I am now zero for 7 in getting the top pick in any of these Quick Draft leagues (6 leagues, plus I had two teams in the last league).
Pick 1.2 - Wade Davis
I would've taken Saberhagen first. Picking #2, I thought there was a chance George Brett would go #1. I rarely use the $15M version of Brett. Besides being overpriced, he often underperforms and can't even play a full season. This drafting group is too smart. joerat1 takes Sabes. I strongly consider taking '85 Brett. Had Kansas City had some ballpark options with + HR effects, I absolutely would've taken Brett here. But their ballpark choices are either -4 or -2 for HRs. I was indifferent between Appier & Greinke, so I try the RP in round 1 strategy, which guarantees that I get either Brett or one of those two SPs. Surprisingly, by taking Davis here, I end up picking first in 14 of the next 15 rounds.
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Pick 2.1 - Kevin Appier
Not surprsingly, Brett goes and njbigwig does take his 1985 $9 million season. Did I mention this drafting group is smart? The Cone pick was a bit surprising, although I do like Cone. So I have to choose between Appier and Greinke. I love Appier.
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Pick 3.2 - Carlos Beltran
joerat1 picks Greg Holland in round 2 so he can jump ahead of me to take Larry Gura. I probably take Gura if he's there, but I am now eyeing both Dennis Leonard and Mark Gubicza. KC's starting pitching gets thin really quick. I like Gubicza's low HR and I think he slips one more round. So I take a switch hitter, of course. There really aren't many stud KC hitters. Certainly not at the scarce positions. (Porter already went). And I'm not using a high pick on Jay Bell.
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Pick 4.1 - Mark Gubicza
Willie Wilson was still left, but he is way overvalued at $8.2 million. Leonard just got picked and I doubt Gubicza lasts another round. Got 500+ innings of low HR pitching. Love it.
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Pick 5.1 - Jose Offerman
The only other hitter I really want on KC is Jose Offerman. A switch hitting 2B with 700+ PA and a high OBP. Sign me up. Just about every other position, I am happy with 3 or 4 options, so I will wait on hitting. I briefly considered Kevin Seitzer, but there are other 3B I would be happy with. Seitzer went the very next pick.
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Pick 6.1 - Joakim Soria
There are no SPs I want here. The hitter I would consider is Mark Sweeney but there are lots of 1B options. Jay Bell is still on the board. That leaves relievers. THere are two good ones, Soria and Montgomery. Soria is a bit better. Both Sweeney or Bell get picked. I guess I can wait even longer now on 1B and SS.
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Pick 7.1 - Jeff Montgomery
This was a slam dunk obvious pick. Clearly the best RP left. He is the 5th RP taken, and I have three of them. I know other RP's will start to come off the board now. Which is fine. I need to look at hitters now.
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Pick 8.1 - Alex Gordon
As expected, two RP's go after I take Montgomery. I was debating between Gordon and John Mayberry. Mayberry was clearly the best 1B on the board, but I just can't justify taking a huge power hitter here. Went to bed after this pick.
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Pick 9.1 - Charlie Leibrandt
I woke up hoping Mayberry was still left, but njbigwig snagged him. There are no hitters worth taking here (maybe Al Cowens). Reviewing the SP's left, it gets ugly real fast. Not a big fan of Leibrandt (he has fewer K's than reliever Wade Davis), but he's the best of what's left. Of course, Cowens went on the next pick.
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Pick 10.1 - Mike Aviles
This pick took me a long time to sort through. I was good at RP, solid at SP. There were a ton of OFs left that I would take. There were at least two 1B I would be happy with. So it came down to C, SS or 3B. Decided to go with Aviles since he could play SS or 3B and would give me flexibility later.
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Pick 11.1 - Ed Kirkpatrick
Joe Randa got taken and I definitely would have considered him. Still only one catcher was off the board. I'd rather get my choice (between Kirkpatrick and Macfarlane) so I go with the lefty. It's easier to find a right-handed platoon partner. njbigwig makes a curious pick, taking his 4th OF (Lorenzo Cain). Although I wasn't targeting him, it does take a guy off my list of options.
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Pick 12.1 - Rusty Meacham
I haven't taken a RP in a while, and here's a guy with 100+ innings, a sub 1.10 whip and low HRs. Another easy decision for me. jrig21 takes Melky Cabrera here, another one of my OF options I was considering.
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Pick 13.1 - Paul Splittorff
The 200+ IP pitchers left aren't very good. I decide to go with Splittorff and Rosado as my combo SP4. Both low HR pitchers. njbigwig grabs Bruce Delcanton the round before, so I'd better not wait any longer. The last decent 200 IP pitcher (Cueto goes on the next pick).
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Pick 14.1 - Mike Macfarlane
Pick 15.1 - Jose Roadao
My selection of a catcher didn't seem to spark any interest in catchers. I decide to gamble one more round on Rosada and grab the best RH catcher left. Maybe that will get some attention for the two people that don't have a catcher yet. Rosado made it back to me. I am now set with 1336 innings. Will grab 1-2 pitchers late. njbigwig grabs his catching platoon in rounds 14-15.
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Pick 16.1 - Angel Berroa
I only have Aviles as my 3B or SS. Berroa is the best SS left. One person still needs a starting SS. There are other 3B I can take later, so I grab the best SS. At the worst, he will provide 200-300 PA when Aviles is resting.
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Pick 17.2 - Bob Hamelin
I finally drop down to 2nd in the pecking order. Both joerat1 and I still need a 1B. I am happy with either Eric Hosmer or Bob Hamelin. Since I really don't see a need to take a 3B or OF here, I take my first choice at 1B in Hamelin. Gotta love a DH who is an A+++ range at 1B. joerat1 takes Wally Joyner with his next pick.
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Pick 18.2 - Paul Schaal
Still need a 3B. Decided to grab the highest OBP guy. Can't say I've ever heard of this guy before. But he's got 664 PA of .393 OBP#, and is an ok fielder. jrig21 grabs his starting SS this round.
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Pick 19.2 - Clint Hurdle
At this point, I know I can get the third OF I want (Scheinblum), and I have everything else pretty much covered, so let's grab some pinch hitters and backup OFs. Beltran only has 602 PA, so Hurdle fills in nicely.
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Pick 20.2 - Jon Nunnally
I should have taken Nunnally ahead of Hurdle (more PA's), but it didn't matter. I got him anyway. He will fill in the PA's that Scheinblum is missing. I also wanted Butch Davis, but went one pick in front of me this round.
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Pick 21.2 - Richie Scheinblum
There is something nice about waiting at a position that's deep, knowing you can get your guy way late and fill other needs first. I know his defense is poor (but it's not D- poor). He's a switch hitter with a high OBP. Is he better than Al Cowens? No. But I got Richie 12 rounds later than when Cowens went.
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Pick 22.2 - Mike Fiore
I needed some PA's at 1B since Hamelin is not full time. I considered Hosmer, but Fiore has a .420 OBP#. He sill be a solid pinch hitter when he doesn't start. I almost took RP Mike MacDougal here.
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Pick 23.2 - Mike MacDougal
One of the reasons I waited so long at 3B was because after Brett, Seitzer & Randa, I still had both Schaal and Moustakas as options. Moustakas just got picked in round 23 (right in front of me) and I had considered platooning him with Schaal. But that's ok - Schaal can play full time. Let's grab the short-inning sub-1.00 whip RP here and follow that up with Curt Leskanic.
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Pick 24.2 - Jeremy Guthrie
Oops. Curt Leskanic goes to njbigwig. I am only at around 1360 innings. Would like to get comfortably over 1400. I have no lefty RPs, and there really aren't any still available that I like. So instead, I will grab a guy who can spot start, which allows me to use lefty Jose Rosado out of the bullpen, when necessary. Guthrie is a little more HR-prone than I like but there are going to be a lot of negative HR parks in this league.
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Pick 25.2 - Eric Hosmer
Didn't need anything here. Hard to believe that I could have waited until round 25 to take my starting 1B with these numbers .322 / .387 / .473. Maybe he'll get some starts over Hamelin or Fiore, just to see how he does.
Fun draft guys.
6/25/2020 7:46 PM (edited)