Around the Diamond

Last Minute Draft Help

            Whether your draft is an auction, a “blind-bid”, or just a regular snake-style draft, the majority of the trends seem to stay the same.  The upper echelon of talent goes early and it goes for big bucks; breakthrough players from last season always seem to go a little earlier than expected and definitely for more money than they should be valued; bargain talent will always be available to you late and cheap.  With just a few days remaining until the season starts, some people are still drafting and looking for that “diamond in the rough”.  Here’s a last minute round-up of some players you should keep your eyes on and hopefully be able to pick up at the appropriate time.

1^st Base:

While people seem to be a little sour on the steroid scandals and injury risks, Jason Giambi and Jim Thome seem to be falling further and further down the draft boards.  In one league I was able to land Giambi in the 9^th round and I would have grabbed Thome soon after but another owner caught on and grabbed him quickly thereafter.  Rest assured, Giambi is through his ordeals and is looking to get back to form.  While he won’t give you the 40 HRs, 32 is within reach and that ain’t so bad.  As far as Thome goes, well…c’mon…one injury year and now he’s a full time DH in a hitter’s park?  I’ll take him as a 9^th or 10^th rounder.

2^nd Base:

While the top guys like Chase Utley, Chone Figgins and Alfonso Soriano go in the early rounds, you’ll see that after them, people just stop looking at 2^nd base.  It becomes a position that disinterest people as the players become relatively interchangeable.  If that is the case, then you can grab yourself a Mark Loretta or a Ronnie Belliard in the mid to later rounds.  These guys won’t put up the most amazing stats, but they will be consistent and most of all will not hurt your team.  If you really want to wait on a second sacker, then somewhere in the 23^rd round of your draft or for a buck in an auction you can land yourself Dan Uggla of the Marlins.  Who?  Exactly.  Astounding how people can overlook a guy who has the starting job and no competition lurking to steal it away.

3^rd Base:

In my Hot Corner article, I told you to go for the battered and bruised here.  Scott Rolen still seems to slip down draft boards as people remain concerned about last season.  So far this spring, Rolen has shown no ill-effects from his shoulder surgery and looks to amass another 30-100 season.  Corey Koskie seems to have the edge in Milwaukee, as I predicted, and will be a great late addition as he gets a crack at shallow Miller Park.  And if you’re still looking late, the always consistent Bill Mueller can always give you BA help in his first year in L.A.

Shortstop:

Here’s another position that seems to get left alone after the top 4 or 5 disappear from the draft board, but where talent lies fairly deep.  They may not be a Miguel Tejada or a Jose Reyes, but I can’t complain about Felipe Lopez or Jhonny Perralta.  They both had outstanding rookie seasons and will probably be available somewhere in the 7^th or 8^th rounds.  If you want to wait a little longer and grab other talent elsewhere that early, then you can easily have J.J. Hardy or Hanley Ramirez somewhere in the 20^th round.  Hardy could break out if he plays like he did at the end of last year.  Ramirez is another one of those forgotten Marlins who could have 20 SB potential hitting leadoff in Florida.

Outfield:

When we first started talking about the outfield, there were concerns about its depth.  But while power hitters have become a premium here, there seems to be a lot of 20 HR guys that seem to slip through the cracks.  In your later rounds (15^th and beyond) or when people have blown a majority of their bid money, you’ll notice that there is still some significant talent remaining.  They may not be super power hitters, but Corey Sullivan, Jason Michaels, and even Juan Encarnacion will certainly help you as all three hit near the top of the order.  Sullivan could reach 20 SBs, Michaels will be consistent in Coco Crisp’s former spot and Encarnacion…?  Anyone realize he will spend the season hitting in front of Albert Pujols.  Perhaps the year we’ve waited on from him for years is finally upon us.  Also keep your eyes on players like Jermaine Dye, Mike Cameron, and Raul Ibanez.  They are three guys who a lot of people seem to overlook as well.

Starting Pitching:

There is no position deeper in baseball that starting pitching.  While everyone grabs their “ace” a little too early, you will be able to glom all the major hitting talent possible in your draft.  If you get worried and feel that your fellow owners are loading up on starters, grab yourself a Jason Schmidt and/or Mark Buehrle.  People are down on Schmidt from last year’s injury, but redemption and a free agent contract are on his horizon.  He’ll have a great season with fantastic strikeout numbers.  And has there been anyone more underrated than Buehrle.  His numbers always stay respectable and he is usually a lock for 15 or so wins.  As far as my third year guys I was talking about previously, take a look at Erik Bedard, Daniel Cabrera, Joe Blanton, and Scott Kazmir.  All four are primed to put it all together this season.  Want to go even deeper?  Check out Scott Baker, Jason Vargas and Jae Seo.  These three could also have really big, yet quiet seasons.  Look to steal them super late and super cheap.

Closers:

I always recommend to grab at least one top flight closer in your draft.  I usually like to wait until the 5^th or 6^th round when they start to fall off the board.  Anyone in the top 10 will do.  But for additional help, you can definitely wait until the middle to late rounds.  Guy like Mike Gonzalez, Ryan Dempster, and Jose Valverde all have their spots locked up and will probably give you close to 30 saves this year.  Watch out for Joe Borowski in Florida as well.  He might not get all the save chances you want, but he beat out the promising and now demoted Travis Bowyer for the job.  If you really want to take a gamble, I picked up Ambiorix Burgos in the 24^th round.  With Mike MacDougal out for a few weeks, Burgos has looked fantastic.  I thought maybe Andy Sisco would land the job, but Burgos has been solid.  If he continues this, then the oft-injured MacDougal might not get the job back when he returns.

Have a great draft everyone and enjoy the start of the season.  See you all in the money this year.

For more Spring Training notes and to see how I did in all of my drafts this year, check out what’s going on a RotoBuzz.

Howard Bender is a freelance fantasy sports writer and current 2005 Fantasy Baseball champion.  For questions, thoughts, or comments, you can write to him at hbender26@yahoo.com.