We had the 14-team mixed, 5 x 5 Yahoo Friends and Family League draft today. It's a 1 C, 4 OF, 2 U league with three reserves - otherwise the specs are standard. I had the sixth pick.
Here's my team:
Round | Pick | Player | Position |
1 | 6 | Ryan Braun | OF |
2 | 23 | Jimmy Rollins | SS |
3 | 34 | Justin Morneau | 1B |
4 | 51 | Billy Butler | 1B |
5 | 62 | Mariano Rivera | P |
6 | 79 | Carlos Pena | 1B |
7 | 90 | Josh Beckett | P |
8 | 107 | Rickie Weeks | 2B |
9 | 118 | Adrian Beltre | 3B |
10 | 135 | Alfonso Soriano | OF |
11 | 146 | Francisco Liriano | P |
12 | 163 | Chad Qualls | P |
13 | 174 | Lastings Milledge | OF |
14 | 191 | Ervin Santana | P |
15 | 202 | David Price | P |
16 | 219 | Brandon Webb | P |
17 | 230 | Magglio Ordonez | OF |
18 | 247 | Brian Matusz | P |
19 | 258 | Delmon Young | OF |
20 | 275 | Cameron Maybin | OF |
21 | 286 | Russell Martin | C |
22 | 303 | Jermaine Dye | OF |
23 | 314 | Vicente Padilla | P |
24 | 331 | Chris Getz | 2B |
25 | 342 | Scott Podsednik | OF |
One wrinkle is a low innings cap (1250), so strikeouts - and to some extent wins - are at a premium. You simply cannot roster Mark Buehrle or Derek Lowe unless you want to tank the strikeout category because everyone's going to get to 1250 IP, so the category is really K/9, not total Ks. I suppose if you had Tom Glavine in his prime, you could use him for ERA, wins and WHIP and take the hit in Ks, like I'm doing with Carlos Pena in average for his power contributions. But getting a mediocre ERA/WHIP guy AND taking the K hit is hard to justify.
I also seriously thought about drafting Tim Lincecum at No. 6 overall for the K premium, but was concerned that I'd have to take hitters the next six rounds if I did that and miss out on potential pitching bargains. In retrospect, I wish I'd have been man enough to do that. Lincecum's 2009 numbers are FAR more valuable than Ryan Braun's.
Still, I like this team. I drafted pretty aggressively after the first seven rounds, and even pushed it with Billy Butler in Round 4.