American Hooligans

Draft Day today. I think I did okay:

1. (7) Matt Holliday OF
2. (14) Jake Peavy SP
3. (27) Brandon Phillips 2B
4. (34) C.C. Sabathia SP
5. (47) Chipper Jones 3B
6. (54) Jorge Posada C
7. (67) J.J. Hardy SS
8. (74) Garrett Atkins 1B,3B
9. (87) Takashi Saito RP
10. (94) Chad Billingsley SP,RP
11. (107) Tim Lincecum SP
12. (114) Shane Victorino OF
13. (127) Josh Willingham OF
14. (134) Josh Hamilton OF
15. (147) Joba Chamberlain RP
16. (154) Jim Thome Util
17. (167) James Loney 1B
18. (174) Dustin Pedroia 2B
19. (187) Dontrelle Willis SP
20. (194) Jason Varitek C
21. (207) Jack Cust OF

I may cut Thome or Cust to pick up a backup shortstop since JJ went slack down the stretch, (especially since Cust’s massive number of Ks take away from his value), but overall, I think this is a team I could ride all year. I just hate have having to root for the Red Sox.

Fun side note. In the late rounds, I was messing with the recommend a player button and it kept popping up Schilling, even though he was on my “Do not draft, ever” list. We know you’re out there, Curt.

Of course, the only thing I like more than drafting is self-validation. If you remember my Moneyballin’ article, I said this about Lincecum:

29. Tim Lincecum

Lincecum strikes me as one of those picks that everyone looks at you funny for. This high in the rounds, you should be drafting Cy Young winners and such, right? Let’s consider something, though. With the Giants(!), Lincecum put up a 4 ERA, a winning record, a WHIP of 1.28, only gave up 12 home runs, and snagged 150Ks…as a rookie in his first season. What I’m saying to you is that you can snag a young pitcher with a 100MPH fastball that now has a season’s worth of seasoning on him. Now stay out of my draft, alright?

 Please note this actually happened.