My Fantasy Baseball Draft

I participated in my fantasy draft this past Saturday night. I think I did OK. I had a plan and I stuck to it for the most part. My draft results are below. My first pick was Prince Fielder. I narrowed it down to either Fielder or Teixiera and I chose Fielder. He should give me plenty of runs, home runs, and RBI. (Please don’t get hurt Prince) I took a risk by taking the oft-injured Josh Hamilton and Francisco Liriano but I like the upside. I took some prospects in the later rounds. I think Matt LaPorta is the most intriguing of the bunch. Overall, I covered all statistics fairly well. I will be in good shape until my first DL trip comes around – probably in a couple of weeks.

1.
(8)
Prince Fielder
2.
(17)
Troy Tulowitzki
3.
(32)
Ryan Zimmerman
4.
(41)
Justin Verlander
5.
(56)
Mariano Rivera
6.
(65)
Yovani Gallardo
7.
(80)
Bobby Abreu
8.
(89)
Josh Hamilton
9.
(104)
Joakim Soria
10.
(113)
John Danks
11.
(128)
Matt Garza
12.
(137)
Jorge Posada
13.
(152)
Howie Kendrick
14.
(161)
Geovany Soto
15.
(176)
Julio Borbón
16.
(185)
Frank Francisco
17.
(200)
Nyjer Morgan
18.
(209)
Francisco Liriano
19.
(224)
Matt Lindstrom
20.
(233)
Clint Barmes
21.
(248)
Matt Capps
22.
(257)
Matt LaPorta
23.
(272)
Clayton Richard

Fantasy Baseball Begins

It's that time of year again. No, it's not the start of baseball season. It's the start of fantasy baseball season. I nearly won the league last year but a disappointing final week led to a second place finish. My draft starts in about a half hour. I've done a lot of pre-ranking of players. I have a habit of drawing bad drafting positions. I'm assuming I will draft last again. My strategy is a little bit different than the conventional wisdom. I will take the best position player available in the first and second round. Then, I will try to take an elite pitcher in the third or fourth. I will also look for an elite closer in the fourth or fifth. After that, pitching is not a priority until the later rounds unless I see a bargain. I also don't look for outfielders until later on in the draft. I place a special emphasis on steals and saves. These categories can be tough to fill through free agency. If I can pick up a solid player who is eligible at multiple positions, this is a plus. Mark DeRosa has been a great example of this in past years. I also like to avoid pitchers with WHIPs over 1.35. I don't really focus on wins - they will come to me as long as I have pitchers from different teams. Free agency can alway help with runs or RBI. Anyway, I'm off to get ready for the draft. Good luck to those of you who will be in a fantasy league this year.

eBay Mailbag

I finally received my latest eBay purchase yesterday. It's a 2007 Topps Generation Now card of Justin Morneau #GN214. The card commemorates Morneau's 32nd of 34 home runs in 2006. I'm not really a fan of these Generation Now cards. There are too many of them. Do we really need a separate card for each home run or double hit by a player? Also, I really don't like the design. That black stripe on the bottom makes the card too dark. In fact, the base 2007 Topps cards are also too dark because they have too much black in the borders. So why did I buy this card? Well, it was only 6 cents with free shipping. How can you go wrong with that price?

TTM Mailbag: Curtis Granderson

I received my first TTM return of the spring this week. The envelope was postmarked from St. Petersburg, FL. It could have been from anyone, but I now had a few suspects in mind. I popped open the envelope to find my 2006 Upper Deck card that I sent to Curtis Granderson - unsigned. But upon further inspection, I found a larger postcard that was signed by Granderson (I assume) in silver Sharpie. The signature is really nice, but its on an awkward sized postcard. I guess I have to chalk this one up as a failure since I didn't end with a signed card. But in fairness, I got my original card back along with a signed postcard. If anyone out has a signed Granderson card (TTM, In Person, or Certified) and would like to work out a trade, let me know. I'm willing to give the signed postcard plus some other item or items that you may find interesting. So far, I'm 0 for 1 this spring. But that's OK because it's still early.

The TTM Season Has Begun

With the beginning of Spring Training comes the beginning of TTM autograph requests. I have stocked up on my forever stamps and baby powder. I will typically send a letter, return SASE, and 1 or 2 cards to a player. I don't collect signed balls or bats so I only send cards to get signed. I prefer cards without gloss, but baby powder can take care of that problem. Spring Training is the best time of year to make TTM requests. Often, players who don't sign during the season will sign some autographs during the spring. The spring is a good time to take some risks by sending requests to some of the more popular players. So far this year I have sent requests to the following players:

• C.C. Sabathia
• Felix Hernandez
• Josh Hamilton
• Zack Greinke
• James Loney
• Curtis Granderson
• Aaron Harang

Some of those players won't sign but I like the risk/reward. I would still like to send out more requests by the end of the spring. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Spring Training Contest

For those of you who don't already know, there is a contest being held at The Great Orioles Autograph Project. All you have to do is guess which team will have the best record in Spring Training. It will probably end up being a team that doesn't even make the playoffs. Good luck all!!