the only way that would happen is if i have aramiz ramerize (yea i butchered the name lol), but i am in no need for a catcher...outfielder maybe.

I'll give you A-Rod or Carlos Lee for Longoria.

For some reason that scene from Shawshank Redemption just popped into my head, "Fresh Fish! Fresh Fish! Fresh Fish!"

2 months ago, would anyone in their right mind consider trading A-Rod for Longoria?

Actually, it's not as crazy as you think. In all Yahoo leagues, A-rod went on average with the 14th pick. Longoria with the 19th. It's not my fault I got him in the 4th round.

I thought about taking A-Rod as well, but I was too nervous to take him with him missing an estimated 6 weeks plus he still is planning on having major surgery at the end of the season, which tells me he might not be playing healthy even when he does play. It could turn out to be a great pick though.

I think one of my picks whose going to surprise everyone is Carlos Delgado. Coming back from injury last year, he was batting around .230 with 8 HRs in June. He finished the season at .271 with 38 HR's and 115 RBI's. He also hit .340 in September with 9 HR's and 22 RBI's. He's on the final year of his contract, and right on the borderline of the HOF. He's going to bat cleanup this season and I think he's going to have a huge year.

A-Rod's average draft position may have been a little bit skewed because of all the drafts he was taken #1 or #2 before he had his surgery.

Either way though, I think he'll be a steal in the 4th round.

The old auto draft has not let me down again....

I have even heard of half my team so i am more than happy

..And, 21% of the leagues have a team that drafted Billy Wagner.

Yogi, out of curiosity, did you edit your pre-draft rankings?

I did Blib. They were the players i got who i know about! It is my crew of pitchers who i am in the dark about a little but i will do some research and get up to speed on this motley bunch!

Opening day, April 5!

Although I think is my most talented team to start a season, it's tough to gauge since everyone's team is better due to 2 less teams. I noticed some teams that will be interesting due to an unbalanced roster. Some have awesome lineups with little pitching, and vice-versa.

anybody wants a right fielder and a left fielder in return for a right fielder and left fielder?

Longneck? Is that you?

You know. I was thinking the same thing.

I was noticing that as well. I love having a league with 8-9 teams.

Who do you think has the unbalanced lineups?

At a quick glance FC's looks intriguing with a lot of older studs who might have a year or two left in them but could break down, plus some young up-and-comers who might be awesome or streaky in sophomore slumps.

TM looks stronger than last year after drafting more proven players unlike last year when he had a lineup of potential's.

JL, your lineup will be fun to watch because I think there are a lot of risk's such as Figgins, Delgado, Tulowitzki and Josh Hamilton. I'm not convinced Hamilton will have last years numbers, but... all of those guys could explode for bigger numbers as well. Chris Carpenter can be added to to that list too.

JG and DB have solid lineups with a few wildcards, like Rich Harden for DB. If he can stay healthy then his pitching staff can be scary. The same with John Lackey for JG. DB always manages to end up with a potentially strong bench which scares me because he has lots of trade bait.

Anyway, that's my extremely quick overview of most of the teams. The more I look at my own lineup the more I start to doubt my team. I always feel comfortable with better pitching than I have, so that will be a work in progress. Plus I have a feeling I'm due for a huge injury year...

Great analysis BL.

Here's my quick analysis of everyone's draft (leaving out some of my insights for competitive reasons ) :

JL - Arguably has the strongest RP staff of the bunch. Feast or famine with A-Rod pick.

FC - Didn't have to pick a Met at #3 so he should be happy. Pretty strong SP staff from #1 - #6.

BA - Cub-centric draft. Hoping Dempster has a repeat year. Intriguing 3B in Longoria.

BL - Got his man Lincecum. BL is known for his strong pitching and seemingly has another strong pitching staff from #1 - #6. If Fielder has bounce-back year, watch out.

JG - Starting line-up seems to be lacking power, but very speedy (steals count for 2 points). Also has a very strong RP staff.

GB - Had a very good auto-draft in terms of offense. Pitching may be a concern. Not all RP spots filled.

YO - If J-Ro bounces back and Quentin repeats, watch out for Yogi. SP is inexperienced but has potential.

TM - Strong at each offensive position. Injury concern with his SPs. Not all RP spots filled.

I pretty much agree with you. Risks don't bother me since I'll probably turn over half my lineup by the end of the year anyway. 2nd is my worst position every year. 2 years in a row I tried Weeks and he failed. I'm sure Figgins will be an upgrade. I'm not worried about Hamilton unless he falls of the wagon or something. I'm not concerned about Delgado either. He's healthy to start the season for the 1st time in 2 years. He hitting .486 in spring training, with a .620 on base pct. I have Dunn to back him up too. My biggest concerns are Felix Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey. I need one of them to pitch to their potential. ...We'll see what happens.

And the race for most moves begins.

Why haven't the Yankees placed A-Rod on the 15 day DL? He's costing me a roster spot.

JL is already doing better than everybody. how come Ray was available? I remember he was on my radar during the draft but I guess the system is broken. damn you JL!

Wanna trade? I can't believe you veterans allowed me to gather 4 closers and a closer in waiting. Haven't you learned a thing from seasons past?

I have a bad habit of not playing until the game actually starts.

yeah we are really stupid

I have 5 closers. Although none of them at the same level as Papelbon or Rodriguez. But this is the first time I've had anything close to this many closers. I usually get stuck with a rotating door of setup men.

Wow. I had no idea Heath Bell was the Padres new closer. That should be interesting. He was awful out of the pen as a Met.

He was awesome in 2007, but bad the second half of last year from what I've read. I'm not totally excited about him and Ziegler, but we'll see how it goes.

The bad thing about a smaller league is that sleeper picks are basically eliminated from the draft. Not completely of course, but with more teams the depth isn't there so you are forced to pick sleepers. There are a couple I want to pick up off of waivers right now, but it's impossible to tell if they will be better than any player I would drop.

The season hasn't even started and I'm already driving myself crazy thinking too much about the game.