This is a 9 team AL Only, again, 6 X 6, 25 man roster, 12 active hitters, 6 active pitchers, 7 bench spots, daily transactions (all of the leagues I run have daily transactions).
Before listing out my picks, I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do...........the AL has 4 top notch closers, and I wanted to make sure I got at least 1 of them, possibly 2..........the only other spot that really had me concerned was SS, in which the AL is very short of quality players, my goal was to grab one of these players.
| 1. | (9) | Jason Bay |
| 2. | (10) | Justin Morneau |
| 3. | (27) | Mariano Rivera |
| 4. | (28) | Derek Jeter |
| 5. | (45) | Curtis Granderson |
| 6. | (46) | Joakim Soria |
| 7. | (63) | Adrián Béltre |
| 8. | (64) | Mark DeRosa |
| 9. | (81) | Zack Greinke |
| 10. | (82) | Gil Meche |
| 11. | (99) | Paul Konerko |
| 12. | (100) | Mark Ellis |
| 13. | (117) | Frank Francisco |
| 14. | (118) | Jack Cust |
| 15. | (135) | Kelvim Escobar |
| 16. | (136) | Gary Sheffield |
| 17. | (153) | Andy Sonnanstine |
| 18. | (154) | Franklin Gutiérrez |
| 19. | (171) | Elvis Andrus |
| 20. | (172) | Dámaso Marte |
| 21. | (189) | Jensen Lewis |
| 22. | (190) | David Purcey |
| 23. | (207) | Gio González |
| 24. | (208) | Russell Branyan |
| 25. | (225) | Kurt Suzuki |
This draft saw me picking out of the 9 hole, so I had the turnaround pick. My 1st 2 picks saw me go with the best combo of HR/RBI that was on the board. The next time around, I went with the two scarce positions and was pleased to grab them the way I did because another team went Papelbon and Nathan in rounds 2 and 3 as sort of an avant garde strategy. Round 5 was pure value and could end up being the key to my team, if Granderson has a big year, 25/30, 120 runs, my offense should be in great shape. Round 6 I went back to position scarcity as I grabbed the 4th top closer in the AL. Rounds 9 and 10 I grabbed Greinke and Meche back to back as my first starters, not the most glamorous two, but I felt that their low ratios and high K's would be fine on my team and if they happened to get a bunch of wins this year, even better.
Now my supervalue picks, 11 - Konerko, because of his tough, injury riddled season last year, people shied away from him, but there is no doubt that a healthy PK hits 30 HR, and to get that kind of power at this spot is pretty excellent. 13 - Francisco, if there are any dark horse AL closers that could end the year in the top 5, it is Francisco, take a look at his 2nd half last year and realize that he is the full time closer to start 2009. 14 - Cust, no way should this guy still be on the board in an AL Only league at this spot, too much power to still be here (btw, I end up moving Cust for Carlos Gomez at the end of the draft, because I need Gomez SB's).
Rounds 15 and 17 I went with pitchers, I am hoping Escobar comes back earlier than thought and Sonnanstine is just excellent value here, a groundball pitcher who plays on an excellent defensive team.
My last notable pick is round 24, Russell Branyan, yes, that Russell Branyan, I heard that Seattle is going to use him as the left handed portion of a platoon at 1st base. This means that assuming he can stick in the majors he'll get 450 AB's, which more than likely means 25HR, at a very cheap cost.............this pick has some risk, but it is the sort of pick that can win a league for you. yes, he will strike out once every 3 AB, but he also walks a ton and can flat out mash.
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