ha we will see. just happy to not be in your division at least.

Nice write ups gentlemen. I like to get some insight into the thought process - so that next time I know what I should be doing. I'll try to write up my thoughts or lack there of....

Ron's Redistribution Post Mortem or what I call "Chess? - I have trouble enough with Tic-Tac-Toe"

Initial Thoughts: I am not a spreadsheet guy or have crazy mathematical formulas but what stood out to me eyeballing the player pool was that there were few pitchers with elite hr/9 and, in particular, a lot of of the low whip super pitchers actually had poor hr/9. At the same time there seemed to be lots of sluggers available so I had the strategy of trying to build a lineup of home run hitters, put them in a home run park, and draft a staff that tended to give up fewer home runs than the opposition. I also made the decision to go with a five man rotation as I figured more people would be interested in punting the fifth SP spot and concentrating on the higher inning studs. I envisioned taking the Corbin Burnes and Dave Righettis while everyone else fought over the Bob Gibsons and Sandy Koufaxes. At the same time, I hoped all those high inning expensive pitchers would move people down the draft order and I was looking to stay near the top this draft. I also figured if I concentrated on getting 5 lower-inning, but high quality, SP that they would give me most of the innings pitched I would need and that it wouldn't be critical if I had to punt or default on a few relievers down the line. I also decided to make defense a priority to assist with the pitching staff that might end up a bit weaker than hoped. Then when I dug into the defensive ratings I noticed the best defensive second baseman with the highest range was actually an outfielder - 91 Tony Phillips. That was the final piece of the pre-draft strategy - use Phillips at second, leave drafting an actual 2B to the end, and then draft a high slugging Larry Walker, Ken Griffey, Giancarlo Stanton, or Luis Gonzalez in round 25 to fill in Phillip's vacated outfielder spot.

Round 1. I randomly received pick #6. Pretty good but immediately after schwarze who always takes the guy or team I'm hoping for. Part of me would rather have pick #23 if schwarze had #24 than #6 if he had #5. Anyways, I knew I wanted to start with a stud starting pitcher with lower innings. Looking at the options, I determined that the SP2 pool was much, much deeper than the SP1 pool - especially concerning pitchers with low hr/9+. So Tim Lincecum stood out to me in in SP1 as the clear choice. But I was overconfident that Lincecum would last to me in the second round with all the other low-whip, low erc# pitching available so I decided to take one of the stars from SP2. I wanted Joe Horlen partly because he's done well for me and partly because I really didn't like any of the other White Sox players. But I convinced myself that schwarze would take Horlen so I had decided on taking deGrom as the consolation. But as schwarze was performing his mind reading trick this must have confused him and he actually took deGrom leaving me with Horlen.

Round 2. As largely predicted, Horlen's relative lower salary (due to his lower ip and not lower quality) left me in decent standing for round 2 with pick #7. Everything was going according to plan and I had already planned Lincecum in my head and was wondering who I should be looking at for round 3 when redcped came in and ruined the dream and took Lincecum. Didn't he realize there was still Koufax. Tudor, Vida Blue and other pitchers he should be taking instead of the one lower inning, great hr/9+ pitcher sitting in the SP1 pool?? Damn. I didn't really like the other SP1 options sitting there for round 2 unless I changed strategies and took a higher inning, more expensive pitcher. I heavily considered Drysdale but ended up going with another SP2 selection - Derek Lowe.

Round 3. I actually moved up to 5th and was again staring at Drysdale as the best pitcher left in SP1. A large part of me wanted to screw the 5 man rotation idea and go with him. I also considered Burnes, Righetti, and Appier for their low hr/9 but I didn't want to go with my third and final SP2 selection this early. So I left the pitching idea and went with one of my favourite sim players - 2017 Elvis Andrus. In real life I will always remember him, and chuckle, about his integral role in the amazing seventh inning of Game 5 in the 2015 ALDS - truly, one of the most incredible innings ever played. In sim life, Andrus has always done well for me. Yes, his bat can be hit or miss at times but I honestly don't think I've ever used him where he didn't win the gold glove and dominated defensively and he can occasionally throw in a ton of doubles and homers from the 7 or 8 spot.

Round 4. Now I'm up to pick #2. Drysdale went shortly after my last pick so that temptation was gone. I probably would have went with Burnes here but he was taken. So I was thinking Appier for pitching or continue with another infielder. I went the latter and was pleased to take 94 Matt Williams as the best defensive third baseman available and also the highest HR+ of any available hitter. The Lincecum stumble hurt but I was still prepared to go with the initial strategy of loading up with home run hitters in a home run park and trying to grab a few pitchers to somewhat keep the ball in the park on defense.

Round 5. Still up near the top of the order with pick #3. It was time to turn back to pitching after taking two hitters. Righetti and Appier had gone and I needed a SP1 but the pickings were already getting fairly slim. 78 Caldwell and 63 Friend were the two that most fit my criteria. 88 Gubicza was another I eyed. In hindsight, I think I should have waited to take one of them a few rounds later but I jumped and took Caldwell mostly because I didn't really like any other Brewers and there were a few Pirate teammates of Friend and a few Royal teammates of Gubicza I could see using. I'm sure no one else batted an eye with the Caldwell pick.

Round 6. Back to pick#4 but not bad considering I had already taken three SP. I was hoping 81 Ryan would make it to me but he went a few picks before. I considered 64 Ford who is another well-used favourite of mine but I was already eying up the Daulton/Sanchez catching platoon and needed to keep my Yankee spot open for that. In the end, this was a decision between two Pirates - either 63 Friend to complete the SP1 picks or 85 Reuschel to complete the SP2 picks. In the end, I went with Reuschel who is a slightly better pitcher overall. I had figured my fifth pitcher would probably be one of 78 Perry, 77 Reuschel, or 88 Gubicza. None are outstanding but all have decent hr/9 and I figured they would last for awhile as other more popular pitchers were taken. I would be counting on my high range defense helping these higher OAV pitchers out.

Round 7. I panicked here. Part of the idea of the Phillips at second base strategy was that I thought I could wait awhile before picking him as there are many outfielders available with better stats. But there was a huge unexpected run on second base during this time and I was worried I had passed on all the good ones and would be double screwed if I didn't end up with Phillips. So I jumped and took him and his A+/A+ 2B defense. Without the 2B feeding frenzy I probably would have went with a high range, high home run CF like Beltran or Trout.

Round 8. I was planning to either complete my super range infield here with 88 Galarraga or take a CF but now there was a run going on with catchers. 93 Daulton was the only left handed option there and I took him with the hope of platooning him with the right handed, lower ab Sanchez. Daulton's power numbers and arm are OK and, more importantly, like Andrus I can laugh at him as a die hard Blue Jays fan. Too bad Mitch Williams wasn't available.

Round 9. Up to pick #2. Was it time to snag my last SP1? No, I decided that I would take one of my three SP1 choices as soon as one of them went in a round. Still safe. Do I complete my catching platoon with the best C2 option there? No, it was too early to go with a back-up catcher. Beltran or Trout? Probably should have. But I had to go with Galarraga - a favourite of a Canadian baseball fan growing up in the 80s- check; great range - check; deceptively excellent normalized slugging numbers - check. The Big Cat ticked all the boxes and I was happy to add him.

Round 10. Still pick#2. SP1 choices still safe. But now both Beltran and Trout had gone along with a number of other great slugging outfielders. Starting to panic a bit there about outfielders but decided to lock in my lights-out closer - 2020 Brad Hand

Round 11. The Hand pick moved me up to #1 in the order where I pretty much remained until the end of the draft. Still needed a CF and was considering Amos Otis or Ray Lankford. But thought they both could wait and became the first to jump into the back-up catcher pool to take Gary Sanchez to play against footballmm's plethora of left handers. Stupid pick probably but I was happy with my catching platoon as I originally envisioned it.

Round 12. Oh, oh. Both Otis and Lankford and their high range were taken along with most of the other good OF sluggers. And Gubicza went which was my SP1 alarm bell. I contemplated going with Canseco and Strawberry or Murphy and relying on Ken Griffey in the 25th round to come in and play CF but decided to go with 2000 Andruw Jones. His range isn't elite but it's not bad and he can hit the odd dinger. It closed off Dale Murphy though who I was hoping to use in one of the corner OF spots.

Round 13. I gambled last round that one of Gaylord Perry or Rick Reuchel would make it back to me and they did. I tossed a coin between the two and ended up with 78 Perry. Calhoop took Reuschel with the very next pick and I would have been screwed at SP1 otherwise if I had waited one more round. Perry doesn't walk many and doesn't give up many homers and hopefully my defense can help him out. As an aside, I was surprised to see Davey Lopes go at 2b. I kind of figured he would last to the end and who I would end up having to take there.

Round 14. I was hoping the entire time that Canseco or Strawberry would make it back to me. I find those 80s era sluggers' power numbers normalize well and both have good speed. Schwarze took Canseco but I was relieved Strawberry was still there. He had the best home run power of any non-bench hitter still available in my opinion. However, I also knew there were only two second baseman left for me at this point and one of them was Murphy from the Mets. Taking Strawberry left me with the Athletics' Jed Lowrie as the only choice and there was a slight change BigSteve could take him although it appeared Steve would more likely use his Athletics spot to take Steinbach at catcher. I made the decision that either way I would leave my second base choice to the end and if I had to default it wouldn't matter too much as I wasn't planning on playing Lowrie or the default option, Julio Cruz, anyways and it would only cost me approx. 900k in additional salary.

Round 15. Strawberry was cheaper than the average OF but most were taking relief pitchers and some bench players at this point so I actually went down to #4 this round. I probably should have went with a reliever here but wanted to get fancy and take someone that can power pinch hit for the pitcher late in games and cause schwarze a few relief blowups. I went with what I thought was the best bench hitter possible (Spencer and Gates Brown were unavailable to me) and took Cesar Cedeno.

Round 16. Ok, I desperately needed to take a reliever here. I wanted 2020 Iglesias in part so I could use Great American Ballpark but I already had one RP2 and the RP1 pool was much more depleted. So I went with 89 Jeff Montgomery who is solid enough.

Round 17. Of course, schwarze took Iglesias. My only other slugging ballpark option was Sanchez' Yankee III but I didn't really like its +1 for singles with my pitching staff. Oh well, I'll figure that out later. Losing the expected Davey Lopes at 2B opened up the Dodgers' relievers and I went with what I judged as the best quality available, Doug Rau. He doesn't have many innings but has a higher ip/g which I like. I also considered the last remaining Angels bench player, Mike Brown, as I was not liking the remaining Angels choices.

Round 18. Now it was Angels crunch time. Do I take Mike Brown and get stuck with crappy choices for my last RP1 and RP2? Or do I take one of the last decent remaining RPs and hope to use a crappy Angels reliever in the other relief spot as a mop-up type pitcher not designed to see many innings. I decided to go with Eddie Watt in RP1. The choice was between him and Billy McCool.

Round 19. The crazy run on RP1 continued but it shook out OK for me. When the dust settled a few people were defaulted at that position (Juice twice) but Eddie Fisher from the Angels was still there and I was the only one left needing an RP1 that still had the Angels available. So now I knew I could leave this pick to the end of the draft without penalty. I finished out my relievers with my final RP2 selection of Les Lancaster. The choice was between him, his two Cub teammates, or Rick Aguilera. I kind of wanted Glenallen Hill as another power hitting pinch hitter because the only thing more fun than seeing schwarze vent in the forums after his bullpen blows a 4 run lead is when he vents after blowing an 8 run lead, but I figured one of the last remaining decent pitchers was more valuable at this point.

Round 20. Time to fill out the bench. The Astros already had a couple bench hitters go so I took Sid Bream. He 's not Glenallen Hill but he's a solid enough bat to pinch hit after Cedeno has done his job and was cheap. I was still picking #1 at this point but I was seeing bheid was going to be challenging me for lowest salary and first pick in round 25. I kind of wanted Larry Walker but was OK if I had to take another of the available outfielders there. Still, cheap was good.

Round 21. Should have went with the cheap Augie Ojeda here from the Twins as the Reds still had all four bench spots available and the Twins did not. But I decided to go with the Reds' Freel so I could go back to my original plan of using Great American ballpark.

Round 22. I was regretting the Freel pick as Josmil Pinto and Augie Ojeda went soon after and it looked like fatguyrd would take Rich Becker and default me. With that in mind I was looking at the default bench options and realized the Athletics still had one bench hitter available - Mike Davis who batted .400 and would be a decent pinch hitter. I had been saving my Athletics pick for Jed Lowrie at 2b at the end. I calculated that taking Davis and using the default at 2b instead of defaulting at bench would end up costing me an extra million but would leave me one useless hitter and one valuable pinch hitter as opposed to two hitters I planned on not using. But then fatguyrd passed on taking the last Twins bench player and it appeared to me (and schwarze who prematurely started to put Rich Becker's name into the selection matrix) that I would finish with Becker in round 22, leaving the Angels' Fisher and the A's Lowrie as my only last two picks. However, I had become enamored with the Mike Davis as pinch hitter option and he was still available. I calculated using him instead of Becker and defaulting at second would cost me 700k as opposed to finishing with no penalty. I tried to estimate where the 700k would hurt me in the Round 25 draft order and figured there was no way I could catch bheid for the Larry Walker pick anyways. So I decided to go with Mike Davis.

Round 23&24 - As explained, took Eddie Fisher and the default option at second base

Round 25. The 700k penalty actually moved me to third pick and bheid took Walker at #1 as expected. But I was good with Gonzalez or Griffey and ended up taking Griffey after calhoop took Randy Johnson.

This took much too long to write up and I'm sure my meanderings of the mind don't matter much to others. But I will reiterate that this was a very stressful, demanding, but super enjoyable draft. I don't know if it will work out like this in the future editions but I think the collection of original rosters was almost perfect. There were superstars mixed with lower lights, great defense and poor defense, speedsters and slugs, pitchers of all different variety - in essence, a perfect mix that made planning and strategy more challenging. Good luck everyone.

Division From Snell
(Note that I wrote all this round by round to capture my thinking at the time, and then I saved you some tedium and trimmed some of the fat. I acknowledge it remains tedium for almost everyone still, however if you need to kill a few minutes do read on a bit.)

Initial thoughts: When I selected players to represent the Expos/Nats franchise, I went for the best possible seasons for the choices I made. I felt like that roster should be pretty competitive if fielded against any of the ones we end up with. It had a $121M payroll for 24 players, with an offense slashing .318/.391/.546. The team ERA was 2.11 with a WHIP of 0.98. At the very least, it gave me a baseline to compare against what I end up with.

In building out my draft sheets, I noticed that most owners seem to have taken my basic approach. But a few of you seemed to throw poison pills into the draft for entertainment, selecting in some cases one of the worst options for a player or at least only grabbing maybe their 2nd or 3rd best season. Some teams clearly didn’t have great choices at spots, or their true stars really never had a great season that fit the parameters either. We all have the same pool ultimately, but it does make some franchises more critical to select from earlier if possible. Let’s just call this the “Someone Winds Up With Wally Joyner Playing 1B Factor.”

Post-draft note: No one wound up with Joyner! I nearly did, though.

Round 1, Pick 19: SP1 2009 Tim Lincecum, Giants

The strategy here was to take the best SP with the lowest reasonable salary to move up near the top in Round 2 and take a second but more expensive pitcher then. There was really no one else in the SP1 group I liked as a 1st pick with a sub-$10M salary.

Round 2, Pick 6: SP2 1989 Bret Saberhagen, Royals

I had Saberhagen targeted from the outset and was really pleased he was still there. Like the Freak, his lower HR/9 rate will come in handy in a league likely to be loaded with sluggers. Neither guy walks too many either. At this point, even though I missed out on the very top SP I can at least roll out a top two who keep me competitive.

Round 3, Pick 7: SP1 1964 Don Drysdale, Dodgers

I was definitely going to take a hitter here, and my top choice was Garciaparra … whom brm_fan snagged 4 picks ahead of me. I then looked hard at position scarcity and how deep I felt comfortable falling at each lineup spot. I went to bed with Cal Ripken as my next target because the offensive dropoff at SS is steep and quite a few middling guys aren’t even great with the glove either. … But Drysdale kept staring at me, with so many of the big-inning SP1 choices left looking rather average once you get past the top 20 or so. Also, the Dodgers choices at almost every offensive position left are sub-par (early pick Piazza notably the exception). I say that even as a huge fan who thought Fernando and Orel were gifts from the gods at the time, but I didn’t really want to rely on either in this league.

Taking a 3rd SP already didn’t feel like a great strategy, but … now I have over 800 innings of top-tier starters at least and can blow off the 5th SP entirely. My gut tells me this was the right pick even if it veers from the plan. We’ll see.

Round 4, Pick 13: SS 1991 Cal Ripken Jr., Orioles

I spent a rough 1.25 rounds waiting to see if I’d be able to nab a great SS or C, and as all my top choices remained on the board I kept waiting for the coach to turn back into a pumpkin. I was convinced mpitt76 was going to take Ripken the pick before me, but somehow the second hand stayed a notch before midnight and I wound up landing him after all.

I don’t think too much needs to be said about Cal. But with few A+ range guys in this draft who can hit at all and most of the top offensive options a bit shaky in the field, his A/B glove pairs darn well with one of the top few OPS choices. Pretty thrilled to get him, and now I just hope he proves worth it.

Round 5, Pick 18: C 1998 Mike Piazza, Mets

My backup choice if Ripken was gone last round was Piazza. So color me pretty stunned for the second round in a row that 30-some picks later I could still get my targeted player. Maybe I’m playing this wrong, but I think there’s still a ton of 1B and OF talent out there but dwindling really good offensive players at the other positions. I was watching the run on the top OF go and was tempted to jump in and grab someone, but the opportunity cost was higher if I let Piazza go and wound up with a much worse hitter behind the plate. The D+ arm is a mild concern, but overall this doesn’t look like a super base-stealing league. ‘66 Torre had about the same slash line, but his A+ arm would have cost almost $2M more to get 20% better at throwing out runners. I liked how taking a sub-$6M player would vault me back up to the top 10 picks next round, too. If Piazza allows 200+ SB, someone please remind me of this miscalculation.

Round 6, Pick 10: 2B 2010 Robinson Cano, Yankees

One of my mottos in a draft like this is “it’s better to be at the start of a run than the back,” and the 2B run most definitely started with an Alomar going a few picks before me. There were 10 2B taken in the next 27 picks (Sandberg, Molitor, Vidro, Loretta, Giles, Utley, Pedroia, and Tony Phillips, whom I’m expecting ronthegenius to shift over there). I got the second of the 10 here, and I’m really glad I didn’t wait.

I was trying to weigh scarcity at 2B and 3B, positions I felt there were only a few players I really wanted, vs. getting a much better bat at 1B or OF. A few of my top OF targets were taken earlier in the round (including O’Neill and Puckett), and I kept looking at the depth of the position and feeling confident I’d still have a very good OF even if I waited. I also started thinking about Round 25, where a few really good 1B and OF are available that might be lower on other teams’ priority lists (Post-draft note: Boy was I wrong about that!). I expect the SP and MI to be most prized there (Post-draft note: Boy was I wrong about that, too!).

I went with Cano over Sandberg or Giles largely for the defense (A+/A to pair with Cal’s A/B up the middle) and lefty bat. With Ripken and Piazza already in the lineup and 3B being a very likely RH bat as well, I was worried about balance. I also took Sandberg early in a draft like this a couple years ago and got a very blah performance out of him, unfortunately. His speed and glove were hard to pass up, but the L/R thing weighed a lot on me. A downside to this pick is having to scratch Mattingly off my 1B list, and he was my top remaining choice. Not many high average hitters left, and I’m trying to avoid one-dimensional hitters. The upside is now I have covered the weakest offensive positions with three .900+ OPS# hitters, ensuring a deep lineup even if I’m lacking a thunderous bat in there.

Round 7, Pick 17: OF 2004 Jim Edmonds, Cardinals

I had settled this round on getting a LH-hitting outfielder, because there frankly were few left on my available list worth having. Potential CF who can hit were also dwindling, and I’m still pretty worried about getting anyone decent there. This pick came down to Edmonds or Billy Williams. I preferred Willams as a more balanced hitter with high average, but Edmonds won out on defense and speed and also a higher OPS#. With B range, he can be my CF if I run out of other options or just be an above-average RF if I do. And with A/C ratings at 1B, he can even shift there if I get a great OF in Round 25.

I’m very likely to wind up with RH bats now in my other OF spots and 3B, so getting the LH in there was critical here. With half my lineup set and a .319/.390/.575 slash line so far, I feel pretty good considering I started with three pitchers.

Round 8, Pick 21: 3B 1966 Ron Santo, Cubs

We had a bit of a lull in the draft at this juncture, so I did a lot of overthinking. In my mind I had already written my analysis of why I was picking Mike Trout here -- and regretting it. Best A+ option left to play CF, fills Angels spot, still a very solid OPS# even if it’s like his worst season, blah blah blah. Also, he's never done squat for me any time I’ve used him, even his best seasons. But it was a done deal in my head that I’d take him or McCutchen to play CF. I would be happy with any of the remaining 3B on my list one way or another … but I had to get that CF now, I had decided firmly.

Then I drove to work and saw that Schmidt went off the board a few picks before me, and it all unraveled instantly as I sat in my car in the parking lot already late and getting later (Ed. note: my boss gets in later than I do, so she was none the wiser -- also I wrote most of this during my shifts, and she doesn't know that either). I’d been eyeing Santo since the earliest rounds, and he’s one of my favorite 3B in the sim. I’m irresistibly drawn to his range, ability to get on base, and solid power. There certainly were good alternatives left to me, including a great hitting but no glove Perez, solid Beltre, and a somewhat one-dimensional but not too bad Glaus. But I saw the dominoes falling if I went with Trout (eliminating Glaus as an option) and then those guys all getting picked before I draft again. And then I’m sitting here with Trout in center and Tim Wallach or Robin Ventura and wondering where I went wrong.

Santo slashes an adjusted .315/.420/.537 and instantly becomes my 2nd-best hitter while giving me three very good infield gloves. No speed at all, like the rest of my team alas. But with 62.5% of my lineup now set and a (raw) slash of .317/.394/.568, I’m feeling like we can generate runs with a lot of walks and power up and down the lineup pretty well.

Who knows? Maybe one of those CF will last until my next pick after all. Or I’ll change my mind again. (Spoiler alert: I did)

Round 9, Pick 20: OF 1991 Manny Ramirez, Indians

Trout finally went but McCutchen was still on the board for me if I wanted to acquire, you know, someone who got on base with speed and could play center field. But who needs those pesky things when there’s a monster Manny season just dangling out there begging to be drafted? Yeah, I will end up with either a Round 25 pick or Edmonds in CF most likely now, and I’ll probably take someone later in the draft who’s at the bottom of the OF ranks as the fill-in or defensive replacement … unless I can get Cutch still somehow.

In the meantime, the lineup gets deeper and scarier with Manny in the middle of it. With 6 starters in place, I’ve got 211 homers and a .320/.402/.582 slash line. I’m starting to worry that there isn’t near enough pitching in this league to counteract these lineups and it might be time to get a bullpen. Picking late again next round so I have another wait ahead, but the plan is for relievers the next round or maybe two.

Round 10, Pick 21: RP2 2018 Sean Doolittle, Expos (Nats)

The time arrived to start building a bullpen, I felt … as did several others. In fact, my top two targets (Nathan and Treinen) went in the two picks immediately preceding mine (Post-draft note: Clearly I was not alone here). I decided to grab the best RP2 on the table, a fairly unhittable Doolittle with a sub-1 ERC# to close out games. I definitely need at least 2 other really good RP in this league so I might be shopping this aisle for a couple more rounds. My lower salary pick moved me up all of 3 spots next round, alas. Gotta hope more people go elsewhere and don’t grab the guys atop my list again.

Round 11, Pick 18: RP1 2007 Heath Bell, Padres

I almost took Bell in the previous round, so I was really pleased he lasted. I’m building at least a competitive bullpen now as his 93 innings of 1.55 ERC# and low HR/9 should make him a strong setup guy. Ideally I get 2 more quality RP to feel like I can navigate the back ends of games without too much disaster.

I moved up 7 spots in the next round, which helps keep options open. With so many priorities to fill now, each pick knocks down other dominoes in my plans and I’m playing 5-D chess with myself here at times. Now I’m mixing my game metaphors. Yowza. Also, maybe I should do some work ...

Round 12, Pick 11: OF 2012 Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

Astute readers (Ed. note: I do appreciate you! Assuming any of you got this far, that is) will note Cutch was first mentioned in Round 8’s writeup. He’s been on my short list for so long I really can’t believe I wound up actually getting him. This pick came down to SP2 Chris Short, RP1 Billy Wagner or Cutch. Short (Ed. note: He went to schwarze a few picks later, so that kept me from being cursed a third time in his writeup) was by far my best remaining 4th SP option, but I don’t need a full season of starts from that spot and can handle dropping there.

Cutch fills a big lineup void: He can lead off, he has speed, and his glove is solid for CF. The entire rest of my team is slow, so with OBPs fairly similar at least I can get a guy at the top of the lineup with wheels now. His stat line doesn’t blow you away, but he does everything well, just none of it exceptionally. He moves my lineup’s slash to .321/.402/.578 with 7 spots locked, and that works for me.

Now, as for the other challenges developing … the SP2 pool is drying up quickly and even though I probably only need 15-20 starts there it’s going to be with a subpar choice, clearly. And the final SP I have to take will likely be a long man so I’ll get whoever fits.

It’s clear now I’ll be stuck with Wally Joyner because at this point only 3 teams need a 1B and the other two already have an Angel. So that means my Round 25 plan is locked in to draft the best 1B or OF and shift Edmonds as needed. (Post-draft note: I hadn’t counted on anyone defaulting at 1B so the disaster didn’t materialize)

Round 13, Pick 19: RP2 1998 Tom Gordon, Red Sox

All the SP2 choices I really would have liked were gone, so it seemed like a good time to get that 3rd top RP. The best remaining ERC# pitchers are all in the RP2 group, though several are low inning guys. Gordon’s 80 innings of 1.54 ERC# aren’t the best possible innings here, but the bulk makes them appealing because I won’t get as much quality with my RP1 choices. Also, the Red Sox didn’t have anyone else in a category I really needed to fill, so it was better to take him than someone from one of the few teams with a SP2 left that I will need to draft.

Round 14, Pick 11: RP1 1970 Ken Sanders, Brewers

I didn’t have any Brewers targeted anywhere else, and Sanders is one my best remaining RP1 options at this point. There are better RP2 choices on the board still, but this pick doesn’t tie my hands at any other positions either. I really like his 0.08 HR/9 rate, and this gives me 4 darn good relievers at this point.

As for other palace intrigue, I’ve realized my salary is looking to be on the higher end and I still have to load up with two garbage SP2 guys who will bloat me further. This means my options in R25 might end up being much more limited and maybe all the 1B/OF will be gone before I pick. At this stage there are 3 owners who still need a 1B: me, ff09, and schwarze. Ff09 has no possible picks, however, and is stuck with Carlos Pena. I can still take Hrbek or be left with Joyner. Schwarze can still take Hrbek or Jason Thompson. My fear is schwarze takes Hrbek to force me to Joyner, which gives me a real need for that R25 upgrade. But if I take Hrbek first, he can settle for Thompson and we both remain flexible. How long do I wait to see if he acts first, though? Tough call …

(Post-draft note: Turns out while I was worried about schwarze tying my hands, I took the guy he really wanted here instead. I’m guessing he wishes he’d taken revenge by snatching Hrbek.)

Round 15, Pick 10: RP2 1964 Bill Henry, Reds

At this stage of the draft, I felt it was better to take a RP who can help my team rather than one of a few mediocre SP left to fill out my rotation. Yeah, this did take a Reds pitcher, Maloney, off the board, but it’s not like he’s really worth having anyway. My only trick is keeping two different franchise spots open to get my last two SP, and I’m down to 5. I almost have to take one next round just to avoid getting stuck somehow.

Henry adds a 5th strong arm to my bullpen and a second lefty, which is helpful. His 1.45 ERC# for 52 innings provide depth I think will be critical down there.

(Post-draft note: Maloney wound up making it to the very last round because no one else could take him, and I got stuck with a default player. I wonder if that made the difference between being in the division from hell or not? Of course, by drafting Snell I would have pushed him to a LR role anyway.)

Round 16, Pick 9: SP2 2002 Barry Zito, Athletics

The time arrived to secure my second SP2 before my options dried up. It was only a question of whether it would be Zito or Dave Stewart to take my A’s spot. Only four franchises left I can take an SP2 from! If everything else breaks well for me (i.e., getting Hrbek at 1b), I can take one of the two Angels SP2 options to fill out this position. But if schwarze nabs Hrbek (he jumped me in the draft order, so now I’m nervous), at least there are still Twins and Rangers SP2 options left to avoid getting stuck there. Still, that all requires two more picks to go my way, and that’s no assurance. Also, my salary is getting really high and I’ll probably draft really late in R25 and can’t count on anything there.

Oh, and as for Zito … well hopefully he only has to make about 15 starts and doesn’t hurt me too much. You’ve got to have some weaknesses in this league. My bench will be another one, as almost all the best available guys left are on teams I can’t use. The 107 PA McGwire was one of them, but now I can’t have another A’s player. Oh well.

Round 17, Pick 17: 1B 1984 Kent Hrbek, Twins

I couldn’t wait any longer to make this pick. I’m already low in the draft order, but I think that matters less as everyone has limited spots and teams left to choose from anyway. If I could have picked a cheap bench player and vaulted back ahead of schwarze here, I would have postponed this pick another round. But the ripple effects of losing out on Hrbek as an option could have left me weaker later, so it’s best to lock him down now. This means I will almost certainly take an Angels SP2 in the next round because I’ll be down to so few possibilities there.

Hrbek is certainly not terrible (.311/.385/.514 normalized) and will be my No. 8 hitter most likely. Like the rest of my team, he’s got power, a solid glove and no speed. This team will be an Earl Weaver special, aiming for a lot of 3-run homers and eschewing pesky things like base stealing and bunting while eking out walks and having a dangerous bat in every spot. Might even be time to start thinking about the ballpark that suits this group best.

Round 18, Pick 18: Bench 1984 Mike Brown, Angels

Cue up “The Gambler,” folks. I needed either Finley or Lackey to stay on the board to give me the SP2 options I needed or else be locked into Kenny Rogers. But both Angels went in between my 17th and 18th picks, and that means only I can take Rogers but I also can’t take anyone else there. Why is this so bad? Well, because the last two non-Rangers I could take at RP1, John Hiller and Mark Wohlers, also went back-to-back at the end of this round. Which means I gambled in taking Brown instead of the one remaining Angel at RP1, and now I’m stuck having to use one of the punishment players. So welcome aboard, Brian Fuentes? Yikes!

On the plus side, Brown is a solid bat off the bench (.855 OPS#), and I’m nearly out of decent options for a useful PH at this point. So at least I got my Angel with some value, and he’s also not particularly pricey for a bench guy.

Round 19, Pick 17: Backup C 1986 Ron Karkovice, White Sox

The options started to thin rapidly for me at this spot, even though more than half the owners still need to take their C2. As the round started, I could only take 4 of the 16 still available. Not wanting a second penalty, I took the best remaining option here (.745 OPS# isn’t saying much, though he is half a million cheaper than the other guys). This leaves only bench positions to fill the next three rounds, with four franchises to choose from due to my stuck position elsewhere. It seems I should be able to avoid getting stuck twice if I select carefully, and then I can draft my remaining pitchers in the last two rounds.

Round 20, Pick 16: Bench 1983 Jerry Mumphrey, Astros

There were only two Astros left in the bench pool at this point, and even though I didn’t really want to spend $1.9M on a bench player, Mumphrey ticks off a few boxes. He’s a switch hitter with decent speed and a great glove to back up Manny in the OF, and a .340 hitter to boot. This does put me with two backup outfielders now, and increasingly it looks like I won’t have anyone in reserve at 2B, SS, or 3B … but that doesn’t matter too much since all my starters can go without rest all season, and none needs a defensive replacement either. Of course they’re slow as dirt and can’t be run for either. Oh well.

Round 21, Pick 16: Bench 1971 Greg Luzinski, Phillies

Da Bull assures that I won’t get stuck on the bench players, as I am at least guaranteed one of the remaining Braves and possibly a Tiger option even. Not that I really needed another slow righty hitter, but Luzinski only played 1B this season and actually will make a good platoon bat against LH starters. His stats are pretty close to Hrbek’s. So now it’s just a question of whether I get a 1B/OF in R25 and render this pointless or not.

Round 22, Pick 16: Bench 1979 Eddie Miller, Braves

This final choice came down to two speedy outfielders, Miller and Gary Pettis. Miller got the nod for the A+ range, .300 average, and better base stealing percentage. He can be used to run for some of my slower guys and take over late in games for Manny.

Round 23, Pick 16: SP2 1985 Kenny Rogers, Rangers

Well, I could only draft a Ranger at SP2 or RP1 at this stage, so it was a matter of which combination of pitcher and default choice (plus penalty) to go with. Of the 72 pitchers in this group, Rogers has the worst ERC# at 3.35. The two Rangers RP available to me, Benoit and Darwin, actually are a bit better. But in no case are any of these guys anything but innings fillers, so I went with the less costly option to try to keep the penalty down and the salary lower for the final round draft.

Round 24, Pick 16: RP1 Brian Fuentes, Default

He’ll join Rogers as long relievers/mopups as I have 1,410 innings of useful pitching available and shouldn’t need a whole lot from these guys.

Pending that 25th player, I’ve got 5950 PA with a .317/.396/.557 slash and 284 homers and B+/B+ defense. I’m quite pleased with the lineup despite the lack of speed. I don’t feel the need to upgrade in the final round now.

Projected lineup, with OPS# and normalized slash:

CF R McCutchen .950 (.332/.406/.544)
RF L Edmonds 1.039 (.301/.416/.623)
LF R Ramirez 1.068 (.327/.432/.636)
3B R Santo .958 (.315/.420/.537)
C R Piazza .945 (.328/.389/.556)
2B L Cano .902 (.321/.381/.521)
SS R Ripken .934 (.324/.374/.560)
1B L Hrbek .899 (.311/.385/.514)

Round 25, Pick 18: 2018 Blake Snell, Rays

I was genuinely surprised how quickly so many hitters went off the board in this round and how few pitchers were gone by the time I picked. I had already shifted away from expecting to upgrade my lineup, though Stanton definitely would have qualified if I wanted to gain 100 points of OPS and become more righty-heavy. As it neared me and I saw that either Jose Fernandez or Snell might be left, I knew it would be hard to pass on them. Getting 200 much better innings in my rotation and shifting Zito to LR and Rogers/Fuentes to irrelevant definitely improves this pitching staff significantly.

But then there was the pesky math of the salary totals and the division alignment to consider. If I took Grant Balfour, I could have jumped a couple spots and been close to assured of escaping the division with guys who usually beat me. Oh that was very tempting … but then I wondered if other owners might shift around after me and leave me there anyway and I’d have passed up an extra 130 innings of upgrade. I decided to let the chips fall and take the guy who improved me the most. So, welcome to a brutal division in what I also think is going to be the tougher league generally. Just getting a wild card will be a victory now.

Rotation:
RH Saberhagen 263 IP, 1.90 ERC#, 0.96 WHIP#, 0.41 HR/9#
RH Drysdale 322, 2.03, 1.01, 0.39
RH Lincecum 225, 2.05, 1.04, 0.31
LH Snell, 181, 1.89, 1.00, 0.55

Key bullpen:
RH Bell 93 IP, 1.55 ERC#, 0.94 WHIP#, 0.21 HR/9#
RH Sanders 93, 1.68, 0.98, 0.08
LH Doolittle 45, 0.93, 0.62, 0.44
LH Henry 52, 1.45, 0.87, 0.32
RH Gordon 80, 1.54, 0.98, 0.16

Redistribution of Sorts
First of all I would like to thank schwarze for running a challenging draft. I am not going to write up a round by round draft strategy but rather my overall thought process and identify the pivotal points in the draft for me.

1.). Examining the pitching available there really wasn’t more than one round of difference makers in Good starting pitching and one round of difference makers with bad starting pitching. But there was a whole lot of good pitching. I was lucky enough to draft one of those good difference makers in the first round with 1978 Ron Guidry. I could now wait without much fall off for the rest of my starting staff.

2.). I wanted to build my 8 position players with my next 8 picks. If all of the starting staffs would be made up of good starters of relative equal ability building the best possible hitting and defense was paramount. When I draft a team I try to draft my 3 and 4 hitters first, then my lead off and second hitters next, followed by 5 and 6 hole hitters, and filling in with seven and eight. I do not care what fielding positions they play but where they fit in the batting order. I also care about how many lefties and righties I have in my order. 3 to 5 of each is ideal. Also I didn’t care if I drafted 1st or 24th. At this point it is really the same 23 people picking before my next pick.

3.). With my picks 2 and 3, I drafted 2003 Albert Pujolis and 1969 Carl Yastrzemski. One right and one left for positions 3 and 4 in my order. I have good luck with both in the past.

4.} With picks 4 and 5, I drafted 1994 Kenny Lofton and 2014 Jose Altuve. One left and one right. Both stolen base guys and table setters for Pujolis and Yastrzemski.

5.) Now at this point I two left and two righties. I had two outfielders and two two infielders. Looking over available options at my 4 remaining positions and the teams I had available. I didn’t,t see a lot of options left for left handed hitters. The best options remaining were Tony Olivia, Billy Williams, and Christian Yelich. All three outfielders. After much internal debate with myself I chose Yelich to bat 5th in my order.

6.) I now had three spots in the batting order left. 6th, 7th, and 8th and three positions left, catcher, third base, and shortstop to fill these from. Shortstop and third weren’t filled with RBI type guys with over 300 batting averages. But catcher had 2015 Buster Posey. I sweated it out and he fell to me.

7.) My last two infield positions were to be my 7th and 8th place hitters. I chose 2000 Troy Glaus to play third. Nice power, decent on base and good defensive range. On an atrocious Angels team not a bad choice. The only choices left for me at short that I wanted to consider here were 1971 Freddie Patek and a bad Alan Trammel. I chose Patek decent fielder.

8.) Before I chose my shortstop and third baseman I broke into my plan and chose a SP. Fergie Jenkins. Good but not a difference maker. Another rule for any draft is that your first 13 picks should be 900 innings of starting pitching, enough plate appearances with your eight starters, and a closer.

9.) On picks 11, 12, and 13 I picked my two needed starters in 1993 Jose Rijo and 1969 Jerry Koosman, and my dominant closer 2016 Zach Britton. In reality I had my team, I just needed to fill out my roster. Pick the best bullpen first, backup catcher, and bench. At this point I had over 1000 innings of good pitching with an ace in Guidry, my hitters were at 5600 plate appearances hitting .336,just under 200 Hrs, over 140 SB’s, just under .400 OBP. My fielders had a composite B+/A-.

10.) My only real pivot point in the next few rounds was what to do about the awful Detroit Tigers team. At the time I had one SP spot open. The Tigers really had no one useful to draft except maybe John Hiller as a reliever. My other options at the time had decent relievers I wanted to be able to draft and taking a starter from one of them would have taken those relievers off of the board. I was at the 24th drafting position anyway so I took Mickey Lolich to use as mop up.

11.). The rest of the draft was just taking the best relievers and players available at the time by maximizing my options for future rounds. With the Angels and Tigers off the board the rest of the teams had decent picks. I did get hosed by the Dodgers coming off the board in the same round I had to pick an Expo. And I screwed up taking a Padre instead of the last Ranger in Jose Canseco. I had to make default picks.

12.) The expansion list was useless to me picking last. It was useless to me anyway going into it once the shortstops were gone and Henke and Eichorn disappeared. I ended up taking Roberto Alomar, a very expensive pinch runner. But could be useful if Altuve starts out slow at 2b.

Schwarze runs a great draft, so well organized, and always lots of fun. To me, each pick is like a Christmas present as a young child, unfortunately some are treasures and others are coal.

Strategy, while it lasted. I didn’t want to get skunked with any default picks for I didn’t want the salary penalty to cause me to have a lower pick in round 25. By assuming I’d use a pitcher’s park I would need to acquire less ABs and PAs. I normally love a good hitting team and find pitching along the way, this time, strong pitching with two stud SPs and great defense in the field was the goal. Hitters with decent slugging percentages but not many homeruns – Astrodome is an option. All numbers quoted will be normalized.

Round 1.11 – SP1 Mike Scott (Astros) 276 IPs and ERC of 1.73 ($12.4M)
Take the best pitcher available to me. It was a good thing that it took a while to design and build my excel database, this way the first ten picks didn’t hurt as much while distracted like a mad scientist in the laboratory. Note: Pedro lost all respect for me because I didn’t select my all-time favorite player, Joe Morgan here – sticking to my strategy. Astrodome is locked up for me.

Round 2.19 – SP1 John Tudor (Cardinals) 274 IPs and ERC of 1.93 ($11.4M)
Before I left the house to go bowling, I made a list of five pitchers that I’d be happy with and one hitter to cover the next six picks before my turn for it would be awkward to have my laptop at the alley. My good friend, PedroCerrano, who used to bowl with me until he selfishly moved to California, texted me to tell me I was up and told me who was taken. Tudor was first on my list and he’s still available so obviously I am on the wrong track. I hated to use a Cardinal, for there was decent talent there but I wanted to obtain two stud SPs.

Round 3.19 – SP2 Corbin Burnes (Brewers) 161 IPs and ERC of 1.81 ($7.3M)
Wanted a hitter but the pitching talent was dropping quickly. Burnes was light on innings but had the best ERC available and was a Brewer, bonus.

Round 4.14 – SP2 Dave Righetti (Yankees) 160 IPs and ERC of 1.97 ($6.6M)
Rags was an option when I picked Burnes in the previous round – so obviously I am way off track here. The last SP2 pitcher with 160 IPs and an ERC under 2.00 – I hated to lose the remaining Yankee talent but, not a Yankee fan. Considered one of the Brave’s remaining SP2s with more innings, 1) Smoltz or 2) Millwood perhaps they can slip to me.

Round 5.12 – SP2 Kevin Millwood (Braves) 228 IPs and ERC of 2.04 ($8.6M)
Four picks earlier, Fatguyrd grabbed Smoltz providing the first skunking of my draft. I was looking at taking David Wright, as my first hitter, since there was a drop off in talent after him at 3B, but Nocomm999 eliminated that chance one pick before me. Millwood it is. I now have all of my SPs and 1,099 innings, I need some bats.

Round 6.12 – 2B Ryne Sandberg (Cubs) A/B+ 705 PAs 318/372/527 ($7.9M)
Want hitters with plenty of PAs so that I can have more flexibility with my bench players. Since my last pick, a run on 2B started with Roberto Alomar, Jose Lind, Jose Altuve (not available to me), Roberto Alomar (again), then Robinson Cano (not available to me) – it was time to strike. Sandberg or Utley? Wanted to keep Mike Schmidt as an option.

Round 7.18 – C Gary Carter (Expos) B/A/A+ 653 PAs 295/386/515 ($6.8M)
Torn between Hoiles and Carter but Hoiles needed a catcher partner and Carter did not. Hoiles was the very next pick by Footballmm11 – I am second guessing myself but want that flexibility of being happy with any back-up catcher later in the draft. We’ll see….

Round 8.18 – 3B Mike Schmidt (Phillies) B-/A 686 PAs 285/397/554 ($7.2M)
Since my last pick, a SS run begins, Jimmy Rollins, Rafael Furcal (not available to me), Rich Aurilia, Freddy Sanchez, Jose Reyes and now I want the last viable option Jay Bell. Remember in round 7, I took Carter over Hoiles?, that caused Footballmm11 to jump me in round 8 and he takes Jay Bell and skunks me just two picks ahead of my slot. I immediately checked the shortstops available in round 25. Anyway, I’ll wait at SS and grab Mike Schmidt here he’s the best 3B available.

Round 9.18 – OF Mike Trout (Angels) A/A+ 705 PAs 292/384/558 ($8.7M)
Rounds 6-8, I was forced to react to the pulse of the draft, here I was able to get a good defensive CF and an Angel. Checks two boxes, I feel pretty good until I read the comments of Trout’s underperformance.

Round 10.20 – SS Luis Aparicio (White Sox) A-/C 616 PAs 321/375/406 ($4.9M)
Back to reacting to the draft again. Four shortstops remain, I can only draft two of them, the worst one is an Angel and I just took Trout. I need to take a SS here for I don’t want to get boxed out and default.

Round 11.21 – 1B Adrian Gonzalez (Padres) B+/B- 681 PAs 279/406/537 ($6.0M)
Back to reacting to the draft again. Gonzalez or Garvey? No contest, I get to remove a Padre and I hate Garvey!!! As a Red’s fan I felt Garvey was voted the NL all-star too many times over Tony Perez. Still bitter after all these years, to feel better, I must ask rhetorically, who is in the Hall of Fame?

Intermission: Trivia Question
Who won a league MVP with 200 hits, 21 HRs, 95 runs, 111 RBIs, 5 SBs, 312/342/469 with a .811 OPS?
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Ok, rant Is over…

Round 13.23 – OF Lee Mazzilli (Mets) A-/B+ 693 PAs 304/398/448 ($7.4M)
Mazzilli also has a great glove for 1B (A+/A). My starting positional players are complete. Time to get some relief pitchers.

Round 14.23 – RP1 Rich Gossage (Pirates) 133 IPs and ERC of 1.67 ($5.5M)
Getting my first relief pitcher here in round 14. Some relievers had better ERCs but had less available innings. This pick will provide flexibility down the road if I get blocked out of a pitching slot. I really wanted to take Rob Dibble, perhaps he will slip into the next round? Two picks later FF09 picked the lone nasty boy.

Round 15.24 – RP2 Steve Karsay (Indians) 44 IPs and ERC of 1.22 ($2.3M)
Best pitcher available to me here to act as my closer.

Round 16.23 – RP2 Caleb Thielbar (Twins) 55 IPs and ERC of 1.56 ($2.2M)
Best pitcher available to me here to act as a set up plus this pick allows me to switch from the Astrodome to Target Field with the minus four factor for home runs, hope this works…

Round 17.23 – RP2 Steve Reed (Giants) 46 IPs and ERC of 1.36 ($1.9M)
Best pitcher available to help set up.

Round 18.20 – RP1 Billy McCool (Reds) 90 IPs and ERC of 2.15 ($3.0M)
Will act as my long reliever, the name alone is worth the pick.

Round 19.20 – Back-up C Steve Yeager (Dodgers) Won’t see the light of day ($1.5M)
Dislike the Dodgers, in retrospect I would have defaulted the Dodgers to keep my options open. Didn’t hurt me in the long run – it just would have been better if no Dodgers were on my team.

Round 20.19 – 1B bench Mark McGwire (Athletics) 107 PAs 331/463/716 ($1.7M)
Delighted he was still available.

Round 21.19 – SS bench Omar Infante C/A- (Tigers) 76 PAs 333/359/396 ($0.5M)
Was supposed to take Andres Blanco but two picks beforehand Fatguyrd strikes again. Therefore, must adjust to the pulse of the draft…

Round 22.19 – OF bench Mark Quinn (Royals) 66 PAs 327/375/710 ($1.0M)
Delighted he was still available.

Round 23 – 1B bench Kyle Schwarber (Red Sox) 168 PAs 300/442/505 ($1.3M)
Delighted he was still available.

Round 24 – RP1 Joaquin Benoit (Rangers) 87 IPs and ERC of 2.99 ($2.4M)
Not a terrible mop up option at this point.

Round 25 – SS Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies) A/A+ 529 PAs 319/383/560 ($7.3M)
Needing an upgrade at SS and picking 15^th overall I was hoping for any of the three shortstops. Because of Tulo’s glove (A/A+) he would have been my first choice. I was stunned that he found his way to my team. A final note, I was sick that SS Hanley Ramirez found his way to PedroCerrano at 20^th overall – I just hope that he went out a purchased a lottery ticket yesterday!

One Pick Late

Going into the draft I had two goals. One was to take good players that weren't high dollar players, (usually they don't perform up to their cost) and two was to end up near the top of the draft at the end to try to get either Larry Walker or Randy Johnson in Round 25. (Who are both high dollar players, yeah ironic right?)


Round 1: Joe Mauer
I'm sure this selection shocked a lot of owners including myself. I wanted to take one of two pitchers here at pick #7, Jacob deGrom or Joe Horlen and of course they went at #5 and #6. Both are really good pitchers that don't cost a fortune so one was going to be a perfect fit for me to start my roster. I should know by now that in any schwarze draft that my plans would get changed before I was even able to make my first pick. I decided to go with Mauer since catcher is such an important position and his bat in the 2009 season plays well. Plus his salary at $8M still should keep me towards the top of the draft order.
Round 2: Max Scherzer
After skipping on a pitcher in round 1 I wanted to make sure to get a cheaper good one in round 2 at pick #4. Had Shane Bieber penciled in here knowing that the 2020 season normalizes well. Of course bigsteve takes him 1 pick ahead of me. Geeze, 2 rounds in and I'm already seeing a trend of being One Pick Late. Scherzer was option number 2 behind Bieber so I went with him.
Round 3: Tony Gwynn
A top Padres pick in any draft so no doubts with this pick except for the fact there are a lot of options in the outfield. Taking one here might have been premature.
Round 4: Alex Bregman
I was thinking Chipper Jones for my 3rd baseman but he went at the end of round 2. I had Bregman in another league and he raked for me which was a surprise since right-handed hitters usually do the opposite. As it ended up he'll be the only right-handed hitter I'll have in my lineup. Hoping he can be 2 for 2 performance wise.
Round 5: Aaron Nola
Time to grab another good cheap pitcher. Nola fits that and I didn't want to go with only 1 pitcher in the first 5 rounds. I'm crossing my fingers here as he can be really good or really average.
Round 6: Joey Votto
Another lefty with good offensive numbers plus an A- rating for fielding.
Round 7: Jose Deleon
Grabbing my 3rd #2 SP already might be a mistake here but options were going fast. At this point I decided to keep taking cheaper pitchers and let someone else draft the higher dollar ones. Deleon doesn't knock your socks off but still has decent numbers.
Round 8: Rafael Furcal
Had Jeff Kent all slotted in here and then calhoop stole him right out from under everyone. I originally had Vizquel penciled in at SS but at the last moment chose Furcal. Vizquel is probably better offensively but Furcal has better range and at this point I'm starting to think a switch-hitter with A+ range up the middle should help my low dollar pitchers, Right?
Round 9: Carlos Beltran
A NY Mets that I nominated. Another power hitting switch-hitter with A/A+ defense. He'll man CF and help my pitching some more.
Round 10: Bobby Jenks
Still drafting towards the top of the round and wanting to stay there I decided to get my Closer here. I've had good luck with Jenks in the past.
Round 11: Charlie Hough
At this point I started winging it. Options for me in the SP #1 bucket were dwindling fast. I had hoped Dennis Leonard would make it to me but of course he went 2 picks earlier. Oh well why should my luck change now? He was almost $2M more expensive than Hough anyway. The other option I considered was Steve Rogers but his OAV was higher than Hough and he cost a bit more too.
Round 12: Sandy Alomar
I believe at this point I was down to 2 options at 2B. I decided I couldn't wait any longer. With not much left offensively I threw myself into the defensive huddle. Alomar was strictly a "save more runs" selection with his A/A+ defense. You can't get much stronger defensively up the middle with Alomar, Furcal and Beltran.
Round 13: Jack Morris
Not wanting to get stuck with Rick Reuschel, Mark Gubicza or Mel Stottlemyre I grabbed Morris. Even though it is his '81 season, I'm hoping he can find some 1991 magic for me.
Round 14: Mark Melancon
Ok, I was going to draft Melancon back in round 12 but not wanting to get stuck with players I didn't want or a penalty forced me to push his selection back. Time to take him is now. Besides, taking Morris last round dropped me to #8 in the round and I wanted to start moving back up the ladder. A RP would help do that.
Round 15: Andrew Miller
Another relief pitcher to keep me towards the top of the draft. He's the only lefty I've got on the entire pitching staff, with good reason as they are usually atrocious for me. He's a good one though with a .160 OAV and .69 WHIP with 74 innings. In round 15, I'm figuring it is a good pick. Time will tell.
Round 16: Kirk Gibson
This was a take it or set myself up for a penalty pick. He's got decent numbers, is another lefty bat and if for some reason I don't get Walker in round 25 he can still be productive for me. Can't remember ever using any version of Gibson and he'll be a pinch-hitter off the bench anyway if I get Walker.
Rounds 17 thru 23: All RP or bench players taken to satisfy Franchise requirements.
Round 24: Penalty pick
Round 25: Larry Walker, who I was targeting from Day 1. I may regret not taking RJ since I'm questioning my rotation a bit but I'm hoping my defense will make up for that.

"... the only thing more fun than seeing schwarze vent in the forums after his bullpen blows a 4 run lead is when he vents after blowing an 8 run lead"

LMFAO

Lots of great writeups. Reading these writeups is my favorite part of these leagues (well, after the drafting part of course).

I also love these write-ups ,,wish I could have read them before the draft LOL,,,,I drew the #23 spot in the first round,,,not very good at thinking outside the box,,,maybe next time I will use some of these ideas! I am sure i had just as much fun and anguish during the draft as everyone else but i can sure see why I finish in the bottom half in the standings,,,LOL I am a pencil and paper kind of guy and have a habit of picking some of my favorite players. The last couple of days I find myself missing the act of checking the forum to see when it is getting close to my pick and seeing what players were taken! It was a very efficient draft and impressed with the speed the league is up and running. Thanks everyone

I always get draft withdrawal symptoms after these kind of drafts.

Like so many others, I want to congratulatulate schwarze for designing and overseeing what probably has been the most enjoyable draft I've experienced in WIS.

Round 1.22: RP2 Craig Kimbrel (Braves)
As soon as I saw my drafting position, I knew my first pick would be a top-notch reliever whose salary would allow me to secure one of the early slots in the second round. I settled on Kimbrel over Dennis Eckersley. Ironically, not only didn't I get Eckersley, but I failed to draft anyone from the A's and was stuck with a default pick in the 24th round.
Round 2.2: 1B Jeff Bagwell (Astros)
Despite the number of quality options at first base, this was the player I wanted from the outset. Throughout the years, I've probably had more success with '94 Bagwell than any other WIS player.
Round 3.8: SP1 Juan Marichal (Giants)
Under normal circumstances, my primary early focus in these kinds of drafts is starting pitching, so it's highly unusual for me to wait until the third round to address this area. When bigsteve12 selected Tom Seaver two picks before mine, I narrowed my potential choices down to Marichal or Don Drysdale. I finally settled on Marichal, in no small part because he's almost $2 million cheaper. Then, with the very next pick, redcped took -- who else? -- Drysdale.
Round 4.8: SP2 Don Sutton (Dodgers)
For the second consecutive round, bigsteve 12, again picking two slots ahead of me, chose the player I was targeting -- in this case, Jim Palmer. I ultimately picked Sutton instead of Aaron Nola and promised myself that I'd take Nola in the next round if he was still available. He wasn't. The good news is that both of my starting pitchers at this point have a WHIP below 1.00.
Round 5.11: 3B David Wright (Mets)
A clear pattern is developing, because for the third round in a row, bigsteve12, picking just ahead of me, took the player -- Bryce Harper this time -- I was planning to select. Had our drafting positions been reversed, I would have an entirely different team. Anyway, I pivoted to Wright, who was clearly the best remaining third baseman.
Round 6.9: OF Bernie Williams (Yankees)
My original thought was to find another starting pitcher, but I wanted to make sure I had a high-quality center fielder, and with big names Willie Mays and Kenny Lofton lone gone, nobody else on the board offered the combination of quality offense and stellar defense that Williams should provide.
Round 7.12: SP1 Bob Friend (Pirates)
I've never been disappointed with the '63 version of Friend, so this wasn't a particularly difficult choice. My only hesitation was that his $7.8 million price tag was going to move me way back in the drafting order. I fell eight slots between rounds 7 and 8.
Round 8.20: C Carlton Fisk (White Sox)
At this point in the draft, most of the decent catchers were gone. Fisk provides pretty good numbers at a very reasonable price ($4.3 million). As an added bonus, I moved up 11 spots in the next round of the draft.
Round 9.9. SS Omar Vizquel (Indians)
I was never a huge Vizquel fan, but he seemed to be the best available remaining shortstop, and I was concerned that a run on the position might take place before I chose again. Sure enough, four more shortstops were selected by the end of the ninth round.
Round 10.12: OF Ryan Braun (Brewers)
Through nine rounds, I had drafted exactly one power hitter (Bagwell) and one outfielder (Bernie Williams), so I simply looked for the best power-hitting outfielder who would still be available to me. I considered Ray Lankford, who is a far better defensive player than Braun, but Braun's bat gave him the edge.
Round 11.14: 2B Frank White (Royals)
At this juncture, there were only four second basemen available to me, and none of them were even mildly appealing. I settled on White because he was the cheapest of the four, plus I had no idea who else I could draft from Kansas City. Barring unforeseen circumstances, I immediately resolved to choose a second baseman in the 25th round.
Round 12.12: RP2 Jeff Reardon (Expos)
I'd ignored the bullpen since taking Kimbrel in the first round, and Reardon has long been one of my favorite SIM relievers. I almost passed on Reardon in favor of Chris Short, who I'd thought about taking many times throughout the draft. Instead, I promised myself that Short would absolutely, positively be my 13th-round pick. However, schwarze scooped up Short two picks after I took Reardon.
Round 13.8: Roy Halladay (Phillies)
Even though Short was the starter I'd targeted, fellow Phillie Halladay's 2010 season compares favorably with Short's '64 campaign. In fact, Halladay was the NL's Cy Young Award winner in 2010, so I'm hoping he turns out to be a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter.
Round 14.10: OF Bip Roberts (Padres)
The final member of my starting lineup provides pretty sound numbers for a 14th-round pick -- .310 average, 46 steals, B/C+ defense. Now it's time to construct the rest of the bullpen.
Rounds 15-17: RP1 LaTroy Hawkins (Twins), RP2 Dick Hall (Orioles), RP1 John Franco (Reds)
Coudn't have been more pleased with these three picks since they'll allow me to go into the season with five quality options in the bullpen,
Round 18.10: SP 2 John Lackey (Angels)
I needed a fifth starter, and I needed an Angel. With what should be a pretty good four-man rotation, it's unlikely that Lackey actually makes a start at any point.
Round 19.15: RP1 Mike Maddux (Red Sox)
Shortly after I made this selection, ronthegenius wrote, "Not often you can get ‘95 Maddux in the 19th round." Maddux was a throwaway pick, but that comment provided me with the name for my team.
Rounds 20-23: Bench picks
Round 24: Default pick
Round 25.12: SP Felix Hernanez (Mariners)
As I mentioned earlier, I intended to pick one of the three available second basemen in this round. However, my pre-draft ranking had King Felix as the third-most-desirable choice, behind Larry Walker and Randy Johnson. When my turn came, even though all three second-base choices still remained, I couldn't pass up Hernandez, who gives my pitching staff a tremendous boost and enables me to move a quality starter -- Friend or Halladay -- into a long-relief role. Regarding second base, I'll be forced to live with Frank White.

Posted by schwarze on 3/24/2022 10:09:00 AM (view original):
"... the only thing more fun than seeing schwarze vent in the forums after his bullpen blows a 4 run lead is when he vents after blowing an 8 run lead"

LMFAO

It's a good thing I didn't have anything in my mouth when I read this line.

As someone who took a long break from WIS and was drawn back at the start of the pandemic and doesn't feel like I am anywhere close to the same level of understanding you top guys are, it sure has been nice to see, at least for some of the early rounds, I disrupted some plans with my selections. This draft ended up occurring at a very busy time for me and I struggled to be prepared at times, it was quite possibly the most enjoyable league build I have done on here. Enjoy reading the write-ups for the insight and humor.

I think I learned that I needed to be more aware of what was going to be available to me later on in the draft so I could have had another lefty bat and anyone who could play CF. On the bright side, fairly happy with the rotation and even with Rd 25 Luis Castillo's 2 Hr at 2B, the lineup features 260+ HR. Probably means I will be lucky to get 150. Thanks for a great draft fellas. Looking forward to the next one already.

GENE HACKMAN'S STAND-IN

Round 1.8: SP1 Pedro Martinez (Expos)
SP1 is a good way to start. I debated b/w Koufax, Gooden, and Pedro. Chose Pedro as I thought Expos had less opportunities for future picks than LA and NYM.
Round 2.14: SP2 Johan Santana (Twins)
I immediately started looking at teams with limited star picks. Found a reasonably priced superstar on a team without a lot of bling.
Round 3.11: SP2 Chris Sale (White Sox)
Same strategy as round 2.
Round 4.7: OF Rickey Henderson (A's)
Way too high of a pick for Rickey, and so many good A's players available, but he's the reason I play WIS.
Round 5.5: Util Robb Quinlan (Angels)
Debated b/w Pete Rose or utility guy Quinlan. I decided to get the Angels pick out of the way and simultaneously get to the top of the draft.
Round 6.2: OF Paul O'Neill (Yankees)
I better start working on my offense. Was hoping Rose would fall 1 more round, but no luck.
Round 7.2: SS Ozzie Smith (Cardinals)
This is where my draft started falling apart. I debated b/w Smith and Jeff Kent at 2B. I really thought Kent would make it to me in round 8. Schwarze's post shortly after my Smith pick in which he pointed out the lack of 2B available didn't help lol. Kent went 1 pick before my 8th rounder.
Round 8.2: OF George Foster (Reds)
Not happy about missing Kent, I needed a solid hitter and didn't worry about any "default" status at this point.
Round 9.3. 3B Ron Cey (Dodgers)
My next 4 picks were default preventative selections. Never been a fan of the Penguin, but he was my only option.
Round 10.3: C Terry Kennedy (Padres)
My choices were Kennedy and Biggio. Probably made the wrong choice.
Round 11.3: 2B Ian Kinsler (Rangers)
Had 3 choices here, and I preferred Kinsler's power over Frank White and Daniel Murphy.
Round 12.2: SP1 Bob Veale (Pittsburgh)
I had a choice of Veale or the Cubs Rick Reuschel. Never used Veale, but he has decent statistics.
Round 13.3: RP2 Andrew Miller (Orioles)
I defaulted on 1B so now it was time to start making fun picks again.
Round 14.2: RP1 Tug McGraw (Phillies)
A solid reliever and the best Phillie left.
Round 15.2: RP1 Chris Devenski (Astros)
A good RP with lots of innings.
Round 16.4: SP2 Carlos Zambrano (Cubs)
I needed my last SP2 and had a couple of options, with Zambrano being the best.
Round 17.6: Util Greg Goossen (Brewers)
This Seattle Pilot was a part time actor and was a long-time stand in for Gene Hackman.
Round 18.3: RP1 Joe Nathan (Giants)
Who doesn't love Joe Nathan? He always performs.
Round 19.4: RP2 Justin Wilson (Tigers)
Only a couple of Tiger options left. He was the better choice despite his HR/9.
Round 20.3: RP2 John Franco (Mets)
Low Inning but solid reliever.
Round 21.2: C2 Mike McFarlane (Royals)
He may platoon with Kennedy.
Round 22.4: Util Jed Lowrie (Red Sox)
Debated b/w Jed and Kyle Schwarber. I need more lefthanded bats, but I also need backup IFs. I chose the IF need.
Round 23.5: Util Jason Donald (Indians)
I needed an Indian
Round 24: Default pick 1B Carlos Pena (Rays)
At least he is a lefty, which I am in short supply of.
Round 25.8: 1B Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks)
I had great choices of Olerud, Helton, or Goldschmidt. The $3 million default salary cost me my top 2 choices and I ended up with Goldschmidt.