Mock Draft

Mock Drafts are Mock Drafts.... but sometimes I wish they weren't. Basically, the team below I drafted recently in a mock draft, and based on my standards, I love this team.

Is it perfect? Course not. I could have passed on Jason Bay and grabbed Miguel Tejada instead. I also may have been too eager to grab Russell Martin so early, but for me to have grabbed two Phillies before any other players and still enjoy the team I drafted, things must have gone right. Chipper Jones fell down to me without having to select him a round early. I got my OBP guys in Burrell and Willingham, nabbed Taveras to make-up for my slow OBP guys, and got three excellent closers without having to really overpay. My staff seems very solid with a mixture of proven veterans and young studs and I got some undervalued bats in Derrek Lee and Billy Butler. I also managed to draft the steroid king in Barry Bonds.

Round: 1
** (7) - Chase Utley 2B

Round: 2
** (14) - Ryan Howard 1B

Round: 3
** (27) - Carlos Lee LF

Round: 4
** (34) - Josh Beckett SP F

Round: 5
** (47) - Chipper Jones 3B

Round: 6
** (54) - Russell Martin C

Round: 7
** (67) - Derrek Lee 1B

Round: 8
** (74) - Chris Young SP

Round: 9
** (87) - Jason Bay LF

Round: 10
** (94) - James Shields SP

Round: 11
** (107) - Huston Street RP

Round: 12
** (114) - Edgar Renteria SS

Round: 13
** (127) - Tim Hudson SP

Round: 14
** (134) - Rickie Weeks 2B

Round: 15
** (147) - Pat Burrell LF

Round: 16
** (154) - Jason Isringhausen RP

Round: 17
** (167) - Jeff Francis SP

Round: 18
** (174) - Greg Maddux SP

Round: 19
** (187) - Josh Willingham LF

Round: 20
** (194) - Willy Taveras CF

Round: 21
** (207) - Mark Buehrle SP

Round: 22
** (214) - Brandon Lyon RP

Round: 23
** (227) - Billy Butler DH

Round: 24
** (234) - Homer Bailey SP

Round: 25
** (247) - Barry Bonds LF

Third Basemen

Here are the rankings of the top third baseman according the Yahoo Big Board on Jan. 26 (and draft position from a mock draft from profantasybaseball.com in the ()'s )

1. (1) Alex Rodriguez - New York Yankees
6. (10) David Wright - New York Mets
9. (8) Miguel Cabrera - Detroit Tigers
13. (7) Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers (Yes, I know he is in left field now, but it's the eligibility that counts here)
34. (62) Chone Figgins - Anaheim Angels (Yes, I still refer to them as being from Anaheim... and wtf is Figgins doing rated this high? cuz he can play 2b, too? who the F cares!)
35. (45) Aramis Ramirez - Chicago Cubs
48. (75) Chipper Jones - Atlanta Braves
53. (57) Garrett Atkins - Colorado Rockies

What is the point of posting this for the zero readers that read this? Because I will be playing in a fantasy league using OBP and SLG rather than BA, which is the worst way to evaluate a hitter and yet is the most common way people do.

Chipper Jones is my 2008 pick of the year. He is considered to be "too old" and "too fragile" to be a fantasy star, yet continues to put up numbers similar to, and in some areas, better than the likes of David Wright, Miguel Cabrera, Aramis Ramirez,and Ryan Braun. The only 3B that I can put above him without much controversy is Alex Rodriguez, and even Chipper had a better 06 season. Need proof? Here are some numbers for you:

2007 OBP/SLG/XBH
Jones: .425/.604/75
A-Rod: .422/.645/85
Wright: .416/.546/73
Cabrera: .401/.565/74
Braun: .370/.634/66 (22 more while in AAA)
Ramirez: .366/.549/75

162 Game Career Avg.
Jones: .403/.546/72
A-Rod: .389/.578/80
Wright: .388/.533/73
Cabrera: ..388/.542/74
Braun: (He was a rookie! so see above)
Ramirez: .336/.500/69

And here's another stat that may or may not mean anything, but I find it to be amusing. It's called "RC/G" or "Runs Created/Game" meaning that this is what a team full of that player, i.e. 9 Chipper Jones' or 9 A-Rods (HOLY CRAP WOULD THAT BE AWESOME!) with and average defense would score per game.
RC/G: 2007/Career
Jones: 9.5/8.2
A-Rod: 10.4/8.4
Wright: 9.0/7.7
Cabrera: 8.3/7.5
Braun: 8.4/2007 is his career!
Ramirez: 7.3/5.8

So according to this stat, a team of 9 Chippers would on average beat a team of 9 Miguel Cabreras 9.5 - 8.3, more than a full run. If anyone is wondering, Babe Ruth had a career average of 12.6 RC/G and had a season best 17.7 in 1920! How this stat is created I don't know, but most of my numbers come from baseball-reference.com, which is probably the most reliable place to find baseball statistics out there.

Just Food For Thought...