DrB,

It's hard to rate your draft since we don't really know who was available.  It seems like many of the normal top picks must have been retained by other teams.  I would have tried to focus a bit more on getting some bats, but you had a plan and executed well.  Could be that the bats were overvalued and you took advantage.  To pick up Cain, Gallardo, Garza and Billingsley is a nice haul.

Good luck,

Laughlin

based simply on your draft from Cain down.  as someone else said, it's hard to know who was available and who wasn't.  i didn't know it was a keeper at first, and that it wasn't an inaugural draft, so i was wondering about the maggs pick.

but for upside,  you've filled in the team nicely.  i like the eventual 1-2-3-4 of cain, gallardo, billingsley, and garza (no particular order).  i really like the get of justin upton as late as you did, and also think billy butler was a steal.  chase headley was another nice grab.

i don't know who you're drafting against, but i do believe that most people on this forum put out there against your everyday baseball fantasy player will tear it up in the 2-3 years after the team is put together.  you did very nicely here.

good luck

I really like the way this turned out for you.  Instead of echoing some of the comments above that were absolutely on target, I want to point out a couple of things that I look for drafting pitchers that you either planned to do, or did accidentally.

I look for guys who can post a K/9 of 7 or more, and bring home a WHIP of 1.40 or less.  If you fill a staff with these type guys, you can compete on the pitching side without fail.  Basically all your SP's fit that mold, with a couple of big time K guys in Vazquez(very underrated in fantasy I think) and potentially Billz and Gallardo.  You've got some guys who walk a few batters(Cain, Billz, Jimenez) but all they have good enough stuff to overcome that and have posted pretty solid hit rates, so that the WHIP doesn't get out of control.

I do think that one more hitter might have been nice to have, especially with the chance that Headley starts out in the minors, but if Gallardo is on the DL to start the year, you can pickup a hitter as a replacement early on and that problem becomes mitigated at that point.

Overall, this is an A draft in my eyes, the worst part will be deciding who to keep for next year with all that great young talent.  Good luck this year.

I really like all your picks, relative to draft position, except #10, #17 and #18.  And I can see grabbing a Yankee pitcher being a good thing, so it's hard to argue too much with Kennedy.  I don't believe Towles will be an offensive force, and would rather have had someone like Iannetta - who I think will hit, but may fall in drafts due to PT issues.  That said, if you need to start 2 catchers, and the good starters were gone, taking a high-PT guy makes some sense.

Closers:

• I don't think that much of Brian Wilson, but I'm sure you know him better than most anyone, and if you like him, I will move him up on my draft lists for tomorrow and next week, actually. :)  
  
• I like Gregg a bit more than you do.  I could see some worries about some of the other good arms unseating him, but he's always had decent K/IP and K/BB ratios, and he's cheap (so the Fish won't be trying to trade him every week to become lost in some contender's pen).  
  
• Taking Ryan seems a fine "gambit".  Many of the best closers at season's end aren't the "Closer" in April, and it's just a matter of watching the games to see who's on deck to get a job.  Having numerous closers is pretty important for a format like this.

Starters:

• Young SP will break your heart.  That's what they always say about roto teams.  But when your "heart" is as weak as yours started out being, why not take emergency measures?  In H2H, you definitely want many decent SP options so you can choose guys with 2 starts and feel comfortable about them.
  
• I honestly have no idea why you think Kennedy will be either a keeper in this format (3/team), or a viable roto option this year.  But then again, if you review all the draft picks made in your league after about round 12 (or so) at the end of the year, you will find that a majority of them are cut (at least once) during the season anyway.  If I had him, I'd be hoping for a good start or 2 from him, and then be on the trade wires trying to move him.
  
• Tampa Bay doesn't have much in the way of offense, and I cannot see Garza having a great ERA or WHIP this year.  I guess he has an outside chance of becoming a "keeper" by end-of-year, but I cannot see it... you already have some awesome keeper candidates aside from him in Upton, Butler, Cain, Billz, Cano, McCann (in no particular order).  Garza would have been a fine pick 4-5 rounds later, and due to perceptions, may have lasted even longer than that.  The team's improved defense this year will prevent this pick from really smelling.
  
• Vazquez is pretty under-appreciated.  White Sox should actually score some runs this year, and the bad outfield defense shouldn't hurt Javy too much.

Positions:

• Interesting decision to punt SB's.  I guess if you're going to try to win with lesser talent, it's better to give yourself some chance in the other categories than to be balanced and inferior across the board.
  
• I see Upton as being another Dave Winfield, in that I think he can choose whether to hit for more average or more power, and be great either way.  With your modest current-year team, he was an outstanding pick that late.
  
• Before the M-Cab trade, Butler was on my short list of AL guys who could possibly produce the most offense over the next decade.  M-Cab's better, but I do think Butler's a viable candidate for 2nd-best.  And he doesn't derive a lot of his offensive value from walks, which makes him a fantastic roto guy.
  
• Ordonez should be better than C-Lee, due to the differences in offenses if nothing else.
  
• Yunel's exactly the sort of player who isn't worth a lot in roto, but he's also exactly the sort of "tofu" player who can play multiple positions and not hurt you, and that's worth a lot.

If you hadn't started with so little offensive firepower, you'd have been able to contend with this crew, though I do think you'd have to out-effort some of the better teams.  You could still potentially navigate this team into the money, but it might take striking gold such as finding this year's version of Carlos Pena in April.

Your team has a lot of risk for a 10-team mixed league. I like the young guys long term, but a lot of them won't pan out this year. You look like you have an eye on 2009, which maybe was what you were going for.

Nice job DrB, I gave you an A.  Obviously, you were going to have some weaknesses due to the keepers.  I think you are fine with the closers.  Somewhere between 40-50% of saves have come off the waiver wire in 10 team leagues over the last few years, so, as long as you are vigilant, you should be ok when one of yours falters.  As for dropping Rowand for Hermida, I wouldn't do that.  I love Hermida, and think Rowand will struggle to approach his number for last year, but I would drop a bench player before dropping Rowand (or see what you could get in trade).  Also, as a Giants fan, keep an eye on Velez.  He could be a nice waiver pickup if he gets PT, and really help your team in SBs while possibly picking up multiple position eligibility.

especially low owner H2H leagues it has always seemed to me best to focus on guys that are exceptional at some category(ies) vs across the board producers (better year long points or roto leagues).  That is unless you get just the absolute right combination of across the board guys.

That being said, I think you did a good job putting together a nice team, especially considering what you were saddled with keeper wise.  Given the 5 keeper limit, my take would be to see how things go early and if you can pick up a fill-in closer or two after the normal attrition.  Do that and can probably even compete for a playoff run (where anything can happen).  

Otherwise, if you don't snag the right guys on the waiver wire, I would look to consolidate as much talent as you could to core keepers.  You have at least 10, probably 12 guys that could legitimately be considered for keepers if you trade some for better talent.  

You probably realize it, but since you indicate your new to fantasy (though appear well researched).  I'd look to move closers, a pitcher or too and a couple of the young studs for a major talent (or 2).  If you fall out by mid-season to 3/4 season, even a five to one trade for someone making a run helps you out in the long run.  It will take just the right trading partner team make up probably, but getting Fielder, Reyes, Hanley...even Rollins type guys for four to five guys that put the partner over the top could work out.  He'll/she'll have to win the trade big time, but chances are you'll get a shot at redrafting some/most of them oranyway.

Anyway, nice draft...good luck.