Post-Draft Review: Adorable Baby Pandas

In light of the long time between the last post draft review and the reality of being already 3 weeks into the season, the remaining Post Draft Reviews will be slightly different from the previous ones.

Note: The team has changed it’s name to The Three Seashells.

The keepers on this team allowed little flexibility in drafting as the entire outfield was filled with Byrnes, Markakis and Ichiro, but there was a top end starter and reliever in CC Sabathia and K-Rod. Then, there was A-Rod. Heading into the season, I would have pegged this team as top 3. And no one would have guessed that Sabathia would be bad, even if it’s only April. Arod is hurting; K-Rod is resembling Chad Cordero; and Ichiro is hitting .260. That’s 4 April killers for a fantasy team that had tremendous promise. The good news is that these are all player that you can count on to be better for the rest of the year, and at least Byrnes and Markakis look as advertised.

In the draft, Pandas may have pulled off a couple of steals in Ben Sheets – if he stays healthy, which is always a big if - in the 8th, Billy Wagner still around in the 10th, Fukudome in the 11th, and Dye in the 13th.  Wagner may not have a ton of saves so far, but the Mets will win 80+ games (i’ll keep you posted on my perceived chances of the Mets winning 90+ – right now, I’ll put the odds at 5 to 1) and he’s looked good to this point. Fukudome has been very surprising after his weak spring displaying a very disciplined approach at the plate – swinging at only 12 non-strike pitches. Dye dropped too far, plainly stated.

The outfield on this team is solid, but the infield is less so. Michael Young is dependable but his numbers won’t win you anything. Alex Gordon is looking the way he was advertised in 2007, but again, he doesn’t look like a 30+ HR guy. The 2B line of Matsui, Aaron Hill (acquired in a trade), and Luis Castillo, isn’t going to get anyone excited.

The pitching staff is currently weaker than it should end up. Carpenter may be back in June, and Sabathia should get better. K-Rod and Wagner will be OK. Hopefully, Sheets says healthy. However, after that, this staff might have problems hitting another 400 decent innings. Competing in Ws, Ks, ERA and WHIP might be out of the question from the start.

Best Pick: Dye in the 13th.

Worst Pick: Kelvim Escobar in the 12th. (Admittedly, he got hurt days after the draft).

McJunk’s Prediction:

This team looks like it will be battling some injuries and underperformance all season. Bad luck seems to have certainly pulled back a good April, and threatens to derail a promising season. As of press time, the team is in 8th, with strong performances only in Runs, Steals, OBP, a decent perfomance in HRs and Saves.