“Da-Mench-a”:
Ramblings from the East Coast Rivals Draft
By David Wysocky
For those of us in keeper leagues, draft strategies can
be more a measure of what’s not available then what is. In the 19th annual running of the
East Coast Rivals Draft (5x5 N.L. only) held in Atlantic City, wallets were
emptied early and often and not just at the blackjack tables. Here’s how it went down:
7:30am: Wakeup and realize I’m in Atlantic City…no,
didn’t oversleep for the draft as 6 league members decided to partake in a
pre-draft party Friday night. Uh… where
are the aspirin?
8:30am: Draft begins… wait… one owner’s car broke
down on the Garden State Pkwy
about one hour from his house. His wife
had to come pick him up and take him all the way back home before he could
start his journey back to Atlantic
City. Said
owner shows up on time…man, that’s dedication.
8:40am: I quickly
download the Tout Wars values to use as a reality check during the draft. As you’ll see, many of the values are left in
the dust.
9:07am: Carpenter, Oswalt, Webb, Smoltz, Zambrano,
Peavy and Chris Young are all off the board before the draft starts. That’s right, even at retail value, some
owners keep the best pitchers in the league.
I had Brett Myers on my roster at $8 (bargain), but needed at least one
anchor to help offset the Claudio Vargas’ of the world (despite what several
LABR Draft owners think). Ben Sheets’
name comes up and I sweat my way to a $22 bid…. not too bad, expected worse
given the lack of quality pitching.
9:08am: Take a deep breath… I’ve got a second
pitcher!
9:17am: OK, the expected run on big-time hitters has
started. Cabrera goes for $37, Derek Lee
for $34, Bay for $35, Carlos Lee for $35, Pujols for $42, Andruw Jones for $34 and
Garret Atkins goes for…. gulp…. $37. I
scan my lists and realize that I can’t let the drain on power can’t go on much
longer without jumping in wallet first.
I take Adam Dunn for…. second gulp…. $29. Yes, way overpriced, but with so many good
keepers, owners still had plenty to spend and in a power hungry league, the
brand names command a price.
10:01am: Speed has followed power and Pierre leaves the board at
$33, Ryan Freel for a whopping $24, Chris Burke for $18 and Jimmy Rollins for
$30 (not too shabby).
10:02am: I now realize I’m screwed for SBs! Will need to punt SBs and look for quality
ABs and more starting pitching which has been of light interest since the very
early rounds.
11:06am: I spend a little too freely on Matt Cain
($22), but there’s plenty of demand for Cain’s strikeouts.
11:08am: Zito goes for $19, Capuano for $18 and Hudson
for $15 (not the amazing $6 in the LABR Draft…. that price was discussed as we
passed the $6 mark!). I’m still holding
some pitching budget for a John Patterson or Harang who have not been called
yet.
11:13am: Closers?
Anyone need a closer? Our league
completely devalues the save as F. Cordero is nabbed for $16, Izzy and Wickman
go for $13. As per the plan, I stay away
from closers… still of the mind that closers are “conjured” and more difficult
to predict. If Tyler Walker can close,
so can you.
11:37am: Bargains?
Not even close. Adam Kennedy for
$12, Pat Burrell for $20, Sledge goes for an ungainly $16, Mark DeRosa for $10…
will someone stop the insanity?
Noon: We walk over from the hotel to Game On,
which is quite the Sportsbar/restaurant in the new Caesar’s Pier. Breathe deep, absorb some oxygen and notice
that there’s a lot of $7-$12 pitchers still on the board… time to pounce.
1:37pm: It must have been the beer, but I bid $18 on
Luis Gonzalez followed only 12 minutes later by a $12 bid on the Mench
(baseball’s equivalent to the Grinch).
Nice. I’ve carefully saved two of
my OF spots for a part-time lefty masher and a 15HR, 75RBI… uh… lefty. Not too happy, but AB’s of any type are
beginning to disappear and I realize that I might have to draft….
1:53pm: Izturis… ‘nuff said.
3:01pm: OK – Rich Hill, John Patterson and Harang are
still on the board. I want Harang, but
think I could potentially take Patterson AND Hill for only $5 more than what
Harang will go for. I take Hill for $21….
OUCH! Toward the end of the draft and
owners are in “spend what it takes mode”.
3:17pm: John Maine… yes, that John Maine, goes for
$18…. need we go any further?
3:37pm: I fill in some blanks taking Edmonds for $14, Nick Johnson for $6 (great
keeper for next year) and Jeff Baker for $5 (he will play… somewhere)
4:10pm: Finally, some bargains start to fall… Bobby
Howry and John Rauch for $1 (both second in line for saves), and one of my
faves, Carlos Villanueva, also for $1.
5:27pm: Mercifully,
the draft ends with the following results for yours truly:
OF C. Young $9 (keeper) P Myers $8 (keeper)
OF Dunn $29 P Sheets $22
OF L. Gonzalez $18 P Cain $22
OF Mench $12 P Hill $21
OF Edmonds $14 P Wells $4
1B Berkman $23 (keeper) P Vargas $2
2B Utley $12 (keeper) P Villanueva $1
SS S. Drew $9 (keeper) P Howry $1
3B Encarnacion $11 (keeper) P Rauch $1
CO Ensberg $18 P Valverde $1 (keeper)
MI Izturis $3
C Martin $1 (keeper)
C Ruiz $3
U N. Johnson $6
U Baker $5
Thoughts, questions, comments? Any draft stories to tell? I want to know at gm@baseballinsights.com or go to www.baseballinsights.com.
