2010 National League Player Rankings are based on 12-team, 5X5 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, K, SV, ERA, WHIP) with C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, UTIL, and 9 P.

2010 National League Player Rankings are based on 12-team, 5X5 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, K, SV, ERA, WHIP) with C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, UTIL, and 9 P.

2010 National League Player Rankings are based on 12-team, 5X5 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, K, SV, ERA, WHIP) with C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, UTIL, and 9 P.

2010 National League Player Rankings are based on 12-team, 5X5 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, K, SV, ERA, WHIP) with C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, UTIL, and 9 P.

2010 National League Player Rankings are based on 12-team, 5X5 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, K, SV, ERA, WHIP) with C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, UTIL, and 9 P.

2010 National League Player Rankings are based on 12-team, 5X5 league (R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, W, K, SV, ERA, WHIP) with C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, UTIL, and 9 P.

Going over ADPs this morning and my own rankings for the draft set to begin at 10:30am CST. 10 team, 5X5, 21-man rosters.  Hoping to pick mid to late first round, as I like to cluster 2 picks together and it gives me time to adjust rankings during the down periods.  Check back for updates and pick analysis as I get them posted.

RD1#9 Carlos Beltran – Whats not to like in a power/speed combo late in the first round.  Love his consistency. Picks in 1st round included Lincecum at #5 and Utley at #8.

RD2#2 Prince Fielder – Power bat and expect a rebound from last season, Braun was taken in the beginning of the second round, plenty of worry about his injury.

RD3#9 Shane Victorino – Nice speed and a little power in a great line-up. Furcal and Atkins taken right before.

RD4#2 Dan Uggla – Come on 25+ homers from a 2nd baseman, gotta go for him, hopefully his average doesn’t hurt me too much. Chipper Jones and Lidge (first closer off the board) taken this round.

RD5#9 Edwin Encarnacion – One of the last of power 3rd basemen, I expect big things from him this year.

RD6#2 Chris Iannetta – A hard hitting catcher that plays in Colorado, just hope he is not Chris Torrealba.

RD7#9 Francisco Cordero – Plenty of save opportunities from a team that is full of young talent and very under-rated.

RD8#2 Cameron Maybin – One of my favorite prospects and round 8 is pretty nice for Victorino-Lite.

RD9#9 Brett Myers – Pretty solid as my first starter, not elite, but should have a solid season.

RD10#2 Trevor Hoffman – Not really worried about the injury in the long run, one of the last closers on the board.

RD11#9 Johnny Cueto – Should see an improvement from last year, hoping he keeps the ball in the park. Sheets was autopicked right before my pick.

RD12#2 Matt Lindstrom – I know, I know, 2 injured closers, but they will be solid once healthy and love the ratios to help my team.

RD13#9 Khalil Greene – He is hitting the cover off the ball, of course that is now, but should be a rebound candidate in a better park and better lineup.

RD14#2 Jair Jurrjens – Surprised he was still on the board. Like his stuff and ratios, should build on last year.

RD15#9 Jordan Zimmerman – Lighting it up in spring training right now, but has one of the worst offenses behind him.

RD16#2 Tommy Hanson – Reached for one of my favorite prospects may only be in the minors for a month or two. Maybe pulled the trigger early but could pay off.

RD17#9 Dallas McPherson – Hoping he gets a starting job soon and puts up some of the ridiculous numbers he put up in the minors. Could be a good risk or my worst pick of the draft.

RD18#2 Ryan Church – When the Mets figure out how awful Castillo is hitting 2nd in the order he should be replaced by Church, could of had a monster season if not for injuries last year.

RD19#9 Ryan Spilborghs – Back-to-back Ryans. Only this one could put up 15/15 in Colorado.

RD20#2 Randy Wolf – Nice peripherals and pitching with a good line-up and pitchers park.

RD21#9 Jamie Moyer – Not a bad pick-up for my last selection, good line-up and should win 12+ games.

I almost feel dirty posting about myself participating in a fantasy league that included the dreaded American League, but I thought it would be a challenge.  Plus it made me use some of my free time during my extended layoff from employment (anybody need a personal chef in the Chicagoland area?) studying up on ADPs and players from the AL.  Most of the picks have some analysis (through round 13) and it can be found at the Crooked Pitch.  Let me know how I did through the comment section below or you can find me on twitter at @seniorcircuit.  This is a 26-man roster, including 2 C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, CI, MI, 5 OF, UT, 9 P, 3 BN, 5X5 scoring categories.

So as the 2009 fantasy baseball season gets going, I wanted to do some team-by-team projections of the starting rotations around the National League.  I always like to keep this list close at hand during a draft or auction as it helps me see who is expected to pitch in which spot, this will affect innings pitched, amount of starts, and overall managerial confidence in a pitcher.  These are not concrete rotation orders, but an estimate on how the manager will line his pitchers up to begin the season. Typically the 4th or 5th starter will be determined during or directly after spring training and any full projections will have to wait to see who gets the spot in the rotation.  These will be updated periodically depending on free agent signings, injuries, etc.  Updated March 16/09.

National League East

New York Mets

Johan Santana

John Maine

Oliver Perez

Mike Pelfrey

Jon Niese/Tim Redding/Freddy Garcia

Philadelphia Phillies

Cole Hamels

Brett Myers

Joe Blanton

Jamie Moyer

Chan Ho Park/J.A. Happ

Atlanta Braves

Derek Lowe

Javier Vazquez

Jair Jurrjens

Kenshin Kawakami

Jorge Campillo/Jo-Jo Reyes

Florida Marlins

Ricky Nolasco

Josh Johnson

Chris Volstad

Anibal Sanchez

Andrew Miller

Washington Nationals

John Lannan

Scott Olsen

Daniel Cabrera

Odalis Perez

Jordan Zimmerman

National League Central

Chicago Cubs

Carlos Zambrano

Rich Harden

Ryan Dempster

Ted Lilly

Sean Marshall

Cincinnati Reds

Edinson Volquez

Aaron Harang

Bronson Arroyo

Johnny Cueto

Micah Owings/Homer Bailey

St. Louis Cardinals

Adam Wainwright

Kyle Lohse

Todd Wellemeyer

Joel Pineiro

Chris Carpenter/Brad Thompson

Houston Astros

Roy Oswalt

Wandy Rodriguez

Brandon Backe

Mike Hampton

Brian Moehler/Russ Ortiz/Chris Sampson

Milwaukee Brewers

Yovani Gallardo

Jeff Suppan

Manny Parra

Dave Bush

Braden Looper/Seth McClung

Pittsburgh Pirates

Paul Maholm

Ian Snell

Tom Gorzelanny

Zach Duke

Jeff Karstens/Phil Dumatrait/Ross Ohlendorf

National League West

Arizona Diamondbacks

Brandon Webb

Dan Haren

Doug Davis

Jon Garland

Max Scherzer

San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum

Matt Cain

Randy Johnson

Barry Zito

Noah Lowry/Jonathan Sanchez

San Diego Padres

Jake Peavy

Chris Young

Cha Baek

Kevin Correia

Wade LeBlanc/Josh Geer

Los Angeles Dodgers

Chad Billingsley

Hiroki Kuroda

Randy Wolf

Clayton Kershaw

Jason Schmidt

Colorado Rockies

Aaron Cook

Ubaldo Jimenez

Jason Marquis

Greg Smith

Jorge De La Rosa

This is my only National League-only live auction money league and has been taking place annually now for the last 9 years.  It consists of 10 teams, $260 budget, 5X5 standard scoring, rosters include C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 1 UT, 2 SP, 2 RP, 3 P, 9 Bench spots. We are forced to keep a minimum of 4 players and we have no maximum on keepers.  A more detailed description of our keeper rules can be found here.

My keepers consisted of players I felt would go for more in the auction than what I could keep them for (Fielder, Victorino, Broxton) and players I feel are a good value at their keeper price (Maybin, Encarnacion, Valverde).  I was targeting power/speed in the infield (Rollins) and a power bat for my outfield (Ibanez).  I targeted some risky but high reward pitchers (Vazquez, Gallardo, Miller) and some rising prospects that may help me this year and in future years (Hanson, Carrasco, Bumgarner).

I think that I will struggle offensively in homeruns and RBIs and may need to trade speed or saves for some power in the infield or a big bat in the outfield.  I may struggle in wins, but I think I will compete in the other 4 pitching categories.  I wasn’t trying to do the LIMA plan this year, as I did last year(2nd place) but I was still drawn to pitchers with great ratios and high strikeout rates.  If two of my pitching prospects pan out during the season I should be able to compete or at least gain some ground in wins.

Towards the end of the draft I was the one with the most money left and was able to fill my roster with future prospects. I don’t feel like I am giving up this season or rebuilding for the future, I think that most of these prospects will be able to contribute in a positive way during the season.  Of course there is always the chance that these prospects could be traded to the American League which renders them useless in our league, but you have to take the risk given the value in their talent.  I did buy Hudson knowing that if he signed with an American League team he would be useless and I would have just wasted part of my budget on 0 stats.  I am thankful he is now a Los Angeles Dodger.  I was out-bid on Manny Ramirez, who is still unsigned and he went for $39, but I was willing to take the risk.  The owner that out-bid me was our winner from last year, when he was willing to take the risk and reap the rewards of buying Albert Pujols at a bargain price because we all thought he would only play half a season or less.

Leave comments below or comment through twitter @seniorcircuit.