I have two dead spots in my lineup against right-handers, both in the outfield. My goal with my first draft pick was to fill one of those spots. The problem is that only one player, Mike Yastrzemski, fit the description. The other problem is that Tony DeCastro grabbed Yaz with one of his $5 million picks.
By the time I was able to make my first pick, I had a choice between Michael Conforto and Davis Schneider. Conforto would have been a good fit, but Schneider offers upside potential in addition to filling a hole this year. Ultimately, I went with Schneider. He isn't a full-time player by any stretch, but he can spot-start in left field when I need an extra bat.
Schneider was one of the hottest hitters in baseball in the second half of last year. He pretty much came out of nowhere, lit up the Triple-A level, and continued tearing the cover off the ball in his MLB debut. He's 27 years old, so his performance probably wasn't real, but there's always a chance. He's a second baseman by trade, which would fit perfectly for us in 2025.
In order to fill that second hole, I had to make a deal with the Devil. Well, the closest thing to the BDBL's version of the Devil. I offered to trade my next pick -- the third pick of the 16th round -- for an outfielder who can hit righties...and Jeff Paulson answered the call. He offered Jason Heyworth in exchange, and Heyworth just happens to be a perfect fit. Dammit.
The good news is that our roster is pretty much set at this point. Now it's just an exercise in filling out the reserves with fliers and lottery tickets.
January 16:
The $500K rounds completely obliterated my short list, to the point where I've had to create a new one...and then delete those names one-by-one. Evidently, we're all drafting from my list this year.
I assumed that with his inflated ERA and HR numbers, I could grab Josh Sborz with my first $100K pick, but DJ evidently read my notes on him and took him at $500K. So, instead of taking my final hitter for my active roster with my one and only $500K pick, I had to blow it on the last remaining semi-acceptable reliever: Bryan Shaw. With that, I now officially have enough innings to get through this season. Every year it's a nail-biter.
I need one more hitter for my active roster, but all the decent ones were snatched up in the past few rounds. The only semi-decent hitter remaining, Sam Haggerty, plays multiple positions, which is a good thing. The bad thing is that he doesn't play shortstop. Trea Turner is currently the only person on our roster who is rated at short. I'm thinking I may need to use that final pick on a glove-only shortstop like we did last year. That turned out so well, didn't it?
The smarter play, I think is to use that first $100K pick on a flier for the future, which I can possible turn into trade bait. The problem is that all of the decent flyers are also long-gone. This league is a real pain in my ass.
January 18:
It's over. As always, it's a relief when it's over. My last seven picks, all $100K, were mostly guys I am hoping can become useful bullpen arms a year from now: Kyle Hurt, Isaiah Campbell, Chad Green, Hagen Danner, Michael Grove, and Kody Funderbunk. At least one of those guys should stick. I got lucky last year and drafted two (Dauri Moreta and Alex Faedo) who stuck. Two out of eight seems to be the standard expectation for these $100K guys.
The seventh $100K pick was the last guy on our 35-man roster: Sam Haggerty. He will be an asset off the bench and can play multiple positions. In the end, I decided to leave the backup shortstop position empty. If Turner gets hurt, I'll just play someone out of position.
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