Version 1.5 Details - Using this same thread for post-draft writeups (scroll down)

The 25-round draft will consist of three phases.

Phase 1
This phase will consist of 16 rounds, where the goal is to draft one player from each of the sixteen franchises. At the end of this phase, each team will have 8 starting position players, four starting pitchers (including one from the deadball years) and four relief pitchers. If you get stuck and cannot legally draft a player from one of the buckets, then you will get a default player. Draft order in round 1 will be random. Draft order in rounds 2-16 is based on lowest cumulative salary.

Phase 2
This phase will consist of 8 rounds. Each team will draft from the three position buckets, backup catcher (1 per team), bench player (4 per team) or other pitcher (3 per team). You cannot draft more than one player per franchise. If you had to take a default player in phase 1, then you need to fill your missing franchise in this round (but cannot take two players from that franchise). At the end of this round, you should have at least one player from each of the 16 franchises and no more than 2 players from any franchise. The draft order for this phase is based on fewest default players taken, with the tie-breaker lowest cumulative salary.

Phase 3
This is the "Round 25" draft and will contain players from the Federal League. The draft order rule is similar to phase 2... fewest default players, then lowest cumulative salary. If for some reason you failed to comply with the rules from Phase 2 (i.e., you don't have every franchise represented and/or you couldn't legally draft a player in phase 2) you will draft last in this round.

DH = No
AAA = No
WW = No
injuries = No
Trades = No
Clones = Yes
Stadium = Must be a stadium one of your original 16 franchise players played in during the season you selected (no Federal League stadiums)
Division Alignment = Fewest default players, then lowest cumulative salary

Yankees Franchise (1901-1960)

Catcher
This was one of the tougher decisions for the Yankees. Both played 17+ years with the Yankees. Both were great hitters for their position. I chose Yogi Berra over Bill Dickey mainly because Berra had more full seasons than Dickey. Also, I love all those famous Yogi Berra quotes. Examples: "It's like déjà vu all over again" or "He hits from both sides of the plate. He's amphibious." or "I never said most of the things I said". If you want to see more, check this link out.
.
First Base
This is a no-brainer. One of the most beloved and humble players ever. And just for fun, I'm rostering the 1927 version of Lou Gehrig, just so somebody can spend $22M and drop to the bottom of the draft order.
.
Second Base
This was another relatively easy choice. Although Joe Gordon and Snuffy Stirnweiss had some nice seasons, Tony Lazzeri was a mainstay in the 1920-30's dynasty era.
.
Third Base
Frank Baker had a couple of nice seasons for NY, but his best years came with the A's. Red Rolfe has three of New York's six best seasons at 3B, including the top two. Easy decision here.
.
Shortstop
This decision could have gone a few different ways. Gil McDougald played all over the infield, and only has two years where SS was his primary position, although those were two really good seasons. Roger Peckingpaugh was solid SS in the mid-to-late teens. Frankie Crosetti played about 15 years with NY, but wasn't much of a hitter. I think the best choice here is Phil Rizzuto. Who can remember the Phil Rizzuto head keychain on Seinfeld? Whoever drafts Rizutto should name their team "Phil Rizzuto's Head".
.
Outfielders
This is a no-brainer. Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio & Mickey Mantle. As far as which seasons, I'm going to keep that secret until I post all the players. The sum of the three players' salaries is roughly $42 million.
.
Backup C & Bench players
Here is where Bill Dickey gets onto the roster. A fantastic 299-PA season. Other bench players include Charlie Keller, Roy Cullenbine, Jerry Priddy & Claud Derrick. Keller and Cullenbine have nice partial seasons.
.
Deadball Starting Pitcher
The Yankees (er.. Highlanders) weren't that great during the deadball years. They had only a handful off winning seasons during this era, and didn't have dominant starting pitchers like Ed Walsh, Walter Johnson or Christy Mathewson. It came down to a few options, Jack Chesbro, Russ Ford and Ray Caldwell. Caldwell was a mediocre pitcher with one decent year. Chesbro threw 488 IPs in his best season but that season seems a bit extreme to include in this theme. Ford only played 5 years with NY, but only played 7 years total. His two best years came with NY, so we're going to use Russ Ford.
.
Starting Pitchers
Two of the three are obvious. Lefty Gomez was the ace of those 1930's Yankees teams. And Whitey Ford was the team's best and most consistent SP of the 1950's and 60's Yankees dynasty. Ford's .690 winning percentage is ranked 5th all-time. The third SP is between Waite Hoyt and Spud Chandler. Hoyt was the ace of the 1920's dynasty while Chandler pitched during the war years in the 1940's. Hoyt has the longevity advantage, but Chandler is actually ranked ahead of Whitey Ford in all-time winning% at .717. Hoyt was decent, not great. HIs career ERA+ is 112 compared to Chandler's 132. I have to go with Spud Chandler here.
.
Relief Pitchers
Not much to discuss. RPs during these years were typically guys not good enough to start. The four I chose are Johnny Murphy, Bobby Shantz, Clark Griffith and Ryne Duren.
.
Other Pitchers
These guys are actually more preferable than the RPs listed above. Red Ruffin was never a great SP, but in his short season, he is a popular choice on this site. And the best pitcher on the vaunted 1927 Yankees is not even listed as a SP. Wilcy Moore pitched 38 out of 50 games in relief and still managed to get 225 IPs. It will be interesting to see how high he gets drafted in this version. Tom L. Hughes only tossed 30 IPs in 1907, but they were very efficient innings (whip 1.00 and zero HRs).

Phillies 1901-1960

The first thing to remember is that this is the losingest franchise in baseball history. They won their first NL pennant in 1915; their second in 1950, and then some division titles in the 70s. Their first World Series win wasn’t till 1980. Their 3 best hitters played in the 1890s, Hamilton, Delahanty, and Thompson. Their only great pitcher before the 1950s was Dead Baller Pete Alexander. So most of this roster comes from the live ball 1930s, or the 1950s Whiz Kids,

Catcher
1955 Smoky Burgess L .301 .369 .495 B-/C . Most Phils catchers were not that good. There was Spud Davis who I chose as a back up. Smokey played for a lot of teams, was popular here (yes I remember him) and had this one good season.
First
1937 Dolph Camilli L 339 .446 .587 B+C Dolph had several good seasons in the live ball 30s. I liked the .933 OPS here.
Second
Fresco Thompson R 758 324 .398 .419 C/B- Fresco had several good seasons here. I liked his Defensive Range and OBP
Third
1930 Pinky Whitney R 342 .383 .465 A-/B Another live ball player. Good D, OBP, and not bad slugging percentage.
Short
1932 Dick Bartell R 757 308 .379 .414 B/A Again OBP and D
OF
1930 Chuck Klein L 386 .436 .687 C-/B-
1955 Richie Ashburn L 338 .449 .448 B/A+
1929 Lefty O'Doul L .398 .465 .622 C/D+
Finally ! Three HOFers. Klein and O’Doul supply the power, Richie the D, Speed, and laughs. He was one of my childhood heroes. After playing for the 62 Mets he decided that rather then spend another year there, he rather be a broadcaster here. Generations of Phils fans loved Harry Kallas and Whitey Ashburn. Among his enduring quirks, he would give shout outs to local eateries, so they would deliver food to the TV booth!

Bench
Some good players here who spent a year or 2 in Philly and met the bench AB criteria
C 1928 Spud Davis R 282 .343 .350 C-/D
SS 1920 Dave Bancroft S .298 .337 .363 B-/A+
SS 1952 Tommy Brown R .302 .349 .409 D/D-
1B 1921 Ed Konetchy R 321 .379 .504 D+/A
OF 1919 Gavvy Cravath R .341 .438 .640 D/D- Dig that 1.938 OPS in 300 AB

Dead Ball Starter
SP 1915 Pete Alexander R 31-10-3 402 IP 1.22 .191 0.84 Another HOF, and the only great Phillies Pitcher before the 50s Whiz Kids
Other Starters
SP 1952 Robin Roberts R 28-7-2 348 IP 2.59 .234 1.02 Another HOF and the work horse of the 48-59 Phillies. Another childhood hero.
1947 Dutch Leonard R 17-12-0 248 IP 2.68 .258 1.20
1952 Curt Simmons L 14-8-0 212 IP 2.82 .227 1.19 Roberts Left handed running mate during the 50s
Bullpen
1955 Bob Miller R 8-4-1 95 IP 2.41 .242 1.20 Got a HR/9 of Zero
1960 Turk Farrell R 10-6-11 109 IP 2.70 .239 1.13 Fan Favorite
1907 Lew Richie R 6-6-0 129 IP 1.77 .215 1.08 Dead Ball Starter
1954 Herm Wehmeier R 10-8-0 146 IP 3.85 .231 1.22 Don’t remember him
1908 Earl Moore R 2-1-0 28 I P 0.00 .217 1.08 Dead ball starter, Zero ERA
1907 George McQuillan R 4-0-0 46 IP 0.66 .158 0.78 Dead Ball Starter
1950 Jim Konstanty R 16-7-22 160 IP 2.66 .205 1.04 Workhorse of Whiz Kids bullpen 160 IP. Started first game of World Series vs Yankees because Roberts & Simmons were worn out

BROWNS/ORIOLES

I started to choose the Athletics for my roster but after giving it some thought, I wanted more of a challenge. The A's would have been a LOT easier to do than the one I picked so a challenge is what I got...

CATCHER: Although they had several Catchers during this 60-year period, Hank Severeid stood out as the best one available. I was able to get Wally Schang in as a reserve player. Rick Ferrell just couldn't cut the mustard any which way I looked. He's a Hall Of Famer (although he's assuredly one of the ones who got voted in by his buddies since his career didn't amount to much), but he just didn't have any seasons that warranted earning a spot on the list.

FIRST BASE: A no-brainer - Dick's son and Dave's brother: George Sisler

SECOND BASE: A few different options but it came down to either Del Pratt or the guy I picked: Marty McManus. Pratt had more seasons as a Brown but McManus had better seasons available.

SHORTSTOP: Vern Stephens would have been most people's first choice here but I wanted to represent the early years as much as I could - and way back then, Bobby Wallace was basically "Mr. Brown" during the dead-ball era. I was able to get his best season (stats wise) and was able to add Stephens as an add-on.

THIRD BASE: One of the other "few" no-brainers in the history of this franchise - Harlond Clift is the choice and it's not even close. If the years would have extended out another 5-10 years, Brooks Robinson would have given Harlond a run for this spot.

OUTFIELD: The last "no-brainer" among Position Players is Ken Williams. Great player and some great seasons. I went into this project thinking that Goose Goslin and Heinie Manush would take spots, but I was wrong. One only played three seasons with the Browns and the other only played a little over two. I wanted players who spent more time with the team than that. During the deadball era, very few hitters were as good as George Stone and one of the other stalwarts of the great teams of the early twenties was Baby Doll Jacobson. They got my votes - although I was able to get Manush in as an alternate.

BACK-UP CATHER & BENCH PLAYERS: I could have included Schang or one of other available Catchers for the back-up but I wanted someone with at least "decent" stats. Then I found a 1922 version of a guy named Pat Collins. I didn't waste any more brain matter on this one. He got the job. For my bench players, besides the aforementioned Heinie Manush, Wally Schang and Vern Stephens, I wanted another half-way decent guy who'd played several years with the Browns and decided to go with Chet Laabs.

DEADBALL STARTING PITCHER: Took the best one available. I believe Jack Powell had more seasons as a Brown but Harry Howell's stats were better. No other players came close.

STARTING PITCHERS: This is where the franchise got ugly. The Browns NEVER had any decent arms that you normally equate to being "draft-worthy" so I had little to work with. Urban Shocker has more history with the franchise than most players so he got a spot (His "best" season is bleeeech....). Although the franchise had only been in Baltimore for seven of the available seasons, one of the better arms turned out to be Connie Johnson. For the third choice, I just wanted someone who had decent stats, regardless of how many seasons he played with the franchise. Turns out that man is Nels Potter.

Relief Pitchers: Like most others, the Relief Pitching during the first part of the century left little to be happy with. Although the stats were eerily similar to the Starters, I believe they turned out just a "tad-bit" better. All four of them came from the last decade we had to choose from - George Zuverink, Ken Lehman, Joe Ostrowski and Hoyt Wilhelm.

Other Pitchers: Rounding out this cavalcade of mediocre talent is the afore-mentioned Jack Powell's great 30-IP season and Tim McCabe's great 44-IP season. The last roster spot went to a guy who's stats weren't the greatest but I went with my gut and with my love of baseball history. The final spot went to Satchel Paige.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd say to heck with a challenge. I'd definitely have gone with the Athletics!

LOL... I'm sure the last two people to select franchises were glad they didn't have to deal with the Browns. Way to take one for the team. Mixing in these Browns players with stud Yankees, Giants, etc. is going to make for an interesting draft. The difference between the haves and have-nots was so much larger in the pre free-agent era. And we thought the Angels were bad.

FYI - Here is the franchise/owner list.

schwarze - Yankees
mpitt76 - Dodgers
nocomm999 - Cardinals
fatguyrd - Phillies
dilligafdbp - Red Sox
mllama54 - Giants
zephyr1949 - Indians
thejuice6 - Browns*
calhoop - Pirates
Chisock - Tigers
njbigwig - White Sox
bheid408 - Senators
footballmm11 - Athletics
ronthegenius - Cubs
rmarsh519 - Braves
midknight - Reds

* For simplicity, I am going to refer to the Browns/Orioles franchise as Browns (just like I referred to the Expos/Nationals franchise as Expos).

Cardinals

Catcher: 1915 Frank Snyder -- It came down to a choice between Snyder and 1926 Bob O'Farrell. Their seasons produced similar offensive numbers, so I chose Snyder based on his superior defense.

First Base: 1939 Johnny Mize -- I wanted to use Stan Musial's incredible1948 season in the outfield, so it came down to Mize and Jim Bottomley, who hit .367 in 1925. However, Mize was only 18 points below that in '39, and his OBP and power numbers gave him the edge.

Second Base: 1924 Rogers Hornsby -- The Cardinals' top five available second base seasons -- and four of the top five WIS second base seasons -- belong to Hornsby. I went with the season in which he hit .424. The price tag is a mere $19.7 million.

Third Base: 1945 Whitey Kurowski -- Both Kurowski and Ken Boyer had a number of nice seasons, but I settled on a year in which Kurowski produced a .323/.383/.511 slash line as well as A-/B defense.

Shortstop: 1953 Solly Hemus -- Considering the overall success the Cardinals have experienced, the options among shortstops between 1901 and 1960 were surprisingly mediocre. The numbers for Hemus were practicically identical in both '52 and '53; I went with the '53 campaign because of the slighly better defensive rating.

Outfield: 1948 Stan Musial, 1937 Joe Medwick, 1949 Enos Slaughter -- The seasons produced by Musial and Medwick had to be included. Jesse Burkett had a season in which he hit .376, but I took Slaughter instead, largely because he was a Cardinals mainstay for more than a decade.

Bench: 1912 Roger Bresnahan, 1957 Joe Cunningham, 1956 Red Schoendienst, 1930 Ray Blades, 1931 Taylor Douhit -- All five bench players hit over .300, including Blades, whose slash line was a Hornsby-esque .396/.504/.614.

Deadball Starting Pitcher: 1914 Bill Doak -- The choices here were hardly overwhelming. The top few seasons were produced by pitchers who spent between one and three years with the Cards. Doak's 11 seasons in St. Louis had a lot to do with this selection.

Starting Pitchers: 1943 Mort Cooper, 1948 Harry Brecheen, 1934 Dizzy Dean -- Cooper's '43 season and Brecheen's '48 season have long been popular WIS selections. Dean is a Cardinals legend, and his '34 campaign was his best.

Relief Pitchers: 1950 Jim Hearn, 1960 Lindy McDaniel, 1918 Oscar Tuero, 1928 Hal Haid -- Three more popular SIM choices that were made even more obvious by the fact that there were hardly any other worthy options to consider. The "other" reliever is Hal Haid.

Other Pitchers: 1943 Howie Pollet, 1901 Mike O'Neill, 1952 Stu Miller -- I've often used '43 Pollet as a long reliever, and the results have almost always been satisfactory. Miller and O'Neill figure to be positive additions to any bullpen. The same could be said for Irv Higginbotham, but I didn't like his 1909 season enough to replace any of the others.

Man, I'm having severe draft withdrawals...I'm ready to get this draft a-going!

Cubs

Catcher: 1930 Gabby Hartnett -- Old Tomato Face is the clear Cubs choice at catcher. The Hall of Famer had many excellent seasons but in 1930 he really slugged the ball. More importantly he was the face of my team in fatboydad54's Around the Horn chain league which won the title so he was guaranteed a spot here

First Base: 1906 Frank Chance -- Phil Cavarretta was the other Cubs choice, but I wanted to included at least one of the famous Evers-to-Tinker-to-Chance combination. Chance and Cavarretta were actually similar high OBP, low HR type first basemen but Chance has more speed.

Second Base: 1936 Billy Herman -- The second of back to back 57 double seasons and excellent defense as well.

Third Base: 1912 Heinie Zimmerman -- The decision here was between Zimmerman and Stan Hack. Hack maybe had more great Cubs seasons overall but Zimmerman's 1912 season stands out for its normalized slugging.

Shortstop: 1959 Ernie Banks -- Mr. Cub. A no-brainer selection here. I know he usually underperforms his stats in WIS but 1959 looks like the perfect combination of hitting, power, and defense.

Outfield: 1930 Hack Wilson, 1911 Wildfire Schulte, and 1944 Bill Nicholson -- Wilson is the automatic selection here. Hall of Fame and 191 RBI says it all. Also, sharing in a Kirby Puckett-physique as I do, I always have to root for the short, stocky players. Frank Schulte was the outfielder and clean up hitter for all those great Cubs teams in the early part of the century. Finally, I went with Bill Nicholson over Kiki Cuyler. Nicholson led the league in home runs and RBI in back to back years and he really should have won the MVP in 1944 over Marty Marion. He was so feared that year that he was intentionally walked with the bases loaded and remained the last player to have done so until Barry Bonds was doing his steroid-assisted, video-game-number thing in the early 2000s.

Bench: 1954 Walker Cooper, 1933 Stan Hack, 1933 Kiki Cuyler, 1951 Phil Cavarretta, and 1944 Frank Secory -- Hack, Cuyler, and Cavarretta all earned their spots here after narrowly missing being named to main roster above.

Deadball Starting Pitcher: 1909 Mordecai Brown -- .This is where the Cubs shine with Overall, Reulbach, Pfeister, Jack Taylor, Hippo Vaughan and others available. But still it's a no-brainer to go with 3 Finger who was best of the bunch by far.

Starting Pitchers: 1945 Claude Passeau, 1932 Lon Warneke, 1926 Pete Alexander -- This is where the Cubs don't shine. Their 1920-1960 choices are fairly mediocre. But had to go with Alexander who spent more of his HOF career in Wrigley than he did in Philly.

Relief Pitchers: 1958 Bill Henry, 1952 Willie Ramsdell, 1960 Joe Schaffernoth, and since nocomm passed on him, 1909 Irv Higgenbotham -- OK, this is where the Cubs really, really don't shine.

Other Pitchers: 1919 Phil Douglas, 1945 Ray Prim, 1938 Dizzy Dean -- This is better collection of pitching help than the relivers for sure.

Braves

Catcher: 1960 Del Crandall - only had 8 options to choose from with the PA criteria and 5 of those were Crandall. Would've picked him anyway as he played 12 seasons with Braves and was a multiple all-star selection.

First Base: 1902 Fred Tenney - tough choice between him and Joe Adcock. Chose Tenney even though his best years were before 1901. His 14 years with the team gave him the edge.

Second Base: 1912 Bill Sweeney - second was obviously a revolving door for the Braves for a long time. Most options had 3 years or less with the team. Sweeney played 2nd in three of his seven seasons with the team so I took his one big year.

Third Base: 1953 Eddie Mathews - No brainer of course. One of three Hall of Famers on team.

Shortstop: 1955 Johnny Logan - 11 year mainstay with the team. Good fielder and above average hitter for his position.

Outfield: 1955 Hank Aaron - no explanation needed. My second Hall of Famer.

Outfield: 1945 Tommy Holmes - career .302 hitter and played entire 9 years with Braves.

Outfield: 1932 Wally Berger - four time all-star and another career .300 hitter. Tough choice here was which year to use. His 1930 year he hit 38 dingers, 1931 he hit .323. I decided on '32 because he not only hit .307 but he's an A/A+ fielder and I figured defense would be hard to come by in this version and that might make him more desirable.

Backup Catcher: 1924 Frank Gibson - only switch hitter on team

Bench: 1958 Mel Roach, 1957 Bob Hazle (and his .403 BA), 1918 Zeb Terry (A/A fielder), 1913 Tex McDonald

SP Deadball: 1916 Dick Rudolph - Kid Nichols would've been the guy but his best years were pre-1901 so Rudolph got the nod. Spent all 8 years with the Braves.

SP: 1953 Warren Spahn - the most wins of any left-hander in history plus 19 years with Braves and the third of my three Hall of Famers.

SP: 1956 Lew Burdette - the '57 World Series MVP had to be on team plus he played 12 years in Milwaukee

SP: 1946 Johnny Sain: fourth starter was a little tough but decided to go with Sain. Missed 3 years due to the war and still posted four 20 win seasons.

RP: 1948 Nels Potter, 1908 Bill Chappell, 1923 Johnny Clooney, 1908 Harley Young - only comment here is Potter is by far the best of the bunch.

Other Pitchers: 1916 Tom L. Hughes, 1917 Jack Scott, 1958 Humberto Robinson - not much to say here except there's one big inning guy and two under 50 innings

Cincinnati Reds

Like the last kid picked for the kickball game at recess, once I started to put together the team I could see why the Reds were the last team standing. A fun roster to build but only sports two HOFER's, Edd Roush and Ernie Lombardi, plus a decent mix of all-star caliber players and the Bad News Bears.

Catcher: 1938 Ernie Lombardi - This was an easy choice boasting a .342 BA with 19 HRs and solid behind the plate.

First Base: 1954 Ted Kluszewski - I went with Kluszewski over Frank McCormick who put up multiple all-star seasons at 1B for the Reds. Kluszewski's power was a deciding factor plus you've got to love a guy that cuts off his sleeves to show off his guns.

Second Base: 1939 Lonnie Frey - It was between Lonnie Frey and Johnny Temple and I picked Frey due to a better slugging percentage and he's a notch better in the field. Not much to choose from at 2nd for the Reds during the first half of the Century.

Third Base: 1919 Heinie Groh - Groh was a clear choice at 3rd for the Reds. He put up excellent in 1919, and A/A fielder and his .823 OPS led the NL. He only hit .172 in the 1919 Series but the Reds did not need his bat - the White Sox gave them all the help they needed.

Shortstop: 1956 Roy McMillan - Where is Barry Larkin when you need him? McMillan's competition was Buck Herzog, Eddie Miller and Billy Myers. I am sure these guy were all regarded as solid shortstops in their day but for a franchise's 60 year all star team...Ugh. I picked McMillan over the others because he's the one I hit on the dart board.

Outfielders: 1920 Edd Roush, 1905 Cy Seymour and 1959 Vada Pinson - A solid group. I liked Roush's 1920 season over a few of his others and Seymour's .372 BA was tough to ignore. Pinson was my third choice and I have always felt he is underrated. A good (not great) three category player and I thought he deserved a spot on the team. The odd guy out was Frank Robinson. Hard to explain why other than I felt his best years were in the 60's where he split time with the Reds and O's.

Backup Catcher and Bench: C Clyde Sukeforth, 1B Rube Bressler, 2B Lew Fonseca, 3B Hans Lobert and OF Mike Donlin. Possibly the strength of the team: 1433 AB's and a combined .345 BA.

Deadball Starting Pitcher: 1902 Noodles Hahn - The Reds missed the boat on the great pitchers of the deadball era (Johnson, Mathewson, Walsh, Brown, Bender, etc) but Hahn was solid winning 20 games for the Reds 4 times. Who doesn't like a guy named Noodles?

Starting Pitchers: 1939 Bucky Walters, 1923 Dolf Luque and 1942 Johnny Vander Meer - There may have been a couple of other options but I felt these guys were all good top tier starters for their era. As we all know, Vander Meer is the only player to toss back-to-back no hitters in 1938. His 119-120 career W/L is underwhelming, but he is one of the Reds most remembered hurlers.

Relief and Other Pitchers: Eppa Rixey was a long-time Reds pitcher and I considered him for my 4th starter but as noted I settled on Vander Meer. Rixey leads a group of serviceable pitchers.

PHILADELPHIA/KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS

CATCHER: Mickey Cochrane
I gave two seconds of thought to throwing a Jimmy Foxx-at-catcher sized wrench into this draft, but thought better of it. Especially because Mickey Cochrane is a very easy choice here. The harder choice was which season to take as he has plenty of very good ones to choose from.

?FIRST BASE: Jimmie Foxx
Harry Davis played 11 seasons for the A's but this is all Jimmie Foxx. Like I mentioned above, I thought about getting cute but he has a 58-HR season worth over $16m. This was an easy one.

SECOND BASE: Eddie Collins
Jimmy ***** actually has 14 WIS seasons with the A's split across 2B and 3B, but while Collins had a great White Sox career as well, he was an MVP and fantastic player for Philadelphia. That makes him a no-brainer pick here.

THIRD BASE: Frank Baker
As I mentioned, ***** played a long time for Philly including plenty of time at 3B, but he never had a great season. Jimmie Foxx has ratings at 3B, but he's clearly a 1B first and foremost. No, this one is actually quite clear. The top 4 qualifying 3B seasons for the A's are all Baker, including his $9.4m 1912 season, which I chose.

SHORTSTOP: Eddie Joost
Haven't had a tough call yet! Joost had the top 4 shortstop seasons including two over $7m. Nobody else had a season even sniffing $5m.

OUTFIELD: Al Simmons, Bob Johnson, Sam Chapman
Simmons was the slam dunk choice, with four seasons at $9.5m+, by far the best seasons for any A's OF. Bob Johnson had the 5th and 7th best seasons and a long stint with the franchise, so he was a rather clear 2nd choice.

The third choice was tougher. Simmons and Johnson had all the top 7 seasons, but the next few went to Wally Moses, Doc Cramer, Bob Cerv, and Mule Haas. I thought about Moses, who had a nice A's career, but Sam Chapman ranked 3rd in my "salary with the A's" metric for OFs, played 10 seasons, and his top season was only a couple hundred thousand below the group I mentioned above. Finally, while Simmons and Johnson are more corner OF sluggers, Chapman gives the group a CF with A+ range.

BACKUP C: Wally Schang
BENCH: Elmer Valo, Jimmy *****, Bill Burgo, George Kell
There's no great second catcher, so Schang gets the nod here. I'm sure someone will find use for this switch hitter with solid OBP and decent defense. I was happy to get both Valo and *****--who spent a lot of years with the A's--into the mix, though both are over 300 PA. Given the volume of those two, I went with low PA for the final two spots--Burgo is a nice pinch-hitting option who can be a defensive replacement in the OF while Kell can play both corner IF spots and get on base some.

==========================

DEADBALL STARTER: Chief Bender
Eddie Plank and Bender were the clear top two, but while Plank had more longevity, Bender had the better top season.

LIVEBALL STARTERS: Lefty Grove, George Earnshaw, Bobby Shantz
Grove was a slam dunk choice. He has the top 3, 4 of the top 5, 6 of the top 8 and 7 of the top 10 starter seasons between 1920 and 1960 for the franchise. The next two spots weren't quite as clear cut. Eddie Rommel and Rube Walberg when for longevity but neither had a top season worth taking. However, Earnshaw and Shantz were next up on my list and they provided the top two non-Grove seasons, making them the choices.

RELIEVERS: Joe Berry, Nels Potter, Bill Bartley, Jing Johnson
It's slim pickings for relievers in this era. Berry had by far the best RP season, so started with him. Potter, Bartley and Johnson were the next 3 best by ERC# as well.

OTHER PITCHERS: Dennis Burns, Fred Heimach, Howard Ehmke
With Burns and Heimach, they were high-quality relievers that didn't meet the 50 IP threshold. Ehmke was the lone pitcher worth taking who fell in the 150-200 IP death valley.

All rosters have been submitted. Will take some time to get everything set up. Hope to have everything posted in forum by Sunday or Monday.

Here are some salary data on the player pool for version 1.5. This doesn't include the Federal League player draft (Round 25).

Pos	.	Avg Salary	.	Count	.	Tot Salary
C		5,281,799		1		5,281,799
1B		9,316,998		1		9,316,998
2B		8,362,417		1		8,362,417
3B		7,280,659		1		7,280,659
SS		7,470,843		1		7,470,843
OF		9,317,241		3		27,951,723
C2		2,437,368		1		2,437,368
Bench		2,063,503		4		8,254,013
SP1		14,424,607		1		14,424,607
SP2		9,017,334		3		27,052,003
RP1		3,815,906		2		7,631,812
RP2		2,234,805		2		4,469,610
P		3,493,467		3		10,480,402
Total				24		140,414,254

Post your Draft Writeups Here