Well, when you have the very first picks and you draw the Mets, you know you're going to be a pitching first kind of team. I feel confident in saying that our pitching should be the best in the league on the basis of quality, although whether I drafted enough in terms of quantity remains to be seen.
Round 1, Picks 1 and 2 – Mets
As soon as I saw this pick, I knew it would be
Dwight Gooden (1985) and
Jacob deGrom (2018). Outside of the Dodgers, this might be the best starting twosome you can draft, although I would here arguments for the Braves and the Red Sox. Kicking the draft off with almost 500 IPs of sub-1.95 ERC# was the best start I could have asked for.
Round 2, Pick 3 – Pirates
If I could have traded down on this pick, I absolutely would have. Outside of Barry Bonds, the Pirates don't really have much in the way of elite talent, and they have lots of guys who are pretty similar. (See the comment about Dave Parker going undrafted.) Ultimately, I decided to go with
Freddy Sanchez (2006), a good-but-not-great player whose standout attribute is his ability to play strong defense at both SS and 3B. This early in the draft, it felt like that flexibility would help me be opportunistic later on, but I'm not sure how well that actually panned out.
Round 3, Pick 4 – Cardinals
I badly wanted John Tudor to fall to me here, but figured that he probably would not. Still, it was a surprise to see Mark McGwire available, as I had him, Tudor, and Pujols going in the first three picks. If the league salary cap were $150M, I probably would have taken Big Mac, but at $120M his 70-HR season felt a touch too pricy for a first baseman. Instead, I went with
Ted Simmons (1975), who gave me an elite switch-hitter who can play every game. Simmons also has multiple seasons at different price points that can be rostered at this cap, which did come in handy later in the draft.
Round 4, Pick 5 – Indians/Guardians
Another agonizing pick here as I strongly considered taking Roberto Alomar or Albert Belle. Ultimately, though, I knew my opportunities to draft dominant SPs would diminish later in the draft, so I didn't think I could pass on
Zach Plesac (2020). He has some home run problems and only throws 149 IPs, but a 1.70 ERC# just isn't something you can usually draft in the midteens.
Round 5, Pick 6 – Royals
I love the Royals outfielders at slightly lower caps, but they felt too interchangeable to draft this early at this cap. I gave some thought to Roger Nelson, but decided instead to begin building my bullpen around
Wade Davis (2014), who is just about as dominant a reliever as you will find at any cap: 1.27 ERC# with a HR/9 of 0.00. I figured that he was a lock to be my closer, but that was before the rest of the draft unfolded.
Round 6, Pick 7 – Tigers
If Tarik Skubal hadn't gone just before my pick, I would have had a dilemma on my hands, but this choice became easy as soon as he went off the board. Having missed out on Roberto Alomar, I managed to get the next best thing in
Tony Phillips (1993), a high-average, high-OBP switch-hitter who plays gaudy defense at the keystone. I was in love with this pick... until Round 9.
Round 7, Pick 8 – White Sox
I was all set to draft a reliever here, but when the Big Hurt falls to the 8th pick, plans change. I couldn't afford his mammoth 1994 campaign, but with 7 seasons to choose from between $6.3M and $8.4M, I knew I'd be able to find room for him in the budget. I ended up going with
Frank Thomas (1997) and plan to use him as a DH, since his defense was pretty porous by that point in his career. Still, this pick made me feel pretty smart for passing up McGwire at Pick 4 during the Cardinals round.
Round 8, Pick 9 – Phillies
This one stung me because I was absolutely certain Chase Utley would go in the first five picks, but then he just... fell and fell and fell right past me. I'm happy enough with Tony Phillips, but if I'd known Utley was going to slide, I'd have probably taken Carlos Guillen instead of TP. Alas, I ended up taking
Matt Strahm (2024), who fills a need for me as a dominant lefty reliever (1.42 ERC#) but isn't as exciting as Utley would've been at Pick 9.
Round 9, Pick 10 – Padres
Like redcped, I thought I might get my third baseman with this pick, but I couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger on Chase Headley after Caminiti, Sheffield, and Machado all came off the board. I contented myself with
Cla Meredith (2006), another bullpen arm who is about as good as it gets in terms of per-inning effectiveness (1.09 ERC#).
Round 10, Pick 11 – Astros
Like many others, I thought long and hard about taking Jeff Bagwell when he fell in my lap. Honestly, I probably would have, but I didn't love the idea that my two best hitters would both be right-handed. Nor was I excited about filling up my 1B and DH spots in the first half of the draft, since I figured that would make me less able to draft opportunistically later on. That meant that despite the temptation, I stuck with Plan A, which was to draft the best starting pitcher remaining. I considered both Gerritt Cole and Don Sutton at this spot, but I just couldn't pass up
JR Richard (1980). I probably won't get more than 20 starts out of him during the regular season, but with a 1.49 ERC# he's the kind of pitcher who can win you a playoff series on his own.
Round 11, Pick 12 – Angels
In general, I just flat out do not draft Angels players. I don't hate the franchise, but for the most part, I'm just not a fan of the options. I really wanted Garrett Richards here and thought he might fall to me, but when RtG scooped him up, I had to scramble. In retrospect, I probably should have taken Chili Davis, who NebHusker smartly grabbed immediately after I passed on him. But again, I was committed to keeping that DH spot open to preserve flexible later in the draft, and Chili really can't play even a passable outfield. That meant I was bullpen hunting again, and
Bryan Harvey (1991) seemed like the best available option. We'll see how he does for me, but this is a pick I'd really like to have back.
Round 12, Pick 13 – Reds
I will confess that part of the reason I didn't take Chili Davis in Round 11 is that I was secretly hoping Joey Votto would fall to me in Round 12. After watching both Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell go much later than expected, it seemed conceivable that Votto would also drop down the board, especially since the Reds have some great players at harder-to-fill positions (Morgan, Larkin, Bench, Bauer). When Votto went, I was bummed out, but snagging
Johnny Cueto (2015) at the 13th slot was a nice silver lining. I liked Cueto because he has two really useful versions: the 2014 full season will give you 40 starts, whereas the 2015 partial season can slot in nicely as part of five-or-six-man rotation. I originally thought I would use the 2014 edition, but as you'll see, my plans eventually changed.
Round 13, Pick 14 – Athletics
Another round where the bats I was hoping would fall went off the board before my time. Giambi, Henderson, McGwire, and Reggie were all on my list, but I didn't really expect to see any of them at Pick 14. I almost took Daric Barton here just to give myself a cheap bench bat, but at this cap, I'm such a sucker for dominant pitching that I couldn't pass up
Joey Devine (2008). Between Devine (1.02 ERC#), Meredith (1.09 ERC#), and Davis (1.27 ERC#), we should be able to slam a lot of doors late in games.
Round 14, Pick 15 – Braves
After passing on Ozzie Smith, and Francisco Lindor, and Carlos Guillen, I thought my dreams of a slick-fielding, switch-hitting shortstop might be dead in the water. Fortunately, the Braves are such a loaded franchise with so much top-end talent that I was able to grab
Rafael Furcal (2005) in the middle of the round. He doesn't hit quite enough to be my leadoff man, but his A/A+ ratings at SS are to die for, and he gave my lineup some much-needed speed. I gave some thought to taking Kris Medlen here and waiting to see if someone might fall later in the draft (like Jeter eventually did), but I decided that was too much of a risk to take.
Round 15, Pick 16 – Cubs
Again, I really considered taking Derrick Lee, but the same logic that led me to pass on Jeff Bagwell still applied here. My pitching should be dominant but it leans very right-handed, so
Andrew Chafin (2021) seemed like a decent option as a low-cost lefty specialist.
Round 16, Pick 17 – Twins
I deliberately left my entire OF empty, alongside my DH spot, with the idea that I could get good hitters late when they fell down the board. That plan sort of came to fruition with
Tony Oliva (1970), although I still kind of feel like he's a bit of a marginal talent at this cap. I guess we'll see.
Round 17, Pick 18 – Red Sox
My favorite franchise, so this was a hard pick to make. It came down to Manny Ramirez or
Mike Greenwell (1988), both of whom are guys I remember watching as a kid growing up. Ultimately I went with Greenwell because he's a better fit for Shea Stadium, and I liked getting another lefty bat into the lineup. I would have had to seriously consider Reggie Jefferson if vilefileman hadn't snagged him the pick before he got to me. I saw Reggie hit a walk-off grand slam at Fenway back around 1995 that remains one of my best ballpark memories.
Round 18, Pick 19 – Orioles
The O's run pretty deep on hitters, so there were good options available here, including Rafael Palmeiro and Boog Powell, but I was starting to count my pennies at this point, and I felt like I needed someone with a decent glove in the OF since Greenwell is pretty middling.
Don Buford (1971) filled the need and gave me a couple of seasons at slightly different salaries to work with, which came in handy a few picks later.
Round 19, Pick 20 – Yankees
My least favorite franchise! Had I not taken Furcal earlier, I would have had to think long and hard about taking Jeter here, even though he was my most hated player growing up. Instead, I finally decided to fill my DH spot with
Jason Giambi (2005), who at $4.1M offers just about the cheapest .440 OBP you'll find north of Ferris Fain. Between Giambi and Frank Thomas, but defense at first base is going to be a nightmare, but hopefully they both walk enough to make their stony hands a minor concern.
Round 20, Pick 21 – Giants
I was so short of money at this point that this was always going to be a nothing bench bat.
Chris Smith (1983) is as generic as his name would imply, but at least he's a switch-hitter!
Round 21, Pick 22 – Brewers/Pilots
As above, so below.
Greg Brock (1991) will spell Giambi on occasion since he only has 545 PAs, but hopefully not too often.
Round 22, Pick 23 – Rangers/Senators
A backup catcher, and another switch-hitter.
Chad Kreuter (1988) is one of those random guys who seems to make it onto my teams with relative frequency. He might have to spell Simmons on occasion just so Ted can go play first base once in awhile.
Round 23, Pick 24 – Dodgers
This was the pick that sent me scrambling to reconfigure my roster. I was all set to take Ryan Brasier with this pick, but when mjoyce took him, I realized that two much stronger pitchers were sliding down the board: Walker Buehler and
Tony Gonsolin (2020). I didn't have enough money for either of them, but could I make it work? First, I dropped Johnny Cueto from his full season 2014 version to the partial season 2015 version, which cost me 113 innings but saved me $3.7M. Then, I swapped 1977 Ted Simmons for 1975, sacrificing a good throwing arm for a better bat and more PAs, saving $1.1M in the process. Finally, I grabbed the cheaper version of Don Buford, who comes to the plate 100 fewer times but is actually a slightly better hitter. I figured with the extra PAs I picked up from the Simmons switch, I could probably compensate, even if it meant I had to take another backup catcher in the final round.
So finally, after all of that maneuvering, I found enough change in between the couch cushions to pay for Gonsolin's most dominant season. He'll slot in between Cueto and JR Richard as the 5th starter in my unbalanced six-man rotation, with Gooden and deGrom taking extra turns at the top to make up the difference.
Round 24, Pick 25 – Expos/Nationals
Mr. Irrelevant!
Keibert Ruiz (2021) gives me another switch-hitting catcher on the roster (that's three, if you are keeping track at home). This meant that I had to go without a mop-up man, which might be painful at times, but I needed the extra PAs to give Giambi and Buford the occasional day off.
Total stat lines:
- Hitters: .315/.404/.490 (6106 PAs)
- Pitchers: 1.73 ERA, .184 OAV, 0.89 WHIP, 0.45 HR/9 (1362 IPs)