Battle of the Fantasy Gods Expert League Draft: Rounds 16-22
Continuing on in the Battle of the Fantasy Gods draft review, We'll look at rounds 16-22 as some of the sleepers begin to emerge.
You can view the participants, settings and rounds 1-7 here and rounds 8-15 here.
Jorge De La Rosa is a player that I have targeted in the mid-to-late rounds in every mock and real draft I have done this season.
I really wanted to get Seth Smith in this round, but as you can see, so did another team. Instead I shift gears and fill my first catcher spot with Chris Iannetta. I've believed in Iannetta for a few years now, but this time the Rockies actually seem committed to him. Iannetta has as much raw power as any big-league catcher, if not more. He has the upside to be a light version of Mike Napoli.
C.J. Wilson lasted until the 17th round in a 14-team league. I wouldn't have drafted him even if he lasted unti the very last round.
It doesn't seem lik a lot of people believe in Justin Smoak. I, however, do. Not every young prospect blossoms right out of the gates. With his great plate discipline and plus-plus raw power, I think he could provide a ton of value here. He fills my CI spot for now.
This rounds was filled with a lot of good starting pitcher sleeper picks. My favorite are: Brian Matusz, Javier Vazquez, Jordan Zimmerman and Gavin Floyd.
Needing to fill out a couple outfield spots, I go with Josh Willingham. There's nothing flashy about Willingham, but he has decent pop and will hit cleanup for the A's in 2011, so he should provide 20-plus homers, 80-pus runs and 80-plus RBI.
Looking for more pitching depth, I go with Wade Davis. Davis struggled with consistency early in the 2010 season, but found better command around July, then put it all together in September. His velocity also increased late in the season and managed to hold hitters to a low 17 percent line-drive rate overall. If he can carry over the adjustments he made late in 2010, he could see a dramatic improvement in 2011.
Looking for my fifth outfielder, I settle on Alex Gordon. Gordon is tearing it up this spring, but those numbers don't really mean anything. I have him projected for an improvement in 2011 and there is still a chance he can put everything together and fulfil the promise he showed as a prospect.
Having solidified my starting lineup, I'm looking for depth/sleepers now. Nate McClouth had a horrible 2010 season, but he did hit 20 home runs and steal 19 bases in 2009.
In the next article, I'll finish up with rounds 23-28 and review the team I'll be takign into battle in 2011.
You can view the participants, settings and rounds 1-7 here and rounds 8-15 here.
| Round 16 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | RotoRob | Escobar, Alcides SS KC |
| 2 | RotoExperts.com | Chacin, Jhoulys SP COL |
| 3 | FB Tonight | Torres, Andres CF SF |
| 4 | Tony Cincotta | Crisp, Coco CF OAK |
| 5 | FantasyBaseball.com | Kennedy, Ian SP ARI |
| 6 | Razzball | Capps, Matt RP MIN |
| 7 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Ruiz, Carlos C PHI |
| 8 | Fantasy Sports Empires | Chapman, Aroldis RP CIN |
| 9 | The Fantasy Man | Snider, Travis LF TOR |
| 10 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa | Infante, Omar 2B FLA |
| 11 | CBS Sports | Romero, Ricky SP TOR |
| 12 | FB365 | De La Rosa, Jorge SP COL |
| 13 | TPFSers | Garcia, Jaime SP STL |
| 14 | Fantasy Alarm | Escobar, Yunel SS TOR |
Jorge De La Rosa is a player that I have targeted in the mid-to-late rounds in every mock and real draft I have done this season.
| Round 17 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | Fantasy Alarm | Smith, Seth LF COL |
| 2 | TPFSers | Tejada, Miguel 3B SF |
| 3 | FB365 | Iannetta, Chris C COL |
| 4 | CBS Sports | Lackey, John SP BOS |
| 5 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa* | Arroyo, Bronson SP CIN |
| 6 | The Fantasy Man | Peavy, Jake SP CHW |
| 7 | Fantasy Sports Empires | Bartlett, Jason SS SD |
| 8 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Theriot, Ryan 2B STL |
| 9 | Razzball | Nolasco, Ricky SP FLA |
| 10 | FantasyBaseball.com | Wilson, C.J. SP TEX |
| 11 | Tony Cincotta | Encarnacion, Edwin 3B TOR |
| 12 | FB Tonight | Shields, James SP TB |
| 13 | RotoExperts.com | Nishioka, Tsuyoshi 2B MIN |
| 14 | RotoRob | Sanchez, Anibal SP FLA |
I really wanted to get Seth Smith in this round, but as you can see, so did another team. Instead I shift gears and fill my first catcher spot with Chris Iannetta. I've believed in Iannetta for a few years now, but this time the Rockies actually seem committed to him. Iannetta has as much raw power as any big-league catcher, if not more. He has the upside to be a light version of Mike Napoli.
C.J. Wilson lasted until the 17th round in a 14-team league. I wouldn't have drafted him even if he lasted unti the very last round.
| Round 18 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | RotoRob | Venable, Will RF SD |
| 2 | RotoExperts.com | Matusz, Brian SP BAL |
| 3 | FB Tonight | Francisco, Frank RP TOR |
| 4 | Tony Cincotta* | Young, Eric 2B COL |
| 5 | FantasyBaseball.com | Vazquez, Javier SP FLA |
| 6 | Razzball | Zimmermann, Jordan SP WAS |
| 7 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Ordonez, Magglio RF DET |
| 8 | Fantasy Sports Empires | Buck, John C FLA |
| 9 | The Fantasy Man | Arencibia, J.P. C TOR |
| 10 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa* | Floyd, Gavin SP CHW |
| 11 | CBS Sports | Aardsma, David RP SEA |
| 12 | FB365 | Smoak, Justin 1B SEA |
| 13 | TPFSers | Santana, Ervin SP ANA |
| 14 | Fantasy Alarm | Peralta, Joel RP TB |
It doesn't seem lik a lot of people believe in Justin Smoak. I, however, do. Not every young prospect blossoms right out of the gates. With his great plate discipline and plus-plus raw power, I think he could provide a ton of value here. He fills my CI spot for now.
This rounds was filled with a lot of good starting pitcher sleeper picks. My favorite are: Brian Matusz, Javier Vazquez, Jordan Zimmerman and Gavin Floyd.
| Round 19 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | Fantasy Alarm | Brown, Domonic RF PHI |
| 2 | TPFSers | Byrd, Marlon CF CHC |
| 3 | FB365 | Willingham, Josh LF OAK |
| 4 | CBS Sports | Soriano, Alfonso LF CHC |
| 5 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa | Wood, Travis SP CIN |
| 6 | The Fantasy Man | Sale, Chris RP CHW |
| 7 | Fantasy Sports Empires | Martin, Russell C NYY |
| 8 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Freese, David 3B STL |
| 9 | Razzball | Espinosa, Danny 2B WAS |
| 10 | FantasyBaseball.com | Baker, Scott SP MIN |
| 11 | Tony Cincotta | Scott, Luke DH BAL |
| 12 | FB Tonight | Barajas, Rod C LA |
| 13 | RotoExperts.com | Beltran, Carlos CF NYM |
| 14 | RotoRob | Venters, Jonny RP ATL |
Needing to fill out a couple outfield spots, I go with Josh Willingham. There's nothing flashy about Willingham, but he has decent pop and will hit cleanup for the A's in 2011, so he should provide 20-plus homers, 80-pus runs and 80-plus RBI.
| Round 20 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | RotoRob | Pennington, Cliff SS OAK |
| 2 | RotoExperts.com | Borbon, Julio CF TEX |
| 3 | FB Tonight | Jones, Garrett 1B PIT |
| 4 | Tony Cincotta | Carmona, Fausto SP CLE |
| 5 | FantasyBaseball.com | Pierzynski, A.J. C CHW |
| 6 | Razzball | Minor, Mike SP ATL |
| 7 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Zambrano, Carlos SP CHC |
| 8 | Fantasy Sports Empires | Polanco, Placido 3B PHI |
| 9 | The Fantasy Man | Ka'aihue, Kila 1B KC |
| 10 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa | Coghlan, Chris LF FLA |
| 11 | CBS Sports | Niemann, Jeff SP TB |
| 12 | FB365 | Davis, Wade SP TB |
| 13 | TPFSers | Peralta, Jhonny 3B DET |
| 14 | Fantasy Alarm | Bourjos, Peter CF ANA |
Looking for more pitching depth, I go with Wade Davis. Davis struggled with consistency early in the 2010 season, but found better command around July, then put it all together in September. His velocity also increased late in the season and managed to hold hitters to a low 17 percent line-drive rate overall. If he can carry over the adjustments he made late in 2010, he could see a dramatic improvement in 2011.
| Round 21 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | Fantasy Alarm | Ogando, Alexi RP TEX |
| 2 | TPFSers | Ibanez, Raul LF PHI |
| 3 | FB365 | Gordon, Alex LF KC |
| 4 | CBS Sports | Jurrjens, Jair SP ATL |
| 5 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa | Happ, J.A. SP HOU |
| 6 | The Fantasy Man | Burnett, A.J. SP NYY |
| 7 | Fantasy Sports Empires | Stauffer, Tim RP SD |
| 8 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Niese, Jonathon SP NYM |
| 9 | Razzball | Norris, Bud SP HOU |
| 10 | FantasyBaseball.com | Drew, J.D. RF BOS |
| 11 | Tony Cincotta | Gomes, Jonny LF CIN |
| 12 | FB Tonight | Gutierrez, Franklin CF SEA |
| 13 | RotoExperts.com* | Uehara, Koji RP BAL |
| 14 | RotoRob | Bedard, Erik SP SEA |
Looking for my fifth outfielder, I settle on Alex Gordon. Gordon is tearing it up this spring, but those numbers don't really mean anything. I have him projected for an improvement in 2011 and there is still a chance he can put everything together and fulfil the promise he showed as a prospect.
| Round 22 | ||
| Pick | Team | Player |
| 1 | RotoRob | Saltalamacchia, Jarrod C BOS |
| 2 | RotoExperts.com | League, Brandon RP SEA |
| 3 | FB Tonight | Meek, Evan RP PIT |
| 4 | Tony Cincotta | Berkman, Lance 1B STL |
| 5 | FantasyBaseball.com | Torrealba, Yorvit C TEX |
| 6 | Razzball | Olivo, Miguel C SEA |
| 7 | Fantasy Pros 911 | Thole, Josh C NYM |
| 8 | Fantasy Sports Empires* | Webb, Brandon SP TEX |
| 9 | The Fantasy Man | Porcello, Rick SP DET |
| 10 | Fantasy Baseball Sherpa | Ludwick, Ryan RF SD |
| 11 | CBS Sports | Lowrie, Jed 2B BOS |
| 12 | FB365 | McLouth, Nate CF ATL |
| 13 | TPFSers | Harang, Aaron SP SD |
| 14 | Fantasy Alarm | Slowey, Kevin SP MIN |
Having solidified my starting lineup, I'm looking for depth/sleepers now. Nate McClouth had a horrible 2010 season, but he did hit 20 home runs and steal 19 bases in 2009.
In the next article, I'll finish up with rounds 23-28 and review the team I'll be takign into battle in 2011.
