My Team Hates Me

So I got the bad news today that Erik Bedard was placed on the DL. And just found out 10 minutes ago that Aaron Harang is also headed for Rehab Land. Well, Harang doesn't matter as much because he was sucking worse than a broken vacuum cleaner, but still. This makes a grand total of 5 players on my fantasy baseball team in my dorm league that now reside in Rehab Land (It would be 6, but I used Harang's trip as a quick excuse to drop him). As my team is now in shambles, it made me want to revisit my draft, which also left my team in shambles afterwards. And somehow I'm comfortably in 3rd place out of 14. So - I'm going to make this a 3-parter, as the draft was 21 rounds long. While I remember, though, I want to say that I find it amusing that I specifically mentioned my pro-Boston sports slant in my first post...yet my second post dealt with the Midwest and this one doesn't even deal with real sports at all. So without further ado...

Round 1, Pick 14 - Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies (.294, 25 HRs, 68 RBIs, 66 runs, 9 SBs, 103 hits)
Three taken before him: Jimmy Rollins, SS; Prince Fielder, 1B; David Ortiz, DH
Three taken after him: Alfonso Soriano, OF; Carl Crawford, OF; Jake Peavy, SP
I'm not going to lie - I slept through the first two rounds of the draft, so I won't take any credit for the computer's autopicks. But I will give credit for this pick to the girl in my league who accidentally took Derrek Lee with the #6 pick, which is where Utley was pre-ranked. How he continued to fall to #14 is beyond me, but I'll take it.
Grade: A+

Round 2, Pick 1 (15) - Alfonso Soriano, OF, Cubs (.283, 15 HRs, 40 RBIs, 36 runs, 7 SBs, 60 hits)
Three taken before him: Prince Fielder, 1B; David Ortiz, DH; Chase Utley, 2B
Three taken after him: Carl Crawford, OF; Jake Peavy, SP; Vladimir Guerrero, OF
Like I said, I also slept through this one. While Soriano's stats may seem just okay for someone of his caliber and unworthy of the #15 overall pick, you also have to consider he went on the DL shortly after the season started, and then went back on in June after breaking his finger being hit by a pitch. In fact, he's still there. But while he was healthy - namely after his first DL stint - he was absolutely tearing the cover off the ball. Which I expect to continue when he comes back.
Grade: B+

Round 3, Pick 14 (42) - Erik Bedard, SP, Mariners (6 wins, 3.67 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 72 Ks, 81.0 IP)
Three taken before him: Grady Sizemore, OF; B.J. Upton, OF; Jonathan Papelbon, RP
Three taken after him: Curtis Granderson, OF; Dustin Pedroia, 2B; Bobby Abreu, OF
Disappointing. Inconsistent. Injured. These are all adjectives that describe Erik Bedard, who was unfortunately my 3rd overall pick and my 1st SP pick. Considering Big Z, Hamels, and Lackey were all still on the board (and shortly wouldn't be), this pick looks dumber and dumber every day. It's not that Bedard has been terrible. Looking at his stats, those are very respectable, especially playing for such a underperforming team. It's just not worthy of a personal 3rd overall pick. Plus he's been on the DL twice (including a current stay), and not for fluky reasons like Soriano's getting hit in the hand - they're legit health concerns. I can only hope he turns it around, because I'm sure not getting anything good in return in a trade.
Grade: C-

Round 4, Pick 1 (43) - Curtis Granderson, OF, Tigers (.302, 9 HRs, 30 RBIs, 47 runs, 6 SBs, 79 hits)
Three taken before him: B.J. Upton, OF; Jonathan Papelbon, RP; Erik Bedard, SP
Three taken after him: Dustin Pedroia, 2B; Bobby Abreu, OF; John Smoltz, SP
This is another Bedard-like pick. Very respectable numbers, just not worthy of my 4th pick overall. Granted, he was also out for a month with a broken hand, courtesy of a HBP much like Soriano. But unfortunately, I didn't do my homework, because I would've read that expectations for Granderson for this year were not the 30-30 I was banking on. More like 20-20. But you gotta give him this, he's been more consistent than Bedard. I also wasn't aware of enough of Bedard's health history to get an insurance stud SP. And since Big Z, Hamels, and Lackey were all on the board, like I said, that would've been a much better way to go. Or, if I really wanted another OF, I believe there was a guy named Lance Berkman with OF eligibility still undrafted. I hear he's having a pretty good season.
Grade: B-

Round 5, Pick 14 (70) - Brian McCann, C, Braves (.290, 17 HRs, 50 RBIs, 39 runs, 1 SB, 90 hits)
Three taken before him: Garrett Atkins, 3B; Joe Mauer, C; Aaron Harang, SP
Three taken after him: Francisco Rodriguez, RP; Carlos Pena, 1B; Rafael Furcal, SS
The guy who took Russell Martin at #28 can have him. The guy who took Victor Martinez at #24 can definitely have him. The guy who took Joe Mauer at #68 can have him (even though I was eyeing him, knowing that he'd give a big boost to my batting average). When McCann fell to me at #70, I snapped him up before I knew I'd picked him. Getting a catcher of his caliber at such a weak position that late in the first third of the draft is a steal. Considering the next catcher drafted was Jason Varitek, I'd say I made the right call. And he hasn't disappointed. Okay, so he's only stolen one base - do you expect catchers to run anyways? Plus, he has the advantage of hitting in a stacked lineup, so the production can only continue.
Grade: A (because stolen bases still count, whether catchers do steal or not)

Round 6, Pick 1 (71) - Francisco Rodriguez, RP, Angels (35 saves, 2.54 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 37 Ks, 39.0 IP)
Three taken before him: Joe Mauer, C; Aaron Harang, SP; Brian McCann, C
Three taken after him: Carlos Pena, 1B; Rafael Furcal, SS; Chris Young, SP
Again, I won't lie. I wanted Papelbon. I was actually thinking about drafting him with my 3rd pick before he got taken the pick before mine. After that, closers dropped off my radar as first Putz and then Nathan were taken mid-5th round. But when K-Rod was still there when I got to my picks, I couldn't pass a stud closer up for any longer. I know most experts say you don't pay for saves (case in point the poor guy who drafted Putz - funny story, he also drafted Gagne). But I do my own thing, and my own thing says draft to your needs with the best guys available. At that point, I had no pitchers other than Bedard, so I could afford to take a pass on a hitter. There weren't any starters I was interested in, and like I said, I needed saves. So I took K-Rod. And even with the early-season DL stint - to the tune of a record 35 saves before the break, I couldn't be happier.
Grade: A+ (if only to spite the guys who say don't pay too much for saves)

Round 7, Pick 14 (98) - J.J. Hardy, SS, Brewers
Three taken before him: Ian Kinsler, 2B; Bobby Jenks, RP; Fausto Carmona, SP
Three taken after him: Troy Glaus, 3B; Kelvim Escobar, SP; Andruw Jones, OF
At the time, it seemed like a great pick. Here I was, getting a 26-HR guy on a stacked offensive team from a by-and-large power-challenged position, whose next guy to be drafted was Jhonny Peralta at #161. Well, that was at the time. You'll notice that there are no stats by J.J.'s name. That's because J.J. hasn't been on my team since the second or third week of the season. See, J.J.'s barrage last year was apparently mainly the product of a first-half fluke. So while he was okay, he wasn't anywhere near as talented as I thought. I quickly got tired of a batting average at and occasionally below the Mendoza Line, plus barely any power, and switched to Stephen Drew - who's been solid. Of course, J.J. has since gone on a tear in the last couple of weeks and is now batting .291 with 12 HRs. Of course.
Grade: D- (only taking into account what he did on my team)

So that's my first 7 picks of the draft, hopefully I'll get the next 7 up tomorrow or Saturday (this does take a while, you know). And while I remember, I meant to write about the whole Jesse Jackson/Barack Obama thing, but realized I didn't know enough about the subject yet to write well enough about it. So that'll be put on hold for a few days while I gather more info on it. Conveniently enough time to finish this.