Where to begin this mid-draft review? I’ll start with my thinking going in – as a three-time consecutive second place bridesmaid, I knew that I needed to change my drafting style to try to get over the hump. Long a proponent of compiling a stellar offensive starting line-up and patchworking a pitching staff together beginning at around Round 13, I shook things up this year by grabbing SPs with 2 of my first 5 picks. Let’s check back in on this at the end of the year to see if it made any difference.
Players that I had my eye on and hoped to draft but were snagged just before I had the chance? – Longoria, Bruce, Cespedes, Chapman.The first 2 rounds went predominantly as expected – Pujols went a bit high I suspect (high risk) as did Stanton (a lower risk IMO – as he’s primed for a 40HR season). Rick has already caught a tough break with Hanley out for 2 months (BTW – WBC sucks for exactly this reason!) Round 5 has 3 picks that I think could go a long way in deciding the fate of 3 teams – Craig, Castro, and Goldschmidt.
Steve – also seemingly attempting to shake up his drafting strategy – was the first manager to select a Reliever
(Round 4), and it was almost another 2 full rounds before another RP was chosen, and then another 2 rounds before the Closer selection began in earnest (4 chosen in Round #8). Starting pitching on the other hand, has been flying off the board since Round 1 and at the time of this writing, 35 out of a possible 138 picks have been SPs – 25%!)With the second half of the draft remaining – how will this end up in October? Well I know – but won’t spoil it for the rest of you……
