The idea for this league came to me as a result of participating in two very fun clone leagues. The first was NebHusker's "Eight is Enough" in which you find a team on baseball reference and take eight players and use them and only them. The second was fatguyrd's "Clone Wars Progressive" where you get to use 10 players in a progressing 5-year period. Again, you have to make due with only a finite number of players to cover all pitching, hitting, and fielding needs. I liked that challenge and thought that a 1-2-3-4-5 clone draft to fill the first 15 roster spots would be a fun draft. The idea of the final four rounds of 4-3-2-1 to finish the team came a bit later and the diamond aspect was just too tempting to not throw it out there.
The feature of each owner choosing their draft position was a great suggestion and locked in my preference to align by draft order so we knew in advance who we would be competing with in the same division. Schwarze suggested massaging the draft order and I liked that as well and we were ready to go.
Now, 63 games into the schedule I am revisiting my strategy. Keep in mind that I have never been at or above .500 all year to date.
Round 1 - My first-round pick draft position turned out to be #11. My priority for this round was to either get a stud middle infielder that had enough PA/162 as to not need a backup. First on my wish list was Lajoie but he went at 1.5. Actually, if King Kelly had fallen to me to get catcher out of the way, I would have taken him but that was not meant to be. Kelly went at 1.9. Foxx was still there as a possible one and done for the catcher position but surprisingly, the only other middle-infielder that was a must-take was still on the board so I grabbed Rogers Hornsby at 1.11
Round 2 - A lot of prime pitchers had been getting taken before it got back to me in Round 2. I originally had going for either starting pitching or outfield in this spot and when Babe Adams was available at 2.14 I picked him without hesitation. His 1919 season is one of my very favorites and the 1909 middle relief rookie season would also be useful.
Round 3 - Originally I had planned to go OF here and there were still several available with 3 stud seasons on the board. However, I was getting nervous about getting sufficient SP slots filled without using too many rounds. I was hoping for Carl Hubbell to last for LHP balance but he went at 3.9. I really wasn't looking at guys with high HR/9 ratios but Justin Verlander had three really low WHIP seasons as a starter and the one short IP season in spite of the HR/9 problem so I considered him good value at 3.14.
Round 4 - Not surprisingly, the best RPs were starting to go. Mariano was long gone. Gagne, Kimbrel, Eck, A Miller, Wagner, Nathan, Jansen, and Wilhelm all went ahead of me within 13 picks of each other just ahead of me. I jumped on the wave and took 4 versions of Trevor Hoffman at 4.11. My only regret is that now I have 9 pitchers on the roster, all RHPs. That and the fact that I only have a total of one position player.
Round 5 - Having eight hitting positions yet to fill, I needed somebody here that could fill at least 3 positions. Naturally, OF looked like the way to go but there were still so many options available there and some would be available next round. Also, it looked as if an abnormally high percentage of pitchers taken were righties, not only on my team but throughout. Looking pretty much at lefties or swich-hitters here made sense and most if not all switch-hitters with at least 4 useable seasons were gone. Wade Boggs can play 1b, 3b and DH and still have 2 more stud seasons for backup so I took him at 5.14 and waited for my preferred OF to slip to me in Round 6.
Round 6- Of course, schwarze took Paul Waner later on in Round 5 so I had to scramble and make sure I got value out of all four clones from this round. I started looking at some of the high-average hitters from the 1890s and got stuck on Elmer Smith. He had three high AB/162 seasons that are pretty strong, decent defensive OF ratings and also has a 500+ IP/162 usable LHP pitching season for long relief, and spot start. He fell into my roster like a tetris piece at 6.11
Round 7 - Now, I find myself only needing a catcher and a shortstop. Everything else could be a support piece but then again I only get six total players in these remaining three rounds. Instead of waiting on catcher, I went for Bill Dickey at 7.14, who has 3 really strong seasons and give me enough PA/162 where I will never have to worry about fatigue at catcher.
Round 8 - Two more rounds and only three more players. I need to fill shortstop, many are still available, or a wild card. If I take the SS this round, I can have plenty of options to shuttle two players into the lineup and avoid fatigue and also have one give Hornsby a break. And if I do not take a SS here, both the eventual pick in Round 9 and Hornsby would have to play every inning. I had to check if there were any pitchers that were too good to pass up and thought that Zack Greinke at 8.11 was exactly that.
Round 9 - I needed a SS with a lot of PA/162. With plenty of firepower in my lineup already, I decided to go with high-range, switch-hitting SS Dave Bancroft to complete my team at 9.14
I thoroughly enjoyed this draft and was encouraged by the chatter that many owners may be up for a modified version to be run back.
At this point, I would like to try to do this one more time with exactly the same drafting parameters but blacklisting everyone that was chosen this time around. Since the regular season here runs until 10/31, I would hope to get this follow-up draft started right around 11/1 and try to fill the league with commitments a little before then. Everyone here gets first shot at coming back and you can let me know anytime if you are in, or if you are not interested.