Yankees 1904, 1928, 1942, 1959, 2014
My selection of the 1904 Yankees was the 8th Yankees team selected and at the time, their .609 winning percentage would've netted my the first pick in the draft. Three of the four picking Yankees teams after me picked teams with lower percentages, dropping me to fourth. The Yankees are known for their great hitters and don't have a long history of great pitching, so I wanted to get Jack Chesbro (2.04) and/or Russ Ford to get a leg up on the competition. I would have time to get some good hitters later. Al Orth (2.53) gives me a nice long-reliever. Willie Keeler (.343, .408, .441) was originally slotted in one of the three starting OF spots, but will probably be relegated to pinch hitting. Wid Conroy can sub in for defensive at 3B while Kid Elberfeld wont' play. I gambled that selecting a team with only 2-3 usable players wouldn't burn me later. Yankees have a lot good teams with many good players.
I strongly considered taking 1910 here and doubling up on the two best Yankees dead-ball pitchers, but 1910 doesn't have much else. Can I really use my first two seasons on a grand total of 3 usable players? No, I pass on them. A number of the great Babe Ruth seasons have been taken already, including 1927, 1931, 1921, 1930, 1926 and 1920. I was worried that if I passed on Ruth here, I'd totally miss out. I selected 1928 Yankees, b/c I've had previous success with this version of Babe Ruth (.323, .453, .703). I also get a stud Lou Gehrig (.374, .459, .641). I end up passing on Tony Lazzeri (.332, .389, .527) due to his D+/D+ defensive rating at 2B. Surprisingly, I roster two pitchers from this season. Herb Pennock (2.81) has a reasonable performance history, while RP Fred Heimach (2.86) is a warm body. I eventually add Earle Combs (.310, .379, .456), who may pinch hit and come in for defense.
FYI. 1910 went to nocomm999 two picks after I grabbed 1928. This next selection was very tough. I could grab another strong Ruth season (1924). I could add a stud Mantle season (1957). But I wanted another good SP. The 1942 Yankees provide Ernest Edward "Tiny" Bonham (2.20). Did you know Tiny was 6'2, 215 lbs? That was probably considered huge for that era. But just as important as getting a good SP, 1942 ultimately provided me four starting position players... 2B Joe Gordon (.322, .409, .504), SS Phil Rizzuto (.284, .343, .387), 3B Roy Cullenbine (.276, .405, .413) and OF Charlie Keller (.292, .417, .526). I was planning on using Joe DiMaggio (.305, .377, .512) and Cullenbine's partial season (.364, .484, .546) but circumstances forced me to switch to Cullenbine's combined season and also adding a no-hitting good-fielding SS with Rizzuto.
Sixteen picks went off the board before my third round pick. I was one pick away from my turn, but got tired and went to sleep thinking about which Yankees team I was going to take. I really wanted a good Mantle season. 1955 Mantle was the best one left, but the 1959 Yankees gave me a decent Mickey Mantle (.283, .394, .513) plus a lot more. SP Art Ditmar (2.41) could replace Pennock in the rotation, but I might use him as a long reliever. Lefty Bobby Shantz (1.83) becomes the team's best RP. I also get all two mediocre catchers here, with Yogi Berra (.284, .351, .461) and Elston Howard (.273, .309, .475). 1955 went one pick later to thejuice6.
At this point, I still needed a starting 3B, a starting SS and some more relievers. There just aren't a lot of teams that provide that combination. So I went back to my drafted teams and figured out that I could use Cullenbine's full season at 3B and I could start Phil Rizzuto at SS (he can't hit but is a good defensive player). By making those sacrifices, that opened things up to just finding a team with lots of good relievers. Like everybody else, I looked at the modern years. The 2014 Yankees provides me four RPs (300 IPs). Dillon Betances (1.28) and Michael Pineda (1.56) instantly become my team's top two RPs. Adam Warren (2.52) and David Robertson (2.48) gives me a total of eleven pitchers, more than most of my teams. I needed some extra PAs at 3B (Cullenbine only has 552), so my final spot goes to 3B Martin Prado (.316, .342, .537), who has some extra-base-hit pop.
Outlook:
I kind of figured this would happen, but focusing on getting good starting pitchers early (1904, 1942) means that my offense will be below average for this league. There are teams with multiple Babe Ruths, multiple Mickey Mantles, Joe DiMaggio, A-Rod, Jeter, Dickey, etc. Meanwhile, I have too many easy outs in the lineups (Berra/Howard, Rizzuto). I think my pitching should be near the top, but can I score enough runs to make any difference? I estimate the probability of advancing to round 2 to be slightly less than average, 45%.
2/4/2024 1:33 PM (edited)