Saturday night was the draft for the first annual Rise of the Rays Fantasy Baseball league.  As luck would have it, I ended up with Albert Pujols.  Somewhere, someone figured that if there had been a league last year, I would have finished in last, so I was given the first pick.

As far as Rays players, I ended up with three.  I took BJ Upton at the end of the fourth round.  That complimented my earlier pick of brother Justin Upton.  How can I go wrong after reuniting the Upton brothers? 

Then, I took Jason Bartlett at the end of round 10 as my starting shortstop and Rafael Soriano as my second closer at the beginning of round 15.  To be honest, I’d say both stayed on the board a little longer than I would have thought.

Predictably, Evan Longoria went 7th in the first round.  Carl Crawford went 4th in the second.  This, in a ten-team league.  Really no surprises there.

In the end, I figure my fantasy success in this league hinges on the brothers Upton.  Albert Pujols with the first overall pick is a no-brainer.  Justin Upton with pick #20 and BJ at #40 could either make me brilliant or in line for next year’s top pick.  I’ve been a big BJ critic, but I really think he’s in line for a huge season.  BJ, you can’t let down the Toytown Trop.