League 2, Pick #23 (12th pick in the Dodgers draft)
Division: NL West
Dodgers: 1930, 1985, 2011, 1949, 1970, 1920

At pick #7, I had to choose between the A's and Dodgers and chose the A's. At that point, the two Dodgers teams I was debating between was 1924 and 1930. I know 1924 Dazzy Vance is awesome, but 1930 has some really good offensive pieces, and 1930 Vance did quite well for me in round 3. Imagine my delight when 1930 Robins made it all the way to pick 12 of the Dodgers draft. Besides SP Dazzy Vance (1.14), I get a stud OF Babe Herman (.393/.455/.678) and a solid OF Johnny Frederick (.334/.383/.524, A/A+). I also had 1B Del Bissonette and SS Glen Wright on the original roster, but upgraded later. This allowed me to add long-reliever Hollis John "Sloppy" Thurston (1.20) as I only had about 1450 innings.

I love the 1985 Dodgers' Orel Hershiser (1.03) and Pedro Guerrero (.320/.422/.577). Tom Niedenfuer (1.03) is the team's best RP and I get some depth at C with Mike Scioscia (.407 obp) and Bill Madlock (.360/.422/.447). Seems like a pretty good start for picking last.

With the next double pick in rounds 3-4, there were only two other folks that needed a 2003-22 team. I liked 2011 or 2012 for Kershaw. I also wanted 1977 for Reggie Smith and Burt Hooton. But I really wanted 1949 to get a stud Jackie Robinson season. I could only pick two. I decided that it was unlikely that Kershaw would make it, so I grabbed 2011 Dodgers. Besides Kershaw (0.98), I get RPs Kenley Jansen (1.04) and Josh Lindblom (1.04). And I get an $8M Matt Kemp (.324/.399/.586), who always underperforms for me.

1949 Dodgers gives me an awesome 2B Jackie Robinson season (.342/.432/.528) and C Roy Campanella (.287/.385/.498) plus I end up replacing SS Glenn Wright with Pee Wee Reese (.396 obp). part-timer Gene Hermanski (.299/.431/.487) is my only backup OF. Luckily, Herman, Kemp and Frederick have a combined 2133 PAs.

Coming around the last turn, I still need lots of innings (I only have about 1100 so far). This is where I grab 1970 Dodgers and upgrade BIssonette with Wes Parker (.391/.392/.458, A/A+). I also get some much needed innings with Bill Singer (1.04) and Pete Mikkelsen (1.10).

1920 Robins provides me my fourth SP, 320 innings of Burleigh Grimes (1.11). Another pitcher I never heard of or used is George Mohart (1.12).

Outlook: Of course, every Dodgers team is going to be strong at pitching. In fact, my team might be weaker than most, since I don't have Koufax, and I don't have a bunch of sub-0.90 whip RPs from the modern era. But my team might be one of the higher run-scoring teams in the N.L.. I spent $70 million on offense and have very little "waste". Hopefully, my above average defense will help my below-average pitching to be close to average. Although this team could surprise and possibly be .500 or slightly better, my gut feeling is that it's just not that good.

League 1, Pick #19 (10th pick in the Giants draft)
Division: NL West
Giants: 1921, 1933, 2009, 1963, 1995, 1947

This is my third team in the league. I picked the Giants at #4 and the Yankees at #8. Eighteen picks have been made so far, nine from each franchise. When I selected the '37 Yankees at pick #8, my other choice, 1934 Yankees is still on the board, so it's awfully tempting to take them, but the 1933 Giants juggernaut is also still on the board, so that's tempting too. So is 2003-04 Bonds/Schmidt teams. And 1969 with Mays/Marichal. I decide on the Giants, but I want to try something a little different. Since I'm not going to get a great Mathewson season, let's draft some high-average non-HR hitters who also play defense.... a perfect counter to the deadball pitchers.

So ignoring the teams with a great SP, I instead use this pick on the 1921 Giants with the switch-hitting great-defensive middle infield of Frankie Frisch (.341/.384/.485, A+) and Dave Bancroft (.318/.389/.441, A+). I also added both catchers to lock up that position but ended up only keeping Earl Smith (.336/.413/.537). I upgraded at 1B too (and cut George Kelly). I was able to later add short-inning pitcher Red Shea (0.94) to the bullpen. I will draft one of those other teams listed above.

My next pick, 1933 Giants was probably the fastest decision I ever made. When I saw they made it back, it was a no-brainer since I went from zero to two good SPs. Carl Hubbell (0.98) and Hal Schumacher (1.09) give me 600 innings. 1933 isn't one of Mel Ott's better seasons (.283/.367/.467) but he's also not HR-dependent, so he fits the team strategy. Pitcher Hi Bell (1.13) gives me some long-relief innings.

Still focused on getting some starting pitching, I instantly grab the 2009 Giants in order to add Tim Lincecum (1.05) and starting 3B, Paclo Sandoval (.330/.387/.556). Another switch-hitter! Three more mediocre RPs make their way onto the roster with Bob Howry (1.15), Brad Penny (0.96) and Jeremy Affeldt (1.17).

Seeing as that I am not going to have a ton of great RPs, we load up on another good SP. 1963 Giants allows me to add 322 innings of Juan Marichal (1.00) plus a really good defensive outfielder, who may also hit some HRs... Willie Mays (.315/.380/.582, A+). I didn't know it at the time, but catcher Tom Haller (.255/.332/.430, A+ arm) also made the roster.

Although I was looking for more bullpen help, I couldn't pass up 1995 Giants. I could use that awesome half-season of Matt Williams (.336/.399/.647, A+) since Sandoval can't start 162 games and could use a defensive replacement. I can add my third starting OF, Barry Bonds (.294, .431, 577). And Deion Sanders (.285/.346/.444) is my only backup OF.

With my last pick, I could use some more innings and some PAs at catcher. Selecting the 1947 Giants allows me to add C Walker Cooper (.305/.339/.586) as well as a huge upgrade at 1B with Johnny Mize (.302/.384/.614). Larry Jansen (1.20) is simply an innings eater and RP Ray Poat (1.10) is serviceable but will give up HRs.

Outlook: So my initial strategy of grabbing high-average non-power guys seems to have gone awry. My first two hitters (Frisch and Bancroft) hit a combined 14 HRs. The other six spots in the lineup (Cooper, Mize, Sandoval, Mays, Bonds, Ott) hit 205 HRs. This doesn't even include Matt Williams' 25 HRs in 358 PA. The pitching is SP-heavy with five pitchers w/225+ innings. I do have excellent defense in the infield and Mays is patrolling CF. Thankfully, I'm playing in the NL West and only one of the other three teams has a Giants team before 1916. I think this division is up for grabs.

League 5, Pick #9 (5th pick in the Indians draft)
Division: AL Central
Indians: 1903, 1944, 2016, 1930, 1988, 1969

I am posting this writeup last because this was the last team I finished. The entire draft took 13 days. It took almost a week between my first and second pick. By the time it got back to me, I had already made multiple picks for every other franchise. I think I will wait a week before finishing this writeup, just to be consistent with how the actual draft went.

Since I already had my Pirates pick, I had to take an Indians team here. Four Indians teams have already been taken (1917, 1995, 1906, 2017). Although 1908 was still available, I went with quantity over quality in terms of deadball pitching. I chose 1903 Naps which provided a pretty decent Addie Joss (329 ips, 0.95 whip), Earl Moore (287, 1.04) and Bill Bernhard (192, 1.04). That's 800 quality innings. But I also add Nap Lajoie (.344/.379/.518) who has A++ range at 2B but also can play 1B or 3B in a pinch. I wasn't planning on keeping Elmer Flick (.296/.368/.413) but somehow I didn't draft teams with a lot of decent OFs.

Six days later, I got to make my second pick. The 1944 Indians were a no-brainer as I filled in three starting positions, 3B Ken Keltner (.295/.355/.466), SS/C Lou Boudreau (.327/.406/.437) and OF Roy Cullenbine (.284/.380/.445). Oh, and I get a really good SP with Steve Gromek (1.13).

Wen my third pick came around, Five modern teams have already been taken, but there was still a modern team that had some pieces I needed. The 2016 Indians provided a decent Corey Kluber (1.06), RPs Andrew Miller (0.69) and Dan Otero (0.91) plus SS Francisco Lindor (.301/.358/.435, A/A). As it turns out, Boudreau will be playing some catcher and isn't terrible defensively (D/A/B). Trivia question... Besides Boudreau's '43 and '44 season, name the only shortstops in the database that have a CSPCT >= 0.25 and also have a shortstop range factor >= 5.00. Give yourself a gold star if you came up with 1892 Frank Shugart, 1888 Sy Sutcliffe, 1886 Pop Smith and 1942 Bobby Bragan. Sutcliffe is the only player to be rated A+ range at SS and also have an A+ arm at catcher.

Right after making my third round pick, there was a run on 1923-42 teams (five of the next seven picks). Although I have some nice offensive pieces, the only hitter I have with a .500+ slugging is Lajoie. I considered a number of options. I really liked 1925 Speaker but he has < 600 PA and 1925 didn't have much else. 1926 had a decent Speaker, 1B George Burns and SS Joe Sewell. 1931 had a really good Earl Averill, 1B Ed Morgan and OF Joe Vosmick. But I ended up going with 1930 Indians. I get a really good 1B/OF Ed Morgan (.349/.413/.601), a solid OF Earl Averill (.339/.404./537) and 2B Johnny Hodapp (.354/.386/.502). This gives me the flexibility to move Lajoie to 1B or 3B and start Hodapp at 2B, which I will need to do sometimes. My fourth 1930 player is a part-timer OF, Bibb Falk (.325/.397/.461 avg).

With two picks to go, I had a ton of starting innings, but needed more RPs, plus I didn't have a catcher (or so I thought). I considered 1970 to get the catching platoon of Sims and Fosse, but this team didn't address my RP needs. This is where I realized I could use Boudreau at catcher and add 2016 Francisco Lindor at SS. So, now with this next pick, I could focus on RPs. 1988 Indians seems like a throwaway pick, because I basically got one RP, Doug Jones (84, 1.02), and three scrubs. I was going to roster SP Greg Swindell (1.15), but upgraded him on the next pick.

There just isn't much left, so I grabbed 1969 Indians in order to add Sam McDowell (287, 1,14) plust a couple of real backup catchers, Duke Sims (402 pa, .374 obp) and Ken Suarez (103 pa, .400 obp).

Outlook: This team has an abundance of good SPs, plus a few decent RPs. We spent $60 million on 1835 innings. My top 1500 innings has a combined 1.02 whip and 0.29 HR/9. But the offense is pretty thin. No Manny, no Belle, no Thome, no Rosen, no Trosky. The starting lineup totals about 100 HRs. And the team's OBP isn't even that great (five starters at .380 or less). We all already know that my all-pitching, no-offense teams generally underachieve in these leagues. With the last two picks providing almost nothing, I might as well have used just 4 teams to build this roster. This team will struggle to play .500 and could end up missing round 5.

Quote post by schwarze on 6/11/2023 11:10:00 AM:
League 6, Pick #6 (5th pick in the Red Sox draft)
Division: AL Central
Red So>2018, 1908, 1991, 1941, 1958, 1964


Outlook: I hate this team. Just about every decision I made when deciding between two choices was the wrong decision. Managing the SP innings is going to be a headache all season long. The defense is below average. Ted Williams may win the MVP, but this team won't even sniff .500. I have 15 teams in round 4. I expect at least 5 won't advance to round 5... this is one of those 5.

FWIW, I have you on paper as the clear winner of our division. This may vary based on how teams were actually constructed versus my back-of-the-envelope estimations, but in my view your offense is as good as anyone else's and your pitching is significantly better.

My pitching is significantly better? Wow. Never expected that. I guess I haven't looked at what other teams' pitching looks like. I hate not having a true fourth starter.

I'd be curious on how your "back-of-the-envelope" looks for my Cardinals team? How did you parse out my two 1B, two 2B, two OF dilemma?

I'll do an writeup of my drafts as I've already spent two weeks of my life dedicated to this league. Seriously, if I put as much time into WIS as I do my actual work, I'd...well have a little bit more money in my pockets.

League 1 NY Yankees 06/27/47/64/86/05

Pick 1 - 1927. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the ALE, and the last pick in that group. 1927 sounds suicidal in that I may not be able to roster some of these guys. But I figured that it was better to have to cut down on salary instead of having some left over or filling with backups I don't need. The Yankees are super deep throughout the years, so I'm not too worried about finding cheaper players later on in case I can't roster Ruth or Gehrig. So not only do I get Ruth and Gehrig, but I get Waite Hoyt and Wilcy Moore. I also ended up rostering 2B Tony Lazzeri. I don't think there is a pick in any league that has more salary packed into a grouping of 4 players as this one.

Pick 2 - 1964. I was looking for HR/9 friendly pitchers as I knew there were a lot of HR to be hit in this league. Whitey Ford (260 HR/9+) and Mel Stottlemyre (340 HR/9+) fit that bill. There were not a lot of great SP options in the deadball era, and the best ones were already taken so I knew I could leave 03-22 alone for a while. I also got an aging but last best season out of Mantle and my catcher Elston Howard.

Pick 3 - 2005. I needed an infield and SS and 3B were high on the list. I looked at the Jeter/A-Rod combos and I liked this one the best. If I was grabbing from this era, I needed to make sure I got some RPs as well and Rivera and Gordon filled in nicely.

Pick 4 - 1906 - this is a critical pick. The teams left 1903-1922 did not have much to offer. Since I knew salary cap was going to be an issue, I needed to make sure that the players I grabbed from this era were not just dead weight. I wanted cheap and usable players. I had been eyeing 1906 for a couple of turns because they had Noodle Hahn (2.86 ERC#, 46 P), Slow Joe Doyle (2.52 ERC#, 49 IP), and Louis Leroy (2.32 ERC#, 48 IP). All are very usable RP for the combined price of $3.8M. My 4th player is C/A defensive outfielder Patsy Dougherty for $204k.

Pick 5 - 1947 - I didn't get the best Joe D, but he's still pretty good. I also got my last SP in Spud Chandler (196 HR/9+). This pick was actually critical for another reason later on when I started adding up my costs. I ended up dumping Jeter and using Phil Rizzuto as my SS. That was important for me to get under the cap and Rizzuto is only a slight downgrade. But it was an easy cut to make as Jeter had 752 PAs and was going to bat last anyway, so it was inefficient to have him on the roster compared to Rizzuto's 656 PAs. Charlie Keller was also really important because I needed his 204 PA to cover Mantle (567 PA) and Dimaggio (633 PA).

Pick 6 - 1986. I just needed a couple of relievers and cheap backup players so this worked out well as there was no one left in this grouping that was going to supplant one of my other players. Righetti and Stoddard were the two relievers I wanted and I a got two bench players for resting starters for under $300k each.

Outlook - I was worried about salary as 1927 was a huge log to throw onto the fire. But it turned out pretty well. 1906 was also a key pick in that I got 4 usable players on the cheap in an era where cheap players, specifically pitchers, were hard to find. I mean I got 3 solid RP out of 1906! I'm at 5952 PA and 1431 IP. It's hard to know how this team will do as I don't know if the others had to cut down from the cap as well. However, I do know this team would whoop all of my other teams. Prediction - 90 wins.

League 1 - 17/34/46/64/01/14 Giants

Pick 1 - 2001. I'm in the NLW and it's a lower pick. 5 of the picks before me were from 1903-1922. The other 2 were from 1923-1942. So where others zig, i zag. I'm normally a pitching first guy, but do I really want the 6th best team from group 1? I'll take the best offense instead. 2001 was the clear winner in that space. It has no pitching, but it had great hitting. I get Bonds 72 HR season, the best single season Giants SS in history (Aurilia), one of the top 2B in Giants history (Kent), closer Robb Nen (1.03) and setup man Felix Rodriguez (1.00)

Pick 2 - 1917 - Ok, now I'll take a pitching staff. The 1965 & 1966 pitching staffs were taken after me. So I decided to go deadball and take the best deadball staff available. I ended up with Ferdie Schupp (1.00) , Pol Perritt (1.07) and Fred Anderson (0.96). I'm pretty happy with this pick as it was hard to find 2-3 stud pitchers on any Giants staff that was still out there.

Pick 3 - 1934 - I had to wait a while for it to come back to me but 1934 sorta fell in my lap. I actually got my ace out of this one in Carl Hubbell (1.03) I also get a very good Mel Ott. This team is not very deep though, so I assume this why it was still available. I got my 4th OF in Lefty O'Doul as well here.

Pick 4 - 2014 - I wanted the best offensive catchers and Posey was still available. While 2012 was taken in round 2, 2014 Posey was still available. I'm not too worried about SB in this league other than Rickey Henderson of which I had 1986 on my Yankees squad and didn't even roster him so his mediocre arm does not concern me. But this group also comes with Jake Peavy (1.04) who will swing start/long relieve as well as solid setup men Jean Machi (0.95) and Santiago Castilla (0.86).

Pick 5 - 1964. There was more to offer in this grouping than 1943-1962 so I knew I could wait. The key here is Juan Marichal (1.09) rounds out my pitching staff. Willie Mays is on the team due to his bat, but I briefly considered him starting at 3B (D/C+). Actually he will end up playing some 1B due to my next pick. I will end up using Jim Ray Hart at 3B due to not a lot of great options. It was either him or Pablo Sandoval but I choose offense over defense. They are otherwise equal.

Pick 6 - 1946. I only had one hole left and I knew Johnny Mize was available. He'll bat 5th which is a great find for a pick 6. He only has 469 PA, so Willie Mays will bat vs lefties and play 1B. That makes Lefty O'doul bat vs lefties in the OF which is not ideal, but oh well. I get my 2nd catcher in Ernie Lombardi which is needed to spell Buster and his 604 PA.

Outlook - I think it's a pretty good team and I'm pleased how it turned out. I hope my deadball pitchers work out as I do have some reliance on that. Projection - 86 wins.

League 2 - 13/42/55/65/90/09 Dodgers

Pick 1 - 1965. Well I wanted an ace and I got it in Sandy Koufax. This may have been a mistake as the Dodgers are rich in pitching throughout their history. I almost took 1985 instead, which schwarze took right after me. But I did have the 11th Dodgers team in this draft so I'm mostly happy. I rostered Don Drysdale too. He is a below average starter with a 2.94 ERC# and 93+ HR/9. But he can hit and there is no DH in this league. I'm also having Maury Wills play SS (B/A+, 94 SB).

Pick 2 - 1955 - After schwarze made his 2 picks, I needed some good old fashioned offense. 1955 had Campanella, Snider, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo and even Don Newcombe was a good hitter. So I had lots of options and see which ones would make the team. Newcombe may end up being the worst pitcher in this league (3.14 ERC#, 77+ HR/9) but he had a 1.028 OPS in 1955. So hey, let's try something different.

Pick 3 - 2009. I had to wait a while and luckily I saw a lot of mid-century teams get chosen which I had already filled. I noticed most of the elite 2003-2022 teams were already taken in the first 2 rounds. The amount of pitching in that era is staggering. I chose 2009 not because I needed pitching, but I needed a 2B and a 3B of which there were not a lot of elite ones left. The O-Dog was actually top 3 2B left in the draft so I took him and Casey Blake who was also one of the top 3B left. Matt Kemp will play good D in CF and he can hit some too. Yes, I did grab Kershaw and Broxton as well.

Pick 4 - 1913 - I'm not sure why I chose this team. I think this is when I was rushing to make picks one morning when I knew I was going to be out all day. I should have waited to pick from this group. The only thing I got of value from 1913 was long relievers Ed Reulbach and Earl Yingling. A bad pick.

Pick 5 - 1990. 1983-2002 choices were pretty weak here and there wasn't anything from 1903-1922 that was of value. I needed to pick who I wanted to roster from my 1955 pick and who I could upgrade. 1990 gave me Eddie Murray. He's not as good defensively as Hodges, but defense is not an attribute I value highly at 1B and he was better offensively. Mike Hartley and Jim Niedlinger are OK in the pen.

Pick 6 - 1942. My only need at this point was an OF and there were plenty to choose from this era. Pete Reiser is not great, but he will leadoff and play RF. Larry French will be my swing starter/long reliever. The rest are backups.

Outlook - I don't love this team. I had a low pick and then I screwed up pick 4 when there were better options. My experiment with good-hitting pitchers will make this interesting but could also just plain not work out. Prediction - 76 wins.

League 2 - 16/31/48/74/02/21 Athletics

Pick 1 - 1931 - I picked 3rd. 1909 and 1910 were picked first and second and rightly so. I chose 1931 for what I thought netted me the best combo of elite hitters and pitchers. Lefty Grove is a top tier pitcher. George Earnshaw is next tier, but still a pretty good #2 or #3 pitcher. Al Simmons and Mickey Cochrane are both top tier hitters at their respective positions. Max Bishop has a good glove and a .426 obp. So it's a solid pick.

Pick 2 - 2003 - I had to wait a while for my 2nd pick. I wanted that elite starter so i got Catfish Hunter. I also got 2 elite RP in Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers who have 220 innings between them. Reggie Jackson will play RF and bat 5th.

Pick 3 - 1948 - I must have entered an alternate dimension where I thought this was a good pick. It's a horrible pick. I do remember that I made this pick in haste and I was concerned about the salary cap. But I hadn't even done any calculations. I did like that it had high obp guys like Joost, Valo and Fain on this team, so that was my rationale. It turns out Joost is a backup on this team and I won't even roster Valo or Fain. Nels Potter is the only valuable member from this squad. This is easily my worst pick out of all my leagues.

Pick 4 - 2002 - This pick gave me 3B Eric Chavez, SS Miguel Tejada (upgrade over Joost), and relievers Chad Bradford and Ricardo Rincon. "I'll pay for Rincon myself, but when I sell him next year for double, I'm keeping the profit".

Pick 5 - 2021 - It's funny to look at the 2023 dumpster fire A's and then look at 2021 and see that they had some really good players not too long ago. Matt Olson is now my 1B and bats 4th. Starling Marte is now my CF and bats leadoff. Chris Bassitt is my #3 starter. Andrew Chafin is my closer. Of course, this could just be more of a statement about how bad my team is as well.

Pick 6 - 1916 - I should have left this to wasteland of 1943-1962 but I already chose from that group with my 3rd (!) pick. There wasn't much to offer from the 03-22 group at this point. There were no pitchers that would have made the rotation and I didn't want a 300 IP guy in my bullpen as a LongB. None of the hitters would be in the starting lineup either. So I took 4 bench players of questionable talent. Wally Schang and Amos Strunk may get 100 at bats each this season. I also have a very old Nap Lajoie.

Outlook - There are some good picks in here and a very bad middle pick. Altogether it look like a meh team. Prediction - 80 wins.

League 3 - 18/41/52/73/85/08 Cardinals

Pick 1 - 1985 - I picked 3rd in this draft. This is a solid pick in netting me John Tudor and Willie McGee. Cardinals didn't have a great deadball pitching team available so I'm comfortable going with a modern team. I also get the best SS in Ozzie Smith. 2B Tommy Herr is good unless I can upgrade at 2B.

Pick 2 - 1973. A questionable pick. Sure I get Ted Simmons, one of the best C left. I also get Bob Gibson in a good but not great year. But I could have done better with a lot of those mid-century Cardinals teams like a great Stan Musial or Rogers Hornsbys that were still available.

Pick 3 - 1952 - now I get my Musial, but I could have gotten a better one. I also get any upgrade at 2B with Red Schoendist, who could also be my 3B at this point. Stu Miller and Al Brazle are ok in long relief/swing starter roles.

Pick 4 - 1941 - I get two starters in Max Lanier and Ernie White. They are likely average at best for this league. Jimmy Brown is excellent defensively so he will play 3B and Schoendist moves to 2B where he is better defensively. Johnny Mize is also an excellent 1B, until.....

Pick 5 - 2008. Uh why is the $10.5M Albert Pujols still available? Ok I'll take him. He is an upgrade over Mize offensively and defensively. I had to check on my salary cap.....ok I'm good. I won't even roster Mize at this point and had I known Pujols would be available this late, I might have made a different pick on the previous round. I also get my RF in Ludwick (who sucked for me in the last round), super utilityman Felipe Lopez and RP Russ Springer.

Pick 6 - 1918. I left this group for last since all the good Hornsbys were taken early. I still got a bad version of Hornsby who will be may backup SS. Oscar Tuero is actually my best relief pitcher (0.95). The rest are backups.

Outlook - This team is Ok. I'm missing a great Hornsby. But I do have some other good pieces to keep me in games. Prediction - 83 wins.

League 3 - 15/39/46/77/90/17 Tigers

Pick 1 - 1946. I had a mid--round pick but I was pretty happy that 1946 was available. Tigers are not known for their pitching and I got a legit ace in Hal Newhouser. Roy Cullenbine was awesome for me last round so I get him again. Hank Greenberg will bat 4th and George Kell is a capable 3B.

Pick 2 - 1915. Predictably all the pitching was gobbled up by the time it got to my 2nd pick. So I decided I would at least try to go with a no-name deadball pitching staff to prevent homeruns. Harry Coveleski and Bernie Boland are those guys. But I also get an excellent Ty Cobb as well. So I'm very happy with this pick.

Pick 3 - 1939. I needed one of those Charlie Gehringers so I snagged one. Rudy York will be a platoon catcher. Tommy Bridges is good enough to be a 3rd starter in this league but I think he'll still get pounded overall.

Pick 4 - 1990. Most of the really good Alan Trammels were taken but there was one left and I was not going to miss out. This one also came with Cecil Fielder and his 51 homeruns. Hilariously, he will be on the bench behind Hank Greenburg. I also get 2 decent but much needed RPs in Jerry Don Gleaton and Lance McCullers.

Pick 5 - 2017. I needed an OF still and the excellent JD Martinez was still available, albeit for 489 PA. No worries, I already have a platoon with Roy Cullenbine. Alex Avila is also my other platoon for C so that worked out well. Michael Fullmer is my crappy 4th/5th starter and Justin Wilson will be my closer.

Pick 6 - 1977. There wasn't much left in this bargain bin. But I'd say half a bird is better than no bird so Fidyrich (81 IP) will be my 5th starter. I got 2 other mediocre relievers here as well so it's not terrible for a 6th pick.

Outlook - While I generally made good picks, it seems weaker compared to my other teams. I think Tiger teams in general are just going to suck. Prediction - 84 wins.

League 4 - 08/26/59/65/01/17 Cubs

Pick 1 - 1908. A mid-round Cubs pick, all the deadballers were going quickly. 1906, 1907 & 1909 were already taken. 1930 and 1929 were taken 4th and 5th. But somehow 1908 was still around and I did not miss that opportunity. I got a top tier ace in Mordecai Brown as well as a next tier Jack Pfeister and Orval Overall. That's 3/4 of my rotation right there. I also get the option of rostering Ruelbach as my 4th starter or going with Tinker, Evers or Chance; baseball's sad lexicon.

Pick 2 - 2001. The best hitter in Cubs history was available and I wanted him. Sosa may not hit 60 homeruns with all the deadball pitchers but he'll still do well. I also get 1B Crime Dog McGriff and usable RPs in Gordon, Weathers and Farnsworth. It's nice to not need to grab a SP with my 2nd pick.

Pick 3 - 1959. Ok, I don't know if this was a good idea. I'm a sucker for getting the best player at a position. 1959 Ernie Banks is the undisputed best SS in Cubs history. And he is the best by far. The problem is that I'm really getting only one player as the rest are filler. Bill Henry has a 1.02 whip, but also 74+ HR/9. That is especially bad when you're pitching at Wrigley Field.

Pick 4 - 1965. I'm a little surprised this team is still available. I get a few good players in Ron Santo, Sweet Swinging Billy from Whistler, and a very usable Billy Hoeft in relief.

Pick 5 - 1926. Maybe I waited too long for this grouping as I missed out on some of the better players of this era. But for a 5th round pick, I got a pretty good Pete Alexander (1.11), Hack Wilson and my 2B Sparky Adams. Gabby Harnett will platoon at C.

Pick 6 - 2017. All of those Arrieta teams were picked early so I knew I could wait if I wasn't getting one. Anthony Rizzo did represent an upgrade at 1B over Crime Dog. Alex Avila is a good platoon C as well. I get one more RP out of Carl Edwards as well. So this is a fine 6th round pick.

Outlook - I think this team will compete with any other teams in this league. Will my reach pick for Banks hurt me? Perhaps. Did I miss out on some of those 1930's era stud hitters? Perhaps. Prediction - 85 wins.

Posted by toysboys on 6/12/2023 6:42:00 PM (view original):
League 2 - 16/31/48/74/02/21 Athletics

Pick 1 - 1931 - I picked 3rd. 1909 and 1910 were picked first and second and rightly so. I chose 1931 for what I thought netted me the best combo of elite hitters and pitchers. Lefty Grove is a top tier pitcher. George Earnshaw is next tier, but still a pretty good #2 or #3 pitcher. Al Simmons and Mickey Cochrane are both top tier hitters at their respective positions. Max Bishop has a good glove and a .426 obp. So it's a solid pick.

Pick 2 - 2003 - I had to wait a while for my 2nd pick. I wanted that elite starter so i got Catfish Hunter. I also got 2 elite RP in Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers who have 220 innings between them. Reggie Jackson will play RF and bat 5th.

Pick 3 - 1948 - I must have entered an alternate dimension where I thought this was a good pick. It's a horrible pick. I do remember that I made this pick in haste and I was concerned about the salary cap. But I hadn't even done any calculations. I did like that it had high obp guys like Joost, Valo and Fain on this team, so that was my rationale. It turns out Joost is a backup on this team and I won't even roster Valo or Fain. Nels Potter is the only valuable member from this squad. This is easily my worst pick out of all my leagues.

Pick 4 - 2002 - This pick gave me 3B Eric Chavez, SS Miguel Tejada (upgrade over Joost), and relievers Chad Bradford and Ricardo Rincon. "I'll pay for Rincon myself, but when I sell him next year for double, I'm keeping the profit".

Pick 5 - 2021 - It's funny to look at the 2023 dumpster fire A's and then look at 2021 and see that they had some really good players not too long ago. Matt Olson is now my 1B and bats 4th. Starling Marte is now my CF and bats leadoff. Chris Bassitt is my #3 starter. Andrew Chafin is my closer. Of course, this could just be more of a statement about how bad my team is as well.

Pick 6 - 1916 - I should have left this to wasteland of 1943-1962 but I already chose from that group with my 3rd (!) pick. There wasn't much to offer from the 03-22 group at this point. There were no pitchers that would have made the rotation and I didn't want a 300 IP guy in my bullpen as a LongB. None of the hitters would be in the starting lineup either. So I took 4 bench players of questionable talent. Wally Schang and Amos Strunk may get 100 at bats each this season. I also have a very old Nap Lajoie.

Outlook - There are some good picks in here and a very bad middle pick. Altogether it look like a meh team. Prediction - 80 wins.

Billy, this is toysboys. He's one of the most undervalued sim players in baseball. His defect is he makes at least one pick per draft that he really hates.

PS: Really disappointed not to see Hattie at first.

League 4 - 10/40/51/81/92/17 White Sox

Pick 1 - 1910 - Picking 8th amongst White Sox. Ugh, I can see why 1910 dropped since you're only grabbing this team for one guy. But oh, what a wonderful pitcher Ed Walsh is. So I figured it was worth it. Frank Smith will be my #4 starter. The rest are scrubs.

Pick 2 - 1992. I was debating between 1992 and 1972. They were very similar. The difference was 4 vs 3 players and I really like the idea of using Tim Raines in a franchise where outfielders were surprisingly thin. This picks nets me Frank Thomas, Tim Raines, Robin Ventura, Terry Leach and Roberto Hernandez.

Pick 3 - 1951. I was a bit hurried on this pick. I forgot that I had drafted a 3rd baseman with my last pick. So I chose this one for the infield of Fox at 2B, Carrasquel at SS and Minoso at 3B. Well, Minoso will now play outfield (D/D) and Carrasquel was supplanted by not one but two shortstops later on. Fox is a good pick but Minoso will be a bad outfielder and Carrasquel didn't even make the team.

Pick 4 - 1981. 1963-1982 was pretty thin once the great pitching teams of the 60's were taken. It was between 1981 and 1982 for this pick. I did get Dennis Lamp as my 3rd starter. Also, Carlton Fisk was the best C available in the draft. Chet Lemon will be a 3rd/4th outfielder. Bill Almon supplants Carrasquel until....

Pick 5 - 1940. Well I do get a pretty good Luke Appling which supplants Almon and sends him to the bench as the defensive replacement. Johnny Rigney finds his way to my rotation. Larry Rosenthal will platoon with Lemon in the OF. A pretty good pick for a 5th rounder.

Pick 6 - 2017. I knew that I could save this grouping for last to grab some RPs and I took the best available. I got a closer in David Robertson and setups Tommy Kahnle and Anthony Swarzak.

Outlook - While Walsh is awesome, the rest of my rotation is weak. My lineup has very little power (top hitter has 24 HRs). Hopefully my obp is strong and we can eke out some small ball wins. Prediction - 78 wins

I drafted thinking there was a DH, so I have a lot of wasted players on my rosters.

I’ll prob just set on autopilot and let the tanks roll.