Fantasy Baseball Analysis Draft: Round 24

by KFFL Staff on February 17, 2012 @ 14:06:13 PDT

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Rnd: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28
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1) John Buck, C, Miami Marlins

Team: Jeff Paur, RTSports | Roster

I didn't really plan on grabbing another catcher but felt like Buck brought too much value to pass up right now. He averaged 18 homers the last two seasons and should finish with similar numbers this year. He provides good pop at a thin position. He gives me good insurance at the catcher spot and could be trade bait at some point during the year.

2) Jonathon Niese, SP, New York Mets

Team: Tim Heaney, KFFL | Roster

It's now or never ...

Ground balls, blooming K/9 ... the combo you should target this late. Chronic hamstring woes kept him from building on his potential. He won't have much offensive support, but he's the type of hurler that can work around that. When mining, buy skills, not victories.

3) Grady Sizemore, OF, Cleveland Indians

Team: Doug Anderson, RotoExperts | Roster

Talk about a shot in the dark. Sizemore looked nothing like the first-rounder he used to be last year, but I'll take a shot here. At least he's done it before, unlike some of the "safer" options still available.

4) Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros

Team: Josh Shepardson, The Hardball Times | Roster

This diminutive two-bagger hit his way to the majors and showed himself well in his partial season. He should provide a high average on an extremely high volume of at-bats since he rarely walks. He could swipe 15-20 bags and chip in eight to 12 home runs.

5) James Loney, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers

Team: Bill Macey, Baseball HQ | Roster

Having taken such a health risk in Justin Morneau as my CI, I wanted to secure a reliable backup. Loney has had over 500 AB in each of the last four years and owns a great contact rate, making him a great safety net.

6) Gordon Beckham, 2B, Chicago White Sox

Team: Nicholas Minnix, KFFL | Roster

I'd avoided MI insurance and was disappointed when I missed out on Ian Desmond a couple of rounds ago, but I can't rely on Stephen Drew by opening day. This is do-or-die time for Beckham, and Robin Ventura likes him. The talent didn't disappear; Beckham's anxieties have kept it under wraps.

7) Ian Stewart, 3B, Chicago Cubs

Team: Mark Chamberlin, Baseball Sharks | Roster

Others overdrafting 3Bs allowed me to build strength elsewhere. Hopefully one of my two 3Bs puts together a 20-HR campaign. Anything else would be gravy.

8) Danny Valencia, 3B, Minnesota Twins

Team: Howard Bender, FanGraphs | Roster

Just looking for corner infield depth at this point. Valencia plays regularly, has 15-HR power and a mediocre average. Acceptable for plug-and-play purposes.

A Met worth drafting

9) Henderson Alvarez, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

Team: Pasko Varnica, Mastersball | Roster

Given pitcher's - and catcher's, I must add - propensity to end up on the DL, my first bench player is a SP. I am so high on Alvarez that now that he is on my team, I wish this were a keeper league.

10) Carlos Ruiz, C, Philadelphia Phillies

Team: Joe Hamrahi, Baseball Prospectus | Roster

Torn between Ruiz and Ramon Hernandez as my third catcher, I settled on Carlos. Ruiz will never hit a lot of home runs, but he won't kill your team batting average, and he's always a wild card to score a bunch of runs if the Phillies offense remains relatively healthy.

11) Ricky Nolasco, SP, Miami Marlins

Team: Ray Flowers, Baseball Guys/SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio | Roster

Once more into the breach... one of these years it's going to happen. I'm convinced. I feel like Ahab from Moby Dick chasing my White Whale.

12) Mike Aviles, 2B/3B, Boston Red Sox

Team: Steve Gardner, USA TODAY/Sports Weekly | Roster

I was debating between Aviles and the Mets' Daniel Murphy – both of whom provide the position flexibility I really like to have in a bench player. I have enough coverage at first that Murphy's advantage there isn't as great. Plus, Aviles should qualify as a shortstop very soon. When given a chance to play fairly regularly in 2010 with Kansas City, Aviles hit .304 with eight homers and 14 steals in 424 at-bats. I could see something like that happening again in Boston.