My nominated player of 1981 Nolan Ryan (220 IP, 1.12 whip, 0.12 hr/9) gives me lots of options for teammates, with Don Sutton (234 ip, 1.01 whip, 0.34 hr/9) , Bob Knepper and Dave Smith (111 ip, 1.03 whip, 0.24 hr/9). Plus, his other National League years aren't that great, although they do have good teammates. I also strongly considered Larry Dierker and Jerry Koosman as my initial nomination (instead of Ryan).
Similar to my A.L. strategy, I basically assumed that I would be picking near the end of each round, so I wanted to draft the best versions of players and fill in the gaps with teammates. I targeted 1992 Curt Schilling (227 ip, 0.99 whip, 0.44 hr/9) right off the bat and was thrilled he was still left at pick 1.09. It took a few rounds when I realized that Schilling had other really good years and I didn't necessarily have to have the best one. I could have waited 3-4 rounds and taken a very good Schilling (just not the best one). A total of 43 picks were taken before the next Schilling got taken. I do like his teammate, and my starting catcher Darren Daulton (.270, .385, .524).
I missed all the good Willie Mays years, and I really wanted '84 Gooden but he went early in round 2 (I should have taken him instead of 92 Schilling). So I decided to save salary (not yet realizing salary wouldn't be a big problem) and I tooke 1994 Dwight Gooden (his only remaining cheap season at $800K) which comes with a solid Bret Saberhagen, who I had penciled in as my fourth SP, until late in the draft, when instead I decided to keep 3B Bobby Bonilla (.290, .374, .504).
Continuing with my strategy, I grabbed the most expensive shortstop season, 1993 Jay Bell (.310, .392, .437 A/A). His teammate is a short inning reliever, Mark Dewey (27 ip, 0.90 whip, 0.00 hr/9).
In round 4, I strongly considered taking '96 or '97 Bagwell (along with teammate Craig Biggio) with this pick, but couldn't decide if I wanted the better Bagwell (96) or the better Biggio (97). I decided to wait another round and roster one of my favorite players, 2001 Lance Berkman (.331, .430, .620) via 2001 Mike Williams. This was a huge mistake as both '96 and '97 Bagwell went in the next 6 picks. I could've simply taken 2001 Bagwell later and got Berkman and saved Williams for a different teammate.
With my fifth round pick, I changed my mind a number of times. I almost grabbed 91 Dykstra because I wanted to platoon him with 71 Mays, whom I haven't taken yet. But this Dykstra any RP teammates I wanted. I then realized that my Bagwell screwup meant that I am probably not going to get a good Biggio, so I decided to grab the most expensive Cash season, 1975 Dave Cash (.305, .356, .388, B/A-). At least I have a good infield defense. He brings along an important gap-filler with catcher Tim McCarver (.288, .400, .400) as Daulton is a bit short on plate appearances.
Both 91 Dykstra and 71 Mays were still left on the board, so I decided to take 1971 Willie Mays (.271, .425, .482) - a perfect leadoff hitter, hoping 91 or 92 Dykstra would make it back to me next round. Originally I was going to use Steve Hamilton as a teammate, but realized that I still don't have a good 3B, so at this point, I decided to scratch '94 Saberhagen as my 4th SP and instead use Mays' teammate Juan Marichal (279 ip, 1.08 whip, 0.8 hr/9) despite his high HR frequency. I could then pivot back to '94 Bobby Bonilla as my Gooden teammate. I have three good "range" guys now at 2B, 3B and SS.
Round 7: I was finally going to take 91 Dykstra here, but a quick glance at the Bagwells left made me realize that if I don't take one now, I could get stuck with a not so great Bagwell, so I grabbed the best one left, which of course happened to be 2001 Jeff Bagwell (.288, .397, .568). Now I really wish I hadn't wasted that Williams pick in round 4 just to get Berkman. At least I can add a long reliever and spot starter, Roy Oswalt (142 ip, 1.06 whip, 0.83 hr/9). With only 13 pitching slots and some unusable guys, it's critical to get some long inning relievers (which is why I kept Dave Smith from my Ryan nomination).
Now I grab 1991 Lenny Dykstra (.297, .391, .427) to platoon with Mays. I still needed a third OF, and I discover that first baseman John Kruk (.294, .367, 483) actually is rated as an A/B- in the outfielder. He's note great, but I needed another lefty bat.
At this point in the draft, I have my starting lineup, my starting pitching rotation, but I need relievers. My next pick, 2009 Jay Bruce saves me salary and gives me RP Nick Masset (76 ip, 1.03 whip, 0.71 hr/9). Unfortunately, this pick caused a domino effect in the draft where my last two picks were defaulted to me as both 1995 Darryl Kile and 1996 Jason Isringhausen were the last options on the board. I should have taken 2006 Izzy instead of 09 Bruce and upgraded 91 Kruk to 96 Pujols (who could've played OF for me). Instead, I added 1995 Mike Henneman (57 ip, 1.15 whip, 0.18 hr/9). Izzy has no good pitching teammates and I had extra salary so my choices were Bernard Gilkey (I have too many RH hitters already) or Lance Johnson (.333, .362, .479). I added Lance and now have four nearly full-time OFs (Mays, Berkman, Kruk, Johnson). Well, I have flexibility as I can start Johnson in pitchers parks and Kruk (vs RHP) or Mays (vs LHP) in HR parks. Also, with Bagwell, Cash and Bell, I can now start 5 lefty or switch hitters (Daulton, Bonilla, Berkman, Kruk, Johnson) against what is mostly a right handed pitching league. I guess Dykstra is a pinch hitter and defensive replacement now.
My offense is pretty pedestrian, but I have good defense and strong starting pitching. I have only $100.6 million of effective salary (ignoring Kruk). I think my pitching and defense can scrape together 84-88 wins.
Hitting: .302, .390, .492, $54.5 million (excluding Kruk)
Pitching: 1373 ip, 1.05 whip, .216 oav, 0.52 hr/9, $46.1 million