White Sox 1964, 1957, 1972, 2019, 2002

Why do I always get suckered in to taking the 1964 White Sox in these type of themes? They always disappoint me. I love the depth this team has. Joe Horlen (1.78) leads the pitching staff, with Hoyt Wilhelm (1.87) and Eddie Fisher (2.10) providing 257 innings of solid relief. I have three more players I wanted to use but can only pick two. Juan Pizarro (2.52) ended up making the team. 3B Pete Ward (.282, .355, .473, A++) and SS Ron Hansen (.261, .354, .419, A++) are both in the mix, but I had to wait and see how things played out.

Not surprisingly, most of the really good offensive seasons have been scooped up. I decide to try and get some high-average guys who can play defense to try and make my good pitching even better. The 1957 White Sox gives me some nice hitters including Nellie Fox (.317, .404, .415, A++), Minnie Minoso (.310, .409, .454) and Larry Doby (.288, .375, .464). Earl Torgenson (.286, .404, .428) is a pinch hitter. Billy Pierce (2.76) gives me my third SP.

I feel pretty good about my first two seasons, as I got 9-10 usable players. I still want to focus on offense. I missed out on all the good Frank Thomas seasons, so I select the 1972 White Sox in order to get stud 1B, Dick Allen (.308, .433, 623). Outfielder Carlos May (.308, .417, .459) can also hit, but is my worse defensive player (B/D-). Sadly, Ed Hermann (.249, .345, .378, A+ arm) has to catch for my team. I add 397 innings of SP Wilbur Wood (2.83) and RP Terry Forster (2.57) will walk a lot of guys but won't give up any HRs.

At this point in the draft, I still had six 1964 White Sox loaded on my Team Center. I needed to decide what I was going to do at 3B and SS. I also wanted to add some more relief pitching. The 2019 White Sox allowed me to upgrade at both 3B Yoan Moncada (.315, .371, .519) and SS Tim Anderson (.335, .360, .479). But neither player can play 162 games, so I still have to keep either Ward or Hansen. I get the other half of my catching position, with James McCann (.273, .332, .431). The last two spots go to decent RPs, Aaron Brummer (1.83) and Jimmy Cordero (2.09).

With one pick left, I wanted one more OF, a few more RPs and a backup 3B or SS. The 2002 White Sox provides me a really good Magglio Ordonez (.320, .380, 575), I get to add a couple of good RPs, Keith Foulke (2.24) and Damaso Marte (2.27). Infielder D'Angelo Jimenez (.287, .383, .386) can play 2B, 3B and SS so Pete Ward gets the axe. The last pick, Kenny Lofton (.259, .347, .397) is nothing more than a defensive replacement (A+/A).

Outlook:
I have no Ed Walsh, no Doc White, no Frank Smith, no dead-ball pitchers at all on this team. I have no Joe Jackson, no Frank Thomas, no Eddie Collins. This team does not resemble any of the other White Sox teams. Three of my four SPs throw left-handed and the White Sox have a lot of right-handed hitters. y two best hitters are right-handed power hitters that will see mostly right-handed dead-ball pitchers. This probably is not going to end well for me. Probability of advancing 35%

Don't Yankee on Ruth's Chain
Yankees (1927, 2005, 1924, 1940, 2016)

I was fortunate to get in early and grab the 1927 Yankees. A slam dunk selection, even if it meant drafting last. This team brought Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs and Waite Hoyt, though I would later drop Combs to add Wilcy Moore to the rotation.

I had to wait a while for my next selection, but went with 2005 to fill some big gaps with great players. Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Randy Johnson and Mariano Rivera meant I had my entire lineup filled out with just two picks, as well as closer and 2/4 of my rotation (3/4 after adding Moore).

My next selections were back to back, with 1924 and 1940. This meant I could afford to add another Babe Ruth, knowing what my 4th team would be right away. 1924 brought Ruth, Herb Pennock, and solid bench players in Ernie Johnson, Irish Meusel and Joe Dugan.

My 1940 selection brought me a good Joe DiMaggio to replace Combs, more solid bench options in Buster Mills and Tommy Henrich, a good Setup man/spot starter in Tony Bonham, and Johnny Murphy.

My final selection was to beef up my pen: 2016. This selection brought Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, along with Masahiro Tanaka to improve my rotation. Also Carlos Beltran for the bench, and Gary Sanchez to backup Posada.

At the risk of jinxing myself, I have to think this is one of the strongest teams in the tournament. But time will tell.

Hitting:

Jeter (SS) - .309/.389/.450 (A-/B+)
Ruth (LF) - .378/.513/.739 (C-/.B-)
Gehrig (1B) - .373/.474/.765 (B/A+)
Ruth (RF) - .356/.487/.772 (C/B-)
Rodriguez (3B) - .321/.421/.610 (A/C-)
DiMaggio (CF) - .352/.425/.626 (B-/A)
Lazzeri (2B) - .309/.383/.482 (B-/B-)
Posada (C) - 262/.352/.420 (A/A-/C+)

TOTALS: .325/.411/.567 395 2B, 365 HR, 965 BB

Pitching:

Tanaka - 199.2 IP, 147 ERC+
Johnson - 226 IP, 126 ERC+
Hoyt - 270 IP, 151 ERC+
Moore - 225 IP, 175 ERC+
Pennock - 306 IP, 128 ERC+
Bonham - 105 IP, 229 ERC+
Murphy - 67 IP, 150 ERC+
Chapman - 58 IP, 311 ERC+
Miller - 74 IP, 325 ERC+
Rivera - 79 IP, 287 ERC+

TOTALS: 1,609.2 IP, .237 OAV, 1.93 BB/9, 0.58 HR/9

Gigantes Gigantes
Giants (1930, 1993, 1964, 1918, 1922)

This felt like another slam dunk starting team, given that it filled 5 lineup spots with great hitters who are also very good on defense. I also somehow still ended up with the 4th draft pick. Bill Terry, Travis Jackson, Freddy Linstrom, Mel Ott and Shanty Hogan are a great start, though pitching would dry up a little more quickly than I expected. The other issue with the Giants was they had some very good pitchers (like '33 Hubbell) on teams that offered little to nothing else, so it was hard to justify taking them in the first couple rounds.

My first draft pick was 1993. A pretty good non-peak Barry Bonds, along with Robby Thompson (if nothing else, this team will have great defense). Bill Swift, John Burkett and Rod Beck were solid additions on the pitching side, if no other improvements presented themselves.

Next up, 1964. This team brought Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry, along with Billy Pierce for bullpen depth, Willie Mays, and Orlando Cepeda.

1918 was a solid pick for the fourth round, bringing Fred Toney, Slim Sallee and Pol Perritt to bolster the pitching staff, and Benny Kauff and Ross Youngs for the bench.

I rounded out my draft with 1922, bringing depth options in Frankie Frisch, Dave Bancroft, Frank Snyder, Casey Stengel and Virgil Barnes.

I'm cautiously optimistic about this team. They're well rounded, great defense, and the pitching staff doesn't walk many hitters, so they should compliment each other well.

Hitting:

Lindstrom (3B) - .379/.425/.575 (B-/B-)
Terry (1B) - .401/.452/.619 (B+/A+)
Bonds (RF) - .336/.458/.677 (B/C)
Ott (RF) - .349/.458/.578 (C/B)
Mays (CF) - .296/.383/.607 (B/A)
Jackson (SS) - .339/.386/.529 (B-/A-)
Hogan (C) - .339/.378/.517 (C+/C/C)
Thompson (2B) - .312/.375/.418 (A-/A-)

TOTALS: .335/.403/.524 425 2B, 269 HR, 826 BB

Pitching:

Swift - 233 IP, 154 ERC+
Marichal - 269 IP, 137 ERC+
Perry - 207 IP, 134 ERC+
Burkett - 232 IP, 128 ERC+
Perritt - 305 IP, 124 ERC+
Sallee - 173 IP, 139 ERC+
Pierce - 49 IP, 139 ERC+
Barnes - 55 IP, 183 ERC+
Toney - 112 IP, 247 ERC+
Beck - 80 IP, 193 ERC+

TOTALS: 1,715 IP, .235 OAV, 1.61 BB/9, 0.56 HR/9

Reds 1924, 1970, 2014, 2018, 1982

When I selected the 1924 Reds, I didn't really spend enough time researching my options. Eight seasons were already taken, including 2020, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1940, 1925, 1923 ad 1919. I liked 1972 & 1974 but thought there was a chance I could get one of those years in the draft if I had a high enough pick. I selected 1924 mainly due to their .542 win% which netted me the 4th pick of the draft. I ended up rostering four pitchers from this season, including starters Eppa Rixey (2.37), Rube Benton (2.73) and Carl Mays (2.92) plus short-inning RP, Pedro Dibut (1.68). On the hitting side, I chose OF Edd Roush (.348, .372, .496) over Rube Bressler (.347, .385, .478). I would have selected both OFs but I needed Mays as my SP4.

3dayrotation grabbed 1972 two picks after I selected 1924, so now I'm hoping 1974 makes it to me. The first three picks in round one were 1969, 1973, 1964. I was almost certainly taking 1974 but then I noticed the 1970 Reds had even better hitting. '70 Johnny Bench (.293, .345, .582) was better than '74 Bench. '70 Pete Rose (.316, .384, .465) was better than '74 Pete Rose, '70 Bobby Tolan (.316, .384, 470) was better than '74 Tony Perez. And when comparing the best hitter on each team, '70 Tony Perez (.317, .401, .585) was slightly better offensively than '74 Joe Morgan (.293, .428, .502), although to be honest, I'd rather have the left-handed hitting 2B over the right-handed 3B. But in all the other cases, 1970 > 1974. Oh, and I forgo to mention, the best hitter from both teams is a 467-PA season of '70 Bernie Carbo (.310, .454, .546). So I had to take 1970 here.

I am stunned that 1974 lasted all the way to pick #12 (njbigwig). That's a steal. I was looking for a season with some pitching, including at least one SP. The 2014 Reds best pitcher is Johnny Cueto (2.29). This season also nets me RPs Aroldis Chapman (1.24) and Jonathon Broxton (2.25). I wanted a long-relief guy and Matt Latos (3.08) is not terrible. The last player to make the roster is an infielder who can play 2B, 3B and SS and will come in for defense for Perez at 3B, Kristopher Negron (.271, .340, .479). I was very happy to get 450 very usable innings here.

Long wait between picks. I still need a 1B, 2B, SS plus more pitching (we always need more pitching, right?). The 2018 Reds was the perfect fit. I get 1B Joey Votto (.284, .423, .409), 2B Scooter Gennett (.310, .363, .479, A+) and RPs Jared Hughes (2.17) and David Hernandez (2.38) bolster the bullpen depth. I originally planned on keeping backup catcher Curt Casali (.293, .360, .439) but changed to SS Jose Peraza (.288, .331, .405).

It's about this point when I realized that I need to add pitchers Carl Mays and Rube Benton from 1924 in order to get enough innings. I still need one more decent SP and I also want a good fielding shortstop. The 1982 Reds don't have much but Mario Soto (2.49) instantly becomes my third best SP. Brad Lesley (1.88) adds 39 innings of nice relief. I get my starting shortstop, Dave Concepcion (.287, .341, .375). I added '18 Peraza so I'd have a backup SS since Concepcion only has 623 PA. I have no backup catcher but Bench has 671 PA. The last two players here are nothing more than backups, Dan Driessen (.269, .373, .426) and Cesar Cedeno (.289, .351, .418).

Outlook:
It's really hard to judge franchises like the Reds where the talent isn't even in the same ballpark as franchises like Giants or Dodgers. When I list all the Reds SPs (>200 ips), I have three of the top 18 (based on ERC#), so that's got to be good, right? The bullpen is strong and deep. The defense is good everywhere except 3B. I do have a lot of HRs, but there aren't that many Reds dead-ball pitchers who are any good. I feel like this team has a 75% chance of advancing to round 2.

Browns 1905, 1918, 1971, 2005, 1904

The selection of the 1905 Browns is certainly a head-scratcher. I knew I wanted some dead-ball pitchers. I knew I wanted to get a high draft pick and this team's .353 winning% would certainly do that. My spreadsheet listed George Stone (.296, .362, .446) with a 123 OPS+ as the team's best hitter. My brain must have confused the 1906 Browns (with the stud George Stone) and the 1905 Reds (with the stud Cy Seymour) and so I thought the 1905 Browns was the team with the stud George Stone's stud season, because I remember later (long after making this pick), looking at 1905 Stone's stats and thinking.. why did I pick this team again? Anyway, only 8 of my 16 teams can advance... so this looks like a throw-away team. I rostered SPs, Harry Howell (2.76) and Barney Pelty (3.09), RP Jack Powell (2.23). The fifth player is a defensive replacement, Ben Koehler.

When you screw up your initial selection, it's really hard to get motivated to put in maximum research. I decided to go all out with the dead-ball pitcher theme, so I selected the 1918 Browns to get SP Allen Sothoron (2.20). This season also gets me pitchers Rasty Wright (2.55), Urbam Shocker (2.52) and Byron Houck (2.82). Good luck hitting any HRs off of my pitching staff. The one hitter worth rostering from this team might be my team's best hitter, George Sisler (.341, .404, .472, A+).

Time to get some offense. The 1971 Orioles gets me five starting-quality batters... OFs Frank Robinson (.281, .390, .520), Don Buford (.290, .420, .486), and Merv Rettenmund (.318, .429, .458). Also 2B Davey Johnson (.282, .357, .453) and 3B Brooks Robinson (.272, .347, .422). I will probably rotate these three OFs with George Stone in a 4-man outfield-rotation.

That last pick was key, because I knew I was going to have to wait 22 picks before I got to select my final two teams (back to back). I still needed some innings plus a C and a SS. And if possible, I wanted to upgrade at 2B and/or 3B. The 2005 Orioles puzzle piece was a nice fit, as it provided me Brian Roberts (.314, .387, .493) which was a huge upgrade over Davey Johnson. Miguel Tejada (.304, .349, .493) is a good fielding, solid hitting SS that can play all 162 games. Melvin Mora (.283, .347, .452) may alternate at 3B with Brooks Robinson as they both have similar numbers. Javy Lopez (.278, .321.436) can't hit and can't throw out baserunners (D arm), but there's a rule in baseball that says somebody has to catch. I also get my team's only real RP, and closer, B.J. Ryan (2.37).

I wonder how many people drafted two years adjacent to each other. I select 1904 Browns because I can use a clone of Harry Howell (2.66). Also, after adding pitcher Fred Glade (2.76), I now have over 2000 innings of dead-ball pitching, with total of 13 home runs allowed. My entire pitching staff, except BJ Ryan are dead-ball guys. This should be interesting. I added Joe Sugden (.267, .348, .330) so I can have two catchers who can't hit a lick. The other two 1904 players I rostered are inconsequential.... Emmet Hendrick (A+ range in OF) and SS Bobby Wallace (.275, .347, .386).

Outlook:
Not promising. Power hitting teams may struggle to score against my pitchers, but high-average guys will light me up. It may not matter, because I don't know how I am going to score any runs. The St. Louis Browns are one of the worst franchises in baseball history and somehow I ended up with three teams from the Browns era. Probability of advancing to the next round = 20%.

Another year, another Juice-type tourney. Thanks to schwarze for taking over the administration for this, and also for sending the sitemail reminder to join up. I might well have missed this otherwise. As it was many of the places were already filled, including all of my beloved Yankees slots, but I’m happy that I was able to enter 4 teams. I’ll do my writeups in the order in which I made my initial team selections. They’ll probably be a bit sparse on strategic detail because I didn’t take notes contemporaneously, but I just got to use the word contemporaneously so I figure I’m already ahead of the game.

Putting on a Brave Face
Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Beaneaters/Doves/Bees/Braves

1996 Atlanta Braves
Once I chose my four franchises I started researching which two specific teams I would select first, and of the teams remaining this one jumped out at me. Not only did they have 2 of the top 9 200+ IP seasons in franchise history in terms of ERC# in John Smoltz (254 IP, 2.09 ERC#) and Greg Maddux (245, 2.14), but they also included the best offensive shortstop season in franchise history in one Larry Wayne “Chipper” Jones (.309/.392/.517, B+/D+). It was a little disconcerting that they only had 3 useful full-time players, but the other two players I’d roster certainly had some utility: David Justice (164 PA, .321/.408/.501, A+/B) and Pedro Borbon Jr. (36, 1.57) so I was OK with that. Another bonus was that the ’96 Braves had a low win % among teams that had already been chosen, so I figured they’d give me a nice draft slot for the next few rounds. I ended up picking 6th, which was not quite as high as I'd expected.

1953 Milwaukee Braves
After the 1952 season Warren Spahn, ace pitcher for the Boston Braves, decided to open a diner with a friend. He chose a location on Commonwealth Avenue, walking distance from Braves Field. He had heard rumblings about the Braves possibly moving out of Boston, but the Braves owner reassured him that no such plans were imminent so Spahn went ahead with his business venture. The diner opened on opening day in 1953, on which day Spahn pitched the home opener…in Milwaukee…

Spahn must’ve been pretty ****** that season, because he had a career year (280, 2.09), and by drafting him I locked in my third of the top 9 SP seasons in Braves history. That was also the career year for Eddie Mathews (.300/.402/.613, C-/B). No-brainer, right? Perhaps, but not necessarily in the good way. You see, those are the only two impact players on the roster. The other 3 guys I added had some modicum of value (defensive replacements SS Johnny Logan (A-/A-) and CF Bill Bruton (C+/A, 94 speed) and replacement-level Long B Ernie Johnson (3.14)) but left me, after 2 rounds, with only 5 primary players. Furthermore, one of those players was a third baseman, which is probably the deepest position in franchise history. For some, deeper, franchises that might’ve been OK, but for the Braves it turns out that was a problem.

2002 Atlanta Braves
I wish I could remember why I chose this team. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I see their appeal. They provide an instant bullpen: Chris Hammond (77, 1.79), Darren Holmes (55, 1.88) and Mike Remlinger (69, 2.16). They also include the best outfield Chipper Jones (.329/.434/.522, C/C-), which enables me to roster two Chippers plus the best Eddie Mathews. But I don’t know. I had the best rotation in the league locked down, so maybe I needed offense here? Or maybe I thought that my offense wasn’t going to be great regardless so just double down on pitching? But that doesn’t sound like me. But for whatever the reason, this is what I did. While the 2002 Braves had a decent Gary Sheffield that I toyed with using at some point, my fifth player ended up being Kevin Millwood (220, 2.75), who I thought would be my “fourth” “starter” (tandems!) but instead will be a very solid Long A. Not bad overall, and it almost worked out. Almost.

1970 Atlanta Braves
Heading into this round I suddenly realized that I only had two picks left and still needed a starting C, 1B, 2B, and at least one OF. It was immediately clear which team I wanted for my next pick: 1973, which had the monster Davey Johnson at 2B, an excellent offensive “1B” in Darrell Evans (OK he’s a 3B who is really lousy defensively at 1B but my offense would be awesome so who cares?), and 2/3 of a super-productive Hank Aaron who could platoon with the aforementioned David Justice. This would be the “switcheroo” round, where instead of picking 6^th I’d pick 7^th. So instead of waiting 11 picks for my next selection I’d wait 12. After 11 picks, 1973 was still available. With the 12^th pick, footballmm11 took them.

My sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground, I clearly wasn’t thinking clearly so I chose 1970. What did they give me? Beats me. Oh yeah, I got Rico Carty (560, .369/.453/.579, C/D+) who is most of a really good outfield bat. I also got a “second baseman” in Felix Milan (.313/.352/.375, B-/C-) whose OPS# is only 196 points lower than Johnson’s in addition to being a far worse fielder not that I’m bitter. And I got “first baseman” Orlando Cepeda (.308/.365/.538, B-/B-) who is only marginally better than the 1996 McGriff I could’ve used which would’ve at least given me another LHH bat. Oh, and backup C Hal King (239, .262/.364/.456, C+/B/D) and defensive replacement 3B Clete Boyer (B/B) who my father once bumped into in Cooperstown; my Dad kept insisting to Clete that Clete had played for the Cardinals. My Dad was obviously thinking of Clete’s brother Ken. That must’ve been awkward. Much like this draft selection.

1967 Atlanta Braves
Much as the 1971 Braves almost got back to me last round, this pick almost saved my team. Going into this pick, all my team needed was a primary catcher. Well, that and some good players. <<rimshot>> While I wasn’t able to secure an upgrade at 2B (unlikely as that may seem, given that Lupus from the Bad News Bears would be an upgrade) I did get a not-so-bad C in Joe Torre (.284/.355/.454, B/B/A+), a better-than-the-1970 version Hank Aaron (.314/.379/.583, B-/B+), and, in quite the coup IMO, a Phil Niekro (207, 2.48) who in my experience outperforms the ostensibly better 1969 version and will slot nicely into my two-tandem rotation that I customarily use. PH Mack Jones (.260/.365/.444) and 2B defensive replacement Woody Woodward (B/B+) round out the roster.

Summary (Projected top-used 5450 PA, 1400 IP)
Offense: .314/.391/.522
Pitching: 2.21 ERC#
Defense: Very mediocre before the 9^th inning

Other team writeups to follow...

Phillies 1908, 1929, 1952, 2014, 1911

Similar to my 1905 Browns pick, I'm pretty sure I selected 1908 Phillies as my initial Phillies selection because I would be able to roster a big-inning dead-ball pitcher like George McQuillen (2.18) and because their low win% would mean I would be able to pick near the top of the draft order. In this case, .539 was good for pick #5. The selection of 1930 (.338) by Jtpsops was genius. I wish I had thought of that. Anyway, I ended up with five pitchers from 1908. Besides McQuillen's 379 innings, I also get to roster Harry Coveleski (1.22), Earl Moore (2.82), Frank Corridon (2.85) and Lew Richie (3.00).

Since my first season netted me 5 pitchers, I think I need to go offense here. I was between the 1932 and the 1929 Phillies. 1929 had the better 2B, the better 3B and two very good OFs. 1932 had a very good shortstop, a better 1B, a better C, and one very strong OF. In retrospect, 1932 would've been better for me. But I do get to roster monster hitters Chuck Klein (.356, .392, .637) and Lefty O'Doul (.398, .450, 601). 3B Pinky Whitney (.327, .375, .459) means I won't be using any Mike Schmidt seasons. Spud Davis (.342, .376, .468) is 33% of my catcher solution. I really tried hard to upgrade at 1B to Dolph Camilli, but unfortunately Don Hurst (.304, .375, .502) will have to do. So far, 5 pitchers followed by 5 hitters. 2B Fresco Thompson (.324, .383, .397) didn't make the cut. Not a bad start.

This next pick is kind of a weird pick, and I kind of wish I could make a different selection (you'll see why later). Starting pitching was flying off the board and I really only had George McQuillen so far (Corrdon is just ok). So I went for the 1952 Phillies because I wanted one of the last available *good* seasons of Robin Roberts (2.39). This year also gave me SP Curt Simmons (2.82), so at least I now have some innings. On the hitting side, I get the other side of my catching platoon, with Forest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess (.296, .383, .433). Richie Ashburn (.282, .365, .361) will patrol centerfield. Mel Clark (.335, .367, .450) is just a pinch hitter.

At this point, I still needed a 2B and a SS, along with more relief pitching. When I stumbled across the 2014 Phillies, I quickly grabbed them. I get Chase Utley (.270, .348, .407) and Jimmy Rollins (.243, .332, 394). Neither can hit, but both are excellent fielders. I also finally add some real relief pitchers, Ken Giles (1.22), Jonathon Papelbon (1.77) and Justin De Fratus (2.66).

Drafting 16 teams simultaneously, I didn't always spend enough time researching, especially if I was "on the clock" with multiple teams... I didn't want to delay others. But the Phillies was one of the last teams I had left, so I did spend a lot of time on this last selection. I really wanted to add another good offensive player since I really only have two decent hitters (O'Doul and Klein). I love Dolph Camilli and there was one of his good seasons left (1937), but that year had nothing else I could use and I was still a bit light on innings. I finally settled on the 1911 Phillies so I could add a pretty strong SP, Pete Alexander (2.48). Fred Luderus (.301, .350, 486) will challenge Don Hurst for playing time at 1B. Sherry Magee (.288, .363, .497) is a much better offensive player than Ashburn and may steal some playing time from him. Red Dooin (.328, .363, .423) is a third catcher and it was tempting to cut Spud Davis and add 2B Fresco Thompson, but I think I'd rather have Utley's worst hitting and better fielding than Fresco's marginally better hitting and much worse defense. The last player from this team I rostered is Jimmy Walsh, who is eligible at every position. He won't play. Oh, and to follow up on why I should not have taken 1952 in round 2... Had I know I would get Pete Alexander's nearly 400 innings with the last pick, I would have focused on getting a good hitting 2B and/or SS while those players were still available. I'm sure there were plenty of Utley/Rollins seasons available when they were actually good hitters. I mean, Robin Roberts is good and I'll use him, but 1952 didn't really provide anything else that I couldn't have gotten with a later pick.

Outlook:
Somehow, I did not roster Steve Carlton or Mike Schmidt despite all the great seasons those two Hall of Famers compiled.. On the plus side, my top three SPs have a combined 1119 innings. I have a couple of decent short-inning RPs, but the middle innings will be problematic if my starter gets knocked out early. I have decent defense at 2B, 3B, SS, CF (not so much at 1B, LF, RF). I have two very good hitters, three ok hitters and three terrible hitters. It's going to be a challenge to score runs. I'm not real optimistic with this team and my guess is that they have about a 30% chance of advancing to the next round.

Thanks to schwarze for taking over the tournament juice tourneys, which is one of my favorite events in WIS. And thanks to juice for his past tourneys. We are now in the final (seventh) round of the last tourney, so it's funny that the last one is still going. The last one started (checking notes) on 10/20/2022. To give an idea of how long ago that was, the major news events of that week were: Rishi Sunak replaces Liz Truss as UK Prime Minister. Elon Musk buys Twitter. An intruder breaks into Nancy Pelosi's house and attacks her husband. Brock Purdy plays for an injured Jimmy Garoppolo in the 4th quarter vs the Kansas City Chiefs. Astros defeat the Yankees in the ALCS and Phillies beat the Padres in the NLCS.

As schwarze had mentioned earlier, this round is reminiscent of the 4th round of the last tourney so "it's like deja vu all over again". I'll list my picks/drafts in the order that I made them: Giants, Reds, Orioles, Cardinals, Phillies, Braves, Cubs, Dodgers.

Giants

RD 1 - 2001 - I joined relatively late (some of you guys are super quick). I did quickly read the rules about the lowest win % going first in the 2nd, 3rd and 5th rounds which I thought was a nice change. But I wanted to make my first 2 picks relatively quickly and in some cases, going with a lower win % is a good idea and some were not. 2001 seemed like an easy pick because of Bonds (.328/.515/.863), Aurilia (.324/369/.572), Kent (.298/.369/.507) and two premium RPs in Felix Rodriguez (1.68 ERC#) and Robb Nen (1.99 ERC#). This gave me not only 5 top tier players, but the 2nd pick in the overall draft despite a .556 win%. Another benefit is that I filled my 2B and SS (Aurilia is #1 salary wise) spots which are typically two of the toughest spots to fill. The main downside is the lack of starting pitching. Grade A

RD 2 - 1917 - Ok, so I need some starting pitching and in a major way. My intention was to use Fred Anderson (2.00 ERC#), Ferdie Schupp (2.25 ERC#) as my #1 and #2 SPs and then maybe have Pol Perritt (2.73 ERC#) and Slim Sallee (2.74 ERC#) as my 3rd and 4th starters and Al Demaree (2.75 ERC#) in the pen. I knew that Perritt and Sallee were marginal starters for this league, and I'd upgrade them if I could later on, but they were guys where I didn't feel that I had to make a make a questionable pick later because I needed an SP. In retrospect, maybe I could have gotten a better pitcher tandem since I ultimately left them off the roster, but I'm not too upset with this pick. My last 2 players are scrubs. Grade C

RD 3 - 1963 - Probably my favorite pick from this group. Now that I don't need to concentrate on SPs, I need some more offense which nets me Willie Mays (.314/.380/.528), Orlando Cepeda (.316/.366/.563), Willie McCovey (.280/.350/.566), Juan Marichal (2.41 ERC#) and a scrub. I had an intention to use Tom Haller here, but I get Buster Posey in the next round. McCovey and Cepeda are poor defenders, but at least it's RF and 1B respectively, so I can hide them there. Marichal is an upgrade over Perritt. Grade A

RD 4 - 2016 - I only need a 3B, and a bullpen now. So I knew I was looking towards a 21st century team. 2016 netted me Derek Law (1.89 ERC#), Hunter Strickland (2.55 ERC #), George Kontos (2.63 ERC#) as well as upgrades SP Madison Bumgarner (2.49 ERC#) and C Buster Posey (.288/.362/.434, A arm). Johnny Cueto (2.62 ERC#) might have been my 5th starter if I needed him, but he was one of my final cuts. These guys are all good and represent upgrades, but none are truly outstanding. Grade B

RD 5 - 1938 - Because I had gone with a shotgun approach, I only have one need now, a 3B. And lo and behold the best one is still available. This was not by design and it's just dumb luck. Mel Ott (.311/.442/.583) is the only reason to make this pick, He does come with P Jumbo Brown (2.12 ERC#), but that's it. So I can see why he was still available in the 5th round, but I was still ecstatic to get him. The other 3 picks are scrubs. Grade A

I do have to be somewhat efficient given the parameters of the league alignment/salary cap, but I don't think I need to be hyper-efficient either.. So I'd say that I'm loosely efficient. Most of my teams are about 1500 IP and 5800-6000 PAs. I don't have any Christy Mathewsons on this team, but I have all the big hitters from the eras. Overall, this is one of my strongest teams and I'd give it a grade B.

Indians take 5 Naps
Cleveland Blues/Naps/Indians/Guardians

1917 Cleveland Indians
I chose this team the first day that I was allowed to do so. I don’t remember precisely why. They have some good players, I suppose, but I feel like I could’ve done better. I think I thought that they would get me a top-six draft slot, but I ended up seventh. The prime player is Stan Coveleski (314 IP, 1,98 ERC#) who I felt really good about until I noticed that the 1918 version that was chosen in the 5^th round has a far better performance history and more innings. The other SP, Jim Bagby Sr. (338, 2.74) is borderline replacement level; the fact that I’m planning on using all of his innings suggests that something went horribly wrong here. Tris Speaker (.361/.438/.519, B/A+) is a solid CF. SS Ray Chapman (.310/.376/.441, C/A+) looks solid on paper but, IIRC, underperformed for me the last time I used him. Joe Harris (.312/.404/.417) is a nice reserve 1B and PH. None of this is bad, but this to me feels more like an early 2^nd round pick rather than an initial selection.

1954 Cleveland Indians
Another pick that seemed like a better idea at the time. Mike Garcia (271, 2.36) is solid. 2B Bobby Avila (.344/.401/.482, C+/A) completes my keystone combo with another guy who can hit and has range. 3B Al Rosen (.303/.402/.511, B/C) seems to perform similarly to his much more expensive 1953 version. Larry Doby (.275/.362/.488, A/A+) gives me another great defensive OF who can hit a little, although he’ll only be a backup. And the immortal Don Mossi (98, 1.89) brings this; try concentrating on hitting when that mug is 60 feet away and staring you down.

After 10 picks I had 2B, SS, 3B, and CF filled with good players, plus 2 good SPs and a really good 98 IP reliever. I thought I was doing great. Until I thought that I wasn’t.

1997 Cleveland Indians
I guess this is where it all started unraveling. My overreliance on OPS# reared its ugly head here. Home run power is great in a league that doesn’t have a lot of deadball pitchers, but this league probably does. 1B Jim Thome (.282/.416/.555, B/C), OF David Justice (.325/.411/.573, B/D-), platoon partner Manny Ramirez (.323/.409/.514, C/D+), and C Sandy Alomar Jr. (483 PA, .319/.349/.522, C/A/B-) all look good on paper, but how many homers will they hit? Mike Jackson (76, 2.32) gives me a second good bullpen arm, but somehow it feels like I should’ve been able to get more here.

1909 Cleveland Naps
I think the aforementioned feeling came from the fact that in researching this next pick I was completely stunned to find 2001 still on the board. As in, the team with the best offensive Roberto Alomar who I much prefer to Avila, a better Thome than I had on my roster, plus an amazing closer (Karsay) and several other useful relievers. So yeah, it’s great that I filled a bunch of positions with early picks, but what was the point when a team like this was still available here? But by this point I still needed pitching quantity more than marginal improvements so instead I chose the team with the last good Addie Joss (257, 2.11) on the board but not much else, which is precisely why they were still on the board. Lucky Wright (30, 2.29), Cy Falkenberg (175, 2.88), team namesake / pinch hitter Nap Lajoie (.335/.393/.470) and backup catcher Ted Easterly (.271/.306/.429, C-/A-/A) also made the team, along with the regret for what might have been. Of course, thejuice6 took 2001 with the next pick.

1916 Cleveland Indians
So now my team was filled. The problem is that they weren’t all that good. So how to improve? There were still some good offensive and defensive players available. I thought about taking 1974 (Perry) or 1915 (Morton) as an upgrade from my mediocre Jim Bagby, but instead I decided to improve my offense. Bagby is weak, but if I use him and then somehow make the playoffs I can probably drop him from the rotation, which would mean a vast improvement. So instead I added another lefthanded, non-homer reliant bat in my second version of Tris Speaker (.395/.474/.533, B-/A-) along with four useless scrubs who will never see the field except in blowouts.

Summary (Projected top-used 5450 PA, 1400 IP)
Offense: .329/.407/.511
Pitching: 2.29 ERC#
Defense: Above average other than RF

I don't know why, but this team just doesn't feel right to me. I'll know better when I get the chance to look at the other teams in the league, but I feel like I missed the mark here.

Reds

Rd 1 - 1925 - This seemed like an easy pick given the strong SP and low .523 win %. Ultimately, that netted me the 2nd pick in the 2nd round. Dolf Luque (2.41 ERC#), Pete Donohue (2.59 ERC#), Eppa Rixey (2.87 ERC#), and Edd Roush (.339/.383/.494) were the main reasons. I ended up not using Rixey and used two scrubs instead. Grade B

RD 2 - 1973 - Since I already had 3 SPs at this point, I wanted one of those 1970's Reds squads. The best ones like 75 - 76 were already taken. It was between 73 and 64 (taken by juice after me), but I settled on 73 because I wanted Joe Morgan (.290/.406/.493) since it was harder to find a 2B elsewhere. This pick also netted me Bench (.253/.345/.429), Rose (.338/.401/.437) and Dick Baney? (2.68 ERC#) who is someone I was not looking to draft, but he ended up on my roster. Looking at my spreadsheet, I intended to use Tony Perez at 1B (.314/.393/.517) and RP Tom Hall (2.91 ERC #). But I ended up using neither. Grade B

Rd 3 - 1995 - Another shotgun style pick that nets me good but not great players - Reggie Sanders (.306/.397/.579), Pete Schourek (2.60 ERC#), Jeff Brantley (2.56 ERC#), Mark Lewis (.339/.407/.480), Barry Larkin (.319/.394/.492). I had intended to draft Mike Jackson (2.81 ERC#) but since my 3rd basemen is a little short on PAs I needed Mark Lewis. So again, it's unintentional dumb luck that Lewis was on the 95 Reds. Grade B

Rd 4 - 2010 - Biggest needs are 3B and RPs. Scouring through I find 2010 which nets me Scott Rolen (.285/.358/.497) @ 527 PA, Arthur Rhodes (2.12 ERC#), Travis Wood (2.61 ERC#), Bill Bray (2.63 ERC#) and a 1B upgrade in Joey Votto (.324/.424/.600). Votto is probably the best out of this pick as the other guys are serviceable, but not great. Grade B.

Rd 5 1980 - Four shotgun picks and no holes to fill so I'm only looking for upgrades. The best pitcher still out there is Mario Soto (2.26 ERC#) but he has a 3.59 IP/G so he's not truly a SP which is maybe why he scared some people off. Good thing for me he'll be pitching out of the pen in superman long relief, I end up rostering Dave Tomlin (2.67 ERC#) who supplants Eppa Rixey as my 4th starter. The other 3 guys are scrubs. I suppose it's a decent pick for it being a 5th rounder. Grade B.

When I look at this team, I just think "yeah they're alright" and shrug my shoulders. I gave every one of my picks Bs. It's an entire pitching staff of guys in the mid 2.50 ERC# range which seems pretty average. It's hard to know if they're a good team or good for being a Reds team. I don't think I made any bad decisions when drafting so I guess that's gotta count for something. Grade B

Orioles

Rd 1 - 1995 - Because of the 24 hour rule, this is the first time I had time to do research. 1995 is a "good value" pick to get a higher draft slot, but maybe value doesn't really matter and I really should just choose the best available team. Anyways, Mussina (2.37 ERC#), Brown (2.71 ERC#) and Bonilla (.329/.388/.576) are the main highlights of this pick. I'm pretty worried about Bonilla at 3B as he's a brutal fielder. I'm not sure if Orosco (1.88 ERC#) and his 10 pitch count limit will be a good idea either. I had intended to use 1B Rafael Palmeiro (.310/.380/.583) but then I pick a *plethora* of first basemen so he isn't needed. Unbeknownst to me at the time, Chris Hoiles (.250/.373/.460) ends up being one of the better catchers in a very thin position in the draft, so I ended up rostering him as my main catcher. Grade B

Rd 2 - 1983 - I'm getting deja vu here as I think I grabbed these guys in the Rd 4 juice tourney. Ripken (.318/.371/.517), Murray (.306/.393/.538), Storm Davis (2.93 ERC#), Mike Boddicker (2.37 ERC#) and Tippy Martinez (2.50 ERC#) are on my roster. No scrubs here. Murray supplants Palmeiro because I needed Hoiles to play C and he's a switch hitter. Ripken is a stud, Boddicker is one of the better SPs and Davis is "good for an Oriole". I really have to lower my expectations when comparing this draft to my other drafts. Grade A

Rd 3 - 1970 - This is probably my biggest shotgun pick of all of my drafts. I made this pick and I really wasn't sure who I'd be rostering until I had made my 5th pick. Davey Johnson (.281/.360/.392) doesn't seem very good, but is again, "good for an Oriole". Frank Robinson (.306/.398/.520), Paul Blair (.267/.344/.438, A++ range), Merv Rettenmund (.322/.394/.544) and Dick Hall (2.32 ERC#) make the roster. Ellie Hendricks (.242/.317/.382), Boog Powell (.297/.412/.549), Brooks Robinson (.276/.335/.429), Jim Palmer (2.90 ERC#), and Pete Richert (2.49 ERC#) did not make the final roster. I could only take the 5 that I needed the most, even though some of them would be upgrades over others. Powell is a better hitter than Murray, but there's no spot unless I play him out of position in RF (which I thought about). Robinson is a way better defender than Bonilla, but his lack of offense make them about equal. Palmer is about equal to Storm Davis and Richert just didn't have enough to warrant having enough value to drop one of the other guys. Blair also plays 3B so it's actually possible that he and Bonilla may switch positions throughout the season. Grade A

Rd 4 - 2023 - It was fun to watch the Orioles play last year, but their offense really didn't translate well in WIS. So even though Adley Rutschman may have been the best C in the majors last season, he's not better than Chris Hoiles in the sim, This is a pure pitching play since that's what I need most at this point. Kyle Bradish (2.48 ERC#), Felix Bautista (1.57 ERC#), Yennier Cano (2.21 ERC#), Danny Couloumbe (2.73 ERC#) and Tyler Wells (2.81 ERC#) make this a solid bullpen. However there were a lot of good Oriole relievers in the 60's and 70's so we'll see how it stacks up. Grade B

Rd 5 - 1928 - I really could use another big OF bat and my patience was rewarded. Heinie Manush (.378/.414/.575) stands on top and fills a big hole. Catcher is another issue and a part time Wally Schang (.286/.448/.404) is a good fit as well. The other 3 are scrubs and my only complaint is that they aren't cheap enough as they have a combined salary of $4M which is a lot for guys who won't likely play much. I'm still happy about this pick. Grade A

The key to this is lowered expectations. I can't get too hung up about my centerfielder with a .782 OPS. Or that I have a SP with a 2.93 ERC#. There's a lot to like here otherwise. I think most people came out of the Orioles draft a bit underwhelmed. Grade B

Here There Be Tygers
Detroit Tigers
Note: this team name derives from a 1951 Ray Bradbury short story.

2013 Detroit Tigers
I had to wait a day to make this pick, since I had already chosen my first two teams. I thought they would be available the following day and they were. I ended up getting very lucky to get the 4^th pick in the subsequent drafts; the 2013 Tigers had a .574 winning percentage, while there were two selected teams just ahead of them at .578. The big prizes here are Max Scherzer (214 IP, 2.05 ERC#), one of the better pitchers for this pitching-lacking franchise, and 3B Miguel Cabrera (.352/.447/.625, B-/D-). Relievers Joaquin Benoit (67, 2.13) and Drew Smyly (76, 2.19) are also very useful, plus I get to roster personal favorite Anibal Sanchez (182, 2.61). I’m good with this pick.

1968 Detroit Tigers
Here’s another case where an overreliance on one number might be my undoing. In this case, ERC#. Using just that number, Denny McLain (336, 2.21) is one of the best starting pitchers in Tigers history. But there’s another, more problematic, number: 0.82 HR/9#. I would pretty much never use a pitcher with that number that high, and I in fact don’t recall ever having used McLain, but I felt like it was worth the risk here. I really like the ‘68 Bill Freehan (.280/.382/.477, A/A+/A), and Don McMahon (82, 2.18) combines with the 2013 guys to give me the makings of a very solid bullpen. If you need a pinch hitter it’s hard to do better than Gates Brown (104 PA, .390/.460/.704). My fifth player is John Hiller (128, 2.74) who is going to combine to form a tandem with McLain, which should, at least, be interesting.

1940 Detroit Tigers
OK, with 1085 IP of 2.30 ERC# in the books, time to add more offense. I wanted to fill as many positions as possible with good offensive players, and this team added OF Hank Greenberg (.335/.426/.658, D/C-), 1B Rudy York (.311/.402/.571, C+/C-), CF Barney McCoskey (.334, .401, .478, B/B) and 2B Charlie Gehringer (.308/.421/.434, C+/D-). Mission accomplished, as long as you don’t look at defense, as I clearly did not. Slot #5 went to completely acceptable Long B-type Tommy Bridges (208, 2.96).

1990 Detroit Tigers
With two picks left, all I needed was a starting shortstop, one more starting outfielder, and some more bullpen help. I decided to go shortstop here, because there were so many great hitting outfielders still available. The best available SS was clearly 2004 Guillen, who I love but didn’t come with anyone else who would be super useful to me. In terms of viable choices that included bullpen help, I was looking at 2006 Guillen, or the better defensive but lesser offensive 1990 Trammell. Surprisingly to those who know me, I went with defense and chose Alan Trammell (.306/.378/.446, A/B-), slightly because the rest of my infield defense was really bad, and partially because I liked the 1990 bullpen options better. Closer-ish Lance McCullers (30, 1.89), setup guy Jerry Don Gleaton (83, 2.32) and Long A Edwin Nunez (81, 2.85) combine with the rest of my roster to give my Tigers team the deepest bullpen of my four in this tournament. Lou Whitaker (A/A-) provides late inning defensive help at 2B.

1927 Detroit Tigers
I can’t believe that I came within 3 picks of getting the 1923 Harry Heilmann, but 1927 (.384/.462/.607, C/D-) should do just fine. I took a second Charlie Gehringer (.304/.371/.432, C/A) here in case the first’s defense gets overly annoying. Bob Fothergill (.345/.401/.507) makes for a great second pinch-hitter behind Gates Brown, while Heinie Manush and Marty McManus provide blowout depth.

Summary (Projected top-used 5450 PA, 1400 IP)
Offense: .327/.416/.541
Pitching: 2.38 ERC#
Defense: Pretty bad; D- range at 2B (maybe), 3B and RF.

This team feels pretty good because I can’t imagine there are many Tigers teams with pitching that’s as good as mine, as long as McLain gets people out. I like the lineup although it would’ve looked better with Guillen in it.

Cardinals

Rd 1 - 1924 - yep, I got the big dog Rogers Hornsby (.424/.507/.696). It also came with a .422 win % which netted me the 2nd pick in the next round. Seemed like a good pick. The other players are questionable. Bill Doak (2.91 ERC#) is the only other player of consequence who made the roster and he's not very good. The other 3 are scrubs. I had intended to maybe have Mike Gonzalez, Jim Bottomley and Jimmy Cooney play, but all were so mediocre and I ended up upgrading them later on. I ended up having to roster Doak because I couldn't upgrade him. While it's great to get Hornsby and a high pick, I feel I should have just got one of those 1940's Cardinal picks instead. Grade C

Rd 2 - 2009 - So here's my high pick, I should just get the best available. Albert Pujols (.327/.443/.658), Cris Carpenter (2.06 ERC#), Matt Holiday (.353/.419/.604 - partial season), Joel Pineiro (2.89 ERC#), Trever Miller (2.16 ERC#) who is gets rostered. This pick really is only about Pujols and Carpenter who are great but the other 3 are not going to be impactful. I had intended to get a combined season Holiday, but ended up getting another OF. Pineiro sucks, I'm only playing him as a long reliever. It's not a terrible pick, but combined with the first pick, I think I could have made a better combo. Grade C

Rd 3 - 1967 - I really need some better pitching and I thought long and hard about 1968. But it's really just for one guy. I couldn't justify using a pick on one guy, when I already did that in round one. So I looked at the other Gibson years and they were all pretty thin too. So I ended up in 1967 getting Dick Hughes (2.29 ERC#), Bob Gibson (2.72 ERC#), Joe Hoerner (2.58 ERC#), Tim McCarver (.295/.369/.452) and Curt Flood (.335/.378/.414). I needed a shotgun pick and this was a solid one. Grade B

Rd 4 - 2021 - I had to wait a while for this one since this was a 12-1 reverse order pick. I was eyeballing a bunch of 3B since that was one of my biggest need. 2001 Pujols - gone, 52 Schoendienst - gone, 2002 Rolen - gone. That was plan A, B and C. Sure 71 Torre was still on the board but he didn't have much in the way of useful teammates and I still had holes to fill, specifically a SS, an OF and a bullpen which is a lot still in the 4th round. I had to research a found my best options were to get a 3B and a SS (Oberkfell and Smith) or a 3B and bullpen, which is why I choose 2021. Arenado (.255/.312/.494) ain't scarin' nobody. My pitchers are Gallegos (1.79 ERC#), Wainwright (2.65 ERC#), Garcia (2.21 ERC#, 33 IP), Cabrera (2.94 ERC#). I really hate this pick. Grade F.

Rd 5 - My biggest need is an OF and I could use some upgrades, specifically at SS and SP. 1901 is actually a really good fit. I've been eyeing Burkett (.376/.440/.509) for a while. Glad he was still available. It all gave me an upgrade at SS in Wallace (.324/.351/.451, A++ range). I even got a setup man to boot: O'Neill (2.34 ERC#). Most surprisingly was an upgrade over Holiday with Emmet Hendrick (.339/.366/.470). As sad as I was over my rd 4 pick, I was happy with this one. Unfortunately no SP upgrade which means I'm stuck with Doak as my SP4. Grade A

The biggest difference with this draft compared to my previous ones was going for the big name player with no teammates (rifle approach) over the shotgun approach where I try to net 4-5 useful players. Sure I got some really good players like Hornsby, Burkett, and Pujols. But I also have some big weaknesses like my 4th starter and 3B. Grade C

Braves 1917, 2003, 2007, 2021, 1945

The 24-hour rule was really good for the tournament, as many different owners were able to get a relatively early selection on whatever franchises they reserved. For those of us that decided to go all-in with 15-16 teams, some of our picks were going to be a the end of the initial selection process. I was the last person to select their initial Braves season. Of course, all the good Maddux seasons were gone, including 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999. In fact, these 7 seasons were picked in the top 9 selections! I thought about 1953, but as barracuda3 mentioned above, it's two studs and not much else. Well, in keeping with some of my other crappy franchise picks, I went the deadball pitching route with the 1917 Braves. This pick nets me four pitchers, led by SPs Art Nehf (2.42) and Jesse Barnes (2.56). I also added some short-inning guys, Jack Scott (2.71) and Tom L. Hughes (2.77). The only batter worth taking was a catcher with < 100 PA, Chief Meyers (.250, .323, .455), but when I finished the draft, I determined that I needed more IPs, so SP Lefty Tyler (3.15) will be thrown to the wolves whenever I need to rest guys.. The team's .471 win% was good for pick #2 in the draft.

In round 4 last year, I missed out on 2008 and strongly considered taking them here (for Teixeira and Chipper), but the 2003 Braves just had too many useful pieces to pass up. I get 50% of my starting lineup, including the tough-to-fill positions C, 2B, SS. The offensive players I get are Javy Lopez (.328, .376, .671), Marcus Giles (.316, .389, .508, A+), Rafael Furcal (.292, .350, .425) and Gary Sheffield (.330, .417, .587). Not much from the starting rotation, but I get a great closer season from John Smoltz (1.42). Getting a high draft pick really paid off, with this selection. Maybe 2008 will make it back to me.

Spinaldog took 2008 two picks later, but the 2007 Braves have some nice pieces. Chipper Jones (.337, .422, .584) and Mark Teixeira (.306, .397, .542) give me two more switch hitters to go with Furcal in the starting lineup. 1953 and 1947 (Spahn's best two years) are gone, so the starting pitching is getting thin, which is why I am rostering Tim Hudson (2.92). I also get to add more RP depth, with Peter Moylan (2.20) and Rafael Soriano (1.89). I have to say that I like my team so far, well considering I never had a shot at Maddux. Note that Edgar Renteria (.332, .387, .449) didn't make the cut due to his D range at SS.

I still need more pitching (plus 2 OFs), and the 2021 Braves gives me two 150-200 SPs that can start and/or pitch long relief. Charlie Morton (2.56) and Max Fried (2.75) are two of the top 13 Braves pitchers in history with 150-200 IPs. I tried to get RP Jess Chavez (1.59) onto the roster, but he only has 39 IPs and I need the other pieces. Ronald Acuna Jr. (.283, .400, .583) gives me half of my second outfielder. Freddie Freeman (.300, .399, .491) will probably play out of position in the OF. Since Chipper only has 600 PA, I added 3B Austin Riley (.303, .373, .518), a guy I've never used before.

Looking at the best hitter available, I lock into the 1945 Braves just to add stud Tommy Holmes (.352, .418, .587). If I can't out-pitch my opponents, I'm going to try and outscore them. Phil Masi (.272, .346, .428) is the only other useful piece as he will platoon with Javy Lopez at catcher. The rest of the players I select from this season are just role players. Butch Nieman (.247, .359, .488) has a little pop and Morrie Aderholt (.333, .385, .441) can pinch hit when I need a single. Carden Gillenwater (.288, .377, .385) will be a defensive replacement in the OF (A++ range)

Outlook:
I do think my offense will be pretty good. I have a lot of HR hitters and would have chosen Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium for my home park except that I didn't draft any Braves teams from 1966-96 - oops. I should score runs in any park, though. Unlike many of my other teams, this team doesn't really have any easy outs from the 8 regular batters. My pitching staff only allowed 69 HRs, so I feel I can keep guys like Mathews, Aaron, etc. in check. My bullpen is pretty bad, other than Smoltz. If my pitching is even close to league average, I give this team a 55% chance of advancing, otherwise, we're doomed.

Phillies

Rd 1 - 1954 - Me going for value again. Well at least there are some pretty useful players here. Richie Ashburn (.313/.441/.376, A++ range), Smoky Burgess (.368/432/.510) to tandem with Stan Lopata (.290/.369/.544), Granny Hammner (.299/.351/.466) and Robin Roberts (2.42 ERC#). While these catchers can hit, they couldn't throw out my grandma at 2B. I didn't realize Hammner was going to be my 2nd baseman until later on when I realized he was actually one of the best 2nd basemen in the draft. I was looking at Herm Weheimer (2.84 ERC#) to be a back of the rotation starter instead. While I thought my .484 win % might be a 1st round pick, some people went for deep value in taking 1972 and 1930. I looked at both of those teams as well, but I didn't think there were 4-5 players to build around, whereas 1954 does. Grade A

Rd 2 - 1977 - Looking for a team with at least 2 big stars and found it here. Steve Carlton (2.73 ERC#) and Mike Schmidt (.274/.393/.574) are those guys. But it also comes with Greg Luzinski (.309/.394/.594), Gene Garber (2.08 ERC#) and Tug McGraw (2.45 ERC#). I'm concerned about Luzinski in RF and kept on looking to upgrade him. But he's actually one of the best Phillie outfielders, despite his bad D. Grade A

Rd 3 - 2004 - SS is pretty thin in this draft. And the great seasons of Rollins are gone already. I still wasn't aware of Hammner being one of the best 2B at this point so I'm looking at Placido Polanco as my 2B and Rollins (.289/.348/.455) as my SS. This also nets me obp machines Jim Thome (.274/.396/.581) and Bobby Abreu (.301/.393/.574). Cap it off with stud closer Billy Wagner (1.42 ERC#) making this a solid pick. Grade B

Rd 4 - 1998 - I still need starting pitching, and I need two of them. Also, I need a bullpen. I'm looking at 1995, 1996 and 1998. I go with 98 for the deep bullpen. Schilling (2.64 ERC#), Byrd (2.30 ERC#) and Jerry Spradlin (2.39 ERC#). I intend to take Yorkis Perez (2.68 ERC#), but he doesn't make the cut. Instead, I take a 164 PA Lenny Dykstra (.261/.387/.418) as a luxury pick as I don't need him, but he's nice to have off the bench and he's not too expensive. And one scrub. Grade B

Rd 5 - 1996 - I didn't intend to take a season that's only 2 seasons away from my last pick. But my biggest need is still another SP and I haven't used a clone yet, so I take a 2nd Schilling (2.49 ERC#). This also allows me to use Ricky Bottalico (2.20 ERC#) over Perez. I grab 25 IP Jordan (2.17 ERC#) because he's better than a scrub and 2 scrubs. I kept looking for an upgrade in the OF, but I couldn't find one that was really an upgrade over Luzinski so I just went for the best SP and a RP upgrade. An average 5th round pick. Grade C.

Overall, I think this is an Ok team. They can hit. I have both great and terrible fielders. I don't have a Pete Alexander, but they should do OK. Grade B