Fantasy Focus: Presenting the 2013 Savvy Vets

I finally had my fantasy baseball auction draft last night. Here are the 2013 Savvy Vets.  I'll list the players by position with their auction price and some comments.

C   Salvador Perez, Royals.  $6.  My targets were Wilin Rosario and Perez.  By the time they were nominated, I was getting a bit worried about how many $$ I had left.  When the bidding got to $10 for Rosario, I bailed and then got Perez later.  Jesus Montero was my Worst Case Scenario plan.

1B  Albert Pujols, Angels.  $39.  Pujols ended up as my most expensive player.  I think that's pretty good considering several players went up in the $50 range.  I had Pujols as my #5 overall player.

2B  Rickie Weeks, Brewers.  $2.  My first target was Aaron Hill, but when the bidding got into the 20's with him, I bailed and got Weeks in the bargain bin a few nominations later.

3B  Pablo Sandoval, Giants.  $16.  The draft started at 8 PM PDT, so I was unaware that Pablo's elbow had flared up again.  $16 is not a huge hit if he hits the DL, though.

SS  Ian Desmond, Nationals.  $19.  The price was a litte higher than I wanted to go, but I ended up with a few $$ on the table it all worked out in the end.  Their was a steep dropoff at the SS position after Desmond, so I felt I had to take him unless his price went through the roof.

IF  Allen Craig, Cardinals.  $21.  Again, a bit pricey, but Craig is being taken as high as the second round in a lot of expert drafts.

OF  Bryce Harper, Nationals.  $30.  Maybe a bit rich, but gotta love the upside here.

OF  Jason Heyward, Braves.  $22.  I've always been a Heyward fan going all the way back to the 2007 draft.  I think this might be Heyward's year to really bust out.  Even if he just repeats last year's stat line, $22 is still a bargain price.

OF  Adam Jones, Orioles.  $24.  I wanted my OF to be 3 out of Harper, Heyward, Cespedes and Jones.  I had Cespedes targeted before Jones, but I had to bail when the bidding for Cespedes went to $28.  Jones has improved his numbers every year of his career so far.  I think he is just hitting his stride as a player.

UT  Melky Cabrera, Blue Jays.  $4.  I wasn't particularly targeting Melky. He went for a lot more in the mock drafts I did.  When I had the opportunity to grab him in bargain time, I went for it.

UT  Pedro Alvarez, Pirates.  $2.  Alvarez is, at worst, a very cheap source of HR's.  In this case, he's insurance if Pablo goes on the DL too.

SP  CC Sabathia, Yankees.  $16.  I still can't believe CC was my first pitcher.  I was hoping for at least 1 higher ranked ace, but the early bidding for pitching got really crazy.  Even David Price went in the high $30's.

SP  Mat Latos, Reds.  $11.  Latos was not on my radar at all, but I just felt $11 was too cheap to pass up for him.

SP  Yu Darvish, Rangers.  $18.  I was expecting Darvish to go in the low $20's, but by this time, guys were starting to run out of cash.

SP  Ryan Vogelsong, Giants.  $4.  I thought Vogie would go a lot higher.  What a steal for $4!

SP  Hisashi Iwakuma, Mariners.  $2.  Nice bargain bin value here.

RP  Glen Perkins, Twins.  $1.  I was conflicted about drafting closers, but if you can get one for $1 in my league, I think you have to go for it.  He has trade value.

RP  Fujikawa, Cubs.  $1.  I mistakenly bid $3 on Carlos Marmol earlier, so I figured I'd at least handcuff him with Fujikawa since I was stuck with him.

RP  Carlos Marmol, Cubs.  $3.  I thought I was bidding $2 on Marmol, but someone else got their bid in first, so when I hit the button the bid was at $3.  Oh, well.  $3 ain't much even if I end up dumping him onto the waiver wire.

P   Hiroki Kuroda, Yankees.  $4.  Kuroda helped Savvy Vets a lot last year.  Does he have anything left in the tank?

P   Matt Harvey, Mets.  $2.  I thought I might have to go a lot higher for Harvey.  He's my big breakout pitcher this year.  I think this is a huge bargain.

BN  Alex Cobb, Rays.  $1.  Cobb is high on a lot of sleeper lists this year.  Is he for real?  I'll pay $1 to find out.

BN  Brett Anderson, A's.  $2.  Anderson is the A's #1 starter. I expected him to go way higher than this.

BN  Julio Teheran, Braves.  $1.  Teheran reportedly has his velocity and command back and was dominant in spring training.  Again, he's way worth $1 to see if it's for real.

BN  Dylan Bundy, Orioles.  $1.  A stash pick.  On talent, he should have broken camp with the Orioles, but he'll stay down until June for arbitration clock purposes.

BN  Gerrit Cole, Pirates.  $1 See Dylan Bundy above.

Analysis:

My offense is balanced.  I will ride with it and see if I need to add more power or SB's down the road.  I should do well in the BA category which mangers often overlook when they are focused on HR or SB's.  Alvarez and possibly Weeks are my only BA drags.

I would have liked a little more at the top of my pitching rotation, but I got all of the later round guys I targeted and more.  I'm not sure I can afford to stash Bundy and Cole until they come up, but if I can stay in the playoff hunt until then, I think it will pay off in the second half.

What to do with my RP's?  Should I keep then and try to acquire 1 or 2 more as the season goes along or should I just punt and put SP's with RP eligibility in there and go for wins in W's and K's?  I'm considering offering all 3 of my RP's to another guy who really likes closers for Alexi Ogando, then pick up Shelby Miller off the FA list.  I would then use Iwakuma, Ogando and Miller in my RP slots and pick up yet another SP.  That would put my rotation at 13 pitchers without Bundy and Cole.