Tuesday, January 08, 2008
2007 Mock Draft Winner
This year's Mock Drafters were a little more verbose than usual, and kicked the featurette about last year's Mock Draft Winner to the website. Here it is:
The 2007 Mock Draft Winner
by Rotoman
Tom Kessenich, from fantasybaseballchampionship.com, drafted last year’s winning Mock team. Some will mock the importance of this, but we all play by the same rules, and by those rules Tom won. The two previous years Jason Grey and, um, I won.
Now, one reason the mock draft isn’t a perfect venue for judgment is that it takes place in early November, before all but the most impatient free agents have signed, before all but the most pathetic non-tenders have been non-tendered (or tendered), and then, of course, there are the miscellaneous motorcycle or deer hunting accidents.
But the fact is that only two players taken in last year’s mock didn’t play in 2007 (Mark Prior and Nick Johnson) and they were kind of predictable. So we all have the same amount of knowledge, even if it’s less than we’ll have in March. But few took Carlos Pena in March either.
So, here is Tom Kessenich’s draft, round by round, with his post-draft comments and my sniping observations a year later. Note that Tom had the 10th pick in the 15 team mixed draft.
Tom had none of those disasters in the early rounds, and his disasters in the middle were relatively mild. Only Millwood and Jeff Suppan were flat out negative. But the bottom line is that Tom turned what was probably a small lead into the rout it became in the last round, when he took Ryan Braun. Congratulations to him for a great and dominant draft (he beat baseballhq.com’s Doug Dennis by 18 points), and a most excellent last pick.
Too bad he couldn’t make it back to defend his crown this year.
The 2007 Mock Draft Winner
by Rotoman
Tom Kessenich, from fantasybaseballchampionship.com, drafted last year’s winning Mock team. Some will mock the importance of this, but we all play by the same rules, and by those rules Tom won. The two previous years Jason Grey and, um, I won.
Now, one reason the mock draft isn’t a perfect venue for judgment is that it takes place in early November, before all but the most impatient free agents have signed, before all but the most pathetic non-tenders have been non-tendered (or tendered), and then, of course, there are the miscellaneous motorcycle or deer hunting accidents.
But the fact is that only two players taken in last year’s mock didn’t play in 2007 (Mark Prior and Nick Johnson) and they were kind of predictable. So we all have the same amount of knowledge, even if it’s less than we’ll have in March. But few took Carlos Pena in March either.
So, here is Tom Kessenich’s draft, round by round, with his post-draft comments and my sniping observations a year later. Note that Tom had the 10th pick in the 15 team mixed draft.
- Round 1 (10): David Wright 3B—An emerging superstar. You got that right!
- Round 2 (20): Bobby Abreu OF—Plenty of HR and SB. You got that half right!
- Round 3 (40): Victor Martinez C—One of fantasy’s best at this position. Yes, indeed!
- Round 4 (50): Roy Oswalt P—He’s everything you want in an ace. Agreed!
- Round 5 (70): Edgar Renteria SS—Rock solid SS option. He certainly was last year!
- Round 6 (80): John Smoltz P—Still pitching at a very high level. And consistent, too!
- Round 7 (100): Adrian Gonzalez 1B—Plenty of power and upside. Which he realized!
- Round 8 (110): Magglio Ordonez OF—The ALCS hero. And one year later, nearly MVP!
- Round 9 (130): Todd Jones P—Still closing effectively. Hasn’t slowed down much!
- Round 10 (140): Ryan Freel OF—Speed, speed, speed. Actually, he did.
- Round 11 (160): Nomar Garciaparra 1B—Injuries a concern, but he can still hit. Injuries hurt, and he didn’t hit well.
- Round 12 (170): Chien-Ming Wang P—Emerged as Yankees’ ace in 2006. In 2007, too.
- Round 13 (190): Bob Wickman P—Crafter veteran is a good closer. When healthy, which he wasn’t last year.
- Round 14 (200): Ken Griffey OF—Injury prone but can still bash. And have a nice season every four years or so.
- Round 15 (220): Luis Castillo 2B—Regained his speed last season. Part of it, anyway, but a nice pick at this point.
- Round 16 (230): Kevin Millwood P—ERA’s a concern but he’ll help with wins. Unless he doesn’t.
- Round 17 (250): Paul Lo Duca C—Quality No. 2 catcher found very late. More like, okay, doesn’t stink.
- Round 18 (260): Juan Encarnacion OF—Underrated OF option. When he’s not hurt.
- Round 19 (280): Tom Glavine P—Lack of consistency a concern. In this league all that matters is how things turn out in the end. For TG, not so good.
- Round 20 (290): Ty Wigginton 1B/2B/3B—Surprising power last season. Not so surprising this year.
- Round 21 (310): Scott Linebrink P—One of the game’s best set-up men. Just okay the last two years.
- Round 22 (320): Jeff Suppan P—Finished strong in 2006. That didn’t continue in 2007.
- Round 23 (340): Ryan Braun 3B—Huge upside for this Brewers’ prospect. Fully realized!
Tom had none of those disasters in the early rounds, and his disasters in the middle were relatively mild. Only Millwood and Jeff Suppan were flat out negative. But the bottom line is that Tom turned what was probably a small lead into the rout it became in the last round, when he took Ryan Braun. Congratulations to him for a great and dominant draft (he beat baseballhq.com’s Doug Dennis by 18 points), and a most excellent last pick.
Too bad he couldn’t make it back to defend his crown this year.
Labels: 2007, Mock Draft, Winning
// posted by Rotoman @ 7:09 PM 
