2014 Draft Analysis: The best and worst from each team

Hello everyone,

Welcome back to another season of fantasy baseball. I can't promise you it'll be as engaging in terms of rankings and blog posts as it has been in the past, but I can promise you some post-draft analysis. So without further ado, here is the best and worst from each team's draft.


1) Longfellow Deeds

Best Draft Move: Taking guys looking for a rebound year. We love, love, love this strategy in drafts, and intentional or not, Adam did a nice job here. Josh Hamilton, Curtis Granderson, Jason Heyward, Brian McCann, CC Sabathia, and Mark Buehrle are all guys who had pretty lousy 2013 seasons but have proven in the past they can get it done in the fantasy circle. Some say it's a team of 2010 All-Stars; we say it's a calculated risk.

Worst Draft Move: Closing the door on first base. With such a deep position, Adam really hurt himself by waiting so long on first base. He is stuck with Daniel Murphy and James Loney to plug in there, by no means ideal. And he could have prevented this by simply waiting a bit longer to take closers. Kenley Jansen with the first pick of Round 8 over guys like Mat Adams, Billy Butler and Jose Abreu is flabbergasting when Adam was already sitting there with Craig Kimbrel.

2) Veto Corleone

Best Draft Move: Scooping up Mike Minor in Round 9. If Minor comes back after only missing two to three weeks, then this is a steal and Bob could even already be penciling him in as a 2015 keeper. Had Minor been healthy, he goes two to three rounds earlier.

Worst Draft Move: Passing up on Gerrit Cole. We understand Bob is going back to his slug-it-out offensive strategy, but when you don't have a true fantasy ace, it's still tough to build a rotation both short-term and long-term. After starting the draft with Trout, Davis, Gonzalez and Ortiz, perhaps taking a flame-thrower in Cole rather than Ian Desmond in Round 6 would have set up Bob's rotation nicely for now and the future.

3) Backdoor Slider

Best Draft Move: Using late-round picks on youth. A lot of teams will wait till the very end for relievers, but with the addition of the 4th keeper, the wildcard, we like what Ken did here: Yellich, Castellanos, Moustakas, and Quintana. If any of them turns out to amount to anything, it's a steal and potentially very cheap keeper. Don't sleep on Nolan Arenado in Round 15, either.

Worst Draft Move: Jose Reyes. Ken, please close your eyes and envision it being August 20th, 2014. You're in 8th place or so, fighting hard to sneak into the playoffs. You see a ESPN.com story that Jose Reyes has finally been shut down for the year after never recovering from the hamstring tear. You cut him and then casually load up the draft results. You see you passed up All-Stars Ortiz, Heyward, Holliday, and Desmond to take Reyes. You cringe and you think "What could have been?" True or false: There is a better than 50/50 chance this all actually happens?

4) Fireballs

Best Draft Move: Taking Robinson Cano once he fell to No. 4. It's hard to think Rick was prepared for this, as most mock drafts had Cano going 3. We're glad Rick didn't get flustered and reach for someone else or take Max Scherzer like we might have seen in the past; although it took him 75 seconds to decide, it was the right play.

Worst Draft Move: Playing the game of "Relief Roulette" yet again. Five relievers is no surprise on this squad, and it's the same old story from Rick. But, hey, he hasn't made the playoffs or had a winning since 2009, so why bother changing it up, right?

5) Billy Ball

Best Draft Move: Securing backups for every position. If it's one thing we can write down in pen for 2014, it's that Jack will suffer injuries. Happens every year; in fact, it's basically like another summer holiday. Memorial Day? May. Labor Day? September. Jack's Injury Day? Usually sometime in June. Well, this year, Jack took out some insurance with some dual-eligibility players. We like the idea, as it will mean he relies less on the waiver wire for fill-ins.

Worst Draft Move: Not sure there will be a worst draft move in 2014 than Jack taking Kris Medlen, not to even mention it came in Round 12. For someone who already entered the draft behind the 8-ball in pitching, this one could hurt. Jack will admit it was a terrible boo-boo, and let's hope for his sake, not a season-ender like Medlen's second UCL tear was.

6) Dad

Best Draft Move: Taking Ivan Nova in Round 16, a whopping No. 186 overall. Based on Nova's last 15 or so starts in 2013 and his spring dominance, we think this will be an absolute steal. Mark it down.

Worst Draft Move: Other than this stupid team name? Well, taking Adrian Gonzalez, who already tweaked his back sightseeing, over David Ortiz, who has been a model of .310/30/100/80/.900 consistency for years and now has 1B eligibility. This was just one of several front-five blunders, as Mike's entire starting infield had an average OPS in 2013 of .739. That is brutal and hard to fathom.

7) Off In Church

Best Draft Move: Drafting 10 starting pitchers. Dave is trying to make up for his lack of pitching quality by maximizing on quantity, and we like the move. At the very least, to start the season, he should have no problem contending each week in innings, strikeouts and wins. On the other hand...

Worst Draft Move: Leaving himself with a truly, truly terrible rotation. Hands down, this is the worst preseason pitching we have this year - and arguably ever in the league. The oft-injured Anibal Sanchez is his most reliable starter outside of Matt Cain, and after that it's a bunch of low-end guys. I can't remember someone having so many 4th and 5th starters on one team: Delgado, Smyly, Ross, Peavy, and Bradley.

8) 12 Years A Freeman

Best Draft Move: Drafting Matt Harvey in the 18th round. Hey, if Andy can avoid more than 2 DL stints at a time, then this could turn out to be genius. The payoff could be worth the gamble if Harvey recovers in time for 2015 (or even late in the 2014 season).

Worst Draft Move: Drafting Matt Harvey in the 18th round. If you remember a few years back, Andy did this with Stephen Strasburg, who was also recovering from Tommy John surgery. The result? He sat as a wasted DL spot for almost the entire year, came back for a few meaningless starts in September, and went back into our draft pool the next offseason.

9) Sheep Squared

Best Draft Move: Not doing anything fancy in Rounds 1 and 2. We fear this could be a rebuilding year for Shea. So we're glad he took Carlos Gomez and Jason Kipnis with his first two picks, AKA the best players on the board at the time.

Worst Draft Move: Not drafting a true 3B for Manny Machado insurance. We question Shea not taking someone like Kyle Seager, Chris Johnson, or Nolan Arenado to slide into 3B in case Machado misses time in April and beyond. Instead, he went with Xander Bogaerts.

10) Smutt Peddlers 9

Best Draft Move: For the fear of sounding hypocritical in about 2 minutes, we're going with loading up the pitching rotation. Look, this has to be Joe's best draft move simply by default. What else could it be? At some point, Joe made the decision that he was going to go hardcore on pitching, and he never looked back, sticking to that strategy. Only one of his pitchers projects to have an ERA over 3.81 and a WHIP over 1.27, and he could have five guys around the 200 strikeout mark.

Worst Draft Move: David Price with his second pick. Once Joe took Price to give him 3 pitchers in his top 5 players, he set the tone for the rest of his draft. With two keeper pitchers, we think this was pretty unnecessary. And cover your eyes because it's really hard to look at Joe's offense and think he has any chance in hell of competing for a weekly skin, let alone a division title. We've said that about Joe's teams before, but we really mean it this time. Joe is only projected to have three players eclipse 20 homers this season, and two of them - Pedro Alvarez and Mike Napoli - will strike out close to 400 times and fail to hit .270. When Joe told us he prepped for this draft, we had to make sure the calendar didn't say April 1.

11) The Allen Websters

Best Draft Move: Taking outfielders in the early rounds. Going into the draft, Hal had keepers at 2B and SS, and although we're big proponents of the BPA (Best Player Available) strategy in the early rounds, it's hard to blame Hal for wanting to fill his outfield spots early. Jay Bruce, Allen Craig, and Wil Myers were Hal's first three picks.

Worst Draft Move: Limited pitching depth. Hal has perfected this in the past, in terms of selectively playing the matchups and benching guys, but at some point it could catch up to him. Hal only drafted seven starting pitchers, and he's already feeling the heat as two are now injured. Hal is really putting pressure on his offense to not lay any eggs each week, because it's hard to imagine his pitching carrying him to victory in a given week.

12) FreshPrince of Texas

Best Draft Move: Balance, balance, balance. Chris won last year because of his balanced offense, so we're not surprised to see him go right back to that strategy this year. He loves those 20-20 guys on offense, and if everyone stays healthy, it looks like he could have four of them on his team.

Worst Draft Move: Too many unproven pitchers. OK, we understand why someone would want to grab a prospect or two in this league, but Chris just went overboard. Masahiro Tanaka, Tijuan Walker, and Yordano Ventura have next-to-no MLB experience, and Chris Archer has a half -season to his name. We're not talking bench hitters here; these guys make up half of his starting pitching rotation -- a dangerous game to play in this league.


Agree/disagree or have your own comments? Leave em on the blog post.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Billy Ball

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Jack, AKA Billy Ball


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: This one is a no brainier. Getting Tulo back. At the number 5 pick I thought for sure he would be long gone. I actually had to quickly Google him in that 90-second slot to make sure something didn't happen that I missed since I was out on the golf course all day.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: Time will tell on this one but getting Carl Crawford in the 9th draft round, Shane Victorino in the 8th draft round, and Rickie Weeks in the 7th draft round all feel like they were pretty measured risks. They could prove to be steals or busts, but at the slots I took them the risk/reward made sense and I hope the upside comes in.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Honestly - other than the catcher in the 5th round that I had to take for the forfeited pick - I would pick them all the same way. I generally picked the best player available (by my measure) through the first few rounds, then tried to fill in the position needs come mid draft.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: I'm a real estate guy. Go big or go home. I wish everyone good luck chasing second place.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: The Wright Stuff

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Hal, AKA The Wright Stuff


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: I'll have to go with two here: First, I really like the Lester pick. In my eyes he is a no-brainer for a major bounce back candidate. Aside from last season, he has ace like numbers. Only time will tell but between how he finished last year winning 4/5 starts and how he's pitched in the spring, I'm confident the pick will pay off. Second, I love that I was able to snag Brett Anderson. Like Lester, he displays ace like potential and if he can stay healthy, he'll be a top producer.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: For the sole reason that I did not expect him to be available when I picked, I'll go with David Wright. Being able to fill the hot corner that early without having to reach I believe will pay dividends for my squad and opened up my options to draft some sleepers I was high on and some value picks later on.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: I am very happy with how my draft went so I don't think I'd do anything differently. Ask me again in a few weeks and I'm sure I'll have a different story. I had a strategy, stuck with it and got the players I wanted.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: How can anyone who is happy with their draft not pick themselves to finish first? I predict a first place finish for The Wright Stuff. I've got my core producers back from last year's team that finished first overall and feel like I made some very nice additions for this year's squad.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Los Pollos Hermanos

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Andy, AKA Los Pollos Hermanos


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: Jeff Samardzija in Round 7. I have high hopes for this guy and I read an article in which he said he dumped his girlfriend because he wanted to prepare and stay mentally focused. Who wouldn't want a guy that dedicated on their team?

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: Cliff Lee. Yes, I'm declaring my biggest steal to be in the second round. I thought about taking him with my first pick, both before and during the draft, so him falling to me as the fifth pitcher drafted was very unexpected.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Alex Rios. I absolutely dislike him and he had a miserable season the last time I rostered him. I don't like taking players who have burnt me in the past, but he was sitting there for about three rounds past his projected value. By the 10th round and 114th overall, it simply became a value pick at that point.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: "If you're not first, you're last."
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Backdoor Slider

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Ken, AKA Backdoor Slider


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: My first pick in Josh Hamilton. Even though he was the 5th best available batter according to Yahoo, I'm extremely excited to have him with all the potential he has, especially in the Angels' lineup. The injuries worry me slightly but the payoff for a healthy year from him is way too much to pass up, and I believe he still hasn't reached his full potential. It was impossible for me to pass up the stats he is capable of producing, and I find it hard for him to not thrive in that lineup.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: I believe my biggest steal will prove to be Ichiro in the 13th round, and I was thrilled to get him there. I believe his numbers were only dipping because he was getting bored not having played an important game with the Mariners and lost some focus. Being with the Yankees, Ichiro will be locked in, and I can see his numbers approaching the Ichiro who was always a batting title threat. He proved in his stint with the Yanks last season (and the postseason) that if he wants to turn it on he can hit just as well as anyone in the league. I also believe Michael Young will be revitalized in the Phillies' lineup and ballpark, and provide a ton of value for a 19th round pick.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: I would redo my 11th round selection of Youkilis. As it got closer to my pick in the 11th round I decided I would have my eye on a 3B and specifically Will Middlebrooks. When he was drafted three slots ahead of me, I decided I would then be happy with David Freese but he was chosen right after. At this point, I panicked trying to fill 3B and probably chose Youkilis earlier then I had to. In retrospect, I could've waited on my 3B at least another round or two and would've been satisfied with Fraizer or Moustakas later on and could've added another starting pitcher (C.J. Wilson or Hellickson) in the 11th round.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: I don't want to follow the crowd or be too cocky about my squad this year, even though I am extremely excited by this team. So realistically, I'll predict that my team will finish 5 spots ahead of Mike's in the Te'o division.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Nyjer Please

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Mike, AKA Nyjer Please


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: I like my pick of Freddie Freeman the most. There are many good options for 1B, but I am very high on Freeman. His average was down some last year, but I am expecting that to improve. He is poised for a monster year.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: By the end of the year I hope to say Middlebrooks was the steal of my draft, but it's too early for that. So I think Ethier gets the nod. He should improve on his solid numbers from last year batting 5th behind the Dodgers revamped offense.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Clay Buchholz. Can't tell you who I would have taken instead, but can tell you I am not a fan of that pick. Still kicking myself for taking Starlin Castro over Cain last year. Yup, you read that right. #dumb

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: First, no question. I always expect the best, and think I have a solid team that can grab the division title...and more. I'm coming for you Shea.

I want to thank the schedule makers for allowing me to start the season 1-0.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Peddling Smutt

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Joe, AKA Peddling Smutt


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: I actually like my last pick them best. Taking Jeter in the final round sounds like a steal to me.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: I'm gonna have to refer to my last pick again. Dude had over 200 hits last year.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Greinke. Think I should have taken Cliff Lee. Unfortunately I cannot draft someone I hate and a Phillie that high. Wouldn't have been able to live with myself. [Ed note: Joe took Cole Hamels in Round 1 last year.]

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: 4. Way too early to tell. This team can either be really good (young guys hit potential, pitching staff is pretty nasty) or a disaster. I didn't prepare this year like I have other years so I took on a little more risk.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Ahh Harro

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Dave, AKA Ahh Harro


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: I loved all three of my first picks. But I especially liked Ben Zobrist in the 3rd/6th round. I think that with his position eligibility of 2 premium positions plus the fact that I think he can be top 30 in fantasy, I took him 72nd, he will provide great value to where i drafted him. I had difficulty last year with keeping a consistent second basemen and shortshop in my line-up and I believe that this should not be a problem this year.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: My biggest steal was Granderson in the 11th or 121 overall. Despite being out the first month and a half, I think my offense is still the best in the leauge. When he returns it will be devasting.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Carlos Santana. I didn't want to take a catcher early but I thought he fell a bit to where he provided great value to where I picked him. However looking over the draft results I could have addressed other areas and could have waited on drafting a catcher.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: 1st, why not?
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Goldschmember

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Chris, AKA Goldschmember


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: Matt Harvey hands down - he's an ace in the making, and from watching him pitch last year after he was called up I got to watch just how good he is. I drafted him with my 6th 'actual' pick (although debated taking him 2 rounds earlier). A lot of "bigger name" pitchers were flying off the board in the preceding rounds, guys who i do not think will perform nearly as well as Harvey and i was happy to see his name still out there when it got to me. Given what i expect from him and how he will perform throughout the season, i was more than happy to take him at this point as my 4th starter, especially looking at other teams' staffs and how he could be the 2nd best pitcher for a few unnamed teams in our league.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: Tough question commish, I consider Harvey to be a steal where I got him, but I guess I will try and humor you. I will give you 2 guys. They are my Colorado Rockies, and they are not named Tulowitzki or Gonzalez. Josh Rutledge fills 2b and will be setting the table for the big bats behind him. I think he can legitimately be a 15/15 guy with .300 avg ... and for the 14th round in our league, I think that is pretty damn good and much cheaper than similarly built players who went much earlier (Weeks, Prado, Phillips).

The other guy is the OF I took next, Dexter Fowler. I am hoping that he holds onto the leadoff spot all year. If so, a 20/20 season is not out of the realm of possibility. And just like Rutledge, hitting in front of Tulo/Cargo will lead to runs galore. I took Choo in round 6 hoping for him to bounce back and put up a 20/20 line ... it is my hope that Fowler pans out, and I get another 20/20 guy, 9 rounds later.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Easy. Nick Swisher Round 12. I was flustered with this pick, had my eye set on one guy the whole time coming into my Round 11-12 picks, then at the last minute, took a look at who I already had and where I was stat heavy/weak and decided I needed a batter with more pop. Enter Swisher. Nice stats across the board, 24 and 93 for the HR/RBI stats so I accomplished my goal and got the power I wanted. But still, he's changing from the hitting friendly lineup of the Yankees to a weaker lineup after just getting paid. Adding to the sting was the guy who I was targeting initially went soon thereafter. There were still suitable power hitters late in the draft, I would like to have taken it back.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: Candidly, I think I will finish in 2nd in the division. I think that my team is pretty even across the board hitting wise and will compete week in and out in all categories. As for pitching, I like how my rotation stacks up against any other out there and am counting on continued development from my young starters (Hellickson, Milone, Bumgarner, Harvey) to give me most pitching stats each week. I think there are certainly a few teams in my division that look on paper very strong and will compete for the division crown as well. I will need the hitters I took to live up to the expectations I have if my team is to take home the division crown.
Read more!

Draft postmortem: Cole Miners

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up next: Bob, AKA Cole Miners


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: I'm gonna cheat and say my top two picks in Heyward and Castro, I didn't think Heyward would be there in the first and thought Castro would be snagged up on the way back, in a keeper league, I think both guys have great value based on their age and skill level and I have two good candidates right there for my 2 open keeper spots at season end.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: Kyle Lohse, he was a top 15 pitcher last year and I snagged him in the 2nd to last round.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Brett Lawrie in the 6th round, it looked like he would be ready for the opener but will start on the DL, I still think he has a breakout year but I was gonna take Zobrist over hi and would probably take Zobrist if I had a 2nd chance.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: 1st place, I liked my draft a lot and I think my team will be very competitive both hitting and pitching wise.

Read more!

Draft postmortem: Give Sosa a Chance!

Each day, we'll be conducting preseason interviews, or draft postmortems, if you will.

See what each manager had to say about his team immediately after the draft, and what he would change about it.

Up first: Shea, AKA Give Sosa a Chance!


Q: Which pick of yours did you like the most? Why?

A: I really like Aaron Hill...there's very few 2Bs with 20+ HR power and I think he's going to be a stud.

Q: Who was your biggest steal?

A: Hopefully Melky Cabrera. Really looking forward to those steroids having a lingering effect.

Q: Which pick would do over again? Why?

A: Jesus Montero...I took him by accident.

Q: Where do you project yourself to finish in your division?

A: There's no reason not to think I don't have a championship caliber team. My keepers are tops in the league by far and I had a strong draft with power, speed, and formidable starters with 3 200+ strikeout guys. Bring it on!

Read more!