Fantasy Baseball 2010

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. Photo courtesy PennLive.com/AP.

After a long absence, I've resumed doing fantasy baseball and this season, was lucky enough to do it with some family in an 8-team league. While I generally do my fantasy sports on ESPN, my cousins hosted the league on Yahoo and initially, I like it better than ESPN's. In ESPN's game, you're required to start five outfielders, whereas in Yahoo's you only start three. Considering only three play in the real games, drafting five starters seems unnecessary and makes what can already be a long draft even longer. My hitting seems to be pretty good, bu my pitching leaves a little to be desired.

My first pick (4th overall) was Philadelphia Phillies 2nd baseman Chase Utley. Utley usually hits 30 homers and 95 RBI, but what makes him so valuable is his consistency for a position that doesn't have much depth. My next pick was shortstop Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies, with much the same logic as the Utley pick (low position depth).

Photo courtesy BronxBaseballDaily.com

In the third round, I picked up my big masher, San Diego Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. A-Gon hit 40 homers last year in San Diego's Petco Park, notorious for being a park that favors pitchers (it helps that the ballpark is a block away from the beach, so the cool marine air stifles the baseball's trajectory.) The Padres as a team are terrible, and Gonzalez has been rumored to head to Boston, where his numbers would jump. So he's a good hitter in a bad ballpark on a bad team, with the chance to be in a more offensive park come trading time.

In the fourth round, I picked up my token Red Sox, catcher Victor Martinez. Not a bad catch considering position depth, but the guy ahead of me took the guy I was pulling for, Sox first/third baseman Kevin Youkilis. It wouldn't be the last time a moment like that happened in the draft. In the sixth round, I got my token Diamondback, ace pitcher Dan Haren. Quite the stud who goes under the radar because he pitches in Arizona.

Red Sox catcher Victor Martinez. Photo courtesy MassLive.com.

One of my quirks with my fantasy teams is that I try to get players in towns and cities where friends and family are from or teams our family roots for. This year, I have 1 Diamondback, 1 Red Sox, 1 Mariner, 2 Rangers, 2 Angels, 2 Dodgers and 1 Ray (pitcher James Shields who's from my hometown). I also carry a policy of no known steroid users (A-Rod, Papi) and no Yankees on my squad unless absolutely necessary. Suffice to say, I have no Bronx Bombers on my team this year.

Here's the hitters:
C Martinez - Red Sox
1B Gonzalez - Padres
2B Utley - Phillies
SS Tulowitzki - Rockies
3B Michael Young - Rangers
LF Adam Lind - Blue Jays
CF Shane Victorino - Phillies
RF Ichiro - Mariners
Util Kendry Morales - Angels
Util Hunter Pence - Astros
Bench Ian Stewart - Rockies
Bench Elvis Andrus - Rangers
Bench James Loney - Dodgers
Bench Colby Rasmus - Cardinals

Diamondbacks pitcher Dan Haren. Photo courtesy the Phoenix New Times.

Here's the pitchers:
SP Haren - Diamondbacks
SP Josh Johnson - Marlins
RP Andrew Bailey - A's
RP Brian Wilson - Giants
P Shields - Rays
P Jered Weaver - Angels
P John Danks - White Sox
P Hiroki Kuroda - Dodgers
P Huston Street - Rockies