This year there was no question that I was going to sign up, unlike last year's tentative entry. My thoughts swirled as I wondered who I would choose, or who would be left to be drafted. Dreams of Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Alfonso Soriano, and Johan Santana danced in mind. Oh, to know what picks I would have. Would I be high up in the draft? Would I be languishing in the shadows of the rest of the league? Would I stock up on players from my favorite team? The combinations were staggering.
Suddenly, draft day was upon us and I hadn't even done any pre-ranking. I was so bad that I hadn't done any research on the lesser of the big names. As I went through the work day, I could not help but think I was a lost cause for the big selection. My dreams of All-Stars fell to dreams of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Kansas City Royals.
Fortunately, I was able to do some quick checking and a little bit of pre-ranking, and I think my team looks better this year than it did last, when I made a few hasty choices. This year I missed out on a few names that I really wanted, but I feel I have a better chance at ranking higher this year. Now, I am not getting ahead of myself and thinking I have any shot at winning it all, but definitely thinking of a higher placement.
When the draft started, I found myself at the south end of the action, number 7 of 8. At least the order reversed in round two. Well, that turned out to be sort of good, with better placement also came less time to look through the remaining players looking for the next pick, that was followed by a long and agonizing wait as you peruse the lists with almost too much time on your hands.
Without further ado, let's take a look at this years team versus last year's choices:
| Position | 2007 Team | 2006 Team |
| Catcher | Paul LoDuca (NYM) | Jason Varitek (Bos) |
| 1st Base | Caros Delgado (NYM) | Lance Berkman (Hou) |
| 2nd Base | Dan Uggla (Fla) | Tadahito Iguchi (CWS) |
| 3rd Base | Troy Glaus (Tor) | David Wright (NYM) |
| Shortstop | Jose Reyes (NYM) | Derek Jeter (NYY) |
| Outfield | Carlos Beltran (NYM) | Andrue Jones (Atl) |
| Outfield | Jermaine Dye (CWS) | Johnny Damon (NYY) |
| Outfield | Nick Swisher (Oak) | Cliff Floyd (NYM) |
| Utility | Ramon Hernandez (Bal) | Jim Edmonds (StL) |
| Utility | Pat Burrell (Phi) | Preston Wilson (Hou) |
| Bench | Adrian Gonzalez (SD) | Melvin Mora (Bal) |
| Bench | JD Drew (Bos) | Bobby Crosby (Oak) |
| Bench | Omar Vizquel (SF) | Placido Polanco (Det) |
| Bench | Luis Castillo (Min) | Paul LoDuca (NYM) |
| Bench | Nick Johnson (Was) | |
| Starting Pitcher | Roy Oswalt (Hou) | Dontrelle Willis (Fla) |
| Starting Pitcher | Aaron Harang (Cin) | Tim Wakefield (Bos) |
| Starting Pitcher | Roger Clemens (Hou) | |
| Relief Pitcher | Billy Wagner (NYM) | Trevor Hoffman(SD) |
| Relief Pitcher | Takashi Saito (LAD) | Aaron Heilman (NYM) |
| Pitcher | CC Sabathia | Ben Sheets (Mil) |
| Pitcher | Andy Pettite | Noah Lowry (SF) |
| Pitcher | Kevin Millwood (Tex) | |
| Pitcher | Matt Cain (SF) | |
| Pitcher | Joe Borowski (Fla) |
There you have it, my 2006 team. You will probably immediately notice that there are a lot fewer pitchers in this league, and overall, I think I made a few better choices this time around. I did not make any silly choices like Roger Clemens, and I decided to stick to starters and closers, avoiding long relievers like Aaron Heilman. I am not sure if that was wise, but it is the direction I started to go in.
You may also notice that my backup catcher last year is my started this year in my only carryover from last year's team. I am also willing to bet that you can tell who my favorite team is by checking out my roster!
Also, if you are curious, my first few rounds looked like this: 1. Carlos Beltran 2. Jose Reyes 3. Carlos Delgado 4. Paul LoDuca 5. Roy Oswalt. I will also say that I had hoped that David Wright would make it to round 3 for me to draft, but he was selected at the end of round 2. I had to decide between him and Reyes, ultimately choosing the star shortstop. I think the only choice I wasn't that crazy about was Nick Swisher, not sure why though.
And to show who was most popular, here are the first two rounds order: Albert Pujols, Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard, Johan Santana, Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran, Miguel Cabrera, Manny Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley, David Ortiz, Carl Crawford, Vladimir Guerrero, and David Wright. Goes to show who the stars are!
That brings this years draft to a close. Hopefully I will do better this year than last.
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