Our Baseball Draft, The Matrix VIII
Written by Various Rotogods on March 20, 2008
Since it's been almost two years since Rotogods.com ceased operations as a regularly-updating fantasy sports blog, we know this post will come as a surprise. But for members of our B League -- that's right, the Rotogods, always on the cutting edge, have instituted a Premiership this year to keep the competition at the bottom as tight as it is up top, and the B League winner replaces our 12th place finisher -- it should be a pleasant one.
Since our league, The Matrix, is 7x5 -- a standard 5x5 plus hitter Ks and Es -- our draft values skew interestingly. We also keep four players off last year's rosters, so our Round 1 picks below are players that normal people would be looking to grab in Round 5 most likely.
The only other reason you should care is that our always-hilarious team-by-team draft capsules -- where league members take a hatchet to the draft performance of fellow owners -- are expected to follow.
This draft took place online, at a take-your-time-but-hurry-the-fuck-up pace, Feb. 15-24. Trades and rosters moves have since been made, but feel free to pan our picks with the benefit of hindsight.
KEEPERS
Beagle (1st last year)
1: Hanley Ramirez
2: David Ortiz
3: Mark Teixiera
4: C.C. Sabathia
Ben
1: Jimmy Rollins
2: Brandon Phillips
3: Victor Martinez
4: Justin Morneau
Ape
1: Miguel Cabrera
2: Carl Crawford
3: Josh Beckett
4: Cole Hamels
Xach
1: Grady Sizemore
2: Lance Berkman
3: Magglio Ordonez
4: Chipper Jones
Junky
1: Albert Pujols
2: Alex Rodriguez
3: Jose Reyes
4: Jacoby Ellsbury
TiVo
1: David Wright
2: Ichiro
3: Troy Tulowitzki
4: Dan Haren
Spack
1: Carlos Lee
2: Derrek Lee
3: Erik Bedard
4: Jon Papelbon
Doc Fury/Fool=same
1: Chase Utley
2: Aramis Ramirez
3: Justin Verlander
4: Brandon Webb
Fadda
1: Jeter
2: Holliday Celebrate
3: Beltran
4: Liriano
Tendah
1: Vlad
2: Prince Fielder
3: Alfonso Soriano
4: Ryan Braun
El Amin
1: Johan Santana
2: Jake Peavy
3: Manny Ramirez
4: Alex Rios
Worm (12th last year)
1: Francisco Rodriguez
2: Carlos Guillen
3: Mariano Rivera
4: Johnny Damon
DRAFT BOARD
Round 1
1. Wom: John Lackey
2. El Amin: J.J. Putz
3. Tendah: Brian Roberts
4. Fadda: BJ Upton
5. Doc/Fool: Curtis Granderson
6. Ricky: Garrett Atkins
7. TiVo: Travis Hafner
8. Junky: Billy Wagner
9: Xach: Robinson Cano
10. Ape: Russell Martin
11. Ben: Joe Nathan
12. Beagle: Eric Byrnes
Round 2
1. Beagle: Scott Kazmir
2. Ben: Nick Markakis
3. Ape: Gary Sheffield
4. Xach: Daisuke Matsuzaka
5. Junky: Placido Polanco
6. TiVo: Joe Mauer
7. Ricky: Bobby Abreu
8. Doc/Fool: Delmon Young
9. Fadda: Chone Figgins
10. Tendah: Aaron Harang
11. El Amin: Paul Konerko
12. Wom: Carlos Zambrano
Round 3
1. Wom: Torii Hunter
2. El Amin: Carlos Pena
3. Tendah: Rich Hill
4. Fadda: Roy Oswalt
5. Doc/Fool: Takashi Saito
6. Ricky: Corey Hart
7. TiVo: Roy Halladay
8. Junky: Hideki Matsui
9: Xach: Javier Vazquez
10. Ape: Trevor Hoffman
11. Ben: Felix Hernandez
12. Beagle: Hunter Pence
Round 4
1. Beagle: Bobby Jenks
2. Ben: John Smoltz
3. Ape: Vernon Wells
4. Xach: Huston Street
5. Junky: Chris Young (SD SP)
6. TiVo: Shane Victorino
7. Ricky: Orlando Cabrera
8. Doc/Fool: Ryan Howard
9. Fadda: Manny Corpas
10. Tendah: Rafael Soriano
11. El Amin: Mike Lowell
12. Wom: A.J. Burnett
Round 5
1. Wom: Todd Helton
2. El Amin: Edgar Renteria
3. Tendah: Rafael Furcal
4. Fadda: Adrian Gonzalez
5. Doc/Fool: Michael Young
6. Ricky: Tim Lincecum
7. TiVo: James Shields
8. Junky: Jose Valverde
9: Xach: Moises Alou
10. Ape: Francisco Cordero
11. Ben: Brett Myers
12. Beagle: Brian McCann
Round 6
1. Beagle: Ben Sheets
2. Ben: James Loney
3. Ape: Fausto Carmona
4. Xach: Brad Lidge
5. Junky: Pedro Martinez
6. TiVo: Chad Cordero
7. Ricky: Matt Capps
8. Doc/Fool: Matt Cain
9. Fadda: Brad Penny
10. Tendah: Jorge Posada
11. El Amin: Juan Pierre
12. Wom: Ken Griffey Jr.
Round 7
1. Wom: John Maine
2. El Amin: Dustin Pedroia
3. Tendah: Chad Billingsley
4. Fadda: Jermaine Dye
5. Doc/Fool: Jarrod Saltalamacchia
6. Ricky: Kevin Youkilis
7. TiVo: Ian Kinsler
8. Junky: Matt Kemp
9: Xach: Ryan Garko
10. Ape: Nick Swisher
11. Ben: Joakim Soria
12. Beagle: Brad Hawpe
Round 8
1. Beagle: Tim Hudson
2. Ben: Adrian Beltre
3. Ape: Miguel Tejada
4. Xach: Yovani Gallardo
5. Junky: Ian Snell
6. TiVo: Ted Lilly
7. Ricky: Chien-Ming Wang
8. Doc/Fool: Kevin Gregg
9. Fadda: Adam Wainwright
10. Tendah: Jim Thome
11. El Amin: Randy Johnson
12. Wom: Luis Castillo
Round 9
1. Wom: Kaz Matsui
2. El Amin: Jason Isringhausen
3. Tendah: Derek Lowe
4. Fadda: Kenji Johjima
5. Doc/Fool: Jeremy Bonderman
6. Ricky: Clay Buchholz
7. TiVo: Jason Bay
8. Junky: Raul Ibanez
9: Xach: Phil Hughes
10. Ape: Howie Kendrick
11. Ben: Dustin Mcgowan
12. Beagle: Ryan Zimmerman
Round 10
1. Beagle: Oliver Perez
2. Ben: Frank Thomas
3. Ape: Rich Harden
4. Xach: Zack Greinke
5. Junky: Conor Jackson
6. TiVo: B.J. Ryan
7. Ricky: Willy Taveras
8. Doc/Fool: Josh Hamilton
9. Fadda: Jered Weaver
10. Tendah: Tom Gorzelanny
11. El Amin: Jeff Francoeur
12. Wom: Aaron Rowand
Round 11
1. Wom: Scott Rolen
2. El Amin: Joey Votto
3. Tendah: Eric Gagne
4. Fadda: Joe Borowski
5. Doc/Fool: Troy Percival
6. Ricky: Garret Anderson
7. TiVo: Jeff Kent
8. Junky: Jeff Francis
9: Xach: Jason Kubel
10. Ape: Chris Young (ARI CF)
11. Ben: Randy Winn
12. Beagle: Bob Howry
Round 12
1. Beagle: Joba Chamberlin
2. Ben: Adam Dunn
3. Ape: Joe Blanton
4. Xach: Bengie Molina
5. Junky: Bronson Arroyo
6. TiVo: Michael Cuddyer
7. Ricky: Greg Maddux
8. Doc/Fool: Matt Garza
9. Fadda: Gil Mehche
10. Tendah: Brian Wilson
11. El Amin: Mark Buehrle
12. Wom: Andy Pettitte
Round 13
1. Wom: AJ Pierzynski
2. El Amin: Ian Kennedy
3. Tendah: Akinori Iwamura
4. Fadda: Kosuke Fukudome
5. Doc/Fool: Andruw Jones
6. Ricky: Freddy Sanchez
7. TiVo: Carlos Marmol
8. Junky: Kelvim Escobar
9: Xach: Billy Butler
10. Ape: Jon Lester
11. Ben: Todd Jones
12. Beagle: CJ Wilson
Round 14
1. Beagle: JD Drew
2. Ben: Michael Bourn
3. Ape: Carlos Delgado
4. Xach: Carlos Gomez
5. Junky: Ivan Rodriguez
6. TiVo: Evan Longoria
7. Ricky: Geovany Soto
8. Doc/Fool: Lastings Milledge
9. Fadda: Brandon Lyon
10. Tendah: Melky Cabrera
11. El Amin: Jeremy Hermida
12. Wom: Khalil Greene
Round 15
1. Wom: Pat Burrell
2. El Amin: Yunel Escobar
3. Tendah: Ryan Theriot
4. Fadda: Jose Vidro
5. Doc/Fool: Barry Zito
6. Ricky: Jerry Owens
7. TiVo: Jeremy Guthrie
8. Junky: Dontrelle Willis
9: Xach: J.J. Hardy
10. Ape: Rocco Baldelli
11. Ben: Alex Gordon
12. Beagle: Ricky Weeks
Round 16
1. Beagle: Chris Carpenter
2. Ben: Jonathan Broxton
3. Ape: Dave Roberts
4. Xach: Hank Blalock
5. Junky: Coco Crisp
6. TiVo: Shawn Hill
7. Ricky: Kenny Rogers
8. Doc/Fool: Eric Chavez
9. Fadda: Adam LaRoche
10. Tendah: Hiroki Kuroda
11. El Amin: Julio Lugo
12. Wom: George Sherrill
Round 17
1. Wom: Orlando Hernandez
2. El Amin: Aaron Hill
3. Tendah: Adam Jones
4. Fadda: Edwin Encarnación
5. Doc/Fool: Troy Glaus
6. Ricky: Jeremy Accardo
7. TiVo: Kyle Kendrick
8. Junky: Randy Wolf
9: Xach: Justin Duchscherer
10. Ape: Daric Barton
11. Ben: Micah Owings
12. Beagle: Kevin Kouzmanoff
Round 18
1. Beagle: Andre Ethier
2. Ben: Jason Schmidt
3. Ape: Rick Ankiel
4. Xach: Justin Towles
5. Junky: David Dejesus
6. TiVo: Lyle Overbay
7. Ricky: Gary Matthews Jr.
8. Doc/Fool: Travis Buck
9. Fadda: Tom Glavine
10. Tendah: Mark Loretta
11. El Amin: Shaun Marcum
12. Wom: Josh Fields
Round 19
1. Wom: Cody Ross
2. El Amin: Justin Upton
3. Tendah: Jason Giambi
4. Fadda: Dan Uggla
5. Doc/Fool: Carlos Quentin
6. Ricky: Jose Guillen
7. TiVo: Nick Johnson
8. Junky: Casey Kotchman
9: Xach: Kevin Slowey
10. Ape: Mark Ellis
11. Ben: Homer Bailey
12. Beagle: Mark Prior
Round 20
1. Beagle: Jayson Werth
2. Ben: Jay Bruce
3. Ape: Scott Olsen
4. Xach: Felix Pie
5. Junky: John Patterson
6. TiVo: Kerry Wood
7. Ricky: Ramon Hernandez
8. Doc/Fool: Felipe López
9. Fadda: Tony Pena
10. Tendah: Brian Giles
11. El Amin: Colby Rasmus
12. Wom: Scott Baker
Round 21
1. Wom: Jason Varitek
2. El Amin: Paul Loduca
3. Tendah: Adam Lind
4. Fadda: Brian Bannister (KC)
5. Doc/Fool: Mark Teahen
6. Ricky: Tim Wakefield
7. TiVo: Stephen Drew
8. Junky: Andrew Miller
9: Xach: Tom Gordon
10. Ape: Jason Bergman
11. Ben: Kelly Johnson
12. Beagle: Orlando Hudson
Resources:
The Matrix VII (2007)
The Matrix VI (2006)
