Author Archive: Mike Podhorzer

As some of the commenters pointed out in my first look at ADPs on Mock Draft Central, average draft position figures do have their flaws. However, just like any statistic that attempts to measure a certain aspect of a player’s game, or even his overall value, that doesn’t mean we should just ignore it if it isn’t 100% perfect. The information is still much better than nothing. So, that means you will be getting a lot more ADP analysis from me, whether you like it or not (you will LOVE IT)! I will continue on by looking at some of the American League starting pitchers I believe to be overvalued. I am only looking at them on a relative basis against other AL starters, rather than considering their draft round.

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It is hard to believe, but mock draft season is already in full force. According to Mock Draft Central’s latest ADP report, there have already been 109 qualifying drafts, as well as 3 expert drafts. What’s cool about their ADP reports is that they publish the expert league ADPs separately so you can compare what the industry is thinking about a player with how the general public feels. I thought it would be interesting to see which players had the large differences between their regular ADP and expert league ADP. Below are the 10 players with the biggest differences, with the one caveat being that at least one of the ADP values had to represent a pick in the top 10 rounds. So any player with both ADP values above 120 were eliminated.

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I am going to take a break from reviewing my old and limping team to focus on the American League starting pitchers taken in the draft. It is always interesting to see how certain players rise or fall as we head into draft season, even when there is no news out that should affect that player’s value. So let’s see if I could dig up anything interesting. Remember, this was a mock dynasty league, although some of us (me) didn’t realize it was a dynasty until after the fact.

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Oops. I messed up. Although I was aware that the FanGraphs mock draft on Sunday night used a keeper format, I missed the dynasty aspect. That’s what happens when you arrive just before your first round pick and can’t see the pre-draft banter. That makes quite a difference and would have dramatically changed my strategy. But hey, I still think my team would win in 2012! They would just collapse due to old age soon after. Here is a refresher of my (now flawed) strategy and my first three picks. Now let’s get to my remaining picks from the first ten rounds…

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We FanGraphers decided we couldn’t wait any longer. Why wait until March when you could draft NOW?! Not only did we mock it up last night, but we assumed a keeper league. WOAH. We gathered 12 of our most intelligent, hilarious and handsome writers, used standard roster sizes minus one catcher and drafted five reserves. I know you are dying to find out how the action unfolded, but before I begin the process of unveiling the winning team (mine, obviously), I will share my keeper league philosophy/strategy for the draft.

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We have completed the keeper tiers, but that does not mean the keeper analysis ends. Today I will take a look at another two putcher who did not quite make the tiers, but might still have value in AL-Only leagues.

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No, not his skin color. If you missed the news (and that would never happen because you refresh FanGraphs every five minutes, right?), Sergio Santos went from being a White Sock to a Blue Jay yesterday. After saving 30 games while posting a 3.55 ERA for the Sox over the past year, this has clear fantasy implications. Is Santos going to be the de facto closer, and if so, how will he perform upon his move to the AL East?

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Last week I had a little fun and decided to have a debate with myself about Brett Lawrie. Since it was a genuinely enjoyable article to write, I am going to do it again. This time I will be debating the merits of Eric Hosmer, with my friends Bull and Bear starring in the show.

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No, not Thanksgiving dinner leftovers. Two weeks ago for my last keeper rankings post, I wasn’t sure if tier five would be the final tier. Well, I have decided, it was. So now it is time to take a look at those that just made the cut, or the leftovers, if you will. To refresh your memory…

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Several years ago I wrote an article for an old blog in which I literally argued with myself about Jimmy Rollins. I played the role of both the bull and the bear and imagined these two selves having a debate. I suddenly remembered that article while wondering what to write about for today’s post and thought it may be entertaining to try it again. As you read through the dialogue, try to figure out which side, if any, I am actually on and let me know in the comments if you were right. So, without further ado, I present to you Bull Mike and Bear Mike arguing about Brett Lawrie’s 2012 fantasy value…

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