Pure fantasy

I’ve only participated in a fantasy baseball league one other time, about six or seven years ago. I enjoyed it, but it was pretty time-consuming.

Now, though, time is something I have in spades, so I headed back to the draft board and joined a fantasy league this year. The league’s draft was held today, and I’m reasonably happy with my team.

The league I joined is American League players only. I had the second overall pick out of the league‘s 10 teams, but fantasy baseball leagues do things a little differently to ensure fairness: the team that picks first in the first round picks last in the second round, then back to first in the third round. So basically, I had the No. 2 overall pick, but then I picked ninth in the second round - or the 19th overall pick - followed closely by the 22nd pick in round 3.

Here’s a look at my team, in the order I drafted them:

Grady Sizemore, OF
Alex Rodriguez was the No. 1 pick overall. I passed up players like Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia to pick Sizemore, who I’m hoping will just stay consistent this season.

Vladimir Guerrero, OF
Guerrero had a bit of a slump year in ‘08, but he’s still Vlad. I didn’t mind taking him as the No. 19 overall pick.

Brian Roberts, 2B
Not a very flashy pick, but he’s one of the best middle infielders in the American League.

Carlos Pena, 1B
Hopefully he won’t get hurt.

Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP
I figured I better get a pitcher by Round 5, and Dice-K was the best on the board.

Orlando Cabrera, SS
It is what it is.

Chien-Ming Wang, SP
I got the two best Japanese pitchers in the draft.

David Price, SP
He’s extremely young, but he showed flashes of brilliance late last season. I’m hoping for a breakthrough year.

John Danks, SP
Okay, I can’t take credit for this one - I hit the wrong button and the system picked Danks for me automatically.

Carlos Gomez, OF
For a third outfielder, I’m happy with Gomez.

Carlos Guillen, 3B
He’s an injury risk, but I needed him to fill out my infield.

David Murphy, RF
He’ll probably be my DH.

Gil Meche, SP
I’m glad the Royals pitcher was still available in the 13th round.

Dioner Navarro, C
He’ll be my starting catcher.

Brian Fuentes, RP
Helps fill out my bullpen.

Alexi Casilla, 2B; Jose A. Bautista, 3B; Melky Cabrera, OF
Three straight bench picks, but I’m hoping at least one of them will have a breakout year.

George Sherrill, RP
More bullpen help.

Kyle Davies, SP
He seems to have established himself as a solid starting pitcher last season.

Cesar Izturis, SS
One last bench selection.

The skill portion of the league is pretty much over. Now, it’s mostly about luck. And a lot of fun.

--Matt Kelsey