With the third pick of the first round, I took the Rockies Nolan Arenado.
Fantasy Baseball is in full swing so I thought it would be a good idea to share one of the teams I drafted with you. If for no other reason, I can give a model to build your own team.
For this season, I will be playing in three standard leagues as well as daily fantasy. I am not crazy about my first draft on Sunday because truthfully, I was late entering the draft and the computer made my first eight picks.
When it comes to drafting a line up, I value power. In this era of launch angles and guys trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark, I want free swingers. I don’t mind swing and miss guys even though they could cost me points with their strikeouts. Even in leagues that are slanted heavily towards pitching, I always use a balanced approach when constructing my teams.
Here is the team I drafted and my thought process as the draft went a long.
Line Up
C: Mike Zunino
1B: Joey Votto
2B: Chris Taylor
3B: Nolan Arenado
SS: Marwin Gonzalez
2B/SS: Paul DeJong
1B/3B: Cody Bellinger
OF: Khris Davis
OF: Jay Bruce
OF: Eric Thames
OF: Kyle Schwarber
OF: Scott Schebler
UTIL: Joey Gallo
BEN: Mike Moustakas
BEN: Yangervis Solarte
BEN: Ryon Healy
Pitchers
SP: Luis Severino
SP: Yu Darvish
SP: Aaron Nola
SP: Masahiro Tanaka
SP: Madison Bumgarner
SP: Chase Anderson
RP: Brandon Morrow
RP: Kelvin Herrera
RP: Andrew Miller
Line Up Thought Process
In this draft, I had the third overall pick. I decided to go with a hitter first so I took Nolan Arenado. I figured that in the second round I was in position to take either Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber or Chris Sale. It didn’t work out. All of them were gone so I took the best hitter available and arguably the best hitter in baseball in Joey Votto. At that point I decided to focus on building the type of line up I like and draft pitching later.
As I said earlier, I value power. I want home run hitters. I also want guys that are versatile. If you read our site, you know the multi-position player tickles my fancy. That is why I drafted Cody Bellinger, Eric Thames and Joey Gallo. I want players who fit the power profile I look for but are also eligible to play multiple positions. That is why I have drafted Marwin Gonzalez in both my drafts. I have probably drafted Gonzalez a good two rounds earlier than I should have. I don’t mind however because he hits for power in one of the best line-ups in baseball and he is eligible to play four positions.
Khris Davis, Jay Bruce, Kyle Schwarber and Scott Schebler are all mashers who will strike out a ton but also hit 25-30 home runs and drive 90-100 runs.
Pitching Thought Process
I build my pitching staff based on starts. ESPN allows a ridiculous 14 starts per week. That’s absurd. That being the case, I loaded up with starters. I am a big Luis Severino fan. Severino had over 230 strikeouts last season and had an ERA of 2.98. He is ace material. After missing out on Justin Verlander, I drafted Yu Darvish. I am not a Darvish guy but I went for the best pitching value on the board. I do think he will bounce back with the Cubs.
Aaron Nola is the Phillies best starter and I think he is a candidate for 15 plus wins this season. He struck out 184 batters last season and could top 200K’s this season.
I took Masahiro Tanaka with some trepidation because he gives up the long ball but he is a horse capable of starting 25-30 games and piling up the strike outs. Plus he’ll have plenty of run support this season.
I wanted Cole Hamels but he went a couple of picks before me so I took Chase Anderson. Anderson is the defacto ace of the Brewers until Jimmy Nelson returns in May. If he healthy, Anderson should make 25 starts this season and win 12-15 games.
I am rolling the dice with Madison Bumgarner. I took him in both my leagues and I am willing to wait on him. He is still a top five starter in fantasy baseball and could still make 20 starts this season.
I have never been a fan of closers. While they can pitch three times a week and get you 15-20 points in a good week, they could also implode and hurt you. I like Brandon Morrow with the Cubs. He has closer stuff and their will be plenty of opportunities to hit saves games. Kelvin Herrera still has elite closer stuff but may not close as many games for the rebuilding Royals. I worry about his consistency. Andrew Miller is the king of holds. he has a rubber and could pitch four or even five times a week.
Overall, I like my team. I value power bats, versatility and starting pitching. I think I checked off all of those boxes with this draft. I expect to contend for a championship with this roster.