Roto Assist

Ok, so here is my Keeper League draft from the other night.  I had the third overall pick this year and I already knew that Albert Pujols and Hanley Ramirez were going to go 1-2.  Keep in mind that rounds 20-24 were my keepers from last year.

Each round of the draft has a designated tier according to the tier system.  They are as follows:

Rounds 1-3: Tier one

Rounds 4-7: Tier two

Rounds 8-11: Tier three

Rounds 12-15: Tier four

Rounds 16-24: Tier five

Free agent/waiver acquisitions: Tier five

So, round 20 in this draft represents my tier one keeper from last year, round 21 is my tier 2 keeper and so on.  So, here is what my team looks like this year.

Now, my pitching staff looks a little rough but we have an innings pitched max, which is why you see so many setup men on my roster.  In the past, I have made the mistake of using up most of my innings very early and I didn’t want to do that this year.  My focus was on offense and quality innings pitched this year.  Michael Wuertz pitched just over 70 innings last year but had over 100 Ks with a nice ERA.  That my friends is quality innings pitched.

Albert Pujols was taken first, followed by Hanley Ramirez.  I was torn between taking Braun, Chase Utley or Alex Rodriguez but age and health issues won me over in the end.  Not to mention my beliefs that Braun will contend for the NL MVP this year.

I believe Mark Reynolds will repeat what he did last year (ok maybe drop a bit in BA), Matt Wieters is the real deal, Elvis Andrus will steal 50+ bases and score 100+runs, Stephen Strasburg will get at Least 15 starts this season and will be my tier three keeper for next year, Francisco Liriano is back and even if he struggles with starting he’ll just be moved to the closer role and Mike Adams is filthy and will take over as closer of the San Diego Padres once Heath Bell is traded.

I feel like I’m sitting in a pretty nice position here since my keepers from last year were Grady Sizemore (Comeback Player of the Year candidate), Joey Votto (hitting machine), Clayton Kershaw ( future Cy Young Award winner), Heath Bell (stud closer) and Kendry Morales (Pujols Jr.).  Tell me what you think of my team.

Update:  I have dropped Rick Porcello and Michael Brantley and added  Kyle Blanks(notes) and Juan Pierre(notes) .  Here is why I chose to make these moves right after the draft.  First, I made one of the biggest mistakes of all by forgetting about Blanks during the draft.  Second, I realized that I wanted a little more security in some offensive categories.  As you know, I put a priority on getting good use of innings pitched by drafting solid relievers with nice ERA, WHIP and K/IP ratio.  I feel like my pitching staff is good enough to keep me in it ALL year long.

Porcello is a nice player to have on your roster if you don’t have an IP Max but with the current IP Max in my league, I felt I could better use the roster spot with Pierre and his 50+ SB potential.  That’s right, I said 50+ SB potential from Pierre who is on a team that is managed by Ozzie Guillen, a manager who loves the green light for his base runners and he will also be a full time player again.  Plus a BA around .300 never hurts.  I can easily see him returning to ’07 form.

Blanks is another story.  He has the potential to hit 30+ HR and he is only 23 years old.  He will start in the OF but inevitably will be moved back to his natural position of 1B once the Padres trade Adrian Gonzalez.  His BA will probably hover around .260 but his run production, power and age make him a perfect candidate for any keeper league roster.