SP Brett Myers
SP Joba Chamberlain
RP Mariano Rivera
RP Chad Qualls
P Gil Meche
P Wandy Rodriguez
P JJ Putz

I’ll be drafting out of the number 1 position! So, good news is that I know I can get Pujols, bad news is that Pedroia and or Beltran could both be gone by my next pick. So…probably Holliday or Quentin if the others are gone. I’m kinda sad that I won’t get the chance to get Teix, he was my man crush this year, but needs must, and I needs me some Albert.

Here’s a more likely team for me now….

Will update you all later.

C Napoli
1B Pujols
2B Pedroia/ Roberts
3B Ramirez
SS Furcal
OF Holliday
OF Damon
OF Dye
UTIL Ethier

SP Myers
SP Greinke
RP Rivera
RP Qualls
P Baker
P Wandy Rodriguez
P Meche

BN Iannetta
BN Guillen
BN Theriot
BN Sandoval
BN Jackson
BN Cameron
BN Blevins
BN Meredith
BN Kuo

It’s a 12-team, 25-man, head-to-head league. I’d like to think that my draft prep this year has been awesome – I enjoy draft day as much as any part of the fantasy season.

I told one of the guys in my league that I know what my team is going to look like and he laughed at me.

He said that there’s no way I can tell who I’m going to draft; that there are way too many variables, led mostly by 11 other teams who can throw a spanner in the works at any point.

To a point he’s right, but not really. Yes it’s true what there can be up to 22 picks in between my own, but that is where your preparation comes in. It’s all about knowing your league and knowing the value of the players. Average draft positions are decent for this.

For example, let’s look at the first two rounds – the easiest rounds to predict. You know that unless you have a top 3 pick you’re not going to be able to draft a Pujols or a Wright.

It’s also fair to say that you know that if you have the 4th overall pick, while you may be able to draft Reyes, you are almost certianly not also going to be able to draft someone like Kinsler or Teixeira in round 2 because by the time your pick comes around (21st overall) these guys will be long gone.

I do not know my draft position yet, and I won’t know until about 30 minutes before the start of the draft. That in itself is annoying, but that’s ok because it is only really these first 2 or 3 rounds that can be awkward.

If I have the 1st overall pick, I’m taking Pujols in round 1 and hoping Pedroia falls to me on the turn for my 2nd pick. If not, I’ll target an outfielder, either Beltran, Holliday or Quentin.

If I am picking 3rd overall, i’ll target Wright (assuming Pujols and Ramirez go 1 and 2) and then take Pedroia in round 2 and someone like Aramis Ramirez in rd 3.

That said, here’s a team that could not be too far from my own, depending on where I draft:

C Napoli
1B Teixeira
2B Pedroia/ Roberts
3B Huff
SS Furcal
OF Markakis
OF Damon
OF Dye
UTIL Ethier

SP Myers
SP Greinke
RP Rivera
RP Qualls
P Baker
P Wandy Rodriguez
P Meche

BN Iannetta
BN Guillen
BN Theriot
BN Sandoval
BN Jackson
BN Cameron
BN Blevins
BN Meredith
BN Kuo

There are lots of other guys who I will be considering, but again, position will dictate to some extent. But I love, as everyone does, Pujols, Wright and Han Ram.
Other than that trio which will likely go 1-2-3 in whatever order, I will be targetting Morneua, Figgins, Holliday, Beltran, Abreu and Conor Jackson.

I’ll update this blog with my draft position, and any last-minute changes which that could represent. At the minute, this draft above is what my team could look like, assuming I have a pick around the 7 or 8 position.