Deep Sleepers: 2014 Fantasy Baseball Challenge (With a Crazy Twist!)

I’d like to try an experiment. I want to start a 12 team league where I don’t pick a single player until the 21st round. Sound crazy? Sure it does! I have three caveats: (1) when my spot to draft in the first 20 rounds comes up, I choose the player I would have normally selected and assign him to a “Practice Squad,” where stats will not be tallied in the league configurations (think Baseball Purgatory… like Pete Rose, Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, et al). Other teams can make trade requests for these players but, fair warning, they’re gonna pay through the nose. The players traded to my Practice Squad team will then join the ranks of the Baseball Purgatory players. (2) Once Round 21 comes around, I get to pick the first five players in that round. The same goes for the rest of the draft. (3) I get to keep a bench of ten players. With me so far? This experiment is simply a fantasy baseball version of Houdini escaping from handcuffs, under water, and living to tell about it. I’m willing to bet I can begin drafting at pick #289 (first pick of the 21st round) and finish in the top half of the league at the end of the season. If I win (remember, finishing 6th would be a win in this scenario), I get to brag about it forever and post good-natured jabs at league opponents in future articles. If I lose, I write feature articles on RotoBaller about every team owner who finishes ahead of me. Sound like a deal? I’m even going to give you the players I’ll target for my roster.

Starters:

·       Catcher:               Devin Mesoraco
·       First Base:            Ike Davis
·       Second Base:       Kolten Wong
·       Third Base:          Nolan Arenado
·       Shortstop:            Xander Bogaerts
·       Outfield:              Christian Yelich
·       Outfield:              Oswaldo Arcia
·       Outfield:              Dayan Viciedo
·       DH:                       Mitch Moreland

Bench:

·         Todd Frazier (3B)
·         Michael Morse (1B)
·         Dustin Ackley (OF)
·         Anthony Rendon (2B)
·         Yonder Alonso (1B)
·         Yan Gomes   (C)
·         Chris Owings (SS)
·         Jose Tabata (OF)