NABL 2006 Strat Draft and first few games

So as many of you know I enjoy Strat-o-matic baseball. I finally joined a league this year with 19 other guys from across the U.S. and Canada. I went to the draft party, which was only 20 minutes from my house in Racine, WI. 7 of the teams were represented, while the other 13 teams got online to draft.

I had 3 picks in the top 27.

My first pick, 7th overall, was Matt Cain, SP from San Fran. He is only 21 and is supposed to be a young phenom. I haven't seen it so far this year. He has been average at best, not dominating but at least he has been pitching every fifth day.

My next pick was at 16th overall. I drafted Willy Taveras, CF from Houston. This was a bit of a stretch. I felt he was the best centerfielder out there, and I really wanted/needed a good CF with a good range rating and arm rating. He's a 2 with a -3 arm. He's also a AA stealing and a 1-17 running. His downside is that his OBA and SLG pct is very low, and this is looked down upon in strat circles. The HR is more valuable. I could have drafted a HR hitter at this pick, but I feared Willy wouldn't have been available at my next pick.

My next pick, 27th overall, was 1b Mike Jacobs from Florida. I needed a 1b badly and he was the best option. A power hitter who would be starting and potentially be batting clean-up for a young Florida Marlins team.

So far I have played 18 games and won 7 and lost 11. It's been fun, but I am learning that I am going to have to get some better players, or have some of my younger players mature faster. I have a nice core:

Rollins ss
Taveras cf
Polanco 2b
Jacobs 1b
Hall 3b, ss, 2b
Matsui lf
Schmidt sp
Westbrook sp
Cain sp
Batista 3b
Cuddyer rf, 1b, 3b
Sanchez rp
Cordero rp

These are guys that are wouldn't want to trade unless a great offer would come about. The rest of my team are guys I wouldn't mind trading if I can get some more talented players or earlier picks.

So long for now. Let me know what you think of my picks and team situation.