Mock #2 Recap

So I think I am on to something here. Rather than post all my rankings, which are so subjective anyway and can also be found on dozens of other sites, I think most of my future entries will be these draft recaps. 

Here’s the mock I took part in last night on MDC.  Click Here

I think Mock Draft’s are a very effective draft prep tool.  In no way can they help you figure out who is going to take exactly which players, in which spot, in your REAL drafts, but if you do enough you see very clear trends develop that can help you understand where certain player will be going, and at what point YOU think you should consider drafting a particular player.

For example, in the first draft I selected Liriano in the 13th round.  Prior to last night’s draft, someone who had read that post told me he thought I could have waited on him.  In the 11th round of last night’s draft, when Liriano was the top rated pitcher on my current rankings remaining, I decided to wait another round and select Street to be my #2 RP.  Gamble paid off and I was able to land him the the 14th.  Maybe next time I’ll wait till the 15th? 

One thing is for sure though, I’d take him way before Rich Hill or Ted Lilly, two pitchers selected before Liriano.  Those guys are nice pitchers, don’t get me wrong, but neither has the massive upside potential like Liriano does.  He’s coming off major injury, but he’s had a lot of time to recover, and he’s not injury PRONE like Mark Prior (at least not yet:), so no reason for me to think he can’t bounce back from this.  Sure there is risk involved, but this guy was arguably the best pitcher in fantasy baseball for a sufficient amount of time, not too long ago.

Here are some other things that stood out to me:

• I found myself taking Cano even higher than last draft, in the 4th round, but I still don’t think that was too high. All the other big 2B’s were gone (Utley, Upton, Phillips, and even Roberts) and if you look at the other offensive players remaining, I thought Cano was the most valuable. 
• Albeit the last pick of the round, I though Pence in the 5th was way too high. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a nice player, but I don’t think he should be going that far before (if before at all than)…
• …Delmon Young, who I was able to get in the 10th round!!! Lost in last year’s shuffle among other rookie breakouts (such as Braun, Tulowitzki, Chris B Young, Pence, etc.) Da Meat Hook’s kid bro put together a very solid freshman campaign, going .288/13/93/65/10. Let’s not forget this kid is only 22, and at a time was the #1 prospect in all of baseball. Moving to Minnesota, he’ll most likely get a shot to bat somewhere near the M&M boys (Mauer and Morneau) and he just may take the leap in 2008. I think it’s reasonable to expect a similar batting average and across the board improvement on the counting stats. Think .285/20/100/90/20.
• I already had an SS on my roster in Rollins, but when Furcal was there in the 9th I had to pounce. He suffered a tough injury right before the season last year, played through it, and his numbers suffered. BUT, in September, he bounced back nicely, going *** and 12 for 12 in SB attempts. I expect him to bounce back to his normal .280/8/60/100/40 levels.

Other picks I liked:

• Bay in the 7th. As I mentioned in my top 50, I think this guy is gonna go late like this in a lot of drafts and deliver top 20 numbers when all is said and done.
• Felix in the 10th. Right about where I’d take him. I didn’t here though, as I opted for Delmon.
• Brett Myers in the 11th. I was hoping he’d get back to me in the 12, but I wasn’t fortunate. I like him a lot.
• Shane Victorino in the 12th. After Myers went, I saw this name on the board and was shocked. Carl Crawford Lite should deliver .285/10/60/110/40 numbers hitting at the top of a very powerful Phillies lineup.