Leigh Teixeira: Jersey's Fantasy Baseball Team

(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

After some deliberation, I've re-settled on "Leigh Teixeira" as my fantasy baseball team's name. Last year, it was Team Sunshine; I changed it to LT when Tex arrived in New York, and subsequently changed it to "Listen Lady," following an inside joke. But after reading some Red Sox smack calling our onebie "Leigh Teixeira's Husband," I went back to my original choice of 2009.

Anyway, here's my draft recap. First of all, I kept ten players, as per league rules. I had some tough decisions to make, and ended up tossing back some players I really liked. Then again, when you win your league, chances are you like most of your players. The limit of 10 is what got to me; I was able to afford more under league rules, but was not allowed to keep more then ten. So, I settled on the following players:

Ryan Braun (Jersey boy for life!)
Carlos Lee
Josh Hamilton
Nate McLouth (thus rounding out the best outfield in the league)
Ervin Santana
Francisco Liriano
Rafael Furcal
Matt Wieters
David Price
Aramis Ramirez

Thanks to the cheap acquisition's of Liriano, McLouth, and Santana, I was able to afford some more expensive players while retaining a significant amount of rollover value for next season.

Furcal and Lee had been dropped thanks to season-ending injuries, so their values were decreased, and I snagged them on the cheap. Price and Wieters were grabbed off free agency immediately purely for the sake of keeping them; they cost next to nothing. I wound up with ten sick keepers, with plenty of money to pay for more expensive ones (should I need to) next season.

Unfortunately, this meant cutting ties with guys like Alfonso Soriano, James Shields, and Adam Wainwright. But dem's the brakes.

Anyway, here's how the draft went, beginning with round 11. Because I finished in first, I picked last (twelfth); since it's a snake draft, I picked twice in a row, with the last pick in every odd round followed immediately by the first pick in every even round.

11. John Lackey
12. James Shields (welcome back!)
13. Robinson Cano
14. Pablo Sandoval
15. Alex Gordon
16. Justin Verlander
17. Adam Jones
18. Ramon Hernandez
19. Manny Corpas
20. Grant Balfour (another returnee)
21. Jose Arredondo
22. Ubaldo Jimenez (already been traded)

My league counts saves and holds as one category, so I had no problem waiting until the end to grab relievers. Some people groaned at my pick of Balfour, but I don't mind. Relievers are always, always available, so even if he doesn't bounce back, it's not like a wasted a high pick on him, and I can always grab another one off free agency.

Truth is, after my pick of Sandoval, I wanted nobody else. I was stunned that Cano fell to me, so I grabbed him (second basemen are hard to find), and then I made a huge reach for Pablo, who I hope continues his brief big-league success. At that point, there was no one ranked higher who I wanted more, and I didn't think he'd fall to me my next time around. So I took him early.

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