I was 9/10ths of the way through my long write up and some sort of memory issue popped up and I lost everything. Aaargh. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow

Posted by ronthegenius on 11/15/2023 10:30:00 PM (view original):
I was 9/10ths of the way through my long write up and some sort of memory issue popped up and I lost everything. Aaargh. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow

happened to me before... now i always type it up off this site first.

Overall Strategy

Schwarze really threw a curveball with this version of the 16x16. With only 6 pitchers nominated and all of them relievers, it was apparent that everyone would need to use at least five teammates on SP and maybe six. With only three or four hitting teammates available, this would mean needed to use four (or five) of the nominated hitters. As there was not a lot of quality among the nominated hitters (outside of Cabrera), I decided to focus on getting the best versions of the nominated hitters first. The secondary focus was to only use five pitching teammates. This meant a combination of having SP teammates with decent IPs and usable (sub 3.00 ERC#) versions of as many of the nominated RPs as possible.

Nomination: Alan Embree (1997 Braves)

After initially nominating Carlton Fisk, I actually noticed that all the nominated pitchers were RPs. I quickly started looking for alternatives. The ’97 Embree fit the usable RP criteria and brought along a good Maddux (1.87 ERC#) and three other usable SPs (Neagle 2.50, Glavine 2.60, and Smoltz (2.77). All four had 230+ IPs so along with Embree I could get 1000 IPs out of this pick if I needed. This allowed me to pursue chasing the best versions of the nominated hitters.

1^st Round: Jimmy Rollins (2007 Phillies)

My strategy meant that I needed to identify four nominated hitters to target in the first four rounds. The best seasons available (based on OPS#) clearly centered around Cabrera, Murphy, and Clark. I would plan to get the best versions of these players possible and to decide which of the remaining players to choose as the fourth. Rollins clearly had the best non-Cabrera/Clark/Murphy season available so this was who I wanted from the beginning. However, the Embree nomination only got me the 9^th pick in round one so I had to anxiously wait through eight picks before I was able to select him. If he had been taken, I probably would have taken the ’13 Cabrera and tried to get a good Polanco season somewhere in rounds 2-4.

This pick got me my leadoff hitter and brought along a good Utley to hit in the two hole and complete my MI. However, it also dropped me from 9^th to 15^th in the draft order.

2^nd Round: Dale Murphy (1987 Braves)

With only one Cabrera and one Clark selected so far, I still had a lot of good options available. I decided to take Murphy here as he was the only good OF option. With Cabrera and Clark primarily playing 1B and a lot of really good 1B teammate options, it wouldn’t be a surprise that I’d need to play a 1B in the OF. I therefore decided to make sure I got a good OF here. I was torn between the ’83 and the ’87 versions, ultimately deciding of the slightly better bat over the better speed/glove.

No good teammates and I’ll still pick 15^th next round.



3^rd Round: Jack Clark (1987 Cardinals)

Only two Cabrera’s were selected in front of me and no Clark’s so I still had good options available. The choice was between the ‘10 Cabrera and the ’87 Clark. I chose the ’87 Clark because the difference between it and Clark’s other seasons was bigger than the difference between the ’10 Cabrera and his remaining seasons.

This pick now drops me to last in the draft order. I also can’t use the only good teammate (O Smith) since I already have Rollins.

4^th Round: Miguel Cabrera (2005 Marlins)

In this round, three more good Cabrera’s come off the board with five picks remaining until my turn. There are now only three really good Cabrera seasons left and three of those five picks can select Cabrera. Of those three Cabrera seasons (’05, ’09, and ’16), the ’16 version would be a problem for me even though it’s the best OPS#. I’ll need Cabrera to play 3B and the ’16 version qualified at 3B with a
D-/D- glove. Of course the draft stops here for the night, leaving me to worry all night about which options (if any) will still be available.

At this point, I need to thank eblank, calhoop, and beall for all passing on Cabrera. This allows me to take the ’05 Cabrera who plays 3B and brings along Dontrelle Willis as my 5^th SP. I now have my infield set (although Clark is short of PAs) and am up to 1250 IP.

The plan over the next 4-5 rounds was to address the following:

1) Get enough usable IPs from the nominated RPs so I don’t need to use a sixth teammate spot on a SP
2) Find good hitting teammate options
3) Upgrade my SP. Although I have five usable SPs, other than Maddux, they’re usable – not good


5^th Round: Fernando Rodney (2017 D’Backs)

At this point of the draft, I realize that although I’ve done a good job getting hitting from the nominated players, it has come at the cost of losing out on a lot good teammate options. With the fact that all the nominated hitters except Jorgensen and Rollins were RH, I wanted to get several LH hitting teammates. I needed a C and two OFs. There were three options that I really liked that came with two elite hitting teammates of which at least one was LH and could play the OF (‘94 Maldonado, ’94 Pena, ’01 Uribe). I was hoping that one of them (particularly the ’01 Uribe) would still be available. However, they all went in rounds 3 and 4. There were a couple of other options (’89 Maldonado, ’02 Uribe) that I was considering. However, the ’02 Walker was light on PAs and I already needed to find a platoon with Clark and Utley is a bit light as well so I discarded that option.

The choice at this point then was between the ’89 Maldonado and getting usable RP IPs. The ’89 Maldonado was really intriguing because in addition to Will Clark and Mitchell, he also came with Scott Garrelts who was definitely an upgrade to my SPs. However, I decided that I couldn’t afford the IP hit that Garrelts would entail – a 194 IP pitcher replacing a 240 IP pitcher. I’m also realizing that my C options are getting very limited and I wanted to keep the ’93 Maldonado (w Rick Wilkins) available. So I decided to get the usable relief IPs and took the ’17 Rodney (now at 1300 IP).


6^th Round: Darren Oliver (2009 Angels)

My catching options are now down to Wilkins (w Maldonado) and Piazza (w the ’98 Guthrie). I still don’t have any OF teammates and the usable RP options are dwindling fast. I decide to roll the dice that one of the catchers will still be available in round 7 – hoping that perhaps Wilkins flies under the radar a bit. I take the ’09 Oliver was the best RP w decent IP still left.

Note: it sucks picking last every round at this point

7^th Round: Candy Maldonado (1993 Cubs)

I now have 1380 IP and feel that I can finally address the hitting teammates. Both the catching options are still available but the OF options are also dwindling, particularly LH options. I decide to take Wilkins here for several reasons: he’s LH and Guthrie has the best LH OF options remaining (Giambi and Delgado).

The choice does have two downsides. First, Wilkins only has 500 PAs, so I now have to worry about getting a somewhat usable Pena and there aren’t many of those left. Secondly, that left Piazza on the board and Schwarze seemed way to happy about getting him in round 9.

This pick actually allowed me to jump two people and pick 14^th in round 8.

8^th Round: Mark Guthrie (2001 A’s)

I finally address the need to get an OF teammate, taking the ’01 Guthrie and getting Giambi who is now my starting RF.

9^th Round: Tony Pena (1989 Cardinals)

I still need an OF teammate, some usable IPs and to deal with Pena. There are only two usable (and I use that term loosely) Pena’s left. Although the ’88 Pena is better, the ’89 comes with Jose DeLeon and allows to me upgrade my SP bit (he’ll replace Glavine).



10^th Round: Jason Isringhausen (1995 Mets)

Although I still don’t know who my eighth hitter will be, I know my hitting will be good and I’d like to play in a hitter’s park. That means I’ll need to get closer to 1500 IP and I’m currently at 1380 IP. “Usable” IP are now represented by any ERC# under 4.00. Isringhausen’s 105 IP (w a 3.29 ERC#) in ’95 are starting to look real good. I decided that this was the pick I wanted before going to bed but still had to wait for most of round 10 to unfold and there were 5 people who could take him. I actually had a dream/nightmare in which football took him a few picks before mine (obviously there is something seriously wrong with me). Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and I now have 1484 IPs.

11^th Round: Howie Kendrick (2012 Angels)

At this point, teammate options for that last OF spot are very slim: the ’02 Walker is still available and two Mike Trout’s (’12 w Kendrick and ’15 w Smith). I still don’t want to have to worry about the platoon scenario with Walker so I focus on running the numbers with the two Trout’s. My conclusion is that I can’t fit the ’15 Trout ($9.7M) under the cap, but the ’12 Trout ($8.4M) will fit as long as I don’t get stuck with a $3M Uribe. There were two cheap Uribe’s left: ’15 (Braves $1.0M) and ’16 ($1.2). The ’15 has a nice .816 OPS while the ’16 probably can’t PH for a pitcher. I was tempted to take the ’15 as that would pretty much guarantee that I’d have no cap issues the rest of the way. However, if I didn’t get the Trout, it wouldn’t matter anyway, so I took the ’12 Kendrick here.

Note: after experiencing the joy of picking 13^th this round, Kendrick’s $4.2 salary sent to the back of the pack for the rest of the draft

12^th Round: Juan Uribe (2016 Indians):

The ’15 Uribe, of course, went a couple of picks after I took Kendrick. I now had to decide whether to take the worthless ’16 Uribe and guarantee that I could fit Trout or roll the dice to get a usable option out of the other nominated players I still had to draft (Jorgensen, Polanco, and Smith). Happyhours and I were the only two that still needed Polanco; joerat and I were the only two that needed Smith. There were versions of each of those players that I preferred; the Jorgensen didn’t really matter. I was tempted to take either the ’02 Polanco or the ’10 Smith (the last usable version), but decided I couldn’t risk losing Trout.

13^th Round: Mike Jorgensen (1983 Braves)
14^th Round: Placido Polanco (2002 Phillies)
15^th Round: Joe Smith (2021 Mariners)

These last picks just fell to me as joerat took the ’10 Smith earlier in round 13 and happyhours jumped ahead to take a different version of Polanco in round 14. The ’83 Jorgensen is somewhat usable as a PH. The ’02 Polanco was definitely a pleasant surprise for this late in the draft; his .764 OPS is his fourth highest with an A/B+ glove at 3B. Despite there being twelve Joe Smith’s with an ERC# of 3.45 or less, I somehow didn’t get one of them.


Conclusion:

Overall, I’m happy with the way the draft worked out. I decided to play in Yankee III, so I feel I should lead the league in runs but will also probably be in the bottom four in runs allowed. Hopefully, it will work out. In retrospect, I probably should have upgraded my starting pitching once in the earlier rounds and cobbled together one of the hitting spots of the nominated players.

Field	Player	Year	Salary	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR
A/A/A+	Rick Wilkins	1993	$5,886,243	500	.302	.377	.552	30
A/B/B+	Tony Pena	1989	$3,134,913	200	.268	.326	.346	4
C/B+	Jack Clark	1987	$5,867,107	558	.287	.459	.586	35
B/B+	Chase Utley	2007	$7,772,207	613	.330	.407	.545	22
A/C+	Jimmy Rollins	2007	$7,835,024	778	.294	.342	.510	30
A/D-	Miguel Cabrera	2005	$5,809,593	685	.323	.385	.545	33
C+/A-	Howie Kendrick	2012	$4,204,625	594	.291	.329	.386	8
A/B+	Placido Polanco	2002	$1,994,461	230	.298	.351	.413	4
B+/A+	Mike Trout	2012	$8,418,471	639	.330	.404	.549	30
C/C+	Dale Murphy	1987	$6,735,267	698	.296	.417	.569	44
C+/A	Jason Giambi	2001	$9,400,773	671	.340	.474	.638	38
A+/D-	Mike Jorgensen	1983	$321,947	84	.253	.349	.392	2
				6250	.308	.394	.530	280
D/D-	Candy Maldonado	1993	$452,751	154	.185	.260	.279	3
B/B	Juan Uribe	2016	$1,234,172	259	.208	.262	.313	7
				IP	WHIP	ERA	OAV	HR/9
A/C	Denny Neagle	1997	$7,241,933	234	1.08	2.50	.234	.56
D-/D	Jose DeLeon	1989	$7,881,026	245	1.07	2.34	.205	.57
A-/B+	John Smoltz	1997	$7,701,729	256	1.15	2.77	.243	.60
C/B-	Dontrelle Willis	2005	$7,955,088	237	1.13	2.58	.243	.32
B/A+	Greg Maddux	1997	$9,282,997	233	0.94	1.87	.236	.27
B/B	Jason Isringhausen	1995	$2,407,661	105	1.27	3.29	.254	.47
A+/D-	Fernando Rodney	2017	$1,744,816	55	1.20	2.47	.204	.32
A+/C+	Alan Embree	1997	$1,493,457	46	1.21	2.55	.221	.15
A+/D-	Darren Oliver	2009	$2,059,704	73	1.12	2.60	.235	.45
				1484	1.10	2.50	.232	.45
A+/D-	Mark Guthrie	2001	$1,005,251	53	1.31	3.90	.246	.92
A+/D-	Joe Smith	2021	$570,228	40	1.42	4.65	.305	.78

Commentary:
Once I learned that the 16 x 16 draft was starting up, I got excited. These are the best drafts on the WIS site and Schwarze does an excellent job “herding us cats” and making it interesting. I have participated in all but Schwarze's first 16 x 16 and only because I didn’t know about it. As I stated on the classified forum, “I am always in”. To be blunt, I love these drafts. My summary is being provided after the draft has completed so some of my raw emotion will be muted and therefore many of my “french” phrases are omitted. Any figures provided will be normalized.

Strategy:
Looking at all the relief pitchers, starting pitching and innings are going to be a premium – six teammates are going to have to be “starters” and only three hitters as teammates. I’m going to have to use some of the nominated players in my line up, so try to grab some of the better seasons of the nominated players. As always in these drafts, collect options early during the draft because my strategy needs to be flexible. With the nominated players provided I do not anticipate that the salary cap will be an issue.

Round 0 – 1985 Candy Maldonado (Dodgers) $941,590
Pitching and teammates. Two starting pitchers plus a catcher and third baseman.
Orel Hershiser – 240 IPs, 2.12 ERC, 0.28 HR
Fernando Valenzuela – 273 IPs, 2.59 ERC, 0.44 HR
Mike Scioscia ( C ) – 525 PA, .302/.412/.424/.836 C+/A/A-
Pedro Guerrero (3B) – 581 PA, .326/.427/.581/1.009 C-/A
Comments: I ended up using all of my options here. In retrospect, very happy with this nomination.

Round 1 – 2016 Joe Smith (Cubs) $901,665
Pitching, pitching, pitching.
Kyle Hendricks – 190 IPs, 2.14 ERC, 0.52 HR
Jake Arrieta – 197 IPs, 2.40 ERC, 0.54 HR
Jon Lester – 203 IPs, 2.41 ERC, 0.70 HR
John Lackey – 188 IPs, 2.75 ERC, 0.83 HR
Comments: Schwarze gets Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe to team up with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw? Gentlemen, this is why we don’t feed bears raw meat. (Viva la France!!!)
I ended up using Hendricks and Arrieta here. In retrospect may have been a reach for volume vs quality but concern over having enough pitching was overwhelming. Spending only $901K here hoping to move up in the next round. Hendricks & Arrieta vs Martinez & Lowe, I’d like to convince myself that this is a Mary Anne vs Ginger scenario but in reality, I suspect, it is more of a Grandmama vs Marilyn Munster situation. Apologies to those of you too young to grasp the 1960’s/1970’s sitcom references but it accurately reflects my jealousy.

Round 2 – (Yahtzee) – 2001 Alan Embree (Giants) $664,076
Options, options, options.
Barry Bonds (OF) – 664 PA, .328/.514/.853/1.366 C/D+ $17.6M
Rich Aurilla (SS) – 689 PA, .325/.368/.550/.918 B+/B+
Jeff Kent (2B) – 696 PA, .299/.368/.485/.853 B+/B
Comments: Moving up to the second pick, I am thrilled to collect more “options”. I considered selecting Embree last round instead of Joe Smith and the pitching teammates. I now have 6 starting pitching options, and hitters that satisfy C, 2B, 3B, and OF. Plus, I should maintain my draft position for next round. My good friend, Pedro who nominated Embree, hates Bonds providing me even more incentive to get under the $120M cap. Locking up Bonds, I now have visions of Herman Munster trying out for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The cap won’t be an issue, right? In retrospect, the cap wasn’t a major issue, using Bonds but not Aurilla or Kent.

Round 3 – 1983 Dale Murphy (Braves) $7,033,240
Need to use the nominated players.
Dale Murphy (OF) – 687 PA, .306/.397/.543/.940 B/B-
Comments: Murphy’s B/B- can play centerfield? May need to since I am planning on playing Bonds in the OF. Happy to get either of Murphy’s best two seasons. Hopefully Pedro’s Murphy pick two slots earlier and mine now starts a run on Murphy’s. In retrospect, it did not start a run but was the right choice needing to use nominated players.

Round 4 – 2010 Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) $6,679,761
Need to use the nominated players.
Miguel Cabrera (1B) – 648 PA, .330/.421/.610/1.031 C/C+
Comments: I wanted to grab the premier Jack Clark season in this round, naturally Pedro snipes him 5 picks earlier, sometimes I wonder why we are friends? I need someone to protect Bonds in the line-up, welcome aboard Miguel.

Round 5 – 1990 Jack Clark (Padres) $ 3,700,546
Need to use the nominated players.
Jack Clark (1B) – 442 PA, .270/.445/.533/.978 B/D
Comments: Hoping to bat Clark and his .445 OBP in from of Bonds and play him in the outfield- what can go wrong?

Round 6 – 2010 Placido Polanco (Phillies) $5,480,154
Need to use nominated players another pitching option.
Placido Polanco (2B/3B) – 602 PA, .302/.342/.378/.720 B/C and A+/A
Roy Oswalt - 212 IPs, 2.34 ERC, 0.67 HR
Comments: Need to fill 2 of 3 spots (2B, SS, 3B) – can use Polanco at 3B and move Pedro Guerreo to OF since he qualifies there as C/D+ provides some flexibility and defensive replacement. Oswalt is an upgrade to Lester and Lackey, turned out I didn’t use any of them.

Round 7 – 1990 Tony Pena (Red Sox) $4,757,112
Need to use nominated players another pitching option. (Maybe 100 PAs from Pena)
Tony Pena ( C ) – 540 PA, .264/.322/.346/.668 A/A/B
Roger Clemens – 229 IPs, 2.31 ERC, 0.25 HR
Comments: I want to boost my rotation with one of the “Pena” Clemens but salary cap concerns surface after picking a $4.8M Pena that I won’t use much. Thought about taking a Jimmy Rollins here but the good hitting options were off of the table and the remaining ones were either good fielding/no bat or worse fielding/better bat. At this point any will do. Need to resolve my infield teammates ASAP.

Round 8 – 2002 Jimmy Rollins (Phillies) $5,472,846
Need to use nominated players.
Jimmy Rollins (SS) – 710 PA, .246/.305/.366/.671 A/B+
Comments: Four Jimmy Rollins are selected since my last pick, courtesy of a run started by Schwarze, then - Mllama, HappyHours, and Football (Go Browns!) leaving me with a good fielding SS with no bat but that will have to do. This draft is a death by a thousand cuts.

Round 9 – 2009 Howie Kendrick (Angels) $3,083,585
Need to use nominated players.
Howie Kendrick (2B) – 400 PA, .289/.331/.420/.751 A/C+
Comments: Between the group, Kendrick/Polanco/Pedro Guerreo will man 2B/3B and Rollins at SS. Less than ideal but should be enough with the strong starting pitching. Need to cut salary so that I can fit Bonds. Hopefully, unlike other 16x16 drafts, salary cap won’t be an issue for other owners and I can sneak in the $17.6M Bonds. The pending Uribe and Isringhausen landmines need to be avoided.

Round 10 – 2007 Darren Oliver (Angels) $751,681
Need to use nominated players.
Darren Oliver – 64 IPs, 2.97 ERC, 0.55 HR
Comments: I needed approximately 50 innings to supplement my starters. Oliver was the last option. Need to sweat another round before I start dumping salary cap.

Round 11 – 2015 Juan Uribe (Braves) $1,013,325
Need to dump salary.
Juan Uribe (3B) – 167 PA, .290/.360/.456/.816 B/D
Comments: Got to dump some salary and I can actually use Uribe as a PH option. Just need to avoid the expensive Isringhausen now.

Round 12 – 2012 Jason Isringhausen (Angels) $751,681
Need to dump salary.
Jason Isringhausen - 46 IPs, 4.12 ERC, 1.08 HR
Mike Trout (OF) – 639 PA, .330/.404/.549/.953 B+/A+
Comments: Isringhausen will mop up for the team. Trout can be a big upgrade to the OF defense but I will have to drop Pedro Guerrero from 3B. I opted to keep Guerrero because Trout has not performed well for me in the past. I will be able to fit Bonds under the cap.

Round 13 – 2003 Mark Guthrie (Cubs) $651,634
Need to dump salary.
Mark Guthrie – 43 IPs, 4.45 ERC, 1.00 HR
Mark Prior – 212 IPs, 2.55 ERC, 0.48 HR
Comments: I was on the road at least an hour from home and my computer when Schwarze let me know that I was up. I knew I could use Mark Prior instead of Roy Oswalt – less homeruns, walks and more strike outs but more of a personal preference and a push in ability. I didn’t recall any teammate options and I didn’t want to hold up the draft, so I pulled the trigger. It was the right move. Guthrie will be a bench coach.

And under the category of “because I have to”
Round 14 – Rodney
Round 15 – Jorgensen

Hitters:
C: Mike Scioscia/Tony Pena
1B: Miguel Cabrera
2B: Howie Kendrick/Juan Uribe
SS: Jimmy Rollins
3B: Pedro Guerrero/Placido Polanco
OF: Barry Bonds
OF: Dale Murphy
OF: Jack Clark (some Guerrero)

Pitching:
SP – Orel Hershiser
SP – Roger Clemens
SP – Mike Prior
SP – Fernando Valenzuela
LG – Darren Oliver
SU – Jake Arrieta
CL – Kyle Hendricks

Did I mention how much I hate these drafts?

"The choice does have two downsides. First, Wilkins only has 500 PAs, so I now have to worry about getting a somewhat usable Pena and there aren’t many of those left. Secondly, that left Piazza on the board and Schwarze seemed way too happy about getting him in round 9."

I preferred Rick Wilkins, but that option was taken off the board (by you) before I was ready to go in that direction. I was happy to get Piazza only because he was the *only* decent hitting catcher left available to me.

Teammate Analysis

I'm using whatever position players show up in using the player search, so take this for what it's worth.

Hitter/Pitcher split
Schwarze already touched on this some, but a little extra color.

Average split = 3.6 hitters / 5.4 pitchers
- 7 owners used 3 hitters / 6 pitchers
- 8 owners used 4 hitters / 5 pitchers
- 1 owner (ronthegenius) used 5 hitters /4 pitchers!!!

Hitter Breakdown
- 10 owners went with a Catcher teammate (I'm including Victor Martinez even though he is listed as a DH). 4 owners went with a Mike Piazza.
- 10 owners went with a 1B. There were 3 Giambis, 2 McGwires, 2 Heltons, and 2 Pujolses.
- Only 1 owner went with a 2B, that was Utley (pedrocerrano).
- 6 owners with with a 3B. No duplicates.
- 4 owners went with a SS. Again no duplicates, but A-Rod was chosen once as a 3B and once as a SS.
- 27 total OF teammates were chosen. Both Abreu and Trout were selected 4 times.

Pitcher Breakdown
- 69 of the 86 pitcher teammates are classified as SP. I don't really believe that as Pedro, Cliff Lee, Maddux, Arrieta, etc. all are listed as RP, so it must be classifying based on how they've been used so far?
- Based on IP, there were 4 true relievers taken with between 55 and 107 innings--Jake McGee, Armando Benitez, Tarik Skubal, and Duane Ward.
- There were another 9 pitchers with between 134 and 189 innings.
- Overall, 21 teammate pitchers with under 200 innings and 65 with over 200.
- Steve Rogers had the most IP with 301 innings.
- Kershaw (7), Clemens (6), and Verlander (5) were the most common teammate picks.

Nice insights Football, it is interesting. Thanks for sharing. Not surprised by Kershaw, Clemens and Verlander, during the draft I looked at all of them as possible options.

Posted by footballmm11 on 11/17/2023 5:05:00 PM (view original):
Teammate Analysis

I'm using whatever position players show up in using the player search, so take this for what it's worth.

Hitter/Pitcher split
Schwarze already touched on this some, but a little extra color.

Average split = 3.6 hitters / 5.4 pitchers
- 7 owners used 3 hitters / 6 pitchers
- 8 owners used 4 hitters / 5 pitchers
- 1 owner (ronthegenius) used 5 hitters /4 pitchers!!!

Hitter Breakdown
- 10 owners went with a Catcher teammate (I'm including Victor Martinez even though he is listed as a DH). 4 owners went with a Mike Piazza.
- 10 owners went with a 1B. There were 3 Giambis, 2 McGwires, 2 Heltons, and 2 Pujolses.
- Only 1 owner went with a 2B, that was Utley (pedrocerrano).
- 6 owners with with a 3B. No duplicates.
- 4 owners went with a SS. Again no duplicates, but A-Rod was chosen once as a 3B and once as a SS.
- 27 total OF teammates were chosen. Both Abreu and Trout were selected 4 times.

Pitcher Breakdown
- 69 of the 86 pitcher teammates are classified as SP. I don't really believe that as Pedro, Cliff Lee, Maddux, Arrieta, etc. all are listed as RP, so it must be classifying based on how they've been used so far?
- Based on IP, there were 4 true relievers taken with between 55 and 107 innings--Jake McGee, Armando Benitez, Tarik Skubal, and Duane Ward.
- There were another 9 pitchers with between 134 and 189 innings.
- Overall, 21 teammate pitchers with under 200 innings and 65 with over 200.
- Steve Rogers had the most IP with 301 innings.
- Kershaw (7), Clemens (6), and Verlander (5) were the most common teammate picks.

Even more important than number of pitchers is probably the IP. Assuming all Teammate innings will be used, you can see how many Nominated innings each owner will have to rely on.

Pitcher Teammate Summary

Owner	Tmt IP	Tmt #
njbigwig	1338	6
calhoop	1315	6
footballmm11	1260	6
schwarze	1218	6
cholatse	1212	6
pedrocerrano	1202	5
mllama54	1199	5
grayfoxx	1137	6
primetimetw	1133	5
3dayrotation	1110	5
joerat1	1106	6
beallendall	1087	5
happyhours	1086	5
eblankenstei	1055	5
jtpsops	1034	5
ronthegenius	1012	4

- ronthegenius, naturally, has the fewest innings but did squeak out over 1000 from his 4 teammate pitchers. He got another 235 "good" innings from nominated pitchers, bringing him to 1247. This did cost him his first 5 picks (and 6 of his first 8) in the draft. The rest of his innings will come from the 198-innings Darren Oliver (3.76 ERC#), so that's the main risk from his strategy.
- jtpsops is next-lowest and he didn't supplement with a big-inning nominated pitcher, so he's rolling with just 1365 innings, by far the lowest. And even then, about 150 of those are 3.47 ERC# or higher. Will be interesting to see if the pitching holds up. Unlike rtg, jtp didn't spend many premium picks on relievers--he nominated Isringhausen and picked Oliver in Round 1 but didn't pick another reliever until Round 10.
- At the other end, njbigwig, calhoop, and I are relying almost solely on nominated pitchers. We only got 3 teammate hitters but the flip side was we didn't need to spend picks on nominated pitchers. njbigwig picked 4 relievers in the last 6 rounds, calhoop was 3 of his last 4, and for me it was all 4 of my last picks. Ostensibly, this means we got to spend earlier picks on better hitters and/or players that brought in better teammates.

Great analysis. Thanks!

"10 owners went with a 1B. There were 3 Giambis, 2 McGwires, 2 Heltons, and 2 Pujolses."

I actually went with two 1B. Delgado is playing 1B, Pujols is at 3B (even though it's not a 3B-eligible season).

Nice writeup njbigwig. Somehow I missed it the first time. Love The Munsters references.

I am always ready to play the moment I see that there is a new 16 x 16 draft extravaganza.

Nominee - 2002 Darren Oliver - Red Sox. This version is much different than any of the others. Since all starting pitching would have to be committed to teammate picks, I tried to think of a team where I could maximize this. I went to the 2002 Red Sox first and stumbled on to Darren Oliver. 21 eligible seasons with a 12 RP/ 9 SP split was ideal for the nominating criteria. The 1.67 WHIP 2002 Red Sox season was the cheapest of all of his career which would give me a decent draft position in Round 1 but worthless as a contributor. Needless to say, 2002 Pedro and Derek Lowe are locks. Tim Wakefield is also an option if the overall SP teammate pool gets really depleted. Manny has a big year and Nomar may be worth a look in any ordinary 16 x 16 but not this version. I could have taken a little more time and looked at a much more usable Alan Embree from the same team but attention span is not my strong suit. Then again, I could have remembered the 2015 Dodgers but didn't. Side note - As a rule, I am always one of the very first to announce a nominee and have probably always changed my nominee during the process.

Round 1.4 - 2011 Jimmy Rollins - Phillies. I noticed that BeAllEndAll had nominated 2011 Polanco and saw that he got 3 decent pitchers with 200+ IP as teammates. I figured if I took this Rollins, his 631 PA would be enough to not require any backup shortstop consideration and I would now already have 5 pitching teammates adding 2011 Halladay, Cliff Lee and Hamels. Not a great pick but it does allow me to focus on other things in future rounds. By the way, focus is not a strong suit either.

Round 2.12 - 1995 Mark Guthrie - Dodgers - I don't know how many position players I will need as teammates but catcher was guaranteed. I am able to get a good Piazza year and yet another good 200+IP pitcher in Hideo Nomo.

Round 3.9 - 2005 Placido Polanco - Tigers - Given how few position player teammates I expect to roster, I needed as many good high PA/162 seasons from as many of the nominees as possible. This Polanco has several good fielding ratings including A+/B+ at 2b, B+/B- at 3b and even A/B- in the OF. Flexibility is going to be key in putting together this roster.

Round 4.12 - 1974 Mike Jorgensen - Expos - A really great season with a really usable 369 PA/162 and a decent OF rating as well (if range doesn't matter). When the draft started, this player was at the top of my must-have list. Small consolation however for missing out on the 2006 and 2007 3b eligible Cabreras picked a few picks earlier

Round 5.8 - 2009 Miguel Cabrera - Tigers - Biting the bullet here, I took the best Cabrera available. Decent 1b fielding but no other eligibility.

Round 6.12 - 2017 Howie Kendrick - Phillies - Went with the partial season which featured a .340 BA as well as a 2b rating of B-/D- as opposed to the full season D/D-. Both full and partial are also OF-rated

Round 7.11 - 1980 Jack Clark - Giants - I needed an OF Clark and I was happy that this 500+ PA version was available.

Round 8-12 - 2008 Izzy - Cardinals - At this point, I needed a position player teammate (preferably 3b or OF). I had given up on finding any usable pitching from the remaining nominees as all of their good seasons were long gone. 2008 was arguably Albert Pujols best year and I am looking no further. No rating at 3b, no rating in the OF. But he is rated at 2b.

Round 9.9 - 1977 Dale Murphy - Braves - His highest BA season is still available! Only 76 PA and at catcher but it helps me with salary cap (a total non-issue by now) and in the draft order. Translation: I missed out on any of his valuable seasons and have to punt here.

Round 10.7 - 1987 Candy Maldonado - Giants - I was not looking at Candy at all but after whiffing on Murphy I took another look. This is one of his most useful seasons so I feel lucky that he is still available. Maybe I can rely on luck to balance the lack of attention and focus.

Round 11.8 - 1995 Tony Pena - Indians - I am still looking at adding a teammate 3b and there is no other Pena I care about so I will reserve the option on 1995 Jim Thome here. Had up to now still been weighing the option of carrying 2002 Wakefield as my 7th pitcher teammate. Never once considered an outright reliever teammate. Officially giving up that ghost with the amount of PA I am going to max out at if I were to.

Round 12.7 - 2007 Joe Smith - Mets - Bringing in 2007 David Wright to compete for the last roster spot with 95 Thome.

Round 13.7 - 2016 Fernando Rodney - Marlins - After totally ignoring any of the available nominee pitching seasons over the past several rounds I figured that I might as well see what I have been missing. This Rodney season was about the most "usable" I can find and he will actually be my "closer". Ugh.

Round 14.5 - 1996 Alan Embree - Indians. Yes, another 3b candidate enters the chat. 1996 Thome. In the final analysis, I decided to go with David Wright because of his fielding at 3b. Really probably need a lefty bat more but it is what it is.

Round 15.5 - 2006 Juan Uribe - all the backup shortstop at-bats I will need. Then again, he may see some OF.

Speaking of defense, Albert Pujols is playing CF. So far, so good.

As for rotation - 4 RHP starters - Halladay, Nomo, Pedro and Lowe. 2 LHP long relievers - Hamels and Cliff Lee.
Occasionally, we will rest all 6 and go with a few innings from each of the 6 nominees.

Polanco rides the South Lake Union Taxi
Nominated player: 2011 Placido Polanco (# - .282/.340/.335, A/A), Philadelphia Phillies

This is my 1^st 16X16 draft and I’m not sure how to play this. Is there a little “screw your neighbor” motif here? Maybe. Maybe not. Looks like it may not be a bad idea to keep that in mind when nominating my player. I’m the last person to join so I’m going to speed my way through the only two available positions: RP and C. But I need to strategize how I am going to build this team.

This pick should give me the most reward of the entire draft so it needs to be a good one. I only have 9 spots to fill and am starting with no SP’s as an exclusive. Ideally, 3 good SP’s with 300+ innings would be perfect and allow for 6 other positions to be “upgraded”. But being we’re between 1973 and 2023, this won’t be an option. There are 32 pitchers with 300+ IP’s and only 7 of them I would consider drafting. Looks like we will go with either a 4 man or 5 man rotation. With a 4 man rotation I could upgrade 4 position spots and a bullpen spot. If I go 5, I’ll have to forgo a RP and try to get the best I can from the nominated relievers. I would focus on finding a nominated player who could fill at least 2 SP spots, 3 if I could be so lucky.

I started researching RP’s and had narrowed it down to 2018/20 Oliver Perez, 2011 Joaquin Benoit, 2017/19 Andrew Miller, 1993/94 Mike Jackson, and 1993/94 Jose Mesa before the rules change. With the new rule, my choices became either a C or any position player. I ended up with any position player and went to work again.

This time I started by grouping draftable SP’s by team that I would like to draft: 2015 LAD, 2017 LAD, 1975 LAD, 1994-98 ATL, 2019 HOU, 2002 BOS, and 2017 PHI. I could get 2015 Dodgers with Carl Crawford or Chase Utley. In hindsight, one of them should have been my pick but for some strange reason I decided not to add another Kershaw/Greinke 2015 duo to the league and try a different route. I then considered some of the Maddux seasons which could easily be drafted by picking Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff, Andruw Jones, Terry Pendleton, or any other number of players who were available with him in a season or two. But the idea of having to face a possible 6 other Maddux’s deterred me from wanting to go this route.

I was close on 1975 Davey Lopes and the Dodgers. I would have gained 4 SP’s that would give me a complete rotation of Messersmith, Rau, Sutton, and Hooton. But then I compared these guys to some of the other P’s who I could easily see would be available and decided that again, I didn’t want to bring better pitchers into the pool than what I was drafting and this pick would have added better Sutton years, 86 Mike Scott, 80 Reuss, and 81 Valenzuela to an already talent filled pitchers pool.

The next best team with more than 2 SP’s I could find were the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies. They had SP’s Cole Hamels (# - 2.28 ERC, 1.01 WHIP, 0.67 HR/9), Cliff Lee (# - 2.48 ERC, 1.05 WHIP, 0.59 HR/9), and Roy Halladay (# - 2.30 ERC, 1.07 WHIP, 0.32 HR/9) to start with. I could get them with Utley, Ibanez, or Polanco. I opted for Polanco as I felt he added the least to the pitching pool.

Going into round 1 I had Hamels, Halladay, and Lee penciled in as permanent along with Polanco. Now we draft!

Round 1.14 2013 Juan Uribe (# - .284/.338/.435, A/C) , Los Angeles Dodgers – I had 3 starting pitchers and knew I needed 1 more at least. 02 and 98 Embree went right away. That’s not surprising. 17 Kendrick, 16 Kendrick, 16 Smith, 14 Uribe, 10 Oliver… pitchers were flying off the board. BY the time it got to me I was relieved to see I could draft 2013 Juan Uribe and get SP Clayton Kershaw (# - 1.72 ERC, 0.95 WHIP, 0.35 HR/9) to be our ace. We may even be able to get away with a 4-man rotation which would allow me to add RP Kenley Jansen. Uribe is not a great player and he or Polanco may need to start for us at 3B, maybe even platoon. SS Hanley Ramirez (# - .352/.409/.635, 5 HR/100) would be a good addition, but he is a platoon player and I would need to pair him with a Rollins with at least 290 PA’s. Not a lot of bang for a 1^st round pick but I needed an ace and if I can keep Ramirez and Jansen on the team, this may work out ok.

Round 2.13 2014 Howie Kendrick (# - .298/.354/.393, B/B), Anaheim Angels – I had been debating between running a 4 or 5 man rotation. Although I had 4 SP’s with over 200 innings, I just didn’t feel safe knowing that my bullpen was going to be mostly garbage and my starters would average less than 7 innings per game. After all, Jansen can’t pitch every game, can he? Nope, better draft one more starter. That brought me to 2014 Howie Kendrick from the Anaheim Angels. Kendrick can start at 2B and he brings with him OF Mike Trout (# - .292/.384/.558, 5 HR/100) and SP Garrett Richards (# - 2.12 ERC, 1.08 WHIP, 0.22 HR/9). Richards completes our rotation and will hopefully minimize our bullpen exposure. Trout gives us some much-needed pop and defense. I’m still trying to land Jansen but if I keep Ramirez, plus trout and my 5 SP’s, that leaves me only one more upgrade…

Round 3.14 2001 Jason Isringhausen (# - 2.01 ERC, 1.07 WHIP, 0.46 HR/9), Oakland Athletics – I knew I needed at least 2 decent relievers. If I could find one with a good position player it might work out. There were only 7 RP seasons with ERC# below 2.00 and 2 of them were nominations and one was the 1^st pick in the draft while another was the 1^st pick of the 2^nd round. That left 2 Isringhausen seasons and a 29 IP Fernando Rodney season. The 2004 Isringhausen brought no one with him but the 2007 version brought a nice Pujols. The only problem is, we are already right-handed heavy on this team and we needed to at least attempt to balance out. That brought us to the 2001 Jason Isringhausen of the Oakland Athletics. He’s almost as good as the latter two and he brings with him a very nice Jason Giambi (# - .340/.474/.638, 5 HR/100) season. I could also consider using Tejada at SS rather than Ramirez if need be. It’s always good to have more options. Now that I have Giambi @ $9.4M and Trout @ $8.7M, I no longer have room for Jansen and I’m high on my salary cap.

Round 4.13 2011 Darren Oliver, Texas Rangers – I wanted to get my catcher situation resolved. Since I decided I didn’t have enough salary to carry an extra stud RP that I would use the extra upgrade spot on a C. There were a lot of Piazza and Pudge seasons out there but the season that caught my eye was the 2011 Matt Napoli (# - .322/.418/.619, 6 HR/100) season. That would come with drafting RP 2011 Darren Oliver from Texas. Not Oliver’s best season but it’s definitely in the top 3 or 4.

Assuming I keep Ramirez, I have now drafted all 9 of my upgrade positions: C – Napoli, 1B – Giambi, SS – Ramirez, CF – Trout, SP1 – Kershaw, SP2 – Hamels, SP3 – Halladay, SP4 – Lee, SP5 – Richards. I just needed to fill in the best of the nominated players available…and maybe add some talent to the pool so I can second guess myself later on.

Round 5.07 1996 Tony Pena (# - .190/.246/.213, B/B/A), Cleveland Indians – I’m not sure what I was thinking here and am just going to come out and say it…THIS IS THE WORST PICK OF THE ENTIRE DRAFT! Seriously. It really is a bad pick and I’m struggling with any type of justification for making such an erroneous decision. Being that I had been riding a bit high on salary I must have felt I needed to capture enough PA’s with an A or better arm for as cheap as I could get it. Otherwise, not only were there better options from Pena that I could ultimately afford but there were better options I needed to fill. In hindsight, I should have grabbed either 09 Cabrera or 82 Murphy, both of whom were available and on my short list. But, no, I drafted back-up C 1996 Tony Pena from the Indians and although he comes with many usable players (Franco, Thome, Belle, Lofton, Ramirez, Seitzer, Carreon) none of them would make the final team. This was a wasted pick.

Round 6.05 1980 Dale Murphy (# - .283/.353/.514, 5 HR/100), Atlanta Braves – At this point of the draft I needed to solidify LF, RF, and SS. Murphy and Cabrera would be our OF’s and Rollins will platoon with Ramirez at SS. I decided to fill the OF positions 1^st. And then I needed to draft my RP’s, followed by Rollins, Clark, Jorgensen, and Maldonado. There were more decent Cabrera options than decent Murphy options so we drafted RF 1980 Dale Murphy from the Braves. He plays good defense and paired with Trout, should lockdown a majority of the OF.

Round 7.10 2004 Miguel Cabrera (# - .293/.364/.491, 4 HR/100), Florida Marlins – This is pretty much the last decent Cabrera and I need him. He doesn’t bring anyone with him although Juan Pierre was given some consideration. But he couldn’t supplant Trout and he doesn’t play SS…too bad.

Round 8.11 2013 Fernando Rodney (# - 3.00 ERC, 1.36 WHIP, 0.31 HR/9), Tampa Bay Rays – Now that my starters are all figured out, I could concentrate on RP’s. And I probably wouldn’t be the only one. Decided on Rodney here again due to availability of other pitchers later in the draft. This bullpen is going to suck. I sure hope I don’t have to use them much. The Rays didn’t have anyone of note to bring with Rodney.

Round 9.11 2006 Alan Embree (# - 2.93 ERC, 1.12 WHIP, 0.90 HR/9), San Diego Padres – Best of the relievers available to me. I was actually torn between the 06 and 04 versions and changed my mind at the last minute. He’s slightly better than Rodney who I picked the previous round. He could be worse. The 06 Padres also offered little to the pool beyond a couple of stud relievers that I didn’t have roster spots for.

Round 10.09 1990 Mark Guthrie (# - 3.67 ERC, 1.33 WHIP, 0.45 HR/9), Minnesota Twins – Although this isn’t the best Guthrie, he was not only the best one available, he also comes with 145 innings. No one usable comes with him but those extra innings may come in handy.

Round 11.09 2013 Joe Smith (# - 3.21 ERC, 1.25 WHIP, 0.55 HR/9), Cleveland Indians – This is the last RP I need to draft and 2013 is the best available. No one useful comes with him. Kind of glad I drafted my upgrades early.

Round 12.10 1986 Jack Clark (# - .241/.366/.424, 3 HR/100), St. Louis Cardinals – Initially this was going to be my Rollins pick. I didn’t want to get stuck with ’00 Rollins as he didn’t have enough PA’s to platoon with Ramirez. I decided late the night before to switch to ’86 Clark so I could add Ozzie Smith to my pool of SS just in case I did and had to drop Ramirez. In the morning I saw ’00 Rollins was drafted and I would get a version with plenty of PA’s. But then I noticed cholatse had jumped and he didn’t take a Rollins. If I stick with ’86 Clark I could jump ahead of cholatse and take a Rollins of my choosing. And who knows, maybe I still drop Ramirez and upgrade somewhere else…

Round 13.09 2012 Jimmy Rollins (# - .254/.321/.418, A-/D-), Philadelphia Phillies – What a difference a year makes. In 2011, Philly had pitching and hitting to offer. One year later and it’s a ghost town. Nada. Nothing. Zilch. Oh well. Rollins will platoon with Ramirez, unless I 2^nd guess myself and replace him. Then Rollins will either start full-time or sit full-time.

Round 14.13 1984 Mike Jorgensen (# - .253/.324/.353, 4 2B/100), Atlanta Braves – Had to wait for a while to make this pick. It’s pretty insignificant in the whole scheme of things as Jorgensen won’t be called for much. The 84 Braves only offer an ineligible Dale Murphy.

Round 15.12 1984 Candy Maldonado (# - .271/.323/.388, 5 2B/100), Los Angeles Dodgers – I got this pick by default. Like Jorgensen, he will rarely be called in to play. The Dodgers didn’t offer much help, like many of the remaining players/teams.

Outlook: I think I really bombed this draft. That Pena pick cost me a better Cabrera along with better RP’s. I also think I should have nominated 2015 Carl Crawford so I could have a Greinke/Kershaw combo, too. We’re currently 1-7 to start the season and we’re 0-3 in 1-run games. We just experienced our 1^st major meltdown from the bullpen, blew a 7 run lead in the 9^th to lose 8-7. What’s worse than being unlucky? Being unlucky AND BAD. We’ll be lucky to avoid 90 losses this season. When does next season start?

calhoop & BeAllEndAll - thanks for the writeups!