Thanks to GP, here are the category winning totals for each of the five listener leagues this year, along with the average winning total across all five leagues:

Stat/Lg.      411       G          K          M         S          AVG

AVG           .293      .289      .300      .289      .289      .292

R                1288     1184     1282     1304     1331     1278

HR              376       347       329       386       351       358

RBI             1242     1149     1242     1277     1246     1231

SB              201       166       210       206       188       194

W               111       103       106       107       104       106

SV              118       119       126       146       137       129

K                1327     1379     1120     1194     1336     1271

ERA           3.84      3.86      3.42      3.74      3.83      3.74

WHIP          1.27      1.25      1.19      1.25      1.26      1.24

G = Gentile

K = Klayman

M = Miccucci

S = Paul C. Smith

Although it may look like our basic draft-day guidelines are a little low (1200 K’s, etc.), I think they’re pretty accurate when you consider that the above totals include free agents, trades, etc., which can’t be counted on draft day. So let’s take 85% (or 80% or 90% if you prefer) of these numbers and call them draft-day targets… hit three or four or five of them and you’ll win your league!

Thanks,

Cory

Hi gang,

I did my first mock draft of the winter last night, for a fantasy publication coming out in the spring. I picked second out of 15 in a standard 5×5 league, serpentine draft. The results:

Round     Pick                                      Comment

R1>>       Jose Reyes (SS)                     Speed, power and improved plate discipline too!

R2<<       Justin Morneau (1B)               Already damn good and getting better

R3>>       Hanley Ramirez (SS)               Made a believer out of me in ’06

R4<<       Francisco Rodriguez (CL)        You know I love a power bullpen…

R5>>       B.J. Ryan (CL)                        …And these two are the best

R6<<       Prince Fielder (1B)                  Rapidly improving young slugger

R7>>       Alex Rios (OF)                       Healthy again and ready for a power spike

R8<<       Barry Bonds (OF)                    Needed the power… hey, someone had to do it!

R9>>       Danny Haren (SP)                   Signs point to a breakout year… Lo12 fave

R10<<     Chris Capuano (SP)                Solid K’s, improving control… another Lo12 guy

R11>>     Kenji Johjima (C)                  Very consistent in ’06 and should repeat

R12<<     Josh Barfield (2B                   Trade to Cleveland could mean more power

R13>>     Josh Willingham (OF)             Big finish in ’06 shows major upside

R14<<     Jose Valverde (CL)                 Another closer with a high K rate

R15>>     Chuck James (SP)                  Just needs to control the HR’s to excel

R16<<     Mike Piazza (C)                      Value pick, since all the full-timers were gone

R17>>     Carlos Quentin (OF)                XBH machine in a hitters’ park… me likey!

R18<<     Andy Marte (3B)                     Might need one more year, but the rest were gone

R19>>     Nate Robertson (SP)               Solid, consistent, but unspectacular… Lo12 guy

R20<<     Boof Bonser (SP)                    Impressive debut, but can he repeat?

R21>>     Justin Duchscherer (MR)         Solid ratios and vulture saves if Street can’t go

R22<<     Garrett Anderson (OF)            Hey, I needed an outfielder and I hear he is one

R23>>     Kevin Kouzmanoff (UT)           High AVG’s should hold up in SD, but the power… ?

The player picking before me in the even rounds took Sizemore, Damon and Swisher in three straight rounds, each time when I was going to take that player with my next pick. As a result I ended up with a pretty mediocre outfield, especially if Bonds continues to fade in ’07. Overall we’re a little shy of power throughout the lineup.

Otherwise, though, the basic 411 strategy played out fairly well: good speed, a deep power bullpen, mid-round starting pitching bargains… note that I went for THREE list of 12 guys, plus 411 fave Chucky James and Boof Bonser.

Also, given the depth of a 15-team league vs. 12 teams, I ended up gambling on a lot of younger players (Morneau, Ramirez, Fielder, Barfield, Quentin, etc.). A few more established players might’ve lent a little bit more predictability to my roster.

Thoughts?

Also… anyone out there with the Gentile or Klayman leagues, can you please post the winning totals in each of the 10 categories this season? Thanks to GP I have the results of the other three leagues so once I get those two I will post all five and we can fine-tune our draft-day goals for ’07.

Happy baseball!

CS