This season is only the second time I will be playing Fantasy Baseball. I tried it once before a few years ago, but the league used only National League teams which cut the talent in half, so I was stuck with only Troy Tulowitzki as my only productive player.
This year I’m in a new Fantasy Baseball league and we’ll be drawing players form both the American League and National League; I want Mike Trout on my team so bad.
I was doing a mock draft on a free draft generator I found online recently, yes I know how nerdy that sounds, and I started to notice a lot of our new San Diego Padres players coming up and it got me thinking about how this new Padres team is a lot like a real life fantasy team.
First, you got you higher picks like Upton and Kemp. Then your middle or the draft players like Norris, Gyorko and Myers. Finally, you got your bench/backup guys like Maybin and Middlebrooks.
Now, when it comes to our pitching, I think the Padres have a few higher picks in their lineup than most teams. Shields is obviously the biggest arm and the starting pitcher you would grab first, but Cashner, Ross, and Kennedy are all worth drafting too.
Here’s a breakdown on how our Padres players are currently being ranked according to ESPN’s Top 300:
- #33 Justin Upton (OF10)
- #57 Matt Kemp (OF19)
- #73 James Shields (SP20)
- #143 Andrew Cashner (SP41)
- #163 Joaquin Benoit (RP20)
- #165 Ian Kennedy (SP48)
- #166 Wil Myers (OF44)
- #220 Jedd Gyorko (2B17)
- #285 Derek Norris (C17)
I think the rankings for our guys are a bit low, but this is probably more Padres players than have been there in previous season. Last year, I’ll bet the only Padres on there were Gyorko and Chase Headley.
What do you guys think? Are any of you planning to draft Padres this season? Who else are you hoping to draft? I hate to say it, but if I can’t get Trout with the #1 pick, I’m hoping to land Paul Goldschmidt.
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