Earlier in the year, I gave a list of the top players at each position. Before the season, I planned on distributing an updated set of positional rankings. However, I thought it might be more helpful to share the results of one of my recent live drafts.
This particular draft had 10 teams and 25 rounds. While there are many different draft formats, this is a common arrangement if you join a public league. Some of the crazy picks from this draft might not happen in your draft if you do a little bit of research before your draft day (or checkout our blog!).
However, a 10-team public league will have a good mix of people who know what they are doing and others who are just playing for fun. Therefore, a few picks might have you scratching your head. In my mind, that's perfect because you'll be able to grab some sleepers later in the draft.
Like I said, there were a few questionable moves by the other owners in the draft. For example, "Team 10" seems to be a fan of the Cleveland Indians because more than half of his team has played in Cleveland at one time (including Kenny Lofton, who still doesn't have a team for 2008). Also, "Team 5" decided to take Scott Thorman in the 24th round. Maybe that owner knows something about Mark Teixeira that the rest of us don't because Thorman doesn't have any fantasy value as long as Teixeira plays the entire season. Anyway, I'm not going to point out all of the debatable selections.
I had the seventh choice in the draft, so my team is "Team 7" in the draft recap below. The draft went in alternating order depending on what round it was. Overall, it surprised me that a lot of players were still available at different points of the draft when it was my turn to pick. Below is a list of the players that I was surprised to get in each round.
Round 2: Jimmy Rollins – I was mildly surprised that Rollins fell to me with the 14th overall pick, but he was still the third shortstop chosen like I predicted.
Round 7: Francisco Rodriguez – Although he was drafted when I expected, I didn't think there would be two closers selected ahead of him, including Seattle's J.J. Putz.
Round 8: Roy Halladay – I was happy to be able to select Halladay with my eighth pick because he'll work well as my No. 2 starter and I didn't need to rush to pick him.
Round 12: Felix Hernandez – After I passed on him in the 11th round to grab Tampa Bay's James Shields, I didn't think Hernandez would be available for my next pick. No one grabbed him and he could be the steal of the draft for me.
Round 14: Matt Cain – Even though he had 16 losses in 2007, I projected Cain to be drafted in the eighth or ninth round because of his ability to get strikeouts. Ideally he'll improve his record this season and still post similar strikeout totals, which will be perfect for this selection.
Round 17: Aaron Hill – I'll probably use B.J. Upton as my second baseman since he qualifies for the position in my league, but Hill will provide a solid alternative.
Round 20: Jose Guillen – While I predicted that Guillen would have a bad year, he was just too good to pass up with my 20th selection. Hopefully he proves me wrong.
Round 22: Kosuke Fukudome – I don't know what to expect from the Japanese import in his first year in the major leagues, but he was worth the risk in the 22nd round.
Round 25: Jon Garland – With John Lackey not expected to pitch for most of April, Garland will hopefully step up and earn some extra wins for me early in the season. Either way, there's not much risk since he was my last selection.
Most of the leagues will be drafting in the next few days because the season starts Tuesday in Japan with the Boston Red Sox facing the Oakland Athletics. If you have any questions or need advice before your draft, feel free to e-mail me at djones@baltimoresun.com and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Round 1
Team 1: Alex Rodriguez
Team 2: Hanley Ramirez
Team 3: David Wright
Team 4: Jose Reyes
Team 5: Ryan Howard
Team 6: Chase Utley
Team 7: Matt Holliday
Team 8: Miguel Cabrera
Team 9: Johan Santana
Team 10: Grady Sizemore
Round 2
Team 10: Travis Hafner
Team 9: Ryan Braun
Team 8: Carl Crawford
Team 7: Jimmy Rollins
Team 6: Albert Pujols
Team 5: Derek Jeter
Team 4: Alfonso Soriano
Team 3: David Ortiz
Team 2: Jake Peavy
Team 1: Ichiro Suzuki
Round 3
Team 1: Brandon Phillips
Team 2: Prince Fielder
Team 3: Mark Teixeira
Team 4: Carlos Lee
Team 5: Vladimir Guerrero
Team 6: Erik Bedard
Team 7: B.J. Upton
Team 8: Carlos Beltran
Team 9: Nick Markakis
Team 10: C.C. Sabathia
Round 4
Team 10: Fausto Carmona
Team 9: Robinson Cano
Team 8: Derrek Lee
Team 7: Lance Berkman
Team 6: Brandon Webb
Team 5: Josh Beckett
Team 4: Magglio Ordonez
Team 3: Cole Hamels
Team 2: Aramis Ramirez
Team 1: Eric Byrnes
Round 5
Team 1: Justin Morneau
Team 2: Victor Martinez
Team 3: Jonathan Papelbon
Team 4: Brian Roberts
Team 5: Manny Ramirez
Team 6: Dan Haren
Team 7: Justin Verlander
Team 8: Carlos Guillen
Team 9: Curtis Granderson
Team 10: Daisuke Matsuzaka
Round 6
Team 10: Miguel Tejada
Team 9: Bobby Abreu
Team 8: Dustin Pedroia
Team 7: Alex Rios
Team 6: Garrett Atkins
Team 5: Chipper Jones
Team 4: Chone Figgins
Team 3: Torii Hunter
Team 2: Troy Tulowitzki
Team 1: Carlos Pena
Round 7
Team 1: Russell Martin
Team 2: J.J. Putz
Team 3: Dan Uggla
Team 4: Aaron Harang
Team 5: John Smoltz
Team 6: Roy Oswalt
Team 7: Francisco Rodriguez
Team 8: Johnny Damon
Team 9: Carlos Zambrano
Team 10: Kenny Lofton
Round 8
Team 10: Casey Blake
Team 9: Hunter Pence
Team 8: Ken Griffey Jr.
Team 7: Roy Halladay
Team 6: Rafael Furcal
Team 5: Brian McCann
Team 4: Joe Nathan
Team 3: Chris Young (pitcher)
Team 2: Gary Sheffield
Team 1: Matt Kemp
Round 9
Team 1: Ian Kinsler
Team 2: Adrian Gonzalez
Team 3: Joe Mauer
Team 4: Corey Hart
Team 5: Jeff Francoeur
Team 6: Ryan Zimmerman
Team 7: Adam Dunn
Team 8: Francisco Cordero
Team 9: Javier Vazquez
Team 10: Jhonny Peralta
Round 10
Team 10: Ryan Garko
Team 9: Ivan Rodriguez
Team 8: Trevor Hoffman
Team 7: Adrian Beltre
Team 6: Michael Young
Team 5: Placido Polanco
Team 4: Paul Konerko
Team 3: Billy Wagner
Team 2: Takashi Saito
Team 1: Vernon Wells
Round 11
Team 1: Jason Bay
Team 2: Mariano Rivera
Team 3: Hideki Matsui
Team 4: Chris Young (outfielder)
Team 5: Andy Pettitte
Team 6: Todd Helton
Team 7: James Shields
Team 8: Clay Buchholz
Team 9: Edgar Renteria
Team 10: Tim Hudson
Round 12
Team 10: Coco Crisp
Team 9: Josh Hamilton
Team 8: Brad Penny
Team 7: Felix Hernandez
Team 6: Jermaine Dye
Team 5: Rafael Betancourt
Team 4: Orlando Cabrera
Team 3: Jim Thome
Team 2: Delmon Young
Team 1: Jose Valverde
Round 13
Team 1: Jorge Posada
Team 2: Howie Kendrick
Team 3: Scott Kazmir
Team 4: Rich Hill
Team 5: Mike Lowell
Team 6: Tim Lincecum
Team 7: Bobby Jenks
Team 8: A.J. Pierzynski
Team 9: Huston Street
Team 10: Brett Myers
Round 14
Team 10: Pedro Martinez
Team 9: Francisco Liriano
Team 8: Jon Lester
Team 7: Matt Cain
Team 6: Alex Gordon
Team 5: Andruw Jones
Team 4: Juan Pierre
Team 3: Khalil Greene
Team 2: Ian Snell
Team 1: Kenji Johjima
Round 15
Team 1: A.J. Burnett
Team 2: James Loney
Team 3: J.J. Hardy
Team 4: Brad Hawpe
Team 5: Tim Wakefield
Team 6: Adam Wainwright
Team 7: Nick Swisher
Team 8: Mark Buehrle
Team 9: Shane Victorino
Team 10: Bengie Molina
Round 16
Team 10: Asdrubal Cabrera
Team 9: John Maine
Team 8: Derek Lowe
Team 7: Chien-Ming Wang
Team 6: Jeff Kent
Team 5: Rafael Soriano
Team 4: Yovani Gallardo
Team 3: Ben Sheets
Team 2: Rickie Weeks
Team 1: Matt Capps
Round 17
Team 1: Manny Corpas
Team 2: John Lackey
Team 3: Pat Burrell
Team 4: Adam LaRoche
Team 5: Curt Schilling
Team 6: Dustin McGowan
Team 7: Aaron Hill
Team 8: Julio Lugo
Team 9: Yunel Escobar
Team 10: Milton Bradley
Round 18
Team 10: Willy Taveras
Team 9: Chad Cordero
Team 8: Kevin Youkilis
Team 7: Ramon Hernandez
Team 6: Jason Isringhausen
Team 5: Kelly Johnson
Team 4: Edwin Encarnacion
Team 3: Dontrelle Willis
Team 2: Jeremy Hermida
Team 1: Jeremy Bonderman
Round 19
Team 1: Kevin Kouzmanoff
Team 2: Chad Billingsley
Team 3: Oliver Perez
Team 4: Kelvim Escobar
Team 5: Tom Glavine
Team 6: Frank Thomas
Team 7: Raul Ibanez
Team 8: Hideki Okajima
Team 9: Brad Lidge
Team 10: Troy Glaus
Round 20
Team 10: Jake Westbrook
Team 9: Joba Chamberlain
Team 8: Mike Mussina
Team 7: Jose Guillen
Team 6: Jeff Francis
Team 5: Trot Nixon
Team 4: Casey Kotchman
Team 3: Carlos Delgado
Team 2: Aaron Rowand
Team 1: Joakim Soria
Round 21
Team 1: Ted Lilly
Team 2: Kazuo Matsui
Team 3: Gary Matthews Jr.
Team 4: Tom Gorzelanny
Team 5: Lee Gardner
Team 6: Michael Bourn
Team 7: Joe Blanton
Team 8: Jacoby Ellsbury
Team 9: Conor Jackson
Team 10: Paul Byrd
Round 22
Team 10: Scott Baker
Team 9: Kevin Gregg
Team 8: Jered Weaver
Team 7: Kosuke Fukodome
Team 6: Michael Cuddyer
Team 5: Nomar Garciaparra
Team 4: Phil Hughes
Team 3: Joe Borowski
Team 2: Todd Jones
Team 1: Orlando Hudson
Round 23
Team 1: Zack Greinke
Team 2: Josh Willingham
Team 3: Mike Cameron
Team 4: Geovany Soto
Team 5: Jason Varitek
Team 6: Randy Winn
Team 7: Brian Wilson
Team 8: J.R. Towles
Team 9: J.D. Drew
Team 10: Justin Upton
Round 24
Team 10: Akinori Iwamura
Team 9: Evan Longoria
Team 8: Rich Harden
Team 7: Gil Meche
Team 6: Rick Ankiel
Team 5: Scott Thorman
Team 4: Bronson Arroyo
Team 3: Garret Anderson
Team 2: Greg Maddux
Team 1: Bob Howry
Round 25
Team 1: Stephen Drew
Team 2: Austin Kearns
Team 3: Jack Cust
Team 4: Jeremy Accardo
Team 5: Jason Giambi
Team 6: Mike Napoli
Team 7: Jon Garland
Team 8: David Eckstein
Team 9: Troy Percival
Team 10: Orlando Hernandez