The Other Way to Build a Team

On Monday, I discussed the results of my 12 team home league. Rather than spend big money on my rotation, I diversified to acquire 11 starting pitchers. By the time spring training is over, I expect to be comfortable with a six pitcher core, which will free me to search for this year’s Michael Brantleys and Corey Dickersons.

Yesterday afternoon, I joined forces with Razzball’s Paul Singman in the Yahoo Friends and Family League. It’s a 15 team snake draft with standard deep rosters and 5×5 categories. The bench is shallow – only three players, and we also have a low 1400 inning cap. I also drafted for Mr. Singman last year, and we narrowly missed first place. Scott Pianowski outstreamed us in the last week.

With 15 owners, we had to dig a little deeper for starters. It’s an industry league, so ADP flew out the window at times. On a few occasions, I selected players simply because they were still there.

The Team

Thought Processes

With pick five, I had my eyes on Kershaw the whole time. Prior to the draft, I generated auction values to see how various positions interacted. Those values rated Kershaw comparably to Mike Trout due to the low innings pitched threshold. The more elite innings you can pile up, the better chance you have of sweeping the pitching categories. That said, I absolutely hate using a first round pick on a pitcher.

Once again, I selected Desmond with a valuable pick. It’s not that I like him more than others. I was targeting a power-speed threat, and he was the best left on the board. I then followed with Sale to ensure our elite pitching numbers. With two ringers in hand, I didn’t have to worry about starting pitchers for the rest of the draft.

Closers went early, so I snagged Allen in the sixth. He was the last of the elite arms with the possible exception of Brett Cecil.

My selection of Castillo is an interesting case study. I needed another power-speed double threat, so I narrowed my list to Castillo, Joc Pederson, and Steven Souza. I decided to go with Castillo in the 13th and grab Victorino much later. I made several such plans; this is the only one that worked out. I wanted Jordy Mercer to handcuff Harrison and Kang. A Ken Giles handcuff for Papelbon would have been nice too.

The early rounds contained reaches aplenty. Once we got to mid-draft, I started snapping up values. Per my numbers, Tanaka, Pearce, Utley, and Sanchez are all reliable plays who could have gone much earlier. I’m particularly pleased with the pitcher selections.

Lagares is one of my sleepers this year, although he works best in a deep format. The Mets plan to leadoff with Lagares, where his speed and elite defense could result in an inexpensive five win season. From a fantasy perspective, he has the tools to contribute to runs, stolen bases, and average. He might even hit eight or nine home runs. He could be a poor man’s version of Brantley.

Since it’s a 15 team league, every team averages two closers. I usually try to outkick the herd, but it didn’t work this time. Instead, I threw a couple hail mary passes.

Comments from Joe Girardi have me thinking that Miller is very much alive in the closer competition. If Adam Warren makes the rotation, the Yankees might want to consider using Betances in a multi-inning role. That’s easier to do when you have the option of relieving him before his two innings are up.

Hatcher and Delgado are in the mix for some April saves. With Kenley Jansen out, Brandon League hurt, and Joel Peralta behind the eight-ball, Hatcher has a legitimate shot to close a few games. Delgado’s path is a little murkier. Addison Reed insists he’ll be back for the start of the season. I would bet on a minimum stay on the disabled list. Even then, Delgado has to edge out Evan Marshall.

Every position has at least one backup, so depth shouldn’t be an issue. Roster redundancy is important to me.

Flaws and Weaknesses

The offense has its share of cracks. Almost everybody can be described in one of two ways:

• He’s a bounceback candidate
• He needs to prove it for a second year

In the cases of Castillo and Kang, they need to prove it for a first year. There’s an awful lot of risk and hardly any certainty. Of course, this is what happens when you try to select very good players with mediocre picks. You have to accept a lot of risk as a result. Alternatively, I could have used my mediocre picks to acquire mediocre talents (more Hardys please), but then our team would be dead in the water.

Stolen bases are a real problem. I thought I was going to select Billy Hamilton in the fourth round, but he was taken five picks ahead of me. After that, I kept missing my stolen base targets by a few picks. I’m hoping for a Todd Frazier-like season from Bruce, and I’m putting a lot of pressure on Desmond, Harrison, Castillo, and Lagares. Jordan Schafer is still on the waiver wire if we’re willing to take terrible production in four categories to solve another.