Mock Draft 1

I just finished my first mock draft of the year, here are the results. It was a 10-team mixed league, and I had the 10th overall pick, giving me two consecutive picks each time through. Since I'll be drafting 10th in my league, I thought it would give me the best idea as to what I might expect. It's not perfect, because having a keeper league changes a lot of things in the draft, but this is probably the best I could do.

1: Mark Teixeira (1B, NYY)
2. Evan Longoria (3B, TB)

I wasn’t ecstatic with these two here, but I’m not going to complain. I’m not sure it was worth taking a first baseman this early when it might be the deepest any position has ever been in the history of fantasy baseball. I’m feeling better about Longoria, because third base is very thin this year, and I’d rather him in the second than getting stuck with someone like Michael Young later. I just think 11th overall might be a little too early for him.

3: Robinson Cano (2B, NYY)
4: Jayson Werth (OF, Phi)

Ugh. I got myself stuck, because the only players worth taking here in these rounds were first and third basemen. Werth at #31 is just terrible, and I should have passed on Cano here and taken Zobrist in the 6th.

5: Andre Ethier (OF, LAD)
6: Johan Santana (SP, NYM)

Eh, Ethier seems to have been going a little earlier than this, so even though I don’t like it all that much, I can’t complain. I just don’t know if he’s going to repeat ’09. And again, there just wasn’t anyone here worth taking, so I opted to start up my rotation earlier than I normally would. If he’s healthy, Santana should be solid for everything (except for wins, god the Mets are terrible. I feel bad for my friends who are stuck with them as their favorite team).

7: Shane Victorino (OF, Phi)
8. Yovani Gallardo (SP, Mil)

I’m trying to put together some sort of balance here, and Victorino at least gets me some sort of speed outside of Werth. I don’t like Victorino, but I felt that I got stuck here again. Gallardo should be solid, but I might’ve been able to wait a round on him. I just realized that this particular mock draft uses a Middle Infield and Corner Infield spot, so I could’ve drafted a first or third baseman back in the third. Let that be a lesson: always check your league settings before you draft.

9: Ricky Nolasco (SP, Fla)
10: Elvis Andrus (SS, Tex)

I love Nolasco here. If Jurrjens was the luckiest pitcher on the planet last season (if he wasn’t, he was close), then Nolasco was the unluckiest. Andrus was taken a bit too early for my taste, but it made sense for me here I think. There’s a run on closers going on, and I don’t think I want to reach for one when they’re a dime a dozen anyway. My OF and IF were filled (except for short, obviously), and I already had three pitchers, so that seemed to be a more pressing concern here.

Am I unhappy with my team at this point? No, not really, but I’m not too happy about it either. Good thing it’s a mock draft and doesn’t count for anything, because I’m not sure I’d want to start the season with these guys as my first 10 picks.

11: Jose Lopez (2B, Sea)
12: Francisco Cordero (RP, Cin)

Well, I waited as long, if not longer, for a closer than I normally do. However, I don’t want my top closer to be Francisco Cordero. Whee. I should’ve taken Jose Valverde here instead. I actually like Lopez here, I’ve seen him going in the 8th round, which is a little too early for my taste, but here I’m willing to gamble that he won’t regress all that much. He’s probably the biggest power guy in the M’s lineup and at the very least should approach 100 RBI’s again.

13: Michael Cuddyer (1B/OF, Min)
14: Miguel Montero (C, Ari)

Like everyone else, I like Montero this year. He’s got a shot to add a fourth M to Mauer, Martinez and McCann on the list of elite fantasy catchers. Cuddyer’s not a bad pick here either - he’s fine for my 1B/3B spot, and he can fill in an outfield spot if need be. But wow, my average is beginning to take a beating.

15: Franklin Gutierrez (OF, Sea)
16: Roy Oswalt (SP, Hou)

I’m hoping Oswalt has one more good year left in him here. My pitching was looking a little (a lot) thin to me, and I felt I needed to draft someone as a bridge to the high-risk pitchers I’ll probably be drafting before too long. I like Gutierrez this year, and at least according to my numbers I got him a little later than his ADP. Hopefully he lives up to it. On offense, I still have my 5th OF spot and UTIL to fill, and my RP is looking pretty terrible with Cordero as my big stopper.

17: Frank Francisco (RP, Tex)
18: David Ortiz (DH, Bos)

Hopefully the Rangers are as good as everyone’s saying they are, because I could sure use a lot of saves from Francisco. I just complained about my average taking a hit, so I grab David Ortiz, who hit a marvelous .238 last season. Ugh.

19: Edwin Jackson (SP, Ari)
20: Corey Hart (OF, Mil)

Here I’m hoping Jackson pitches like he did in the first half of ‘09, and Hart turns the corner after being less valuable to the Brewers than a no-armed infielder in 2009. Too bad I’m all but bunting AVG. So my starting offense is filled, and I guess I should fill in my remaining pitching spots before too long.

21: Francisco Liriano (SP, Min)
22: Everth Cabrera (SS, SD)

I probably could have waited another round or two even before taking Liriano, but I like him enough this year that I’m willing to take the gamble he’d be worth the 210th overall pick. As for Cabrera, I like his speed, and eventually I needed to get some sort of a back-up guy on my offense. Can’t say I like a league that only has three bench spots, but I’ll live with it I guess.

23: Paul Konerko (1B, CWS)
24: Chase Headley (3B/OF, SD)

This is why I didn’t think I needed Teixeira in the first: because Konerko and his 25+ homers were still available 230th overall. I like Headley as an extra 3B/OF option, and he could break out a little bit (though Petco will probably keep him from achieving as much as he might otherwise be able to in 2010). I should’ve gambled on Bedard coming back eventually this season, instead of gambling on a guy next round, who hasn’t pitched well since the 2007 Midsummer Classic…

25: Jeremy Bonderman (SP, Det)

At this point, I’d probably end up dropping whoever I draft here anyway, so I might as well gamble that the reports are true and he’s not only healthy, but his pitches are showing the kind of life that’s been missing for 2 ½ years.

Final Roster:
C - Miguel Montero (14)
1B - Mark Teixeira (1)
2B - Robinson Cano (3)
3B - Evan Longoria (2)
SS - Elvis Andrus (10)
1B/3B - Michael Cuddyer
2B/SS - Jose Lopez (11)
OF - Jayson Werth (4)
OF - Andre Ethier (5)
OF - Shane Victorino (7)
OF - Franklin Gutierrez (15)
OF - Corey Hart (20)
UTIL - David Ortiz (18)
B - Everth Cabrera (22)
B - Paul Konerko (23)
B - Chase Headley (24)

SP - Johan Santana (6)
SP - Yovani Gallardo (8)
SP - Ricky Nolasco (9)
SP - Roy Oswalt (16)
RP - Francisco Cordero (12)
RP - Frank Francisco (17)
P - Edwin Jackson (19)
P - Francisco Liriano (21)
P - Jeremy Bonderman (25)