The Ultimate 2008 Fantasy Baseball Draft

Based off of Yahoo Sports’ average draft positions, imagine if this was the fantasy baseball team drafted at the beginning of the 2008 MLB season.  Assume a standard 5×5 rotisserie scoring system.

• Round 1: Hanley Ramirez (Yahoo Sports ADP: 1.0)
• Round 2: Ryan Braun (Yahoo Sports ADP: 1.9)
• Round 3: Lance Berkman (Yahoo Sports ADP: 3.0)
• Round 4: CC Sabathia (Yahoo Sports ADP: 4.0)
• Round 5: Francisco Rodriguez (Yahoo Sports ADP: 5.6)
• Round 6: Brian McCann (Yahoo Sports ADP: 6.2)
• Round 7: Tim Lincecum (Yahoo Sports ADP: 8.7)
• Round 8: Dan Uggla (Yahoo Sports ADP: 8.0)
• Round 9: Jermaine Dye (Yahoo Sports ADP: 10.7)
• Round 10: Jacoby Ellsbury (Yahoo Sports ADP: 11.6)
• Round 11: Joakim Soria (Yahoo Sports ADP: 13.7)
• Round 12: Cliff Lee (Yahoo Sports ADP: 14.2)
• Round 13: Kevin Youklis (Yahoo Sports ADP: 13.6)
• Round 14: Carlos Delgado (Yahoo Sports ADP: 15.0)
• Round 15: Josh Hamilton (Yahoo Sports ADP: 15.4)
• Round 16: Brian Wilson (Yahoo Sports ADP: 16.7)
• Round 17: Ryan Dempster (Yahoo Sports ADP: 17.0)
• Round 18: Jonathan Broxton (Yahoo Sports ADP: 17.9)
• Round 19: Evan Longoria (Yahoo Sports ADP: 20+)
• Round 20: Edinson Volquez (Yahoo Sports ADP: 20+)
• Round 21: Rich Harden (Yahoo Sports ADP: 20+)

The Projected Lineup
Here’s what your lineup and fantasy production would have looked like based on those selections:

• Catcher: Brian McCann (Statline: 68 Runs, 23 HR, 87 RBI, 5 SB, .301 Average)
• First Base: Kevin Youkilis (Statline: 91 Runs, 29 HR, 115 RBI, 3 SB, .312 Average)
• Second Base: Dan Uggla (Statline: 97 Runs, 32 HR, 92 RBI, 5 SB, .260 Average)
• Third Base: Ryan Braun (Statline: 92 Runs, 37 HR, 106 RBI, 14 SB, .285 Average)
• Short Stop: Hanley Ramírez (Statline: 125 Runs, 33 HR, 67 RBI, 35 SB, .301 Average)
• Outfielder: Lance Berkman (Statline: 114 Runs, 29 HR, 106 RBI, 18 SB, .312 Average)
• Outfielder: Josh Hamilton (Statline: 98 Runs, 32 HR, 130 RBI, 9 SB, .304 Average)
• Outfielder: Jacoby Ellsbury (Statline: 98 Runs, 9 HR, 47 RBI, 50 SB, .280 Average)
• Utility Player: Jermaine Dye (Statline: 96 Runs, 34 HR, 96 RBI, 3 SB, .292 Average)
• Starting Pitcher: CC Sabathia (Statline: 17 Wins, 251 K’s, 2.70 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
• Starting Pitcher: Tim Lincecum (Statline: 18 Wins 265 K’s, 2.62 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)
• Starting Pitcher: Cliff Lee (Statline: 22 Wins 170 K’s, 2.54 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
• Starting Pitcher: Ryan Dempster (Statline: 17 Wins 187 K’s, 2.96 ERA, 1.21 WHIP)
• Starting Pitcher: Edinson Volquez (Statline: 17 Wins 206 K’s, 3.21 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)
• Relief Pitcher: Francisco Rodríguez (Statline: 2 Wins, 62 Saves, 77 K’s, 2.24 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
• Relief Pitcher: Joakim Soria (Statline: 2 Wins, 42 Saves, 66 K’s, 1.60 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)
• Relief Pitcher: Brian Wilson (Statline: 3 Wins, 41 Saves, 67 K’s, 4.62 ERA, 1.44 WHIP)
• Relief Pitcher: Jonathan Broxton (Statline: 3 Wins, 14 Saves, 88 K’s, 3.13 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)
• Bench: Carlos Delgado (Statline: 96 Runs, 38 HR, 115 RBI, 1 SB, .271 Average)
• Bench: Evan Longoria (Statline: 67 Runs, 27 HR, 85 RBI, 7SB, .272 Average)
• Bench: Rich Harden (Statline: 10 Wins, 181 K’s, 2.07 ERA, 1.06 WHIP)

Final Statistical Lines:

• Hitting Statistics: 879 Runs, 258 HR, 846 RBI, 142 SB, .294 Batting Average
• Pitching Statistics: 101 Wins, 159 Saves, 1,377 K’s, 2.80 ERA, 1.18 WHIP

As a comparison, here are the top scoring lines for my 2008 rotisserie league:

• Hitting Statistics: 869 Runs, 226 HR, 833 RBI, 148 SB, .298 Batting Average
• Pitching Statistics: 88 Wins, 125 Saves, 1,146 K’s, 3.37 ERA, 1.22 WHIP

I’m taking some obvious liberties with draft selection and player availability but “Yeah, this draft would be pretty awesome”. Hindsight is always 20/20.