Rick's Rickshaw Roto Squad: Matrix VI Draft Review 2 of 12

Written by Various Rotogods on March 09, 2006

Ricky's Basics

Matrix Finishes: 3/2/4/11
Average Place: 5
Point Totals: 104.5/101/90/45
Avg. Points: 85.125
Who is Ricky?

See the full draft, round by round, here

Matrix VI draft:
Team name on draft day: Redemption Dongs.
1. (keeper) M. Teixeira
2. (keeper) M. Young
3. (keeper) R. Oswalt
4. (keeper) V. Martinez
5. (50/ pick #1) J. Pierre
6. (71) M. Buehrle
7. (74) H. Blalock
8. (95) C. Cordero
9. (98) C. Shilling
10. (119) R. Winn
11. (122) P. Polanco
12. (143) C. Lee
13. (146) J. Lane
14. (167) M. Gonzalez
15. (170) L. Overbay
16. (191) G. Jenkins
17. (194) J. Weaver
18. (215) D. Cabrera
19. (218) C. Jackson
20. (239) R. Ibanez
21. (242) R. Sanders
22. (263) J. Suppan
23. (266) W. Pena
24. (287) B. Chen
25. (290) G. Meche

Bunts
Best pick(s): Curt Shilling looks pretty good in the 9th as does Cliff Lee in the 12th.
Worst pick: Not sold on on Buehrle in the 6th and picks 24-25 = Belch. There is no reason for Chen or Meche to be draftef ... ever
Optimism: This team should be very good in both batting and pitching strikeout categories. Solid full seasons from Big Willy Mo Pena and Hank Blalock could propel this team to the top of the league.
Pessimism: Not much power outside of the players Rick kept. Saves may be a problem if Mike Gonzalez is not the man.
Last Year: Ricky drafted like an idiot, spending a high pick on Jeremy Affeldt (her titties). A slow start by V-Mart did not help the situation. Rick sold out for Teixeria early, and even Derrick Lee could not unclench Ricky's grasp on the Ranger.
Status quo: Ricky gained widespread acclaim as being the player that always finished second to Junkman. Last year was a tough one, as 2nd place guy finished near the bottom of both basketball and baseball leagues.

Starting lineup:
C V. Martinez
1B Teixeira
2B Polanco
3B Blalock
SS Young
IF Overbay
LF Winn
CF Pierre
RF Lane
Util Jenkins

SP Oswalt
SP Buehrle
SP Shilling
SP C. Lee
SP Cabrera
RP C. Cordero
RP Gonzalez

T-Lake's Take
Ricky's Redemption Dongs: This team is pretty solid, but not quite there to be one of the elite as currently constituted. 4 100+ strikeouts hitters is a little too much for a team with only guy who hit more than 30 "dongs" last year (the incomparable Mark Teixeira, who ricky stole from me last year, ugh, lets not talk about it). Pierre gives him one of the big steal guys, but again doesn't have a lot of steals beyond him. The starters are very solid 1-5 with a potentially dominant big 3 of oswalt, buerhle, and schilling, as well as Daniel Cabrera as a wild card who could flourish under Leo Mazzone in Baltimore. The closer feature one good option and one question mark, which is pretty par for the course.
Draft Grade: B+
Projected Finish: 6th

Ape's Take
Redemption (not likely)
Draft: I thought Rick did a great job from rounds 5-12, capping that run off with a steal of Cliff Lee. That was the Rick of old that no one likes picking next to. The rest of the draft can't match that for quality though. I liked picks of Weaver, Ibanez and Sanders on the back end, but I thought the last 5 picks were pretty much wastes (Rick were you gone at that point with the family?). Also thought Wickman was the pick over Mike Gonzalez. Still, Rick got the important half of the draft right.
Grade: B

Fadda's Take
Redemption Ricky:
Big Fat Ricky's out to prove that last year's run of utter shit in all of his leagues was just a fluke. Now while he is still big and fat and kind of dopey looking and likes to wear his rafting helmet everywhere, his Matrix draft this year is a good one. Pierre has been known to steal things and now that he's off of my team, (fuck you, Juan) I'm sure he'll get that B.A. back up. Buehrle is as steady as they come and Blalock, while he does like to swing at shit in the dirt, is a decent pick at seven, although he may have been around at eight. Schilling is Rick's first risky pick, but I certainly don't have a problem with it. I don't like Winn and Polanco at 10 and 11, but that's more because I don't like them as people. I think Ricky's first stinker is Geoff Jenkins, who either strikes out or hurts himself trying. In fact, after Rick's nice pitching dual picks of Weaver and Cabrera at 17 and 18, the rest of his draft smells vaguely of poo. Although Willy Mo at 23 could bring him some added POWAH that picks like Polanco, Overbay, Ibanez and Winn won't. Nice draft, though.
Grade: B+. Finish: 4th

El Amin's Take
Resucktion Dongs

Spack's draft is like him, boring on paper, but fun in the clubhouse. I thought he did a good job staying safe early in the draft. The problem pick there was Hammerin' Hank who seemed to regress after two solid years. Still Blalock plays in a good line up, and his worst is Glauslike minus the errors. Including Blalock I only saw 4 misses in Dave's draft (7,13,14,16).

Rick only has 2 good OFs, though he has plenty of shit to throw at the wall on his bench. Personally I wouldn't want to have all those shit stains on my team, but Rick has a good infield and catcher so he might be able to get away with it.

Rick's SP situation is real good Buerhle, Lee, and Weaver are all horses, and Schilling has Ace potential. Bruce Chen should be waived, and Suppan has always started the year on waivers for a reason. I also can't understand why Spacktravision took Pittsburgh's unproven closer when there were still other options available (Wickman, Valverde, Fuentes, Reitsma)

Draft B/B+
Finish: 4th

Well folks, that will do it. Be looking for something similar next Friday. Hopefully my rotogod access problems will be solved.

-- Written by Various Rotogods on March 09, 2006