(As usual, I probably wrote too much. Enjoy ... or don't.)
My first round was fairly blah, advancing all 10 of my teams but some barely and landing just one of the top 30 picks. All of them were playing in the AL because I didn’t jump into the selections until the process was already well under way, so that may have contributed to the general struggles. Also a candidate: choosing poorly.
Aside from my one top pick, I had only 3 others in the top 8 of any draft and had 3 picks in the 20s. That gave me a wide range of experiences with each league based on “the best of what’s left” theory in many cases.
My research began pretty early and started out with looking at every pitching combo. I color coded them with four possibilities: Orange is seldom used and reserved for one of the best in the league; Yellow is for a solid staff I could be happy with; Light Yellow is for a workable staff that has issues somewhere; No Color is for ones I’d rather not touch. For each pairing I put down the ERC# range of the likely pitching staff as a way of noting which ones would be deeper, though in retrospect there would have been better ways to do that. I also noted when a clone was a no-brainer or a good option among pitchers, so I’d have that reference when I got to the hitting later. If a staff relied super heavily on the “good” franchise to the point where you couldn’t use many hitters, I noted that, too.
By the time the league drafts were unveiled, I’d also managed to go through all the offenses for Leagues 1-5. Because I was drafting in the top 30 once I at least had to look at the offenses for all other leagues for any pitching staff I’d marked Orange or Yellow, as I figured those would be worthy squads for a top pick. I may have overlooked some outstanding offenses that may have deserved attention despite mediocre pitching, but I’d spent dozens of hours on this just to get to this point anyway.
When I did look at hitters, I used the same color coding and also made two sets of notes. In one column I count the number of roster spots going to 1,000+ OPS# players, .900-.999, and .800-.899. When you see those groupings looking like “1 2.5 5” or something they serve as a quick handy comparison of how many stars a team has and how much depth there might be. I think the 65-66 Dodgers-Mets with “0 0 1.5” might have been the softest of any I scouted, though of course that pitching staff is Orange so you can’t ignore that as a contender. Anyway, I also made quick notes of strengths, weaknesses, and clone candidates for the offenses.
All that data on a line gave me a good idea of which teams I wanted to build out as it got close to my selection in each draft. Certainly the later picks required me to dig into quite a lot of Light Yellows and try to find the most usable choices. For the most part, I found the notes helpful enough to be able to build 4-6 rosters in each league once the picks got within a handful of my spot and see where the real gaps were and when a “bad” team just would kill you in one place or another.
All told, it was an enjoyable process of digging through all of baseball history. I think it would have been even more obscenely time-consuming (not to mention stressful during the drafts) if I’d had much more than 10 teams to draft, but also it would have felt like a ton of pointless effort if I’d only needed to draft in like 5-6 leagues. I think I was close to the sweet spot of fun intersecting with manageable.
Here’s a bit of insight into why I chose each of my pairs.
League 1 (Pick 14): 1889-1890: St. Louis Browns - Baltimore Orioles
I had settled on the “heck, let’s just run out an awesome offense and forget pitching” 1895-96 Phillies-Pirates combo, but footballmm11 snatched them right in front of me. I turned then to the 1889-90 Giants-Philly combo and posted it before having it explained that I couldn’t use most of the good Giants because they are in the AA and not the NL and the sim does a terrible job of separating them to the point where you can’t tell by looking at the team in the Draft Center or on its pop-out team pages. So that was pretty frustrating … Toysboys took that team anyway right after my pick, so I’m curious to see how he fares.
My other finalists for this pick were the 1891-92 Phillies-Pirates that darth took at #18, the 95-96 Baltimore-Louisville that joerat1 took at #19, and the 95-96 Reds-Giants that no one took. I’m a bit surprised no one took a chance late on the 93-94 Phillies-Reds with that ridiculously loaded Phillies offense. The box scores would be entertaining at least.
As for the group I did pick, there are no spectacular pitchers but everyone is under 2.86 ERC#. They hit for a high average but the defense is unspeakably dreadful. My D+/D- shortstop Irv Ray is going to average an error or minus play a game. There were no clones that made any sense on these teams, which was unexpected for me. No issues with the limit of 10 Browns as with such a small number of pitchers needed anyway you don’t have that stressor. Playing in WIS Park because we have to. Just hoping to get to R3 with these guys, and it should be a close call. A wild card would be a pleasant surprise.
League 4 (Pick 22): 1931-32 Washington Senators-Cincinnati Reds
This league felt pretty deep in usable rosters to the point where I had a few I could have been happy with even at the end. It’s a longshot to advance at this point, so there’s something to be said for being a little risky here. Not sure I was in the end, though.
My other finalists here were the 29-30 A’s-Red Sox that pmars2001 took with the last pick and was a higher-risk, higher-reward type of team with a great offense; the actually even better total offense of the 29-30 Giants-Reds; and a good-hitting and defending 31-32 Pirates-Phillies group.
The Sens-Reds combo definitely was the strongest pitching option of those four, and the hitting was not too many ticks below the others. Every hitter is over .300, with most racking up lots of 2B and 3B. Plus the defense is pretty respectable. It felt like a team that could have a chance to sneak in a few wins and make the cut.
I wound up cloning Joe Cronin despite not having a need for a DH and his having no other defensive positions but SS. I think I’m just going to slide one to 3B and I’ll have his bat in the 4-5 slots. He’s a much better hitter than punchless Joe Stripp, my best other 3B option, with what I think will be similar enough defense.
League 5 (Pick 1): 1943-44 St. Louis Cardinals-Philadelphia Athletics
My one and only Top 30 pick was #22 in that draft, and I was a bit surprised to see 3 teams taken in some leagues while some remained untouched. My feeling at this pick was to take a team I knew would be a strong contender and preferably in a league with 0 or 1 picks thus far.
I got this pick with 99 wins from a 1940s-era Cardinals squad, so there was something of a natural pull to go back to that well. This team looked like the class of the League 5 options based on my initial research that at least included checking the offenses of most of the teams here. I definitely had only scant research on options in a few other leagues, so it’s hard to know if I missed out on a much better combo that I just overlooked or hadn’t scouted well. My gut tells me they wouldn’t have lasted past the top 30, though.
Cloning Musial is a no-brainer here. These are two of his best seasons and he’s the cornerstone of the offense. The limit of 10 Cardinals did force a few tough choices, particularly on the pitching side and in the infield (ugh, the .609 OPS George Kell is a painful 3B without being able to take Kurowski). The SP are not exceptional, but I’ll have a trio of 100-inning relievers in Brecheen-Berry-Pollet that should be able to eat up innings 6-9 frequently and effectively. My biggest decision was whether to roster the dreaded ‘44 Ted Wilks for the rotation, as Wilks underperforms badly every single time I take him for reasons I cannot decipher. He sputtered to a 15-16 season in R1 with a 6.25 ERA for a 99-win team that probably would have been closer to 104 wins if he’d pitched anywhere close to well. But then we might not be talking about him right now because I would have drafted higher and taken a different combo.
Obviously the expectation is for this to be my strongest team of the round. There are 3 weak bats in the infield, alas, so the Musials really have to shine to make this team go far. It won’t hurt if the rotation proves stout and the touted bullpen doesn’t blow a ton of leads either.
League 6 (Pick 8): 1947-1948: Cleveland Indians – Chicago Cubs
This league might prove that I have no idea what I’m doing, because a handful of the teams I was looking at with the 8th pick never got taken. I can only hope the one I did choose was on people’s lists and was worthy.
Ones that I passed on included 57-58 Dodgers-Indians and 47-48 Braves-Phillies, which no one took; 55-56 Braves-Orioles, which glowguy took at #13 (schwarze had them rated 4th, so we’ll see how many of us wind up with regrets); 57-58 WhiteSox-Cubs, which darth took #17; and 57-58 Braves-A’s, which ribbentrop took #15. I have to say the biggest surprise is noticing now that not a single Dodgers team was drafted in this league. When I consider how many of us are just plain Dodgers fans and that the 50s were a decade of greatness for the franchise (they played in 6 WS in the span this league covers) … well, it’s not what you’d expect. Three Yankees teams left on the sidelines too, so maybe the great teams are too lopsided in the pairings to where you can’t make good enough use of the 10 spots.
What I like about my combo is the solid trio of SP in Feller, Lemon, and Schmitz, though the lack of good bullpen candidates could be a problem. I’ve got 74-year-old (probably) Satchel Paige penciled in as a closer, and that feels shaky. The offense has no notable holes, and the defense is sufficiently strong as well.
This team also offered no good clone choices, unless I wanted to stick ‘48 Boudreau behind the plate and suffer the consequences. Spoiler alert: I did not.
Gotta hope we compete for the division or at least the playoffs somehow here. Anything less indicates I chose poorly, which would not be shocking.
League 7 (Pick 21): 1959-1960: Baltimore Orioles – Detroit Tigers
There was no shortage of pitching staffs I liked left even in the final four picks. The problem was whether any of them came with something better than a toothless offense. I did give serious thought to one of the 63-64 teams that went right after mine, superb pitching staffs but sad excuses for offenses - the White Sox-Senators and Orioles-Colt 45s. That White Sox-Senators defense is darn good, too, and I think with good luck in 1-run games that team could compete even without much hitting.
I also gave a good look to the 59-60 Pirates-Senators and 59-60 Giants-Cardinals. The pitching staffs rated pretty closely, but my offense here should be a notch better.
But I decided instead on a staff without any great pitchers but without any bad ones either, as everyone is basically below 3.00 ERC#. And the likes of Kaline, Kuenn, Cash and Gentile can hit a little, too. Should help in a division with two loaded pitching staffs that were taken in the top 5 picks.
Once again this team didn’t have an obvious clone option, but I wound up going with versions of Hoyt Wilhelm in the rotation and bullpen. They’re not his best years, alas, though I do hope he and Hank Aguirre can hold a few late leads for us.
League 9 (Pick 6): 1977-78 Texas Rangers-St. Louis Cardinals
The top 4 picks in this league went basically according to my expectations, though certainly I had dreams of one falling to me. Still, with a 6th pick you’re expected to take a division winner and the teams start to get a bit more flawed at this point. This being the era most formative for me as a baseball fan didn’t make it easy, as I know these players better than most and have some irrational emotional attachments to a handful of them (though not enough to tempt me into another Dodger team, and notably chisock took those 77-78 Dodgers that turned me into a baseball fan the pick right after mine).
I was having a very hard time deciding between this pair and the 77-78 Reds-Padres, but footballmm11 made the choice easy by taking them just before me. My other finalists were the 77-78 Pirates-Expos Dave Parker and friends that thejuice6 grabbed at #15, and the 83-84 Jays-Giants that no one took at all. I have a special fondness for the Jays of that period (it’s a long story involving my first rotisserie league), but they really didn’t measure up. Clearly the rest of you noticed that, too.
That left this slightly unlikely squad that I initially almost overlooked. I recalled from the Cooperstown league that the 77 Rangers had surprisingly good pitching (NebHusker got 106 wins out of them) and the Cardinals fared well in both seasons (88 wins each). So I knew there was some talent lurking on these rosters, though I didn’t expect to find them as appealing as I did. The defense is solid, the lineup has power and speed, and I can impress schwarze by occasionally starting as many as 6 switch-hitters.
The clone choice that initially didn’t seem obvious became clear as I kept looking. Ted Simmons is two of the best hitters in the group, and I needed a backup for at least some PA. So why not just slide the other one over to DH for 500 PA or so? If you don’t love Ted Simmons in this game (if not also RL), I can’t be your friend.
League 10 (Pick 16): 1989-90 Cincinnati Reds-Houston Astros
I built several rosters for this pick and definitely liked this combo if it fell to me. Two others I was eyeing went in the two picks just before mine: 91-92 Expos-Red Sox and 85-86 Red Sox-Twins. I also liked the 89-90 Royals-Cardinals, who went 4 picks later to schwarze, and the 91-92 Twins-Mariners, who went 5 picks later to kstober. At least in this case I know my other choices were all desirable and taken in the same part of the draft.
I like the team speed (8 guys with 20+ SB) and sufficient power here, and the bullpen is very strong (Smith-Darwin-Dibble-Charlton-Andersen). That, plus a solid top 3 starters in Rijo-Scott-Deshaies, makes me think this team is in a good position to fight for a playoff spot. I got lucky that a good Bill Doran season was a combo of these two teams so I could use his Astros version as a leadoff guy. Not so lucky in drawing no better option than a noodle-armed Craig Biggio as my catcher, before he could hit too much either. He won’t be my worst #9 hitter in this round by a long shot, however.
I cloned Eric Davis here as the outfield wasn’t especially deep. At least it’s a pair of seasons with 500+ PA so he will give me some all-around excellence at two spots. I didn’t want to constrain the sluggers in the Astrodome, so we will play in Riverfront. Not a perfect fit, but I hope it works out.
League 12 (Pick 8): 2003-2004 Boston Red Sox/Milwaukee Brewers
This is another pick I can’t afford to mess up, as it’s in a position that should advance and compete for playoff spots. I was highly tempted to grab the 01-02 Giants-Reds and see how far two Barry Bonds megastuds (plus Kent and Aurilia) could carry me. They only lasted 3 more picks after mine, so I think that was likely still a strong pick.
Others I liked here were 01-02 Mariners-Rays, which went to jtpsops at #17; 01-02 Dodgers-Rangers, taken immediately after me by kstober; and 03-04 White Sox-Padres, who went #12 to glowguy. This tells me my thinking was pretty close to the group here and these would all have been competitive picks.
I think the differentiator wound up being the top 3 starters of Sheets-Pedro-Schilling formed a more formidable group than the other squads. Other bullpens were better, but it’s nice to trot out a quality starter two-thirds of the time if at all possible. A pretty loaded lineup helps, too, led by Manny, Ortiz, Sexson, Nixon, Nomar, and Mueller. The defense is unimpressive, unfortunately, and I had to pretend not to notice or I would have been frozen with indecision.
The clone here was another that emerged from a series of experiments. Using two Mannys would have been the best offensive choice, but I had more good outfielders available without too much dropoff. I had a second Pedro season in there, even though his 2004 wasn’t particularly good. But then I realized the dropoff to a second Ben Sheets wasn’t all that much for what will be a 5th starter anyway, and that freed up another Red Sox roster spot I needed to roster both Varitek and Nixon and upgrade the lineup significantly.
We’ll be playing in Fenway, which isn’t going to do the pitchers any favors. But this should be a league with a lot of offense regardless and we might as well put our best foot forward.
League 14 (Pick 20): 2013-2014 Pittsburgh Pirates/Colorado Rockies
This was the last league I drafted in, and there was no combo I really liked a lot. I also noticed that schwarze was still sitting alone in his division with his top pick, which meant 3 of the final 5 picks were going in there. Starting with me. At least from that perspective, if I drafted wisely I’ve got a shot at a good division record.
Other combos I considered here were the 11-12 Nats-Mets that will be in my division after toysboys nabbed them with the last pick; and two combos that went unselected in 13-14 Braves-Brewers and 15-16 Orioles-Tigers. I decided that since none of those really stood apart to me, going for a big offense and trying to grab some Coors Field advantage might be my best way to combat the Kershaw-Kershaw-Greinke combo and other stud pitchers. Wear ‘em out maybe and get into the pens quicker?
Certainly I have to acknowledge my pitching won’t fare well even on the road. I’ve got a nice trio of late relievers from the Pirates in Melancon, Watson, and Wilson … but I have to get through the first 6-7 innings somehow without giving up double digits too often. It’s a high-risk, high-reward gamble at this draft spot that maybe we can create some Coors havoc.
The offense is deep and dangerous here even without the park advantages. I’ll have to manage the heck out of the 13 hitters I’ve got because only 2 have 600+ PA, and I might wind up fatiguing my own guys worse than opponents. But every one of them can hit the ball out, and the team speed and infield defense are big pluses. I can’t say as much for the outfield gloves, so that could be troubling.
As for clones, initially I was going with a pair of Melancon seasons to anchor the pen, but that meant Wilson wasn’t getting used. So since either way I’d have 3 Pirates relievers at the back end, I decided to try to sub Wilson and boost the offense with someone instead. I had initially planned to use only the 512 PA Tulowitzki with a terrible backup due to limited hitting spots, and that wasn’t sitting well with me. Plus it left his monster 375 PA season unused. I decided that I can take both Tulos and play one out of position to backup both 2B and 3B, where I need about 250 more PA anyway. With his sterling glove, I think he’ll handle it fine and he’s got 300 OPS points on Neil Walker, the guy I had filling the role previously.
League 15 (Pick 11): 2019-2020 Atlanta Braves/Colorado Rockies
This was one of the few drafts where I had a combo I really liked and was hoping it would fall to me. I think the biggest challenge in this league is forming a pitching staff with enough innings without having to roster 13 guys there, since it’s tough to fill a lineup out with just 3 bench spots where one is assuredly your second catcher. High PA hitters help a lot, and I got a heap of them here.
I definitely would have jumped at the 19-20 Dodgers-Tigers if you weren’t limited to 10 Dodgers. I couldn’t figure out how to get enough out of the Tigers to make it still a strong team. Similar logic applied a few other places. I also liked the 19-20 Nats-Rangers, and both of those combos went within 5 picks after mine. I see that 21-22 got very little love, with just 3 picks, almost assuredly because of the difficulty in assembling a workable staff.
What worked best about this group is I had enough decent Rockies pitchers so I didn’t have to use all those spots on Braves. In retrospect, maybe I should have found a way to sneak another Atlanta pitcher in, but I didn’t like missing out on any from among Freeman-Acuna-Osuna-Albies-D’Arnaud. At any rate, this offense is probably the best I have this round with a team OPS of .924 including the bench guys. And 6 guys don’t really ever need to come out of the lineup, so I can survive with a short bench.
It’s a great fielding infield (all A-rated FLD), which will hopefully help the shaky pitching. The rotation gets soft in a hurry, and I don’t know if there’s enough quality innings at the back to keep the terrible long guys out of enough games.
The clone choice surprised me yet again as I wound up subbing out a fairly mediocre Julio Teheran in the back of the rotation for a second German Marquez, who wasn’t much worse. It’s not like Julio was going to be missed anyway. That was the key to getting all 5 of those Braves bats I wanted. I mean sure, having 3 Rockies in the rotation isn’t ideal, but we’ll just have to score a lot. I fully expect we will.