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Earlier this week I published my perfect draft plan and figured our final Points league draft would be a good time to try it out. And boy did it start out just as I planned.
I started the draft with Mookie Betts, Blake Snell and Aaron Nola, just as I'd planned. I almost got J.T. Realmuto at the end of the fourth round but was fine with settling for Gary Sanchez and Matt Carpenter. At the next turn Michael Brantley and Travis Shaw kept me on track. I even landed my first closer in Round 9 (Corey Knebel) just as I planned. Things were going perfect.
The idea was I'd start stockpiling upside starting pitcher in the 10th round. Then I watched Shane Bieber, Charlie Morton, Robbie Ray and Luis Castillo go off the board in Round 10 before I picked. There were still upside pitchers, but there was also an enormous value staring back at me -- Marcell Ozuna at 120 overall. I was skeptical of Ozuna in February, and I'm still not sure he ever repeats 2017, but this is a value even if we're getting 75 percent of that production. He was my fourth outfielder, but Eloy Jimenez won't start the year in the majors so I pulled the trigger. The perfect plan, as most plans do, had gone awry.
I still landed Kenta Maeda as my second RP and I have upside arms in Rich Hill, Zack Godley and Sean Newcomb. But none of them excite me like Bieber or Castillo, and I missed out on Jesus Luzardo as well.
The silver lining here is I still have two aces, a lineup full of hitters I targeted, one of my top-10 closers and arguably the best SPARP. But the point is to remember that you don't have complete control of the draft process. You're always one poorly timed run from missing out on a tier. Be flexible and be prepared to pounce on value. Even if it's not a part of the plan.
The experts who participated in this draft are:
- Heath Cummings, CBS Sports (@heathcummingssr)
- Matt Williams, Fake Teams/Turn Two Podcast (@MattWi77iams)
- Steven Fain, Fantasy Life Blog (@scuba_steve888)
- George Kurtz, RotoExperts (@GeorgeKurtz)
- Chris Towers, CBS Sports (@CTowersCBS)
- Adam Aizer, CBS Sports (@AdamAizer)
- Scott White, CBS Sports (@CBSScottWhite)
- R.J. White, CBS Sports (@rjwhite1)
- Daniel Preciado, Fantasy Front Office (@DanJPreciado)
- Kory Schulte, Baseline Times (@BaselineKory)
- George Maselli CBS Sports
- Kayla Van Horn, former Podcast "For the People" League participant
And here are the final results: