My ‘07 Fantasy Draft

Michael Bottigliero, Sox Superfan
There is another world which many baseball fans enjoy drifting in and out of and that is Fantasy. This is a sporting craze which has enthralled fans of all sports across the nation. It is a way for true fans of particular sports to keep up on all teams and players. Just by doing my prep for the fantasy draft I learned about every team’s starting lineups, rotations, bullpens, and possible breakout prospects. I am not only emphatically excited for the ‘07 White Sox, I am also anxiously awaiting the umpire’s call of “play ball!” on April 1st, 7:05pm at Busch Stadium.
Just a few hints on Fantasy baseball before we get into my draft:

1. Never draft with your heart. I am a true blue Chicago White Sox fan- but that does not mean that I will draft any Sox before they are deserving. You must get the most value out of all of your players if you are in it to win!
2. Do not draft only the rated best available. Sometimes there are positions to be filled on your team which must be addressed. You have to draft for need as well.
3. Watch the positional depth. For this I will use the example of 2B this season. Chase Utley is by far the highest rated 2B with Brian Roberts and Iguchi rated far behind. Getting Utley would rate far higher on my priority list than 3B Alex Rodriguez or OF Alfonso Soriano since you can always take a lesser but closely rated 3B or OF in later rounds
4. Get only a few horses for the stable. Great starting pitching is hard to get. Select only 2-3 great starters because every year injuries, surprises and prospects come out to shock every fantasy league. Having the stability of those starters combinrf with the flexibility to add/drop players to gain surprises and prospects along with some decent two start pitchers will be worth it. Gil Meche, Chris Young, and Kelvim Escobar came along post draft ‘06 to help out my fantasy squad.
5. Research, research, research. Use magazines and online scouting reports to create your personal depth chart in your war room.

Take these tips and run fantasy sport fans. Next update will clue you in to what happened during my draft and how I managed to gain a couple great Sox players in later rounds.