Team Name: Beloit Snappers (Sandbox Sports)
Owner Name: Ben "the Cheez" Bertrandt
Home State: Wisconsin
Baseball Web Site: Sports Producer - Full Count Fantasy Baseball
Baseball Web Site #2: Hit and Run
Personal Bio
Escaped from the artic cold of WI to sunny Arizona. Joined Sandbox in 1995 as a copywriter and worked my way up to Sandbox Sports producer.

Pre-Draft Strategy
This is our second season for the Mock Draft and I honestly earned a lot from last season. Several strategies worked for me and others failed miserably.

Once again the draft proved that trying to win by weighting your picks in the batting or pitching category will get you a nice near bottom finish. So, as always, a balanced team is key to a top 3 finish.

Using my first two picks on proven veterans also seemed to pay off. Last year I selected J. Bagwell, Hou in Rnd 1 and M. Ramirez, Bos in Rnd 2. Both had rock solid seasons. And once again, I will let others roll the dice in the early rounds.

I drew the exact same draft slot from our office hat again - 9th. Not a huge fan of this spot since I'm not guaranteed a top SS or C. This year is as close as it gets to a gimmie #1 pick. I expect P. Martinez, Bos to grab the honor.

My top 9 picks are:
P. Martinez, Bos.
A. Rodriguez, Sea
T. Helton, Col
K. Brown, LA
I. Rodriguez, Tex
G. Maddux, Atl
M. Piazza, NY
C. Jones, Atl

N. Garciaparra, Bos
Any one of these fantasy studs will do for my first pick. Not a Randy Johnson fan this year. He had a terrible second half and might be showing his age this year. An injury can't be far away either.

My hope is to grab a staff ace, SS or C in the first two rounds. Those are the toughest positions to fill on the draft board. Then it's time to grab a few quality arms in rounds 4 and 5. This could flip flop a bit depending on a position run or who is taken ahead of me at catcher. Tough to predict the busts this year but it still amazes how quickly younger players (Furcal, Long, D'Amico), go so early. Don't fall for it. Beware the sophomore, over hype slump. Go with proven players on good teams. If ya think I'm wrong there, just check out Beltran and Drew numbers from '00.

Catcher is weak with only I. Rodriguez, Tex; J. Kendall, Pit and M. Piazza, NYN as solid picks but all have injury questions. Third base is the worst for 2001 with only one clear cut Blue Chipper but even he has bone spur issues. Expect the RP position to look like a food line during an Eastern Block bread shortage…total chaos. Happens every year. If you can't get one of the top 4 (M. Rivera; T. Hoffman, SD; A. Benitez, NYN or R. Nen, SF) let the position ride for a several rounds.

Starting pitchers is another wacky category. If you can't grab P. Martinez, Bos; G. Maddux, Atl; K. Brown, LA; T. Glavine, Atl or M. Mussina, Bal early on, go for picks in the weaker positions.

Deepest position has to be 1B (T. Helton, Col; J. Bagwell, Hou; J. Giambi, Oak and C. Delgado, Tor) with a pile of solid talent. A 100 fantasy points separate the third through ninth picks. The two baggers also have a nice stable of talent thanks to guys like J. Kent, SF; E. Alfonzo, NYN and J. Vidro, Mon.

The OF talent level is rather shallow considering you start 4 in the game. Still a great area to watch for sleepers.

I hope to improve dramatically with my late round picks from a year ago (C. Singleton, J. Guzman and J. Zimmerman - ouch). I didn't do nearly enough homework and position depth charting before we started. And it showed.

I think I've had more Sandbox Fantasy drafts than any man on the planet. I've tried every strategy in the book - all pitchers, all hitters, overload at one position, etc. And the strategy that gets me the league title most often is to take the best player available in round one, anchor your pitching with one staff ace and draft by the depth of a position the rest of the way.

Post-Draft Analysis
Did you get the team you envisioned?
Yes and No. I think I managed a balanced ball club but I was surprised at my restraint in drafting my favorite athletes. It's not often I pass on Jeff Bagwell - 4 times!

I'm also pleased I stuck with my pre-draft strategy regarding veteran players. It's so easy to get caught in the hype and take an A. Beltre, LA over a T. Fryman, Clev. I have an entire stable of blue-collar fantasy workers.

The only position where I think I failed was at 2B. J. Bell, Ari and D. Deshields, Bal don't exactly spell League Championship.

What worked and didn't work in your strategy?
I got my ace in G. Maddux, Atl and C in J. Kendall, Pit. You can't win this game without an ace. I passed on M. Piazza, NYN and his knees. I just have a better feeling on Kendall, especially with the move to a grass field and a full year of recovery from that nasty ankle injury.

I stayed away from the JD Drew, StL and T. Long's of the draft and stuck to my veteran plan. Long even went undrafted. This isn't to say I ignored the young guns - B. Giles, Pit and M. Ordonez, ChiA have shown continued improvement. Just give me an E. Martinez, Sea or O. Vizquel, Clev in terms of solid picks. Flyers are for pickin' off the Wire.

My 1B depth point was correct - nothing wrong with Edgar in rnd 11 and M. Grace, Ari in rnd 13. I guessed wrong at 2B. Hopefully M. Anderson, Phil or W. Morris, Pit will be there for me this year off Waivers.

I think I made much better late round picks this season and took this part of the draft much more seriously then last year. Last 4 picks:
D. Deshields, Bal - Multi position player who should get traded to a contending team.
R. Ventura, NYN - Think he can rebound nicely and worth a bench slot.
F. Castillo, Bos - Worth a late pick if he can stay healthy.
B. Mayne, Col - Perfect backup contact hitter who should get the majority ABs in Coors.

What were your best picks?
T. Hoffman, SD - Still a rock for my bullpen.
R. Greer, Tex - Like his chances as their leadoff hitter with A-rod in the lineup.
O. Vizquel, Clev - Thrilled with him in Round 10.

What were your worst picks?
D. Burba, Clev - In round 12? There were better arms on the board.
K. Foulke, ChiA - If he moves to the starting rotation, I'm going postal. B. Howry, ChiA also worries me.

Who did you forget about?
R. Furcal, Atl - This one hurts so much. First I forgot about his multi position eligibility (2B, SS). Then I passed on him in round 8, hoping he would get back to me since most teams had filled this need. I was a fool.

Who were your sleepers?
W. Williams, SD - Total winner. Pitched like a machine the second half of the season. C. Smith's WHIP numbers are outstanding. He will probably fade but I expect 20 solid starts out of him.

What was the strangest pick?
K. Wood, ChiN was it for me. I like the pick but it was a little early (round 2). I think he would have been there in round 10. D. Jeter, NYA was also kind of nutty. He had a fantastic year last season and still didn't put up great FP numbers. Still, he was taken by one of the biggest Yankee fans I know.

What would you have done differently?
Taken Furcal. Taken Furcal. Ok, - I'm over it.

The biggest thing is I would have passed on Kendall and taken T. Glavine, Atl or M. Ramirez, Bos. Catcher is actually a little deeper than most give it credit for (J. Posada, NYA; B. Molina, Ana; J. Lopez, Atl; M. Lieberthal, Phil and even C. Johnson, Fla).

Swap teams?
Baseball HQ is my front runner for league winner although the bullpen could be an adventure. It would be huge fun to manage Desert Dwelling Scalawags for the simple fact that he has so many of my favorite ball players.

Who got away?
If I have to type his name one more time, I'm gonna snap.