I'm going to pretend I had a plan throughout and stuck to it...but I don't think that's possible in this format. Great draft everyone, it was very entertaining and flowed really well. It was a constant (and welcome) distraction to working at home.

I started with the premise that good pitching was pretty thin compared to good hitting. Knew I wanted to get my rotation sorted early because I always over-emphasize pitching and I hate ending up with pitchers i don't like. Planned to pick up a few key hitters and key RPs next, followed by filling the rest of the lineup with whatever was left.

I perceived lots of depth at 1B and OF, probably because I don't care that much about defense at most positions. Yeah I know that's probably why I lose a lot. I saw very little depth at 2B and SS. So I decided that trying 2 or 3 platoons at 1B and OF would be OK, figuring other owners might focus on 600PA+ starters, and I could sneak some value in late.

I studied the supplemental round availability early on (yes that was me that asked footballmm11 the questions) and decided that there were a ton of good position players and a ton of good RPs. Limited good SPs available - Johnson, Schilling, Brown, Felix, Snell, JoFer. Not much beyond that. I decided to aim for a starting SS in the supplemental draft, regardless of where I ended up in the draft order. I liked the depth there - ARod, Tulo, Hanley, Story, and I was prepared to try Boone, LeMahieu, Cano at short if I needed to.

I went to the trouble of figuring out who could be blocked after I saw Schilling go off the board in Round 3. I wondered if others would join me in a mad blocking scheme - Johnson, Brown, Piazza, Walker, Luis, Finley. I planned to block a couple (cheap 1992 Piazza as a serviceable backup C and someone else) but it took too much to pass on all Dodgers, Rangers, 1990, 1992... I caved and took LHP Brewer in round 12 because I think lefty relievers were getting scarce. I obviously held out for 1990 Brown, which cost me nearly $4M for a mop-up guy.

So how did I execute the plan?
Rounds 1-4: 4 starters to open the draft. I like them, maybe nobody else does. Hopefully I have more depth than other teams.
Rounds 5-7: Took what I felt were the best hitters available in next two rounds, defense be damned (D+/D at 3B and D/C in the OF lol). Catcher depth started to scare me, so took Tettleton. I would've been happy with Ferguson or Freehan who went much later.
Round 8: What the heck, another starter before I'm forced to take someone I don't really like. Thought I might need extra innings because of the hitting depth.
Round 9-10: Bad defense vs. good conscience battle. I took Tommy Harper because all the 2B were going and I like Tommy Harper despite his D+/C at 2B. Yeah I know he's a C/A- at 3B. Whatever. Felt guilty so drafted a good fielding CF in Bonds with my next pick.
Round 11-13: filling out the bullpen, including the aforementioned Brewer. 1992 Roberto Hernandez also cost me the chance to block someone.
Round 14-25: Actually mapped out the remaining picks of my draft, and it worked out. Got every single one that I targeted, just not in the planned order. LF tandem of Strawberry and Jeffrey Leonard, pretty happy with that this late in the draft. Starting 1B went with OBP instead of power, and ended up with a Hargrove-Corcoran duo with a combined .436 OBP; again pretty happy this late. May even lead off with these turtles. Decided to spend money on good defensive backups because I didn't see myself saving enough to get A-Rod in Round 26. Lots of wasted ABs, but good defense in all backups. Managed to avoid all Rangers and Senators and all 1990 folks to score myself Kevin Brown.
Round 26: drafted 16th and was happy with Hanley. Did I draft the right Hanley?

Overall - ended up pitching heavy, as usual. Without Brown's 180 mop-up innings, I think I'm at .197/0.99. Hitting is lower BA, but decent OBP and good power/speed balance. Terrible defense. Can never predict how my team will do, so I won't.

Fun draft playing around with my own spreadsheets and fun to write/read about afterwards. Good luck everyone during the season, looking forward to next draft already. More blocking next time!

My strategy coming into this was to look to draft from teams and/or seasons I thought had less talent to give myself as much flexibility as possible at the end of the draft. Also, I wanted to focus on getting 8 everyday batters and 4 decent starting pitchers. I would fill in the bullpen later, as there would certainly be more choices than good full-time hitters. No way was I going to try and figure out a platoon situation with so many unknowns late in the draft. Also, I was going to focus on the hard-to-fill positions early which means outfield would be the position I would most likely fill last (knowing I could get a pretty good OF in round 25).
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Round 1.7
I was happy to get 1989 Brett Saberhagen. Lots of innings, low whip, low walks, low HRs. And his price is low enough to get me a decent second round pick. Had Saberhagen been taking, I would have taken '92 Maddux. My top hitter would have been Tony Gwynn.
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Round 2.11
Was hoping Mike Schmidt would get to me but he went with pick. 2.1. I briefly considered Randy Jones here but he never pitches well for me. I don't think I've ever used Wilbur Wood, so didn't really want to gamble. It came down to Robin Yount of Joe Morgan. So let's go with the left-handed bat, 1976 Joe Morgan. I hate overpaying for his '75 season, so let's "save" 3 million. It's only a difference of 40 plate appearances, so I was going to have to get a backup 2B anyway.
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Round 3.10
I actually moved from 11th to 10th in the draft order (would've been 21st had I taken 1975). I thought about taking Dick Bosman here as he was the highest rated starting pitcher left, but he's below 200 innings. A couple of stud RP's went, so I thought Rollie Fingers would be the pick here. But as I reviewed the position scarcity, shortstop looked really thin. I know 1987 Ozzie Smith is overpriced, but he always performs for me. Good OBP, good defense, good speed, can leadoff if I need him to. Don't really need a a backup SS with this pick. I hated using my St. Louis Cardinals pick, but I didn't see a better option.
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Round 4.12
Only dropped two spots. Ironically, the other two guys (Bosman & Fingers) I was contemplating last round are still on the board. I go with 1969 DIck Bosman. The Rangers/Senators don't have a lot of strong options (in fact, this franchise had the fourth lowest total salary among the 24 franchises - will post the table later). I hated using my 1969 season so early as there are a number of other players I would've taken had I not made this pick. FYI, 1969 has the highest salary of any season, by a long shot.
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Round 5.8
1981 Rollie Fingers is still on the board (I almost took him two rounds ago). I have to take him now. I hate using my 1981 season up so early as I was eyeing Kevin Saucier as a later pick (he went int he 13th round). The good news is that I have basically two relievers worth of innings. The bad news is I used Fingers as an excuse to keep passing up good RPs.
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Round 6.4
Moved all the way to 4th pick! This was a tricky situation. I wanted a 3B here. I like both Pendleton and Bonilla - switch hitting A++ defenders. Not sure why I decided to take 1991 Terry Pendleton now, but Bonilla went way late (15th round), so I clearly made the wrong choice. Also considered Jon Matlack with this pick. Also noticed that two of the three people in front of me have higher salaries. Maybe I get to pick 2nd next round?
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Round 7.6
Nope, A few people drafted relievers and jumped ahead of me. I really need a SP with innings as I don't want to have a 5-man rotation (remember that Bosman only has 193 IPs). 1974 Jon Matlack is still there, so he's an easy call for me (266 IPs, 0.27 HR/9). He's also the first player from 1974 drafted (1974 is the fourth lowest salaried year). This draft is weird. I keep getting the guy I considered last round to fall to me the next round.
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Round 8.13
I was due for a fall in the draft order after drafting an $8.5 million pitcher. I actually sweated this pick out an entire round. I really wanted to take 1984 Eddie Murray last round, but badly need Matlack. Another switch-hitter with A+++ range. Got my infield set with Murray, Morgan, O.Smith & Pendleton.
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Round 9.15
Although I just used Baltimore, I still had have Expo seasons available. I had these last two picks mapped out after round 7. Love this guy, 1973 Ken Singleton and his .425 OBP in 692 PA. Things are really working out. Have three SP, and one stud high-IP reliever, plus 4 of my favorite switch hitters already.
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Round 10.17
Slowly dropping in the order. But there is a guy I've been eyeing each of the last few rounds. His high inning total gives me my starting rotation. He's got a 1.07 whip and only 0.40 HR/9. How is he still on the board? No thinking necessary. Welcome 1982 Joe Niekro.
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Round 11.22
I still need a catcher, two outfielders and lots of relievers. There is a clear player above all others still on the board at OF. I've built my spreadsheet to easily tell me who needs what team/year and only two guys can take him. I gambled last round that he'd still be here. I can't gamble again as he's the perfect fit. 1970 Jim Hickman. Got the Cubs out of the way.
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Round 12.22
So the catchers I am looking at are Mike Scioscia, Rich Gedman and Bill Freehan. Only two people (the same two) can take Scioscia and Gedman. And they both need a catcher. Three folks can still take Freehan. I had White Sox reliever Roberto Hernandez all typed in ready to submit and wimped out and decided to go with 1985 Rich Gedman, mainly to keep my Dodgers options open (I wanted '72 Rau later). Wouldn;t you know it, Scioscia came all the way back to me. I could have taken Hernandez. Damn!
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Round 13.22
With only one position player left to take, I guess I should start taking relievers. 1971 Steve MIngori was the best left among my choices, and it checks the Cleveland Indians box (2nd lowest franchise salary).
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Round 14.21
It got tricky here. I wanted 77 Rennie Stennett as my backup 2B (for Morgan) but also wanted 77 Mitchell Page as my 3rd OF. I was just going to take 1980 Doug Corbett here and probably should have. I also needed a backup catcher, looking at 72 Duke Sims (Det). But I also wanted 72 Rau from the Dodgers. This is so confusing. So I take none of these guys and instead take 1990 Junior Ortiz (Min). Yes, he's a nice backup for Gedman, but what the hell? Why not just take Corbett? Note that I ended up taking 72 Sims anyway, so now I have two good-hitting backup catchers.
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Round 15.17
I need RPs badly. I will wait one more round on Doug Rau (If I am remembering correctly, only 1 or 2 people can take him). Let's use my Yankees pick and go with 1992 Steve Farr.
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Round 16.17 (2 picks)
Jtpsops takes Doug Rau. I was still trying to decide if I should take Stennett at 2B. If Itake Stennett, I could go with '86 Von Hayes as my third OF (instead of M.Page). I thought about taking RP Mike Warren from Oakland here. I also thought about taking Ed Halicki. Even though Halicki is a SP, he's got decent stats and has a ton of innings. Then I see 1986 Frank Williams is available. Screw it, let's take him (which effectively kills my Von Hayes option, so now I'm back to M.Page). Still need a Padres player. We'll take the obvious choice of 1980 Broderick Perkins as a pinch hitter. Trying to stay cheap so I get a decent round 25 pick.
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Round 17.10 (2 picks)
Well, those last two picks moved me up quite a bit. I can pretty much map out the rest of my team now after this set of picks. I am a lock to get M.Page, D.Sims and two cheapies from the 79 Angels and 88 Phillies.. The key to all of this was finding that 1975 Jorge Orta can replace Stennett as the Joe Morgan backup. But this round I am taking two long-reliever types... 1978 Bob Welch (112 IP, 1.06 whip) and 1983 Kent Tekulve (99 IPs, 0.09 HR/9). This pretty much ended the draft for me - the rest of the players are locked in.

Remaining picks - all locked in
1975 Jorge Orta - backup PA for Joe Morgan
1977 Mitchell Page - Third starting OF
1988 Ron Jones - scrub
199 Bobby Clark - scrub
1972 Duke Sims - backup catch and pinch hitter
Wrigley Field

Supplemental Pick
I was hoping to get a good hitting lefty outfielder. I think Ken Griffey Jr. qualifies. Would've been happy with Charlie Blackmon who went really late.

Props to footballmm11 who did a great job updating things.

Here's my way-too-long writeup, but this draft was so much fun I couldn't help myself...

Initial Thoughts and Philosophy
The inspiration for this league came from a Playoff Fantasy Football league I’ve done for the last few years where we have 12 owners draft 12 players, one from each playoff team and one from each “position”. The details are a bit different but a lot of the general principles apply, so I had at least an idea of how I wanted to approach things.

Guiding principles:

• OPTIONALITY, OPTIONALITY, OPTIONALITY: Like in real estate, there is one overarching principle that I abide by. Keeping options open reduces risk, opens up more possibilities, and allows me to pivot and take advantage of unexpected opportunities that may arise. Now optionality comes with a cost, but it’s usually well worth it.
• Be Flexible: I try not to pigeonhole myself unless there’s a good reason. This means usually taking the best value player (especially early), staying middle-of-the-road as a team (i.e. try not to be too power-heavy or pitching-heavy or whatever) as being extreme cuts off options, and valuing positional flexibility. This, of course, ties back to Rule #1.
• Value Scarcity: There’s lots of scarcity in a draft like this--positional scarcity, franchise scarcity, season scarcity. When in doubt, take the more scarce resource. This also ties back to Rule #1 about keeping options open.

Positional scarcity/flexibility is a big one. Some positions are deeper than others, which is obvious, but also some positions offer much more flexibility than others. For the most part, pitchers are the most fungible--innings are innings. On offense, there are 3 OF spots, which makes it a nice spot to keep open as well. And the ability to slide players down the spectrum is key too--you can play a SS at 2B much easier than you can play a 2B at SS--so trying to fill SS, C, 2B, and to a lesser extent 3B early made some sense to me.

Preparation

Player Values
I went about trying to set a value for each player. Normally I just do a quick-and-dirty version that adjust for position, but now I needed to adjust for franchise and season too. I ended up spending way too much time on this, but it was fun to try and figure out.

I first started with my basic position-adjust value metric. Then I started trying to adjust for franchise and season but quickly realized that doing that moved players around. For instance, somebody’s “best” season may start as their 1991 season but after adjusting for the depth of 1991, now it’s their 1989 season. But then that makes 1989 deeper and 1991 less deep, so you need to adjust again. And you’re doing this from 3 different angles...anyway, I ended up iterating to get the values I wanted, which was a fun thought-project but not at all necessary. Given all the uncertainty of which players would be taken and how the draft would unfold--as well as the fact that later round picks would be heavily influenced by (1) keeping salary low for the Supplemental Round, (2) team needs/availability, and (3) preference for fit and quality over quantity (e.g. if I only need 200 PA for my backup, I’d rather have an .850 OPS player with 200 PA than an .800 OPS player with 500 PA)--all meant that a rough adjustment for franchise and season would have more than sufficed. But also been way less fun.

One interesting quirk I noticed, but that makes a lot of sense once you see it, was that seasons towards the end of the range (i.e. 1969 and 1992) were much deeper than those in the middle. This is because there are more players who only appear at the tail end/very beginning of their careers. Take Willie Mays for an example, normally his 1971 season (which I ended up drafting) wouldn’t be considered, but since his 50s and 60s seasons were mostly eliminated, now it was. That’s not gonna happen for a player’s 1980 season--you’re gonna catch their prime somewhere else in the window. Said another way, players prime seasons are more or less spread evenly between 1969 and 1992, but non-prime seasons only show up at the ends of the range, so you get more options.

Draft Strategy
A few specific draft thoughts I had going in:

• All else equal, draft the lower-salaried player. This is especially valuable early on when (a) drafting higher is more important and (b) that player’s low salary has a compounding effect. Your first pick determines 100% of your draft order for Round 2, but also 50% for Round 3, 33% for Round 4, etc.
• Early on, try to stay near the top. The value differential between picks is pretty large for the first 2-3 rounds, so trying to stay near the top is valuable. By about the 4th or 5th round, I guessed that not only would the differential dissipate, but the pruning effect of the draft would make it less important to be ahead of someone since there’s already a decent chance they can’t take your player.
• Don’t reach! It’s often enticing to grab a player you think you HAVE to have. I made a cognitive effort to be patient and not reach going in.
• Get back near the top for the Supplemental Round. This one ended up being less important or plain out wrong, which I’ll get to later on, but there is a huge value to the top guys in this round, so going in I wanted to move back near the top by the end of the draft.

THE DRAFT

Pick 1.18 - 1980 HOU - P JR Richard
Others considered: Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt

I strongly considered Carlton here and he was the best value pitcher I could take. I had Schmidt as the highest-value hitter left but only two had been taken so I figured pitching was more important. I looked at Eckersley, but his inflation from the dynamic pricing negated the value of taking a low-inning reliever. JR Richard hit the sweet spot and gave me an outside chance to bag Schmidt as well.

Grade: B+, I probably should have taken Carlton but am happy with Richard

Pick 2.1 - 1981 PHI - 3B Mike Schmidt
Others considered: Joe Morgan, Nolan Ryan

I was ecstatic to land Schmidt, who I had as the 3rd-best hitter value after Brett and Carew. The only pauses I had were (1) starting pitching was going fast and (2) Schmidt was very expensive. Nolan Ryan was the best pitcher left but just not good enough for me and while I liked Morgan and he was from a “cheaper” (less deep) franchise-season and a more scarce position, I felt Schmidt was too good to pass on.

Grade: A+, I had Schmidt as the 4th-best value overall

Pick 3.6 - 1984 DET - P Willie Hernandez
Others considered: Bob Gibson, Howard Johnson, Ryne Sandberg, Alan Trammell, Fred Lynn

This was a tough one for me. Gibson was the last starter before a steep drop. Johnson, Trammell, and Sandberg were all elite options at premier positions, and Fred Lynn was my highest-rated player left. I decided on Hernandez because he checked a few key boxes: cheap franchise, cheap season, cheap salary, and while not a SP he had 141 IP.

Side note: Of the pitchers available to me at this point, I was lucky enough to land my 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th best options. There’s a common theme as I’ll show!

Grade: A, there was no slam dunk option so I went with maximum optionality

Pick 4.3 - 1972 CHW - 1B Dick Allen
Others considered: Howard Johnson, Barry Larkin, Bobby Murcer

Trammell, Sandberg, Lynn, and Gibson all went in the next 10 picks after me. A next-tier SS I really liked--Toby Harrah--surprisingly went two picks ahead of this one. I fully expected to take a SS here, but I somehow talked myself into Dick Allen as one of the last few truly elite hitters as well as Johnson’s bloated salary.

Unfortunately, in hindsight, Jack Clark went about 5 rounds later and kept staring back at me. Violating my positional scarcity rule hurt me here as locking in a right-handed hitting 1B limited my options the rest of the draft. I should have taken one of the SS here.

Grade: C, shouldn’t have locked in a 1B this early

Pick 5.3 - 1989 NYM - SS Howard Johnson
Others considered: Barry Larkin

Wow! Johnson and Larkin somehow were both still available. Still no great pitching options left for me--my top 3 starters available to me are Jon Matlack, Fergie Jenkins, and Jim Rooker--so easy choice to go with a hitter. But which one? Larkin is a much better fielder and over $3m cheaper, but HoJo is a switch-hitter, has more power, and most importantly 1989 and NYM are much shallower than 1991 and CIN. I feel very fortunate to get land him here after passing on him last round.

Grade: A+, bailed out my Dick Allen pick

Pick 6.9 - 1976 CLE - P Dave Laroche
Others considered: Rob Dibble, Jim Kern, Fergie Jenkins

The nature of the draft is starting to really take shape. The top 4 hitting options on my board are all unavailable to me and my 5th-best option is a SS (Garry Templeton who somehow survived to the 12th round, nice pick calhoop). A few outfielders are my best options, but none are too inspiring so I went back to pitching.

Fergie Jenkins was still there but just not a fan. HoJo took away Matlack’s nice 1974 season. So again, I’m staring at a few mid-inning pitchers--Laroche (99 IP), Dibble (98), and Kern (143). Both 1976 and CLE are very shallow seasons plus Laroche is the cheapest of the bunch. This was a close one, but I luckily ended up with all 3 of these pitchers.

Grade: A-, not any great options so again, maximum optionality

Pick 7.5 - 1990 CIN - P Rob Dibble
Others considered: Jim Kern, Amos Otis, Davey Johnson

Again, no great options. Two of my top available hitting options are Templeton and Jack Clark--that Dick Allen pick did not age well. Amos Otis leads a group of solid but unsexy OF options. Davey Johnson is the best 2B option I have left. Back to pitching.

At this point, I invented a new tool to help me--the amount of value left at each player’s season and franchise. For example, I know CIN is deep, but 11 of those guys have already been drafted so the available pool is much shallower. That pointed significantly in favor of Dibble over Kern, so I opted for him.

Grade: A, staying patient and when no great option presents itself trying to take the cheapest one I can

Pick 8.4 - 1978 KCR - OF Amos Otis
Others considered: Jim Kern, Andy Van Slyke, Ray Lankford, Reggie Smith, Reggie Jackson, Davey Johnson, Thurman Munson

This is getting really hard! Freaking Jack Clark is still there, as is Templeton. My best hitting options are all solid-hitting CF types. Jim Kern and his nice 143 innings are still there. But my new metric is telling me that 1978 KCR is a good combo, so while Otis and Van Slyke are very similar players, Otis “costs” me a lot less (aka greater optionality). The main downsides: he’s another righty bat, giving me 3 righties and 1 switch-hitter. And he’s not really a leadoff hitter.

Looking back, had I known Lankford would last until the last round, I would have passed on Otis for sure, but even more so, there were plenty of similar CF options. On the flip side, I’m not sure what a better pick would have been.

Grade: B, not a great pick but didn’t lose much either

Pick 10.4 - 1982 BAL - OF John Lowenstein
Others considered: Jim Kern, Davey Johnson, Rennie Stennett, Randy Ready, Thurman Munson, Tom Niedenfuer, John Candelaria

Options are starting to dwindle quickly. I’m starting to map out my options at each position/franchise/season and look at those which are especially shallow now. My 1987 options are all but gone and SDP aren’t a great franchise, so I’m eyeing Randy Ready as my fallback 2B option and waiting on that position. Johnson and Stennett are my top two options there but not that much better than Ready.

Jim Kern is still there, I’ve looked at him hard since the 6th round but 1979 continues to be deep. Ray Lankford is my top-rated left-handed player, but much of his value is defense and with Otis already in CF, that’s not as valuable to me. Wishing I would have waited on CF. Oh well, Lowenstein is the best hitter above 200 PA I have available to me, he’s left-handed, plays a reasonable OF (A+/D+), and has enough PA to handle the heavy side of a platoon. BAL is a pretty deep franchise, but 1982 is not deep and by my metric that accounts for picks already taken, he’s the top option.

Grade: A, in the end very happy with this pick

Pick 11.4 - 1973 ATL - 2B Davey Johnson
Others considered: Jim Kern, Rennie Stennett, John Candelaria, Mark Davis, Lee Smith

Whoa, Randy Ready goes the pick immediately after I take Lowenstein and my safety net option at 2B is gone. I sweat it out but Davey Johnson does make it back to me. Kern is still there as are a slew of relievers who are emerging as the last-good-option at their respective franchise and/or season, but I can’t mess around with that right now. Johnson has been on my radar for a while and he’s the clear best option for me despite adding another right-handed, power-leaning bat to my arsenal. His glove (D+) is a bit worrisome but he’s got A- range and 656 PA. And both 1973 and ATL are starting to dwindle, so I’m not cutting off many options.

Grade: A+, had been eyeing Johnson for a while, lucky to have him fall to me after an anxious 23 picks

Pick 12.4 - 1983 CHC - P Lee Smith
Others considered: Jim Kern, John Candelaria, Mark Davis, Lee Smith, Jim Rooker, Rick Rhoden

Ray Lankford is still the top hitter on my board by a fair margin, but I just can’t justify it if he’s my corner outfielder. Garry Templeton is still there, but I don’t need a SS. Hubie Brooks too. The next best hitters are right-handed OF and there are plenty of them. I’m starting to map out my catching options, but happy with the depth there so I can wait. I also start eyeing my top starting pitcher options, which are a pair of PIT guys with 250+ innings.

Yes, still looking at Kern and he’s the best pitcher left for me, but the other guys have much bigger dropoffs. None more than Lee Smith who is basically the last Cubs player of value to me, and 1983 is picked pretty thin by this point as well.

Grade: B, hate to take the 10th guy on your board but the dropoff was so big I think it was the right choice

Pick 13.3 - 1979 TEX - P Jim Kern
Others considered: John Candelaria, Mark Davis, Jim Rooker, Rick Rhoden, Cliff Johnson

Finally take Kern, can’t believe he lasted this long. The biggest impetus was Danny Darwin getting taken as well as another 1979 reliever option, Greg Minton. Kern now was the best value player AND represented the best optionality since 1979/TEX had started to dwindle. This is now my 7th pitcher and all are between 98 and 156 IP. I didn’t plan it out that way, but I guess I value that sweet spot more than others so I end up with a bunch of them.

Grade: A+, on my radar for 7 rounds, very happy to nab him here

Pick 14.6 - 1985 LAD - C Mike Scioscia
Others considered: Cliff Johnson, Ray Lankford, John Candelaria, Mark Davis, Jim Rooker, Rick Rhoden, Doug Henry, Hoyt Wilhelm

A couple rounds before this I built another tool to start tracking which player-seasons other owners had left. Two intriguing options started to appear--1969 ANA (Hoyt Wilhelm) and 1992 STL (Lankford). Both were down to just a couple other owners. Because of that I waited on Candelaria, hoping I could get Wilhelm for free at the end.

I had more pressing needs anyway, once Rich Gedman and Brian Downing went as I needed a catcher. I was actually all excited to take Cliff Johnson until I did some more research and found out he’s like a super-D- fielder behind the plate. No wonder he hadn’t gone earlier! That made Scioscia the pretty clear choice for me--left-handed, a lot of PA, solid defense/arm and nice OBP. Benito Santiago is actually who my value chart says I should have taken since 1987 and SDP had few other options but I couldn’t stomach the terrible OBP.

Grade: A-, solid timing to get one of the last decent catching options available to me, happy to have avoided finding out about Cliff Johnson’s terrible fielding during the season after his 50th passed ball!

Pick 16.17 - 1971 SFG - OF Willie Mays
Pick 16.18 - 1977 NYY - C Cliff Johnson

A few key developments at this stage. First, double picks. Second, both Lankford and Wilhelm are mine if I want them (unless someone takes a different Lankford season, which had a chance). Third, I’ve gone from stage 1--worried about others taking players--to stage 2--worried about cutting off/running out of options for a season/franchise to stage 3--actively planning out my last few picks and piecing the puzzle together. And fourth, I’m trying to decide what the heck to do about the Supplemental Round.

At this point, I thought I still had a chance at a top pick in that round. In hindsight, that was stupid. I needed too many PA/IP and others were already tanking their salary. My plan was to take the guys I needed and then hold Lankford and my SP (at this point, Rooker, Rhoden, or Youmans most likely) to the last couple rounds and decide what to do. I was likely either taking a SP or lefty OF, so I could draft one of those now and get the other in the Supplemental Round.

The one thing I did need was a righty platoon mate and Mays was perfect as a strong hitter who could backup Otis in CF if needed. And then Cliff Johnson I liked as either my backup C (I could deal with his terrible fielding 10-20% of the time, no 60%) or a great bat off the bench. The decision was whether to take his 339 PA or 168 PA season. Because I mistakenly thought I had a shot at a high Supp pick, I opted for his cheaper partial. I now regret that decision and his extra PA off the bench would have been quite nice.

Grade: B, should have taken Johnson’s bigger-PA season, but I like the optionality he gave me and Mays was a great fit

Pick 17.21 - 1975 MIL - OF Johnny Briggs
Pick 17.22 - Kingdome

I now have Bret Barberie locked in as well as a great-hitting utility IF who can play all four infield spots, in addition to Wilhelm and Lankford. That leaves me with:

1969 ANA - Wilhelm
1991 MON - Barberie
1992 STL - Lankford
PIT - either 1974 Rooker or 1986 Rhoden

That gives me 1974 or 1986, 1975, and 1987 to pair with MIL, OAK, and BOS. I still think keeping salary down is a priority and Briggs is a great low-salary bench bat. I still want to keep some other options open, such as drafting Floyd Youmans (1986 MON) for SP and then shifting a bunch of things around, so I go with Briggs and then my stadium. I have a high-power, low-AVG hitting team and a low-HR, high-K staff backed by a very range-challenged SS and error-prone 2B. So I look for a park with negative 1B and plus 2B and HR. With Sicks Stadium taken, Kingdome is the perfect fit.

Grade: B, I didn’t need to save on salary but Briggs and Kingdome were solid fits

Pick 18.11 - 1974 PIT - P Jim Rooker
Pick 18.12 - 1969 ANA - P Hoyt Wilhelm

Pick 19.27 - 1992 STL - OF Ray Lankford
Pick 19.28 - 1991 MON - UT Bret Barberie

Pick 20.33 - 1986 BOS - P Calvin Schiraldi
Pick 20.34 - 1987 OAK - P Dave Stewart

I’ve now figured out I don’t have a shot at a high Supp pick. Any moves I do to improve my position there would just leave even more value on the table. I was mostly decided on my last 6 picks--Rooker, Wilhelm, Barberie, Lankford, Calvin Schiraldi, and Dave Stewart. I chose Rooker and Wilhelm first because (a) Rooker was still at risk of getting taken and (b) I had the hail mary option to save salary by downsizing Lankford and/or Stewart if I wanted later on.

Pick 21.21 - 2017 COL - OF Charlie Blackmon

Because I didn’t have to worry about salary at the end, I was able to cover all my bases. I had enough pitching including extra cover with Stewart’s innings, and I had a full lineup with no gaping holes. My main hopes in the Supplemental Draft were:

• Lefty OF: Gonzalez, Griffey, Blackmon
• Top SP: Johnson, Greinke, Hernandez, Fernandez, Snell

If I missed out on them, I was good with Ellis Burks or taking best reliever available. After a lot of sweating things out, I was ecstatic to have Blackmon fall to me. He likely takes at-bats from Otis, Lankford, and Mays, but slots in nicely between Schmidt and Allen atop my order.

Closing Thoughts
I feel really good about my team, but there are a few holes I wish I could have filled:

• Defensive replacement at SS: I really tried at the end to find someone with better than D- range at SS, but just couldn’t do it. It would have ultimately cost me Barberie and he’s just too good of a hitter and a fit elsewhere to lose out on. My closest option was to take one of Jay Bell’s PIT seasons, but that cut off my top two SP options and would have shifted me to either Youmans (cutting of Barberie) or Tewksbury (cutting off Lankford). Oh well, HoJo will need to make up for his minus plays with his bat and lack of errors.
• The Cliff Johnson spot: I looked at a lot of backup C options to pair with Scioscia. Don Slaught was nice but would have cost me my SP and either Barberie or Lankford. Terry Steinbach was probably the closest option but I felt I needed Stewart’s innings more. Hopefully Johnson’s defense isn’t too costly. But I also wish I had his extra PA as he’s a great pinch-hitter. As it stands now, I’ll likely need all of his 168 PA to platoon with Scioscia so he probably won’t get to do much pinch-hitting.
• Too much defense in the OF: All else equal, I’d of course take the nice OF defense, but with two A+ range guys and another A-, I wish I could trade some of that for some better hitting. Ultimately, the combination of picking Otis early, Lankford falling in my lap, and nabbing Blackmon means I spent too much capital on OF, especially defense. The Otis pick is the one to nitpick, but I don’t regret it too much given the information I had at the time.
• True leadoff hitter: I don’t care too much about traditional lineup spots, but I did end up with most of my players being a bit more power-leaning, especially my secondary hitters--Davey Johnson, Amos Otis, Lankford, etc. Scioscia is my one pure OBP guy (relative to SLG) but he’s also my worst hitter and his PA are precious given my backup C situation. Not a big deal as some combination of Otis/Lankford/Mays platoon and Blackmon will be fine.
• A little more lefty-hitting would be nice: Again, I try not to overweight balance just for the sake of balance, but I am a bit RH-heavy for my liking. Blackmon solves a lot of those issues as I can now trot out Blackmon, Lowenstein, HoJo (switch-hitter), Lankford, and Scioscia against righties. And I should absolutely crush lefties where I can start all RH hitters except for Blackmon.

There are plenty of things I’m happy with:

• My lack of elite SP doesn’t bother me: I can start Rooker and Stewart as true SPs if I need and then just dominate with my bullpen. But I don’t mind doing even more creative things and pinch-hitting/double-switching a ton. In the playoffs, I can start JR Richard and Tom Hall (3 IP/game) and maybe even Kern or Schiraldi (2 IP/game) in a pinch and still have plenty of great bullpen options behind them.
• Being patient netted me lots of value late: My early and especially mid-draft patience paid off nicely with guys like Lankford, Wilhelm, Rooker, and Mays dropping to me in deep years/franchises. That added more salary and cost me positioning in the Supp Round but it was well worth it and gives me a team with almost no dead players (Dave Stewart is my worst one and even he is a reasonable SP).
• Kingdome fits me perfectly: I was very happy to end up with the Kingdome. I have a high K/BB staff with low OAV and now a minus-1B ballpark, all of which should protect HoJo and Davey Johnson some up the middle. Fewer balls in play to begin with and better chance of an out when they do thanks to my pitching and park.

Here are the salary rank by Franchise and by Season. This is the average salary of the 24 players drafted from each franchise or season...
.

Franchise	Avg Salary
----------	----------------
LAD	5,897,977
STL	5,752,257
CIN	5,661,470
KCR	5,592,272
ATL	5,226,032
NYM	5,196,290
PIT	5,143,912
OAK	5,031,480
HOU	4,982,042
MON	4,920,430
NYY	4,898,083
BOS	4,754,603
DET	4,748,989
PHI	4,571,181
SDP	4,533,139
SFG	4,502,499
BAL	4,417,460
MIL	4,360,686
CHC	4,210,994
MIN	4,193,416
TEX	4,111,234
CAL	3,809,011
CLE	3,712,715
CHW	3,704,426
----------	----------------
Avg	4,747,192

.
.

Season	Avg Salary
----------	----------------
1969	7,429,044
1971	5,948,766
1981	5,708,337
1972	5,558,754
1970	5,521,794
1992	5,337,801
1985	5,324,549
1977	5,286,740
1980	5,284,185
1987	5,127,437
1991	4,768,332
1989	4,768,229
1979	4,577,721
1982	4,559,541
1986	4,540,146
1978	4,350,706
1975	4,183,158
1984	4,031,713
1988	3,823,613
1990	3,810,747
1974	3,678,599
1976	3,536,757
1983	3,512,202
1973	3,263,728
----------	----------------
Avg	4,747,192

I'm loving the write-ups and am about 1/4 of the way through. Unfortunately, I've been working like a mad man the past few weeks with 12 hours being a light day, so my draft strategy was nearly non-existent.

In general, I prioritized hitting and infield defense over pitching. My thought was if I have solid hitting, then strong defense will keep my higher WHIP pitchers competitive enough to win games over the course of the season. I was considering using the Joe Maddon opener strategy while picking up my pitching staff (several 100-150 inning pitchers who pitched 2+ innings/game IRL) with Fergie Jenkins picking up the slack from the bullpen. It may still come to that, but my supplemental pick in Zack Greinke will help tremendously in the pitching department.

2B ended up being my weak link, but decent hitting and defense will save me there (between Vance Law, Jim Gantner, and Dave Stapleton).

Overall, having Tony Gwynn and Jose Canseco (96 combined SB) running the bases in front of Cal Ripken Jr. and Willie McCovey (79 combined HRs) should keep me in most games.

I really enjoyed this draft and look forward to this season and all others to follow! Good luck everyone!

Posted by schwarze on 7/15/2020 9:31:00 AM (view original):
Here are the salary rank by Franchise and by Season. This is the average salary of the 24 players drafted from each franchise or season...
.

Franchise	Avg Salary
----------	----------------
LAD	5,897,977
STL	5,752,257
CIN	5,661,470
KCR	5,592,272
ATL	5,226,032
NYM	5,196,290
PIT	5,143,912
OAK	5,031,480
HOU	4,982,042
MON	4,920,430
NYY	4,898,083
BOS	4,754,603
DET	4,748,989
PHI	4,571,181
SDP	4,533,139
SFG	4,502,499
BAL	4,417,460
MIL	4,360,686
CHC	4,210,994
MIN	4,193,416
TEX	4,111,234
CAL	3,809,011
CLE	3,712,715
CHW	3,704,426
----------	----------------
Avg	4,747,192

.
.

Season	Avg Salary
----------	----------------
1969	7,429,044
1971	5,948,766
1981	5,708,337
1972	5,558,754
1970	5,521,794
1992	5,337,801
1985	5,324,549
1977	5,286,740
1980	5,284,185
1987	5,127,437
1991	4,768,332
1989	4,768,229
1979	4,577,721
1982	4,559,541
1986	4,540,146
1978	4,350,706
1975	4,183,158
1984	4,031,713
1988	3,823,613
1990	3,810,747
1974	3,678,599
1976	3,536,757
1983	3,512,202
1973	3,263,728
----------	----------------
Avg	4,747,192

Curiously, my final two picks were from the two lowest average salary seasons. Even more curiously, my final two teams are both in the four highest salary averages. I actually felt I'd erred significantly in leaving the Cardinals to the end, but as each round went by someone else grabbed my eye more and I knew I'd have options with any remaining years.

Will this be the story of a playoff team, or just another team?

Roger Nelson - Once I was in the bottom half of the draft, I did not expect to get any stud SP's. I went mostly quality over quantity for pitching.
Criteria: at least 150 IP, sorted by WHIP. Based solely on the criteria, Roger Nelson was #1. I had to take him.

Wade Boggs - I wanted someone for the #1 or #2 spot in the lineup. Boggs covers that, and at a position that is generally tough for me to find value, 3B. I was hoping Tim Raines would last another round to hit leadoff. Oh well. Can't have them all.

1985 Dennis Eckersley - Using the same criteria I used for Nelson, Eckersley was #2 on the available list. #1 was Pascual Perez, but I had several other Expos on my list. Eck was the only Cub. Plus, I knew I would never draft his elite RP season, so no reason to leave it out there for someone else to grab.

Toby Harrah - A player who generally does well for me at another tough position for me, SS. Now, noticing I can use Harrah at SS or 3B, and Boggs at 3B or 1B. Good position flexibility to help the draft.

Bob Ojeda - Same criteria as Eck and Nelson, best SP available at this point. Plus he generally plays well for my teams. Just noticed: I have 3 SP's, all at less than 200 IP. I am worried I may need to draft 6 SP's

Bip Roberts - I was hoping to cover CF with Dykstra, but he went 2 picks earlier. Bip covers 2B, with position flexibility, switch hits, and with speed. His sub-.400 OBP will put him near the bottom of the lineup, plus I need to conserve his 600 PA's as much as I can. Sad to see Carty and Denny go later in the round.
Note: Somewhere between picks, did research for the supplemental draft, and noticed 5 really good 1B I could draft. The pipedream was Helton or Walker. New plan: Save 1B for the supplemental draft.

La Marr Hoyt - Appropriately nicknamed "The Disaster" (thanks redcped), I saw good WHIP and a ton of IP. The only option higher on my list at the time was Phil Niekro. I had a 5-6 Braves and 1969 players in my queue. 1983 and White Sox, none. My best bet is the blackboard material redcped provided inspires him to pitch well.

Reggie Smith - I sorely needed power, and no starting OF yet. Reggie Smith provides power, and is a switch hitter.

Luis DeLeon - Pretty sure I saw several OF in my queue, so went with the one RP left in my queue, DeLeon.

Lonnie Smith - Watched Phil Niekro go the pick before, further hurting my plan to create a rotation. Since I lost one Brave, went with the closest thing to a good hitting CF I could find. His 585 PA's means I must draft another player capable of playing CF later.

Thurmon Munson - I was watching Dietz for several rounds, but was afraid of his terrible arm. Once he went the round prior, I felt more comfortable with getting a better defensive C. Munson can hit, with good OBP for a C. No power, but throws out over 50% of baserunners. Considering Catchers generally perform poorly for me, I have no problem grabbing him later.

Gene Garber - Watched Darwin go just prior, went with the best RP I could find. Loading up on multiple IP relievers, still guessing wrong on my target SP's

Rusty Staub - watched Candelaria go, another miss. Staub provides relatively cheap hitting and power. Will be hitting 2nd for me. My starting OF is set. Except for that silly thing called defensive range. Giving me thoughts on what ballpark I want.

Andy Rincon - Great WHIP, a potential closer. Or so I thought when I picked him. More on that later.

Gene Nelson - More sub-1 WHIP, another multiple IP reliever. The only Athletic I think I ever had in my queue.

Doug Corbett/Chris Bando - Corbett was my emergency backup plan, originally drafted a SP from the Giants, then realized I could not draft him because of his season. Quickly changed to Corbett before anyone had a chance to publicly shame me for my invalid pick. Corbett provides a ton of innings for a reliever. Again, not a SP! Bando was an easy pick for me. I needed about 200 PA's, preferrably with power, to rest Munson. Bando provides 280 PA's with some pop. Extra PA's = possible PH duties as well.

Champ Summers/Steve Hamilton - I wanted a 4th OF who could play CF. But I saw Summers. .313/.414/.614, or a much lighter hitter who can play CF? Maybe a mistake, but went right to the hitting. Plus, his 1B eligibility may help with roster flexibility. When Rettemund went later in the round, my heart sank a little. Hamilton was less drama. 0.90 WHIP, even with short IP. For Game 1, he is my closer. Oh yeah, still only 4 SP's. But near my target of 1500 IP.

Oakland Coliseum/Donnie Hill - With my lack of OF range and relative weakness in slugging, HR's, and useable PA's, Oakland was an easy choice for me. Donnie Hill is a necessary fill-in at SS and 2B
New regret: Realizing that drafting Staub 9 rounds earlier blocked me from ever drafting Hoyt Wilhelm, who was in my queue before I drafted Staub. Great pickup this late. Also watching Lezcano go hurt a little, as he was a potential CF pick at one point.

Tim Johnson/Aurelio Lopez - Mopup PA's at 2B and 3B, and an affordable long reliever.

Dave Pagan/Richie Zisk - A mopup, and maybe emergency starter, gets me to 1490 IP. Once I realized I was not getting a top 3 pick in the supplemental, I just picked a useful hitter off Pittsburgh's roster.

Supplemental Jose Bautista - Assumed Helton would not get to me, Bautista is a necessary middle of the order bat. Was originally undecided between him and Delgado. Went with Bautista because of his gold glove 3B defense. Boggs can move to 1B.

Biggest regrets: 1) Concerned too much about WHIP, and not enough about getting enough starting pitching. My 4 main SP's combine for 800 IP, and the only bullpen guys with RL starts are Rincon and my mopup guy, Pagan. Hoyt will need to be pushed up in the rotation a lot. Rincon and Pagan will need to provide emergency starts. I might also need to do some bullpen starts. 2) I wish I got some more useful bench help at 2B and SS. 3) Should have drafted more range in the OF.

2019 was my best WIS year as I picked up 7 championships and felt I was finally getting the hang of this thing. 2020 has been a lost year both in WIS and in real life, and this slapstick draft performance was no exception. Let's review and please feel free to let me have it as far as the head-scratchers.

Goal was to get the starting 9 and pitching nailed down, assuming quality pitching was a premium over hitting. Fatal Mistake #1.

1. Don Sutton: Agonized over this pick. In retrospect, an expensive Dodger is not the way to go here. Would be interested to hear what you guys would have done with first choice.
2. Kevin Appier: 43 picks after Sutton, I get my 2nd starting pitcher. Safe choice.
3. Rick Reuschel: Praying at the ERC# altar, I take Reuschel and his 196 innings. Ugh.
4. Dickie Thon: A+ SS range, may have pulled the trigger too early.
5. Jose Rijo: Nervous about Reuschel's innings, I decide to grab more quality starting innings.
6. Carney Lansford: Schwarze grabs a 3B, so I grab a 3B. God forbid I have a plan of my own.
7. Lance Parrish: I pick Parrish even though I'm not thrilled with any of the C's available. Why?
8. Lyman Bostock: I love Bostock and happy he fell to here in spite of myself.
9. Jack Clark: I am looking for some power at this point, and I guess it was Clark's OPS# that caught my eye.
10. Roy White: 1969 Roy White. Let's just shrug and move on.
11. Craig Swan: I have Lee Mazzilli drafted and my outfield squared away..except nobagel grabs him right before me. Regroup, rethink and make a good choice? No, panic that you are holding up the draft and grab another 200 inning guy in haste.
12. Greg Minton: Despising the OF's left, I start a decent RP run with Minton.
13. Bobby Thigpen: See Minton comment.
14. Joe Grzenda: See Minton comment.
15. Manny Trillo: Best of what was left at 2B. I think.
16. Wayne Garland: I am still collecting RP instead of OF's...this must have been the time I realized the supplemental OF was the only was to go.
17. Jim Corsi: See Garland comment.
18. Dave May: I have drafter's block at this point. Can't be explained.
19 John Kruk: Kruk as a platoon 1B/LF for flexibility..not my worse choice.
20. Ray Searage: I thought I was just going with 10 pitchers, but Searage couldn't be passed up.
21. Ron Washington: Utility infielder. I guess. Ron Washington?
22.Wayne Tyrone: Panicked about the offense and in full tanking mode.
23. Candlestick Park: Safe choice.
24. Bob Stinson: Not a bad back up with Parrish not needing much help.
25. Chico Ruiz: Plays all positions but outfield. No regrets.

And now, the controversial Todd Helton choice. Like most of my picks, there never seemed to be a clear choice to make, only a bad one.
OF choices were LuGon (too slow), Ichiro (no walks) , Griffey (never really has the big year), and Blackmon. I needed more pop, and Helton was the best bat on the board. The Bermuda Triangle LF platoon of Clark and Kruk should provide comedic relief at least, and the defense is good at the other positions.

I learned a few things and will hopefully bring a better plan and effort to the next one. Thank again to Monte for doing a splendid job with this league.

steveizzy...definitely not the draft you need the #1 pick. There were a ridiculous amount of options. I think Sutton is easily in the discussion. I would have also had Scott, Guidry, Gooden, Carlton, and Blue. Among hitters, I think Brett, Carew and Schmidt are defensible as well, though pitching is harder to come by.

Your Jack Clark pick was great. As I mentioned in my writeup, I wish I had waited a few rounds and grabbed him instead of Dick Allen. I almost took him anyway and would have stuck him in the OF, where hopefully he won't do too much damage in a corner spot.

Nothing wrong with Todd Helton. He's a beast. If you'd let him slide, I would have grabbed him in a heartbeat.

Posted by redcped on 7/16/2020 1:00:00 PM (view original):
Nothing wrong with Todd Helton. He's a beast. If you'd let him slide, I would have grabbed him in a heartbeat.

Sorry buddy, he was NOT dropping to #7. I promise.

Point taken. Further evidence SteveIzzy should be content with his choice.

PS: Please tell Mr. Hoyt not to hurt me!

I am still looking forward to calhoop's Disco Demolition writeup.

It's about the quarter mark of the season, I'm awake WAY too early....so let's do a checkup on the draft in review:

1) Rickey! (1985 NYY) - .312/.391/.410, 23/30 SB, 13 positive plays on defense

He's currently the leader in the AL MVP race and the GG leader at CF. It's what you hope for from your #1 pick.

2) Nolan Ryan (1991 TEX) - 4-3, 4.53 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 12 G (7 GS), .207/.280/.361 against

I originally intended for Nolan to be the low-inning ace of my staff. When it was all said and done, I decided to deploy him as a swingman, starting most of the time but available for long chunks of relief when needed. It's been needed. All in all, he's been OK - #6 in WHIP among starters, but giving up too many homers (8 in 45.2 IP).

3) Darrell Porter (1979 KCR) - .282/.381/.523, 8 HR, 25 RBI

I probably picked him too early, but he's been really, really good (2nd in RC among qualifying catchers, 1st in RC27). His CS% is not great (4/17), but there's only been 17 steals attempted against him - and he's started every game.

4) Jerry Koosman (1969 NTM) 13 G, 9 GS, 1 SV, 3.38 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, .260/.326/.420 against

Koosman eats innings. I've had to go to using him as a reliever as well because I didn't draft enough relief IP. I made this pick (and the Ryan pick) before I had a definitive direction for my team, so this is on me. That being said, he's pretty much a league-average pitcher (except for the slugging - he gives up .420 SLG vs the league average .390). But he eats innings!

5) Darrell Evans (1973 ATL) - .222/.330/.456, 9 HR, 36 RBI

I didn't draft this guy to be between Tony Perez and Tommy Harper in RC and RC27 among 3B (9th of 21 qualifiers in RC, 10th in RC27). His IsoPower (.234) is third among 3B, and his Secondary Average (.399) is second, so not all hope is lost, but it's hard to call a guy hitting .222 a successful pick.

6) Jose Oquendo (1989 STL) - .236/.351/.300, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 10 R, 1 positive/1 negative play at 2B.

Yeowch! His hitting is about what I could reasonably expect (a guy with 1 HR all season playing in a park that suppresses singles), but I was expecting a lot better defense. He's 12th in RC27 among 2B and 15th (of 19) in RC - but you could throw a blanket over 7th through 17th in RC27 and come out with close to the same player. 0 errors is nice, but I was expecting more than a middle-of-the-pack Range Factor. I used a 6th pick (and blocked out STL) for this?!

7) Doug Jones (1988 CLE) - 2-0, 10/13 SV, 0.74 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, .211/.260/.244 against

The Fireman Award standings care way too much about saves and save percentage. He's #5 in the Fireman category, but after looking at the first 4 in the AL, there's not one of them I'd trade Jones for. I don't see a good way to sort out just RP, but if he's not the best reliever in the league, he's at the forefront of the conversation. I'm really happy with this pick.

8) Gary Nolan (1971 CIN) - 5-2, 3.77 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .247/.289/.346 against

A good #2 starter in the 8th round? Sign me up!

9) Brett Butler (1990 SFG) - .260/.381/.318, 22 R, 10/15 SB, Gold Glove LF.

Until recently, this would have been considered the ideal #2 hitter - gets on base, not much power, His RF (1.698) isn't great (13th of 20 qualifying LF), but he's tied with Chet Lemon for the most positive plays (4), and he hasn't committed an error. I consider this a pretty decent pick.

10) Bill Gullickson (1981 MTL) - 4-0, 2.33 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, .244/.277/.320 against, 7 pinch-running appearances (!)

I remember saying (or at least thinking) that I wouldn't be shocked if Gullickson was my best pitcher. 4th in the league among SP in WHIP, 3rd in OBP against, 2nd in ERA - he's not on the Cy Young leaderboard, but he should be IMHO. The pinch-running is just a (VERY) unexpected bonus.

4 picks in a row I'm happy with? Maybe I gained a clue at some point.

11) Sicks Stadium (1969 Seattle Pilots) - 252/.354/.371 batting, 18 HR - .236/.305/.345 opponent's batting. 19 HR

I'm not sure I know how to judge this pick fairly. I drafted the park to be good for my (relatively) low-average hitters with power, knowing that Ryan and Koosman were going to have problems being homer-prone. In fact, Ryan and Koosman have combined to allow 9 of the 19 dingers hit by the opponents at Sicks. I'm 13-10 at home, 12-8 on the road. All in all, I think this was the correct park for my strategy, but I drafted it WAY too early.

12) Alejandro Pena (1984 LAD) - 2-4, 5.89 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, .291/.352/.369 against

Had I known I was going to be drafting a true 5th starter, and not just the 5th guy in my rotation, I would have waited about 8 rounds for this pick. He's not walking a ton of guys (15 in 44.2 IP), and he's not allowing homers (2 in 44.2 IP), but it's hard to be successful when the league's hitting .291 against you. This pick is just fugly at this point.

13) Terry Leach (1992 CWS) - 1-4, 18 G, 22.1 IP, 6.05 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 1/2 SV, .270/.365/.365 against

Yeah, no. He was supposed to be my top setup guy; instead, he's setting up the other team with baserunners. 10 BB in 22.1 IP just isn't gonna cut it. In comparison, Roberto Hernandez (1992 CWS) was taken one pick after Leach - his 1.10 WHIP and .211/.278/.324 against is more what I was looking for. So far, this looks like an awful pick.

14) Rick Monday (1970 OAK) - .268/.349/.412, 1 HR, 4/6 SB, 3 positive/0 negative plays, 2.380 RF

He's a better than league-average hitter in the big half of a platoon in RF, with an amazing range factor (it's #1 with a bullet among RF -- in fact, the difference between Monday and Clemente (2nd) is about the same as the difference between Clemente and Willie Stargell (12th)). His total RC is limited because of his playing time, but 5.07 out of your 2nd leadoff hitter is pretty good IMO.

15) Urbano Lugo (1987 CAL) - 0-0, 1/1 SV, 10.32 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, .273/.373/.659 against

He's the mop-up guy - whaddya expect? To be fair, if I had done this exercise after game 42 instead of game 43, he'd have a 5.79 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, and a .212 OAV. He's also lapping the field in K/9 on the team (and this team has the Ryan Express, remember?) with 11.5. It was a strategic pick in that I wanted to make sure I was in the top 3 for the supplemental round - come to find out, it wasn't necessary, but there's no way I could have known that at the time.

16) Andre Thornton (1975 CHC) - .198/.373/.315, 3 HR, 10 RBI
17) Al Kaline (1972 DET) - .273/.312/.330, 1 HR, 8 RBI

Thornton's batting between Darrell Evans and Darrell Porter when he plays - maybe there's something to be said for pitching around a hitter? He's 7th in the league in BB, and he has 24 fewer AB than anyone in front of him. It's still hard to call it a success when you're 16th of 18 qualified 1B in RC27. Hitting under the Mendoza line makes it difficult to be a successful hitter in any context.

Kaline is pretty much the opposite. He's not walking much, he's not hitting for much power - but having a guy who can hit .270 in this park and in this context is helpful. He's a complete statue in RF, and he's not much better at 1B, but he's hitting .286 vs LHP in the 2nd-most AB (but 5th most PA) on the roster. I think this is a fair pick here.

18) Jerry Davanon (1976 HOU) - .286/.344/.286, 28 AB, 7/25 PH AB
19) Bruce Bochy (1986 SDP) - .000/.400/.000

Davanon had two jobs for this team: pinch-hit against lefties, and stand around the infield in emergency situations or blowouts. He's hitting .368/.400/.368 against lefties, and he's played a total of 8 innings in the field. It's not an exciting pick, but it's a useful one IMO.

What do you call the backup catcher for a guy who never rests? Boredom, thy name is Bruce Bochy. He's gotten 5 total PA. He's 0 for 1 as a PH, but WIS doesn't split out walks, so he could have as many as 3 PH appearances. He's caught 7 innings on the season. I drafted Bochy to be a competent backup catcher and someone who could run into a mistake occasionally (9 2B and 8 HR in 127 AB suggest he can do that)...I think that, by spending $1.58M on Bochy, I overspent by something on the order of $1.38M.

20) Tom Burgmeier (1980 BOS) - 1-2, 22.1 IP, 6.04 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, .280/.330/.366 against
21) Tim Teufel (1983 MIN) - .375/.375/.563, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2/5 PH

I had been looking at Burgmeier for several rounds when I finally got around to drafting him. It seems to be that his ERA is a little inflated compared to where it should be with those hitting numbers against, but ERA is really a flawed measurement for relievers (and Burgmeier has given up 2 of the 7 unearned runs my team has given up thus far). He's doing a good job against lefties (.200/.259/.360), but 73 of the 100 batters he's faced have been righties. I have some faith that Burgmeier will clean it up some and bring that ERA down into the low-4s by the end of the season, but given the circumstances, I'm glad I didn't waste a higher pick on him.

I think Teufel was an inspired pick. He can hit a little, can run into a mistake every now and again, and plays acceptable defense at 2B - allowing Oquendo to move to 1B and shore up the defense there. It's clearly a small sample size artifact, but Teufel's RF at 2B is fully 1.5 better than Oquendo's (it would be leading the league by .9 or so if he had enough innings there). I may actually be the most proud of this pick - it's easy to draft Rickey!, and finding Gullickson in Round 10 was a gift, but this was something a little more unique.

22) Bill Castro (1978 MIL) - 1-0, 2/2 SV, 15 IP, 2.40 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, .218/.267/.291 against
23) Richie Hebner (1982 PIT) - .214/.389/.286, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0/0 SB, 0/6 PH

The tumblers just fell right for Castro. He's definitely due for some regression, but he'll still be a decent setup man, which is what I thought I was drafting.

If I knew then what I know now, I would not have drafted Hebner. He was a .300 LH hitter with unexpected SB prowess (4/4 in 70 AB in real life) who could stand around at all the corners. Little did I know that Sparky was going to make Bill Gullickson the designated pinch runner for the team. I would have been much better off picking someone like Larry McWilliams (122 decent LH innings, if somewhat homer-prone) or Cecilio Guante (27 IP in a RH specialist role) from the 1982 Pirates instead. Arrrrgh!!!

24) Don Hood (1974 BAL) - 2-1, 15.1 IP, 3.52 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, .193/.303/.263 against
25) Tom Hutton (1977 PHI) - .240/.345/.320, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 2/10 PH

I got about what I was expecting from Hood. The OAV is probably a little lower than it will settle at by the end of the season, but he keeps the ball in the park and walks too many guys. Nice 2nd lefty in the pen.

I could say much the same about Hutton. It seems he's my designated lefty pinch hitter (at least in games where Monday starts in RF), and in that role he's not bad. There's really not much to complain about at this point in the draft.

26) Alex Rodriguez (2000 SEA) - .247/.371/.364, 4 HR, 27 RBI, 4/4 SB, 0 positive/2 negative plays, 5 errors, 5.49 RF

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, A-Roid? You're the #1 overall pick in the supplemental round. You're playing in the proto-Kingdome. You have the same SLG as....Dave Concepcion?! Your batting average is below Rick Burleson?! You've hit fewer home runs than Garry Templeton (who had 8 in real life)?!?!?!

It's not that a 5.27 RC27 is terrible - it's decent. But I didn't draft A-Fraud for "decent". I expected a superior hitter and a good fielder. What I've received is a decent hitter and a mediocre defender (1/4 of the way through the season, he already has almost half of his average errors from his performance history, plus he's already had more negative plays than his average). I think A-Hole is my own personal Joe Morgan - he never produces for me.

Overall, I'm confused by this team. As is my usual, my team is low in BA and high in walks. My team's OPS is 8 points below the league average, but my OBP is 20 points higher. Overall, it seems like my team should be slightly above average in runs - instead, I've scored 15 runs fewer than average. I just ran my team's stats through he Extrapolated Runs formula, and that says I should have scored 200 runs instead of the 183 I've actually scored.

Meanwhile, my pitching was supposed to be mediocre at best. I've given up 177 runs, which is 21 below the league average. Unfortunately, I haven't found a place in WIS that catalogs 2B and 3B against, so I had to extrapolate as best I could from my SLG against, H against, and the ratio of 2B/3B in the league thus far. Assuming I've given up 279 1B, 43 2B, and 6 3B (these numbers match my total hits against and total bases against), and running the subsequent numbers through the Extrapolated Runs Reduced formula (doesn't have things like IBB and SF/SH), it appears I should have given up 164 runs.

I ran my expected R and RA with games played into the Pythagenpat formula to calculate the exponent for the Pythagorean expectation, and based on XR for and XRR against, I should be winning at a .590 clip (!). That works out to 25-18, which happens to be my record right now. So, am I getting unlucky based on how many runs I should be scoring/giving up? Or am I getting lucky that, given my actual RS/RA, I'm outperforming my Pythagorean expectation?

I didn't anticipate this being this long (or taking more than 4 hours to do), but here ya go.