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 21-25 of the draft. I’m going to slightly tweak the format of the write-up, since it’s so far along in the draft, and I am of the mind that there are no bad picks anymore once you’re in the final 20% of your draft. So for this portion, I’ll just take a look at who the best picks in each round were, both for value and for upside (mine excluded, of course). Hopefully this helps with the preparation for your own dynasty league draft.

Round: 21
(401) Boston Red Sox – Ervin Santana SP
(402) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Francisco Liriano SP
(403) New York Mets – Sean Burnett RP
(404) Milwaukee Brewers – Wellington Castillo C
(405) Baltimore Orioles – Josh Lindblom RP
(406) Pittsburgh Pirates – A.J. Ellis C
(407) San Diego Padres – Alberto Callaspo 3B
(408) Los Angeles Angels – Jedd Gyorko 2B (Party Foul)
(409) Washington Nationals  – Raul Ibanez LF
** (410) Minnesota Twins – Tyler Colvin RF
(411) Chicago Cubs – Tim Collins RP
(412) Detroit Tigers – Joel Peralta RP
(413) Houston Astros – Scott Baker SP
(414) Cincinnati Reds – Joe Blanton SP
(415) Oakland Athletics – Joakim Soria RP
(416) San Fransisco Giants – Ted Lilly SP
(417) Seattle Mariners – Derek Norris C
(418) Toronto BlueJays – Sean Doolittle RP (Party Foul)
(419) Colorado  Rockies – Seth Smith LF
(420) Texas Rangers – Johnny Giavotella 2B

My selection: I took Colvin basically just to have someone to cover CF for me until Shin-Soo Choo got his eligibility at the position, as I have Nick Swisher ready and willing to be slotted in at DH. Unfortunately, to the surprise of myself and many other onlookers, the Rockies sent Colvin to Triple-A prior to the start of the season, leaving me scrambling to pick up a short-term option. This is the pick I’m going to end up regretting the most, as I should have taken Derek Norris, but my feverishness was getting the better of me. At this point in the draft, it was past midnight and I had a 102 degree fever. I know, excuses, excuses.

Best value picks of the round: Ervin Santana (21.1), Joe Blanton (21.14)
Best upside picks of the round: Francisco Liriano (21.2), Derek Norris (21.17)

Round: 22
(421) Texas Rangers – Cliff Pennington SS
(422) Colorado  Rockies – Jordan Walden RP
(423) Toronto BlueJays – Rafael Furcal SS
(424) Seattle Mariners – Peter Bourjos CF
(425) San Fransisco Giants – John Jaso C
(426) Oakland Athletics – Aaron Harang SP
(427) Cincinnati Reds – Travis Snider RF
(428) Houston Astros – Matt Thornton RP
(429) Detroit Tigers – Nolan Reimold LF
(430) Chicago Cubs – Aaron Crow RP
** (431) Minnesota Twins – Octavio Dotel RP
(432) Washington Nationals  – Jonny Gomes LF
(433) Los Angeles Angels – Matt Belisle RP
(434) San Diego Padres – Wilson Betemit 3B
(435) Pittsburgh Pirates – Danny Duffy SP
(436) Baltimore Orioles – Casey Kelly SP (Party Foul)
(437) Milwaukee Brewers – Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF
(438) New York Mets – Travis Hafner DH
(439) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Al Alburquerque RP
(440) Boston Red Sox – Scott Diamond SP

My selection: Given the uncertainty in Detroit’s bullpen, I wanted to grab one of the arms there. Benoit would have been my first choice, but between everyone else, I gladly took Dotel. He may not have as much upside as someone like Al Alburquerque, who went later on in the same round, but he’s underrated, stays healthy, and should rack up holds, especially with Rondon in the minor leagues.

Best value picks of the round: Peter Bourjos (22.4), Danny Duffy (22.15)
Best upside picks of the round: Rafael Furcal (22.3), Kirk Nieuwenhuis (22.17)

Round: 23
(441) Boston Red Sox – Brennan Boesch RF
(442) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Mark Melancon RP
(443) New York Mets – Darin Mastroianni RF
(444) Milwaukee Brewers – Jason Castro C
(445) Baltimore Orioles – Chris Parmelee 1B
(446) Pittsburgh Pirates – Wilton Lopez RP
(447) San Diego Padres – Jordan Pacheco 3B
(448) Los Angeles Angels – Maicer Izturis 3B
(449) Washington Nationals  – Adam Eaton CF (Party Foul)
** (450) Minnesota Twins – Kelvin Herrera RP
(451) Chicago Cubs – Gerardo Parra CF
(452) Detroit Tigers – Todd Helton 1B
(453) Houston Astros – Gregor Blanco RF
(454) Cincinnati Reds – Jeremy Affeldt RP
(455) Oakland Athletics – Santiago Casilla RP
(456) San Fransisco Giants – Kyle Kendrick SP
(457) Seattle Mariners – Brad Brach RP
(458) Toronto BlueJays – Kurt Suzuki C
(459) Colorado  Rockies – Tyler Flowers C
(460) Texas Rangers – Darren O’Day RP

My selection: This might have been one of my favorite picks of the draft. Honestly, I was so tired and feverish at this point that I thought he had already been taken for a couple of rounds. Herrera is a fireballer, who will be a dominant holds play in 2013 and should be a closer for many years in his prime. He’s got a ton of strikeout potential, and his ratios were worth more than many other relievers last year due to his 84+ innings pitched.

Best value picks of the round: Maicer Izturis (23.8), Gerardo Parra (23.11)
Best upside picks of the round: Jason Castro (23.4), Wilton Lopez (23.6)

Round: 24
(461) Texas Rangers – Carlos Lee 1B
(462) Colorado  Rockies – Barry Zito SP
(463) Toronto BlueJays – Bobby Abreu LF
(464) Seattle Mariners – Justin Smoak 1B
(465) San Fransisco Giants – Bronson Arroyo SP
(466) Oakland Athletics – Francisco Rodriguez RP
(467) Cincinnati Reds – Mike Aviles SS
(468) Houston Astros – Johnny Damon LF
(469) Detroit Tigers – Bruce Chen SP
(470) Chicago Cubs – Zach McAllister SP
** (471) Minnesota Twins – J.J. Hoover RP (Party Foul)
(472) Washington Nationals  – Eric Young Jr. CF
(473) Los Angeles Angels – David DeJesus RF
(474) San Diego Padres – Chris Denorfia RF
(475) Pittsburgh Pirates – Ronald Belisario RP
(476) Baltimore Orioles – Ruben Tejada SS
(477) Milwaukee Brewers – Brandon Crawford SS
(478) New York Mets – Carlos Carrasco SP
(479) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Juan Nicasio SP
(480) Boston Red Sox – Drew Hutchison SP

My selection: Yep, I forgot that Hoover had pitched less than 50 innings and didn’t check to see whether or not he was owned. Clearly I was a little bummed, but after the draft, I grabbed Esmil Rogers off the waiver wire to take his place. Rogers could be a nice reliever for me, and if he exceeds expectation, there are way too many Jays fans in this league to not get a good return for him.

Best value picks of the round: Zach McAllister (24.10), Ruben Tejada (24.16)
Best upside picks of the round: Johnny Damon (24.8), Bruce Chen (24.9)

Round: 25
(481) Boston Red Sox – Mike Leake SP
(482) Arizona  Diamondbacks – Brian Roberts 2B
(483) New York Mets – Jordany Valdespin LF
(484) Milwaukee Brewers – Donovan Solano 2B
(485) Baltimore Orioles – Willie Bloomquist SS
(486) Pittsburgh Pirates – Rubby De La Rosa RP
(487) San Diego Padres – Nate Schierholtz RF
(488) Los Angeles Angels – Shelby Miller RP (Party Foul)
(489) Washington Nationals  – Leonys Martin CF (Party Foul)
** (490) Minnesota Twins – Rob Brantly C (Party Foul)
(491) Chicago Cubs – Rex Brothers RP
(492) Detroit Tigers – Carlos Peguero RF
(493) Houston Astros – Brad Ziegler RP
(494) Cincinnati Reds – John Buck C
(495) Oakland Athletics – Roy Oswalt SP
(496) San Fransisco Giants – Francisco Rodriguez RP
(497) Seattle Mariners – Brad Boxberger RP
(498) Toronto BlueJays – Luke Scott DH
(499) Colorado  Rockies – Nate McLouth LF
(500) Texas Rangers – Scott Hairston LF

My selection: At this point of the draft, I just had my catcher spot left, so I couldn’t grab a guy at another position if I wanted to. With that information in hand, I purposely party fouled myself and went to sleep. I like Brantly and he should be a solid option in a 20-teamer. Plus, he looks to be batting either fifth or sixth for the Marlins, so he could have some additional RBI opportunities that other catchers may not have.

Best value picks of the round: Rex Brothers (25.11), Nate McLouth (25.19)
Best upside picks of the round: Brian Roberts (25.2), Rubby De La Rosa (25.6)

And that is it. All twenty-five rounds of the minor league draft, followed by all twenty-five rounds of the major league draft. In the final installment, I will go through my final roster and talk about how well I stuck to my plan, and what I need to do in order to improve going forward.

Follow me on Twitter at @dynastyguru.