Cafe Mock Draft 1 on Yahoo! Results

[MashinSpuds]

well atleast no one has killed any of my picks yet.

Albert Pujols in the 1st... c'mon dude.

[Ender]

No matter what you guys (and that "projector") say, I walked away quite happy with my team. You might feel that I "reached" with the Carpenter and Manny picks, but I disagree and feel pretty good about them. For the most part, I drafted right in line with the Rotoworld Draft Guide rankings and projections, paying attention to tiers and position scarcity. I may have drafted a few guys that were stretches, but with the 13th pick, I had to because of the long delay after the order snaked back to me. I definitely feel that other picks were steals and real bargains, though.

C - Mike Piazza
1B - Richie Sexson
2B - Jeff Kent
SS - Felipe Lopez
3B - Hank Blalock
CI - Melvin Mora
MI - Bobby Crosby
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Rocco Baldelli
OF - JD Drew
OF - Chris Duffy
UTIL - Jonny Gomes
UTIL - Corey Hart
BN - Kevin Youkilis
BN - Andy Marte

SP - Chris Carpenter
SP - John Smoltz
SP - Ben Sheets
SP - AJ Burnett
SP - Clay Hensley
SP - Oliver Perez
RP Huston Street
RP - Jose Valverde
P - Joel Pineiro
BN - Hong-Chih Kuo

Just to give feedback this is an EXTREMELY risky team you have here, if you have luck with health and rebounds it will be very good, if you have bad luck you are going to have to be really solid with FA pickups to stay in it.

[The Loveable Losers]

What do you guys think about the position I drafted Chris B. Young? I think he's going to be a top 15 OF and didn't want to miss out. I'm really unsure of where to draft him.

I would have been afraid to wait until the round that you took him. I got Young 101 overall and I was sweating that.

I think the closer we get to opening day and people realize this kid is not just a great prospect but he's also already locked in to the starting centerfield AND lead-off hitting jobs for a pretty good young offense...well, I think my 101 overall may end up being too late at that point.

[AuburnTigers]

I have 10 signed up for Sunday's Mock Draft. I need 4 more owners who want to get some solid drafting practice in before the real deal.

[AuburnTigers]

2 more spots open

[j24jags]

edit: nvm

[jwhands]

WTF is wrong with that Manny guy? Carp in the 1st and Manny in early second. I think he should be banned.


WAR EAGLE

I hope you're kidding...

I agree that those are both below average picks but they certainly are defensible.

The first pick I really don't like is B.J Ryan in the 3rd, he isn't the best closer and the 3rd round is too early for closers in general. I'm really against Smoltz in the 3rd round too, way too much risk. If I'm going to take that type of risk I'd rather just grab Sheets. Same thing with Dice-K, there are better risks to take like King Felix who went later that round.

Overall not a bad draft.

I completely disagree with this statement. How on earth is Felix a lower risk than Dice-K???? Dice-K is a proven pitcher in Japan, had all star hitters raving about him in the WBC, and is at a more stable pitching age than Felix. Felix is still very, very young, and could easily be considered an injury risk since his arm isn't as developed at his age as Dice-K. So explain to me how Felix is less risk when he had a shaky first year in the majors?

[glcmustliveon]

I wouldnt exactly describe a 19 Year old posting a 3.84 PERA as "shaky" . He ran into some bad luck with his BABIP which skewed his actual results a bit, making him a pretty good bargain come draft time.

[jwhands]

I wouldnt exactly describe a 19 Year old posting a 3.84 PERA as "shaky" . He ran into some bad luck with his BABIP which skewed his actual results a bit, making him a pretty good bargain come draft time.

I actually live in the NW and see the M's games. Felix did not run across much bad luck. He was a Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde type of a pitcher last year. Either he was really, really on or couldn't hit his spots with his pitches and got hit. Felix did come into camp in terrific shape this spring and most likely will have a solid year, but I do not see how a 2nd year pitcher barely out of his teens is a "safer" pick over someone who has had all star hitters in awe in the past. Everything leans to Dice-K being the more stable pick:

Injury risk - Young arm of Felix = higher risk. Advantage Dice-K
Experience - Dice-K proven to get hitters out more consistently. Advantage Dice-K
Run Support - Bosox vs. M's. One team playing for WS, other is fielding a Little League all star team. Advantage Dice-K.

So where is it that Felix is a safer pick? Give me something concrete here other than a 3.84 ERA (actual ERA for Felix last year was 4.52) or some lame BABIP stat that doesn't reflect his level of "luck". Here's some good #s for you to crunch to help your valuation. 23 HR's in 31 starts or .262 BAA. Those aren't numbers reflecting bad luck.