I have been spending a ton of time doing mock drafts and adding data into a second version of the 2008 Fantasy Baseball Average Draft Position and Scarcity Report. By the way, the second version will have a few additions to it, but more on that another day. Last night I had the privilege of participating in an experts mock draft that was hosted by MLB Front Office, but I will take a closer look at that another day as well.

In an effort to end the suspense (or your boredom), I participated in my first real draft of the year on Sunday night. Yes, this was in addition to the mock draft that I did with fellow readers of this site that same night. I was invited to join a fantasy baseball writers league with some heavy hitters in the fantasy baseball blog community. Here is the list of the participants and the draft order that we had that night:

1. Eric Hinz, FakeTeams
2. Zach Piso, Rotonomics
3. Knox Bardeen, Crooked Pitch
4. David Chase, Brock For Broglio
5. Rudy Gamble, Razzball
6. Tim Dierkes, Roto Authority
7. Kelly Pfleiger, Fantasy Gameday
8. Bob Taylor, Fantasy Hurler
9. Tim McLeod, RotoRob
10. Tony Bartlett, Fantasy Baseball Mafia
11. Derek Nelson, Seamless Baseball
12. Edwin Van Bibber-Orr, Seamless Baseball

Like I said, there are a lot of great guys in this league, and this is for bragging rights across the community. It is a standard 5×5 roto league with the following positions: C (2), 1B, 2B, SS, 3B, MI, CI, OF (5), Util, P (9), Bench (3). So here is the team that I assembled for this league:

1. (7) Matt Holliday - OF
2. (18) Ryan Braun - 3B
3. (31) Magglio Ordonez - OF
4. (42) Bobby Abreu - OF
5. (55) Justin Verlander - SP
6. (66) Adrian Gonzalez - 1B
7. (79) Michael Young - SS
8. (90) Nick Swisher - 1B,OF
9. (103) Andruw Jones - OF
10. (114) Brett Myers - SP
11. (127) Fausto Carmona - SP
12. (138) Brad Lidge - RP
13. (151) Jason Isringhausen - RP
14. (162) Dustin Pedroia - 2B
15. (175) Jered Weaver - SP
16. (186) Joba Chamberlain - RP
17. (199) Troy Percival - RP
18. (210) Stephen Drew - SS
19. (223) Bengie Molina - C
20. (234) Matt Garza - SP
21. (247) Kurt Suzuki - C
22. (258) Rocco Baldelli - OF
23. (271) Colby Rasmus - OF
24. (282) Casey Blake - 1B,3B,OF
25. (295) Luis Castillo - 2B
26. (306) Scot Shields - RP

When I look at my team, I quickly realize that I did not get enough team speed. I don’t think I did too bad, but I will need to work a trade, or the waiver wire, to acquire more speed. My pitching is, for the most part, young and aggressive. I could not pass up on Joba in the 16th round, and I know about the Lidge injury. Rocco Baldelli is a solid risk to take that deep in the draft, and hopefully Rasmus makes the Cardinal’s team out of Spring Training. If these two picks pan out, my team speed should pick-up substantially.

Overall, I am happy with this team to start the year. There are some changes that I will most likely make during the season. Remember, you can lose your season with a bad draft, but you will not win with a great one. It is the management during the season that wins championships.

Throughout the year I will discuss what is happening in this league, and my other leagues as well. I would like your comments on my team.