of scary, so it's just as well he was off the board for me.  I do wonder if I should've taken Yovani Gallardo instead of Harden, though.

10. Conor Jackson (Ari. - of/1b)

My outfield was looking thin, and the available choices down the road were getting ugly.

11. B.J. Ryan (Tor. - rp)

Another closer with terrific peripherals.  I had some other starting pitchers that I was keeping an eye on, but enough that I could afford to wait.  The same thing was true for shortstops and third basemen; having missed out on the obvious choices, I was content to wait.

12. Zack Greinke (KC - sp)

I believe Greinke was the first KC Royal taken in our draft!  Yeah, KC is a pretty bad team, and I've stayed away from Greinke in the past because of his unimpressive K rate.  However, I was surprised to see that he had picked things up in that department last year, so I took a chance with him.

13. Johnny Cueto (Cin. - sp)

Cueto looked mighty good at times last year.  Whether I was right to take him or Erik Bedard, who went a few picks later, will depend on Bedard's health, I suspect.

14. Frank Francisco (Tex. - rp)

He only had 5 saves last year, but it looks like the closer's job is his.

15. Felipe Lopez (Ari. - 2b/ss/3b)

This was a pick of faith. . . .  I do like players who have multiple infield eligibility for their flexibility.  Lopez stole 20+ bases in 2006 and 2007, and apparently Kirk Gibson is one of the bench coaches for Arizona, so hopefully that will inspire/goad Lopez into being more aggressive.

16. John Danks (CWS - sp)

The White Sox have two promising young pitchers, Gavin Floyd and Danks.  Danks has better K numbers and a worse W-L record, both of which point to him as the better option this year.

17. Jim Thome (CWS - dh)

I need a DH.  Thome can still crank the ball when he plays.  Do  you know, one year I accidentally drafted Jim Thome with the #1 pick in the draft?  I think I won that year's league, too, notwithstanding the mistake.

18. Hank Blalock (Tex. - 3b)

Apparently, this was a mistake.  I didn't realize that the Texas Rangers were moving Michael Young from shortstop to third base. . . .

19. Dan Wheeler (TB - rp)

Mostly here I was looking for a relief pitcher with good ERA and whip, and the chance at some wins and occasional saves.  Besides, Tampa Bay's closer is Troy Percival, who's almost as old as I am.  He could break down at any moment.

20. Dioner Navarro (TB - c)

Just a back up catcher for when Mauer takes a day off.

21. Ryan Theriot (ChC - ss)

I had signed off, so this was Yahoo!'s autopick for me.

***

Overall, I'm somewhat dissatisfied with my team's relative lack of power, which is the result of drafting a core of young players.  I guess we'll see if my risk aversion pays off.  In the meantime, I decided to rectify my Blalock mistake by cutting him and adding Scott Downs (Tor. - rp) as a backup to Ryan.

Full post as published by The Yin Blog on March 28, 2009 (boomark / email).