Top 16 Draft, Pick #8: 2004 Cardinals
I only had one pick in the top 16, picking right in the middle at #8. I went through some (not all) of the franchises, prioritizing the ones that had the top options relative to others in their franchise. I did not rank across them before my pick, but some that stood out included 1912 Cubs (#1 overall to schwarze), 2017-18 Dodgers (2017 went to barracuda3 at #12), 1989 Pirates, 2010 Braves, and the 2004 Cardinals. When it got to my turn and I evaluated these teams together (only the Cubs had gotten taken prior to my pick), I liked the 2004 Cardinals the best. This team's offense is amazing, though Rolen will have to play out of position at 2B. The pitching is not elite but pretty good. And I have a massive gap between this team and the rest of the remaining Cardinals options. The one thing that gave me slight pause was my 2007 Cardinals were disappointing in Round 1 but the 2005 Cardinals, who also had Larry Walker, did very well.
League 1, Pick #4: 2001 Giants
I had the 2001 Giants as the best team left for the franchise and my 1998 Giants did well in Round 1. When both schwarze and pedro ahead of me picked early 1900s Giants teams that made my choice easy to go to the other end of the spectrum. I'm sure some of the deadball teams like schwarze's 1907 will give me some trouble, but many of those teams were picked last round. Obviously the calling card here is the offense, led by Bonds but with support from Kent, Aurilia, Galarraga, and Eric Davis. 3B is a bit of a problem, will either play Kent OOP there or go with a lesser Aurilia/Pedro Feliz. The pitching isn't great, especially lacking in quality starters after Jason Schmidt--we'll have to roll with Russ Ortize and Shawn Estes for over 400 innings. But Schmidt and a good pen led by Robb Nen should be enough to let the offense do its thing.
League 4, Pick #3: 1989 Pirates
Once again, my top-rated team from the modern era is still available while others went deadball or early 1900s. In this case, pedro went 1914 and ronthegenius went 1909. All of 1987-89 are still available and I rated 1989 the best of the trio mostly due to the presence of Jay Bell to man SS and 2B. I had the 1991 Pirates in Round 1 and they did well. This team is very similar with eight starting spots taken by 4 pairs of clones--Bonds, Van Slyke, Bonilla (1B/3B), and Bell. Mike LaValliere will hold down most of the catching duties again as well, though no Don Slaught to pair with him this time. The pitching staff is solid, though not spectacular. Nobody, even in the bullpen, has an ERC below 2.00 but Drabek and Rick Reed are a pretty solid pitching combo to provide the bulk of the innings. Like in San Francisco, this group should do enough to let Bonds and company mash our way to victory.
League 2, Pick #6: 2018 Dodgers
I had the 2017 and 2018 Dodgers neck and neck. I dont' necessarily WANT to be in the same division with barracuda3 and his 2017 version but I think 2018 is good enough to deal with that and just play for a wild card and advancement spot. Last round, I did the same as my 2022 Dodgers could not compete with 2021 but still won 90+ and won the wild card. Like most Dodgers teams of this era, it starts with the pitching and specifically Kershaw and Jansen. Like my 2022 team, I'll add two Buehlers for some bulk. This team also gets to add Kenta Maeda's stud 2020 season plus Rich Hill's 110-inning 2016 season (though we lose Gonsolin). Per usual, there's a bunch of elite bullpen arms to join Jansen. The offense is always a juggling act with this era and specifically the Dodgers. The infield will be really good between Seager, Machado, Utley and maybe Justin Turner. Kemp and Bellinger in the OF and Grandal/Barnes at catcher. The last few spots will be between Justin Turner, Puig, Muncy, and a second Bellinger. We'll see how to best fit the remaining puzzle pieces, but the offense should be fine overall.
League 7, Pick #3: 1999 Orioles
Last round, I was eyeing a few 90s/00s Orioles teams before they got taken and I ultimately ended up going with 1966. Going into this round, I had 4 teams from this era at the top (1994, 96, 99, and 2000). While 2000 had better hitting and 1994 had better pitching, I felt 1999 had the best balance. The offense should be quite good with Belle, Ripken, Will Clark and Brady Anderson. Will likely play Ripken OOP at 3B but otherwise the offense fits well together with good positional defense and nice left/right balance. The pitching is solid as well with Mussina and Guzman anchoring the rotation and a bullpen full of clones (Rhodes, Orosco, and BJ Ryan each 2x). With the early St. Louis Browns being so poor, there shouldn't really be any deadball teams in this league so while I've had my struggles with Ripken, he and Belee and company shouldn't be neutralized too much I would hope.
League 5, Pick #8: 1987 Cubs
I was researching both Chicago franchises at the same time. The three Cubs teams taken (1912, 2006, and 2016) were all in my top 6. Of the other 3, two were 1931 and 32 with Hornsby-led offenses but very little in the way of pitching. Given they could end up in the 1912 division, the poor offense/defense balance and the fact that similar Cubs teams didn't do well in Round 1, I moved off of them. That left me with 1987. It's a fine team but the fit is clunky. Shortstop is a mediocre Shawon Dunston and there is not 3B to speak of so Sandberg will have to play out of position there. That means two Sandbergs and I rarely have good luck with him. OF/DH/1B is a combination of Andre Dawson (another guy I haven't done well with), Palmeiro, Leon Durham, and Jerry Mumphrey. Again, a lot of solid pieces but they all have some issues. The pitching comes with two Greg Madduxes and...not much else. We'll rely on Sutcliffe, Tewksbury, and maybe even Scott Sanderson or Jamie Moyer plus a bullpen led by Frank Dipino and Lee Smith. Overall, I felt this was the prudent choice--a highly-rated team in an era that had some success last round (barracuda3's 1988 team crushed, 1986 was okay) that avoids the other top Cubs teams and with a big dropoff after this tier. But I just didn't love the team and really wanted the White Sox team I was looking at. But I pulled the trigger on this Cubs team.
TRADE:
Since I had buyer's remorse and 11 picks until my next League 5 selection, I looked into trading back up. I found that calhoop had Pick 9 in League 5 and there were two other leagues where he picked below me. Given I was moving up 11 spots in League 5, I offered him to move up in both League 2 and 4 for a total of 11 spots. In those leagues, I had already taken one team each so was down to Red Sox and Athletics and didn't have a team in mind in either, so I was fine moving down there. He graciously accepted.
League 5, Pick #9: 1995 White Sox
I felt there was more relative depth in the White Sox draft so it was more important to take the 87 Cubs but in building out the 95 White Sox I liked them better. Three of the 4 White Sox teams taken were early 1900s (1920, who I had as the top team, plus 1905 and 1912), so I wanted to go more modern or at least mid-century to the 60s teams. 1995 was my top-rated choice remaining and 2nd-best overall among White Sox. The bulk of the offense is clones of the Big Hurt, Tim Raines, and Robin Ventura. Ray Durham and John Kruk join the party. The weak spots are shortstop (Ozzie Guillen) and catcher (Mike LaValliere, he's everywhere it seems), plus I probably need one of Lance Johnson or Mike Cameron for their glove and speed. The pitching staff will have just one pitcher over 200 innings, a rarity for a pre-2000 team. I'll get 100+ innings from Righetti x2, Hammaker, and Deleon x2, but also get to enjoy the days of 90-inning relievers--I will roster 5 guys with between 85 and 99 innings. Not sure how this team will do--1993 and 1997 did okay last round, 1994 did not--but after going with 2022 last round, I'll be happy to get to what should be a more fun team.
League 7, Pick #12: 1984 Phillies
I had 1984 as my to-rated Phillies team. While we'll likely have to contend with the 1980 team in our division, the only other team I looked at was 1978, but 1984 fit much better. Obviously, Schmidt is the cornerstone. The rest of the offense will be just okay with Juan Samuel and Ivan Dejesus in the infield and Garry Maddox, Lezcano, and Al Oliver in the outfield. Bo Diaz x2 makes for a fine catcher. The pitching, though, is pretty good. Two Carltons anchor the rotation but its the bullpen that's the real gem here with Tug McGraw x2, Larry Andersen x2, plus a really nice Jim Kern long relief season. Overally, the Phillies seem pretty balanced in this round, but I'm happy to avoid the division with both pedro (1910) and schwarze (1912) with their deadball pitching.
League 8, Pick #7: 1987 Reds
Only 1918 and 1919 had been picked among Cincy teams at this point. I had a couple 80s and 90s teams atop my board. While 1986 gets Pete Rose and Tony Perez, 1987 gets Jerry Reuss for some better pitching so I went with 87 for the better balance and because I wouldn't use all of Rose and Perez anyway. A pretty balanced offense with Paul O'Neill, Larkin, Eric Davis, and Dave Parker the main bats. Kal Daniels may join the party as well. Larkin likely gets cloned and spends some time at 2B (with Ron Oester) and 3B (with Buddy Bell). There's Bo Diaz again as my catcher, I guess I'll just have him and LaValliere on most of my teams! The pitching staff has Reuss x2 and Soto x2 as the starters with 9 relievers joining them. Luckily guys like Jeff Montgomery x2, John Franco, and Bill Landrum have 80+ inning seasons to help. Not really any studs on this team but good depth and balance on both sides of the ball. I expect the Reds league to be pretty competitive across the board.
League 4, Pick #15: 1969 Athletics
This was one of the leagues I traded back in, moving from pick 10 to 15. Funny enough, calhoop took 1988 Oakland, a team I was considering since I had success with 1987 in Round 1 (they got me my lone Top 16 pick). But I had a few other teams ahead of 1988 anyway. The main issue here is that 1910-14 are 4 of the best teams but likely to be all in the same division. 1912 was picked last round and 1910, 11, and 14 all went in a row in this draft. I had 1913 rated highly but they were the worst of that quartet and likely in that division, so you're basically playing just for advancement at that point (NOTE: schwarze took them the pick right after me.) That moved me to more modern teams but there really aren't any 90s or later teams left that stood out. 1969 was the next-best team and while I likely have to be in a division with both 1971 and pedro's 1973, that's at least a little bit less daunting than the 1910s division. It's interesting--in many other leagues, my rankings diverge a lot from the pick order, but this A's draft had 7 of my top 8 teams go in the first 10 picks. Anyway, 1969 has really good pitching with Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter, and Rollie Fingers all getting cloned and making up 80% of my innings. They'll likely do the same for 1971 and 73. The offense has a lot of lefties with Reggie, Francona, and Rick Monday all getting cloned. Gene Tenace, Sal Bando and Joe Rudi provide some right-handed pop. Bert Campaneris and Dick Green (plus a Bob Johnson short PA season) will bat 8th and 9th because we're required to have a SS and 2B by the rules of baseball.
League 3, Pick #8: 1998 Indians
I was really considering 3 eras here--deadball, 1940s/50s, and modern. I had just come off a Round 1 with the 1950 Indians so while the hitting is nice, I don't want to go through another 162 with the Bobs (Feller and Lemon) again. I probably should have gone with 1904--the rotation is fantastic with Joss, Bill Bernhard, and Earl Moore all getting cloned, plus an offense led by Nap Lajoie. I had them rated higher but passed on them because the offense is a bit lacking behind Lajoie and potentially close competition (either with 1906 and 07 if they are picked or with pedro's 1913 and crazyamos's 1919 teams if not). 1998 should mash, however. Can we play defense? With ManRam in the outfield, Thome at 3B, and Travis Fryman somewhere, probably not! But a lineup of Loftons and Mannys and Giles and Thomes...yeah should be fun. the pitching is...precarious. The bullpen is very good and two Dwight Goodens atop the rotation is nice. But the last 300+ innings will be thrown by some combination of Charles Nagy, Chad Ogea, or Ron Villone. Not great, especially with lackluster fielding at many spots behind them. Maybe will get helped out with an easier division, but also may get thrown in with some tough 40s/50s teams if no other modern era teams get picked.
League 6, Pick #5: 2010 Braves
This league took a little while to get going over the holidays. I had 1993 2nd overall with Maddux, but I actually had 2010 as my top choice. After that I had some of the recent Atlanta teams with Acuna and company, plus 1994 and 2011-12 so really I guess 3 versions of modern Braves teams: 90s (Maddux), 10s (Chipper), and 20s (Acuna). The reason I liked 2010 the best is you get great balance--good hitting and good pitching. Certainly the 93-94 Braves have the best pitching but I had 2010 as the next best. And offensively, had them 2nd behind a Hank Aaron team. This is the one year that Derrek Lee and Freddie Freeman overlap and while I will have to play them in the OF some, I've done that quite a few times with Freddie and other good fielding 1B like him. Chipper is here but he'll actually play OF and DH to make room for Troy Glaus's bat (and A range) at 3B. Martin Prado (2B), Yunel Escobar (SS), and Brian McCann/David Ross (C) will fill the difficult positions, though I did consider Chipper's SS season. The only true OF I'm planning to roster are Nate McLouth and Melky Cabrera. The pitching staff does have clones of Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson for the rotation, but this is all about the bullpen--four pairs of clones of Kimbrel, Billy Wagner, Saito, and Jesse Chavez. My last spot will go to Kris Medlen's 138 IP, 1.71 ERC# season to get us up to 1450 innings. I'm excited about this team.
League 1, Pick #13: 1929 Yankees
Despite their success throughout all the decades, I was mostly focused on two eras for the Yankees: the Ruth/Gehrig years (1920s and 30s) and the recent Jeter/Judge years (mid-1990s to now). I went 2021 Yankees last round, and while they did fine, I really wanted to go to the Ruth years. I actually had four of the top 5 seasons being 1920s Yankees--those are the top 4 offenses left for the Yanks but very little pitching. The 1921 and 22 seasons have a little more pitching but a little less hitting and they went earlier. The one modern team I would have considered was 2007 but jfranco rightly took them early in the Top 16 draft. There were also some post-Ruth seasons taken with 1937 and 38. But 1929 was my #1 choice and while I considered 1925 for a little more pitching, you lose Lazzeri and Dickey and don't have a real SS. Yes, my ptiching is note ideal with most of my pitchers having ERC# in the high 2s. But let's not talk about that. I'm sticking this team in Coors and making opponents outscore us. It actually worked quite well for my 1928 Senators last round! The lineup is Ruth x2, Gehrig x2, Lazzeri x2, Dickey, Combs, and Lary/Koenig at SS. With Ruth and Gehrig having 750-ish PA and plenty of bench bats, fatigue won't be an issue. If more 1920s teams get picked, we may see teams averaging 10 runs per game!
League 6, Pick #15: 1925 Tigers
My top two-rated Tigers teams were 2007 and 2015, both were gone in the top 5 DET selections. Four the next 5 rated teams were directy from adjacent years (2005-06 and 2016-17), so I didn't want to select an inferior team within my own division if I could help it. As it turns out, no other 2000s teams were selected. The other team in the top 7 not from the 2000s was 1925, an all-offense, no-pitching Cobb-led team. At this point, the earliest DET teams were 1909 (schwarze), 1919, and 1946. I decided to roll the dice, knowing my pitching will be poor but the offense should be by far the best in the league. I actually don't have 1925's pitching that much worse than some of these other early teams. pedrocerrano ended up taking a similar team in 1934 and we ended up in the Central division with them, 1922 and 1946. As for the offense, I'll start clones of Cobb, Heilmann, and Gehringer so my top 6 hitters will be awesome--no 3B of note so Gehringer will play OOP there. My catcher (Bassler), shortstop (Topper Rigney) and last OF spot (Manush/Wingo/Fothergill) round out the lineup, with Rigney being the only real weak spot. The pitching is certainly not great but 400+ innings from Dutch Leonard lead the way with Syl Johnson, Hooks Dauss, and 16x16 superstar Earl Whitehill's one decent relief season joining in. Given the great offense and plentiful at-bats and innings, I'm sticking this team in the Palace and hoping to outscore everyone. Excited to see this one play out.
League 8, Pick #19: 2023 Twins
With a late pick here, 4 of my top 5 rated teams had gone and most of the strength here is in the early 1900s. But my #1-rated team was actually 2023 which also did me the favor of avoiding the Walter Johnson years. As I researched this team, I quickly realized why they weren't picked. The pitching has some studs led by Kenta Maeda, Caleb Thielbar, and Emilio Pagan and clones of both Dallas Keuchel and Sonny Gray are actually pretty good volume for this era (each have one season over 200 IP and another over 170). But then the problems begin--there are a abunch of stud relief season but with 50 or fewer innings and not much more in the way of starter-level seasons. To complicate matters much further, the offense is a very difficult puzzle. The best seasons are almost all short on PAs--Buxton, Correa, Gallo all have their best seasons with under 500 PA and many with under 300. This became a balancing act going back and forth between hitting and pitching, taking roster spots from one or adding in players with more volume. I ended up going with just 11 pitchers--this got me 5 elite relief seasons (2 each from Thielbar and Pagan plus 1 Giffin Jax) plus the 4 clones of Keuchel and Gray and the stud Maeda season. For my last spot, I went with Chris Paddack's 141 IP season but have to eat his 1.02 HR#. My offense is crazy--I have just two hitters over 600 PA, my double play combination of 21 Correa and 21 Jorge Polanco. I have 4 other players with over 500 PA (OFers Kepler and Gallo are two of them), but two of those are my catcher clone of Christian Vazquez meaning his 2019 season will have to play a fair amount at 1B (C/A+) and 3B (D/C+). My 7 best hitting seasons are all under 500 PA and 6 of them are under 400--this includes 17 Correa, two Buxtons, another Gallo, and a smattering of other random good partial seasons. I ended up with only 6143 PA and 1417 IP so I am very light--to compensate, I stuck the team in Safeco. The Twins generally are a very pitching-heavy group, so outside of the 1929 and 1930 teams there shouldn't be many high-scoring games. Hopefully that means we can make this puzzle work for 162 games.
League 2, Pick #23: 2007 Red Sox
My final pick was the 2nd-to-last pick in League 2 but I got my top-rated Red Sox choice. I had 2005, 06, and 09 also in my top 7 but only 2005 was taken. I'm guessing this team wasn't as enticing to others because of the lack of SP after Schilling. But man, the bullpen is amazing--two Gagnes, two Papelbons, two Brendan Donnellys, and other studs like Javier Lopez and Joel Pineiro. Certainly the starting pitching leaves something to be desired but at least you get almost 500 innings from Schilling clones. I finished with a Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield, and Clay Buchholz season. It's not traditional but this should be one of the best pitching staffs in the league. The offense certainly has some bats but the defense is just okay. Two Mannys, two Youks, two JD Drews. I only went with one David Ortiz and added Ellsbury in CF, Pedroia at 2B and Julio Lugo at SS. Varitek and Mirabelli tandem behind the plate. Our division spans 1988 through 2007 and feels like this group should do well, though curious how 2005 stacks up.
This was part of my 3-league trade, so in the end I was able to secure my top CHW choice at the time (1995) in exchange for dropping down in this draft and my OAK draft. I got my top pick here so no issue dropping back. I'm not sure what I would have done in OAK, but I did end up with 4 other teams in my relative era going between (I picked 1969 and the 4 picks that went between my original pick and actual pick were 1971, 1973, 1986 and 1988). Given I had success with 1987 last round, maybe I missed out on 86 and 88. And if 71 and 73 are better than 69, then I got the 3rd-best choice of this era.