Had a weird AL 4x4 dynasty roto draft today. First, drafting this late is strange because 1st period stats are retroactive. We've drafted for years on the first Saturday after OD, but this year, 3 owners could not commit, so we made it second Saturday. I went in with 3 decent starters (Wilson, Beckett, and Hochevar), a cheap but vullnerable closer (Nathan), and a setup guy who might get a few saves (Matt Thornton
) for $42, and 3 position players - Hamilton, Zobrist,and Gardner - for $73. I had $5 left over from last year, so I needed 15 for $150. I filled out the staff for cheap (Farnsworth, S. Baker, Wheeler, and D. Oliver) for about $20, so I spent about $130 more on offense. The offense end up pure stars and scrubs - Adrian G ($48), Adam Jones ($31), M. Young ($29) - with late buys of the Birtha Scott and Commander Cody Ross for my middle class, and then 6 $1 players - 2 catchers (B Pena, Jaso), Hanahan, Kila, Punto, and Yuni B. After the draft, I picked up FAs to replace Farnsworth and Baker (Hammel, Luis Perez) who had good first weeks to date.
I don't mind going light on SPs because the relievers can help on WHIP and ERA. I think it is better than a mediocre, more expensive 4thand 5th starters.
Biggest disappointment was that I wanted to replace Baker with Milone, but one other guy was on to Milone and picked him up for $1. I think in a 4x4 league that is a steal for a low whip guy who pitches in Oakland.
We do a farm draft, and on my 3d pick (2d to last of the draft) I snagged Derrek Norris for sentimental reasons. I'm not sure he'll ever be worth $10 (farm salary when active in the majors), but with Suzuki's contract getting expensive, he might have an unblocked path to the majors.