2009 Cafeholics Mock Draft

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Now in its third Year, here are the results of the 2009 Cafeholics Mock Draft. As always, it is a 21-round draft – Roto scoring – for a standard Yahoo roster: nine hitters, seven pitchers and five bench spots to be used as the ‘Mockers’ see fit. It began on January third and took slightly over three weeks, ending on January 27th.

Following the draft are the author’s personal reflections on each round. Feel free to vent your disagreement over any observations in the appropriate Forum!

Reflections on the draft

Rounds 1 & 2

It was mildly surprising to see Miggy Cabrera take the #5 spot ahead of Reyes, but not a huge shock, as I would probably do the same. Chase Utley made it into the first round at #11, two picks ahead of Ian Kinsler in the battle to be the first-drafted second baseman. Only two starters went in the first two rounds – Johan Santana (expected) and CC Sabathia (perhaps a surprise in front of Tim Lincecum). I was happy to find ARod waiting at pick #3, and took BJ Upton on the way back after trying to decide between him and Carlos Lee. That said, if I didn’t already have ARod, I would probably have taken Evan Longoria over both outfielders.

Rounds 3 & 4

Much debate took place in the draft over Matt Kemp’s selection at #28 overall, ahead of the likes of Bay, Markakis and Crawford. Brandon Phillips fell further than he perhaps should, while reigning AL MVP Pedroia was actually the fifth second-base man to be drafted, behind mainstays Phillips and Roberts. Vladimir Guerrero, Carl Crawford, Ichiro Suzuki and David Ortiz all fell further than they have been drafted in a long time, while a number of aces found their way on to rosters in these two rounds. Having taken Morneau for some power, the speed/AVG combo that Ichiro provides was too good to allow him to fall any further.

Rounds 5 & 6

BP took the first closer in Papelbon at the start of Round five, prompting a mini-run which saw Joe Nathan & Francisco Rodriguez taken almost immediately. Brian McCann won the race to be the first catcher drafted (Martin & Mauer following soon after); while Round six saw a number of younger hitters drafted of whom a lot is expected this year – the likes of Stephen Drew, Alexei Ramirez & Jacoby Ellsbury. I took Joe Nathan more by default, as there were no hitters or starters I really liked at this point, followed by Troy Tulowitzki at the end of the sixth – believing – and rightly so – that there would be a big run on shortstops before it got back to me at the end of Round eight.

Rounds 7 & 8

There was a run on starters and shortstops in these two rounds. I was quite surprised to see Roy Oswalt slip behind Ervin Santana and Jon Lester, whilst Rich Harden was drafted before the news of his latest injury was announced. Probably the last of the reliable shortstops went with the pick of Jhonny Peralta – Furcal, Young, Jeter and Hardy all having gone shortly before him. I was happy to get John Lackey as my ace at the start of Round seven, and took Joakim Soria in round eight to try a different strategy to normal. Taking two of the top six closers left me free to pretty much forget about that position for the rest of the draft.

Rounds 9 & 10

A lot more starters went in these two rounds, as did a number of closers, while other teams filled in some of the holes in their rosters. Cliff Lee slipped all the way to the end of round nine – perhaps a little over-cautious of us to leave him on the board that long. Just before him, The Artful Dodger drafted Jay Bruce, with much expectation on his shoulders as he enters his first full Major League season. I took Robinson Cano for my 2B spot – it felt like decent value for the ninth round considering the dearth of decent hitters left at that position. That was followed by AJ Burnett in Round ten – should get lots of Ks and Wins with the Yankees, if he can only stay healthy.

Rounds 11 & 12

A nice little bargain for Mugrila in Andre Ethier at #128 overall, in my opinion. With Andruw Jones out of LA, I think Ethier is a good bet to be a top 100 player this year. Daullaz was the ‘Holic to throw down the gauntlet on David Price, drafting him at #134 – about right for a single-season league. I took my third starter in Round 11, pleasantly surprised to see Daisuke Matsuzaka still around. Also good was being able to draft the 30 HR power of Pat Burrell towards the end of Round 12.

Rounds 13 & 14

A very interesting mix of pitching was drafted in these two rounds. Bounce-back candidates (Erik Bedard, Aaron Harang) went alongside young guns and surprises from 2008 (Matt Garza, John Danks, Kevin Slowey, Ryan Dempster and more). I liked zepfan’s pick of Jayson Werth at #148, while a guy who is getting a lot of attention as a sleeper for 2009, Nelson Cruz, seems like good value for RUmp at #167. I bolstered my power numbers with Jim Thome, following that up with Derek Lowe as my 4th starter.

Rounds 15 & 16

A lot of potential bargains here, especially in Round 16. I especially like the picks of Clayton Kershaw, Elijah Dukes and Jered Weaver. I decided to take my catcher at the start of Round 15 – Chris Iannetta – although subsequent events proved that I could have waited much longer. In Round 16, I was unavailable, so my reliable stand-in (GiantsFan) fleshed out the starting pitching with Ubaldo Jiminez (and then Ollie Perez in Round 17).

Rounds 17 & 18

We’re into the realms of picking the bench players and sleepers to round out rosters. Much-hyped Matt Wieters went to The Artful Dodger at pick #202, while it was a mild surprise to see guys like Edwin Encarnacion and Nick Swisher fall so far. I was very happy to have Swisher as a dual-position backup this late!

Round 19, 20 & 21

After much hype and subsequent disappointment, Delmon Young fell all the way to Round 19. If he finally lives up to some of the hype, this could be a huge value pick. There was still tremendous value at the catching position available even in the last round – I’d be quite happy to have Mike Napoli, Bengie Molina or Ramon Hernandez as my starter in a 12-team league. To end my draft, I took a couple of middle relievers in JJ Putz & Joel Zumaya, who should put up decent ratios whilst picking up the odd save here or there. Finally, how the mighty have fallen. Hideki Matsui was still available at the start of Round 21 – he’s fallen far in a couple of years, but far enough to be out of the top 250 players overall? Well, maybe…

So there you have it. My thanks to my fellow ‘Holics in putting this draft together. We hope it proves useful to you in your own drafts this year, and we await your comments with eager anticipation!

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