Have you ever taken part in a 15-team fantasy baseball league that has a draft which lasts for 50 rounds? Me neither, until a couple of months ago.

At Baseball HQ's First Pitch Arizona, the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, with the help of Greg Ambrosius, held three drafts in conjunction with the event. The winner of each of the three draft-and-hold leagues will receive free registration for this autumn's edition of the fantasy baseball seminars hosted by HQ proprietor Ron Shandler.

Viciedo gets a shot, has a spot

I - reluctantly at first - slipped into the last chair available, after the draft for what became my league had already begun, and I was armed with only a sheet of players arranged in order of Roto 500 values. It's hard to pass up the excitement of a live draft in which you wade in so much uncertainty. Plus, Ron was kinda relieved that he no longer had to participate.

On that first Saturday in November, we completed 22 rounds. We didn't pick up the draft up again until the beginning of last week, in an online draft room and with an eight-hour limit per pick.

A bit surprisingly, no player's demand between then and now had really skyrocketed thanks to an injury, a transaction or a team declaration. I still felt pretty fortunate to make my first pick of Phase 2. I can live with my draft results - counting backward, because there's just more suspense that way - but I wish I could share the entire draft board. Settle.

Rd	Ovr	Player	Team	Pos	Comment
50	737	Fernando Rodney	Rays	RP	Will you really be shocked if Tampa Bay fixes him and he ends up with 10 or 15 saves?
49	734	J.B. Shuck	Astros	OF	High-energy contact hitter who could be fourth OF in outfield full of players with faults.
48	707	Casey Kelly	Padres	SP	Prospect was solid in first full campaign as pitcher in 2011, can't beat the environment.
47	704	Chance Ruffin	Mariners	RP	Two-pitch hard-tosser with some BB/9 problems could close after trade deadline.
46	677	Jake Arrieta	Orioles	SP	Hope: Removal of ping-pong-ball-sized bone spur he's had since college makes difference.
45	674	Daniel Descalso	Cardinals	3B	Versatile infielder with solid BA skills could easily find another 375 PAs - or more.
44	647	Paul Maholm	Cubs	SP	Maybe Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer get lucky, are right about this one?
43	644	Deck McGuire	Blue Jays	SP	High-strikeout RHP could be on fast track through pitching-rich Toronto's farm system.
42	617	Dustin McGowan	Blue Jays	SP	Hail Mary: Lengthy comeback from shoulder problems was success, still throws hard.
41	614	Kyle Drabek	Blue Jays	SP	Endured 2011 season full of adversity. To bounce back, start with throwing strikes.
40	587	Alex Liddi	Mariners	3B	Has 30-HR power, lineup lacks it, plays position with no long-term roadbloack.
39	584	Ryan Sweeney	Red Sox	RF	Quality hitter, solid fielder could slot at bottom of potent lineup, play fairly often.
38	557	Carl Pavano	Twins	SP	In 38th round, no-K Pavano is an acceptable play for depth, reliability.
37	554	Taylor Green	Brewers	3B	Breakout 2011 (.336/.413/.583 at AAA), plays 2B and 3B, is an alternative to 1B Mat Gamel.
36	527	Bartolo Colon	Athletics	SP	Great trade-in on home park, willing to chalk up 2nd-half fade to fatigue - missed 2010.
35	524	Joe Blanton	Phillies	SP	Backend starter maintains excellent K/BB, reduction in HR/9 could result in quality line.
34	497	Fautino De Los Santos	Athletics	RP	Hard-throwing, wild RHP will receive consideration for ninth-inning duty.
33	494	David Carpenter	Astros	RP	Hard-throwing, semi-wild RHP should get shot at SVOs if Brandon Lyon fails.
32	467	Chone Figgins	Mariners	3B	Hey, why not. What if? He could play all over. He's 34, not 38. (Sorry, Ichiro.)
31	464	Jason Castro	Astros	C	Warm body, for depth. Could receive majority of ABs at C in return from knee surgery.
30	437	Brandon Lyon	Astros	RP	RHP is fav to close. Probably won't end it that way, but what the hell.
29	434	Charlie Morton	Pirates	SP	Learned Roy Halladay windup, was effective. What if? Had full offseason to hone it.
28	407	Jonathan Sanchez	Royals	SP	Undervalued high K/9, high BB/9 LHP has nice chance to rebound in KC.
27	404	Joey Devine	Athletics	RP	A's best choice to close if he maintains health. Of course, that's a big if.
26	377	Luke Hochevar	Royals	SP	Post-break performance says a lot: Really, this RHP is set for breakout in 2012.
25	374	Alex Gonzalez	Brewers	SS	Can't beat this play for MI depth in everyday SS who could hit 15-18 HR.
24	347	Jake Peavy	White Sox	SP	Contract year, 1 1/2 years removed from back-shoulder operation: time to stay healthy.
23	344	Dayan Viciedo	White Sox	OF	Carlos Quentin trade cleared way for everyday job in RF. Not bad here: .275-20.

From this point backward, it was all in the fall.

Rd	Ovr	Player	Team	Pos	Comment
22	317	Rafael Furcal	Cardinals	SS	Figured he'd re-sign with Cards. Really hoped Albert Pujols would, too.
21	314	Aubrey Huff	Giants	1B	Under gun after letdown in first year of three-year contract. Wasn't lazy in offseason.
20	287	Jose Tabata	Pirates	OF	With 600 PA, he hits .290, swipes 25-plus, scores 85-plus. Hope he stays healthy to get them.
19	284	Carlos Ruiz	Phillies	C	An adequate No. 2 C in very deep mixed league who won't hurt, might help.
18	257	Pedro Alvarez	Pirates	3B	Hits (or misses) keep on comin': Muted risk here, rebound gives me shot at title.
17	254	Yonder Alonso	Padres	OF	Took him with expectation of winter trade. LHB will fall victim to Death Alley in right-center.
16	227	Ben Revere	Twins	OF	Solid SB play who could have least trouble keeping PT in Minnesota's outfield.
15	224	John Danks	White Sox	SP	Some concerns since he received that extension, but LHP was on point from June 1 on.
14	197	Jason Bay	Mets	OF	Realized immediately: This was a reach. Some vindication if Citi Field changes pay off.
13	194	Ubaldo Jimenez	Indians	SP	Why he collapsed remains a mystery, but why he rose isn't. That RHP is still in there.
12	167	Paul Goldschmidt	Diamondbacks	1B	Sought booming upside at 1B after realization earlier in draft. Goldschmidt has that.
11	164	Jason Kipnis	Indians	2B	Could be steal of 2B pool, more upside in counting marks than Dustin Ackley.
10	137	Colby Rasmus	Blue Jays	OF	Another on which I cross my fingers, hope this is a difference-maker. Not confident.
9	134	Gaby Sanchez	Marlins	1B	Point at which I realized that distribution of 1B pool makes it a scarce position. Will take it.
8	107	Adam Wainwright	Cardinals	SP	I'm high on RHP with elite K/BB who'll have had more than full year to recover from TJS.
7	104	Alex Avila	Tigers	C	Wasn't expecting a repeat of 2011, but at that point, without a C, was a quality pick.
6	77	Alexei Ramirez	White Sox	SS	Had a down campaign in disastrous year for ChiSox - just fickleness of baseball stats?
5	74	David Price	Rays	SP	Price grew, out-pitched his indicators in 2011, hoping for a bit bigger things in 2012.
4	47	Nelson Cruz	Rangers	OF	Rarely do I consider Cruz, but felt this was good value in league where gambles win it.
3	44	Brandon Phillips	Reds	2B	Was searching for something reliable in middle infield. Phillips easily fit the bill.
2	17	Carl Crawford	Red Sox	OF	Guess this meant I was a believer that LHB with long track record will rebound.
1	14	Evan Longoria	Rays	3B	Sat down, heard it was my pick, recalled initial fear of 3B pool, settled on Longoria. Darn.

We make no transactions for the rest of the season. We play with what we have. I think I have the kind of diverse roster it takes to survive in this format. But having never played in it, I have little idea. We'll see. It can't be good that I have so many Astros.

KFFLians are saying....

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1

Ian, at 09:37 on 02/07/12, says: Nicholas, I've looking for more info. on draft and hold leagues since reading about in Shandler's forecaster this year. A google search brought me here. Do you think you'll enjoy it? Would an auction draft or snake draft be better in a 12 team league (40 man roster instead of 50)? Is there anything out there I should read on D&H leagues?

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Nathan, at 11:03 on 02/10/12, says: Ian, the D&H idea intrigued me after reading this year's Forecaster too. I'm starting a 40 man D&H on ESPN. So far I have 4 teams - all good managers. We're going to go with an auction draft, but otherwise is as prescribed by Shandler. Let me know if you are interested.

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KFFL's baseball editor plays in LABR and Tout Wars and won the FSWA Baseball Industry Insiders League in 2010.

The University of Delaware alum is a regular guest on Sirius/XM Fantasy Sports Radio and Baltimore's WNST AM 1570. Follow him on Twitter.

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