In a pretty solid pitching duel, Gary Knotts went head to head with last year’s Cy Young award winner, Roy Halladay, and actually got the better of him. Halladay pitched six strong innings, giving up only two hits, giving up a run, and striking out five. Knotts pitched five shutout innings, giving up only three hits. Unfortunately, the pen could seal the deal, and after tying it up against Erik Eckenstahler, got to German in the eighth, and took the lead for good.

And this makes Tram’s decision on who will be the fifth starter that much more difficult. Nate Robertson has struggled, and now Knotts throws a nice game. Esteban Yan is still in the mix as well.

I had my league’s fantasy baseball draft last night. This is basically the second year in it’s current form, and was scaled down to an AL only format, with an auction draft and a $300 spending limit (money not spent carries over and can be used to pick up free agents). I came in second place last year, which I equate to a failure, so I had to make sure I came away with a good draft this year.

And I ended up with a young, solid team. Great hitting, and but the pitching was questionable, especially on the back end. As always, a lot happens in these leagues, so just staying on your toes can make things interesting.

Here’s my team, for those of you who are interested:

Catcher – Jorge Posada
1st Base – Jason Giambi
2nd Base – Brian Roberts (I got stuck late in the draft without a 2nd baseman, and basically had to settle for Mr. Roberts).
3rd Base – Dmtri Young
Shortstop – Alex Rodriguez
OF – Carlos Beltran
OF – Mark Teixaira
OF – Kevin Millar
DH – Jose Cruz
P – Derek Lowe
P – Johann Santana
P – Rich Harden
P – Kurt Ainsworth
P – Cliff Lee
P – Arthur Rhodes
P – Brandon Donnelly

Reserves

Travis Hafner
Tino Martinez
Ron Belliard
Aaron Guiel
Bobby Kielty
Jason Davis
Mike Maroth
Matt Riley
Carlos Silva

So basically if Santana can pitch as well as he did last year as a starter for the entire year, and Rich Harden shows some brilliance, I should be okay. My hitting is dominant, so I could see myself making a deal down the line for some pitching if I have problems.

Fun stuff though. As with a lot of the these leagues, the draft is the funnest part of the season. The next toughest part is sticking with things for the entire year (no problem for me).

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