Fantasy Sports Friday

Here's the wwekly fantasy sports update, from the baseball world to tennis.

Fantasy Baseball

Colorado's 35 man roster has been filled as I used my final three draft picks this week. The 5th round saw me take a young left-handed pitching prospect from the Cincinnati Reds named Matt Maloney. Maloney looked o.k. in seven starts with Cincinnati last year. He is a pitcher that doesn't throw hard, 86-89 MPH and reminds me a little bit like a lesser James Shields. He will spend much of the season on the inactive roster but could come up late in the year or in the case of a long term injury.

I had to sixth round picks and used them to pick up a hitter and pitcher. I rounded out my hitters by taking long-time veteran Nomar Garciaparra, most recently of the Oakland A's.. Garciaparra is older at 37 and really doesn't have a high on-base percentage or much power, but he is not here to start, he will be a corner infield backup to Dan Murphy at first and Kevin Kouzmanoff at third.

My final pick of the draft is a reliever with a long and confusing name, righty Chris Jakubauskas of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jakubauskas is a stretch to make the team, he had a decent year last season with the Mariners and is now in Pittsburgh. He will compete for the final bullpen spot.

So that finishes my 35 man roster for now, come March 1 free agents can be signed and trades can be made again, and I might look at making a few small moves. In any case, here is my post draft roster:

Starting Pitchers (6)
Jeremy Guthrie (R)
Josh Johnson (R)
Matt Maloney (L)
Wandy Rodriguez (L)
James Shields (R)
Carlos Zambrano (R)

Relief Pitchers (9)
Mike Adams (R)
Rafael Betancourt (R)
Jared Burton (R)
Jesse Carlson (L)
Alan Embree (L)
Chris Jakubauskas (R)
Scott Linebrink (R)
Jose Mijares (L)
Leo Rosales (R)

Catchers (2)
John Buck
Matt Wieters

Infielders (9)
Mike Aviles (SS)
Orlando Cabrera (SS)
Mike Carp (1B)
Alex Cora (2B/SS)
David Eckstein (2B)
Nomar Garciaparra (1B/3B)
Orlando Hudson (2B)
Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B)
Dan Murphy (1B)

Outfielders (7)
Rocco Baldelli (CF/RF)
Matt Diaz (LF/RF)
Ben Francisco (LF)
Sam Fuld (LF/RF)
Franklin Gutierrez (CF)
Willy Taveras (CF)
Clete Thoms (RF)

Designated Hitters (2)
Pat Burrell
Vladimir Guerrero


Fantasy Tennis
My appearence at the Dubai Championships was short and not so sweet. I was quickly eliminated from singles in round 1, taking on the number two seeded Peng. I fell short, 7-6 and got knocked out in the first round for the first time in 2010.

In doubles, things weren't any better for Ryan and I. In a tough battle with the Chinese pairing of Choi and Li, we fell in a tiebreaker.

As per my schedule that I set in December, I am taking the next two weeks off, returning on March 14th at Indian Wells in California.