Draft by Cell Phone

This afternoon I participated in my keeper league made up of guys from my home town Shrewsbury, and people they know from UCONN and Wesleyan. This is the fourth year (I think) that I have been involved in the league. Last year was the first year that we did keepers. The league works with a $200 budget for 21 players, so you have to be careful in your bidding. My keepers heading into the draft were:

2 year keepers:
SP Josh Beckett $22
1B, 3B, OF Aubrey Huff $11 - The plan was to use him primarily at 3rd
C Joe Mauer $9

1 year keepers:
RP Octavio Dotel $15
SP Edwin Jackson $11
C AJ Pierzynski $2

I was fairly happy with this group. Dotel came over in a trade last year, and his price is high but acceptable. Edwin Jackson however, was a disaster. As he is a one year keeper I can drop him once the draft concludes, but it was one less player I was able to draft today.

So heading into today's draft I had $130 to spend on 15 players. This was about average, there were four other teams with more money to spend on average than myself. I decided to wait things out a little bit. Randy Johnson was the first pick, going for $29. The early rounds featured the usual heavy hitters: Todd Helton @ $26, Vlad Guerrero @ $38, Albert Pujols @ $42 were a few of the first to go. After probably 15 or so picks, I made my first purchase:

OF Juan Pierre for $12. I was very happy with this. It was still early, Crawford was still on the board, but Podsednik is a keeper, so I thought I might get more competition. Pierre has had calf problems in spring training, but I am banking on him being ok.

Next I grabbed SP Ben Sheets @ $25. I was ecstatic with this purchase. I had Sheets valued at $40, so to me this was a bargain. Sometime after that pick, we took a short break. Then I really started to heat up.

Following the break, I nabbed:

SP Brad Radke @ $8
SS Jimmy Rollins @ $7
1B Justin Morneau @ $8
SP Zack Greinke @ $4
OF Dave Roberts @ $4
RP BJ Ryan @ $11
OF JD Drew @ $8
2B D'Angelo Jimenez @ $2
RP Chad Cordero @ $7
2B Ray Durham @ $2
OF Lew Ford @ $2
P Bronson Arroyo @ $4
OF Jeremy Reed @ $2

Cap Room: $24.

I knew that after I nabbed Jimmy Rollins for 1/2 of what I had him valued at, I knew it was going to be a great draft. I didn't get anyone I didn't want, and lost out on few that I did. I think doing it on the cell phone actually helped slightly, simply because I was able to concentrate easier. So here's the depth chart for 2005:

C: Joe Mauer ($9), AJ Pierzynski ($2)
1B: Justin Morneau ($8), Aubrey Huff ($11)
2B: D'Angelo Jimenez ($2), Ray Durham ($2)
3B: Aubrey Huff ($11)
SS: Jimmy Rollins ($7)
OF: Juan Pierre ($12), Dave Roberts ($4), JD Drew ($5), Lew Ford ($2), Jeremy Reed ($2), Aubrey Huff ($11)

SP: Josh Beckett ($22), Edwin Jackson ($11), Ben Sheets ($25), Brad Radke ($8), Zack Greinke ($4), Bronson Arroyo ($4)
RP: Octavio Dotel ($15), BJ Ryan ($11), Chad Cordero ($7)

Needless to say I am extremely happy with this team. I think I may be short on power in general, particularly at 2B, SS, and the OF. Other than that I believe I am doing quite well. I am very happy with my rotation, and I got 3 solid closers. Dotel may not be in Oakland all season, but it's a good bet that if he is traded he will retain his closer role. Having $24 in cap room will allow me some flexibility in acquiring additional power. I believe my power output will depend on JD Drew's health and Lew Ford's progress and playing time.