The Alliterative Draft League - My Teams Topic

flyingman
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I came up with the Alliterative Draft League about two months ago. The idea was to take the 700+ players who have the same first and last initial and run a 20-round draft for the best 600 of them. Some players are famous (Mickey Mantle, Barry Bonds, Minnie Minoso), some are beyond anonymous (Alfredo Amenzaga, Chuck Cottier) and some have some fantastic names (Yam Yaryan, Duffy Dyer, Boom Boom Beck). I thought we would get a nice mix of players in this league and it would be a lot of fun to both draft and play.

By virtue of the fact that we waited a couple weeks to get a 24th man, I ended up taking on a second squad to make the league work. I wanted to track the draft process for both and provide some insight into my sometimes confusing decision-making. I ended up getting the 2nd and 3rd pick in this draft, meaning I pick 22nd and 23rd in even-numbered rounds. This draft has maybe 6-8 five star players, so I'm very fortunate to be drafting where I am.
1/26/2012 12:31 AM
flyingman
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Team A The Fighting Mongooses

1) Scott Stratton - SP
2) Steve Sax - 2B
3) Cesar Cedeno - CF
4) Alex Avila - C
5) Carl Crawford - RF
6) Bobby Byrne - 3B
7) Bob Bowman - SP
8) Mike Maddux - RP
9) Mike Mitchell - LF
10) John Johnstone - RP
11) Whitey Wietelmann - SS
12) Mike Myers - RP
13) Bruce Berenyi - SP
14) Dell Darling - C
15) Brian Bruney - RP
16) Heinie Heitmueller - OF
17) Scott Service - RP
18) Mike Maroth - SP
19) Ham Hyatt - 1B/OF
20) Delos Drake - OF
21) TJ Tucker - RP
22) Larry Lintz - IF
23) Boof Bonser - SP
24) Lyman Lamb - IF
25) Billy Bowers - OF
2/17/2012 4:40 PM (edited)
flyingman
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Team 1 The Docile Mongooses

1) Dave Davenport - SP
2) Darren Daulton - C
3) Tommy Thomas - SP
4) Terry Turner - SS
5) Bob Bailey - 3B
6) Tim Teufel - 2B
7) Wally Westlake - OF
8) Bill Butland - SP
9) Claude Cooper - OF
10) Hal Haid - RP
11) Dom Dallesandro - OF
12) Scott Stewart - RP
13) David Dellucci - OF/1B
14) Marty McHale - SP
15) Greg Goossen - 1B
16) Scott Schoenweis - RP
17) Gabe Gross - OF
18) Don Dennis - RP
19) Mike McNally - IF
20) Yam Yaryan - C
21) Glenn Gardner - RP
22) Bobby Brown - OF
23) Bob Babcock - RP
24) Robert Ramsay - RP
25) Bernardo Brito - OF
2/17/2012 4:44 PM (edited)
flyingman
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Round 1:

Team A: Scott Stratton - SP

I left some more well-known and accomplished players on the board here, but I am 100% happy with this pick. On a per-inning basis, Stratton is a top-8 or top-10 pitcher, but I get 520 of those innings. This is almost like getting two players in one. Plus he posts a solid 130 OPS+ as a hitter, meaning when he starts, I can bat him 2nd or 5th and rest some players.



Team 1: Dave Davenport - SP

I wanted to make a splashier pick here, but my brain and conscience says take the ace with 410+ IP. And with that both teams have 30-40% of their required innings filled. We can spend the next few rounds drafting hitters.
1/26/2012 11:17 AM (edited)
flyingman
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Round 2:

Team 1: Darren Daulton - C

A five-tool player who also happens to catch? Sign me up.

Team A: Steve Sax - 2B

There were better players out there, but I looked ahead at the quagmire-to-be that was the list of available second basemen and jumped on the Saxy Boy. And it's not like I'm getting chopped liver. Instead I'm getting a guy who hit .332 with 43 doubles and 40 stolen bases all with good defense at a premium position.
1/27/2012 8:56 PM
flyingman
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Round 3:

Team A: Cesar Cedeno - OF

Another five-tool player. I can plug him into the center field position and the #3 spot in the batting order and he should rake.

Team 1: Tommy Thomas - SP

I agonized over this pick for a good, long while. I wanted to draft an infielder here, but going through my draft list, I saw there were at least 3-4 players at each infield position I would not mind having. Meanwhile, Thomas was, by my account, the best pitcher available and when in doubt you go with pitching. Now I can definitely stop looking for starting pitching until at least the mid rounds and take the time to build a good offense around my stellar rotation.
1/28/2012 11:16 AM
flyingman
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Round 4:

Team 1: Terry Turner - SS

That whole plan of waiting until the next round and snatching up a premium 3B went kaput very quickly. Turner is a consolation, but he's not all bad. His normalized numbers are very good and he plays great defense at a premium position.

Team A: Alex Avila - C

Right now I'm building a fantastic offense that will draw walks, hit a lot of extra base hits and be hell on the basepaths. While Avila only fulfills the first two skills, he provides great defense at a premium position and will rake in the middle of the lineup.
1/29/2012 8:08 PM
flyingman
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Round 5:

Team A: Carl Crawford - OF

Perhaps I should have taken a pitcher here, but I am currently building an ultimate Astrodome or Target Field offense. We're looking at doubles and triples galore, great team defense and pure hell for opponents on the basepaths. If I can draft 6-7 even so-so pitchers, I may have a potential beast of a team here.

Team 1: Bob Bailey - 3B

I chose to take the best available 3B here. Bailey has 26 home runs and an .870 OPS and will easily slot into the middle of my lineup, but his defense is mediocre. Luckily Terry Turner will slot in to pick up some of the slack.
1/30/2012 2:12 AM
flyingman
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Round 6:

Team 1: Tim Teufel - 2B

I hope you are sensing a theme here. With the list of quality infielders dwindling rapidly, I made a concerted effort to shore that area up. Teufel completes what should be a very good offensive and defensive infield (we still don't have a first baseman, but they barely count). And his offensive skillset blends well with the offense I am building. As of now he will be slotted into the #6 spot in the order.

Team A: Bobby Byrne - 3B

Again, I wanted to try to shore up my infield and Byrne was the best available infielder. His mediocre defense is a cause for concern; especially as much of my team's success will be predicated on timely pitching and defense. But, as I said earlier, he was the best available option for me and he is another very good hitter whose skillset should work nicely with this team. 

2/1/2012 12:16 AM
flyingman
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Round 7:

Team A: Bob Bowman - SP

Since I hadn't taken a pitcher since the first round, I figured now would be a good time to start building my staff. I saw Bowman as the best available starter in terms of skill. The only drawback is that he has a very low IP/G, meaning he will almost certainly need to be platooned.

Team 1: Wally Westlake - CF

Seven rounds in and I had yet to draft an outfielder for this team. I went with Westlake because of his defense and, like Bailey and Daulton, he will hit for decent average with 20-something home runs. I'm very happy that I have been able to build some sense of identity early for both of these teams as opposed to blindly shooting in the dark. It will allow me to better incorporate roleplayers and other pieces in the later rounds.
2/1/2012 12:23 AM
flyingman
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Round 8:

Team 1: Bill Butland - SP

I was hoping a better pitcher would be available at this point, but he will suffice. He can start or pitch out of the pen and will do well at both.

Team A: Mike Maddux - RP

Maddux will anchor my bullpen. He can throw 100+ innings and his peripherals are very good. So even though I only have three pitchers on each team, both have over 800 IP, meaning that it will be a lot easier to build the rest of my staff as we get into the later rounds.

2/2/2012 11:32 PM
flyingman
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Round 9:

Team A: Mike Mitchell - OF

I probably had more pressing needs, but Mitchell is a fantastic hitter and a good value pick in the mid-rounds. At this point I have to think that this team will have the best offense in the league and it won't take much more pitching to make them beastly.

Team 1: Claude Cooper - OF

Another good corner outfield value pick. Cooper slots in better on this team due to his higher OBP and better defense. I needed a leadoff hitter for this team to bat ahead of my good to great mashers and he will do just fine.
2/2/2012 11:38 PM
flyingman
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Round 10:

Team 1: Hal Haid - RP

Haid only has 50 IP, but they are terriffic innings. Luckily I can afford to pull the trigger on this kind of pick by having 850-odd SP innings in the bank already.

Team A: John Johnstone - RP

Johnstone has terriffic raw numbers, though he does suffer from a mild case of gopheritis. I'm hoping that keeping him in a pitcher's  park will neutralize this somewhat.

2/5/2012 9:48 AM
flyingman
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Round 11:

Team A: Whitey Wietelmann - SS

11 rounds in and I needed a SS, so I decided to get the best one available. Whitey is an absolutely horriffic hitter, but at least I can hide him in the #9 spot in the lineup all year. And he has superb defense, which will help save some runs for my low-strikeout staff.

Team 1: Dom Dallesandro - OF

I had every plan of getting a reliever at this slot, but I saw the run on average-to-good OF and 1B in the preceding round, and decided to pick one up before they were all gone. Dom gives an 0.839 OPS and although he is a mediocre fielder, he is not terrible and he will be covered well by Cooper and Westlake.

Two more things he has going for him:

1) His nickname, "Dim Dom" is beyond sad. Consider this a pity pick as much as anything else.
2) He is exceptionally tiny (5'6", 168 lbs). Like, "Me" tiny.
2/7/2012 11:00 PM (edited)
flyingman
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Round 12:

Team 1: Scott Stewart - RP

I get a good left-handed reliever to flesh out my bullpen. At this point, I only need about 10-15 starts-worth of starting pitching, so I can really focus on building quality bullpen depth.

Team A: Mike Myers - RP

With Mike Maddux and John Johnstone, this team had good bullpen depth, but lacked a true ace. Myers fits that bill. He clocks in at only 46 IP, but they are 46 fantastic innings.
2/7/2012 11:00 PM
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