Season Preview: Smooth Like Quade

Coming into the draft, how do you feel your keepers stacked up to the rest of the league?

Well, it's hard for me to answer this without sounding like a jackass, but I feel like they're pretty awesome. Halladay and Pujols are arguably/probably the best pitcher and hitter in the game, while Carlos Gonzalez is young and coming off an MVP-caliber season. Ryan Howard is getting older, but still provides plenty of help in the power categories. Justin Upton regressed a bit last year, but still managed to help a bit in every category; there's plenty of upside there with his age and pedigree. And Jon Lester is just entering his prime, strikes out 700 guys per year and has a good offense behind him.So yeah, I guess I liked my keepers.

What was your primary objective heading into the draft? And to that effect, did you accomplish it?

My objective with a big draft like this is just to get as many good players as I can, without worrying too much about categories or positional scarcity. There's usually enough help available on the waiver wire that the positions tend to sort themselves out and I can target categories as needed when it gets later in the season. I also try to get a balance of younger guys with upside and then some veterans who I know don't have too low of a floor (the Bobby Abreu and Derek Jeter picks, for example), which usually helps me balance out some inevitable failures from the upside guys. Also, why am I giving away my approach to drafting to the rest of you idiots?

Carlos Santana fell to you at the end of the fifth round. Was that a target for you or did it just work out?

That definitely was NOT on my radar going into the draft. First, I figured he'd be gone by the time I wanted to draft a catcher because 1.) He's a really good young player and/or 2.) Drew Wolf is in our league. But by the time it got to that round, he was the last of the elite-level catchers left and it was too good of a value to pass up. I liked the idea of having a catcher who could actually help me in OBP rather than trying to find one who won't submarine the category for me.

Do you have any regrets with the way your draft worked out?

[JR Radcliffe]I didn't prepare a whole lot for the draft this year[/JR Radcliffe], which didn't really seem to be a problem in the first 8-10 rounds because most of those guys are familiar. But later in the draft, I probably didn't have a very good grasp on a few sleeper-type guys and maybe some closer situations around the league. I don't love the way my fake bullpen shook out, which is why I'm currently using too many roster spots on Potential Closer guys in hopes that one of them will eventually break through and give me some saves.

Your draft did not yield a lot of power hitters. Confidence in your keepers or the way things worked out?

A little bit of both, actually. Keeping Pujols, Howard, Gonzalez and Upton's Untapped Upside gave me a fair amount of power going into the draft, so I didn't feel the need to go after power immediately. Though as the draft went on, I realized I hadn't really addressed the category -- but most of the guys with big power numbers were too flawed in other ways for my liking. There's always a Jack Cust type of guy out there if I feel the need to add some power to my lineup. Speaking of, I probably should go add him right now. Thanks for reminding me.

What is your teams biggest deficiency and conversely, its biggest strength?

From a quick glance, I'd probably say my starting pitching is my biggest strength. I'm a little worried about Mat Latos to start the year, but if he gets his arm sorted out and puts together another year like 2010, I'll be in good shape. I also feel like I have a pretty well-balanced offense, though maybe a little light on steals. Biggest weakness would probably be the bullpen and, again, not having a standout speed guy who's a lock for 40-plus steals.