how I spent my weekend

We finally held our draft in my other fantasy baseball league, the Buffalo Heads league. This is a long-standing league in the Boston area made up of middle-aged men who live and die for this stuff. (This coming from the person who travels much farther than anyone else to participate.)

It's a 5x5 league with 12 keepers (you can retain players for up to 4 years). This is my third year in the league; I inherited a terrible team, and have improved each year, but still haven't been close to contending. This year I have my best team yet, though I'm not exactly expecting to dominate. Keeper leagues are great, but when only 20-or-so of the top 100 players are available in any given year, rebuilding can take a few years.

Here's my roster, commentary to follow:

C PLoDuca NYM 09
C APierzynski CWS 09
+1B PKonerko CWS 06
CI RZimmerman Was 09
+3B MCabrera Fla 07
2B MLoretta Bos 09
+MI JReyes NYM 06
+SS DJeter NYY 06
+OF ASoriano Was 08
+OF HMatsui NYY 06
OF JGomes TB 09
OF RSanders KC 09
OF NMarkakis Bal 09
UT JThome CWS 09
DH MJacobs Fla 09
+P EGuardado Sea 08
+P SKazmir TB 08
+P JVazquez CWS 07
+P CLee Cle 08
+P BZito Oak 07
+P TGordon Phi 08
P RHalladay Tor 09
P FGarcia CWS 09
P EBedard Bal 09
P DMiceli TB 09
Reserves
C DMirabelli SD 09
1B #JHuber KC 09
3B #AMarte Cle 09
2B RAurilia Cin 09
2B TWomack Cin 09
OF *RBaldelli TB 09
OF JBurnitz Pit 09
OF BWilliams NYY 09
OF EByrnes Ari 09
P #COrvella TB 09
P #RWagner Cin 09
P #RClemens Hou 09
P #AnReyes StL 09
P *CPavano NYY 09
P BBannister NYM 09
P ISnell Pit 09
P JWeaver LAA 09
P #JeWeaver LAA 09
P JDevine Atl 09
P #DMatsuzaka XXX 09

+ retained from previous year
# not on a current Major League roster
* on DL

• My pitching should be very solid, if not dominant. I have a lot of above average starters, and barring injuries, I shouldn't need to have anyone active who would kill my ERA and WHIP. Guardado, Gordon and the Miceli/Orvella tandem should effectively give me three closers, enough to compete in saves.
• I feel like I might be a bat or two short, though I always feel that way. I'm taking some risks on Gomes, Markakis, Zimmerman and Jacobs--they all have upside, but having four of those guys active is a big gamble.
• Probably the biggest mistake I made was taking Baldelli without realizing he's injured. Let's just say that when I drafted Markakis I didn't think he'd be starting for me on opening day.
• Or maybe this was my biggest mistake: I took eight—eight!—players who aren't on a Major League roster. In a league this deep, prospects are part of the game, but I still went overboard. Any time you're drafting players who are under contract in another country this season, you're probably overthinking things.
• In the first three rounds—this is where the All-Star types usually land—I took Halladay, Thome and Loretta. Halladay was a gift with the sixth pick overall; aging Carlos Delgado was chosen immediately before him, allowing me to take a player I wanted and needed instead of settling for someone like Adam Dunn or Pedro.
• I took Clemens in the 7th round. That seems like a decent gamble, especially because my pitching is solid without him.
• I have a stunning four players who will be free agents after this season (Jeter, Reyes, Konerko and Matsui). I need to either finish in the money this year, or get a lot back in trade for these guys at midseason.

How will it all turn out? That's why they play the games...