CBS Sportsline Fantasy Baseball Experts Head-to-Head League Draft, Part 2

by Dave Gawron

Hi again. I recently completed a CBS Sportsline Fantasy Baseball Experts Head-to-Head League Draft. Go here for all the rules and complete results and such...

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/fantasy/story/9271751

Here's the rest of the draft (I reviewed my first ten picks a couple of days ago), plus a little strategy at the end...

10.08, Chad Cordero, RP, WAS

Cordero turned into an elite closer last season. He pitches in a pitchers' park for a team with good starting pitching but questionable offensive support, so he should get plenty of opportunities in 2006.

11.05, C.C. Sabathia, SP, CLE

I was considering C.C. along with Dan Haren and Noah Lowry here. I picked Sabathia because he's a bit more established, though he has worked the most innings of the three and is most likely to break down. Still, his track record gave him the nudge.

12.08, Dan Haren, SP, OAK

Hudson, Mulder, Zito, Harden... The A's always seem to have the next solid starting pitcher. To me, Haren is the latest in the line. He was solid in 2005 and could do even better this season.

13.05, Erik Bedard, SP, BAL

Bedard battled injury last year which led to control problems in the second half (after a REALLY nice first half). He's young with room for improvement, he's got a solid lineup behind him, and a great new pitching coach in Leo Mazzone. I believe that Mazzone will help Bedard this year like he did Jorge Sosa in Atlanta last year.

14.08, Derrick Turnbow, RP, MIL

Turnbow shocked the world last year, racking up saves and great supporting stats to go with them. Just because someone has done something only once doesn't mean that they won't be able to do it again. His ERA might get up towards 3.50 this year, but he should be a solid source of saves and points at the RP position in this league.

15.05, Jeff Weaver, SP, LAA

Weaver's ERA was inflated last year due to a few bad starts. He should get a little more support from the Angels offense than the Dodgers, so more wins could be in store.

16.08, Derek Lowe, SP, LAD

The National League agreed with Lowe last year and should do so again in 2006. He just needs to keep his control in check and keep inducing ground balls with that sinker of his.

17.05, Brian Fuentes, RP, COL

Fuentes skills support the fact that Coors has no effect on him, so expect another solid year. In this league, we can only use two relief pitchers, which I already had. However, I saw an opportunity here to grab who I felt was the last reliable closer. I can use him in case of an injury to one of my two starters, but more likely, I'll trade him to fill a need at some point in the season.

18.08, John Thomson, SP, ATL

Thomson is a really nice pick this year. His stats were awful last year, but before his injury problems, he was a sought after pitcher due to his nice skill set. He's definitely a target for me in all leagues this year, due to the fact that he'll blow away his 2005 stats and out-earn his draft position.

19.05, Tim Wakefield, SP, BOS

Wakey is just a safe pick here. He's streaky, so when he looks "on" for a few weeks, I'll use him. When he's cold, I'll sit him.

20.08, Bruce Chen, SP, BAL

Chen came into his own last year. He's my 8th starting pitcher, and we can only use five per week, so I figured I'd take a chance and see if Mazzone can keep him going well.

21.05, Brandon Claussen, SP, CIN

Like Chen, Claussen was really good down the stretch last season. He struggled with gopheritis early, but really controlled it down the stretch. If it looks like he can control it in 2006, I'll use him. If not, I'll cut him and try somebody else.

22.08, Anthony Reyes, SP, STL

Unfortunately, in this league, he'll likely be one of my first cuts, but there's no doubt in my mind that he'll pitch significantly good innings in the Cardinals' starting rotation this season. Ponson? Puh-leeze.

So here's a brief strategy summary for the standard CBS Sportslinf Head-to-Head Fantasy Baseball scoring system. Only 60 starting pitchers are needed weekly in this league (out of 150 in the majors). Fill your starting line-up first. When filling your starting line-up, it's all about total points early on. Run the scoring through your projections, come up with a solid list, and get those points. Try solid, proven (but not aging) players in the early rounds. As you move along, pay attention to the drop in points among positions. For example, when I grabbed Mauer, he was way ahead of remaining catchers (in this system) with just conservative projections. Grab all pitchers for reserver so you can rotate in two-start pitchers. Grab pitchers with potential (Bedard, Claussen) without reaching.

Stay tuned for Seth Trachtman and Matt Lawrence to work their way into our blog over the next few days.