Before we dive back into the analysis, a few reminders about the context of the league, as it’s not a straight-forward format. It is a 20-team 7×7 H2H league that uses all of the standard 5×5 categories, plus OPS/Total Bases for hitters and Quality Starts/Holds for pitchers. The active rosters are one player per position (OF are broken out by LF/CF/RF) plus a Utility player on offense, and nine pitchers (2 SP, 2 RP, 5 P). On top of that, there are 7 reserve spots, 3 DL spots and 25 minor league spots (which were all already filled). We were given strict instructions that if you drafted a player already on someone’s minor league roster, we would not be going back to reverse picks, so it would just be considered a party foul and we’d move on. All in all, it’s a very deep league with an active lineup that skews a little towards pitching and deep minor league rosters (500 total prospects will be rostered). Oh, and by the way, I’m the Minnesota Twins.

So here is a review of rounds 4-6 of the draft. I’m going to use the same format as my write up of the minor league side of the draft – looking at who I picked and why (along with others I was considering) and who the best/worst picks of the round were (mine excluded). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Major League Draft, Rounds 1-3

Round: 4
(61) Texas Rangers – Freddie Freeman 1B
(62) Colorado Rockies – Matt Holliday LF
(63) Toronto BlueJays – B.J. Upton CF
(64) Seattle Mariners – Matt Moore SP
(65) San Fransisco Giants – Ben Zobrist RF
(66) Oakland Athletics – Jacoby Ellsbury CF
(67) Cincinnati Reds – Chris Sale SP
(68) Houston Astros – Anthony Rizzo 1B
(69) Detroit Tigers – Max Scherzer SP
(70) Chicago Cubs – Ike Davis 1B
** (71) Minnesota Twins – Alex Gordon LF
(72) Washington Nationals – Matt Wieters C
(73) Los Angeles Angels – Yadier Molina C
(74) San Diego Padres – Brandon Phillips 2B
(75) Pittsburgh Pirates – Paul Goldschmidt 1B
(76) Baltimore Orioles – Dylan Bundy RP (Party Foul)
(77) Milwaukee Brewers – Jason Kipnis 2B
(78) New York Mets – CC Sabathia SP
(79) Arizona Diamondbacks – Curtis Granderson CF
(80) Boston Red Sox – Mike Moustakas 3B

My selection: I was extremely close to taking Alex Gordon with my third round pick, so I was obviously very happy when he was still there with my fourth. Not only is he a hugely underrated option in standard leagues, but he only becomes more valuable in a league which counts OPS and Total Bases. Those 51 doubles he hit last year? Yea, that’ll help, even if none of them turn into homers this year (don’t worry, I still think they will). [Other considerations: Paul Goldschmidt,
Adam Wainwright]

Best picks of the round: Matt Holliday (4.2), Paul Goldschmidt (4.15)
Worst picks of the round: Brandon Phillips (4.14), Mike Moustakas (4.20)

He’s not a particularly young guy anymore, but in a 20-team league, you can’t beat Matt Holliday’s consistency. You can pencil him in for a .290 average, 25 homers and a ton of counting stats. However, the draft’s greatest mystery was the way that Paul Goldschmidt was effectively forgotten for about two whole rounds. I’m not the world’s biggest Goldy fan on the interwebs, but even I have him at #40 on my ranks. If Alex Gordon was gone, he would have been my pick, even with Votto and Craig both in tow. Brandon Phillips is a nice player, but he’s just not a top-100 guy, even with the format driving up the value of 2B. Same with Mike Moustakas, who still has a lot of upside, but was just taken too early. In fact, my sixth round pick was a 3B and I’d take him very clearly over Moustakas.

Round: 5
(81) Boston Red Sox – Johnny Cueto SP
(82) Arizona Diamondbacks – Ian Desmond SS
(83) New York Mets – Joe Mauer C
(84) Milwaukee Brewers – Mark Trumbo LF
(85) Baltimore Orioles – Jordan Zimmermann SP
(86) Pittsburgh Pirates – Austin Jackson CF
(87) San Diego Padres – Adam Wainwright SP
(88) Los Angeles Angels – Michael Bourn CF
(89) Washington Nationals – Josh Willingham LF
** (90) Minnesota Twins – Shin-Soo Choo RF
(91) Chicago Cubs – Matt Harvey SP
(92) Detroit Tigers – Jose Altuve 2B
(93) Houston Astros – Elvis Andrus SS
(94) Cincinnati Reds – Salvador Perez C
(95) Oakland Athletics – Josh Johnson SP
(96) San Fransisco Giants – Marco Scutaro 2B
(97) Seattle Mariners – Jesus Montero C
(98) Toronto BlueJays – Martin Prado LF
(99) Colorado Rockies – Jason Motte RP
(100) Texas Rangers – James Shields SP

My selection: With the way the draft had gone so far, I was actually trying to remain confident that Adam Wainwright would fall to me here – which would have been an absolute boon. Unfortunately, the team who picked three spots before me had other plans. Instead I had to settle for another Alex Gordon type of underrated option in Shin-Soo Choo. I love Choo’s potential to bounce back in a big way in Cincinnati this year, and he’s going to be gaining CF eligibility within the first week or two of the season. I’ll just need to find a place holder at the position later on in the draft. [Other considerations: Aramis Ramirez,
David Ortiz]

Best picks of the round: Joe Mauer (5.3), Adam Wainwright (5.7)
Worst picks of the round: Josh Willingham (5.9), Marco Scutaro (5.16)

Mauer is a great pick in a league this deep with these extra categories. He should have gone around 20 picks earlier. Wainwright is a sore subject and I’m moving on — after this. All of his underlying stats were almost identical in 2012 to the previous two seasons (2009 and 2010) when he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. He’s back and he’s been back, it’s just that people aren’t paying close enough attention. Willingham was barely in my top-200, as he’s aging and rarely stays healthy, though to be fair, Trumbo was nearly as bad of a pick. The Scutaro pick is indefensible, even with the depth of the middle infield position. I don’t care what position he gets played at, he was taken over Asdrubal Cabrera and Aaron Hill.

Round: 6
(101) Texas Rangers – Mike Napoli C
(102) Colorado Rockies – Wilin Rosario C
(103) Toronto BlueJays – Yovani Gallardo SP
(104) Seattle Mariners – Will Middlebrooks 3B
(105) San Fransisco Giants – Paul Konerko 1B
(106) Oakland Athletics – Asdrubal Cabrera SS
(107) Cincinnati Reds – Melky Cabrera LF
(108) Houston Astros – Miguel Montero C
(109) Detroit Tigers – Ben Revere RF
(110) Chicago Cubs – Jon Lester SP
** (111) Minnesota Twins – Aramis Ramirez 3B
(112) Washington Nationals – Aaron Hill 2B
(113) Los Angeles Angels – Alex Rios RF
(114) San Diego Padres – Roy Halladay SP
(115) Pittsburgh Pirates – Dan Haren SP
(116) Baltimore Orioles – David Ortiz DH
(117) Milwaukee Brewers – Kris Medlen SP
(118) New York Mets – Jonathon Niese SP
(119) Arizona Diamondbacks – Brett Gardner LF
(120) Boston Red Sox – Lance Lynn SP

My selection: And now for the second time in the draft, I get the player who was my second choice for my previous selection. Aramis Ramirez is not a spring chicken anymore, but the guy is super consistent and really, really good at hitting baseballs. He’s a near lock for a .290 average, 25 bombs and 90+ RBI for the next couple of seasons – especially while he calls Miller Park home. [Other
considerations: David Ortiz, Kris Medlen]

Best picks of the round: David Ortiz (6.16), Kris Medlen (6.17)
Worst picks of the round: Ben Revere (6.9), Brett Gardner (6.19)

It’s probably the injury news that knocked Ortiz down to this point in the sixth round, but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone this late in the draft who has Papi’s upside in the short-term for this type of 7×7 format. And with Kris Medlen, I have no idea how he dropped so far given all of the hype he’s received. Maybe it’s hype backlash, but while Medlen isn’t an ace, he’s still a potentially very good pitcher – and he’s still pretty young. As for Revere and Gardner, let me take a second to rail against taking one-category steals guys in leagues with extra categories. Stolen bases become less important when a 5×5 becomes a 6×6, and even more so when it becomes a 7×7. Both Revere and Gardner are going to be a drag in OPS and total bases. Just say no to guys like this.

Now, we’ve made it through six rounds of the draft so far, and I’ve filled out two-thirds of my offense. The only problem? I need to field a pitching staff as well. It’s unfortunate, I know. But I set out to fill my staff with depth from the beginning, and fill it with depth I shall. In fact, of my next 12 picks, 11 of them are going to be pitchers. But to find out who those pitchers are (and how happy with my decisions I am), you’ll have to stay tuned for Rounds 7-9, coming early next week.

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