Analysis: FBS Expert League Draft Part 2

Continued from Part 1
View Draft results here


Rounds 11-15 got crazy. I still couldn't nail down any of these guys or what they'd do next. Everyone had draft pretty well and I was in a sandwich show down with RC Rizza and Jason Swist. Swist got to see allot of good pitches with Tim McLeod drafting right behind him.
11. Huston Street
12. Brett Anderson
13. Leo Nunez
14. Garrett Jones
15. Frank Francisco
I quickly decided at round eleven that I was going to pursue a dominating bullpen with outfield and middle infield taken care of. I drafted Huston Street in the eleventh round. I felt he was the best available closer left on the board and is a bonified #1 closer in my book. Round twelve was a strange round for me. I so caught up in strategy that I forgot that Carlos Gonzalez was still out there, but lost him to Johnny Archive. Then John Lackey, Brian Fuentes, and one of my favorites Bill Wagner went off the board. I decided to throw a wrench into the draft and selected Brett Anderson. I could have taken a catcher, corner infielder, or another closer, but Anderson was a player I know other managers wanted, so the wrench was tossed. It did cost me a few more catchers, but I was kicking them at this point. In the end it paid off because in the 13th round I got my third closer Leo Nunez. While it was a bit early for him, closers were flying off the board and there wasn't many left with little risk at this point. I got my first corner infielder in round 14 with Garrett Jones. He qualifies in the OF/1B and has tremendous breakout ability. I ended the first half of the draft with probably the worst pick, Frank Francisco. I would have taken Bengie Molina, but he was taken by Rhett Oldham two picks earlier.

The next five rounds were still a challenge and still required some sneaky moves and big picks.
16. David Ortiz
17. Jorge De La Rosa
18 Chris Young
19. Ryan Madson
20. John Baker
In round 16 I got into a 3-way discussion with Rhett Oldham and RC Rizza about David Ortiz, where Rizza felt Ortiz wasn't worth taking. That upset me a bit, being I love David Ortiz, so I draft the slugger in the 16th round. I feel Ortiz still has 25-30 home runs in him and 100 RBI and a good OBP. It might have been a heart homer pick, but a good one. Then I had some fun. Before the 17th pick, I asked the chat room who liked Jorge De La Rosa. Jason Swist and Bob Sikon both let me know they liked the guy and at that moment I drafted him. Not much of a victory, but a solid pick in that round. In round 18 I was targeting a corner infielder and looking at Nick Swisher and Adam LaRoche. Swist got his revenge by taking LaRoche and Ryan Lester snatched Swisher leaving me a sneak pick in Chris Young, OF from the Diamondbacks. He was another player who came on strong last year and is poised for a breakout. I then made a bold pick, by taking the Phillies closer Ryan Madson, long after Jason had drafted Brad Lidge. This was a key pick for me cause it completed my bullpen and hopefully knocked Swist back a step. He did end up drafting two more relievers, I felt to compete with my over-sized bullpen. In the 20th round I finally got my first catcher John Baker. I kicked catchers for 19 rounds and I felt I had a pretty good catcher and a very good offense.

To be continued....
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