Fantasy Baseball 2012: A Tale of Back-to-Back 15-Team Drafts

Here are my results from two Philanthropist League drafts on Tuesday night. The 15-team leagues are comprised solely of my Twitter followers and/or hearty patrons of The Fantasy Blog.

Philanthropist Draft No. 1

Round 1 (first overall): 1B Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
Round 2 (30th overall): SP Jered Weaver, Angels
Round 3 (31st overall): OF Josh Hamilton, Rangers
Round 4 (60th overall): OF Alex Gordon, Royals
Round 5: SS Elvis Andrus, Rangers
Round 6: OF Jason Heyward, Braves
Round 7: SP Mat Latos, Reds
Round 8: OF Cameron Maybin, Padres

Breakdown: My preferred strategy of six hitters/two pitchers in the first eight picks may be ideal for 12-team leagues, but with 15-teamers, it could be a recipe for disaster—or a few uncomfortable reaches later in the night. For the most part, though, I opted for value at every turn, achieving balance with power, speed and positional scarcity.

Round 9: SS Dee Gordon, Dodgers
Round 10: SP Brandon Morrow, Blue Jays
Round 11: 2B Jason Kipnis, Indians
Round 12: SP Wandy Rodriguez, Astros
Round 13: SP Jhoulys Chacin, Rockies
Round 14: RP Carlos Marmol, Cubs
Round 15: SP Bud Norris, Astros
Round 16: 3B Mat Gamel, Brewers (Prince Fielder's heir apparent at first base)

Breakdown: I probably could have gone without Dee Gordon, my second shortstop, at pick 121, but then again, in the second Philanthropist draft, he flew off the board 40 picks earlier. Outside of Kipnis and Gamel, this stanza was all about filling pitching voids that may have been neglected in Rounds 1-8. All in all, good value across the board.

Round 17: RP Chris Perez, Indians
Round 18: SP Ricky Nolasco, Marlins
Round 19: OF Denard Span, Twins (last year's funk was a one-time thing)
Round 20: OF Eric Thames, Blue Jays
Round 21: C Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers (my default setting after Wilson Ramos)
Round 22: OF Will Venable, Padres
Round 23: 1B Brandon Allen, Athletics
Round 24: SP Rick Porcello, Tigers
Round 25: SP Tommy Milone, Athletics (Oakland's No. 3 pitcher; had a 9/1 K-BB ratio and 0.95 WHIP during the spring)

Breakdown: Late-round gems like Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Brandon Belt, Bryce Harper and Mike Trout were plucked from the board, en masse, between Rounds 17-20, leaving me with few palatable options at the corner-infield spots. So, I went in a different direction, targeting low-cost, high-upside outfielders (Span, Thames) and two young starting pitchers (Porcello, Milone), who will garner many chances to succeed (or fail) this season.


Philanthropist Draft No. 2

Round 1 (sixth overall): OF Ryan Braun, Brewers (too much value at No. 6)
Round 2 (25th overall): OF Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins
Round 3 (36th overall): SP Jered Weaver, Angels
Round 4 (55th overall): SS Elvis Andrus, Rangers
Round 5: SP James Shields, Rays
Round 6: 1B/3B Michael Young, Rangers
Round 7: OF Desmond Jennings, Rays (leap-of-faith pick on a major breakout)
Round 8: SP Michael Pineda, Yankees

Breakdown: I made a conscious effort to target pitching in the second draft (just 20 minutes after the first one concluded) and walked away with Weaver, Shields and Pineda in the first eight picks. I know Grapefruit League stats are largely meaningless, but check out Shields' spring output: 2.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 17/4 K-BB ratio in 17.2 innings.

It's almost like Shields hasn't taken a mental break from last year's stellar campaign (16 wins, 2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 225 strikeouts). As for Braun, Stanton and Jennings, I couldn't have asked for three better outfielders from Rounds 1, 2 and 7.

Round 9: SP Gio Gonzalez, Nationals
Round 10: 1B/OF Carlos Lee, Astros
Round 11: 2B/3B Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks (reached maybe one round too early)
Round 12: SP Wandy Rodriguez, Astros (a remarkably consistent asset)
Round 13: OF Josh Willingham, Twins
Round 14: 1B Mark Trumbo, Angels (could have 3B/OF eligibility by May 1)
Round 15: RP Chris Perez, Indians
Round 16: SP Colby Lewis, Rangers

Breakdown: I couldn't corral any elite corner infielders in the first five picks, so I invoked an alternate strategy of targeting Michael Young, Carlos Lee and Trumbo, hoping one would have a memorable campaign. The plan included a fourth corner-infield gem in the middle rounds, but Paul Goldschmidt and Ike Davis were snagged at the last minute.

This is the inherent problem of 15-team drafts: Even the most thoughtful of pre-draft road maps can be torched in an instant.

Round 17: SP Jhoulys Chacin, Rockies (could be dynamite in ERA/strikeouts)
Round 18: OF J.D. Martinez, Astros
Round 19: SS Ian Desmond, Nationals
Round 20: C Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers
Round 21: OF Ben Revere, Twins (a healthy lock for 40 steals)
Round 22: RP Mike Adams, Rangers
Round 23: OF Josh Reddick, Athletics
Round 24: 3B Kyle Seager, Mariners
Round 25: RP Rex Brothers, Rockies (lights-out prospect; could be Colorado's closer by season's end)

Breakdown: The moment Chase Headley (237th overall) and Mat Gamel (243rd overall) went off the board, I stopped chasing the lot of low-upside third basemen, settling for the high-risk, high-upside plan of adding Mariners rookie Kyle Seager in Rounds 24 or 25. For those who didn't read my Top 40 Sleepers piece from the other day, Seager is fighting the hot-corner battle on two fronts:

1. Incumbent Chone Figgins has been on a steady decline in recent years but may be able to hold off Seager for another season. Of course, Seattle may relocate Figgins to center field to spell injured Franklin Gutierrez, creating a vacancy for Seager.

2. Seager was fantastic in Cactus League play (3 HRs, 6 RBIs, 8 runs, .350 BA, .650 slugging, 1.000 OPS), but still couldn't separate himself from Alex Liddi, another hotshot infield prospect with the Mariners. In spring action, Liddi batted .429 and posted a 1.214 OPS.

Jay Clemons can be reached on Twitter, day or night, at @ATL_JayClemons.