deans daddy rocks the nfbc house in the apple

[lawr]

hey all. again, a column will be posted, and my/our logic and some reporting.

but, for now this is the team todd and i snatched up. ryan carey, aka deansdaddy facilitated which was great (great job ryan, and fun to meet).

again, hit me with your best shot...

C-Russell Martin (12)
C-AJ Pierzynski (14)
1B-Paul Konerko (13)
2B-Brandon Phillips (2)
3B-Kevin Youkilis (3)
SS-Troy Tulowitzki (1)
CI-Nick Swisher (16)
MI-Asdrubal Cabrera (10)
OF-Jason Kubel (8)
OF-Denard Span (9)
OF-Brad Hawpe (15)
OF-Cody Ross (17)
OF-Scott Podsednik (20)
UT-Luke Scott (23)
P-CC Sabathia (4)
P-Javier Vazquez (6)
P-Jake Peavy (7)
P-Mark Buehrle (17)
P-Ervin Santana (19)
P-Carl Pavano (21)
P-Mariano Rivera (5)
P-Brian Fuentes (11)
P-Scott Feldman (22)
Res-Cliff Pennington
Res-Scott Downs
Res-Ryan Sweeney
Res-Skip Schumacher
Res-Nick Blackburn
Res-Nate Schierholtz
Res-Landon Powell

[rotodog]

Wow... I can see both LAwr and Todds influences on that roster.

Often times I feel that two strong owners partnering can be disastrous. Why? Well, the team never seems to have an identity....Two owners often often are lobbying for there guy next..It rarely works well IMO.. But..

This partnership looks like it worked out pretty well.....

Lawrs influence in rd 1 with Tulo...

Todds name is all over that Phillips pick...

I can see a meeting of the minds in the third on Youk..but with Todd being the one pushing that one..

CC in the forth seems like consensus...

Mo in the 5th? Not sure if its not Todds style or not, I can see Lawr and Todd reading the draft and making that choice as Todd was a proponent of the Papelbon plan in the past..maybe it's now renamed "the Mo"...

3 pitchers in row with Javy in the 6th? This cant be Todds idea..Can it? Not historically, so maybe Lawr and Todd read the draft that way...But maybe they decided to double up at the top and fill in much later...Now that is Todds style...manage the pitching...

Peavy in the 7th? 4 P in a row? Hard to call this one...Maybe it was Lawr or maybe they both decided to load up early and fill in the back end while grabbing bats in the middle....

Lawrs influence is all over that reserve roster....Bay area influenced for sure....I am not sure if those are Todds guys, but I think I remember this being Lawrs team with Todd being flown in to act as "The special advisor to the GM"

I like the 2 Solid everyday catchers instead of the top 4 catcher and a 23 rd Joe Sucky catcher route...

I like the team..Only minor questions that remain are the saves and the back end of the rotation....Its not a problem at all..There are probably 80 saves there and maybe Downs sniffs a few later....Its pretty easy to manage pitching with CC, Javy and Jake at the top though..

Nice job...

[tamburgy]

What spot did you draft from?

[Todd Zola]

1.05

Phillips and Youkilis sort of fell into our laps, there was no need for any arm-twisting.

My memory is horrible when it comes to this sort of thing, but I recall at least three, likely more picks that pushed the combo our way.

I remember V-Mart, Zimmerman and Werth going before our 2.26. This really helped. Then Panda went early 3rd, leaving us Youk.

if I were flying solo, there is a pretty good chance this would have been my start. And there is also a pretty good chance I would have gone CC and Mo next as well.

The hitting in round 4 was not that juicy so best SP made sense.

And we KNEW that with the mlb.com duo of Cory Schwartz and Mike Siano in the 2-hole, if we wanted a TOP closer, we would have to jump then.

I may have backed off pitching at thispoint, but there were several reasons for keeping the arms flowing as well, especially getting an undervalued pair of Javy and Jake.

I didn't discuss this with Lawr at the time, but an advantage to having an extremely strong pitching foundation this season is that frees up some reserve spots for guys to use at OF5 and UT to take advantage of the Friday transaction rule. The reserves are set up such that we can plug in a speed guy, a power guy or an average guy as necessary. As injuries set it, you have less of a chance to do this.

It is most definitely a manageable squad, which is really all you can ask for leaving the draft room.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!

[tamburgy]

Tulo with the 5th pick - was he someone who, going in, you pretty much planned to grab there? While I don't dislike the pick (in fact I sneaky like it), especially given the fact that you were not going to get a top SS on the way back, I don't think I've ever seen him go that early. What was your mindset in doing so, was it simply because if you didn't grab him there, you wouldn't get a Hanley, Tulo, or Rollins and felt you could grab more value at other positions later?

Like the overall makeup of the team, especially that pitching.

[rotodog]

Wow..Tulo at 5? I know Lawr loves him.... But can I assume that either Arod or Utley or Braun was there at 5?

One more reason that ADP is out the window when the money is on the line.....Everyone has there favorite and every wants to construct a roster a little different...

It is true to form as has been instructed this season..Start from the Middle and work your way out. SS, 2b and then 3b...

I can see Tulo at 5 with this strategy... You have the SS and it was reasonable to expect a decent 2b to make it back I think....then it was reasonable to expect a decent top 3b in the 3rd...

Done any other way might not have allowed the MI/3b start... Take utley in rd 1 and Rollins will most likely be gone in the second...

Just goes to show you that if you want someone, take them where you want them based on how you see the rest of the draft shaping up...

[Todd Zola]

Wow..Tulo at 5? I know Lawr loves him.... But can I assume that either Arod or Utley or Braun was there at 5?

Of course one was -- but something tells me if we had the #3 pick, it would have still been the same.

[rotodog]

Wow..Tulo at 5? I know Lawr loves him.... But can I assume that either Arod or Utley or Braun was there at 5?

Of course one was -- but something tells me if we had the #3 pick, it would have still been the same.

Like i said, I know lawr loves him....

[tamburgy]

One gameplan question - from what I can tell, you seemed to gameplan more around positions than categories, by focusing on grabbing a SS, 2B, and 3B with your first three picks. Did you have category targets in mind for those picks (i.e., certain number of HRs, SBs, maintain AVG, etc), or were you more concerned with solidifying those positions first with the best combination of players you could at those positions, then worry about rounding out category targets with picks in the mid-rounds.

I love to hear and see different ideas and strategies people have going in, especially when it's not the "status quo" so to speak.

[lawr]

actually, utley went fourth. but, if you read my piece posted a bit ago called "masters of the nfbc" i bet we get extra hits credit and you will see exactly why i was hot on tulo in that spot...

i definitely lobbied hard for taking javy and peavy then, btw. mostly because i could not let them go past. they give such a killer whiff/whip foundation along with cc.

[Todd Zola]

One gameplan question - from what I can tell, you seemed to gameplan more around positions than categories, by focusing on grabbing a SS, 2B, and 3B with your first three picks. Did you have category targets in mind for those picks (i.e., certain number of HRs, SBs, maintain AVG, etc), or were you more concerned with solidifying those positions first with the best combination of players you could at those positions, then worry about rounding out category targets with picks in the mid-rounds.

I love to hear and see different ideas and strategies people have going in, especially when it's not the "status quo" so to speak.

Based on the current playing pool, if you can take a SS/2B/3B in some order with your first 3 picks, you are pretty much in best player available mode for the next 10-12 rounds, mixing in catching and pitching appropriately. Then it is needs. When you are in BPA mode, the counting stats will just come naturally.

Lawr was the point guy here and didn't have a single projection in front of him. I was the Gilligan to his Skipper and am not really into target drafting anymore, as explained in a recent SI.com article.

So we had no idea where we stood in terms of targets. If you take the players you think are the best, the stats will be there.

We felt we were short on some speed so we opted for Podsednik towards the end, that is as close as we got to drafting for "needs".

[rotodog]

i definitely lobbied hard for taking javy and peavy then, btw. mostly because i could not let them go past. they give such a killer whiff/whip foundation along with cc.

That did smell more like your influence than Todds....But by taking SS/2b/3b with the first three picks, it did allow you back to back to back Sp picks if nothing stood out to you......But I am sure Todd was lobbying for Choo and Company in the 4th, 5th and 6th somewhere....

[deansdaddy]

Lawr - kind of you to give me some props here - I figured I would be a sticker guy on Saturday - so I was thrilled to get to be out front and center calling out the picks - it was an even bigger treat to have Lawr and Todd as well as Cory Schwartz and Mike Siano in my draft. I met both Mike and Cory at Shandler's First Pitch in NJ and they are truly good guys. As a side note - the Rookie League's Nick Passerelli (who is a good friend of mine) went to high school with Siano - so there was a fun connection there as well. I even shared a few tweets from Nick with them during the draft. Lawr - you are a true gentleman and I think the youthful excitement you brought to the draft table was refreshing - a reminder that this is still supposed to be fun. Nothing better than seeing you make Todd shake his head from time to time. Again I had fun trying to keep the draft light and a lot of that was due to having you guys and the 411 team there to comment on from time to time.

I tried to personalize the draft for owners at points - throwing a little commentary out there - obviously the Tulowitski pick got the table buzzing but I also commented on the theft of CC Sabathia in the 4th rd - I forget who went before him - but I definitely commented that it was the latest I had seen CC go.

Other picks that weren't surprises to me were Asdrubal Cabrera in the 10th and Luke Scott (I smelled Todd on that one). I really liked the Buehrle pick in 17 and I remember talking about how underrated both Kubel and Konerko are heading into this season. We had a private chuckle with the selections of Pennington and Powell and Lawr even threw in Ryan Sweeney with his last pick as I had a running joke throughout the draft about all the Ryan's that were being drafted.

Our draft ran a little longer than most - but that was a direct result of getting to the first break last and being at the back of the food line
but it was a fun table and I would definitley do it again if I'm not playing the Main next year. I did sneak into the Double Play later that night - so I didn't leave Citi Field til 11 PM I did have a good draft though and I'll post those results later. I think you've got a team that can compete here - and this will be a fun league to follow since it will get some pub here and at Fantasy 411. Good Luck!

[deansdaddy]

i definitely lobbied hard for taking javy and peavy then, btw. mostly because i could not let them go past. they give such a killer whiff/whip foundation along with cc.

That did smell more like your influence than Todds....But by taking SS/2b/3b with the first three picks, it did allow you back to back to back Sp picks if nothing stood out to you......But I am sure Todd was lobbying for Choo and Company in the 4th, 5th and 6th somewhere....

Lawr did fly solo at certain points as MB had JP and Brian Walton that I know of drafting at the same time. I think Todd snuck off to check them out.

[gesucks]

Love the Tulo and Span picks
You are going to need more speed to win the 100K

Solid team overall

[Todd Zola]

i definitely lobbied hard for taking javy and peavy then, btw. mostly because i could not let them go past. they give such a killer whiff/whip foundation along with cc.

That did smell more like your influence than Todds....But by taking SS/2b/3b with the first three picks, it did allow you back to back to back Sp picks if nothing stood out to you......But I am sure Todd was lobbying for Choo and Company in the 4th, 5th and 6th somewhere....

Lawr did fly solo at certain points as MB had JP and Brian Walton that I know of drafting at the same time. I think Todd snuck off to check them out.

Either that or to hit the food line while no one was there

And to be completely honest, we knew our pick before it was our turn, or at least who we would take if he was still there. I am guessing my head shaking was more a reaction to the Zen Master correctly sensing that the player we wanted would last while I thought he would be gone. It was more in disbelief that Lawr was right....again

[deansdaddy]

I will say this - Lawr is relaxed at the table - he doesn't panic - we chatted more than once while others took their minute to pick.

[lawr]

well. i try not to think in terms of drafting a team that will win 100 grand, any more than i think in terms of drafting a team that will win.

what i do try to do is draft a team that is competitive because that is the stepping stone to winning. and, as we all know, it is tough to run the table the course of the season.

but, as z has noted, speed is generally something you can acquire during the season. and, we do have some speed. however, going into the season we are pretty well stocked, or so it seems.

btw, we were looking for Choo, who went a tad early, in the fourth round i believe.

personally, i was ok with it. i do like Choo, however i am not sure how much better he will get. i see the same Sean Casey kind of numbers from him for next chunk of years, which is just fine. not necessarily worth a fourth rounder, and steady as she goes, but, well, i would rather someone else take the chance on Choo;s hitting .319-32-105, but i think is will fall short.

again, not meant to be a knock because next year, if i am indeed right, he will be undervalued.

just a hunch.