RRBL Free Agent Draft: Part Two of A Really Loosely Defined Plan
Posted March 23, 2005

So now I have what I sought out to have: a complete 24-man roster. My thoughts went in several different directions throughout the course of the four hour draft, but in the end I think I drafted a pretty decent and varied team. I was able to pick up the big stolen base threat I had to have (Juan Pierre, $22), the young pitcher I wanted (Zach Greinke, $9), and some other nice and affordable placeholders (Luis Gonzalez, $8; Mark Kotsay, $3). Plus, I released the disappointing Alex Cintron. This draft saw some patterns from the first one reoccur, as closers went for sickeningly high prices (forcing me never to get the third one I probably need), younger players proved more appealing than predictable ones, and Junior Spivey still wasn’t taken.

First of all, here’s the final result of my drafting experiences: (*taken in this draft)

C - Lieberthal, PHI $4
C - Molina, STL $1 *
1B - Sweeney, KC $3
CI - Huff, TB $10
3B - Teixeira, TEX $18
2B - Womack, NYY $4 *
MI - Infante, DET $3 *
SS - Berroa, KC $14
OF - Guerrero, ANA $29
OF - Pierre, FLA $22 *
OF - Kearns, CIN $12
OF - Bradley, LA $9
OF - Kotsay, OAK $3 *
UT - L. Gonzalez, ARI $8 *
UT - Durazo, OAK $10 *
P - Beckett, FLA $20
P - Clement, BOS $16
P - Harden, OAK $8
P - Millwood, CLE $7
P - Vazquez, ARI $13
P - Greinke, KC $9 *
P - Marquis, STL $5 *
P - Looper, NYM $1
P - Isringhausen, STL $12

All things considered, I’m very happy with my team. I took a few players I didn’t particularly want to, but it was largely circumstantial. Tony Womack, usually untouchable by me, should score a ton of runs and steal at least 20 bases for the Yankees this season, so I had to throw any real-life disdain for him aside and take him for $4. Plus, that’s $1,999,996 less than the Yankees will pay him in 2005, so I must be getting a bargain! I feel like I bought some sort of discounted, Sam’s Club Tony Womack. Then there’s Yadier Molina, who doesn’t really hit enough to justify me drafting him. However, there weren’t hardly any choices left at catcher, and I know Tony La Russa will just keep trotting him out there, so his counting stats shouldn’t be too awful. I was also hesitant to draft Tigers’ infielder Omar Infante, but I’m hoping I can squeeze 10-15 homers and 10-15 steals out of him for those $3. The rest of my decisions were fairly self-explanatory. I knew I had to have Pierre; I’m always lacking in speed (and sometimes batting average) and he’ll cure that. My favorite pick of the draft was probably Zach Greinke for $9. If everything turns out as it should/could, I might have a pretty unbeatable 1-2 in 2007 with Greinke and Rich Harden.

Anyway, on to the big, overpriced, gross mistakes (again, according to me):

-Jim Thome, 1B PHI, $29 (Monroe St. Massacre): I don’t care if the Masscare have three RRBL titles and I have none (wait, yes I do…), that’s a lot for an aging Jim Thome. He’s still a good hitter, but his power has been going down a little bit and his batting average has been declining heavily. This is another one of those situations where I think the player will be valuable, it’s just that he was overpriced.

-Guillermo Mota, RP FLA, $19 (Bolivar White Rats): Closers make me sick. Mota will take over the reigns as the stopper in Florida, but how good will he be? Chances are he’ll be adequate, but cheap saves are very easy to find as the season progresses and closers start getting hurt or losing their jobs. Plus, there’s always that chance that Mota will struggle and wind up setting up someone else, making $19 way too much to pay. This pick is entirely based on risk.

-Roy Oswalt, SP HOU, $29 (TV Sex): Oswalt’s good and all, but he’s always injured and he pitches in Houston. He’s another player who would’ve been a lot better if he was $10 cheaper. Paying him $29 makes it awfully hard to deal with if he’s hurt all season once again.

-B.J. Ryan, RP BAL, $23 (Big Bashers): I can’t even believe it. Call someone a closer and they’re worth a TON. Ryan, who’ll apparently be closing for Baltimore this season, has been very good out the pen for Baltimore. But Baltimore isn’t very good, and relief pitchers just aren’t worth this much unless they’re Eric Gagne. Is it possible Ryan will be that dominant? Actually yes, but the odds are against him.

-Mike Mussina, SP NYY, $20 (Monroe St. Massacre): The Massacre needed to buy a rotation, and Mussina is a good bet for a rebound from a pretty bad 2004. It’s hard to want to pay $20 for someone’s rebound season, though, and even though Mussina’s always been very solid, it’s no guarantee he’ll be great in 2005. This is the kind of situation where you’d be very happy to pick him up for $10 and have him pitch well. If he bounces back now, $20 is just getting even value.

-Danys Baez, RP TB, $23 (Monroe St. Massacre): Again, MSM needed a closer and they paid a large price to get one. Baez is pretty decent, but saves are far and few between when you pitch for the Devil Rays. That might be a dollar-a-save price.

-Matt Holliday, OF COL, $16 (Billings Ball Breakers): This is another new owner situation, and it seemed that whenever she wanted a player she absolutely wouldn’t surrender. While that’s sort of a good thing, I’m not sure she wanted Matt Holliday for $16. He might hit 25 homers this season, but given the likely weakness of his supporting stats, that could’ve been found cheaper elsewhere.

-Greg Aquino, RP ARI, $16 (Team Carr): I just don’t want to leave this subject alone. You can almost always find some cheap saves, and Aquino’s control might be a problem. With Jose Valverde still a Diamondback, this situation just reeks of Aquino losing his big closer title.

But all of that isn’t to say that there weren’t some good buys:

-Mike Lowell, 3B FLA, $10 (Billings Ball Breakers): At this point you can pretty much count on Lowell hitting .275 with 25 homers from the third base spot. That’s worth more than $10, and this was a good buy. He’s still always a possibility for a little more too, and a 35 homer season wouldn’t be too shocking.

-Paul Konerko, 1B CHW, $11 (Morloks): Konerko’s going to probably hit at least 30 homers again this year (after 41 in 2004). He won’t hit for too high of an average, but that’s a LOT of home runs for $11, especially considering his other stats will be solid as well. Except for, of course, stolen bases. Paul Konerko runs exactly like he looks like he would run.

-Roger Clemens, SP HOU, $13 (Durham Bulls): It’s time for one more dominant season from Roger Clemens, who I’ll go ahead and refuse to call “The Rocket.” Clemens was great on my team in 2004, and I’m expecting that he’ll put up slightly lesser (but still good) numbers in 2005. This is a pretty good, low-risk buy for Steve Durham and his sometimes-lethal Bulls.

-Chone Figgins, Everything ANA, $12 (Pigeons): First off, look at that name! Second, he got two MVP votes last season! Then there’s his speed and the fact that he’ll find somewhere on the field to play everyday. He’ll probably hit .275 or .280 with thirty or forty steals. That’s not bad at all for $12.

-Dallas McPherson, 3B ANA, $8 (Durham Bulls): Dallas McPherson has the appearance of a man who, despite his western-themed name, his thirty homers this year as a somewhat-known third baseman. That kind of production from third base isn’t too common, especially for $8.

-Frank Thomas, DH/1B CHW, $2 (Bolivar White Rats): It’s time to go out on a little bit of a limb and say that Frank Thomas gets more than four at bats this season. I foresee 25 homers and a .270 average from this behemoth of a man. With this and my previous Griffey prediction, it’s starting to feel very mid-90s in here…

-Kevin Mench, OF TEX, $12 (Big Bashers): I really wanted Kevin Mench, but I wound up settling for Luis Gonzalez. Mench has a lot of power, and he’ll be a full-time starter in 2005. Seeing as how he plays in Texas, we could see something in the neighborhood of forty homers if Mench keeps everything ironed out. A good buy for the free-spending Bashers.

-Scott Kazmir, SP TB, $8 (St. Louis 69ers): Here’s my semi-brave prediction of the day. Kazmir will be good a lot sooner than expected. He’ll shed some walks and keep striking everyone out. Will he win very many games for the Devil Rays? No. They’re the Devil Rays. They traded Bob Abreu for Kevin Stocker once. But Kazmir will be a nice guy to have for now and the future.

So that wraps up the RRBL Free Agent draft for 2005. I’m hoping my team stays healthy, good, and somewhere near the top of the standings. I’ll be providing periodical reports on my team (and the league) throughout the season. May 2005 be the Roundballs’ best season yet!