Mile High Minute :: 2010, Week Zero

The second best part of the season (draft) is now over and within a week the ECB will be rolling into its 10th season. That’s tin or aluminum if anyone wants to buy the league an anniversary gift. Speaking of presents, ECB draft day is akin to a child’s Christmas morning for most owners. Even better for some. Mile High, for instance, gets to draft a shiny new Hanley Ramirez every year, which is much better than a Brett Favre jersey or a Brio train set. What else did Mile High receive on draft day? Let’s analyze… After Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton went to New Haven and Woosta respectively, Mile High’s hand was quickly forced. Electing to put off pitching until a round or two later, they took the Mets new star Jason Bay (6RD, 43OVR). GM Jon Bielecki hopes that Bay will produce numbers similar to those he put up in Boston, especially later in the season with the returns of Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes to the Met lineup. Until then, Bielecki and Bay are both huge David Wright fans. The first somewhat-coup of the draft for Mile High came with the selection of Jon Lester (8RD, 59OVR) even sooner than his ADP on Yahoo (69.6). One of the few “upside” guys drafted by Mile High this year, Bielecki will be looking for bigger production out of a guy who put up almost 600 points last year. “We’ll be looking for him to fill the roles of Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay in the past. I would like to be able to start Jonny and Timmy both every week and not have to worry about them. That’s up to him…” With Lester, Bielecki will now have one pitcher who defies the laws of physics (Tim Lincecum) and one who defied Mother Nature herself.Bielecki rounded out his staff by drafting three straight pitchers in the middle of the draft. “I wanted to get some quality before it was gone. It seemed like a lot of pitching slipped to the later rounds, so I wanted to get my choice of pitchers before they were gone. Other than Ubaldo (Jimenez), I think we did okay.” The Mack drafted Heath Bell (13RD, 102OVR), Jered Weaver (14RD, 107OVR), and Brian Wilson (15RD, 118OVR) as their 5th, 6th, and 7th pitchers, giving them three solid closers, and four strong starters. “Bell and Wilson will probably share playing time,” Bielecki said, “But I like having the option of using three closers if I have a short pitching week.” He added that, “the clubhouse was short on tatts and muscles,” which was another reason for the signing of Wilson. The revolving door up the middle has already begun. Second base and the MI spots are without question the weakest of the Mackerel lineup. Alongside Hanley Ramirez, the Mack will probably be starting Felipe Lopez (16RD, 123OVR) at second and young buck Ian Desmond (UNDRAFTED) at the MI spot. “Not sure yet how we’re going to work this,” Bielecki said, “I like Lopez hitting around Holliday and Pujols. With Desmond, I’m not sure what we’re in for. It’s a definite gamble.” Early on it’s looking like Mile High will be relying heavily on its keepers to lead the charge. “We can afford to get a slow start,” Bielecki said, “But over the course of the season, we’re going to need the big name players to step up and carry this team like they did last year. Anything less than the playoffs will be considered a failure.”