1984 Julio Solano, RP

1,744,352

110,772,443

First time I get to draft first... 25th round.

2011 Michael Bourn - $4,333,556 ($118,134,348)

I don't care if the Bogar pick is 4 picks too early

Too eager to get this done! I have schwarzes proxy btw

1981 - Art Howe - $4,195,434

$128,010,847

schwarze will take 1995 Scott Servais ($2,306,025)

I will (finally) take 97 Tim Bogar ($1,469,035).

and now I can say, great draft guys!

1995 Derek Bell - $3,970,309

$131,981,156

Great draft guys. This was fun

Pick	Owner	Player	Season	Salary	Cumulative
1.1	calhoop	Bagwell, Jeff	1994	11,959,629	11,959,629
1.2	ejstockman	Clemens, Roger	2005	8,948,938	8,948,938
1.3	schwarze	Berkman, Lance	2001	8,128,366	8,128,366
1.4	jonstephen25	Wagner, Billy	1999	5,775,553	5,775,553
.
2.1	jonstephen25	Scott, Mike	1986	12,354,070	18,129,623
2.2	schwarze	Verlander, Justin	2019	9,589,272	17,717,638
2.3	ejstockman	Altuve, Jose	2014	7,863,097	16,812,035
2.4	calhoop	Johnson, Randy	1998	3,705,802	15,665,431
.
3.1	calhoop	Biggio, Craig	1997	8,431,115	24,096,546
3.2	ejstockman	Cole, Gerrit	2019	8,518,974	25,331,009
3.3	schwarze	Bregman, Alex	2019	6,893,269	24,610,907
3.4	jonstephen25	Ensberg, Morgan	2005	6,084,516	24,214,139
.
4.1	calhoop	Richard, J.R.	1980	6,150,726	30,247,272
4.2	jonstephen25	Correa, Carlos	2017	4,538,926	28,753,065
4.3	schwarze	Ryan, Nolan	1981	9,298,123	33,909,030
4.4	ejstockman	Smith, Dave	1987	2,963,878	28,294,887
.
5.1	ejstockman	Wilson, Don	1971	8,890,059	37,184,946
5.2	jonstephen25	Dotel, Octavio	2002	4,325,426	33,078,491
5.3	calhoop	Cedeno, Cesar	1972	7,660,932	37,908,204
5.4	schwarze	Roberts, Robin	1965	3,019,867	36,928,897
.
6.1	jonstephen25	Menke, Denis	1970	6,044,674	39,123,165
6.2	schwarze	Thon, Dickie	1983	6,638,740	43,567,637
6.3	ejstockman	Watson, Bob	1973	5,002,679	42,187,625
6.4	calhoop	Heathcock, Jeff	1983	1,067,688	38,975,892
.
7.1	calhoop	Devenski, Chris	2016	4,369,568	43,345,460
7.2	jonstephen25	Woodeshick, Hal	1963	4,256,996	43,380,161
7.3	ejstockman	Wynn, Jim	1969	6,666,662	48,854,287
7.4	schwarze	Keuchel, Dallas	2015	7,644,583	51,212,220
.
8.1	calhoop	Alou, Moises	2000	5,148,813	48,494,273
8.2	jonstephen25	Hidalgo, Richard	2000	6,925,095	50,305,256
8.3	ejstockman	Pressly, Ryan	2019	2,122,549	50,976,836
8.4	schwarze	Everett, Carl	1999	5,146,256	56,358,476
.
9.1	calhoop	Loretta, Mark	2002	1,563,887	50,058,160
9.2	jonstephen25	Lidge, Brad	2004	4,140,806	54,446,062
9.3	ejstockman	Sambito, Joe	1980	3,367,111	54,343,947
9.4	schwarze	Andersen, Larry	1989	3,491,529	59,850,005
.
10.1	calhoop	Gonzalez, Marwin	2017	3,619,944	53,678,104
10.2	ejstockman	Cruz, Jose	1983	5,646,947	59,990,894
10.3	jonstephen25	Greinke, Zack	2019	8,356,760	62,802,822
10.4	schwarze	Sutton, Don	1981	7,671,239	67,521,244
.
11.1	calhoop	Dierker, Larry	1969	10,179,334	63,857,438
11.2	ejstockman	Caminiti, Ken	1994	5,114,473	65,105,367
11.3	jonstephen25	Gattis, Evan	2016	3,291,155	66,093,977
11.4	schwarze	Farrell, Turk	1963	6,614,301	74,135,545
.
12.1	calhoop	Pettitte, Andy	2005	7,226,866	71,084,304
12.2	ejstockman	McHugh, Collin	2018	2,777,215	67,882,582
12.3	jonstephen25	Cuellar, Mike	1966	7,188,583	73,282,560
12.4	schwarze	Beltran, Carlos	2004	6,670,843	80,806,388
.
13.1	ejstockman	Drabek, Doug	1994	7,534,281	75,416,863
13.2	calhoop	Knepper, Bob	1981	7,166,708	78,251,012
13.3	jonstephen25	Darwin, Danny	1990	4,859,176	78,141,736
13.4	schwarze	Staub, Rusty	1967	5,115,274	85,921,662
.
14.1	ejstockman	Tejada, Miguel	2009	5,373,963	80,790,826
14.2	jonstephen25	Alvarez, Yordan	2019	3,615,189	81,756,925
14.3	calhoop	Oswalt, Roy	2010	6,780,845	85,031,857
14.4	schwarze	Dipino, Frank	1983	2,627,131	88,548,793
.
15.1	ejstockman	May, Milt	1974	3,660,290	84,451,116
15.2	jonstephen25	Springer, George	2019	5,479,000	87,235,925
15.3	calhoop	Doran, Bill	1990	4,060,946	89,092,803
15.4	schwarze	Morgan, Joe	1965	5,411,692	93,960,485
.
16.1	ejstockman	Bass, Kevin	1986	5,483,838	89,934,954
16.2	jonstephen25	Johnson, Cliff	1977	2,866,872	90,102,797
16.3	calhoop	Scott, Luke	2006	2,660,452	91,753,255
16.4	schwarze	Mumphrey, Jerry	1983	1,930,573	95,891,058
.
17.1	ejstockman	Peacock, Brad	2017	4,016,507	93,951,461
17.2	jonstephen25	Niekro, Joe	1982	7,883,241	97,986,038
17.3	calhoop	Meluskey, Mitch	2000	2,889,535	94,642,790
17.4	schwarze	Bailey, Mark	1985	3,435,407	99,326,465
.
18.1	ejstockman	Woods, Gary	1980	641,768	94,593,229
18.2	calhoop	Cangelosi, John	1995	2,211,434	96,854,224
18.3	jonstephen25	Spiers, Bill	1997	2,820,779	100,806,817
18.4	schwarze	Sampson, Chris	2006	1,075,450	100,401,915
.
19.1	ejstockman	Harris, Will	2019	2,138,308	96,731,537
19.2	calhoop	Gurriel, Yuli	2019	4,627,338	101,481,562
19.3	schwarze	Bream, Sid	1994	628,959	101,030,874
19.4	jonstephen25	Pence, Hunter	2007	4,823,054	105,629,871
.
20.1	ejstockman	Anderson, Josh	2007	542,654	97,274,191
20.2	schwarze	Powell, Jay	1998	1,263,117	102,293,991
20.3	calhoop	Jones, Todd	1994	3,662,068	105,143,630
20.4	jonstephen25	Davis, Glenn	1989	4,781,179	110,411,050
.
21.1	ejstockman	Ferguson, Joe	1977	4,335,885	101,610,076
21.2	schwarze	Magnante, Mike	1997	1,610,505	103,904,496
21.3	calhoop	Ashby, Alan	1981	3,495,045	108,638,675
21.4	jonstephen25	Osuna, Roberto	2019	2,449,429	112,860,479
.
22.1	ejstockman	Knight, Ray	1983	4,275,692	105,885,768
22.2	schwarze	Lee, Carlos	2008	4,183,885	108,088,381
22.3	calhoop	Leonard, Jeffrey	1981	2,591,384	111,230,059
22.4	jonstephen25	Everett, Adam	2006	4,470,738	117,331,217
.
23.1	ejstockman	Smith, Joe	2019	752,585	106,638,353
23.2	schwarze	Davanon, Jerry	1976	939,710	109,028,091
23.3	calhoop	Vizcaino, Jose	2002	2,570,733	113,800,792
23.4	jonstephen25	Finley, Steve	1992	6,484,196	123,815,413
.
24.1	ejstockman	Harnisch, Pete	1993	6,163,203	112,801,556
24.2	schwarze	Solano, Julio	1984	1,744,352	110,772,443
24.3	calhoop	Bourn, Michael	2011	4,333,556	118,134,348
24.4	jonstephen25	Howe, Art	1981	4,195,434	128,010,847
.
25.1	schwarze	Servais, Scott	1995	2,306,025	113,078,468
25.2	ejstockman	Bogar, Tim	1997	1,469,035	114,270,591
25.3	calhoop	Jones, Doug	1992	3,308,599	121,442,947
25.4	jonstephen25	Bell, Derek	1995	3,970,309	131,981,156

I hope others will follow suit and do a short write-up of their draft...

Pick 1.3 - 2001 Lance Berkman
I have yet to get the overall #1 pick in any of these Quick Draft leagues. That being said, had I got the #1 pick, I probably would have taken Mike Scott. So what do I do when Bagwell and Clemens go 1 and 2? I pass on Mike Scott. Maybe #1 pick isn't that big of a deal. I decided that both Scott and Verlander would be a reasonable ace pitcher, so I wanted my favorite Astros hitter... Lance Berkman. This pick guarantees me one of those two SPs.

Pick 2.2 - 2019 Justin Verlander
jonstephen25 grabs Billy Wagner in order to get the top pick in round 2 (and takes Scott). I see this strategy a lot in this theme. I'm just not sure a stud RP is worth a 2nd round pick. I mean, had he taken Scott with pick #1, would he have taken Wagner in round 2? Anyway, I calculated that I should get one of the two stud 2B in round 3 (Biggio or Altuve).

Pick 3.3 - 2019 Alex Bregman
Well, I didn't see calhoop taking Randy Johnson in round 2 - which moved him ahead of me. So both 2B were taken. Actually, I think it worked out, cause Bregman is clearly the top 3B on the Astros. I can take Bill Doran late as my starting 2B.

Pick 4.3 - 1981 Nolan Ryan
The Astros are an interesting franchise. There is so much pitching, that I probably should take a hitter here. But with Berkman and Bregman, I know I won't be playing in the Astrodome, so I'd better get a SP that doesn't give up HRs. Ironically, in the Angels draft, I took Nolan Ryan at about the same time.

Pick 5.4 - 1965 Robin Roberts
The Astros have a ton of pitching, yet all these RPs are going off the board. Wagner, R.Johnson, J.Richard, D.Smith, O.Dotel. It seems like everybody is trying to outdo each other with a low salary in order to improve their draft position. I considered taking Devenski here, but Roberts moves me up two draft spots.

Pick 6.2 - 1983 Dickie Thon
This was a reactionary pick. In theory, I could move Bregman to SS but I wasn't thrilled with the 3B left. jonstephen25, who already had Correa just took Menke to play 2B. So now the SS position was really thin. I need to take Thon now. He's got A+ range, can play 162 games and even hit 20 HRs. I would've taken Devenski otherwise.

Pick 7.4 - 2015 Dallas Keuchel
Devenski went. I was all set to take Jimmy Wynn (love that OBP). He went one pick in front of me. Damn it! There are so many good SPs left. I want 4 good ones, so screw it... I'll take my SP#3 now. I'll be picking last for a while.

Pick 8.4 - 1999 Carl Everett
I wanted Wynn, Hidalgo and/or Everett. Hidalgo just went, so I'll take the switch hitting stud.

Pick 9.4 - 1989 Larry Anderson
Low HR. Lots of innings. I wanted the lefty Sambito, but he went one pick in front of me. Seems to happen a lot. Still so many stud SP's left.

Pick 10.4 - 1981 Don Sutton
I was just waiting for somebody else to grab another SP, and I was getting a solid SP#4. I almost took Dierker because he had more IPs, but I've not had much luck with him in the Rule V leagues.

Pick 11.4 - 1963 Turk Farrell
All these people taking RPs early. Instead, I will grab 203 innings of 0.97 whip. He will mostly pitch in relief but will get a dozen or so starts. I now have 5 of the top 11 starting pitchers.

Pick 12.4 - 2004 Carlos Beltran
I was targeting Beltran from the beginning. A switch-hitting power hitter with good defense. The 42/45 SB rate is an added bonus for anybody that doesn't draft a good arm behind the plate.

Pick 13.4 - 1967 Rusty Staub
So when I drafted Berkman, it was my intention to play him in the OF (i.e., his 2001 season). Around round 5-6, I started looking at the available 1B. And I was looking at '68 Rusty Staub. In fact, I almost drafted him earlier. But then after I lost out on both Cedeno and Hidalgo, I came across '67 Staub, who only plays OF. I then started comparing 2006 Berkman (.315 / .420 / .621) with 2001 Berkman (.331 / .429 / .599) and also comparing the two Rusty Staub seasons. I determined that 2006 Berkman+1967 Staub > 2001 Berkman+1968 Staub. Luckily, 2006 Berkman is cheaper. I really like my team's offense now... Berkman, Bregman, Thon, Everett, Beltran Staub. Need only a 2B and C.

Pick 14.4 - 1983 Frank Dipino
I probably should take Doran here but every has a 2B. Also, if I miss Doran, I can still get Joe Morgan. So I grab a boring RP. This is the last pick for me before we call it a night. The next morning, I decide I need to take Doran now, as somebody might decide to grab his partial season as a pinch hitter or to fill in missing PA.

Pick 15.4 - 1965 Joe Morgan
Yep... Doran goes. My bad. I assumed calhoop was using Marwin Gonzalez at 3B, but he must be using him at SS. This isn;t the only time calhoop snipes me. At least Morgan has .373 obp with 708 PA.

Pick 16.4 - 1983 Jerry Mumphrey
I needed some PA's to play OF when Carl Everett sits. I was eyeing both Luke Scott and Jerry Mumphrey. Of course, calhoop takes Scott right in front of me. That's ok... he;s not as good of a hitter, but is better defensively.

Pick 17.4 - 1985 Mark Bailey
I have been eyeing catchers for the last 3 rounds. I wanted either Meluskey or Bailey. calhoop made the choice for me. Everybody had at least one catcher so I probably should have waited on Bailey. I want Bill Spiers as a pinch hitter. That will be my next pick.

Pick 18.4 - 2006 Chris Sampson
This time, it's jonstephen25 who snipes me on Spiers. Time for some boring RPs.

Pick 19.3 - 1994 Sid Bream
I still need a backup C and lots of RPs. So of course, let's take a 99-PA pinch hitter.

Pick 20.2 - 1998 Jay Powell
Pick 21.2 - 1997 Mike Magnante
I was looking at Todd Jones before the Powell pick, but for some unknown reason I took a guy with 34 IPs and a 1.09 whip over a guy with 103 IPs and a 1.06 whip. What the hell am I doing? Guess who wasn't on the board on my next pick. I had Alan Ashby all queued up with pick 21, but went with another boring RP. Guess who took Ashby one pick after I took Magnante. Hint: Starts with CAL, ends with HOOP.

Pick 22.2 - 2008 Carlos Lee
I had Jeff Leonard penciled in as a fill in for Berkman (who has only 646 PAs) at 1B and also a defensive replacement for Staub in the OF. But then I saw Carlos Lee's 28 HRs in 438 ABs and couldn't resist. Leonard went to calhoop with the very next pick. It's almost like he is reading my mind.

Pick 23.2 - 1976 Jerry Davanon
I have enough PA's at 2B, 3B, SS, but like to have the extra infielder anyway. A .408 obp is a bonus.

Pick 24.2 - 1984 Julio Solano
Solano gives me a total of 12 pitchers, with 1515 IPs, 2.36 era, 0.98 whip, .205 oav, 0.57 hr/9.

Pick 25.1 - 1995 Scott Servais
My team offensive stats... .296 / .386 / .511

Thanks to schwarze for a great draft idea and a great draft. Cal and jon are tough competitors. This division looks to be very equally balanced.
Rd 1 -- Second pick of the draft. I have Mike Scott in the '80s quick draft league, results are meh. And if I pick him, I will pick last next round. Try to sneak in the '05 Clemens, lull schwarze or jon into picking Scott, and move up in the draft order. It just might work.
Rd 2 -- But, it doesn't work. schwarze sees through that gambit and jon goes with the "take a closer pick first next round" strategy, and then grabs Mike Scott. I decide to grab one of the two best 2Bs, Altuve, cause I am already planning on helping out my pitchers with an Astrodome team and I don't need Biggio's HRs.
Rd 3 -- The depth of the Astros pitching is great, but I still need a 1-2 punch and don't want to wait too much. Go with the '19 Cole, who gives up a ton of HRS although his HR+ isn't terrible. Really wanted Ryan but Coles' other stats are superior. Maybe I can grab Ryan on the next round.
Rd 4 -- And no, schwarze takes ryan, so I drop down to the top of the order by grabbing Dave "no homers" Smith. He's my closer Day one, anyway.
Rd 5 -- '71 Don Wilson. Gives me a big three starting staff even though he is a step down from Ryan.
Rd. 6 -- 73 Bob Watson. There might have been a better 1B Watson, but I am looking for a little higher OBP so I go with an OF version.
Rd. 7 -- Still wanting for OBP. 69 Jimmy Wynn fits the bill. Not gonna take advantage of his HR power in the Astrodome. He will bat 1st, Watson 2nd, Altuve 3rd. Kind of the reverse slugging from what I usually like to do, but I want guys on base for Altuve's hgh BA.
Rd. 8 -- Grab a middle reliever, Ryan Pressly, great stats ERC+ of 170) as the others take OFs and move up in the draft order. I noticed that the Astros are incredibly right handed, both in hitting and pitching. But we are also playing other franchises and are gonna need lefty relievers too, so....
Rd. 9 --- A favorite cookie at this cap level, the 80 Joe Sambito. Turns out he is my only lefty reliever.
Rd 10. -- I look to find some hitters who can take advantage of the right handedness of the franchise. 83 Jose Cruz.
Rd 11 -- In that vein, the 94 Caminiti fills two needs, a switch hitter and 3b. Not a great player, but I felt I had to make a need pick at this point.
Rd. 12, 13 -- I make need picks in Colin McHugh and Doug Drabek. Probably could have gone for a cookie or two (Mark Loretta e.g.) but this was also golf and bourbon influenced so I plead intoxication as my excuse.
Rd 14 - 09 Tejada, a good shortstop pick with fairly solid D.
Rd. 15 -- Gonna platoon catchers so I grab who I think is the best lefty of the bunch, 74 Milt May.
Rd 16 -- Surveying the landscape. Still looking for lefty bats. Decide to do something different. Grab Kevin Bass, a switch hitter. Gonna play him at 1B, which is WIS easiest and most forgiving position. It just might work. Eyeballed Ray Knight for 1B too. Maybe I will grab him as insurance later in the round.
Rd. 17 -- 18 Peacock for the quality middle relief innings.
Rd. 18 -- Try to take a guy that schwarze already took. what can I say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I should have used that saying when I did it and tried to talk him into giving Mumphrey to me. It just might have worked. Grabbed a high AVG righty pinch hitter in the 80 Gary Woods.
Rd 19 -- Nice little pick late in the draft, the 60 inning 2019 Will Harris. I like my bullpen.
Rd 20 -- Add my high AVG lefty pinch hitter in Josh Anderson.
Rd 21 -- The right handed part of my platoon at catcher, 77 Joe Ferguson. Good D and pretty good OBP for a catcher.
Rd 22 -- 83 Ray Knight is still there. 1B insurance/defensive replacement and maybe platoon against lefties depending on how Bass does.
Rd 23 -- Another little RP gem, the 25 inning 2019 Joe Smith. RH specialist. Which against a franchise with all righties, might just work.
Rd. 24 -- Peeeete Harneeeeeeesh (as Bob Murphy called him when he was on the Mets). Mop up.
R. 25 -- Tim Bohhhhhgarrrrr (as Bob Murphy called him when he was on the Mets.) Defensive replacement.

Hitting -- .302 AVG, .373 OBP, .458 SLG, Pitching .202 OAV, 1.02 WHIP, .242 ERA

Rd 1 - Billy Wagner - I was torn here because I thought about going with Bregman. However, I decided that since I knew I was taking Scott with the next pick and my thought was that I would need to go hitting after that so it was more important to load up at RP.

Rd 2 - Mike Scott - was the clear choice for me here as the best SP available

Rd 3 - Morgan Ensberg - I truly thought one of Altuve, Biggio, Bregman would make it to me. I was wrong. I reacted by taking Ensberg because I thought he was the best 3b available and the next best 3b was worse than the separation between the other positions.

Rd 4 - Carlos Correa - I looked at position scarcity and decided I wanted Correa over any other position need. There were plenty of OF. Too early for C. 1B doesn't matter after Bags.

Rd 5 - Octavio Dotel - I was gonna take RIchard, then Ryan, then Wilson. All went so I am starting to think my SPs are gonna be really avg so I am gonna load up on RPs

Rd 6 - Denis Menke - I thought Menke was the next best 2b and I was worried he would go before long. Now I have 3b, ss, 2b covered. The other positions worry me less.

Rd 7 - Hal Woodeschik - Still focusing on RPs and wanted a lefty.

Rd 8 - Richard Hidalgo - I made up my mind that I wanted either Alou or Hidalgo and as soon as Alou went I had to go Hidalgo

Rd 9 - Brad Lidge - still loading up on RPs

Rd 10 - Zack Greinke - Really struggled between Greinke and Dierker here - immediately regretted the decision

Rd 11 - Evan Gattis - Probably way too early for this but he was the only catcher I wanted - Best defense and only real power of the bunch

Rd 12 - Mike Cuellar - Wanted a lefty in the rotation and was going to go with Pettite before cal grabbed him. Cuellar was the next best lefty SP

Rd 13 - Danny Darwin - probably should have gone with someone else here but for some reason I liked Darwin as a LR and spot starter. Nobody else really drew my attention

Rd 14 - Yordan Alvarez - I thought he was the best hitter left and I still needed an OF

Rd 15 - George Springer - This was funny - I really thought hard about drafting Doran here as my backup at 2b because Correa is short on ABs and I could have played Menke there some. In the end I decided on Springer because I thought that the 2 needing a 2b would probably figure they could get one later since there were 2 left. Of course, Doran and Morgan go next...

Rd 16 - Cliff Johnson - I needed more ABs at C and Johnson gives power there as well as the ability to backup at 1B and OF.

Rd 17 - Joe Niekro - I picked early and actually thought EJ might take him with his pick. I needed another SP and I thought he was the best.

Rd 18 - Bill Spiers - I saw backup guys with high avg OBP flying off the board and i knew Spiers was the guy I wanted most because of positional variety and hitting.

Rd 19 - Hunter Pence - I had Will Harris and Yuli here but they both went before me. I didn't really want anyone in particular and Pence gives me defense and high avg.

Rd 20 - Glenn Davis - after Yuli he was my second choice at 1B - didn't really see anyone else I had to have

Rd 21 - Roberto Osuna - didn't really have anyone I loved and figured I could add another arm. Osuna's HR numbers scare me but something about Tony Sipp said no.

Rd 22 - Adam Everett - just wanted a good defender to sub

Rd 23 - Steve Finley - same story here - just wanted defense and speed to sub -

Rd 24 - didn't really need anything but figured Howe was a good OBP and def to sub at a couple of positions and he's a good dude and will be a valuable influence in the clubhouse

Rd 25 - Derek Bell - I didn't really need anything so I just took who I thought was the best available pinch hitter.

Fun times guys.

My biggest regret is Zack Greinke over Dierker. Hope I'm wrong. I also wish I had taken Doran instead of Springer

My favorite pick was Denis Menke to play 2b

Pick 0.x - Astros. This was clearly the best option of the 6 teams offered in this most recent iteration. I have been in two others and took the Dodgers and the Orioles. All 3 teams have a ton of stellar RP, some very good hitters and at least 2 very different stadium options. The Astros, like the Dodgers, offer a lot of quality SPs.

Pick 1.1 - 1994 Jeff Bagwell. As soon as I was notified that I was going to be in the Astros draft, I had my sights set on 2 players. I had no doubt from the moment I saw that I had lucked into first overall pick that Bagwell was my choice.

Pick 2.4 - 1998 Randy Johnson (partial). The downside of the Bagwell pick was that I would wind up picking either 3rd or 4th in Round 2. All of the 3 other round 2 picks were relatively higher-priced so I picked Big Unit mostly to manipulate myself back into first position for Round 3. He wasn't the other "must have player" on my original list but I wanted to be able to guarantee myself Biggio (also not my second original "must-have") after Altuve was taken just ahead of me.

Pick 3.1 - 1997 Craig Biggio. I figured I would take the most expensive Biggio because of his superior fielding. Not sure how many Astrodome teams would be in my division. Definitely not me, already.

Pick 4.1 - 1980 JR Richard. I was suprised to wind up still picking first and was able to grab the second "must have" player on my original list. Fits the way my team is developing perfectly so far.

Pick 5.3 - 1972 Cesar Cedeno. Some starters and relievers were going off the board but plenty remained. Still looking to match solid offense with good defense and was happy to take Cedeno here. Only downside is that I now have 3 right hand hittling full-time starters and no left or switch.

Pick 6.4 - 1983 Jeff Heathcock. Strictly another usable roster piece but more importantly a cheap player that would allow me to go back to first position after falling back to last. Still a lot of pitching to choose from but SS and 3b were getting thin. Even still, in this kind of draft picking low-priced players early benefit you throughout the entire draft due to the cumulative effect in determining each round's order

Pick 7.1 - 2016 Chris Devenski. Could not resist taking him here. My third stud long reliever that would allow me to delay focusing on star quality SP unless there was a big run. Still primarily planning to focus on offense in the near future after this pick.

Pick 8.1 - 2000 Moises Alou. Another right-handed hitter but how can you argue against his numbers. Enron locked in.

Pick 9.1 - 2002 Mark Loretta. Yet another salary manipulation choice with the double purpose of using as many of his 77 plate appearance in a starting role against schwarze's team

Pick 10.1 - 2017 Marwin Gonzalez. Time to get serious about filling in the blanks in my lineup. Gonzalez checks (almost) all of the boxes. Switch-hitter with power and good fielding (although poor range) at a variety of positions of need, primarily SS and 3b

Pick 11.1 - 1969 Larry Dierker. Nine starters had been picked already so I needed to start bringing in some of the remaining talent, which was still very acceptable. Dierker would be the first of four such picks in a row.

Pick 12.1 - 2005 Andy Pettitte. Really wanted someone else with lower HR/9 here but the ERC+ of Pettitte forced me to take him now. Will be slipping back in the order but not so worried about that at this stage.

Pick 13.2 - 1981 Bob Knepper. This is the player I wanted in Round 12 and did not think twice when he was still available here. Happy with my rotation so far but still work to do.

Pick 14.3 - 2010 Roy Oswalt (full) - Looking at this as a steal for my fourth starter pick, especially since I started taking any so late in the draft.

Pick 15.3 - 1990 Bill Doran (full) - Switch-hitter with a .411 OBP and some versatility in the field (2b/3b). Almost definitely will play 3b and lock Marwin in at SS although if I get really desperate I can still downsize Biggio to catcher and have Doran play 2b.

Pick 16.3 - 2006 Luke Scott. Still need plenty of help in the OF and taking a LH hitter with power seemed the logical choice. Not really well thought out but can live with him

Pick 17.3 - 2000 Mitch Meluskey. Catchers were gradually coming off the board and I figured I might miss a run if I didn't act soon. Like the switch-hitting .400 OBP. Will have to live with lousy arm. Will need another catcher to complement before too long

Pick 18.2 - 1995 John Cangelosi. Since 1970, only 2008 Chipper has a higher OBP for a switch hitter with over 250 PA/162. We can get around his terrible fielding and use him as first choice pinch hitter and pinch runner. Also very cost-effective for getting back near the front of the draft order

Pick 19.2 - 2019 Yuli Garriel. I don't follow modern baseball and had never heard of him. Love the power numbers and position flexibility and will play him mostly at 3rd when Bill Doran needs a break. Actually, noticed Hunter Pence would be a better fit after I made this pick and he, of course, was taken later in Round 19

Pick 20.3 - 1994 Todd Jones. Still a few useable RP with decent IP and low HR/9 remaining and I wanted to add another. Todd fits

Pick 21.3 - 1981 Alan Ashby. Not the best hitting version of Ashby but the one with the strongest arm. Now have 2 switch-hitting catchers to rotate.

Pick 22.3 - 1981 Jeffrey Leonard - Really surprised he was still here at this stage. Probably need to catch up with more PA at this stage but happy to have him for the late innings

Pick 23.3 - 2002 Jose Vizcaino. Needed to fill in the extra SS PA that I will be short with using Marwin. After debating between Julio Lugo and Sonny Jackson, I noticed switch-hitting Vizcaino with his position eligibility variety and took him instead. Good fielder, no range like the rest of the left side of my infield.

Pick 24.3 - 2011 Michael Bourn. I did not feel comfortable with my total of OF at bats so I went with Bourn. Decent average, great speed and good range. Lefty a big plus.

Pick 25.3 - 1992 Doug Jones. I knew I wanted pitching here with some meaningful IP. Still several guys on my radar. Really liked the .45s Jim Umbricht but wanted more innings. Looked at Don Nottebart (189 IP) as a fifth starter as well as Jim Ray (98 IP) but settled for Doug Jones with his strong 112 IP.

Fun draft with all of you gentlemen. See you on the field