Diamondback Jay

Inagural DFBL Draft A "Hoot" At Red Owl
By The Insider
Staff Writer

TEMPE-- On March 18, the DFBL Sedona Red Division was officially born as 9 of the best fantasy baseballers met at the Red Owl Sports Pub in Tempe to pick their rosters for the 2007 campaign.

At the beginning, the first order of business announced was the news that the league officially became a keeper league, with everyone allotted 3 keeper picks in any position. Those keeper picks will be announced in a future edition of the DFBL Times.

Secondly, the league kicked off with a drawing for draft positioning, with Chris Sanders getting the first pick in the draft. 22 rounds, several mix-ups, including league Co-President Espo getting skipped twice in drafting, and a loud round of applause due to the long anticipated selection of Geoff Jenkins by Green Machine, the draft concluded with each team feeling confident of their chances.

"I'm really feeling lucky about my team this year," Sun Devil Jay, owner of the Phoenix Pharoahs, said. "I feel I had a nice balance of pitching and offensive production to where I think I'm capable of being one of the upper echelon teams in the league."



The remaining DFBL Owners Converge for a picture following the conclusion of the draft

While Jay, and others, felt confident of his chances, he also was impressed with the selections many others made.

"This was definitely one of the more well versed groups I've ever drafted with," Jay said. "Every single one of them did their homework, and came prepared to draft a winner. I look forward to going head to head with all of them."

The draft certainly didn't lack in controversy, as league Vice President Espo was bypassed twice in draft order, and Phil caused a bit of a stir when he picked former Diamondback "favorite" Richie Sexson, which caused a round of boos from the 14 in attendance. Sexson played just 29 games for the Diamondbacks in 2004, before spurning the team to sign with his hometown Seattle Mariners, despite the fact that Arizona sent Chris Capuano, Lyle Overbay and others packing to bring Sexson in.

"That Richie played in as many games as Phil has pictures of payphones," Ascenders of the Ashes owner KLL said.

The end of the evening came when Chris Sanders, owner of the Scottsdale Feral Cats, wrapped up festivities by selecting the ancient, but productive Dave Roberts to round up his roster.

The group will gather again throughout the season, including the DFBL Mid Summer Meetings, Trade Deadline and random gatherings at Diamondbacks games throughout the season.

All in attendance were vastly impressed with the draft, as well as the location at the Red Owl.

"For a bar, it was quiet but efficient," Jay said. "I had never been there before, however the kind folks at the Red Owl were very helpful in making this draft successful. As for the draft itself, I couldn't have asked for it to go better. Everyone was very helpful in drafting and people like my wife Amber and especially ASUHoopsNut, who went above and beyond the call of duty to help me out with paperwork and the like, all deserve a pat on the back for their efforts. In all, we all worked as a team, and everyone who showed up and helped me through this could not get enough praise or credit."

For those who missed the live sector of the draft, the results in their entirety are listed below.

Trade Winds Already Gusting Through the DFBL?
By The Insider
Staff Writer

TEMPE -- The ink was barely dry on the completion of the Inagural Draft of the DFBL, when already the trade talks began.

In the earliest of rumors, Green Machine, owner of his yet to be named franchise, is desperately looking to unload Geoff Jenkins and any one of his 14 starting pitchers.

"I neglected to draft for my outfield, and I'm hoping some of my abundance of arms will be enticing to some," The Machine was overheard saying. "As for Jenkins, he's productive enough to be a solid middle of the lineup guy."

When asked if any prospective trade partners were surfacing, Machine had a short, one word answer.

"No," he said. "However the key to success in fantasy baseball is one Geoff Jenkins. Period. End of story."

Despite the lukewarm reception, someone of Jenkins' popularity will surely be a hit for a team in the DFBL ready to get production from the OF position, and there never seems to be a shortage of arms.

DFBL President Recooperating After Fatigue Sets In
By The Insider
Staff Writer

PHOENIX -- One team president NOT in attendance in Tempe Sunday was Cardinals.Ken, owner of the Mesa Mormons, who regretably was forced to miss the draft after a valient battle with fatigue.

After having circumstances go beyond his control, Ken spoke with Sun Devil Jay and asked if the league as a whole could help him draft his team, which all were more than willing to do.

Upon word, Ken is more than anxious to hit the DFBL grind and will be roaring to conquer the league, one team at a time.

"You can't keep a good man down," Ken said. "The DFBL better be prepared, because that championship will be headed to the Mormons!!"

Who Is That 17th Man?!
By The Insider
Staff Writer

TEMPE-- As the inagural DFBL Draft came to a conclusion, and several of the parties began to return to their homes, the billion dollar question at the Red Owl and the DFBL headquarters was "Who's 17??"

That question, which rang through the mouth of all owners left in attendance was NOT used to question Peoria Bandit owner Phil's age, nor was it meant to find out the number of games the Los Angeles Dodgers are going to win this season.

Instead, "17" was the number of the round an unknown player was selected by DevilFan02 in the 17th round of the draft. After attempts to find out who the player was, by deciphering the secret code three people wrote, efforts to discover the name of the player were futile.

"I ordered Chicken Teriyaki when I was on my way home from the draft, and the handwriting sort of looked like the logo for chicken teriyaki," ASUHoopsNut said. "I think we'll have a real tough time discovering who this person was."

Phone calls to the CIA were not returned.

__________________


Rest in Peace Jim, Tim and Danny.

Diamondback Jay

Hey, this works out pretty cool.

If anyone wants to be used as a weekly Quote Worthy, please let me know!

__________________


Rest in Peace Jim, Tim and Danny.

green machine

"The key to success in fantasy baseball is one Geoff Jenkins. Period. End of story," the green machine said.

__________________

Archive page for my ArizonaSports.com columns

Follow me on Twitter: @theAdamGreen

Diamondback Jay

Added

__________________


Rest in Peace Jim, Tim and Danny.

Diamondback Jay

For those who want the picture, I got it as part of the article now.

__________________


Rest in Peace Jim, Tim and Danny.

BIGTONY

Very Nice guys,Awesome Well time too go to sleep work on monday after 8 days off..Thanks again

__________________
CARDINALS FOREVER..06 season.The cardinals will be reborn..section 122 seats 3-7 need my room..

Chris_Sanders

I went home and pulled out the thermometer and had a 101.5 fever.

I don't even remember the last 5 rounds of the draft.

__________________
I am the king of Douche Bagastan

Chris_Sanders

Okay here are my round by round "best picks":

Round 1:
8. Espo -- Johan Santana The only "sure thing" pitcher in the game and he went about 4 picks later than most expect.

Round 2:
10. Chris Sanders-- Derek Jeter-I was amazed he was there. I had him ranked in the top 10.

Round 3:
4. DevilFan02 -- Chris Carpenter Averaged 18 wins and 190 SOs in the last two years. Probably should have went round 2. All in all round 3 didn't have many big suprises.

Round 4:
9. ASUHoopsNut -- Hanley Ramirez. Absolutely incredible keeper potential. A near carbon copy of Reyes but in the 4th round.

Round 5:
8. Espo-- Robinson Cano. Honestly I should have taken this kid over Ichiro. Only hit .342 last year. Can sleep his way to 75 RBIs in that Yankee lineup. Another massive keeper.

Round 6:
4. Phill11 -- Francisco Rodriguez. People waited too long on relievers and Phill made a great pick here.


Round 7:
1. Chris Sanders -- Mariano Rivera. Huge slide for Rivera. I can't figure out why. He was in my top 30. Phill11 was right behind with Todd Helton near the end of round 7.

Round 8:
1. Cardinals.Ken -- Brian Roberts. It was about here I wanted someone else to draft for Ken than Sun Devil Jay.

Round 9:
5. Sun Devil Jay -- Scott Kazmir. Gigantic SO numbers for this Devil Ray. Fantastic ERA. So why did he fall? If he was on any other team he would be at around 16 wins but the D-Rays will cost him a few.

Round 10.
8. KLL -- Juan Pierre. Ichiro with a worse batting average but 5 rounds later. Dodgers love to play small ball. Will easily steal 55.

Round 11.
6. Green Machine -- Chad Cordero. Like Kazmir he is a fantastic pitcher on a bad team. If he gets traded this year like I suspect he will, this will be a stunningly good pick. I probably should have taken him over Jenkins.

Round 12:
1. Cardinals.Ken -- Aaron Harang. Did you know that this kid led the league in Ks? Yep at 216. Even if he loses 30 Ks that is incredible value at round 12. Cardinals Ken owes Sun Devil Jay some beer.

Round 13:
9. BIGTONY -- Chin Meng Wang. His strikeout totals stink but this near CY Young Winner could win 20 and has a good ERA.

Round 14:
8. KLL -- Francisco Cordero-His ERA was inflated due to pitching in Texas. He still had 84 Ks as a reliever. I see him with 30 saves this year in a better park.

Round 15:
4. DevilFan02 -- Jason Giambi. Nothing like falling into 35 Home Runs and a 110 RBIs in the 15th round

Round 16:
6. Sun Devil Jay -- Jason Kendall. No power but good steal numbers for a catcher, a great average, and most importantly plays every game.

Round 17:
6. Green Machine -- Brian Fuentes. A lock for 30 saves. Always falls much further than he should.

Round 18:
10. Chris Sanders -- Brad Hawpe. He's 27 and hits in Colorado. He should have went 8 rounds earlier.

Round 19:
8. Espo -- Brandon Phillips-Makes me feel soooo much better about that Jeff Kent pick 4 rounds ago.

Round 20:
3. Espo -- Andy Pettite. He is going to win at least 15 games. Fantastic value.

Round 21:
8. Espo -- Jose Valverde. Complete boom or bust. I predict boom.

Round 22:
9. ASUHoopsNut-- Pedro Martinez. Stole my pick dang it!!!

__________________
I am the king of Douche Bagastan