Pick 1.2 - SP Jake Peavy
I was happy to get pick #2 here. The Padres are pretty light on starting pitching and Peavy and Kevin Brown are by far the two best. I had Peavy pegged as my top choice--he has fewer innings but they are better quality and his salary is much lower which would put me up a spot or two in the all-important 2nd Round. When pedrocerrano took Gwinn first overall I was pleased to get Peavy.
After Peavy and Brown, there’s a big dropoff to the next best pitchers who are mostly relievers, so I had my eyes on the hitters. Caminiti was by far the best hitter, so I expected him to go, and Gwynn was the 2nd best and he already went with the first pick. In a worst case scenario, I thought picks 3 and 4 could both go under me (say with Sheffield, Loretta, or a reliever) and then grab Brown and Caminiti to start Round 2. That would leave me with my choice of either relievers or starter Chris Young, or dropping down to the next tier of hitters like Winfield or Headley which didn’t excite me.
Pick 2.3 - 3B Ken Caminiti
Turns out both picks behind me DID slide under me but not in the ways I was expecting. Relkcirts took Gene Tenace, who was the best catcher by far and then 3dayrotation took Mike Adams, who I did have as the next best pitcher, but I had his 37-inning season while 3day took his 74-inning season. That was a bit surprising given Trevor Hoffman had a 73-inning season that I thought was better, but either way it gave him top pick and he took Kevin Brown, as expected. Relkcirts then threw another curveball at me by taking Bip Roberts. I think a lot of the decisions in this draft were maybe dictated by whether you wanted to be in Petco or not.
Anyway, I was ecstatic to get Caminiti, giving me 2 of the top 3 players on my board. Two consequences of the pick: (1) mostly locks me into Jack Murphy over Petco and (2) drops me to the bottom of the order for next round.
Pick 3.4 - SP Chris Young
Loretta was my next hope to fall but this time no luck as he went immediately after. With Caminiti in tow, I was glad to see Sheffield come off the board as I was set at 3B. Hoffman was my next choice but he went as well which left me with the next-best SP (although just 171 IP) in my fellow Princeton alum Chris Young. Very happy to lock in 400 IP of good starting pitching given the lack of options later on. He also moves me up a spot in the order.
Pick 4.3 - SS Fernando Tatis Jr.
The only two other SP options went one before Young (Randy Jones) and one after (Dave Roberts), and there are no clear-cut best relievers, so it’s back to offense. Came down to Winfield and Tatis, and while my value sheet had Winfield better I couldn’t pass up Tatis’s hitting, especially knowing I wouldn’t be in Petco. He does only come with 372 PA but I have some options that could fit in there and he’s by far the best hitting option at SS.
Pick 5.3 - RP Huston Street
Winfield and Steve Finley go back to back after me and the only other hitting option left on the board is a 3B (Chase Headley) so it’s back to pitching. Heath Bell went right ahead of me, so I went with Street over Cla Meredith. Bonus, Street moves me to the top of the next round so maybe I can get Meredith too.
Pick 6.1 - RP Joaquin Benoit
Damn it, pedrocerrano! He takes Meredith. Benoit is a nice consolation though.
Pick 7.1 - RP Kirby Yates
Still no position players or starting pitchers worth it. Happy to see Headley go. 3day makes an interesting choice by going with Phil Nevin’s 1999 season as a catcher, foregoing his 2001 season that had much better hitting but only D+/C fielding at 3B. Catching options are thin in San Diego.
In any case, easy choice for me as Yates was by far the top pitcher left on my board.
Pick 8.1 - SS Everth Cabrera
Pitching is dreadful at this point, so back to the offense side. I thought about George Hendrick here as a nice-hitting CF option. Also considered one of the top lefty 1B, either Kruk or Adrian Gonzalez. In the end, I chose Cabrera because he was easily the next-best SS option, he’s a switch-hitter with slick fielding which is a nice compliment to Tatis, and he only has 435 PA. That last part may sound odd to say but it keeps his salary lower and I don’t need the extra at-bats (Tatis and Cabrera combined have over 800), and I’m still at the top of the draft order.
Pick 9.1 - OF George Hendrick
Hendrick is still there. I liked him and Ruppert Jones for CF but Hendrick has more power and more PA, enough to slide to a corner spot if needed, so I grabbed him.
Pick 10.1 - 1B Adrian Gonzalez
I was looking at strong-hitting 1B/COF types. That was mostly Gonzalez/Kruk at 1B or Greg Vaughn at COF. I also liked Fred McGriff as a fallback option at 1B later on (similar hitting but worse fielding to Gonzalez), and had Cito Gaston as my backup option for Vaugh. With Tatis and Hendrick on board as righties, I opted for the lefty Gonzalez.
Pick 11.2 - 2B Randy Ready
Pick 12.1 - 2B Ryan Schimpf
3dayrotation snuck ahead of me for the first time in 5 rounds and snaked Vaughn from me. At this point, I was kicking myself for not taking Vaughn and then going with McGriff (or Klekso) if Gonzalez and Kruk went. Oh well. I have my eyes on a nice little platoon at 2B between righty Randy Ready and lefty Ryan Schimpf and I was able to get both with back-to-back picks. Both can play 3B and OF too if needed.
Pick 13.1 - C Yasmani Grandal
Pick 14.1 - C Brad Ausmus
Picking both 2B costs me my top catcher choice, Josh Bard. Could I have waited on Schimpf? Probably. Not a big deal as Yasmani Grandal is a close comparison to Bard. I had Ausmus as by far the best platoon-mate for Grandal who had: (a) a good arm, (b) enough PA to avoid having to draft a 3rd catcher, and (c) decent enough OBP.
Pick 15.1 - OF Cito Gaston
Still no pitching worth taking. It’s ugly out there. Held off for a while on my COF spot. I liked Gaston and was happy to see him fall 4 rounds after I missed out on Vaughn. In hindsight, I should have taken Milton Bradley here and then if I missed out on Gaston I could have gone with Sixto Lezcano (who somehow didn’t even get drafted!).
Pick 16.1 - OF Joe Lefebvre
I rushed this pick as I was not by my computer. But I liked his lefty hitting and his ability to play catcher in a pinch just in case Ausmus/Grandal need some rest. Probably a reach but I like the versatility.
Pick 17.1 - SP Andy Ashby
Ugh, I guess I need innings. Ashby was the last of his tier available and even a couple guys from the tier below had gone so it was time to take him. Looking back, I should have taken him in the previous round but was lucky he was still there.
Pick 18.1 - RP Fernando Rodney
The last of the elite short-inning arms. Just 29 IP but 0 HR/9 and a .141 OAV are very nice.
Pick 19.1 - OF Ruppert Jones
No idea how Jones is still here, I must be missing something. Mostly a luxury pick, but he is an A+ CF (Hendrick is just A) and he’s a lefty. He can be my defensive replacement and likely steal some starts against RHP.
Pick 20.1 - SP Andrew Cashner
Again, the last starting pitcher in his tier. I’m not happy about it, but I need innings.
Pick 21.1 - RP Brad Hand
Pick 22.1 - RP Tim Stauffer
Pick 23.1 - 1B/OF Ryan Klesko
Pick 24.2 - SP Tim Lollar
Pick 25.4 - RP Mike Maddux
Hand and Lollar give me my first and only lefties on staff and more importantly, combined with Maddux and Stauffer, these 4 picks give me 500 innings. Klesko is mostly a luxury but he can play 1B and OF and provides another lefty bat. I may platoon him with Gaston which makes me even more mad I passed on Milton Bradley for Gaston. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.
SUMMARY
I end up with just 1435 innings, but I think that should be enough. I do need to get an uncomfortable amount from my 3 worst pitchers--Ashby, Cashner, and Lollar combine for 636 of those innings. Will try to limit the damage to lower-leverage games/innings and for Ashby and Lollar maybe throw them in Petco* when possible. On the flip side, my top 6 guys (Peavy and Young as starters and Street/Benoit/Yates/Rodney as relievers) are the best top end in the division and should play nicely if we can get into the playoffs.
* Speaking of which, side note, I think we may only get one Petco team (relkcirts). I’m almost certain 3day is going with Jack Murphy given the presence of some of the power on his team. Pedrocerrano is the wild card, but I’m guessing he’s also going with Jack Murphy.
Offensively, I am a bit bummed with how my 1B/COF picks played out. I think I would have been happier taking Greg Vaughn and Milton Bradley over Adrian Gonzalez and Cito Gaston, respectively, even if that meant having to go with McGriff at 1B and Lezcano at the other OF spot. In essence, I think McGriff/Vaughn/Bradley/Lezcano is slightly better than Gonzalez/Gaston/Klesko, but it’s mostly splitting hairs. I’m very happy with my platoons at Catcher (Ausmus/Grandal), 2B (Ready/Schimpf), and especially SS (Tatis/Cabrera). And I’m thrilled to have Caminiti anchoring the offense at 3B. The defense is a bit suspect in some places (Grandal’s arm, Ready’s range, Tatis’s fielding, Klesko anywhere), but in all those cases I have platoon partners to cover up (Ausmus A+ arm, Schimpf B-level defense, Cabrera A-level defense, and Ruppert Jones/Gonzalez are good defensive options in OF/1B).