Challenge League Draft Results

[KolbSaves]

...and the rest

NZF- Ortiz + Delgado + Thome = Embaressment of riches at 1b, and also they can't all play, so I'm sure we'll see a trade soon from NZF. Outfield is full of question marks, but it looks like he took a lot of position players in the later rounds to try and hit upon something- he has 8 positional bench players! Rotation isn't too bad, but it could come down to Sheets' health and comeback years from Oliver Perez and Mike Mussina. Only one closer.

mtarail- Rivera, Hoffman, and Turnbow means this guy is very solid in saves. Steals look pretty good for him as well. Brian Roberts could be an asset for him, as he got him pretty late because everyone didn't want to touch him. The bench has Detroit's double play combo of Polanco and Guillen, and how could I argue with that? Starting rotation lacks a solid number 1 guy and doesn't have too much depth either, but Schill could be a homerun.

mmoney- Nothing really jumps out at me on his team at first. Offensively they're pretty good all around, but he needs Burrell, Taveras and Felipe Lopez to all return with equally good seasons as a year ago. Only one closer here (until Macdougal comes back). Peavy and Burnett could be a great 1,2 punch but that all depends on Burnett's arm and how many wins those two teams get them.

bleach- Saves and potential saves galore: Dempster, Wagner, C Cordero, Micelli, Shields, Devine, and R Wagner. Huff and Rolen are question marks at the corners, but V Mart and Reyes makes him strong up the middle. Outfield is weak behind Abreu.

tribe-fan- This guy is so stacked in the outfield that he has to play Berks at 1b. Cuddyer is a nightmare at 2b and Maggs can go either way in the util, but those aren't huge problems. Three closers is a strong point, even if they might be a little shakey. Patterson and Penny got no support last year, but this is an all new season. Anyone's staff looks a lot better with the best pitcher in the league, Johan Santana.

erboes- Well, it was said during the draft and I think it's apt: it looks like erboes was using his draft sheet from the start of last year. He's got TONS of bounceback candidates including Morneau, Beltre, Bonds, Pudge, Mora, Schmidt, Gagne, and Foulke. This team could finish at the bottom of the barrel or it could surprise us. I guess you have to go with the players you like, whether it's the "right" round or not sometimes. Maybe he'll surprise us all.

[PlayingWithFire]

Derek Lowe taken after Eric Byrnes?

Eric Gagne first closer taken?


Nothing wrong with it, just surprised

[thedude]

Tracking down erboes was tricky.

is he even still active here? How the heck did you find him?

[KolbSaves]

Tracking down erboes was tricky.

is he even still active here? How the heck did you find him?

He's not active here. I tracked him down through his website.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Another very interesting draft for the Cafe Challenge.

Rd 1 - I dont think Abreu should go that high, but other than that the picks were pretty basic.

Rd 2 - VMart obviously went too early. My guess is that there would have been a strong chance he would have been available to Bleach in the 3rd. Im a bit suprised Utley fell a few spots, and Helton at the end of the 2nd seems pretty like another jump.

Rd 3 - Gagne? In the 3rd? Thats pretty suprising - even for Erboes. Even if he thought he will return to form, I would have been suprised if he couldnt have drafted him in the 5th/6th. No other real suprises in this rd. Gagne was the 1st closer drafted.

Rd 4 - Bonds went kind of early - just too many questionmarks right now IMO - same with Gagne though - if he returns to form its a steal. But also just like Gagne, Im not sure if both Erboes 3rd/4th rd picks wouldnt have been available had he waited until the 5th/6th turn. AJones in the 4th rd seems like a bit of a steal.

Rd 5 - No suprises other than Damon going too early. Best pick FRod. Worst pick Damon.

Rd 6 - I think there was a few steals in this rd - Sheets, Street, Rolen (risky but great value if he bounces back). On the other hand, I see a couple shakey picks as well - Schilling and CLee.

Rd 7 - Mauer in the 7th has to be considered a small steal, but Prior falling this far was simpy shocking - the draft must have taken place soon after the news of his injury came out - there is no way he would have fallen that far before the news or a week after when it was reported it wasnt as serious as initially thought. Prior in the 7th was the steal of the draft - period. I like the other Sps drafted in this rd as well - good values. Foulke went too early - again even if you think he will return to form, he would have fallen back at least another couple rds.

Rd 8 - I love the Weeks pick in the 8th rd - but then again, Im one of those who doesnt think he will be drafted after the 4th rd in any draft by this time next yr. Other than that, this rd was pretty predictable - no real suprises or poor picks.

Rd 9 - Isri and Cordero this late are great values and borderline "steals". Loretta went too early. CFloyd went way too early. Also gotta mention the Burnett pick - solid value there.

Rd 10 - Clemens? Thats a gamble, not one Id take this early, but you know the risk/reward I guess. Rowand went too early. Great pick on Turnbow in this rd.

Rd 11 - Varitek this late - what a steal. I like the closers drafted in this rd - but I think the Sps drafted in this rd were rather poor.

Rd 12 - Maggs falls all the way to rd 12?!?!? In a yr where OFers are shallower than they have been in a long time, thats shocking to me. The Maggs pick qualifies for a steal of the draft type of pick. The Mike Gonzalez pick was also pretty huge - again its very suprising to see him fall so far. Mulder was a poor pick.

Rd 13 - thats just an ugly rd all together. Wood, Blanton, Lane, Winn... thats one ugly rd fellas.

Rd 14 - Kazmir, Duke, and Cabrera - the rd of the young guns. Good Sps this rd - nice grabs. I also like the Freel pick this rd too. Worst pick was Mussina though - I just dont expect anything from him at this point - and he probably would have fallen a few rds anyway.

Rd 15 - Polanco, Reitsma, and Posada are the best of this rd in terms of value. Oliver Perez here was a reach.

Rd 16 - Another ugly rd with no one that sticks out above the mediocrity.

Rd 17 - Jenkins here was solid.

Ill pass the rest of the rds at this point. One thing thats very suprising throughout the draft was where Sps were drafted. It was all over the board fellas - did anyone realize that only 3 SPs were drafted in rds 3-5? Bedard, Chacin, Penny, Millwood, and Jon Leiber all go in the 17th but not one of you guys took a chance that Kenny Rogers has one more yr left in him as he goes to the best pitching park of his career in 25 rds.

My initial reaction to the best team coming out of the draft has to go to Tavish although he is missing a solid #3 SP. Honorable mention goes to sinicalypticalfunkin and Mustangs989.

Good luck to everyone this season.

[NZF]

Reasonably happy with my draft. Managed to snare almost all of my sleepers (Thome, Loretta, Rowand, Lopez, Drew, Lowe and Wilkerson). Rolen and Foulke were the only ones to elude me. Having so many bench spots meant my strategy going in was to wait on OF's and then take 6 or 7 thru rounds 10-20. OF is deeper this year than ever before. Guys like Maggs and Giles still available in the 12th round and Andruw, Lee and Pierre going in Round 4 is evidence of that. I'll be playing match-ups all season to maximise production here.

Gareth Atkins is the only position player I'm not happy with. Rolen and Beltre were my targets but went too early for my liking. In fact at least fifteen 3B had been taken by the time the 12th round came around. I couldn't wait any longer and so grabbed the expected .300 BA while I could.

If Sheets stays healthy and I snare some saves out of FA I should be right there in September.

Besides my own team (naturally) the best teams to me are Tribe Fan and Kolb.

The worst are Tavish (don't like his team at all), $$ (only marginally better), Erboes and Marley.

[bleach168]

Having so many bench spots meant my strategy going in was to wait on OF's and then take 6 or 7 thru rounds 10-20. OF is deeper this year than ever before. Guys like Maggs and Giles still available in the 12th round and Andruw, Lee and Pierre going in Round 4 is evidence of that. I'll be playing match-ups all season to maximise production here.

Aye. Not sure of the thought process behind having such deep benches, but I had that strategy in mind when drafting also. I do like to have one good OF as an anchor though.