Quick recap of the Roto Arcade Pro-Am League draft

A week ago, I took part in the Roto Arcade Pro-Am, a 16-team rotisserie league hosted by Yahoo’s Andy Behrens. The draft was 27 rounds long, and lasted a little over three hours. Andy has already done an overview of the draft, and while it contains some thoughts from each manager, I thought I’d share some thoughts of mine that weren’t included in his summary.

Before I get blasted in the comments section, I’d like to say, as a disclaimer, that I had not joined the league until four hours before the draft. So needless to say, I was not very well-prepared to draft for a relatively deep league.

Anyway, here are the draft results, and the roster for team WillieMayesHayes:

                        Position     Player      Round  Overall Pick
                           C    Russell Martin     3        39
                           C    Jorge Posada       10      154
                           1B   Miguel Cabrera     1        7
                           2B   Dustin Pedroia     2        26
                           3B   Chris Davis        4        58
                           SS   Miguel Tejada      9       135
                           CI   Paul Konerko       12      186
                           MI   Richie Weeks       11      167
                           OF   Jay Bruce          5        71
                           OF   Ryan Ludwick       6        90
                           OF   Nelson Cruz        8       122
                           OF   Jack Cust          18      282
                           OF   Cody Ross          19      295
                          Util  Chris Getz         23      359

                           P    Javier Vazquez     7       103
                           P    John Maine         14      218
                           P    Jonathan Sanchez   15      231
                           P    Ian Snell          16      250
                           P    Manny Parra        17      263
                           P    Jeremy Bonderman   20      314
                           P    Huston Street      13      199
                           P    Leo Nunez          21      327
                           P    Fernando Rodney    22      346

                           BN   Sean Gallagher     24      378
                           BN   Felix Pie          25      391
                           BN   Wladimir Balenti   26      410
                           BN   Russ Springer      27      423

The first issue, which Andy pointed out, is that I am severely hurting for saves. In fact, if Huston Street doesn’t beat out Manny Corpas, I might not have a single closer to begin the season. I tend to wait until the later rounds to pick closers, but I might have waited a little too long. I’m sure we’re all familiar with this strategy, which is implemented because closers have somewhat limited value, and also because there are closer controversies all the time, meaning saves can be readily found on the waiver wire throughout the season. The problem here is that I simply failed to account for the depth of this league. Not only were there 15 other managers picking for 27 rounds, these 15 managers are experienced fantasy ‘veterans’ who will be scouring the waiver wire for saves throughout the year as well.

I am fairly content with the rest of my pitching staff, despite not having selected a second starting pitcher until round 14, upon which I subsequently snagged four in a row. All four of those guys, including the anchor, Javier Vazquez, are expected to bounce back this year, and all carry decent strikeout rates. John Maine, Jonathan Sanchez, Ian Snell and Manny Parra could all wind up with ERA’s in the high 3’s or low 4’s. I should note that, as of this writing, Jeremy Bonderman has been placed on the disabled list (DL). We have four DL slots in this league, and upon placing Bonderman on the DL, I have picked up Rich Hill, who I subsequently placed on the DL as well. These are another two guys who have some value, as both have good strikeout rates. So while this is not an elite staff, it is one with some potential.

The second area of concern is with stolen bases, as I’m not sure I have a single guy in my lineup who will steal more than 20. Collectively, with this particular lineup, I am projecting around 90 to 100 stolen bases, which means I will probably be in the bottom half for this category. I’ll most likely have to trade, as stolen bases aren’t as abundant on the waiver wire as saves.

I definitely like the power I have with this team. As I mentioned in Andy’s Q&A section, despite expected decreases in batting average, both Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis have legitimate power and play half of their games in Arlington. I found good value with Jack Cust in the 18th round, Jay Bruce should only get better as he matures, and Jorge Posada and Paul Konerko are both slated to bounce back as well.

This team has a fair amount of potential but it could definitely use some work. That being said, all comments, thoughts and ideas are welcome. Flame away, folks!


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Peter D
14 years ago

I really like your offense very well done.  I think while we all know that Ryan Ludwick is going to have a hard time repeating his success, the market has overreacted to this and thus has him obtainable at an undervalued position in most drafts.

I really like the upside for players like Cruz, Davis, Weeks and Bruce.  Even if only one of they developes into a STUD, you have done well considering the alternatives available at their draft positions.

Now that Rodney has seemingly taken over as the Detroit closer, you are getting better at that position, however if Jeremy Affeldt is still available, I’d get him now.

I actually think your weekest position is SP, but I’m not as high on Vazquez as you are.  Go get Oaklands Anderson or LA’s Macdonald and drop chumps like Ian Snell or Jeremy Bonderman.

mymrbig
14 years ago

Your roster has way too much risk for my taste.  I love upside plays, but Davis, Bruce, Ludwick, and Cruz all have some warts.  Particularly drafting Davis, Bruce, Ludwick in order strikes me as very risky. 

Davis has big contact and strike zone judgment problems.  Maybe he hits 30+ HR, or maybe he hits .240 without enough walks to justify starting him over Max Ramirez or Justin Smoak in late June.  Then following him up with Bruce (same contact/judgment issues and still young), Ludwick (BABIP regression, healthy history, career year?), and Cruz (legit or Quad-A?) seems really risky. 

So while I don’t have a problem with drafting Davis here per se, but I would have gone with some less risky guys in the next couple rounds to achieve more balance.  Maybe Damon (seriously undervalued) instead of Ludwick, or someone else instead of Cruz.  I highly doubt all 4 of those guys merit the round you drafted them in.  To some extent they seem like classic “sleeper” overdrafts to me.

That said, I really like your catching in a deep league.  I also really like the Pedroia, Weeks, Konerko, and Ross selections.  Wouldn’t hold my breath on Snell or Bonderman bouncing back, but who knows.

Chad Burke
14 years ago

I’d dump Gallagher for Brett Anderson or Cahill or Macdonald as he didn’t get the rotation slot. I’d imagine the FA pool is fairly shallow right now but there should be a few people available who had cloudy situations.

Bill
14 years ago

You drafted your back-up catcher in the 10th round, and then added Tejada and Konerko?  I have no problem with your SP, but I think, hitting-wise, you botched the middle rounds.

Derek Carty
14 years ago

Bill,
Both catchers start in the league, so he simply drafted his second starting catcher at that spot.  It’s fine to take one there in a deep league like that.

There’s a few guys I’m not huge on, but overall I like the team Marco, especially considering you only had a few hours to prepare.

ernie gentile
12 years ago

Looking back on your drafted team,you would have had to made at least 65-75 roster moves during the year to make this a top 5 team in this or any league i’ve ever been in.I would love to see how you made out .