Young Guns: My NFBC March 14 Roster

Here is my team from my recently completed NFBC Satellite draft from the #3 spot- I have decided to name them Young Guns

Catchers: G Soto (5) J Saltamacchia (21)
Corners: Aubrey Huff (7), Casey Kotchman (14), Mark Reynolds (15)
Middle: Jose Reyes (1), Placido Polanco (13), Aaron Hill (20)
Outfeild: BJ Upton (2), Nate McLouth (3), Corey Hart (4), Raul Ibanez (11), Adam Lind (16)
Util: Juan Rivera (26)

CL: J Soria (6), D Wheeler (17), T Walker (27)
SP: J Vazquez (8), J Chamberlain (9), D Price (10), M Scherzer (12), A Sonnastine (18),
S Marshall (19)

Bench Hitters: T Glaus (23), D Fowler (24), M LaPorta (25), R Belliard (30)
Bench Pitchers: J Smoltz (22), J Blevins (28), R Porcello (29)

I went right to my Plan B as I was expecting David Wright to be my first pick. I happily grabbed Reyes and it should be fun to own him on one team this year. My overall strategy going in was
to target speed and power early and i achieved that with my first 4 picks-I would have taken Mourneau in the 2nd or Votto in the 4th but neither was available. 11 1b were off the board when I chose Hart - I had Huff next on my board, waited and I got him in the 7th.

I Grabbed a C early, which I rarely do, but wanted to test out in this draft. I then chose Soria as my closer deciding to try Todd Zola's "Papelbon Plan" on for size. Now I usually wait for C and Closers, so this was a departure from my usual strategy. Last year in my NFBC draft I grabbed a Tier 1 SP in Rd 5-6 and waited longer on Closers. After grabbing A Huff to fill my 1B void it was time to roster some starters. I targeted SP with high K/9, low Whip's on winning teams. Vazquez and Chamberlain fit the description well. I Gambled more than normal with so many young arms - but the upside is very tantalizing.

One pick I regret a little is David Price. The second run of closers had started earlier in the rd and I should have grabbed my second one here. Yes I can say I drafted him, but if he might start the season in AAA or just be a bust. If so I just burned that pick. For the Main Event, I will try to remind myslef that RD 10/12 is when that 2nd Tier of reliable closers will be drafted.
Max Scherzer is another risky pick - but I am not unhappy with where I got him.

At this point in the draft my team was a little short on power. Polanco and Kotchman were drafted next as BA balances since I had reserved myself to the fact that I was going to have to roster Mark Reynolds for his Power. I timed Reynolds (who slid down in this draft) just right as the guy right after me typed "Bastage!" right after I picked him, then grabbed Kevin Kouzmanoff. That made me feel better about rostering this BA killer.

The next stage of the draft filled out my starting roster. I like Marshall and Sonnastine at the back of my rotation. I should get some nice help mid-season from Glaus/Fowler/Laporta and Smoltz will be good when he pitches. Since I didn't need SB's late I also gambled that Aaron Hill can deliver some power at MI. I am hoping for 35-45 saves out of Wheeler/Walker/Blevins.

My projections were: R 1090 HR 270 RBI 1095 SB 170 BA .283
W 83 SV 73 K 1149 ERA 3.68 WHIP 1.25

I think this team can compete, and it looks like I will be streaming two start P as well as W's may be a problem with so many young arms. As you can see by my roster, the 15 team format of the NFBC provides an interesting challenge. Your goal going in is to hit your targets, and I did pretty well in that respect.

This draft was a tuneup for my Main Event draft this Saturday. My goal aside from winning this league was to test out my feel for the marketplace as we get ever closer to D-Day.