Staff Fantasy Baseball Draft: Analysis of Our 12-Team Head-to-Head League
Rounds 6 and 7
| Round | Pick | Overall | Player | Position | Fantasy Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | 61 | Billy Hamilton | OF | Peddle/Barry |
| 6 | 2 | 62 | Joey Votto | 1B | Scott Barrett |
| 6 | 3 | 63 | Kyle Seager | 3B | Cory Rindone |
| 6 | 4 | 64 | Jon Lester | P | Jim Sannes |
| 6 | 5 | 65 | Victor Martinez | 1B | Nick Friar |
| 6 | 6 | 66 | Jason Heyward | OF | Jeff Hicks |
| 6 | 7 | 67 | Christian Yelich | OF | Dale Redman |
| 6 | 8 | 68 | Matt Holliday | OF | Matt van de Merlen |
| 6 | 9 | 69 | Alex Gordon | OF | Kyle Stanzel |
| 6 | 10 | 70 | Julio Teheran | P | AJ Weinberg |
| 6 | 11 | 71 | Carlos Santana | C/1B/3B | Jacob Adler |
| 6 | 12 | 72 | Jay Bruce | OF | Alex Gutjahr |
| 7 | 1 | 73 | Brian Dozier | 2B | Alex Gutjahr |
| 7 | 2 | 74 | Hisashi Iwakuma | P | Jacob Adler |
| 7 | 3 | 75 | Jeff Samardzija | P | AJ Weinberg |
| 7 | 4 | 76 | Kole Calhoun | OF | Kyle Stanzel |
| 7 | 5 | 77 | Chris Davis | 1B/3B | Matt van de Merlen |
| 7 | 6 | 78 | Greg Holland | P | Dale Redman |
| 7 | 7 | 79 | Nelson Cruz | OF | Jeff Hicks |
| 7 | 8 | 80 | Gerrit Cole | P | Nick Friar |
| 7 | 9 | 81 | Charlie Blackmon | OF | Jim Sannes |
| 7 | 10 | 82 | Jason Kipnis | 2B | Cory Rindone |
| 7 | 11 | 83 | Devin Mesoraco | C | Scott Barrett |
| 7 | 12 | 84 | Kris Bryant | 3B | Peddle/Barry |
Round 6 was about as vanilla as fantasy baseball can get, with a bunch of conservative picks. I think Nick Friar, on autodraft, got Victor Martinez in a nice spot at 65th overall.
Matt van de Merlen takes Matt Holliday at 68th overall, a price I’m unwilling to pay for a batter who is 35 years old. To his credit, he has aged gracefully, with only minor depression in fantasy value. What Holliday does provide is safety to a squad that already has high-risk players. With the next pick, Kyle goes with Alex Gordon, a fine player for fantasy baseball but doesn’t feel like the 69th-best player for this format.
Round 7 was much more like it, as Brian Dozier is selected by Gutjahr to open the round. Pitchers Hisashi Iwakuma and Jeff Samardzija, both risky in their own ways, follow to me and Weinberg.
Sluggers Chris Davis and Nelson Cruz head to van de Merlen and Hicks, respectively, and Rindone opts for Jason Kipnis, obviously expecting a season closer to 2013’s 17 home runs and 30 steals than 2014’s 6 homers and 22 steals.
Barrett, in the market for a catcher with some pop, chooses Devin Mesoraco at 83rd overall before the Peddle and Barry duo surprise everyone with Cubs uber-prospect Kris Bryant.
Peddle said, “The exciting thing about most fantasy baseball drafts this season is finding out where people are willing to pick Kris Bryant. I felt that 84th was very reasonable for all that upside, so I grabbed him. It was easily my most exciting move, even if he might end up being a complete flop this season.”
My picks: Carlos Santana, Hisashi Iwakuma
I thought I was taking Santana to be my third baseman and was shocked when Yahoo plugged him in at catcher. Easily my favorite pick in the draft. I think this is the season he finally tops 30 round-trippers, along with a perfectly acceptable .270 batting average.
My Iwakuma pick was slammed in the chat room, and for good reasons. I fell victim to the Yahoo rankings, which had Iwakuma higher than I would have liked. If given a do-over, I’d lean toward J.D. Martinez or Gerrit Cole.
