TigersMAN

Just finished a live draft on another site (Sporting News - Draft & Trade).  It's a 10-team, 5x5 rotissiere league.  I drafted in the 9th position.  There were 31 rounds (that's really too many).  It's the standard roto scoring. Hitters: R, HR, RBI, SB, BA  Pitchers: W, S, K, ERA, WHIP.

Here's my team, by round drafted.  Let me know what you think.

1. Ryan Howard - 1B
2. Johan Santana - SP
3. Curtis Granderson - OF
4. Adam Dunn - OF
5. Carlos Zambrano - SP
6. Aaron Harang - SP
7. Ryan Zimmerman - 3B
8. Billy Wagner - RP
9. Jorge Posada - C
10. Mariano Rivera - RP
11. Ken Griffey, Jr. - OF
12. Kevin Youkilis - CI
13. Edgar Renteria - SS
14. Kelly Johnson - 2B
15. Jeremy Bonderman - SP
16. Adam Wainwright - SP
17. Jacoby Ellsbury - OF
18. Todd Jones - RP
19. Dontrelle Willis - SP
20. Kosuke Fukudome - OF
21. Scott Rolen - U
22. Ryan Theriot - MI
23. Phil Hughes - Bench (SP)
24. Jason Varitek - Bench (C)
25. Nick Johnson - U
26. Eric Gagne - Bench (RP)
27. Melky Cabrera - Bench (OF)
28. Ryan Church - U
29. Jason Giambi - Bench (U)
30. Luis Castillo - Bench (2B/MI)
31. Nate Robertson - Bench (SP)

I think my pitching is pretty good, if all stay healthy, but I'm a little concerned about my hitting.  After 31 rounds, there's not a lot left in the FA pool to pick from.

I've drafted two more teams over the past couple of days, in H2H 10-team leagues.  Let me know which team you feel is better.  For the first team, I had the #1 draft position which I hate, and for the second team, I had the #3 position in the draft.

Team #1:

• C - McCann (12th round)
• 1B - Loney (11th)
• 2B - Phillips (2nd)
• 3B - ARod (1st)
• SS - Renteria (13th)
• OF - Rios (4th)
• OF - Markakis (7th)
• OF - Hawpe (10th)
• U - Griffey (16th)
• SP - Verlander (3rd)
• RP - Putz (5th)
• SP - F. Hernandez (6th)
• SP - Willis (8th)
• RP - Wagner (9th)
• SP - Lilly (14th)
• RP - Isringhausen (15th)
• Bn - J. Hamilton - OF (17th)
• Bn - Harden - SP (18th)
• Bn - Soria - RP (19th)
• Bn - Delgado - 1B (20th)
• Bn - Escobar - SS (21st)
• Bn - Robertson - SP (22nd)

Team #2:

• C - I. Rodriguez (15th round)
• 1B - R. Howard (1st)
• 2B - Uggla (7th)
• 3B - Zimmerman (8th)
• SS - Renteria (16th)
• OF - Dunn (3rd)
• OF - Bay (10th)
• OF - Griffey (12th)
• U - Teixeira (2nd)
• SP - Bedard (4th)
• SP - C. Zambrano (5th)
• SP - Kazmir (6th)
• RP - Jenks (9th)
• RP - Nathan (11th)
• SP - Carmona (13th)
• SP - P. Martinez (14th)
• Bn - Blalock - 3B (17th)
• Bn - Wainwright - SP (18th)
• Bn - Soria - RP (19th)
• Bn - Cuddyer - OF (20th)
• Bn - Bourn - OF (21st)
• Bn - B. Molina - C (22nd)

I like the second team better than the first - I feel it has better pitching and more power.  What's your opinion?

Here's my latest NCAA Tourney picks, based on the latest games, team records, etc.  I'm still pulling for the mid-majors but it appears that some may be falling by the wayside.  I'm still not picking a team from a major conference whose conference record is .500 or below.  I can't see 8 teams from the Big East getting in (maybe it'll happen, but I hope not).  And another thing, while I'm thinking about it--if they're going to call the regions by geographic names, they should put the teams in those regions that are actually IN that region.  Or else they should call the divisions by different names, such as the "West" being the John Wooden Bracket, the South being the Dean Smith Bracket, and so on. 

Without further ado, here's my picks (with the current geographical names with out-of-region teams in them).

South Regional (Dean Smith Bracket):

1. North Carolina (29-2)
2. Georgetown (25-4)
3. Xavier (26-5)
4. Purdue (24-7)
5. Drake (28-4)
6. Washington State (23-7)
7. Clemson (22-8)
8. Kentucky (18-11)
9. South Alabama (26-5)
10. Virginia Commonwealth (24-7)
11. UNLV (23-7)
12. UAB (22-9)
13. Boise State (22-8) or Utah State (23-9)
14. Akron (21-9)
15. UMBC (23-8)
16. Play-in Winner (S.F. Austin 25-4 vs. Alabama State 19-9)

East Regional (Lou Carnasecca Bracket):

1. Memphis (30-1)
2. Duke (26-4)
3. Connecticut (24-7)
4. Stanford (24-6)
5. Indiana (25-6)
6. Gonzaga (24-6)
7. Kansas State (20-10)
8. Arkansas (20-10)
9. West Virginia (22-9)
10. Illinois State (24-9)
11. Massachusetts (21-9)
12. Davidson (25-6)
13. IUPUI (25-6)
14. Cornell (22-5)
15. Belmont (25-8)
16. Morgan State (20-9)

Midwest Regional (James Naismith Bracket):

1. Kansas (28-3)
2. Tennessee (28-3)
3. Wisconsin (26-4)
4. Notre Dame (24-6)
5. Butler (28-3)
6. Mississippi State (21-9)
7. Marquette (22-8)
8. BYU (25-6)
9. Virginia Tech (18-12)
10. Western Kentucky (24-6)
11. Kent State (25-6)
12. Oral Roberts (22-8)
13. Temple (18-12)
14. Rider (23-9)
15. Robert Morris (26-7) or Wagner (23-8)
16. American (20-11)

West Regional (John Wooden Bracket):

1. UCLA (28-3)
2. Texas (26-5)
3. Louisville (24-7)
4. Vanderbilt (25-6)
5. Michigan State (24-7)
6. St. Mary's (25-5)
7. Southern California (20-10)
8. Pittsburgh (22-9)
9. Baylor (21-9)
10. Ohio State (19-12, on the strength of their win over Mich. St.)
11. Houston (22-8)
12. George Mason (22-10)
13. UC-Santa Barbara (23-7) or CS-Northridge (20-9)
14. Winthrop (22-11)
15. Austin Peay (24-10)
16. Portland State (21-9)

Others from major conferences considered that could still make it in:

• Oklahoma (21-10), Texas A&M (22-9), Florida (21-8), Miami (21-9, 8-8 in conference), Maryland (18-13)

Others from mid-majors considered - outside (slim) chance of getting in:

• Dayton (20-9, 8-8 in conference), Creighton (21-10), UNC-Wilmington (20-13), S. Illinois (17-14), New Mexico (24-7), CS-Fullerton (21-8), Nevada (20-10), Georgia Southern (20-12)