Would you take this team to battle?

[AllstonRockCity]

So, in about 4 weeks I'm taking things back to where they all began, by playing in a 10 team mix. Something I haven't done in about 5 years, and for many more, umm, jellybeans, than I ever did then. So, my question is, would you take this team? What's good, what's bad, what am I missing??

Standard 14/9 roster with 5 bench spots. From the 2 hole:

C: Yadier, J.P. Arencibia
CI: Miggy, M Young, M Reynolds
MI: Kinsler, Hanley, Alexei Ramirez
OF: Cuddyer, Hart, Adam Jones, Ethier, Kubel
U: Brantley
SP: Haren, CJ Wilson, Hellickson (shocker), Luebke, Ubaldo, Sale
RP: Jim Johnson, League, Mo

Bench: Lilly, F Francisco
Bench: Tabata, Chisenhall, SRod

Surprisingly there were 6 actual humans on board to start the draft. We ended with 3. I tried really hard not to let MDCs ADP and upcoming auto-picks skew who I took. The 2 other humans that stayed the hole time were 2 spots away from me on either end, so we had fun sniping each other. They got me more than I got them I'm afraid, but I like that, cuz it helps remove some of the auto pick bias a bit.

[Captain Hook]

So, in about 4 weeks I'm taking things back to where they all began, by playing in a 10 team mix. Something I haven't done in about 5 years, and for many more, umm, jellybeans, than I ever did then. So, my question is, would you take this team? What's good, what's bad, what am I missing??

Standard 14/9 roster with 5 bench spots. From the 2 hole:

C: Yadier, J.P. Arencibia
CI: Miggy, M Young, M Reynolds
MI: Kinsler, Hanley, Alexei Ramirez
OF: Cuddyer, Hart, Adam Jones, Ethier, Kubel
U: Brantley
SP: Haren, CJ Wilson, Hellickson (shocker), Luebke, Ubaldo, Sale
RP: Jim Johnson, League, Mo

Bench: Lilly, F Francisco
Bench: Tabata, Chisenhall, SRod

Surprisingly there were 6 actual humans on board to start the draft. We ended with 3. I tried really hard not to let MDCs ADP and upcoming auto-picks skew who I took. The 2 other humans that stayed the hole time were 2 spots away from me on either end, so we had fun sniping each other. They got me more than I got them I'm afraid, but I like that, cuz it helps remove some of the auto pick bias a bit.

Well I will try, but ten team mixed is so shallow I don't have a feel for it

What I like:
Pitching - very nice staff although I am not at all a fan of Ubaldo - but worth seeing if he can find himself
C and MI

What I don't like:
Mark Reynolds - he can single handedly destroy your BAvg and won't fix that even if he gives you 35 or 40 bombs
Michael Brantley - I don't think me should be starting in that kind of league

[AllstonRockCity]

Well I will try, but ten team mixed is so shallow I don't have a feel for it

What I like:
Pitching - very nice staff although I am not at all a fan of Ubaldo - but worth seeing if he can find himself
C and MI

What I don't like:
Mark Reynolds - he can single handedly destroy your BAvg and won't fix that even if he gives you 35 or 40 bombs
Michael Brantley - I don't think me should be starting in that kind of league

Yes, I too am afraid I've lost my feel for it, hence the post. But I'm already signed up so, I figure the best I can do is mock and post. I used to be a force in this format, but that seems so long ago.

I was worried about my pitching, interesting you like it so much.

I also find it interesting that you're scared off by Reynolds BA. I figured with Miggy and Young at 1b/3b I had ample BA to absorb the hit whilst reaping all the counting stats. When I took him the next best 3B available were Prado and Moustakas, so I also viewed the pick as really putting the hammer on the 3B spot.

I only took Brantley because I was light on SBs. Bourjos went about where he should in an AL Only, so there he went. I had asterisks near Crisp and J Weeks and was ready to really reach for 1 of them to secure some more SBs, but was out-reached.

thanks.

[Todd Zola]

In a league like this, it inevitably comes down to

1. health with studs
2. finding 3 or 4 guys in season to replace your worst 3 or 4 guys

#1 is variable, can't control
#2 is part luck, how many people picked up and dropped Joey Bats in this format a few years ago, but also a lot of diligence

With respect to Reynolds, the "make up for BA" game works better in deeper leagues, and it may help keep you out of the cellar in the category here, but in general the shallower the league, the easier it is to make up or get elsewhere the extra HR w/o killing your average, plus, you already have JP Arencibia as a drain.

[Black Sox]

I mostly play 10 team mix and in my opinion your pitching is weak. However it can also depend on your strategy and preference. Since the league is so shallow you can stream and work the wire and "find" some pitching. For me I like to load up on hitting early by round 10 i'll have 8 hitters and 2 SP. Rounds 10-20 is all about fortifying my staff and I look for high K SP. I think the real "value" in SP occurs in round 11-15.

I think Kubel & Brantley are dead spots in your line up. Kubel's projection is replacement level in a 10 team mix.

I don't mind the Reynolds pick but when you add in Arencibia & Kinsler suddenly Miggy won't be able to compensate and what should have been a strength just made you middle of the pack.

Not sure if your real draft is going to be in person or online. If online then I'd mock a lot from that site. My leagues play on CBS so I know full well that to some degree the other owners will be influenced by their ranks. If you do enough mocks you should be able to formulate a plan based on where your picking and what players would reasonably be available thru at least round 3/4. The worst is when you feel like every time its your pick you have to reach to fill another position. As an example if your big on let's say Hanley and your pretty sure you can snag him in the 2/3 round then maybe taking Tulo in the 1st round doesn't fit your strategy. You also need to identify where your willing to be weaker for me it's usually MI and my C are of the do no harm variety. I also wait on closers and look for 3 from the 2nd / 3rd tier. I would never waste a pick on Mo based on where you need to take him.

Hope my comments are helpful and good luck!

[AllstonRockCity]

In a league like this, it inevitably comes down to

1. health with studs
2. finding 3 or 4 guys in season to replace your worst 3 or 4 guys

#1 is variable, can't control
#2 is part luck, how many people picked up and dropped Joey Bats in this format a few years ago, but also a lot of diligence

With respect to Reynolds, the "make up for BA" game works better in deeper leagues, and it may help keep you out of the cellar in the category here, but in general the shallower the league, the easier it is to make up or get elsewhere the extra HR w/o killing your average, plus, you already have JP Arencibia as a drain.

yeah, the importance of #2 is not lost on me, memorable pickups in this format were Lackey, Dontrelle and Haren his 2nd year as an A. not bad WW pickups. part of the reason why guys like Brantley and Kubel are on the team in 1st place, they are a lot easier to drop than someone your invested in. that has always been a downfall: liking my draft so much that I miss out on the big April FAs.

As far as the BA thing goes, do you suggest I raise the BA requirement in the CVRC or the Cat Weight?? neither? both?

[AllstonRockCity]

I mostly play 10 team mix and in my opinion your pitching is weak. However it can also depend on your strategy and preference. Since the league is so shallow you can stream and work the wire and "find" some pitching. For me I like to load up on hitting early by round 10 i'll have 8 hitters and 2 SP. Rounds 10-20 is all about fortifying my staff and I look for high K SP. I think the real "value" in SP occurs in round 11-15.

I think Kubel & Brantley are dead spots in your line up. Kubel's projection is replacement level in a 10 team mix.

I don't mind the Reynolds pick but when you add in Arencibia & Kinsler suddenly Miggy won't be able to compensate and what should have been a strength just made you middle of the pack.

Not sure if your real draft is going to be in person or online. If online then I'd mock a lot from that site. My leagues play on CBS so I know full well that to some degree the other owners will be influenced by their ranks. If you do enough mocks you should be able to formulate a plan based on where your picking and what players would reasonably be available thru at least round 3/4. The worst is when you feel like every time its your pick you have to reach to fill another position. As an example if your big on let's say Hanley and your pretty sure you can snag him in the 2/3 round then maybe taking Tulo in the 1st round doesn't fit your strategy. You also need to identify where your willing to be weaker for me it's usually MI and my C are of the do no harm variety. I also wait on closers and look for 3 from the 2nd / 3rd tier. I would never waste a pick on Mo based on where you need to take him.

Hope my comments are helpful and good luck!

First off, thank you. Now to address the bold points.

I too thought my pitching was weak, mostly because I follow the same plan as you do. I took Haren in the 4th but waited til the 9th to get Wilson. so after 9 rounds it was 7-2 bats vs arms. Turns out its maybe not as weak as I thought at 1st glance.

My previous post mentions how I love to find those SP gems on the WW. or stream for favorable 2 starters. I agree with you there.

At least as far as MBs value goes, I was certainly able to 'kill it' in rounds 11-15, agree with you yet again.

While I would have no problem dropping Kubel if something better came along, he is projected to earn $11 in this format per the 2/1/12 CVRC. My head said replacement level, but my cheat sheet said take him as your 5th OF.

I got Mariano in the 10th. I could not pass up that value. A run ensued after that pick.

Keep em coming

[Todd Zola]

As far as the BA thing goes, do you suggest I raise the BA requirement in the CVRC or the Cat Weight?? neither? both?

I don't think I would change it - I think I would just have a separate filter and only draft players with a projected average over "XXX".

The reason being, CVRC values are static, and have some utility, but as we just talked about, so much goes on in season that I prefer the "above XXX" filter than a dollar value.

This has me thinking though, I am planning on researching this using NFBC data mainly because i have it, but, I also may now have access to some data from the World Wide Leader...

I wonder what the relation is to "drafted average" as compared to "final average".

This goes hand in hand with my rant against drafting towards category targets.

[Todd Zola]

I'm going to disagree with the Mo comment, though obviously everything is contextual.

Yes, saves are available all the time in season, especially in 10 team leagues. And yes, there are a clusterfrick of volatile situations again this season.

but...

Closers do more than get saves. Especially in a league where the ratios will be tight, the edge Mo provides is HUGE!!!

Then add in ARC's noted strategy of waiting a little on pitching and Mo basically turns a #3 SP into a #2 SP.

That said, I don't make him the first closer off the board, I don't take a closer before I have 2 starting pitchers and I don't take him if there is a hitter that is clearly better than the rest of the available inventory.

[Black Sox]

I'm going to disagree with the Mo comment, though obviously everything is contextual.

Yes, saves are available all the time in season, especially in 10 team leagues. And yes, there are a clusterfrick of volatile situations again this season.

but...

Closers do more than get saves. Especially in a league where the ratios will be tight, the edge Mo provides is HUGE!!!

Then add in ARC's noted strategy of waiting a little on pitching and Mo basically turns a #3 SP into a #2 SP.

That said, I don't make him the first closer off the board, I don't take a closer before I have 2 starting pitchers and I don't take him if there is a hitter that is clearly better than the rest of the available inventory.

I just find that the price associated with a top level closer is not worth it. You say Mo makes a #3 a #2, I say just draft the number #2 and get what you really pay a closer for.... saves, much later. Add to it the volativity to the position. I'm sure if ARC rattled off the top SP & Hitters available when he selected Mo it would make my point crystal clear. I mean I drafted Thornton /Hanrahan & Storen last year, I missed on Thornton but hit on the other two and I didn't take Thornton till like rd 15.

[AllstonRockCity]

FWIW Kimbrel, Storen, Papelbon and Axford had all been taken.

Available Hitters:
Maybin, Kendrick, Avila, Heywood, Suzuki, Berkman, Montero, Weiters, Butler

Available Pitchers:
Pineda, Hellickson, Wainwright, Cueto, Gio, Brian wilson, Garza, M Moore, Carpenter, Valverde

[AllstonRockCity]

As far as the BA thing goes, do you suggest I raise the BA requirement in the CVRC or the Cat Weight?? neither? both?

I don't think I would change it - I think I would just have a separate filter and only draft players with a projected average over "XXX".

The reason being, CVRC values are static, and have some utility, but as we just talked about, so much goes on in season that I prefer the "above XXX" filter than a dollar value.

This has me thinking though, I am planning on researching this using NFBC data mainly because i have it, but, I also may now have access to some data from the World Wide Leader...

I wonder what the relation is to "drafted average" as compared to "final average".

This goes hand in hand with my rant against drafting towards category targets.

When you say filter, you mean a mental process rather than something in Excel, correct?

And this does seem like a great topic. Yet another so-called truth, that upon closer inspection, isn't so true anymore. BA is such a fickle stat. What is that stat? for a fulltimer just the difference of 1 hit more or less per weeks ends up being like 25 pts on your BA at the end of the season, or something like that. That's crazy. 1 hit per week less and your 280 hitter is now a 255 hitter or 1 hit more and he's at 305.

Man, this thread has far exceeded the expectations I had when I first posted it.

[Todd Zola]

When you say filter, you mean a mental process rather than something in Excel, correct?

And this does seem like a great topic. Yet another so-called truth, that upon closer inspection, isn't so true anymore. BA is such a fickle stat. What is that stat? for a fulltimer just the difference of 1 hit more or less per weeks ends up being like 25 pts on your BA at the end of the season, or something like that. That's crazy. 1 hit per week less and your 280 hitter is now a 255 hitter or 1 hit more and he's at 305.

Man, this thread has far exceeded the expectations I had when I first posted it.

Depends on your degree of geekiness, what you can bring into your drat/auction, Excel acumen, etc.

Call 500 AB a season. Every hit is worth .002 BA points.

Season is 26 weeks

Hit a week is 52 points.

Of course, most players have the good and bad luck even out so the effect is not nearly 52 points, but say the player gets lucky 16 weeks and unlucky 10 weeks, that is 12 points, etc.

[AllstonRockCity]

Depends on your degree of geekiness, what you can bring into your drat/auction, Excel acumen, etc.

While my geekiness is quite high, my Excel abilities are quite limited. This is why I was hoping that just changing the BA Filter or the Cat Weight would get it done, cuz that's easy.

I'll be drafting online, but prefer to have just 2 sheets of paper. 1 for hitters, 1 for pitchers. oh, and a pen.

You had also said filtering at a certain $value probably wouldn't be useful either. so what would you suggest for a geeky techno-tard such as myself?

No rush on this, I know you've got those profiles due in about 8 hours

Oh and probably 17 emails from LuLu, those always take up some time.

[Black Sox]

FWIW Kimbrel, Storen, Papelbon and Axford had all been taken.

Available Hitters:
Maybin, Kendrick, Avila, Heywood, Suzuki, Berkman, Montero, Weiters, Butler

Available Pitchers:
Pineda, Hellickson, Wainwright, Cueto, Gio, Brian wilson, Garza, M Moore, Carpenter, Valverde

I stand corrected then, the fact that 4 closers were off the board and I can understand why you went Mo there, maybe not what I would have done but I understand it.

For me I'd raise the CVRC BA baseline to around .270 -.280. You might have to play with it. What I try to do is pick out where a few BA drain hitters are ranked at the default and see how they are a affected by the change, it doesn't have to be perfect, like you I'm just going into a draft with a player rank and pen.

Thanks for the thread, sometimes I hold back commenting due to the vast difference between 10 and 15 team leagues and the perceived notion that 10 team mix is just about picking studs and the format lacks real skill to play. The long time league I've been in is happy at 10 owners so I prefer to base my reasearch on that format. I've been interested in competing in the NFBC, but finding the time needed to be succesfull has been a challenge. It's also easier to worry about 450 players than 750

What site will you be using to draft? It's a big advantage to be able to mock where the league draft will be held. It's almost impossible for anyone to not be influenced to some degree by the default ranks of the site. It's just human nature and can be exploited

[Todd Zola]

It depends what is on those pieces of paper -- if just a list of names, I may color code the ones I feel are a BA risk -- or I may have the $value and BA so I can make my decision. What I mean by $vakue as a filter (and this is more true with pitching) is sometimes they are used to set the order in a cheat sheet. I would prefer the $4 starting pitcher with fewer wins than the $6 guy with more wins but worse ratios. Some sort of thing for hitting, but it is more contextual.

[AllstonRockCity]

Thanks for the thread, sometimes I hold back commenting due to the vast difference between 10 and 15 team leagues and the perceived notion that 10 team mix is just about picking studs and the format lacks real skill to play. The long time league I've been in is happy at 10 owners so I prefer to base my reasearch on that format. I've been interested in competing in the NFBC, but finding the time needed to be succesfull has been a challenge. It's also easier to worry about 450 players than 750

I will say that I was prepared to catch some flack for playing in a 10 team league. But I think you nailed the only real difference: the amount of prep needed. Obviously it takes a lot more time and effort to prep for 750 or 450 active payers vs only 230. I don't think anyone would deny that. However, once the draft starts and that 1st pick is made EVERY league is equally challenging because everyone plays in the same zero sum economy once the daft starts. So what if there are more players or better players on the WW, the stat level they need to produce is proportionally higher so its a wash.

[AllstonRockCity]

How about this incarnation? Anyone care to comment on this squad?

from the 9 spot:

C: Posey, JPA
CI: Hosmer, Longoria, Youk
MI: Phillips, Zobrist, Alexei
OF: Jacoby, McCutchen, Cuddyer, Willingham, Carlos Lee
U: Rasmus

P: Weaver, Luebke, Zimmerman, Hellickson, Marcum, Masterson, Sale, K Jansen, Hanrahan

Bench: Lilly, M Thornton, A Reed, Raburn, Viciedo

This was one of the best mocks I've ever done at MDC as we started with 9 humans and ended with 7 and the 2 the left hung for a while.

[Todd Zola]

Any way to get those same 9 in your draft for real?

Other than not really liking Posey (or perhaps liking others more instead at the spot you probably got him), I'd get in a fox-hole with that group.

[AllstonRockCity]

Yeah, I probably should have got all their names and emails. Everyone couldn't believe how many actual humans we had, it was really cool.

thanks for the comments.

I got Posey in the 8th. Napoli, Santana, McCann and Mauer had all been taken. Choo, Adam Jones, Rollins, and a cavalcade of SP and RP were the 'equal' options. I've waited on C in every mock so far and wanted to see how things shook out if I got 1 of the top 4 (Santana, Napoli, McCann, Posey are my top 4)

Its funny because the original mock that starts this post had us all worried about my AVG, but the projections for this mock have my AVG lower than in the original, but I completely disagree with that assessment, even if that is based on the eyeball test. The only real BA drains I see are JPA and Rasmus, but as my C2 and U, their gone in a second if they don't perform right away. So I think the AVG in this squad is top half for sure, hopefully top 3.

You think the pitching is strong enough?? I took BlackSox advice and after nabbing Weaver in the 4th, waited til the 11th before I rostered another hurler (Luebke).

[Todd Zola]

I think your pitching is manageable. That is, you have a decent enough foundation to start, you'll do what you need in season.

I'd rather have taken MMontero or even Wieters when you took Posey. But that's just me.

[AllstonRockCity]

Or even better, I could have gotten either of those guys a couple rounds later. Thanks for this critique. These are exactly the type of tidbits I'm looking to gather in prearation for this draft.

[Todd Zola]

Perhaps the main thing about 10-team leagues (which is much more exploitable in an auction) is especially at the end opinions on players differ pretty widely, so it is tough to rely on an ADP. even one set for that league size. In round 17, you may jot down the guys you would ideally like to finish out with, and not cater it to who you think will be available, but rather who IS available, and you may end up with 5 or 6 of those names.

[Captain Hook]

How about this incarnation? Anyone care to comment on this squad?

from the 9 spot:

C: Posey, JPA
CI: Hosmer, Longoria, Youk
MI: Phillips, Zobrist, Alexei
OF: Jacoby, McCutchen, Cuddyer, Willingham, Carlos Lee
U: Rasmus

P: Weaver, Luebke, Zimmerman, Hellickson, Marcum, Masterson, Sale, K Jansen, Hanrahan

Bench: Lilly, M Thornton, A Reed, Raburn, Viciedo

This was one of the best mocks I've ever done at MDC as we started with 9 humans and ended with 7 and the 2 the left hung for a while.

Well this really begs the question of what you are mocking?
You started with 9 humans.....for how many draft spots?
It doesn't look quite so good if it was a ten team league. You really need to give us the league parameters to do any analysis.
Do I like a lot of the players? Yes. Do I want to start the season with only one closer plus the White Sox pair? Again depends on parameters.
Will you ever get this team in a live draft?

[AllstonRockCity]

This was one of the best mocks I've ever done at MDC as we started with 9 humans and ended with 7 and the 2 the left hung for a while.

Well this really begs the question of what you are mocking?
You started with 9 humans.....for how many draft spots?
It doesn't look quite so good if it was a ten team league. You really need to give us the league parameters to do any analysis.
Do I like a lot of the players? Yes. Do I want to start the season with only one closer plus the White Sox pair? Again depends on parameters.
Will you ever get this team in a live draft?

10 teams. Mix 14/9. 5 bench. No trades. Just like we've been talking about.

Kenley isn't LAs closer? Cuz that makes 2.

Given that there were 90% actual humans in this draft I do feel confident that the results are as accurate as your ever gonna get in a mock. If I'm the only 1 using MB in my league then, yes, I am fairly confident I could come close to replicating this once the actual $ is on the line.

[Todd Zola]

Dodgers closer is TBD. Recent reports have Guerra as the front runner, but many (including me) think Jansen with get the job.

That said, closer in a 10-team league is low on the priority list and unless Crain surprises everyone, you have the White Sox covered.

[AllstonRockCity]

Perhaps the main thing about 10-team leagues (which is much more exploitable in an auction) is especially at the end opinions on players differ pretty widely, so it is tough to rely on an ADP. even one set for that league size. In round 17, you may jot down the guys you would ideally like to finish out with, and not cater it to who you think will be available, but r
ather who IS available, and you may end up with 5 or 6 of those names.

I think I get what you're saying here.

In this draft for example there were several instances after the 10th round where I would put 10 to 20 guys in my queue and that would last for 4 rounds or so. Then I was able to lather, rinse, and repeat this process 2 more times and that carried me all the way to round 28. So let's say I put 50 names total into the queue after round 10. Those 50 lasted me 18 rounds, not the 5 or 6 they 'should' have. Is this what you mean?

Also, I have not and do not plan on looking at any ADP for this. With no trades the ADP for the MIs is going to be useless. I mean I took Phillips and Zobrist back to back on the 5/6 turn because SS had been picked through down to Jeter at that point and he ended up lasting almost 10 rounds after that. Those 2 were by far the best MIs remaining.

One of the things I liked about last night is that people were definately taking 'their guys' when they wanted them which leant an air of authenticity to things.

[AllstonRockCity]

Dodgers closer is TBD. Recent reports have Guerra as the front runner, but many (including me) think Jansen with get the job.

That said, closer in a 10-team league is low on the priority list and unless Crain surprises everyone, you have the White Sox covered.

Ahh, I see, thank you.

I've got a lot of catching up to do in the NL after completely ignoring it last year. This is tops on my priority list for the next week or 2.

[Todd Zola]

yeah, pretty much

In an auction, this is why extreme stars and scrubs is recommended for shallower leagues, as you will get a bunch of "your guys" for $1=$3 even though you value them much higher.

Even in the 15-team XFL (pseudo-industry keeper league) I am never exactly sure how much to keep for the end game to make sure I get the guys I want, but OTOH, I will not hesitate to be something like 4 for $4 or 5 for $5, since I am likely going to get a majority of my guys, and the others won't suck.

[Black Sox]

Here's a recent 10 team draft I did, it's a free league so it's a step above a mock but not by much. I've found people put in a little more effort than just a mock, so I like them for the practice. One note is CBS default ranks are SP heavy the first few rounds so I think it inflates SP causing hitting to fall. I can't say 100% that it will change when playing for $$ but I'd be surprised if it didn't.

10 team mix 5x5 ( 2 C league ) Round /choosen in ( )

Got the #1 pick

C - Y. Molina (15)
C- M.Weiters (7)
1b - Miggy (1)
2b- Cano (2)
3b - Longoria (3)
SS - E.Andrus (10)
MI - B.Phillips (11)
CI - I.Davis (19)
OF - C.Crisp (16)
OF - M.Holliday (6)
OF -A.Pagan (22)
OF - D.Stubbs (12)
OF- B.Zobrist (8)
U - M.Moustakas (23)

BN - A.Dunn R.Furcal L.Cain D.Young

P- C.Carpenter (13)
p- Z.Greinke (5)
P- D.Haren (4)
P- S.Marcum (14)
P - M.Moore (9)
P- J.Danks (20)
P- T.Lilly (21)
RP- H.Street (18)
RP- S.Santos (17)

In Round 1 and 2 7 SP were choosen including 3 in round 1. Again CBS default is heavy on SP early so while I doubt 7 will go in a real draft 4/5 is realistic. I could see Kinsler & Wright being avaiable to me at 20/21 ( instead of Cano/Longoria which is unrealistic IMO ) which I would have been more than happy with. Closers were being overdrafted so I am light there, but with a strong base I'd be comfortable knowing I could probably either troll the wire or make a deal to secure another closer.

[Todd Zola]

Pardon my french, but how the eff does Cano make to the end of the 2nd and Longo to start the 3rd?

That could be 3 first rounders, borderline in a 10-teamer, but still...

[Black Sox]

Here's how.... ( again like I said I don't like this to occur in a real $$ league, but I would have been just as happy starting my team Miggy/Kinsler/Wright which I've been able to do in more than a few mocks )

1. Miggy
2. Bautista
3. Pujols
4. Kemp
5. Tulo
6. Halladay
7. Kershaw
8. Verlander
9. Fielder
10. Ellsbury

Now I disagree with the Fielder & SP picks but what difference would it be if we flip the rounds and instead Votto/ A Gon / Upton & Pedroia go in rd 1 and fielder and the SP go in round 2. It might look better/more realistic on paper but the result is the same.

11. C.Lee
12. J.Weaver
13. T.Lincecum
14. Votto
15. A Gon
16. Hanley
17. Pedroia
18. J.Upton
19. C.Sabathia
20. R.Cano
21. E.Longoria

Other than the CC pick which is a HUGE reach, you can see what happened due to those SP going in Rd 1 and the trickle down effect it had. It had an effect on me in that I went SP in the 4/5 and 9th rounds. Normally I only draft 2 SP in rounds 1-10 and I normally like to wait till the 5/6 rounds to make a move.

[Todd Zola]

It's obviously the pitchers that skewed things and it may be because those mocking were practicing for a head to head league and they (IMnotsoHO, incorrectly) think pitchers are worth more, plus like you said, the default rankings had an influence.

[Black Sox]

CBS's default ranks for SP in the top 20 are....

Halladay - (5)
Kershaw - (6)
Verlander - (9)
Lee - (10)
Felix - (20)

All I know is the more SP drafted in Rd 1/2 the better..... for me, LOL.

[AllstonRockCity]

I had briefly considered joining a free league or 2 because I thought they might be 'better' than a mock at MDC.

Now I know that, as Anthony Keidis said in Point Break "that would be a waste of time"

he was soooo much cooler 20 years ago than he is now.

I do appreciate everyone's input though its been most helpful