Draft Analysis pt4

Round 13

14: (10) Jair Jurrjens - SP - 10-3, 55K, 2.07/1.14 (Shawn)
13: (6) Gio Gonzalez - SP - 7-5, 99K, 2.38/1.24 (Chris T)
12: (1) Jordan Zimmerman - SP - 5-6, 67K, 2.85/1.11 (Tom)
11: (12) Hiroki Kuroda - SP - 5-9, 77K, 3.10/1.25 (Stew)
10: (14) Michael Cuddyer - INF/OF - .286/.351/.454 33-30-7 (Chris J)
9: (13) Ervin Santana - SP - 3-8, 92K, 4.08/1.28 (Austin)
8: (7) Jorge De La Rosa - SP - 5-2, 52K, 3.51/1.19 (Owen)
7: (9) Kelly Johnson - 2B - .213/.292/.420 43-34-8 (Fabian)
6: (3) Wade Davis - SP - 7-5, 43K, 4.32/1.44 (James)
5: (5) Torii Hunter - OF - .242/.313/.372 32-39-2 (Ryan)
4: (8) Frank Francisco - RP - 8 SV, 26K, 4.50/1.64 (Paul)
3: (11) Vernon Wells - OF - .219/.251/.386 31-26-2 (Kyle)
2: (4) Joe Nathan - RP - 3 SV, 17K, 7.27/1.56 (Joe)
1: (2) Javier Vazquez - SP/RP - 4-8, 59K, 5.83/1.58 (Mike)

I'm making Vazquez the goat over Nathan because the impact of a poor starter is more severe than the impact of a poor reliever.  It's interesting to note how many injury gambles were made this round, and how differently they generally turned out.

De La Rosa was having himself a fine season, so it's a shame that he's out for the year.  This could easily have been a top-3 pick for the round.  His two good months earn him enough credit over Kelly Johnson and the crap brigade.  Also, sneaky-good late pick of Cuddyer, eligible at 2B, putting up decent rate stats with enough stolen bases to justify playing him.  If the Twins ever stop being awful, he could put up even more numbers.

Round 14

14: (7) Asdrubal Cabrera - SS - .292/.342/.495 52-46-12 (Paul)
13: (8) Ian Kennedy - SP - 8-2, 97K, 3.01/1.09 (Owen)
12: (3) Adam Jones - OF - .294/.339/.488 38-46-5 (Stew)
11: (1) Tim Stauffer - SP/RP - 3-5, 82K, 3.09/1.21 (Chris J)
10: (13) Bobby Abreu - OF - .288/.402/.381 30-32-13 (Mike)
9: (9) Brandon Morrow - SP - 3-4, 81K, 4.90/1.37 (Chris T)
8: (4) Edwin Jackson - SP - 4-6, 81K, 4.13/1.48 (Kyle)
7: (10) Brett Myers - SP - 3-6, 75K, 4.65/1.32 (Ryan)
6: (5) Jason Kubel - OF - .310/.355/.465 20-30-1 (Shawn)
5: (6) Jose Tabata - OF - .265/.351/.354 39-15-14 (Fabian)
4: (14) Austin Jackson - OF - .252/.316/.371 41-22-13 (Tom)
3: (12) Tsuyoshi Nishioka - 2B/SS - .206/.270/.265 2-4-1 (James)
2: (2) Fernando Rodney - RP - 3 SV, 18K, 4.09/1.41 (Austin)
1: (11) Brian Matusz - SP - 1-3, 16K, 6.85/1.84 (Joe)

Owen, I think either the Cabrera and Kennedy picks were bigger than even the Montero one.  Asdrubal has taken Hanley Ramirez's numbers.  Ian Kennedy has been, what, the second best pitcher taken since round 5?  Just behind Jurrjens, and only barely thanks to the strikeout differential.

Mike gets bonus points for taking the fourth outfielder of the round and getting the second best one.  Morrow has been a disappointment, but in terms of value, he's put up those strikeouts in far fewer starts than his contemporaries.  Like last year, I have high hopes for his second half, but at this pace even a 4.50 ERA would be better than my non-Verlander roster.  Thanks, Greinke & JJ Putz!

Round 15

14: (2) James Shields - SP - 8-4, 117K, 2.29/0.96 (Mike)
13: (6) David Ortiz - DH - .311/.391/.581 48-48-1 (Chris T)
12: (13) Johnny Cueto - SP - 5-2, 48K, 1.84/0.94 (Austin)
11: (14) Brandon League - RP - 21 SV, 21K, 3.58/1.10 (Chris J)
10: (1) Kyle Farnsworth - RP - 16 SV, 22K, 2.20/0.89 (Tom)
9: (11) Erick Aybar - SS - .287/.324/.437 33-33-16 (Kyle)
8: (9) Justin Masterson - SP/RP - 5-6, 75K, 2.98/1.32 (Fabian)
7: (10) Carlos Zambrano - SP/RP - 6-4, 74K, 4.38/1.34 (Shawn)
6: (5) Yadier Molina - C - .289/.337/.418 24-29-1 (Ryan)
5: (12) Daniel Bard - RP - 1 SV, 36K, 2.39/0.85 (Stew)
4: (7) Gordon Beckham - 2B - .229/.292/.338 31-21-2 (Owen)
3: (8) Manny Ramirez - OF - 0.59/0.59/0.59 0-1-0 (Paul)
2: (3) Aroldis Chapman - RP - 0 SV, 20K, 6.60/1.87 (James)
1: (4) Jake McGee - RP - 0 SV, 2K, 5.14/2.00 (Joe)

The key to success in fantasy baseball is to strike gold in round 15, apparently.  Shields is an even better pick than Cabrera and Kennedy last round.  Fuck you, Mike.

The bottom three requires a brief explanation.  Manny Ramirez, obviously a waste of a pick, at least had the good graces to a) leave early and b) be up front about being your OF3 or U batter, so expectations had to be tempered making the selection.  Chapman's been hyped since before he entered the country, and drafting him here represents some severe speculation on both his and Francisco Cordero's performance, which has obviously not worked out for James (like almost everything else this season).  However, at the very least, he got you 20 strikeouts, and Cordero wasn't taken in the very same round.  Jake McGee went three picks after the actual Tampa closer (though nobody knew at the time how it'd work out in that bullpen), a direct challenge to Tom's superior decision-making.  He flamed out just as quickly as Manny, but with the added burden of failed promise and prospect buzz, plus you were strategically depending on him for one specific category he would never deliver.

Updated scores:

1: Owen (125)
2: Chris J (116)
3: Chris T (110) [+1]
4: Austin (99) [-1]
5: Mike (93) [+1]
5: Shawn (93) [+2]
7: Kyle (92) [-2]
8: Stew (90) [+1]
9: Tom (85) [+2]
10: Paul (84) [-2]
11: Ryan (80) [-2]
12: Fabian (77) [+1]
13: Joe (62) [-1]  Aggregate points this update: 4
14: James (54)