More Draft Results!

     My other fantasy baseball league had its draft today at 4:45. It was a little bit crazy because we didn't have the draft until about two hours before draft time, and two more players joined the league right before the draft started. Wild stuff. Anyway, we got 24 players with categories as follows.

    Batters: R, H, HR, RBI, SB, BB, AVG
    Pitchers: W, SV, K, HLD, ERA, WHIP, K/BB

    So then, who did I draft?

    1: Freddie Freeman LAD, 1B
    I had the fourth overall pick, and Acuna, Witt, and Betts were taken. Freddie Freeman, you know, is very good, so I decided to grab him first and take care of a major position.

    2: Marcus Semien TEX, 2B
    To be honest, I had no idea who to draft. At all. Semien's pretty stinking good though, and I got to cut down a middle-infield position with one of the best playes at said position.

    3: Bo Bichette TOR, SS
    As I've said before, the shortstop crop is very thin, so it was nice to grab a .300 hitter at that position, and I've already finished my middle-infield.

    4: Mike Trout LAA, OF
    I struggled a lot with outfielders in my other league, so I jumped on one early. I'm very skeptical about his health though.

    5: Max Fried ATL, SP
    Y'all already know the big deal with Max Fried. I got to get him in the fifth round this time though, so ha ha!

    6: Camilo Doval SF, RP
    Closers were being taken fairly early again, so I jumped on Doval. I'm very confident that he will suffer arm-injuries later in his career, but he's in his prime right now, so he's a solid pick.

    7: Evan Carter TEX, OF
    Evan Carter's one of my favorites, like I've said. Seventh round may be a little early, but he can run and has proven to be good at the big-league level.

    8: Justin Steele CHI, SP
    When I do mock drafts, I very often get Justin Steele. I think he's easily worth an eighth-round pick and is the second staple starter om my team's pitching staff.

    9: Josh Jung TEX, 3B
    I missed out on Nolan Arenado by one pick, and so waited a bit and grabbed Josh Jung. His Opening Day status is sketchy, so I'm praying he'll be fine.

    10: David Bednar PIT, RP
    The only reason I was able to grab Bednar so late is because he's going to start the season on the IL. It's unfortunate, but hopefully he won't be out too long so he can help my team rack up the saves.

    11: Shane Bieber CLE, SP
    It's surprising (to me at least) that I could grab Bieber in the eleventh round. I honestly think people are starting to forget how great he was as recently as 2022. I am now called a 'Belieber' by my brother, and I've gotten him in both of my drafts.

    12: Craig Kimbrel BAL, RP
    Again, I got Craig Kimbrel. Now I'm praying that Yennier Cano doesn't take his role as the closer. I doubt that he will seeing as how Kimbrel is a proven closer, but we'll see.

    13: Jordan Montgomery NA, SP
    Man I hope Jordan Montgomery signs soon, and man I hope he doesn't become a lefty in Fenway.

    14: Shota Imanaga CHC, SP
    Was grabbing Shota Imanaga smart? Man, I don't know. But he's striking out 17.7 batters per nine in spring training, so I hope he's good.

    15: Riley Greene DET, OF
    Getting my final outfielder in the fifteenth round is always going to be...interesting. While I'm not thinking that Greene will be a superstar that will carry my team, hopefully he'll be a decent option for a final outfielder.

    16: Mitch Garver SEA, C
    So here we finally find my starting catcher. After Rutschman and William Contreras were taken, I set my eyes on Gabriel Moreno again. But I failed. And had to draft Garver as my starter. He's doing well in spring training, so I hope he doesn't get hurt and stays in the lineup.

    17: Robert Suarez SD, RP
    I have no idea at all what the big deal with this guy is, but he was drafted in our other league and projected to save 25 games, so I took a chance on him as my fourth closer.

    18: Edouard Julien MIN, 2B
    I needed walks. If you look at my roster up to this point, walks weren't great. Julien walked 64 times in 408 plate appearances last year (which is pretty darn good), so I added him to the clun.

    19: Michael Wacha KC, SP
    I suddenly freaked out that I didn't have enough starters, and Marcus Stroman was taken just before I had a chance at him, so I went with Wacha. I forgot that the Royals will be much better this year.

    20: Joel Payamps MIL, RP
    Payamps will be getting the saves while Devin Williams is out, and When Williams is in, he'll get the holds. It kind of a win-win.

    21: Hector Neris CHI, RP
    Neris was great last year, so he may be competing for saves with Adbert Alzolay. And when he isn't saving games, he'll be holding them. I feel so smart right now.

    22: Jon Gray TEX, SP
    I dunno if this was necessarily a great pickup, but I only had six starters at the time, so I went with Gray. With injuries and stuff he'll be in the rotation, and he's had two spot-on spring training starts, so I'll hope for the best.

    23: Aroldis Chapman PIT, RP
    Again, while Bednar is out Chapman will be getting the saves, but when Bednar comes back, Chapman will be holding games. Very confident this was a good choice.

    24: Kris Bryant COL, 1B/OF
    Bryant is my only multi-positional player. I could have gotten Whit Merrifield but chose not to because he's 35. I am already regretting that decision, but hopefully it works out for the best. I have high hopes for Bryant, obviously.

    

    That will conclude my second fantasy draft. I have only one benched hitter, and he's my only player who is elligible for more than one position, so I pray that my players won't get hurt. Here are what I'm expecting my starting positions to be on Opening Day:

C: Mitch Garver
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Marcus Semien
3B: Josh Jung
SS: Bo Bichette
OF: Mike Trout 
OF: Evan Carter
OF: Riley Greene
UTIL: Edouard Julien

    Kris Bryant will probably get a fair share of playing time between Julien and Greene, especially if he hits well.

Team Strengths: Again, I like the power, and I think I have a really good offense overall. The bullpen is also really good.

Team Weaknesses: I think lack of walks will be a problem for my team, as well as just too many prospects. While I think I'll have one of the better starting staffs, I wish I had more MLB-experienced pitchers.

    Also, my team in this league is called Super Hot Spicy Squid. The reasoning for this is because I recently went to an Asian market, and the bakery was selling something called Super Hot Spicy Squid. It looked like shrimp chips, but with squid. They'd better be really good to, because they were selling for $26 a pound!

    That does it for this post too. Please tell me in the comments what you think and which team will be better between both of mine. I'm out.