A Junky's revenge: Matrix VI draft review & team analysis 3 of 12

Written by Various Rotogods on March 07, 2006

Editor's note: With Team 2's review finished by another Rotogod but held up in production, let's skip ahead to team three for the time being. -- TiVo

JUNKY'S BASICS
Matrix II-V finishes: 1/3/1/10
Average place: 3.75
Point totals: 123/97/117.5/60.5
Avg. points: 99.5 (of a 144 possible perfect score)
Who is Junky?

See the full draft, round by round, here

Matrix VI draft:
Team name on draft day: The Steele Reserve
1. (keeper) A. Pujols
2. (keeper) V. Guerrero
3. (keeper) A. Ramírez
4. (keeper) M. Prior
5. (51st overall/3rd post-keeper pick) J. Reyes
6. (70) B. Colón
7. (75) J. Nathan
8. (94) J. Mauer
9. (99) N. Garciaparra
10. (118) M. Mulder
11. (123) C. Floyd
12. (142) E. Guardado
13. (147) K. Escobar
14. (166) B. Clark
15. (171) E. Bedard
16. (190) M. Ellis
17. (195) A. Rowand
18. (214) A. Pierzynski
19. (219) Od. Pérez
20. (238) J. Gathright
21. (243) G. Maddux
22. (262) J. Jones
23. (267) T. Lilly
24. (286) T. Womack
25. (291) D. Wells

BUNTS
Best pick(s): Snagging AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, no fantasy pushover, at the end of the comeback round -- our second round of actual picks -- was nice, as was Joe Mauer in the 8th.
Worst pick: Nothing outright stinks, but if injuries scare you, a four-pick stretch that included Mauer, Garciaparra and Cliff Floyd could be a bummer; and that says nothing of Junky's pre-draft Bonds for Prior trade with Beagle.
Optimism: Pujols and Vlad are such category-fillers that you can draft a Jose Reyes early to have a top speed burner, and then play it safely. None of Junky's key picks, if they play, will hurt him.
Pessimism: Prior is again beset by injuries and no Rotogod is willing to be swindled into a keeper deal for him. Colon and Mulder are good but can't carry the staff, and Junky has to either bite the bullet and deal Pujols or Vlad, or tank and start again with those two beautiful building blocks.
Last year: Slid to 10th place, his lowest finish in any Rotogods league possibly ever. For once, his shrewd trades failed to patch the holes and/or didn't pan out, and Junk aborted mission in time to secure three of the game's best hitters (Bonds, Pujols and Vlad) for keepers. He then promised to lap the field this season, and even went back to his Year 2 championship team name (back when all the league's teams were named after alcholic beverages).
Status quo: Junky is our roto Jesus. You've never heard of him? That's 'cause the fucker is too busy winning our leagues to bother writing anything for the site. However, his track record is such that even his average moves are met with the benefit of the doubt. Junk's also an expert at fixing his mistakes via trade. He's often one step ahead of half our owners, so even when he craps out a bad year like last, he ends up with godly keepers and a high pick. Enviable.
Pick Junky wishes he had back: n/a at the moment
MY TEAM! (Owner goes fanboy on his own squad): n/a at the moment
Significant post-draft moves: Traded A. Ramirez, Gathright, Garciaparra, David Wells to Xach for Burrell, Cantu, Dan Johnson and Paul Byrd; Dropped Womack for Erstad, who he dropped for Tony Clark, who he dropped for Jamie Moyer, who he dropped for Chris Duffy who he dropped for Ryan Zimmerman. Also dropped Jacque Jones for Adam Kennedy.

Starting lineup:
C Mauer
1B Pujols
2B M. Ellis
3B Cantu
SS Reyes
IF D. Johnson
LF C. Floyd
CF B. Clark
RF V. Guerrero
Util P. Burrell

SP Prior
SP Colon
SP Mulder
SP K. Escobar
SP Bedard
RP Nathan
RP Guardado

BEAGLE'S TAKE: Steele Magnolias
Well the Junker came back this year with a vengeance and he showed it with this draft. Young speedster Jose Reyes anchors the infield while reigning AL Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon and Joe Nathan spearhead the pitching staff. How Joe Nathan made it to the Junky in the third round is beyond me. The people picking in front of Junk should be ashamed. Mauer is a high upside catcher. The Nomar pick was a bit of a head-scratcher seeing that Junky already has a shortstop, but if he manages to play 145 games, he will be productive. Floyd, Clark, and Rowand form a solid outfield with good speed and power potential. Eric Bedard and Kelvim Escobar are potential strikeout studs while Mark Mulder, Odalis Perez, David Wells, and Maddux are proven winners. There’s not much to complain about with this draft and coupled with the big time keepers, this team will be among the elite. Draft Grade: A-

APE'S TAKE: Danielle Steele Reserve
Keepers: Vlad, Pujols, Prior, A. Ramirez
Draft: I thought Junk did well getting high impact guys in the top half of his draft and then getting starters for his team at weaker/deeper positions later on. Definitely the methodology I back the most. Reyes/Colon/Nathan—couldn’t have worked out better mainly because stupid fat el amin should have taken one of Colon/Nathan instead of Weekes. I’m not high on Mauer/Garciaparra and thought Junk should have gone pitching with those picks, especially since Pierzynski is better than Mauer IMO. But those are still good value picks there. Another nice run of Mulder/Floyd/Guardado/Escobar and then I thought Junk fell off a bit with the exception of Ellis/Rowand. I can see why Junk picked the rest of the starters he did. I just don’t like them as much as others that were available like Weaver/Loiaza/Penny in particular.
Grade: A-

TIMBERLAKE'S TAKE: The Steele Reserve is Back
Junky obviously came back with a vengeance, especially with his first couple picks which he nailed. I could see him getting Nathan about 5 picks before it happened and was helpless to stop it. Yuck. He has tons of speed and tons of power, all while having almost no K’s (why can I never seem to achieve this? Oh yeah, cause he has pujols). At least he has some error-making assholes. He has two very good closers. But this squad does have a weakness. The starting rotation is not deep. Prior/Colon/Mulder are quite solid, but after that I am quite underwhelmed with the back end of his staff. Junky will probably look to address this in trades, but it is a concern.
Draft: A
Projected Finish: 1st

FATHER TIME'S TAKE: STARTED RESERVING MY KEEPERS IN MAY BECAUSE MY TEAM SUCKED: Nice keepers. Junky, like Big Fat Ricky, is out to prove last year’s debacle was a one-time thing. A pre-season draft landed him Prior, who will KILL for Junky for four games this year. Reyes was a no-brainer at three, and grabbing the Cy Young winner, even if he’s big and fat and his name reminds you of taking a shit, is always a good thing. Nathan at seven is a steal. Lots of people love the Mauer. So far, I’ve seen him hit for average and walk around with ice on certain parts of his body. In fact Mauer separating his shoulder while beaning Prior in the head is a distinct possibility. Speaking of hitting for average, hi Nomah. Looking at Junky’s draft, he has again leaned toward the risky. Prior, Mauer, Nomar, Escobar, Floyd, all taken in the top 13 picks. Mulder at 10 = who knows? Dude has been very good or very bad. Junky did lock in his closers with Everyday Eddie at 12, and Brady Clark, Rowand, Pierzynski, and Odalis Perez are strong mid-to-late picks. Junky finished by taking walking turds Womack and David Wells, but that’s why you have a free agent pool. If his top-half picks avoid the injury bug, this team scares me. And since I know Ape won’t win … GRADE: B. FINISH 1st.

EL AMIN'S TAKE: King James
Far be it from me to dispute the draft wisdom of a guy who always has mad roto hamiltons up his sleeve but . . .
The more I look at this draft the more I think it sucks. Let’s be honest, in the past Junky’s draft has been all over the place and this year is no exception. Homeboy certainly got everyone tugging on his dick with a great first few rounds, but there be warts, and injury concerns in this draft. Jose Reyes is only as good as his wheels. Junky’s keepers can probably weather another year at .270, but you can rest assured that if the Mets are good and healthy then Reyes will see a dip in his SBs. Nathan and Colon are great picks, and other owners (including myself) should probably stab themselves in the nuts for letting these players stick around for Junk. Still 5 out of Junk’s next 8 picks come with injury risks (Mauer, Nomar, Floyd, Escobar, Bedard), and considering that Mark Prior (despite his talent) is far from a sure thing as well, that is a concern. But no matter I’m sure one or four of us will conspire to bail him out.

Picks 16-23 were all good, and with Junk's roster always in flux you know the last two (or 4) don’t matter.

Draft C/C+
Finish: 2nd

-- Compiled by TiVo

Rotogods.com spring baseball articles:
Center fielders (a position ranking by Worm)
Third basemen (Dr. Furious)
First basemen, but only the really good ones (Xach)
Shortstops (Father Time)
Second basemen (Xach)
Ryan Howard vs. Jorge Cantu: a tale of two keepers (Xach)
and
Worm's numbers system provides preseason revelations

Tell us what you think of the team Junky's fielding in the comments section below.